Quick NPCs

[Silversteel]

Hi all,

I'm new to Fantasy Grounds and learning how to use it. Its a great program, but could someone please tell me if there is a quick way to draw up simple NPCs for combat purposes, for example if I need a 10th level warrior or a 3rd level cleric? I was hoping to be able to go to the Monster Manual and find human, or elf, or dwarf, and add a class or level, similar to DM Genie a long time ago, but no luck.

In addition, I have a number of NPCs who show up again and again in my campaign, and wish to have them constantly available. I assume I do that under the NPC icon, but again, is there away to do a quick NPC there, or do I have to draw them up somewhere else and manually input the details?

Silversteel

[damned]

Welcome silversteel
Which ruleset are you using?
Generally you will need to make these yourself.
You can export them to a mod for later re-use in another campaign.
You can drag something that is close to it into your NPCs window and edit there. You can then drag that NPC to a blank spot in the window and you will get another copy you can update.
There may be some better ways depending on what ruleset you are using but this is how i do it...

[darrenan]

If you're running PF/3.5 there are a number of modules available with mostly ready-to-go NPCs in them. The NPC codex and the NPCs from the GM Guide are both available in module form. Just go to the 3.5/PF forums, and look for the modules stickied post. These are free.

For 5E, you can pay to have access to the Monster Manual.

Not sure what is out there for other rulesets.

[Silversteel]

Thank you both. I'm using 5E, and have the Monster Manual, but it doesn't seem to cater for PC races to my disappointment. The previous editions did include PC races. Maybe the best way to draw up a quick NPC for combat purposes or otherwise is just drag x levels of the relevant class into the PC sheet and do it that way?

[damned]

That would build them as PCs - which is fine - log in a second instance as a player and select these NPC characters so they are not available to the players to peek at.

[Trenloe]

I'm using 5E, and have the Monster Manual, but it doesn't seem to cater for PC races to my disappointment. The previous editions did include PC races.
The base 5E Monster Manual book doesn't have any guidelines for customizing/creating monsters - other than a very short descriptive section on customizing NPCs in appendix B. 5E creature statblocks don't really show any class levels - take the 4 Drow from the MM as an example - the "Drow Elite Warrior" has no mention about what class it is, the two spell casters only mention "The drow is a 10th level spellcaster..." (required for game mechanics purposes).

Chapter 9 of the DMG has a section on creating monsters, but this really doesn't cover classes, as monsters/NPCs are hit dice based not class level based. There's a brief section on page 283: "Monsters with Classes" that mentions adding class levels - which gives the class abilities, but is still hit dice based.

Might the ability to add class levels to NPCs/Monsters within the FG 5E ruleset be available when the DMG is released? To be perfectly honest, I'd be surprised as it's a very small section of the DMG and would require a lot of coding to do it. But, don't take my word of it, I could be wrong... :)

Summary: Do what damned mentions above - create them as PCs, but hide them from the players.

[Griogre]

If you do look at the creatures in Appendix B: Nonplayer Characters of the MM you will see *all* of them are Medium Humanoid (any race). You can just use them and add race specific abilities as is mentioned on the first page of Appendix B. In many cases I have found the entries a good base to build on if you want something a little higher or lower in power. Just drag the base NPC into the NPC list and edit it - this is especially useful for spell casters if you are going to just change a spell or two.

[Silversteel]

Thank you all.

[Wazoodust]

Just a thought, but could there be a 'database' of NPC's that could be shared, or would this infringe on any licenses ? If so, could that be gotten around by requiring the PHB or class module to use them? I'd thing that a list of NPC readily available by class/race/occupation would be helpful to many a DM if it can be done without legal issues getting involved

[TheGarvster]

Hi all,

I'm new to Fantasy Grounds and learning how to use it. Its a great program, but could someone please tell me if there is a quick way to draw up simple NPCs for combat purposes, for example if I need a 10th level warrior or a 3rd level cleric? I was hoping to be able to go to the Monster Manual and find human, or elf, or dwarf, and add a class or level, similar to DM Genie a long time ago, but no luck.

In addition, I have a number of NPCs who show up again and again in my campaign, and wish to have them constantly available. I assume I do that under the NPC icon, but again, is there away to do a quick NPC there, or do I have to draw them up somewhere else and manually input the details?

Silversteel

Here are some pre-gen Characters. They go up to level 10, the only thing is you have to enter the information yourself. https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets Hope these help.

