Ladies and gentlemen, I present:
(click above to see it)
What is this? A chart that provides all the important combat stats and bonuses for a generic bandit from level 1 to 15 using cheap, common equipment, along with some optional variations and equipment on a second page. All the G.M. needs to do is select a level for the N.P.C. All the stats are generated, all bonuses are cross-referenced and summed up, and there's no on-the-fly guesswork or extensive preparation.
Why make this? Many Rifts books devote considerable space to the stats of individual N.P.C.'s, and most of those N.P.C.'s have exceptional stats and abilities. These N.P.C.'s can be useful for particularly special encounters, but my experience has been that most groups have many encounters with ordinary soldiers, bandits, and the like. These are the stormtroopers, the red-shirted ensigns, the disposable N.P.C.'s who aren't special, but can still represent obstacles and threats to the characters. There are no good sets of stats for these N.P.C.'s in the books, forcing G.M.'s to either make some up on the fly or spend valuable time preparing them.
How was it made? In a spreadsheet program, using Rifts: Ultimate Edition (RUE), 1st printing, with the posted corrections. These are the guidelines I used for creating this N.P.C. generator:
1. As more of a vagabond criminal than a professional, this bandit is meant to be an N.P.C. of modest skill and means who prefers to prey upon the weak, the unprepared, and the outnumbered. This bandit shouldn't pose a major threat on his/her own in a stand-up fight against an equivalent player character.
2. The front-page N.P.C. is generated as an average human with his/her O.C.C. skills and abilities only. All O.C.C. related and secondary skills are assumed to be unrelated to combat. On the back page, I present some variants sets of optional skills and alternate equipment, allowing for an N.P.C. who performs a more specialized role. This generator also does not include any special abilities like psionics.
3. All single dice rolls come out as the average result, rounded down. If multiple dice are used, then I alternate rounding down and up. For example, the I.Q. attribute of 3D6 is computed as 3+4+3=10.
4. The Pecos raider comes with two "of choice" W.P.'s. I chose to give the standard bandit a W.P. knife, as he starts out with a vibro-knife and a wooden knife. I didn't pick a second W.P., though I added one to the kidnapper variant on the back.
5. Only the stats and bonuses that would realistically get used in an encounter are included. See below for a list of omissions.
6. I try to use the latest books for stats and rules, so I use the RUE ranged weapon rules and W.P.'s.
7. The character's equipment defaults to cheap, common gear from RUE and GMG. He rides a horse and packs the cheapest laser pistol and rifle he can get, for which he has only 3 spare standard E-clips. His armor is homemade (it gets better as he levels up), and There are some additions on the second page, but this O.C.C. is meant to be more of a vagabond thug then an elite, so there's nothing like the kind of firepower options I put into the Grunt template. A well-equipped and more-threatening bandit could be made simply by using the Grunt template instead.
8. I used both the Bandit O.C.C. from New West as the template, and I took a nod from the Pecos Raider O.C.C. (which is almost identical) and adjusted the "Pilot Vehicle" skill (?) to be "Pilot hovercraft".
9. I added four variants to the back page.
The Thug adds five physical skills and is intended to be a bully in a no-weapons (or SDC only) scenario, the kind of guy who gets sent to extort people by beating them up. He's somewhat more of a melee threat with his vibro-knife.
The Getaway Driver is all about piloting skills on the ground/water for quick escapes. He gets Combat Driver to help him fight a bit better while on the move, and Roadwise to find good places to dump the getaway vehicle.
The Kidnapper gets tailing, prowl, seduction, Rope Works, and W.P. Blunt to allow him to use his neural mace. If you're lucky, he'll hold you for ransom.
The Burglar is all about breaking and entering, as well as selling stolen goods.
What's next? I plan to make some revisions and tweaks based on the feedback I get. I also plan to add a bit of theme art.
Please let me know what I can do to improve this. What do you think of the format/structure, presentation, and the stats included? What do you think of my process?
Would you like to see more N.P.C. generators? What O.C.C./R.C.C. would you like to see next?
Current Issues:
-The “Special Attacks row takes up too much space. This is true of all my N.P.C. generators, and I haven't found a satisfactory solution yet.
-Some of the labels aren't particularly well spaced or sized. I'll optimize them in a future version.
-The page is a bit soulless and needs a little something more to make it more interesting than a giant spreadsheet. If you can think of a good bandit logo idea, I'd love to hear it.
Omitted Content and Simplifications:
-The second "W.P of Choice” is omitted; I may add something in later. Any ideas on this? The starting weapons consist of a pistol, rifle, vibro-knife, and wooden knife. 3 W.P.'s seem to cover them pretty well. I considered an enhancing W.P. like quick-draw, paired weapons, or targeting, but that would make him too skilled. My goal with this N.P.C. is to give him some proficiency in his chosen area, but not to make him an expert in much of anything, except at higher levels (the Getaway driver variant is an arguable exception with Combat Driving, but even a ground vehicle with a combat driver-skilled pilot is going to be easy pickings for a comparable robot/power armor).
-The modern weapons don't include scenario modifiers; I omitted these due to space concerns, and there's a pretty good list in RUE p361.
-The Called Shot rows assume a -4 penalty, but this is variable with a book-given value of -3 or -4, sometimes more.
-Personal items and credits are consolidated into 1200 total (I went with the New West starting cash, not the Pecos Raider from . It's up to the GM to detail that if he/she wants to.
-The weapon stats are incomplete, including only damage, range, and shots per one type of E-clip. This sheet is designed to supplement the book info, not reprint or replace it.
-The armors I've chosen have -10% to most skills, but some of them have minor exceptions (-5% to prowl, but -10 to the rest, or something like that). I've applied -10% across the board.
Enjoy!
