The NPC Generator:
by Gerald Arthur Lewis
&&& When running a free-form campaign, it’s sometimes hard to quickly come up with good NPC’s. So I developed a way to generate non-player characters when you’re in a pinch. The following tables are not always meant to be used together. Some information rolled on one table may contradict information on another. In this case, I suggest going with what you think would make for the most interesting encounter. Good luck, and I hope you get as much use out of it as I do.
Table One: NPC Race (1d20)
1_____-Aarakocra
2-6____Dwarf
7-9____Elf
10_____Half Elf
11_____Half-Giant
12_____Halfling
13-17__Human
18_____Mul
19_____Thri-Kreen
20_____Special (roll on table 2)
Table Two: Special NPC Races (1d8)
1_____- Deld
2_____- Jozhal
3_____- Nikaal
4_____- Pterran
5_____- Ssuran
6_____- Tarek
7_____- Tohr-Kreen
8_____- Villichi
Table Three: Social Class (1d20)
1-10_____-_ Slave
11-15_____- Freeman -- Laborer
16-19_____- Freeman -- Merchant
20_____-__- Noble
Table Four: Occupation (1d20 or 1d100)
1 Street Performer
_____- 1 Acrobat
_____- 2 Prestidigitationist
_____- 3 Bard -- Singer
_____- 4 Bard -- Instrument
_____- 5 Juggler
2 Shady Character
_____- 1 Thief
_____- 2 Pick Pocket
_____- 3 Pick Pocket
_____- 4 Bard -- Poisons
_____- 5 Magical Component
_____- Vendor
3 Shady Character
_____- 1 Gambler
_____- 2 Slaver
_____- 3 Spy
_____- 4 Assassin
_____- 5 Pick Pocket
4 Mage
_____- 1 Defiler
_____- 2 Defiler
_____- 3 Preserver (Table5)
_____- 4 Preserver (Table5)
_____- 5 Special (Table6)
5 Slave
_____- 1 Gladiator
_____- 2 Gladiator
_____- 3 Soldier
_____- 4 Soldier
_____- 5 Soldier
6 Slave
_____- 1 Artist
_____- 2 Artisan
_____- 3 Concubine
_____- 4 Domestic
_____- 5 Indentured Scholar
7 Gladiator
_____- 1 Ex-Gladiator
_____- 2 Jaszt
_____- 3 Champion
_____- 4 Slave
_____- 5 Infamous Gladiator
8 Fighter
_____- 1 Mercernary
_____- 2 Mercernary
_____- 3 Soldier
_____- 4 Soldier
_____- 5 Ranger
9 Guard
_____- 1 City Guard
_____- 2 City Guard
_____- 3 City Guard
_____- 4 Body Guard (Table 7)
_____- 5 Body Guard (Table 7)
10 Cleric
_____- 1 Earth
_____- 2 Air
_____- 3 Fire
_____- 4 Water
_____- 5 Para (Table 8)
11 Beggar
_____- 1 Lepper
_____- 2 Broken Leg
_____- 3 Broken Arm
_____- 4 False Injury
_____- 5 Legless/Armless
12 Tradesman
_____- 1 Weapon/Armor
_____- 2 Engraver
_____- 3 Baker
_____- 4 Butcher
_____- 5 Carpenter
13 Tradesman
_____- 1 Gravedigger
_____- 2 Mason
_____- 3 Weapon (Table 9)
_____- 4 Architect
_____- 5 Engineer
14 Craftsperson
_____- 1 Weaver
_____- 2 Weaver
_____- 3 Clothing
_____- 4 Embroiderer
_____- 5 Basket Maker
15 Merchant
_____- 1 Water Vendor
_____- 2 Arms Vendor
_____- 3 Mounts
_____- 4 Slaves
_____- 5 Food
16 Merchant
_____- 1 Water
_____- 2 Water
_____- 3 Spell Components
_____- 4 Slaves
_____- 5 Food
17 Laborer
_____- 1 Slave
_____- 2 Slave
_____- 3 Slave
_____- 4 Freeman
_____- 5 Freeman
18 Noble
_____- 1 Farm Owner
_____- 2 Farm Owner
_____- 3 Farm Owner
_____- 4 Slaver
_____- 5 Merchant House
19 Templar
_____- 1 Low Level (Table 10)
_____- 2 Low Level (Table 10)
_____- 3 Low Level (Table 10)
_____- 4 Low Level (Table 10)
_____- 5 Mid Level (Table 11)
20 Templar
_____- 1 Mid Level (Table 11)
_____- 2 Mid Level (Table 11)
_____- 3 High Level (Table 12)
_____- 4 High Level (Table 12)
_____- 5 Sorcerer-King
Table 5: Veiled Alliance (1d10)
