How Do You create a Group of Monsters/NPCs

[Pagangamer]

OK , stupid question , but here goes, HOW do you create a group of monsters, and or Npcs. Like a band of Orcs, or Harpies or mob of angry towns people. I mean the basic formula for 1 of anything i get the jist But creating groups is hard, do i have to individually stat everything down to the last skill. A group of 5 orcs would take forever. And i dont want the same stats for all 5 , some would be weaker than others. Is there an easy way to do this..??

[Cinos]

Unless there's a good reason to make them the same (like a band of highly individual characters who will act as the key leadership and a group of villians for a longer plot), just make one orc, then copy and paste. There's no need to get into the nitty gritty for just random orc bandits, they can be just fine with cloned stats, and don't worry about every little skill, just worry about the big picture important stuff. Maybe toss survival and sneak at them, and the basic 'getting around' skills like climb and swim, and a fight skill or two, enough to cover their key W.P's and like body building. Then affix some average-ish stats fluxed for what you want them for (perhaps pull out a point or two in I.Q and M.A if they're pretty low ranking bandits and add them to P.S and P.E or Spd, if the group is a lot more refined and advanced, perhaps just throw a few free attribute points at them where they need to be).

People over think the need for insane work (in all RPG's really) when that's just utterly a waste of time, more so if the character is just there to act as a combat barrier or threat.

[Bill]

If you're not interested in using the average stats to represent all representatives of a group of monsters, you've more or less set yourself up to do the more difficult task of statting them individually. Honestly, it's a waste of time. Players don't care and usually won't notice if every orc they murder is identically statted out. Alternatively, I suppose you could use the average stats but roll HP and SDC for each creature individually. That would give you some variation without writing each of them separately.

[kiralon]

If they are combat fodder I do a spreadsheet basically
down the side is hp, sdc, armour type, ar, sdc, strike, parry, dodge, damage, weapon, weapon damage, shield, class of equipment.
then across the top I use a name generator to give me a group of names
First one is usually the leader and is tougher, second is second in command so tough and the rest are average
the toughest and tough ones have higher hp better weapons and combat bonuses, the rest are just random.

make a few different classes of equipment very poor, poor, mediocre, ok, good, very good and then its easy to tell the pc's what they find on the bodies.
i.e mediocre (standard orc for me)
each orc has
2d6 gold
1d6 days food (%50 chance rotten)
1 set of dirty clothes
1 set of armour (damaged)
Weapon (1=club, 2=shortsword, 3=shortsword and shield, 4=longsword, 5=longsword and shield, 6=pick)
Ranged weapon 1-4=no, 5=sling, 6=shortbow with 2d6 arrows

once you get the start work out of the way its pretty easy, and if you are handy with spreadsheets easy to automate

[Damian Magecraft]

Here are a couple of tools I use to shorten the time invested in throw away NPCs.
I have a Hierarchy of Villainous NPCs I use
(I wrote these up for some Supers and Spy games I was running but they can apply to any setting)

Mooks:
these are the cannon fodder of the BBEG; consequently they are not expected to last long (1Hit wonders... I dont usually bother with stating them) the BBEG will have 100s to 1000s of these guys

Toughs:
these are the lowest level leaders in an organization; They too are not expected to last long (2 or 3 hits and they drop; I note their HP which is of average quality) 10% of Mooks are Toughs

BBAs (Billy Bad Asses):
These are the highest ranking mooks and toughs. They are still not expected to do much more than slow the heroes down. They will have one or two unusual bonuses noted down. HP are slightly above normal. (it may take a hero a full melee or two to deal with just one)

Lieutenants:
These guys look and act like BBAs. But they are much tougher; They will have full combat stats (PS, PP, PE, SPD, Strike, Parry, Dodge, Damage, HP), above average HP may wear armor.

Capos:
These are the Jaws and Odd Jobs of the BBEG: They get full stat treatment.

BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy):
full stats, Back story, Motivations, Etc...

For non villain NPC (the everyday folks) I run the concept of averages...
Until needed in the foreground the "extras" are assumed to be perfectly average.
That is until the players interact with them and personalities start to come to the fore.

For quick stat gens I use the following.
Average numbers by dice code
2d6 = 7
3d6 = 10/11
4d6 = 14
5d6 = 17/18
6d6 = 21

to determine below average subtract the number dice from the average listed.
Examples:
a human with a below average PS (3d6) would be 7/8 (10/11 minus 3)
a wolfen with below average PS (4D6) would be 10 (14 minus 4)

To determine above average add the number of dice to the average.
Examples:
A human with an above average PS (3D6) would be 13/14 (10/11 plus 3)
A wolfen with an above average PS (4D6) would be 18 (14 plus 4)

Higher or lower stats than that are reserved for "named" NPCs (Lieutenants, Capos, and BBEGs).

for armor/weapons i keep the gear sections of the games bookmarked with colored tabs. (same goes for the stat bonuses chart).

[Lukterran]

Just keep it basic and make clones of the same NPC for groups. Adjust a bonus up+ or down- a point for combat bonuses or switch out a weapon type to make them individual if you want.


This is normally how PF does it. (Example from Old Ones book)

The Orcs
1st level mercenary fighters or thieves
Weapons: Spear, short sword or battleaxe and dagger.
Armor: Padded, A.R. 9, S.D.C. 15
Bonuses: One attack per melee, +4 to damage, +1 to strike, parry, and
dodge.
Hit Points: 16; S.D.C.: 16
Attacks Per Melee: Two

Ogres
2nd and 3rd level mercenary fighters
Weapons: Bastard or long sword, ball and chain, large spear and dagger.
Armor: Studded leather, A.R. 13, S.D.C. 38.
Bonuses: Two attacks per melee, +2 to strike, +3 to parry and dodge.
Hit Points: 24; S.D.C.: 30
Attacks Per Melee: Two
Notes: Half will be on horseback. Often accompanied by 2-8
trained coyotes.

Goblin Scouts
They will always act as reconnaissance, scouting ahead and carrying
messages to and from Baca.
2nd to 4th level rangers or mercenary fighters.
Weapons: short bow, throwing axe, and short sword.
Armor: Studded leather, A.R. 13, S.D.C. 38.
Hit Points: 20; S.D.C.: 15
Attacks Per Melee: Two or Three
The pack animals are captured ponies or stolen work horses.

[Pagangamer]

Thanks guys, im running a fantasy campaign, and just getting into the swing of things, so i keep the mind set of the main guys im making, but was looking for faster ways to come up with groups of Monsers, or what have you. Troops an the like. Im gonna try some of this, any other ideas pass em on..

[pblackcrow]

I've done some cards, for the NPCs. Everything you need to know can usually (not always) fit on a 3/5" cards. I use one to mark off the ISP, PPE, SDC, and HP of them as needed. Name, important stats, weapon, bonus, and damage, a few skills, armor, etc.

[Sir Dellis]

For my campaigns, I only roll full stats for a npc that will be used in more then 1 session. I roll the 3 main physical stats, PS, PP, PE of whatever monster race I am using, select mercenary as their occ, add necessary sdc and add hit points based on level. I roll these stats to add some variety to the npcs that pretty much doomed to die anyways, it makes combat more interesting and a bit more realistic instead of the carbon copies.