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Ethos Magazine 02, Podreczniki RPG, Ethos Magazine
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]Issue 2, March 2003
INSIDE
Bring Life to Your NPCs!
Explore the Ubar Valley!
Get Roleplaying Tips!
ALSO
Celtos: Using Celtic
Myths and Legends in
Your Game
Product Reviews
Short Fictions
Resources for Players &
DMs, Including:
3
New Prestige Classes
www.ethos.curvedspaces.com
Ethos Magazine: Issue 2, March 2003
CONTENTS
Monthly Columns
Editorial
2
News
2
CREDITS
Storycraft, Part 2: NPC Necessities
3
Editor
The Sojourner’s Diary: The Ubar River Valley
6
James Henley
Product Reviews
8
Staff Editors
Clayton Bunce
Celtos: Character Races in a Celtic Setting
9
Daniel Crocker
Chris Perkins
Features
Advanced Roleplay, Part 2: Character Interaction
15
Staff Writers
Ryan Boell
The Life of a Bard
17
Dominique Crouzet
Bruce Gulke
A Dragon’s Protection: Prelude
20
Chris Morris
Dimitrii Pavlov
Resources
Illustrators
John Bingham
The Dark Clown Circus
21
Herman Lau
John O’Connor
Open Game License
Cover Illustration
Open Game License, Version 1.0a
29
“A Dragon’s Protection”
by John O’Connor
Submissions
Copyright Information
‘d20 System’ and the d20 System logo are
trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a
subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and are used with
permission.
Some of this magazine, where marked, is Open
Game Content under the Open Game License
version 1.0a. All text and art not marked as Open
Game Content remain Copyright © 2003 of the
original author or artist, and is used with
permission by Ethos Magazine. You are free to use
this material for personal use, but commercial
distribution of the materials is prohibited without
the express permission of the copyright holder.
Ethos Magazine will accept submissions from
anyone as long as they follow the appropriate
guidelines at:
www.ethos.0catch.com/submissions.htm
Email your submissions to:
ethosmagazine@hotmail.com
www.ethos.curvedspaces.com
1
Ethos Magazine: Issue 2, March 2003
EDITORIAL
H
i,
Welcome to the second issue of Ethos Magazine. This issue is full of articles and resources, and will hopefully be just as good as
Issue One. Thanks, once again, to everyone who helped to make this issue, and to Steven, Morgan (TempesT) and Jeff at
The
d20 Magazine Rack
for their help. Also, thanks to our new staff members: Bruce Gulke and Chris Perkins, our new layout artist. If
you’ve come from
The Magazine Rack
then you might not know about the existence of
Ethos
’ own website at:
www.ethos.curvedspaces.com
.
At the website you can find details on our staff, as well as contact information and access to our mailing list, so you can be informed
when the next issue of Ethos is available by email. On the other hand, if you haven’t visited our pages at
d20 zines
, please do. You
can download all of our previous issues from there and visit our forum.
In this issue are the second installments of StoryCraft and The Sojourner’s Diary, both packed with information to help
with your roleplaying. Also, we have the second part of Advanced Roleplay, by yours truly, and The Life of a Bard, a piece of work
looking into the life of a typical bard in D&D and at the tools of the bard’s trade. This issue also presents a prelude for a series of
short stories, collectively entitled A Dragon’s Protection, which will be featured in future issues of Ethos.
For more information see the news section of the magazine. If you enjoy reading Ethos, then please join our forums at
ethos.proboards2.com
, and tell us. The forums are also a good place to socialise with Ethos staff, and keep in touch with the
latest news.
That’s all for this issue - see you next month,
James
Wales, UK.
James Henley, Editor.
NEWS
Ethos, Issue 3
Issue 3 of Ethos Magazine will be a special, themed issue. The magazine will present an entire new Dungeons & Dragons
campaign setting, based around the city of Crookhaven. Most of the details of this setting will appear in the magazine, including
stats for important and influential figures, maps of the most important places in the city, and ideas for adventure hooks in the city, as
well as a small adventure written by James Henley. In July of this year, the Ethos Magazine Press will also release a free PDF
sourcebook containing fuller details of Crookhaven and go into more detail about the area around the city. For more details and
previews of Crockhaven, the Corrupt City, visit the
Ethos
website at:
www.ethos.curvedspaces.com
and
The d20 Magazine Rack
at:
www.d20zines.com
COMING SOON!
