4E NPC 00012 – Green (Teifling) Landed Farmer

Occupation: She is a Landed Farmer and a member of the Guild of Harvesters.

Physical Description: An attractive, medium age female Teifling, who dresses slightly above her station when occasion permits. Her eyes are an brilliant green.

Attributes/Skills: She excels at physical endeavors, and struggles with the academic.

Values/Motivations: She will protect her land hold and family at all costs.

Behavior: She is most often encountered on her farm, but when in town she occasions the Stumbling Horse where she enjoys arm wrestling any who dares to challenge her.

Useful Knowledge: She know the lay of her side of town and the wilderness nearby. She does know much of the older history of the area, but some of what she knows is incorrect, or rumor.

Mannerism: She rolls up the sleeves of her shirt or dress just before taking action.

4E NPC 00011 – Garrish (Teifling) Tenant Farmer

Occupation: Tenant Farmer to the House Hassin.

Physical Description: Dresses simply, but wears wild hair and horn decorations.

Attributes/Skills: His primary focus is on agriculture, though he is aware of a few modest rituals and knows a smattering of warlock magic, learned in his youth.

Values/Motivations: Farming and the success of his family is the focus of his life, though sometimes he wishes for a different life.

Behavior: He never reacts to any situation in anger, or just about any emotion for that matter. He is cool and detached.

Useful Knowledge: He has worked with Doolin, and is a tenant of Elan’s family, neither of which he likes.

Mannerism: He talking to someone, he stares at them.

4E NPC 00010 – Erica (Halfling) Lady of the House Hassen

Occupation: Bored Noble

Physical Description: She is a very well dressed, soft spoken Halfling woman. She is never without her 3 bodyguards.

Attributes/Skills: She is very talented a both agriculture and trade.

Values/Motivations: Though she is natural botanist, she bored with her current assignment and wishes to find some excitement in this little town.

Behavior: Distracted, wild, unchallenged.

Useful Knowledge: She is currently in negotiations with Doolin, which she finds tedious. Though she know little of the town, she has many social contacts in the city.

Mannerism: When drinking she often rolls the glass around. At other times she plays with a stray lock of hair.

4E NPC 00009 – Elan Proudone (Halfling) – Impoverished Jeweler

Occupation: Elan is a less than successful jeweler in a town that doesn’t support such luxuries.

Physical Description: Elan is haggard and unkempt, his clothes are worn and tattered, his dwelling/Shop is almost empty save for a elaborate items mad of cheap materials.

Attributes/Skills: He is very talented metal worker, and an excellent crafts man. He also knows how to enchant magical items.

Values/Motivations: Elan is nearly destitute, and wishes to improve his economic position.

Behavior: If there is the possibility of a sale, commission or a chance to eat a meal: he is eager and enthusiastic, otherwise he is slow moving, and depressed.

Useful Knowledge: Elan knows his gems and Jewelry, he also knows knows much of the two Dragonborn travelers: Cthzag and Cthrin, and suspects the later to be a villain but doesn’t know any details.

Mannerism: He can be seen searching for spare change or biting his nails. He whines a fair bit about his situation.

4E NPC 00008 – Doolin (Eldren) Master of the Guild of Harvesters

Occupation: Leader of the newly formed union of farmers.

Physical Description: She wears bright red dresses that offset her short yellow hair, and is always wearing a wide brim peasant’s hat set with flowers.

Attributes/Skills: Though she has formal training as a priest of Pellor, she doesn’t make use of those skills, preferring to spend her time organizing the local farmers into a union.

Values/Motivations: She is tired of seeing those who till the land starving at the hands of a ruling class that doesn’t care for them.

Behavior: She is passionate for her cause, though she is always cautious as many have threatened harm to her and the people she represents.

Useful Knowledge: She knows almost all of the regions farmers and herders. She also has a rather antagonistic relationship with the local militia, the ruling body and merchants about town.

Mannerism: She is always looking behind her, and her poise indicates that she is expecting an attack at any moment.

4E NPC 00007 – Dapthin (Eldren) of the House Elerth, Instructor.

Occupation: Instructor of mundane and magical arts.

Physical Description: He is well groomed and dresses impeccably, with jewelry accenting his long gray hair.

Attributes/Skills: Knows several moderate rituals, and is an adept wizard.

Values/Motivations: He is a perfectionist, and values teaching independent thought to his pupils.

Behavior: As a relaxed academic, he is often seen, when not at his school/home, conversing with everyone in the various gathering spots about town.

Useful Knowledge: Aside from the rituals, Dapthin can act as an introduction to almost anyone in town, as he is on good relations with almost everyone except Gerund, whom he has nothing but disdain for.

Mannerism: He often chuckles as some private amusement, and blinks way too infrequently while talking.

4E NPC 00006 – Cthrin Dragonborn (Gold), Master of Tiamats Fangs

Occupation: Bandit leader of the successful gang, Tiamats Fangs.

Physical Description: In town, she plays the part of a successful merchant (to dispose of loot); in the wilds she is armed to the teeth.

