[ArM5] NPC Question

[Andrew Gronosky]

Robert Barrett wrote:

>
> How do I get over the hump of generating NPCs for ArM games?  The 
> thought of writing them up from scratch is daunting, not only where 
> magi are concerned, but even in the case of NPCs like bandits or city 
> guardsmen.  What strategies or shortcuts do people use to make NPC 
> creation easier?

When I'm feeling lazy, I grab one of the templates from the rulebook or 
one of the Semita Errabunda characters from the Web site, make a few 
changes, and voila! I have also already stolen a character from 
Calebais, changed his name, and my players were none the wiser. ;-)

I keep meaning to make a kind of Rogues' Gallery of soldiers, 
highwaymen, and city guards to post to my Web site but I keep not 
getting around to it.  If I ever do that I will announce it on this list.

I use a spreadsheet to calculate combat stats.  I wrote the spreadsheet 
for my own use so it might be hard to figure out how to use it - but you 
can download it from my Web site.  It's for OpenOffice, which I believe 
is available for Mac (for no cost).  
http://home.comcast.net/~agronosky/ars_magica/index.html .  I would be 
interested in usability feedback to make the sheet better, if you try 
it.  I am not very experienced as a spreadsheet guy but I would like to 
get my sheet to the point where other people actually like it.

Other shortcuts - I'll often do just the Arts, reputation(s), and 
personality traits for an NPC magus and leave everything else blank.  
Using the rules for post-apprenticeship characters, I assume to a first 
cut that half of the NPC's total XP are invested in Arts and half are 
divided among Abilities, enchanted items, spell mastery, and so on.  
That assumption probably would not work for a Verditius or for an older 
magus - both of whom I think would accumulate more enchantments than 
younger magi of other Houses.  Assuming half of the XP are spent on 
Arts, you have 120 + (Hermetic Age x 15) XP to distribute.

Now that you mention this, I will give it more thought and see if I come 
up with other ideas.

-Andrew Gronosky