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Malin Freeborn edited this page Apr 12, 2021 · 6 revisions

When writing RPGs adventures, you'll find yourself in need of NPCs. In ye olden days of OpenOffice, you had to copy an existing creature, change the Attributes, dutifully work out the HP (6 + Strength Bonus), then work out the XP based on the derived stats, such as HP. Each piece of this puzzle was rather simple, but a given character could take 5 minutes of focus, so writing adventures would become tedious quickly.

With Latex, things are different. Let's say you want a farmer. You write down the following:


\npc{\M}{Bob the Farmer}

\person{1}% STRENGTH
{0}% DEXTERITY 
{0}% SPEED
{{0}% INTELLIGENCE
{-1}% WITS
{0}}% CHARISMA
{0}% DR
{0}% COMBAT
{Beast Ken 1, Crafts 2}% SKILLS
{\Dagger, 3 cp in a purse}% EQUIPMENT
{}

Latex will then generate a full character sheet. It will work out the HP as (6 + Strength Bonus) 7, and write down '7 HP'. It will then work out the TN to hit the farmer as (7 + Dexterity bonus) 'TN 7'. After it's done all this, it will then work out the XP value of the NPC by looking at the HP, TN, Damage, and so on.

Monsters

Monsters are given in a similar way to people. Note that knacks are given as a proper Latex command, because they can adjust stats.

\npc{\C}{Jaguar}

\animal{2}% STRENGTH
{-1}% DEXTERITY 
{3}% SPEED
{0}% WITS
{2}% DR
{2}% AGGRESSION
{Stealth 2, Tactics 2, \knacks{\firststrike , \adrenalinesurge , \perfectsneakattack}}% SKILLS
{}% ABILITIES
{}
}

Headings

NPCs labelled \npc{\F}{Alice} will get a heading - "(F) Alice".

NPCs come with a brief note about the type of NPC they are. Currently there are symbols for Male, Female, Groups, Undead, and Nura.

Syntax Symbol
\M Male
\F Female
\E Sentient
\T Group
\D Undead
\N Nura

More interesting NPCs can get a heading which looks like this:

(M) Charlie

Archetype: Experience

Personality: Shy

Mannerisms: Scratches head

You can place these headers into Latex by writing:

\NPC{\M}{Charlie}{Shy}{Scratches head}{Experience}

Premade Monsters

Creatures

  • \auroch
  • \basilisk
  • \bear
  • \boar
  • \chitincrawler
  • \dragon
  • \griffin
  • \jelly
  • \mouthdigger
  • \umberhulk
  • \wolf
  • \woodspy

People

  • \dryad
  • \dwarvensoldier
  • \dwarventrader
  • \dwarvenrunemaster
  • \elf
  • \elvenenchanter
  • \gnomishillusionist
  • \humanfarmer
  • \humanmaid
  • \humantrader
  • \humandiplomat
  • \humanpriest
  • \humansoldier
  • \humanarcher
  • \humanthief
  • \humanalchemist
  • \gnollhunter
  • \gnollshaman

Nura

  • \nuracat
  • \nuracrab
  • \nurahorse
  • \nuraslug
  • \nuraspider
  • \nurawolf
  • \goblin
  • \deepgoblin
  • \goblinnuramancer
  • \hobgoblin
  • \deephobgoblin
  • \ogre

Undead

  • \ghoul
  • \ghast
  • \demilich
  • \lich

The Bestiary Exception

When making such random creatures, special attention must be paid to the bestiary. Elves cannot be listed as having '50sp' in the bestiary, because not all elves have exactly 50sp so you'll notice that listed monsters say that if the current chapter is the bestiary, the gold listed must be 2D6+4cp or some other random amount the GM can roll at the time.

\ifnumcomp{\thechapter}{=}{\value{bestiarychapter}}{3D6sp worth of jewellery}{\thepage sp}

Adjustments

Weapons

When putting in a weapon, you'll need that longsword to add +3 to the TN to hit the creature, +1 Damage, and +1 to Initiative. The weapon commands let you do this easily, by placing a command under the 'EQUIPMENT' section (the eighth argument of the \person command).

\npc{\F}{Jane}
\person{2}% STRENGTH
{1}% DEXTERITY 
{-1}% SPEED
{{0}% INTELLIGENCE
{0}% WITS
{1}}% CHARISMA
{0}% DR
{1}% COMBAT
{Survival 2, Vigilance 1}% SKILLS
{\longsword, dagger, \partialleather}% EQUIPMENT
{}

Notice that any more items cannot be commands - a character with a longsword and a mace would be written as \longsword, mace, not \longsword, \mace.

The one exception here is shields. All shields are added as \shield, so you can write \rapier, \shield

Armour works the same, but all armour must state if it's 'partial' or 'complete'.

Weapons Available

  • \javelin
  • \Dagger
  • \shortsword
  • \club
  • \rapier
  • \longsword
  • \greatsword
  • \spear
  • \quarterstaff
  • \greataxe
  • \woodaxe
  • \greatclub
  • \shield
  • \bucklar

Armour Available

  • \partialleather
  • \partialchain
  • \partialplate
  • \completeleather
  • \completechain
  • \completeplate

Magic

Give your characters a magic path with magic spheres:

\Path{Alchemy}{Conjuration 2, Invocation 3}

Paths are placed in the same place as the 'SKILLS' section.

\npc{\M}{Random Elf}
\person{-1}% STRENGTH
{1}% DEXTERITY 
{0}% SPEED
{{2}% INTELLIGENCE
{3}% WITS
{-3}}% CHARISMA
{0}% DR
{2}% COMBAT
{Performance 2\Path{Blood}{Aldaron 2, Polymorph 3}}% SKILLS
{\longsword, dagger, \partialleather}% EQUIPMENT
{}

Knacks

The knack 'Adrenaline Surge' adds +1 to Damage sometimes, but not others. The command sticks into the 'SKILLS' section:

\npc{\N\M}{Random Guy}
\person{1}% STRENGTH
{0}% DEXTERITY 
{1}% SPEED
{{0}% INTELLIGENCE
{-1}% WITS
{-1}}% CHARISMA
{0}% DR
{2}% COMBAT
{Larceny 2, Performance 1 \knack{\adrenalinesurge}}% SKILLS
{\longsword, dagger, \partialchain}% EQUIPMENT
{}

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