(Labyrinth Lord) Tweaks on NPCs in the Monster Stocker

NPC generation is tricky business.

Magic

Some campaigns are bereft of magic while others have it in abundance. As a starting place, I added the possibility of magic armor, shields, and weapons to be added to the NPC routines in the Monster Stocker. Rather than leaving the poor gals (and occasional guy) without some magical gear, I settled on functional chance based on level:

The chance of a magical weapon or set of armor is equal to 5% plus the level of the NPC * 5. For example, a 4th level NPC has a 25% chance of having magical gear. The percentage covers her primary weapon, armor and shield. Secondary weapons suffer a -20% penalty to being magical with a minimum set at 5%.

After looking at a few thousand results, the level of magic appears lower than what I expected. My campaigns trend toward magic being uncommon — not rare. I may be over analysing the results.

Personality Traits

In addition to the magical gear, I also added a personality trait line based partially from the Masks supplement and other sources. Keyword traits can never define the complexity of an individual. Treat them as nothing more than a starting place and adjust as you see fit. Occasionally you will see terms that appear to conflict. You can either to choose to deconflict them or imagine a deeper personality based off those rough traits.

Future Stuff

I still need to work in some level of treasure for the NPCs. Not lair level hoards. Something approaching a general level of magical gear and treasure people of level X may be carrying. I intend to lean toward sparse magic. Adding to scarcity is far easier than scratching off abundant items. Especially for filler results.

The PDF output is nearly done. Test site has it but the layout is still giving me some fits.

Tags: Labyrinth Lord, Monster Stocker