[Wazoodust]

Could those be turned int a free mod that we could use for NPC's ? I'll try and help if that is the case

[damned]

Just a thought, but could there be a 'database' of NPC's that could be shared, or would this infringe on any licenses ? If so, could that be gotten around by requiring the PHB or class module to use them? I'd thing that a list of NPC readily available by class/race/occupation would be helpful to many a DM if it can be done without legal issues getting involved

I created an NPC module builder for Castles&Crusades. It was an online form you could enter your own NPC in, including tokens and it would export a module with yours and everyone elses NPCs. My thought was that it would be perfect for all those times you needed an NPC in a hurry - you could grab a blacksmith or forrester or urchin or guard captain etc. Unfortunately no one else used it so I have done nothing with it since then.

I do think that this is a good idea nonetheless :)

[Wazoodust]

The legality of it kinda makes me wonder if its doable or not though. I'm sure there's quite a few NPC's people have made out there that, if shareable, could build up a base fairly quickly

[damned]

If the NPCs are people - bartenders, guards, bakers, brigands, jesters and mercenaries - and they dont contain any story lifted verbatim from some published works then I can see no reason why you couldnt do this.
Bran the Barkeep
Gerrom of the City Guard
Carris the Outlaw
etc...

[Wazoodust]

Would this be good even if they were for example an 8th level Sorcerer, flush with spells and all?

[damned]

Spells get harder.
Some spells ARE copyrighted IP. A Fireball cant by copyright. A spell by a particular wizard could be. A spell with a name that identifies itself uniquely as being D&D could be. The text descriptions for many spells are likely to be copyright. The mechanics of the spell - it does 8d6 flame damage and you can save vs Dex for half damage - that cant be copyright.
If your 8th lvl sorcerer had spell names (excluding those that are uniquely D&D) and the GM could redrag in proper spells would likely be ok.
Examples of spells that are definitely protected are Tashas Hideous Laughter and Tenser's Floating Disk and Melf's Acid Arrow.

[Wazoodust]

I'm thinking most people doing this would have a PHB or their own version of it, so a spell list should be good, and links if the DM owns the PHB could also be allowed if I'm thinking sorta right

[Silversteel]

And answering my own question to some extent - after working through all the replies I went to Fantasy Grounds Library, Monster Manual, NPCs, Class Index, and found under "Humanoid (any race") a whole set of pre-drawn NPCs ready to use, such as acolytes, archmages, etc. Very useful.

However, it would still be great to be able to quickly draw up random NPCs by choosing race, sex, class, level and name, and having random stats, HPs, etc, assigned by Fantasy Grounds. DM Genie used to do this for D&D 3rd ed characters.

[Trenloe]

However, it would still be great to be able to quickly draw up random NPCs by choosing race, sex, class, level and name, and having random stats, HPs, etc, assigned by Fantasy Grounds. DM Genie used to do this for D&D 3rd ed characters.
Yep, that would be cool. I think that would have to be a community effort to produce something like that...

Like Ardem's excellent Random extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?17072-Random-Extension but something more specific to 5E and statblock generation.

[Redemption77]

I had also wondered why we dont have a place where we create characters and the like like pregenerated characters from the wotc website and make them available by exporting them and linking the file here. I get spells and powers and things, but honestly they've been posting characters for years on their website to use a pregens. We could get a group effort to make a score of NPC and PC pre made characters

[Trenloe]

I had also wondered why we dont have a place where we create characters and the like like pregenerated characters from the wotc website and make them available by exporting them and linking the file here.
Like this: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?26203-If-you-wish-to-share-some-pre-gen-characters-for-others-to-use-in-their-games :)

[Redemption77]

well....Damn

[Trenloe]

And some NPCs available here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?25960-Monster-A-Day-FG-module-help

[phloog]

Resurrecting an old thread because I have a similar need...did the ability to add class levels to monsters ever come about for 5E? I know it might not be in the books, but as an earlier poster noted DMGenie was YEARS ahead of everything in this respect.

Maybe a way using HeroLab?

(man, do I miss DMGenie..it did things easily that other products STILL don't do)

[Trenloe]

Nothing has changed from what I mentioned in post #6 above. There is nothing official for adding class levels to NPCs.

Maybe if a 3PP (Third Party Publisher) created something with clear steps then it might be possible, with a FG publishing agreement with the 3PP and the technical development within Fantasy Grounds to cater for it. Maybe...

