Generic NPCs

[Bren]

[Guardian_A]

I admit, I have something of an obsessive compulsive nature. On top of that, I'm something of a completist. As a result, I would rather overplan than not have enough data when the time comes.

While races like Ewoks, Jawas, and Tusken Raiders are pretty limited in their use since they rarely leave their home plannets. Races like Wookiees, Mon Calamari, and Twi'leks are commonly found through out the galaxy and a set of generic stats could be of use to almost anyone.

Many of the characters my players encounter are named NPCs that fill the roll of ally or adversary. However, I like having quick references for things like Bartenders, Mechanics, or Deathstick Dealers. Also, having a list of generic NPCs is a good way to provide a quick character when your players do something unexpected like head for the police station instead of chasing the villan into the sewers.

The desire to do a list of Ewoks is simply because I like the furry little guys, and the desire for Jawas and Tusken Raiders is largely because I plan to run an extended campaign on Tatooine.

[Bren]

[Guardian_A]

I understand the "fuzzy" aspect surrounding most NPCs, and thats how I handled things in Star Wars from 1993 to 2008, after all, a couple of quick statistics on the fly isnt usually a big deal.

But more recently, I've gained a lot of appreciation for fleshed out generic characters. A complete list of stats helps define the character, making it more real. And it dosnt require as much defining if the NPC becomes more important than you originally planned.

[Bren]

Back in my Runequest days, characters needed to have individual writeups, since anyone could learn virtually any skill and all characters had spells as well as weapon skills. I learned then to use a mix of generic types and detailed characters because it was far too much work (and took up too much space) to create a detailed character sheet for every single NPC and in addition, as long as the NPC looks, sounds, or acts different the players can't really tell that the stats may be mostly the same. Runequest III had some nice sheet listings that differentiated characters from a starting template (I provided simple examples earlier for Tuskens). I find this is easier to work with and takes less space and effort to create and store.

Sounds like you want to have lots of detail ready to hand. If that works for you that's great. For myself, it's a balance. Detail tends to slow down my ability to react as a GM and I reallly don't want to have too much wasted detail. So, except for important/recurring NPCs, I tend to wait to see if the NPC is interesting and survives the encounter before lavishing too much detail on him or her. YMMV.

[Guardian_A]

I've been looking at the size and scope of this project off and on today. I expect that it will become a project compairable to the "Alien Stats" or "Starships Stats" projects.

I think I'll take a few notes over the next few days while I finish getting my Exodus campaign into full swing. Then start throwing together some stats.

[Guardian_A]

Ok, I know that a lot of the compilations on the net have a lot of stats pulled directly from the WEG books. Is there a protocol for using those stats in that way? Or is it fine so long as I list where the stats came from? How about any fan made stats?

The reason I ask is becuase if I'm going to start putting together a resource like this, I might end up adding some Clones, Battle Droids, Stormtroopers and the like.