Attributes/Skills: Combat and tactics are her strongest suit, though she is skilled at tracking and ambush.

Values/Motivations: She is motivated by greed, though she cautious and thoughtful in her actions.

Behavior: In an effort to become to build an organization, she prefers to extort “protection” from her victims, but is ruthless when cornered or crossed.

Useful Knowledge: She knows the region very well, as well as the merchants and many of their secrets.

Mannerism: In town, she is always asking questions, and giving few answers. In the wilderness, she is demanding and firm.

4E NPC 00005 – Cthzag Dragonborn (Red) Traveling Merchant.

Occupation: Lead Trader for the Blue Merchant Caravan.

Physical Description: Well worn in appearance, her clothes, though travel stained, are reasonably opulent. She prefers to conduct her deals from her tent while sitting in an elaborately carved traveling chair.

Attributes/Skills: She is an adept merchant and is honest about the value (and profit margin) of items that she deals in. She prefers to deal in magic weapons and armor, and frequently has a few items on hand.

Values/Motivations: She is building up wealth to repay a very old family debt.

Behavior: She is calm, but will become angry if someone tries to trick or steal from her.

Useful Knowledge: She knows of all criminal organizations in all of the places she visits, and is more than willing to share portions of it to those who might take care of “her problems”.

Mannerism: She often fidgets with a well worn coin from a lost kingdom. In quiet moments, she frequently sighs from the burden that only she can bear.

4E NPC 00004 – Brethen, owner of the Stumbling Horse.

Occupation: Public House Proprietor

Physical Description: As far as any of his customers can tell, he has worn the same set of noble’s clothes every day for the last ten years, which is given ample evidence by the smell, wear, and stains on them. He has grown the oily remnants of his hair down to his waist. His face, once hansom, has seen one too many grease fire to grow the beard that he thinks he should have.

Attributes/Skills: Brethen is an excellent cook and is able to create wonders even with the most meager of materials.

Values/Motivations: For Brethen, true wealth is always out of reach, though he would not hesitate to compromise his standards for the right price.

Behavior: Harmless flirtation is a hobby for this married man, as is local and regional gossip.

Useful Knowledge: Brethen knows details on every one of his customers and is willing to share it with any who ask. He also believes he knows the habits and practices of a traveling merchant who he doesn’t like very much.

Mannerism: He carries himself as a man 20 years younger, strutting to and fro, flirting with every woman, and giving a pat on the back to every man.

4E NPC 00003 – Brenna of the Fire Riders

Occupation: Leader of a Bounty Hunting Gang known as the “Fire Riders”

Physical Description: She is well armed and armored woman with great personal bearing that belies her shorter stature. Her appearance is unremarkable, though her black hair is well kept, if a bit short.

Attributes/Skills: Tracking comes naturally to her, as does fighting, and a willingness to share those skills with those who interest her.

Values/Motivations: She is a loaner, and an organizer, she feels that with effort, the wild lands could be reclaimed from the blighted.

Behavior: Normally clam, if she is in pursuit of a bounty she is single minded and relentless.

Useful Knowledge: She is a veteran hunter of those things that crawl in the wilderness, and knows much of the lore of the land. She is also well versed in the topography and knows the locations where the blighted ones typically hide.

Mannerism: She prefers to stand, and is reluctant to sleep. When taking to non humans, she can hardly keep the distain (or disgust) from her voice.

4E NPC 00002 – Anta the Handless, Survivor of the Battle of Green Blades

Occupation: Street Beggar

Physical Description: An older woman, horribly scarred by evil magic’s and wicked blades, she has lost all possibility of lively hood and now depends upon the charity of others.

Attributes/Skills: She was a very skilled warrior, but her injuries prevent her from doing much more than talking in her wheezing, croaking voice.

Values/Motivations: Life is a struggle for her, but she doesn’t steal, and always shares what she has with others in her situation.

Behavior: She is often seen watching crowds at the market, her bowl in front of her, smiling honestly at anyone who passes by.

Useful Knowledge: She is well versed in the history of the region, town and its inhabitants. Although she is not nosy, she is often treated as though she is invisible, and thus, knows much of the town’s people’s secrets.

Mannerism: She spends the day sitting, or occasionally crawling from place to place quite nimbly with a smile on her half scarred face.

4E NPC 00001 – Gerund, Leader of The Watch

Occupation: Head Town Guard.

Physical Description: He is small brutish, narrow-minded, blond haired dullard of man who struts about town in his shiny piecemeal armor.

Attributes/Skills: As a devout follower of Pellor, Gerund has come to master a few, simple, priestly magic’s and knows much of the rituals and theology of his deity.

Values/Motivations: He enjoys using his authority to make others miserable. He believes that happiness here will be paid for in the afterlife.

Behavior: Gerund spends his days grumbling and barking at every smiling person he meets.

Useful Knowledge: He is well versed in the history of Pellor’s Church (both official, and secret), as well as being a major player in its political arm.