_____- 1-5 In VA
_____- 6-10 Not in VA
Table 6: Special Mages (1d6)
_____- 1 Arena Mage
_____- 2 Necromancer
_____- 3 Illusionist
_____- 4 Cerrulean
_____- 5 Shadow
_____- 6 Myrmellion
Table 7: Body Guard’s Employer(1d10)
_____- 1-5 Templar
_____- 6 Noble
_____- 7-10 Merchant
Table 8: Paraelement (1d4)
_____- 1 Magma
_____- 3 Silt
_____- 2 Rain
_____- 4 Sun
Table 9: Weapons (1d12)
_____- 1-4 Obsidian
_____- 5-8 Wood
_____- 9-11 Bone
_____- 12 Metal
Table 10: Templar Position (1d8)
_____- 1-2 Removers of Waste
_____- 3 Movers of Grain
_____- 4 Minor Construction
_____- 5 Disease Control
_____- 6 Maintenance of Gardens
_____- 7 Maintenance of Roads
_____- 8 Maintenance of Walls
Table 11: Mid Level Templar Position (1d8)
_____- 1 Tax Collection
_____- 2 Major Construction
_____- 3-4 Slave Control
_____- 5 Grain Distribution
_____- 6 Gate Monitor
_____- 7 Assigner of Permits
_____- 8 Riot Control
Table 12: High Level Templar Position (1d6)
_____- 1 Coin Distribution
_____- 2 Construction
_____- 3 Planning
_____- 4 Mayor of the City
_____- 5 Governor of the Farmlands
_____- 6 Aid to the King
Table 13: Motives/Actions
NOTE: This table is vague at best, giving only slight hints as to what the NPC will do in the presence of the PC’s. Find the NPC’s occupation, and match it as closely as possible to the appropriate motive category. All rolls are made on a 1d10.
Street Performer
_____- 1-8 Looking for money
_____- 9 Being harrassed
_____- 10 Being robbed
Slave
_____- 1-3 Being whipped
_____- 4-9 Carrying on duty
_____- 10 escaping
Mage
_____- 1-2 Looking for the Veiled Alliance
_____- 3-4 Being arrested
_____- 5-7 Looking for components
_____- 8-9 Looking to hire PC’s
_____- 10 Being stoned
Tradesman
_____- 1-7 Going about business
_____- 8 Being harrassed
_____- 9 Looking for materials
_____- 10 Being robbed
Merchant
_____- 1-6 Going about business
_____- 7 Selling poor quality items
_____- 8 Selling contaband
_____- 9 Being harrassed
_____- 10 Being robbed
Craftsperson
_____- 1-2 Creating good item of trade
_____- 3-5 Defacing others’ works that
_____- are being sold
_____- 6-8 Creating poor quality item
_____- 9 Being harrased
_____- 10 Being robbed
Laborer
_____- 1-3 Constructing new city walls
_____- 4-6 Building home
_____- 7 Carrying materials (dropping materials)
_____- 8 Making repairs to walls/house/ etc...
_____- 9 Repairing city wall
_____- 10 Being robbed
Gladiator
_____- 1-3 Going to arena
_____- 4-6 Coming from arena
_____- 7-9 Training
_____- 10 Escaping (if slave)
Fighter
_____- 1-3 Looking for work
_____- 4-6 Brawling
_____- 7-9 Working for someone else
_____- (attacking the PC’s)
_____- 10 Looking for a fight
Beggar
_____- 1 Leper
_____- 2-3 Drunk
_____- 4-5 Begging for food
_____- 6-8 Begging for water
_____- 9-10 Begging for ceramics
Cleric
_____- 1-3 Looking for converts
_____- 4-6 Healing another
_____- 7-8 Performing ritual (marriage)
_____- 9 Being harrassed
_____- 10 Doing act of evil/good
Shady Character
_____- 1-6 Targetting PC’s
_____- 7-9 Needs PC’s help
_____- 10 Harrassing PC
Guard
_____- 1-5 Harrasses PC’s
_____- 6-7 Harrassing others
_____- 8-10 Asks for levy (if city guard)
Noble
_____- 1-4 Whipping slave
_____- 5-6 Harrasses PC’s
_____- 7 Harrassing other
_____- 8-9 Travelling home
_____- 10 Travelling to other city