Alia:Commoners and Levels

NPC Levels

In Alia, a Level 1 commoner is an untrained, teenager. All NPC's advance through levels with time, age, and experience. The average person one meets in *not* level 1. For humans, the average level tends towards level 3. This means that your run-of-the mill adult human is probably a 3rd level Commoner, has 3d4 hit points, a BAB of +1, 3 feats and about 18 skill points with at max rank of 6. Older humans have more levels, more skill points, but tend towards having similar amounts of hit point and combat statistics because of ability penalties due to age.

Daily Life Experience Awards

Experience rewards come more slowly to those characters that don't regularly go adventuring, but as a part of daily life, everyone has some level of the following:

1. Training. Learning things leads to experience. Learning and practicing a craft or other skill eventually leads to a level gain (and additional ranks in those skills that character has trained in.)

2. Risk taking. Everyone has some level of conflict in their lives. The risks may be physical or social. It may be dealing with street violence in a city, with wildlife in the country, or keeping a secret affair from being discovered by one's the public. Taking part in this type of behaviour leads to experience.

3. Accomplishments. Some people campaign for political change. Some people raise money to save a local charity. Some people go on pilgrimages. Accomplishing one's goals leads to experience.

Experience Rate

Depending on a particular character's profession and lifestyle, they gain experience at varying rates. For a particular person, or group of people a yearly experience rate may be determined based on their typical activities. Things to take into account are outlined above, but in general the experience rate of non adventurers is between 250xp and 1000xp per year, most people who live fairly safe and un-exciting lives tend towards the lower end of the scale. People who have greater amounts of danger and possibility for intrigue and accomplishment tend to have higher.

Examples of people who may have higher xp rates include: city guards assigned to rough areas, political community and spiritual leaders, criminals, settlers expanding in undeveloped territory, peasants who live near borders, soldiers on active duty during wartime.

Specific examples: City guards in a quiet town, away from the border and with a low crime rate, may accumulate xp at a rate of 500xp per year. Certain individual city guards, say one guard who has a gambling problem and frequent run-ins with bill collectors and other issues caused by lack of money, may in fact accumulate 1000xp per year.

Age and Level

People begin to accumulate experience at the onset of adulthood, see [1] (16 for humans). To determine an NPC's level, multiply the xp rate time the number of years older than that age and look up on the level/xp chart.

For example, a 40 year old farmer with an xp rate of 250, has 25*250 = 6250 xp, and will be fourth level. If we break down the age catagories for humans who earn 250xp per year:

15-18 1
19-26 2
27-38 3
39-54 4
55-74 5
75+   6

Most stable populations have a relative even population distribution between the ages of 1-60 with fewer older than 60. Also, most people in a stable population group are of the commoner class, and accumulate at the rate of 250xp per year.

For a typical group of 70 human commoners, this would lead to 14 children, 4 level 1, 8 level 2, 12 level 3, 16 level 4, 10 level 5, and 6 level 7. (With the older members applying age modifiers to ability scores).

Abilities of Non Heros

Average people have average scores, three 10's and three 11's. Using the point buy methodology this leads to 15 points. Some non-heros have above average ability scores. Typically, this is a 13 in an appropriate ability score and 5 10's (also 15 points).

Experts, Aristocrats, Warriors, Adepts and Heroic Classes

The Aristocrat class should apply to NPC's who have access to better than common training and upbringing (no blood requirements), usually they are nobles or families that have an equivalent lifestyle.

The Expert class should be applied to skilled craftsman or professionals. In general, someone who is more skilled than a general laborer may be an expert. Locksmiths, blacksmiths, artisans, performers, detectives, lawyers and other skilled crafters and professionals may be experts.

Warriors may be used for NPC's that use arms, armor and/or combat as part of their daily lives. Examples include city guards, soldiers, hunters, thugs and brawlers.

Adepts may be used for NPC's that are exposed to and or use magic as part of their daily lives. Alchemists, healers, magical artificers are all potentially adepts.

Heroic classes, of course, are available to NPC's but should be used sparingly. Heroic classes are possesed by those who are talented and/or exceptionally trained individuals who rise above the average person. Just because somebody is in a position of leadership, does not mean they warrant a heroic class.

Mixing of Heroic and NPC classes

A retired adventurer may have gained a few commoner levels on top of his heroic classes, or a commoner may have picked up adventuring after a life-changing event.

Long Lived Races

Long lived races have potentially very high NPC class levels if given a high xp rate. This tendancy is countered by higher starting ages for longer lived characters and is lessened by the ever increasing level requirements.

Still, a Elf who is 350 years old, and has accumulated 250xp/year from the age of 114, has 236 year x 250xp/year = 59000 xp and is level 10. Typical minumum levels by race are determined by onset of middle age and are.

Race     Adult Midage     XP Level
Human       15     35   5000     3
Dwarf       40    125  21250     7
Elf        110    175  16250     6
Gnome       40    100  15000     6
Half-elf    20     62  10500     5
Half-orc    14     30   4000     3
Halfling    20     50   7500     4

Older NPC's and NPC's with higher xp accumulation rates wil be of higher levels. At the extreme edge, a venerable Elf who is 350 years old, and has accumulated 1000xp/year from the age of 114, has 236 year x 1000xp/year = 236000 xp and is level 20, possibly epic.

Leadership Feat and Followers

The leadership feat, grants a cohort, and followers, who typically are mostly 1st level followers. This does not make sense in a world, where 1st level characters are typically untrained teenagers. Leaders should add one level to all followers, but followers are restricted to NPC classes.

Examples of Commoners

Jarl Jorgen

Jarl Jorgen is the leader of the Prolian city of Prauld. He is 50 years old, middle aged (-1 physical, +1 mental ability scores). He has led a full and exciting life as a leader of the city and a warrior in a frontier town, and has a rate of 1000xp/year (times 35 years is 35000 xp, level 8). His starting stats were 10 in physical, 11 in mental. With age modifiers and 2 points (in str and con) from 8 class levels, his current scores are:

str 10, dex 9, con 10, int 12, wis 12, cha 12.

His class levels are 4 war/4 aristocrat. He has a BAB of +7, 52 ranks of skills, and 4 feats.

Skills: 11 ranks in Intimidate (Cha) and Ride (Dex). 7 ranks each in Handle Animal (Cha), and Jump (Str), 4 ranks each in Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Prolia) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis).

Feats: Leadership, Mounted Combat, Persuasive, Negotiator

Proficient with: all armor, shields, simple weapons, martial weapons.

Good wife Emily

Good wife Emily is a 72 year old widow that lives outside of Prauld. She's a weaver and potter and farms a small plot of land where she lives with her youngest son and their family. Being a frontier peasant, she's a Commoner that has accumulated 500xp/year over the 57 years of her long life (28500 xp, 8th level) She started with average ability scores, 11's physical, 10's mental. She's venerable (-6 physical, +3 mental) and put her 2 ability gains in Con and Wis. Her scores are Str 5, Dex 5, Con 6, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 13.

Her BAB is +4 (but she has -3 to hit and damage from low strength) she has 8d4-16 (8) hit points.

She has 44 skill points to allocate and 4 feats.

Skills: 11 ranks eack in Craft (Cloth) (Int), Craft (Pottery) (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Profession (Farmer) (Wis).

Feats: Skill Focus (+3) in her four skills.

Emily is a very accomplished farmer, weaver and potter, but she isn't much of a threat in combat. Because of her great experience with farming her contribution to the family farm produces about 12.5 gp/week (in food and barter).

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