NPC archetype (and cross-type) generator
While blog-hopping yesterday, I found this great table for making compelling archetypal and unusual NPCs. I find it more nuanced and clever than many random tables, especially with the subtypes and chance for cross-type results.
It’s designed for medieval fantasy, but can easily be adapted and useful for Blades games: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxxIbZkFu4wdMmYwODM1MDMtOWY1Mi00NWEzLTkyYmUtZGQxZTIwMzBiNWY0/edit?num=50&sort=name&ddrp=1&layout=list#
It is originally by Roger Giner-Sorolla. What do you think? I’d love to hear if you use this in play.
EDIT: I put this and some flavor details from Blades into Google Sheets and tinkered around a bit. As a result, here’s a semi-automated generator allowing standard, loose, and fully random outputs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ukg80uE2ygvp2J4RmtJ3m8g2rrOLsUcF7-_bzX5PulI/edit?usp=sharing
Love this, it’s ace.
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The idea is nice, and the graphic is effective. However I feel the mechanics are “wrong”. I mean, every character type has only 5 possible associated traits, AND with 3 rolls is almost sure they come in play everytime almost the same.
So, almost EVERY witch will be “To be feared” “Insightful” “Scheming” or “To be feared” “Insightful” “Spiteful”. Not very “inspiring”. I think that every GM (even the greenest ones) can think to a “insightful, scheming witch”.
Why can’t you roll on the whole table??? So you could obtain a “Powerful, Honest and Lazy Witch”. Surely, a nice variation on the clichè that everyone already know.
Actually, as the creator of the table, with 4 years experience and hindsight I would tend to agree with Andrea – just roll d6:d6 on the table under the first two columns and use one of the last three depending on your view of how “light” or “dark” the character should be.
Even though the rule about going out of cliche for double rolls and 6’es does give a few unusual traits, I think my initial goal of having the table produce stock characters that statistically tend to follow cliches was overrated. You can generate such characters easily out of your head so the role of such a table should instead be to provide the unexpected.
For fun, I decided to make a pseudo-automated version of this chart in GSheets, and added the names/look/clothes lists from Blades in the Dark. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Ukg80uE2ygvp2J4RmtJ3m8g2rrOLsUcF7-_bzX5PulI/edit?usp=sharing
It’s not perfect, but I think it produces intriguing results. What do you think?
I modified it slightly to return three outcomes: standard, loose norm, and total random.
Loose Norm: roll d10 instead of d6 for columns: 1-2 = Enemy, 3-4 = Desire, 5=Good, 6=Neutral, 7=Bad, 8-10 = Distinctive Trait
Total Random: random enemy, desire, and a single random selection from all the Good, Neutral, and Bad results
I added a fourth outcome, Loose Tastes: Random Enemy and Desire, and then one selection from Good, Neutral, and Bad results aligned to the selected archetype.
Really nice, Adam Minnie ! It still needs a touch of adaptation to BitD, doesn’t it – somehow “High Fae” doesn’t quite cut it in haunted Duskwall.
Yeah for sure. I didn’t change any of the actual table results, just added on name/look/garb info. Actually, that’s a lie, I changed High Elf and Low Elf to High Fae and Low Fae respectively, since I thought that was at least a touch toward broader application beyond medieval fantasy. I also changed the gender probability from the original on a couple of the archetypes to align a bit more with my vision of Duskwall demographics.
On the other hand, I have strongly considered flavoring the demons in my Duskwall as powerful and messy unseelie fae.