Green Ronin Publishing
Pocket Magica –
February 2003
M&M GM Screen –
February 2003
Avatar's Handbook –
February 2003
Freedom City –
February 2003
Bastards & Bloodlines –
March 2003
For more details visit
www.greenronin.com
Malhavoc Press
Arcana Unearthed DM’s Screen & Player’s Guide-
August 2003
Arcana Unearthed Malhavoc Handbook I-
August 2003
The Diamond Throne Malhavoc Handbook II –
August 2003
Cry Havoc Event Book –
July 2003
Anger of Angels Sourcebook –
July 2003
When the Sky Falls Event Book –
April 2003
For mores details visit
Mongoose Publishing
The Quintessential Barbarian –
March 2003
Encyclopaedia Arcane: Dragon Magic:
Power Incarnate -
March 2003
The Tribe of Shadows -
March 2003
Armageddon 2089 Total War RPG:
War Machines of 2089 -
March 2003
The Quintessential Bard -
April 2003
Encyclopaedia Arcane:
Divination, The All-Seeing Eye -
April 2003
The Slayer's Guide to Kobolds -
April 2003
The Ultimate Game Designer's Companion -
April 2003
The Rookie's Guide to the Undercity -
April 2003
Earth 2089 -
April 2003
The Quintessential Gnome -
May 2003
The Slayer's Guide to Derro -
May 2003
Power Classes III:
Arcanist, Cabalist, Fool, Pirate -
May 2003
Encyclopaedia Arcane:
Conjuration, By Bell, Book and Candle -
May 2003
Behind Enemy Lines -
May 2003
The-Game-That-Cannot-Be-Mentioned -
May 2003
The Fiery Trial -
May 2003
For more details visit
2
Ethos Magazine: Issue 2, March 2003
by Ryan Boell
W
elcome to the second installment
of Story Craft, NPC Necessities. We
will look at how to define, remake
and create Non Player Characters.
While the DMG contains rules for
NPCs, it leaves many important
items out. NPCs can be anyone,
from diabolical villains to the Player
Characters' best friends. In terms of
creating a memorable NPC, the
DMG states, “An NPC with a hacking
cough and strong opinions about the
king is always more interesting than
Kiale, the 2nd level commoner.
Remember, NPCs aren’t just game
statistics, they are individuals with
personalities, quirks and opinions.”
DMG pg 149. While this is correct, it
fails to go into enough detail, and
that's what this article is about.
begin defining them, and even more
that should probably be avoided. In
an ongoing story where a new
character must be introduced
because of a development in the
plot, it is usually easiest to take the
requisites and then build the NPC
into them. For example, if your PCs
decide that they are going to travel
into the frozen northern lands, they
will probably need a guide. In this
case a local or, possibly,
pro
fessional traveler will be
say that Aristocrats and Experts will
not exist there - everyone has to
struggle to support themselves and
they do not possess the level of
technology required to maintain
expert knowledge of anything. By
knowing this and answering some of
the questions I've posed so far, it is
easy to piece together an idea of
what the NPC will be like; we have
created its concept.
Statistics / Attributes
It is often said that you should not
create an NPC around randomly
rolled Attributes; this is wrong. Role-
playing games are a unique media in
that, if you run out of ideas, you can
always randomly generate statistics
and use them as inspiration when
creating characters. Once you have
statistics created for the character,
you can judge and describe it, filling
in details and building a foundation
for its personality. Alternately, if you
do not have statistics, you can
analyze the existing concept or
description of the NPC, “You smell
musk, a body clad in strips of leather
scrapes against your armor as it
passes you in the marketplace. You
look back and see the bulky
silhouette of a man carrying an
awkward package disappear behind
the pavilion.” What are the attributes
of this Non Player Character? In this
example, a Guild courier from one of
my players' Thieves Guilds has been
making minor cameo appearances in
my plots over the course of the last
five games. Finally, I have found a
larger part for him to play in a battle
between a Fallen Paladin and a PC
Monk's school of martial arts. In
preparation, I want to have the
statistics for all of the NPCs, as well
as a compiled collection of notes so
that I will be able to glance at the
sheets and know every detail. Thus,
I will not have to dig through my
campaign source, dragging out
combat and dialogue. In the past, the
courier had
The Role of NPCs
My definition of an NPC is someone
who is a plot hook, a backdrop, a
friend, relative, enemy and a
nuisance. They are a love interest, a
member of another adventuring party
or a crotchety innkeeper. They do
not exist solely in terms of statistics
on a character sheet; they are as
real as PCs. They can cause the
world to rise and fall with a single
spell, and countries to collapse into
an economic depression with one
word. They should be thought
provoking characters, as much a part
of your game as the setting. NPCs
are independent characters, like
PCs, that help to introduce, define,
and provide closure for plots. Their
actions should follow their
personalities and live within the
confines of their character concepts,
remaining consistent. Typically, an
NPC fulfills several roles throughout
the course of a Campaign, growing
with the Player Characters and being
shaped by their words and deeds.
They should be both diverse and
dynamic.
required. Usually, I consider how the
PCs will contact the NPC, whether it
is through a church or via a town
message board. Then, I think about
what kind of person would maintain
that kind of an eye on the source of
the PCs’ query. Also, I want to know
what the PCs have that will serve as
adequate payment if they do
manage to contact the NPC they are
looking for. A good start from here
would be to locate a class for the
NPC - which one will fit in with his or
her personality the best. The DMG
includes the NPC classes Adept,
Expert, Commoner, Aristocrat, and
Warrior. And Traps and Treachery
adds Thugs. In my game, there are
nomadic tribes in the northern lands,
which are rather barbaric and
primitive. They worship the Goddess
of Chaos, and have used powerful
magic to create a number of
subterranean towns. So, it is safe to
Creating an NPC
NPCs should not be developed in a
vacuum. There are many places to
www.ethos.curvedspaces.com
3
Ethos Magazine: Issue 2, March 2003
never given his name, nor had he
spoken more than a few disjointed
lines -- he is a man of action
because he has no education and
nothing to say.
