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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
GM Core / Chapter 2: Building Games / Building Creatures

Building NPCs

Source GM Core pg. 128 2.0
Creatures that are meant to cleave closely to character classes or intended to represent people rather than monsters are NPCs. They might face more scrutiny around their mechanics than creatures because a player can more directly compare their rogue to an NPC who acts like a rogue. That doesn't mean you have to build an NPC exactly like a PC, though.

You can build NPCs just like you would any other creature. If an NPC should work like they have a class, use the class features and feats of a suitable class to pick abilities, and look at both the class's proficiencies and attribute modifiers to determine how strong the NPC's statistics should be. Class Road Maps has prebuilt road maps for Player Core and Player Core 2 classes to get you started.

If the NPC isn't meant to work like they have a class (a baker, for example), instead build the character separately. You can create new abilities as needed to get the NPC's interactions with the PCs to express their theme and role in the story. These NPCs can be level –1 or level 0. Their capabilities are below those of PCs, and they should typically not use any class features or feats from PC classes. Creatures of these levels tend to be extremely simple.

It's highly recommended that you select NPC skills using proficiency ranks as you would a PC, though you don't need to be precise about the number of skill increases you give the NPC. You can give them earlier access to expert, master, or legendary proficiency if they're a skill-based NPC and better proficiency in narrow areas of expertise, like Engineering Lore for a tinker NPC.

Non-Combat Level

Source GM Core pg. 128 2.0
An NPC's level should represent their combat prowess. A common person might not be a combat threat, even if they're important or highly skilled, and they consequently have a low level. However, that doesn't mean they can't present a challenge in other types of encounters. This is represented by a non-combat level and tends to be specific to their area of expertise. For example, a barrister might be level –1 in combat but a 4th-level creature in an encounter related to legal matters.

This can go the other way as well, such as with a powerful combat creature that's not suited to social settings. This is usually the case with creatures untrained in mental skills. You can improvise this as you run the game, or you can plan ahead if you have something particular in mind.

Building an NPC's non-combat level is relatively simple. Choose the level you want the NPC to be for the type of non-combat challenge you have in mind and use the skill numbers for that level—typically high or even extreme. Some challenges, such as social challenges, require the creature to have a high Perception and Will, so in those cases, you should increase those values as well. These should be set at the moderate or high values for the non-combat level, usually, depending on how adept you want the NPC to be.

Non-Combat XP

Source GM Core pg. 128 2.0
The Experience Points gained for besting an NPC depend on how the party overcame them, because XP comes from overcoming a specific challenge. If the PCs defeat the NPC in a non-combat setting of the NPC’s specialty, the party gets XP based on the NPC’s non-combat level. If they just beat the NPC up, the XP would be based on the NPC’s creature level. Quite often, that means 0 XP and failure at the PCs’ objective; for instance, during a baking contest, if the PCs murder the other baker, not only would they be disqualified, but they would likely be charged with a crime.

PC-style Build

Source GM Core pg. 128 2.0
If you do choose to build an NPC fully using the PC rules, your NPC should generally end up being an appropriate challenge as a creature of their level. They will likely have lower statistics in some areas than if you had built them using the creature rules but more options due to their full complement of feats and class features. This is best saved for important, recurring NPCs, especially if they're meant to engage in social or exploration endeavors rather than just battles.

There are still some considerations and shortcuts that can expedite the process while ensuring the NPC works as intended.
  • The creature's treasure should follow the Treasure for New Characters rules. You'll need to account for this in your campaign's overall treasure. You might even want to give the NPC a higher-level item appropriate as a treasure allotment for the level.
  • You can expedite attribute modifier generation by making the starting attribute modifiers add up to +9, with no more than one modifier at +4 (and typically no more than one negative modifier). You can skip adding a background if you do this, but you might want to give the creature two skills, which includes one Lore skill, to represent the skills granted by a background.
  • It's not necessary to assign every skill feat, particularly for a higher-level NPC. You can just pick the most emblematic ones and gloss over the rest.
  • For general feats, Incredible Initiative and Toughness make good choices.
  • Most of the guidelines about choosing spells still apply, though you might want a few more utility spells that deal with non-combat challenges, particularly in low-rank slots.

Class Road Maps

You can use these suggestions when creating your road map to emulate a PC class, customizing as you see fit. You'll still need to look through the class to pick feats, weapons, and the like. Any statistic that isn't specifically listed can use moderate numbers.

You don't need to give an NPC all the abilities from its class—especially those that just alter numbers. Each class's entry lists several abilities that are good quick choices and make for more interesting encounters. This section includes the Player Core classes and those from Player Core 2 (alchemist, barbarian, champion, investigator, monk, oracle, sorcerer, and swashbuckler).

