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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

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Gamemastery Guide

Chapter 5: NPC Gallery

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
Monsters and PCs aren't the only inhabitants of your world. Though they might not be heroes, NPCs can play various roles in your game, such as calling PCs to adventure, serving as obstacles in social encounters, or opposing PCs in battle. This chapter presents almost a hundred NPCs for your game, plus rules to modify them to fit any particular niche.

Using the NPC Gallery

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
In this section, you'll find all kinds of NPCs across a variety of categories and roles for you to use in your game. Their levels span from –1 to 8, the range you most often need for stock characters. Since high-level opponents, major villains, ruling monarchs, and the like tend to be unique individuals, you'll likely create those NPCs specifically for the role they serve, using the rules for Building Creatures. But you can never have too many lower-level NPCs on hand when the PCs unexpectedly take an unusually keen interest in an NPC or pick a fight at a roadside tavern.

The level listed on an NPC's stat block is their level assuming they're used in combat; they should be able to hold their own as well as any other creature of that level. But many of these NPCs are primarily noncombatants who are much more skilled in their occupation than they ever would be in combat. To that end, those specialist NPCs' entries also mention a higher level that you would use when the PCs have to compete against them in their area of expertise.

Chapter Map

The chapter divides NPCs into 18 sections to make it easier for you to find the types of characters you need for your game.

Customizing NPCs

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
The NPCs in this gallery are all humans with no languages besides Common. In some cases, such as human-centric Taldor where Common is the official language, you can most likely use the NPCs in this section as written. But more often, you'll need to make minor adjustments to the details to portray a particular NPC. Since these stat blocks present the most basic possible version for each character, you shouldn't need to remove any statistics or abilities unless your NPC can't speak Common.

The next few sections provide guidelines and ancestry adjustments you can use to quickly customize a default NPC.

Organization and Deity Templates

In addition to the templates in this book, the Pathfinder Lost Omens Character Guide presents theme templates to quickly and easily make these NPCs members of various organizations. If you're looking for adherents of a specific deity, Pathfinder Lost Omens Gods & Magic offers a theme template that allows you to customize an NPC to fit any deity, or a deity of your own creation!

Adjusting Level

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
Sometimes you'll need an NPC that fills a particular role—say an angry drunk— but the level in the stat block presented isn't the right fit for your group. You can start by applying the elite or weak adjustments to adjust the NPC's level by 1 in either direction.

If you need to change the NPC's level beyond that, use the values from the tables in Building Creatures, and add or remove special abilities as necessary to suit the NPC's new level.

Changing Alignment

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
Aside from some obviously aligned NPCs, like the villains, most of the NPCs in this gallery are presented as neutral. If you want to change an NPC's alignment, all you have to do is change their alignment trait. You might consider how the new alignment affects the NPC's personality and adjust their skills accordingly; for instance, a lawful evil teacher might have a higher modifier for Intimidation than Diplomacy.

Changing Languages

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 203
If you need a human character who speaks more languages to fit their backstory, nation of origin, or role, simply add those languages.

NPC Ancestry Adjustments

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204
To use one of the NPCs in this section to represent an NPC of a different ancestry, apply the adjustments below for the desired ancestry. These provide the basic features from that ancestry, like darkvision, altered Speed, and unique abilities like a halfling's keen eyes. For other ancestries, you can create similar templates following the same format. In addition to these base changes, you can add the effects of a specific heritage: you might apply the snow goblin heritage if your NPC is a Frostfur goblin and you want them to have cold resistance. You can also give them an ancestry feat, or even adjust their ability scores and skills to reflect the new ancestry's strengths and weaknesses. For a half-elf, half-orc, or any other heritage essential to the character, you should always apply the heritage effect.

Dwarf

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204
  • Change the human trait to dwarf.
  • Add Dwarven to the NPC's languages.
  • Add darkvision.
  • Decrease the NPC's Speed by 5 feet. If the NPC already has a reduced Speed due their armor, consider applying the Unburdened Iron ancestry feat.

Elf

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204

Gnome

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204

Goblin

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204

Halfling

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204

Keen Eyes

Your eyes are sharp, allowing you to make out small details about concealed or even invisible creatures that others might miss. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus when using the Seek action to find hidden or undetected creatures within 30 feet of you. When you target an opponent that is concealed from you or hidden from you, reduce the DC of the flat check to 3 for a concealed target or 9 for a hidden one.

Making a Specialist

Source Gamemastery Guide pg. 204
These NPCs contain several specialists, such as barristers and navigators, who are a higher-level challenge at their specialty than in combat, and often have a special ability related to it. To make your own specialists, you can easily switch out skills, but you might want to use the following special abilities to make those NPCs more evocative!

Butter Up (emotion, mental) When someone eats a dish or treat made by this NPC, the NPC can attempt a Baking Lore, Cooking Lore, or similar check against that creature's Will DC, with the same results as the Make an Impression action of Diplomacy. If more than one creature partakes, the NPC uses the same check result against each creature's Will DC.

Call Your Bluff When gambling, the NPC may use Games Lore to Sense Motive instead of Perception.

Child Care When treating infants, the NPC can use their Midwifery Lore skill in place of Medicine, and can use Medicine's trained actions on infants.

Find Footing [one-action] (concentrate) The NPC attempts an Architecture Lore, Engineering Lore, or similar skill check to find a stable path across uneven ground. This grants them and anyone they share this information with a +2 circumstance bonus on Acrobatics checks to Balance across that ground.

Gone Fishing The NPC can use Fishing Lore to Track aquatic creatures or to Aid checks to Track them.

Local Lore When they first meet a given person from their home settlement, the NPC can automatically attempt one check to Recall Knowledge about that person. This uses the Lore skill for that settlement.

Quick Transcription The NPC can attempt to copy a document faster than normal, provided they don't alter the content. They attempt a Scribing Lore check, completing the task in half the time on a success (one-quarter on a critical success).