[Myrdin Potter]

If you want the WoTC characters mentioned earlier in this thread, I figured out how to do it and make it legal and available. Look here:

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?36047-Myrdin-Potter-s-DMs-Guild-Offering

If you want a bunch of NPC ready for conversion into FG that can almost just be copied and pasted into NPC Engineer and made into a FG module, look for the NPC Engineer thread on this forum and then go here:

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/172470/Adversaries--Allies?affiliate_id=229540

Please note that there is an affiliate id, there, but all the links I gave are for pay what you want.

[SkyWill]

If the NPCs are people - bartenders, guards, bakers, brigands, jesters and mercenaries - and they dont contain any story lifted verbatim from some published works then I can see no reason why you couldnt do this.
Bran the Barkeep
Gerrom of the City Guard
Carris the Outlaw
etc...

This is exactly what I need. From reading this forum, it sounds like no such functionality exists in Fantasy Grounds? There is no way to make quick townsfolk NPCs?

[Trenloe]

This is exactly what I need. From reading this forum, it sounds like no such functionality exists in Fantasy Grounds? There is no way to make quick townsfolk NPCs?
How much detail do you want in your townsfolk NPCs? You can create a new NPC via the NPCs campaign data window and fill out as much information as you want.

Depending on which ruleset you're using, there may be a library module that contains some base NPCs. What ruleset are you using?

[damned]

This is exactly what I need. From reading this forum, it sounds like no such functionality exists in Fantasy Grounds? There is no way to make quick townsfolk NPCs?

Hey SkyWill

Functionality? Thats definitely there.
Has someone made and shared a resource containing that info? Not that Im aware of. It doesnt take long - open up your MM or your Srd or your Basic Rules
Locate a Cultist or Brigand or Commoner or Guard or Noble or Thug (im sure there are others) and drag and drop it about 1cm and it will create a copy.
Rename your copy Bran the Barkeep and adjust his stats if required.
Do it again and you have Carris the Outlaw

later on when you have a few - click on Library -> Export -> NPCs and you can create a reusable module for use in later campaigns.

[SkyWill]

Hey SkyWill

Functionality? Thats definitely there.
Has someone made and shared a resource containing that info? Not that Im aware of. It doesnt take long - open up your MM or your Srd or your Basic Rules
Locate a Cultist or Brigand or Commoner or Guard or Noble or Thug (im sure there are others) and drag and drop it about 1cm and it will create a copy.
Rename your copy Bran the Barkeep and adjust his stats if required.
Do it again and you have Carris the Outlaw

later on when you have a few - click on Library -> Export -> NPCs and you can create a reusable module for use in later campaigns.

I think that's what I'm looking for. I still can't find the Cultist/Brigand/Commoner/etc. It's not in the Basic Rules Module, or the MM, and the SRD does not come up as an available module for 3.5. Is there something special I need to do to get the SRD module added?

What I will just do for now is make all the townsfolk the level 1 Elf from the MM, put that on the combat tracker, duplicate it a few dozen times, then give a few different portraits/pogs and different names until I have my town populated. I might try to get away with not putting them on the combat tracker, and see if I can still manipulate them just as well.

I noticed if I put horses directly on from assets, they get forced to a 1x1 grid square, and if I make them an NPC from the MM and put them on the combat tracker, then put them in to the map from the combat tracker, they are large size. Is there any way to resize a pog or token? I figured it would be a 'right click' option, but no such luck.

Thank you for dealing with my exasperation. I probably should have just come here instead of getting so frustrated trying to figure this out on my own. I do understand that Fantasy Grounds has a lot more that it can do than Roll20, and with more functionality means it will have to be more complicated. That's why Roll20 needs no tutorials to use. It is foolish of me to expect FG to be just as easy.

I'm looking into the Library->Export-> NPCs, and you have me wondering:

Is there a way to script the behavior of NPCs? What I am doing is having a large battle take place that the PCs are a part of. I am planning on moving and deleting tokens manually, but if there is a way to have this happen at a button push or at the end of a turn, that would be pretty slick.

[Trenloe]

@SkyWill - as you’re using D&D 3.5E you should look at some of the OGL library modules created by the community in this thread: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16074-List-of-Modules. A lot of them are for Pathfinder, but you should be able to open them in the 3.5E ruleset, with just the usual PF/3.5E differences to take into consideration (basically some skills and grapple).

[LordEntrails]

FYI, you are in the 5E forums, hence some of the previous answers were specific to content available in that system :)