The Power Of NPC'S

[Mulligan]

He's one of them Npc's i knew was bad so i dreaded the moment i had to take him to L10.

A note on Xp for NPC's:

Carefully monitor their xp - when they're close to gain level hit F12, you can do it in the midst of combat, preferably late. If they get a poor HP roll, just reload via F9. It takes a lot less time than leveling PC's. Thus you can maximize their HP for maximum usefulness.

BTW, Greywulf, IMO you are a very patient player. To do Morgan must have been booring. I salute you!

Into the Fray

[Greywulf]

I've got Burne and Rufus with me now, and hopefully the'll make up for Morgan - plus they're both higher level, so they don't have as far to go.

Bring the ruckus!

[patchel]

It's funny that she is worried about running into ochre jellies. In 1 of my games the end slide I got of her was that we had many adventures together until Meleny was eaten by an ochre jelly. Her father and his new wife were also eaten by ochre jellies. This only happened in one game.

I made her more useful by giving her gloves of giant strength. Some of the NPC spell casters gained no spells until I gave them headbands of intellect or whatever stat they needed for spells.

Has anyone tried adventuring with Mother Screng and her daughter Hruda?

[Greywulf]

Quote:

Originally posted by patchel It's funny that she is worried about running into ochre jellies. In 1 of my games the end slide I got of her was that we had many adventures together until Meleny was eaten by an ochre jelly. Her father and his new wife were also eaten by ochre jellies.

Now THAT is funny!



STUPID ME ALERT:

I don't know where the heck my head was or whatever, but Morgan is leveling up - I think I confused 7th level xp with 8th level or something - well, never mind - but there is NO problem with Morgan leveling - sorry for any unnecessary drama, etc. - I have edited my prior posts and will have Morgan at 10th level by the day's end!

*hangs head*

[Greywulf]

BURNE

Starts off as an 8th level LG human wizard
12 AC and 38 HP
He ended up with 45 HP for me

Initial inventory: +2 ring of protection, +1 dagger, chime of opening, wand of magic missiles, and assorted clothes, etc.
Scrolls: read magic, hold monster, web (x2), mirror image, suggestion, ice storm

Spellbook: all 0 level spells, burning hands, charm person, cause fear, enlarge person, ray of enfeeblement, bull's strength, glitterdust, mirror image, dispel magic, fireball, haste, slow, dimension door, charm monster, monster summon IV
He added: magic missile and cat's grace

STR 15 INT 17 WIS 11
DEX 10 CON 15 CHA 12

Starting feats: all the usual wizard stuff, plus...
combast casting, spell penetration, skill focus: spellcraft, spell focus and greater spell focus in enchantment
He added: brew potion

Skills to start: 11 in concentration and spellcraft, 4's in hide, move, and search, 4.5 in spot
He didn't increase in concentration, spellcraft, hide, or move; he finished with 6.5 in search and spot and a 1.5 in tumble

[Mulligan]

PINTARK & TUELK

Both are Male Orc Fighters lvl 2
Both are Lawful Evil
Recruit them at Temple lvl 1, in a cell SE of Wonnilons cell.
Both will end as F10
Tuelk is the leader, they join as a team.


PINTARK

STR 20, DEX 12, CON 13, INT 3, WIS 9, CHA 4

Starts with 15 HP, 0 in all skills, gen.figther feats and IMPROVED INITIATIVE. As he levels up to 10 he'll increase his LISTEN skill to 4 and add COMBAT REFLEXES at lvl 4, POWER ATTACK at 6, CLEAVE at 8 and GREAT CLEAVE at 10.

He's a heavy hitter with a 2-hand weapon and faithful to you despite beeing Evil. Good Strength,else poor stats. He ended with 68 HP with me. Will leave party if Tuelk leaves but stays if Tuelk dies.


TUELK

STR 13, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 7

Starts with 11 HP, LISTEN, SEARCH, SPOT & TUMBLE at 2.5, gen.fighter feats and COMBAT REFLEXES. As he levels up to 10 he'll increase LISTEN,SEARCH & SPOT to 6.5 and add BLIND-FIGHT at lvl 4, DODGE at 6, POWER ATTACK at 8 and CLEAVE at 10

He's the brains of the duo and you'll have to dialog with him. He's a poorer fighter but has better CON and ended with 82 HP with me. He's faithful and will stay on if Pintark dies, but if asked to leave, Pintark leaves too.

They have NO starting equipment at all, so be prepared to spend some gold if you want them to be effective.

Hope this is useful

[Greywulf]

RUFUS

Starts off as a 6th level LG human fighter
HP 38 AC 20
He ended up with 70 HP for me

STR 15 INT 10 WIS 10
DEX 12 CON 12 CHA 14

Starting equipment: +1 chainmail, +1 shield, +1 battleaxe, +2 arrows, dust of disappearance, scarab of proof against poison, and other normal clothes, etc.