When assigning stats, you should
remember that some are important
to certain classes than others (such
as Strength for warriors, Intelligence
for wizards, etc). But what's fun
about Third Edition Dungeons and
Dragons is that you can make an
intellectually inferior wizard, or a
weak fighter, and so forth, if you so
desire. You are only limited by your
imagination.
Before I walk through making an
NPC, let’s talk about Quickstatting. If
you are a DM and you use the point
system, feel free to skip this section.
few ranks in cooking. But that gets
old. What about the innkeeper who
has all that and has a rank in
sewing? It may never come into play
but it's something that’s unique about
him; give the NPCs stats they would
have but also throw in a skill they
wouldn’t regularly have. A farmer
might have craft - whittling. It my not
be necessary, or appear in every
story, but it fleshes his personality
out, and could prove to be an
important plot point in future stories.
When it comes to Feats and Spells,
things get hairy, so I won't touch on it
too much. Feats are meant to be
selected to help the individual out
with his everyday life, and Spells
only come in for Adepts, Clerics,
Wizards, Sorcerers and the like. The
NPCs spell selection and treasure
should be unique.
Hey Angel!
I have a daughter of a king and
I just don’t know what to do
with her. All I know is that she
is annoyed with all the pomp
and circumstance around her,
she wants to be married
because it seems the only way
to leave her life in the castle,
aside from running away which
is not something she will even
consider.
Thanks a lot buddy!
Kesh
In detailing this character, the NPC
wants to be married, but if she were
pretty, this probably would have
already happened. Therefore, I will
give her an 11 Charisma. She has a
smile that appears to be kind of
bucktoothed and wide.
She will have Disguise to walk
among the commoners to escape
her everyday life, Perform - Ballroom
dancing, Knowledge - Heraldry,
Knowledge - Weddings and as a
quirk, besides the smile, she’s
always depressed. The king holds
monthly contests to cheer his
daughter up, where the winner will
get her hand in marriage. However,
no one has been successful yet
because she knows when she opens
her mouth, the contestants will see
her teeth and run -- sad thing huh? I
hope that helps you, Kesh!
Quickstatting
Quickstatting is used to determine
your NPCs Attributes. The NPCs
Strength, Dexterity, Constitution,
Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma
begin at 8. Roll 6d6 and add the
results together -- if you roll a 1, you
may wish to roll that die again; I find
that this works best for my own
game, which has a somewhat heroic
theme. Finally, you should divide and
assign the points to the Attributes in
a way that represents the NPCs
concept.
Quirks and Flaws / Appearance
Along with quirks and flaws,
appearance is very important. It
helps set the mood and gives the
PCs ideas of what they see. With
regards to the physical description,
NPCs should also have clothing and
equipment that is visible to the PCs
and illustrates exactly who and what
that character is.
Example:
I rolled 6, 1, 3, 5, 5, and 6.
I re-rolled the 1 and got a 3, which is
28 points total. The character I am
working on now is a Thief. Because I
have good stats, I'll place an 18 in
Dexterity and Constitution, leaving
me with 8 points. I will assign 4 for
Strength and again for Charisma,
putting the Attributes at 14. This
provides no bonuses, only penalties,
for Wisdom and Intelligence, but the
bonuses in the other Attributes will
compensate.
It's easy to do stuff like that—and
see? A plot hook to boot! What
happens if one of the PCs tries to
cheer her up and succeeds? Will
there be a wedding in the future?
Angel’s Iconics
What follows are two unique NPCs
that you can insert into your game
anywhere that they might be
appropriate and they are adaptable
for any game. Sun elves however
have a +2 Int, and a -2 Con and can
be found in the Forgotten Realms
Campaign Source Book. These are
straight out of the Player’s
Handbook. I only presented two due
to the space restrictions in Asgard
Magazine, where the original version
of this article was published. If you
all write in, I will be happy to publish
two more next issue!
For example, you could use the
colors of hats that various Non
Player Characters wear or
incorporate into their appearance
(such as dyed hair, jewelry, etc.) in
order to tie them together and carry
off an underlying theme or motif.
Additionally, every NPC should have
a noteworthy flaw or a quirk --
something that makes them
memorable -- which could be as
simple as a catch-phrase or a
specific word that is repeated
whenever they are encountered.
Sometimes they are hard to come up
with. Recently, my friend Kesh
emailed me a request for quirks and
flaws for this character concept:
Skills / Feats / Spells
Skills are essential to NPCs. How
else do you know what they can and
can't do? An innkeeper will have
profession - innkeeper and maybe a
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4
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