Mannerism: To those who are down or hurting, he shows great compassion and charity, everyone else he treats fools.

Choices to Make: 4E vs 3.5 vs Pathfinder

At this moment I am debating if I should: switch to 4th ed (though I do plan to run a game in 4ed as an experiment); Stick with 3.5 in an OGL form; or Start using Paizo's Pathfinder alpha rules for D&D NPC generated on this site. Admittedly, in the past, I have posted precious few NPC stat block here, which was and still is the intent of this site.

D&D 4th
Pros: NPC generation is very easy, as equipment is largely irrelevant, as are feats and skills.
Cons: The SGL is a bit restrictive AND currently Wizards of the Coast has not published their Web Site licensing terms, which I fear may be even more restrictive in terms of what I can include in a stat block.
Comments: I do like, at first blush, D&D 4th Ed, but some of the licensing unknowns scare me. I am sadden by what they have done to the economy (not that D&D ever had any real economic balance or realism). I like how, even at 30th level, a full blown PC will still be relatively simple and concise. I do like how encounters are group vs. group. I also like how it mechanically encourages teamwork.

D&D 3.5 OGL
Pros: Nice licensing terms, but if I go this route I might be restricted in what I publish in 4th Ed terms. A further benefit is the wealth of material both official and 2nd party. Finally, there are a number of tools that make creating NPC less intensive. I also have some issues with the balancing, especially with multi-class characters.
Cons: NPC generation is very cumbersome, In fact I pretty much have to use a tool like HeroForge or PC Gen to create characters. I am further limited by the fact that the tools, for the most part do not produce the Stat block format that I would prefer (DMG II format).
Comments: Creating a arcane spell caster is the most difficult task even with the tools, as first you must select the spells, then choose which spells they would typically have selected for the day.

Pazio's 3.5 Pathfinder Alpha.
Pros: Equipping and creating NPC's seems simpler than standard 3.5. I believe that the licensing is reasonably flexible with regard to what I want to do with it.
Cons: This rule system is still in Alpha, which means it can and will change. The Beta rule set wont be available until August of this year. And given that it is a 3.5 derivation, it may have some of the same balancing issues that 3.5 has. HeroForge has a few tools to assist in NPC generation. It's another system to learn.
Comments: The NPC generation rules are short, succinct and to the point. The question of "how much equipment" does this person have is easily answered. The mutability and current incompleteness of the rule set is less than desirable.

Generic System Less NPC's
Pros: No numbers to crunch, no balance issues, very flexible; Non-genera specific; Not RPG specific.
Cons: More work for you the reader as you are required to create the stat block and balance the NPC with your game.
Comments: Most of the NPC sketches that I have created so far have been of this nature. The Base NPC's do not specify a setting; assume a race; technology level; or even the gender of the NPC. In fact I had some hope that writers might stumble upon the generics and find a use for them in non-rpg writing.

I don't plan to make a decision tonight, or even this month: I've got an Adventure to write.

WoAdWriMo: The Plan

For World Adventure Writing Month I plan to create a D&D 4th Ed adventure for the Epic Levels of 21 to 24. It's a some what daunting task I admit but it should be fun. I plan to break it up into 3 parts:

Part 1, Ascensions' Door: has the party pursuing a BBEG to the Elemental Dome. I estimate 12 encounters using Wizards' two page encounter format (24 pages) . There will be another 4 pages of background, 3 new magic items (1 page), 8 new monsters (mostly in the elemental theme, I guess 3 to 5 pages for this), 2 full page maps (over land and temple layout).

Part 2, Temple of Ascension: is set on a series of islands deep in the astral sea, I figure 18 encounters with a final battle against the BBEG, hopefully just prior to their ascension to god status. If they succeed, there are all of the materials and info for becoming a god them selves (which would then lead into part 3). In the case of Failure, BBEG ascends to god hood and the players are tasked with ridding the universe of the BBEG.

Part 3, To Kill a God/Setting up house: - is a hypothetical successor to part 2, as the players attempt to destroy the newly formed god (from part 2) OR set up shop in a newly created realm as gods them selves, or something.

Of course, given the amount that I have written so far (you are pretty much looking at it). My plans may change, fall apart or decompose into so much compost.

4E Session - Character Generation

Due to absences our usual session of Giant Smash (3.5 D&D port of the classic module Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl run by Bill) or Geth Blast (A Gurps port of Mass Effect run by Rob) had to be scrapped. So instead my victi... er fellow players started generating characters for my D&D 4th Ed game that I will be running.

Stephen chose to be a human Paladin with a ranger ability by way of a multi class feat.
Andrea is going to be a Warlock.
Bill has created a Dragonborn Warlord.

Dave, Rob, Laura, and Kevin were not in attendance.

Over all the session went well aside from torrents of not entirely unfounded criticism from Stephen, which is fine, it's the way that Stephen is. Most of his complaints were around layout and editing issues, with a smattering of arbitrary summary "is broken" judgments.

I probably won't be running the game until early fall, but that should almost be enough time to prepare.

Snork
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Snorkey: is posting.