Starting feats: all the standard fighter feats, plus combat reflexes and power attack
Eventually he'll take: cleave and great cleave

Starting skills: listen and spot at 2.5, and search at 3
He'll add skills until he ends with: tumble and search at 3, intimidate at 4, listen at 4.5, and spot at 2.5

Rufus will accompany you into the Temple, but when I left the Temple, he left the party because of some previous commitment. I don't know if it had anything to do with the length of time we were in the Temple or if he'll just leave your party whenever you leave the Temple.



Kill 'em all, I say!

[Mulligan]

BROWN BEAR & GIANT LIZARD

These are not normally availible, but any animal you encounter can be made into a NPC with the "Dominate Animal" spell (Dr-L3)

I was resting in the wilderness and this Brown Bear came along, so i thought, what the heck - let's try something new !

As soon as the bear failes it' save you must act qiuck, you only have a couple of rounds until the charm wears off. (shorter duration than the "human" charm spells)

It starts as a lvl 0 NPC so hit the lvl up icon fast and choose a class for it. The Bear could choose from Ftr, Rog, Brb, Drd & Rng.
I chose Rouge and took Tumble skills.

Then start combat by hitting C and kill it, and travel to Jaroo in Homlet and have it resurected for a small fee of 225 gp. Wow, instant loyal Npc that does not loot at all!

Brown Bear

For the rest of its career it took Fighter levels. It started with 48 HP and ended with 119 at Rog1/Ftr9. It took DODGE at F1, POWER ATTACK at F2, CLEAVE at F4, GREAT CLEAVE at F6 and BLIND-FIGHT at F8.

AC 16 (10 +5 natural +1 dex, -1 sizeLarge, +1 dodge)
Skills: HEAL 2, LISTEN 3, SPOT 3.5 and TUMBLE 6
Stats: STR 26, DEX 12, CON 18, INT 2, WIS 12, CHA 6

It has 3 attacks all the time, 2 claws +11(+9) dmg 1d8+8, 1 bite +6(+9) dmg 2d8+4, + 1d6 sneak attack if flanking! It can be controlled as a normal Npc, but the only way to get rid of it is to kill it off and dismiss it (it can't dialoge).

If you choose Barbarian as first class you would have the Rage ability instead of Sneak Attack. Need i say more ? Best Npc i ever had in my group

As i wandered the wilderness a group of Giant Lizards came along, so i thought "why not try again?".

Giant Lizard

I could choose Ftr, Brb, Rng, Rog and Monk as class and took Fighter, and WEAPON FOCUS: UNARMED STRIKE at F1. It started with 28 HP and ended with 98 at L10. It only took Ftr levels and added DODGE at F2, POWER ATTACK at F4, CLEAVE at F6, GREAT CLEAVE at F8 and BLIND-FIGHT at F10.

AC 16 (10 +3 natural, +2 dex, +1 dodge)
Skills: HIDE 3.5, INTIMIDATE 1, LISTEN 2, MOVE SILENT 3, SPOT 4 and TUMBLE 4.5

Stats: STR 16, DEX 14, CON 16, INT 2, WIS 12, CHA 2

Sadly, it only had 1 attack, even at F10, 1 bite +16 dmg 1d8+4

Later i charmed a Chicken and a Sheep in Homlet, but i didn't bother to level them up at the time. I still travel with the Brown Bear in my Druid/Ranger group.

I would love to have posts on other animals/monsters/creatures as Npc's added to this thread. It's sure fun to do, i promise

Have Fun!!

[Greywulf]

Hah - so Meleny has a use after all, eh?

I'm curious about the dominate animal stuff now...

Meanwhile, I'm working on Serena...

[Raumoheru]

i got a ? for Burne. is it possible to pick the ring +2 off of him? i tried and tried but only got scrolls and that tube. what does that tube do anyway?

[Mulligan]

Ignore this post

[Mulligan]

Do you mean steal it with a rouge ?

I'm not sure it can be done but you would have to "un-equip" it to have a chance, IOW place it in his invetory first.

Would be nice if it worked so we would't have to kill him to get it

Into the Fray

[Greywulf]

Quote:

Originally posted by Raumoheru ...that tube. what does that tube do anyway?

The tube is a chime of opening once you identify it - but guess what? It doesn't do anyhthing anyway. What's more, merchants won't buy it. It would've been simple enough to give it a "knock" ability or something, like I expecetd, but it has no properties, powers, or uses.

[Mulligan]

I know that one should be able to hire Cavanough as an Npc.

I've read in the walkthrough how to, but he always ends up as a beggar and my only options are to give him various amounts of gold so he can get drunk !

Anyone know how to do this ? How to EXACLTY make him join ?

Answers appreciated

[Greywulf]

Sure - for Cavanaugh:

First, intimidate him to pay his dues to Calmert and report back to Cal telling him Cav will pay tomorrow.
Wait 24 hours and find Cav outside the Wench - I gave him 100 gp to ease his pain.
Go into the Wench (or wherever) and wait another 24 hours.
Cav will be outside again, having spent the gold on beer - he's drunk, but I had the option to say, "you look like you'd be good to have in a tight spot" or something to that effect - then you get an option to have him join.

At least that's how it worked for me