Alchemist Low Perception; high Crafting; high Int, moderate or better Dex or Str; low to moderate HP; moderate attack with bombs. Abilities Infused alchemical items, Quick Bomber if a bomber alchemist, a few other alchemist abilities; it's usually easier to give the alchemist their bomb items rather than use Quick Alchemy on the spot.

Barbarian High Athletics; high Str, high to moderate Con; high AC; high Fortitude; high HP; moderate attack and extreme damage (when raging). Abilities Rage, instinct ability and related feats, raging resistance

Bard Moderate Occultism, high Performance, high Charisma-based skills; high Cha; low Fortitude, moderate to high Will; low to moderate HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities spontaneous occult spellcasting as a bard of their level, composition spells, muse feats

Champion Low Perception; moderate Religion; high Str or Dex, moderate Cha; extreme AC; low Reflex; moderate attack and high damage. Abilities champion's reaction, devotion spells, divine ally and related feats, divine smite, exalt, feats based on cause, Shield Block

Cleric (Cloistered Cleric) High Perception; high Religion, moderate or high skill themed to deity; low AC; high Wis; low Fortitude, high Will; low to moderate HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities Prepared divine spellcasting as a cleric of their level; divine font; domain spells

Cleric (Warpriest) Moderate Perception; moderate Religion, moderate or high skill themed to deity; high Str, moderate Wis; high AC; low Reflex, high Will; high spell DC. Abilities prepared divine spellcasting as a cleric of their level; divine font, Shield Block

Druid High Perception; high Nature, moderate or high skill from order; high Wis; high Will; low to moderate HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities Prepared primal spellcasting as a druid of their level; order ability, order feats, and order spell for their order; Shield Block; add an animal to the encounter for animal order

Fighter High Acrobatics or Athletics; high Str or Dex; high AC; low Will; high attack and high damage. Abilities Bravery, Reactive Strike, Shield Block, a few fighter abilities and feats associated with a combat style

Investigator High Perception; high Society, high methodology skill, plus more skills than usual; high Int; low Fortitude, high Will; low to moderate HP; moderate attack and low to moderate damage before strategic strike plus high damage with strategic strike. Abilities Pursue a Lead, Devise a Stratagem, methodology action

Monk High Acrobatics, Athletics, or both; high Str or Dex, moderate Wis; high or extreme AC; moderate attack and high damage. Abilities Flurry of Blows, metal strikes, mystic strikes, perfected form, stance and related feats, ki abilities

Oracle High Religion, high mystery skill, moderate or high skill themed to deity; high Cha; low AC; low Fortitude, high Will; low to moderate HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities Spontaneous divine spellcasting as an oracle of their level; oracle mystery and related benefit, cantrip, and revelation spells, constant minor curse, activate moderate curse after casting a revelation spell

Ranger High Perception; moderate Nature and moderate to high Survival; high Str or Dex; high AC; moderate attack and high damage (or for a simpler ranger, remove Hunt Prey, and just use high attack and high damage). Abilities Hunt Prey, hunter's edge, nature's edge, masterful hunter, swift prey, companion or combat style and related feats

Rogue High Perception; high Stealth and Thievery, plus more skills than usual; high Dex (or key attribute for a specific rogue's racket); high AC; low Fortitude, high Reflex; low to moderate HP; moderate attack and low to moderate damage before sneak attack plus high or extreme damage with sneak attack. Abilities Sneak attack, surprise attack, deny advantage, debilitating strike, master strike, rogue's racket and related feats

Sorcerer Low Perception; moderate bloodline skills and high Charisma-based bloodline skills; high Cha; low AC; low Fortitude; low HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities Spontaneous spellcasting of a tradition based on bloodline as a sorcerer of their level, bloodline and related feats and spells

Swashbuckler High Perception; high Acrobatics, plus high style skill; high Dex; high AC; low Fortitude, high Reflex; moderate HP; moderate attack and low to moderate damage before precise strike plus high or extreme damage with precise strike. Abilities Panache, precise strike, Confident Finisher, swashbuckler's style (plus exemplary finisher at 9th level)

Witch Low Perception; high patron skill; high Int; low AC; low Fortitude; low HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities prepared spellcasting of a tradition based on patron as a witch of their level, familiar, witch's patron and related cantrip, hex, and spells

Wizard Low Perception; high Arcana; high Int; low AC; low Fortitude; low HP; low accuracy; high to extreme spell DC. Abilities prepared arcane spellcasting as a wizard of their level, Drain Bonded Item, school spell, and curriculum spells