Create Adventure NPCs
Next, lets populate the locations we just created with some personalities. There are 2 types of NPCs - villains and other people. We will start with other people first.
We need to populate the town next to the water, in the upper portion of our map. This can be done using TableSmith, plus the town generator (in the extra tables that you downloaded). So, open up TableSmith, choose the 3e Town Generator, and follow the directions. You can export the resulting town to HTML format. I just created Old Redville, a complete town. Took only a couple of minutes.
We also need to generate some statistics for the Frontier Lands.
The Frontier Lands now have a bit more depth to them, plus some important pricing data. Not much, but it is a start!
We can now use tablesmith to generate any of these towns/cities whenever we want. I used Excel to manipulate the spreadsheets. If you don't have Excel, then download Openoffice (a free office suite) to use the spreadsheet.
Next, lets generate our Villains. I want to create a Mercenary
to assist our group, if I feel so inclined. This will be almost a
PC, so lets get a background setup. First, a statblock for our
fighter. I
pulled out my NPC Generator to generate this merc, along with the NPC
Equipment Generator, and the character history generator (all found in
the software page).
Finally, I did massage the data for a minute to make it consistant (for
example, I adjusted the AC, weapon focuses, etc....
Languages Spoken: Common, Terran.
Skill points: Ftr 16
Skills and feats: Climb +3,
Handle animal +3, Hide +1, Jump +5, Listen -2, Move silently +1, Ride
+5, Spot -2, Swim +5; Lightning reflexes, Weapon focus (mace, heavy),
Weapon focus (axe, thrown).
Possessions: Small Steel
Shield; ChainMail; Gauntlets; 5 Masterwork Throwing Axes; Heavy Mace
+1; Heavy Pick; Potion of Swimming; Potion of Cure Light Wounds (x3);
168 gp
Culture:
Nomadic
Family Type: Standard family
Native
Area:
Wilderness
Legitimate Birth: Yes
Social
Status:
Comfortable
Brothers/Sisters: 3
Survival
Adj:
0
Birth Order: Second Born
Read/Write:
Literate
Date of Birth: 24th day of the 1st month
Occupation:
Warrior
Place of Birth: In your home
Unusual
Birth Circumstances
You were born
with the following curse...
You now frequently fumble (10% per round).
You were born
with the following physical affliction...
You shrink 20-60% smaller (if 30%- DEX +1 and STR -1).
A mysterious
stranger bestows you the following gift at your birth...
a
mace
The sky darkens
when you were born (or moon and stars dim).
Significant
Childhood Events
You serve the
following patron...The head of a craft guild.
One of your
parents is distant and cold towards you.
Significant
Adulthood Events
You learn a new
weapon (DM choose).
You gain a
loyal friend...Half-Elf
After looking over the initial Random Adventure Outline, I see that we can use any monsters. Since the Frontier Lands are overrun with goblinoids, I will stick with Goblins. Opening up the Monster Database, I pulled out the stat block for Goblins. Makes it easy to reference, without having to go to the MM for details.
Goblin: CR 0.25; Small Humanoid (Goblinoid); HD 1d8; hp 4; Init +1;
Spd 30ft F 0ft S 0ft C 0ft B 0ft; AC 15; ATK Morningstar +1 melee; or
javelin +3 ranged; DAM Morningstar 1d8-1; or javelin 1d6-1; 5 ft. by 5
ft./5 ft.; SA ; SQ Darkvision 60 ft.; SV - Fort 2, Ref 1, Wil 0; Str 8,
Dex 13, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 8
Skills/Feats:
Hide +6, Listen +3, Move Silently +4, Spot +3
Notes:
They favor ambushes, overwhelming odds, dirty tricks, and any other
edge they can devise.
Goblins gain a +4 racial bonus to Move Silently checks. Goblin cavalry
(mounted on worgs) gain a +6 bonus to Ride checks and the Mounted
Combat feat (neither of these benefits is included in the statistics
block).
Goblin Characters
A goblin’s favored class is rogue. Goblin clerics can choose two of the
following domains: Chaos, Evil, and Trickery. Most goblin spellcasters
are adepts. Goblin adepts favor spells that fool or confuse enemies.
Special Abilities/Qualities:
Goblins speak Goblin; those with Intelligence scores of 12 or above
also speak Common.
Also, we have a tomb, plus a nocturnal predator. Those will be Skeletons. The nocturnal predator will be a band of 4 skeletons, doing something totally unrelated to this adventure. Just a random encounter. The other skeletons are inhabitants of the tomb.
Skeleton: CR 0.166; Tiny Undead (); HD 1/4d12; hp 1; Init +5; Spd
30ft F 0ft S 0ft C 0ft B 0ft; AC 13; ATK 2 claws +0 melee; DAM Claw
1d2-2; 2 1/2 ft. by 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.; SA ; SQ Undead, immunities; SV -
Fort 0, Ref 1, Wil 2; Str 6, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 11
Skills/Feats:
Notes:
Undead: Immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis,
stunning, and disease. Not subject to critical hits, subdual damage,
ability damage, energy drain, or death from massive damage.
Immunities (Ex): Skeletons have cold immunity. Because they lack flesh
or internal organs, they take only half damage from piercing or
slashing weapons.
Finally, here is the leader of the Goblins. A 4th level Cleric, capable of telling the Skeletons where to shove it when necessary, and capable of messing with the characters very well. I pulled out my NPC Generator to generate this goblin. I also used the 3e NPC Equiptment Generator to generate possessions for the Goblin. So, we spent about 15 minutes to generate an entire set of NPCs for this adventure.
Angi-caagah, male goblin Clr4: CR 4; Size S (3 ft., 2 in. tall); HD 4d8-4; hp 16; Init -1 (-1 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 10 (-1 Dex, +1 Size); Attack +4 melee, or +3 ranged; SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7; AL CN; Str 11, Dex 9, Con 9, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 10.
Languages Spoken: Gnoll, Goblin.
Skills and feats: Alchemy +3, Hide +3, Knowledge (nature) +4, Listen +3, Move silently +3.5, Spellcraft +8, Spot +3, Tumble +2; Extra turning, Lightning reflexes.
Possessions: This NPC [Clr 4] owns:
=======================
EQUIPMENT:
Masterwork Gauntlets; Sling; Masterwork Shortspear; Silver Sling
Bullets (x14); +1 Large Steel Shield; Scale Mail; Scroll [divine,
caster level 1; Shillelagh]; Scroll [divine, caster level 3;
Undetectable Alignment; Cure Light Wounds]; Scroll [divine, caster
level 3; Heat Metal; Hold Person]; [Approximately 60 pounds]
OTHER WEALTH: 7pp, 538gp, 5 Gems[70gp Onyx; 60gp Peridot; 10gp Tiger Eye; 50gp Carnelian; 11gp Turquoise; ]
Cleric Domains: Plant, Magic.
Cleric Spells Per Day: 5/4+1/3+1.