Re: Made up Villans
Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:19 pm
I am a huge fan of simplicity and there is no reason for the GM to be bound to the same restrictions as players. When I do goombas, I ask what stats do I really need for them in this adventure?
If everyone is toting MDC weapons, even their SDC/HP is meaningless. If that comes into play, then I usually just do 1/2 their MDC. So you need their armor's MDC, a dodge/parry bonus, a strike bonus, weapon damage, and a number of attacks. Maybe a couple of skills IF those are going to come into play.
Here's my Coalition Guard whose ONLY job is to be shot to pieces by the PCs.
MDC 60 armor / +2 Dodge / +4 Parry / +2 Strike / 4D6 Laser Rifle & 1D6 VibroKnife / 4 Attacks / 25% Prowl, 75% Coalition Protocol
If I want the CS Guards to have a heavy weapons guy, I will swap out the 4D6 Laser for a 1D6x10 Railgun or Grenade Launcher. I only care about what the exact weapon may be if I expect the PCs to be looting the corpses.
Here's my Mutant Merchant whose gonna betray the PCs:
MDC 20 armor / +4 Dodge / +2 Parry / +0 Strike / 2D6 Pistol or 1D6 Tentacles / 2 Attacks / 75% Haggle, 50% Tell Lies, 100% Know Rumors, 25% Hide/Escape
Unless the NPC has a name and is going to be the major focus of the adventure, there is no need to get nitty gritty with them. I don't even care about PPE/ISP if the mook is just going to cast for a few rounds before getting zapped by the PCs.
However, I do spend time personalizing even the Minor NPCs with some kind of memorable trait. Even if its just a squad of CS soldiers, its fun to give their squad leader some trait that differentiates this squad from the last one and the next one.
Every GM has their own tolerance for stats and their own sense of "what's enough", so each GM needs to comfortable building up a cadre of NPCs. Once you create a dozen templates, it becomes very easy to modify stuff with little time or effort.
If everyone is toting MDC weapons, even their SDC/HP is meaningless. If that comes into play, then I usually just do 1/2 their MDC. So you need their armor's MDC, a dodge/parry bonus, a strike bonus, weapon damage, and a number of attacks. Maybe a couple of skills IF those are going to come into play.
Here's my Coalition Guard whose ONLY job is to be shot to pieces by the PCs.
MDC 60 armor / +2 Dodge / +4 Parry / +2 Strike / 4D6 Laser Rifle & 1D6 VibroKnife / 4 Attacks / 25% Prowl, 75% Coalition Protocol
If I want the CS Guards to have a heavy weapons guy, I will swap out the 4D6 Laser for a 1D6x10 Railgun or Grenade Launcher. I only care about what the exact weapon may be if I expect the PCs to be looting the corpses.
Here's my Mutant Merchant whose gonna betray the PCs:
MDC 20 armor / +4 Dodge / +2 Parry / +0 Strike / 2D6 Pistol or 1D6 Tentacles / 2 Attacks / 75% Haggle, 50% Tell Lies, 100% Know Rumors, 25% Hide/Escape
Unless the NPC has a name and is going to be the major focus of the adventure, there is no need to get nitty gritty with them. I don't even care about PPE/ISP if the mook is just going to cast for a few rounds before getting zapped by the PCs.
However, I do spend time personalizing even the Minor NPCs with some kind of memorable trait. Even if its just a squad of CS soldiers, its fun to give their squad leader some trait that differentiates this squad from the last one and the next one.
Every GM has their own tolerance for stats and their own sense of "what's enough", so each GM needs to comfortable building up a cadre of NPCs. Once you create a dozen templates, it becomes very easy to modify stuff with little time or effort.