World-building theory
Aug. 21st, 2011 08:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alpharaposaI'm back in the DM saddle, putting together a Pathfinder game on Google+. Monte Cook worked on Pathfinder, updating the D&D 3.5 rules to be more in the spirit of what came before.
So, in putting together a setting for this game, I have no problem with referencing my 2nd Ed sources.
One of the problems with building a world from scratch is figuring out how many NPCs will have class levels. 2nd Ed guidelines say that about 1% of the population should have class levels. Of those, the majority will be Fighters - 1st or 2nd level Elite troops. Then, you have rogues and priests. Rogues tend to be more common in cities. Finally, you have wizards, the fraction of a fraction.
You don't have to follow these guidelines. You can have settings where practically everybody is some kind of adventurer *cough*ForgottenRealms*cough*. For a standard setting, though, it makes sense to me.
It's important to keep in mind that not every soldier is a Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin. Not every priest is a Cleric. Most of humanity are 0-level types, doing their job. Not everything must be defined in terms of game mechanics.
So, when building a border town of, say, 1200 people (roughly), you'd have 12 people with class levels. Of those, probably 8 or 9 would be some kind of warrior, say 6 first level, 2 second level, and a leader of fifth level. Of the remaining 3, make one a Cleric and the other two Rogues, and you'd have a decent mix without flooding the town with Powerful People.
Of course, being a border town, it might have a few more Fighters than the normal percentage of the population, say an extra 5 assigned there. These would be found here instead of at farm villages. It's sort of how the military isn't spread perfectly evenly throughout our country. It gets concentrated in places that are important to strategy or provision.
Anyway, that's the theory. Now I need to figure out how many people live in certain medieval town types, and start deciding how to distribute the Important NPCs.
So, in putting together a setting for this game, I have no problem with referencing my 2nd Ed sources.
One of the problems with building a world from scratch is figuring out how many NPCs will have class levels. 2nd Ed guidelines say that about 1% of the population should have class levels. Of those, the majority will be Fighters - 1st or 2nd level Elite troops. Then, you have rogues and priests. Rogues tend to be more common in cities. Finally, you have wizards, the fraction of a fraction.
You don't have to follow these guidelines. You can have settings where practically everybody is some kind of adventurer *cough*ForgottenRealms*cough*. For a standard setting, though, it makes sense to me.
It's important to keep in mind that not every soldier is a Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin. Not every priest is a Cleric. Most of humanity are 0-level types, doing their job. Not everything must be defined in terms of game mechanics.
So, when building a border town of, say, 1200 people (roughly), you'd have 12 people with class levels. Of those, probably 8 or 9 would be some kind of warrior, say 6 first level, 2 second level, and a leader of fifth level. Of the remaining 3, make one a Cleric and the other two Rogues, and you'd have a decent mix without flooding the town with Powerful People.
Of course, being a border town, it might have a few more Fighters than the normal percentage of the population, say an extra 5 assigned there. These would be found here instead of at farm villages. It's sort of how the military isn't spread perfectly evenly throughout our country. It gets concentrated in places that are important to strategy or provision.
Anyway, that's the theory. Now I need to figure out how many people live in certain medieval town types, and start deciding how to distribute the Important NPCs.
