I’m a bit confused so hopefully you can help me out.
With folks of the realm there are “creatures” without any hp. If a player attacks one, what should I do about it? Just put the best guess of horde, group, solitary or something else?
I’m also stuck on creating a npc that will be attacked by the players. If I use the monster creation rules… The npc isn’t a fighter and is solitary, but it doesn’t make sense for them to have 12 hp, so should I just put in the numbers that make sense?
Thanks
If a monster has no hp it probably means it is epic and can’t be killed by the pcs, like a storm giant or collossus.
NPCs are just monsters. You give them moves, HP damage and armor according to what you want to achieve with them. Remember that NPCs also have personalities and motivations, so write that into their moves. Eg
•Will lie to get food
•Pickpockets at every opportunity
Commoners!
Play them to their motivations, within but to the edge of their limitations. If the party attacks them, kill ’em. They’re fodder, no possible match for the awesomeness that is the party. But killing people has consequences.
I play that one hit over 1 damage kills common folk. A 7-9 or miss usually sets up the consequences of murdering folks (guards, good sammaritan cleric in the neighborhood, the king rescinds his quest and issues a writ of execution, whatever)
Thanks
What Sean said, and also: the hard part is not killing them. The hard part is their family and friends, their community, their god, and your own guilty conscience. You don’t even have to roll Hack and Slash, but you sure as hell have to deal with the consequences of murder.
(Which doesn’t mean you can’t get away with it, but it will at least take some creativity and maybe even some quick thinking or parleying. Or running.)
All right, I have an npc that will and can fight, but isn’t very proficient. They are solitary, but that is too many hp. I’m thinking of just adding a damage die and no ho stat. Or would you suggest a different method?
Go with what makes sense. If they couldn’t stand to THE Fighter or THE Wizard, give them no HP, but sure, maybe they can get a lucky hit in. (Sounds like Defy Danger!)
On the other hand, they must be pretty stupid if they are really willing to fight with no chance. So anyone willing to fight probably has a few HP, and maybe they bought some second-hand armor or protective spells. Feel free to give them a few HP and 1 Armor or something, to give the party more of an actual challenge.
The way I think of it, the Monsters without combat stats in the back are saying “combat is not interesting with this guy, so don’t bother.” They just run away or summon the guards or beg for mercy, or etc. At most, they try to lure you into a trap or something. Any fighting is over before it begins with those guys. If that’s not the case for your character, think about how much of challenge she would be in a stand-up fight with one of the best, and stat accordingly.
Thanks, yeah the npc wouldn’t be able to beat a fighter or wizard in a straight fight. They will wait until alone and back is turned then put a knife in the back (Do you do extra damage for players being “backstabbed”?). They won’t realize the awesome strngth of the adventurers compared to the average folk.
Sounds like an interesting situation! For backstabby damage, I’d consult the chart in the Playing the Game chapter under “Damage.” Probably a d6 or d8, or consider giving them the Weak debility instead, to make it truly mechanically impactful! http://book.dwgazetteer.com/playing_the_game.html
Good idea, thanks! I like the idea of giving the weak debility.
Relevant Actual Play : I ambushed one of my players (alone at the time) by having them Defy Danger (WIS) to sense the goblins-in-waiting before they sprung their trap. To kick off a session I probably would have just skipped the Defy Danger and thrust her right into the pickle. 7-9 result, and while she wasn’t blindsided one leapt out from behind her, stealing the sword out of her sheath. (Goblin-like behavior, right? Falls into “taking away the character’s assets.”) So now she’s been ambushed and is in a weaker position but the player still has tons of agency. They can negotiate (the goblins want a prisoner), she can fight with her magic (she was a sword-mage), etc.
She had a magic sword (sentient, can return to her of it’s own accord when called) so the ambush was ambushed. The first blow after her sword magically reappeared in her hands was a freebee, not a Hack and Slash (they couldn’t forsee this turn of events) killing one. She chucked it (Volley) into the one behind her, 10+ and high enough damage to be immediately fatal. When she turned to the survivor, the sword leaping back into her hand, he surrendered. This worked out beautifully, and as a fan of her character I loved it Now she’s got an exposition-providing minion to reveal the villian-of-the-day’s plan (at least from a grunt minion’s point of view)
Or by the Rules of Story, whenever an NPC declares their first name, last name, backstory, etc, they gain an HP, making them more and more relevant.