Hi all, sorry if this has been covered before, but I was wondering if anybody could suggest a good book for detailing NPCs, maybe giving a few examples of some with stats, like a bestiary of NPCs, (peasants, lords, servants etc). I'm looking to run my first session to try and give our primary storyguide a break for a session or two!
I have looked at some of the pdf previews of some books on e23, and "A Medieval Tapestry" seems ideal, except that its for 4th ed, and (if I understand correctly) character design was one of the biggest overhauls for 5th ed, so is getting a 4th ed book primarily for character descreptions and stats really worth it?
Anyway can anyone suggest some good books which would have some sections or examples of some characters, they dont have to be ready to play, even just a few different examples of the different classes to get a better idea of how their relative stats would look, and I could then adapt them and create new ones with that foundation. Or does anyone own "A Medieval Tapestry" and is it actually ok for 5th ed? If possible I would prefer if the books were available in pdf format, but if not its not a dealbreaker
Again sorry if this topic has come up before, and many thanks in advance
In addition to the stat blocks in Covenants, Grogs has "Advancement Packages" which make writing up a fully detailed NPC a matter of a few minutes work. Very handy.
As said, Grogs is handly for creating mundanes, both grog and companion level characters quite fast. It can even be used for Hermetics quite easily using more of the sorcerer (maybe the name is something else) training package.
Magi of Hermes is excellent as a source for NPC magi. I populated 2 tribunals with characteristics from that book alone. Good source of character ideas as well.
Tales of Mythic Europe has some stats for Irish and normans slugging it out in Ulster.
Covenants has some stats for covenfolk as well.
I am not sure, but lords of men might have something as well.
In any case character creation changed, but the 4th edition characters can still be used quite easily in 5th edition. I do that all the time. If you go the warrir route you will have to amalgamate some of their combat skills and change their combat totals slightly as a consequence, but they are fully usable under the current system.
interesting. I have been unable to get SR 10-12 so far basically because I do not have time to give them a proper read and so have delayed the acquisition (otherwise they would be likely to fall in the "to read" folder and be forgotten, something I would not like to happen). Thanks for the pointer.
Depends on what you want to do with the NPCs. If you are looking for accurate combat stats, it is going to be off -- the changes from ArM4 to ArM5 are too big in my opinion. For social interactions and skills and such the stats are "close enough" for me. Your mileage may vary.
You might find it useful to browse around people's Saga Web sites and see what character sheets you can grab. (Yes, this is a shameless plug for Project: Redcap). Ditto with the online games on the Atlas forums.
Well, since we're doing shameless plugs... Hardwick Manor (which is on Redcap, under Stonehenge) has stats for all our current and former PCs, the whole manor staff and a couple of NPCs. (There is a little house-rule weirdness there, but not a lot).
Wow, cheers for all the replies, load of great advice here.
And feel free to shameless plug away, I must look into this project redcap. Feel free (if it's allowed of course) to link me up to any such sagas etc that you think are good examples. I'll definitely look into the hardwick manor.
basically because I do not have time to give them a proper read and so have delayed the acquisition (otherwise they would be likely to fall in the "to read" folder and be forgotten, something I would not like to happen). Thanks for the pointer.