I noticed the rule book does not contain any advice (that I could find) on building NPCs (either friendly or enemy).

Does anyone have any tips on how to go about building them? I found some general guidelines on the stat levels but nothing on wounds, traits, talents, or skills. The enemies in the book have a Threat level but no indication as to how that is derived.

Do what they do, come up with a concept, and build that way. They will sort of stick with the general rules for character creation but when it doesn't mesh they just change it. It's better to build an interesting (Note interesting not overpowered) npc than stick with the rules.

They stated they're working on abstracting general threat indication into a chart or something but that's going to really depend on how combat ready your warband is.

Ya. I'm still new to the system so I'm not sure where the line for over powered is.

They stated they're working on abstracting general threat indication into a chart or something but that's going to really depend on how combat ready your warband is.

Any idea when they will have it done or where the information will be posted?

I'm been running more rules-light games recently (Numenera and Dungeon World) and the last rules heavy game I ran was Pathfinder and they have a ton of pre-built enemies and templates to build.

I found that my group is pretty low in Perception, so I built my NPC's around stealth. Perhaps look at your team and see if they have any lower stats and build around that.

I tend to use an existing template (tech priest, bounty hunter, soldier etc etc) and then alter them a bit to make them more interesting for my PCs to fight. It's not about completely playing to the players weaknesses to the extent that it's a punishment, but if the PCs have a low perception then it can add a new element to combat when their attackers blow out the lights and vanish into darkness, or the PCs have no clue how to use anything more complex than a light switch and an automated quarantine alert sparks up.

I tend to use an existing template (tech priest, bounty hunter, soldier etc etc) and then alter them a bit to make them more interesting for my PCs to fight. It's not about completely playing to the players weaknesses to the extent that it's a punishment (...)

That being said, I tend to ignore TRAITS and STATS at large when having any non-combat NPC at hand. My rule-of-thumb is that an average Joe has a Stat auf 25 in any given attribut. Yes, these people are lame. If they are doing something on a regular basis, I give them a stat of 30 to 35 and add matching skills if they need to role for them. If they are really good on the job or I think what they are (as a role in my game / scene) justifies it, I give them a either a +10 skill and/or a 40 stat. People that have MORE or special in my games. Like in "profesionals" or "specialisit" or "creame of the crop".

In regard to weapon and armour, I prefer "what COULD they have?" as my first question and then go for "what do they need to fight my group? How can I justifiy it?". Personally, I am kinda lax in regard to combat. The rank-and-file of a cult or not armoured in my games, they do not have good weapons (they might have shotguns or autoguns, but usually no special ammo) and tend to die like flies. And they give it a run if they are cut down like grass. But those are usually not the real opponents.

So, basicially

- look at the given stereotypes in the core rules book and work from there

- make stats up as told above and perhaps think about talents IF you have somebody with a special function in mind

- that said, feel free to ConSTRUCT NPC around a talent (!) if you feel like it would add a challenge to your game

- stick to the average in regard to weapons and gear... and only go for the better stuff if you have special things in mind.

PLUS:

If you need CERTAIN npc for a CERTAIN sitatuion...make a topic here, you are likely to get about two to five helpful posts.

You know, you could also try sussing it out with a bit of math when planning combat encounters:

Take the number of times you want an NPC to score a hit during a round (X)

Divide this by the number of NPCs you want the party to face (Y)

This will give you the average weapon/ballistic skill of each NPC.

If you want to make an NPC more likely to hit, decrease the BS/WS of another NPC. Same goes for adding special equipment. Just decrease a to-hit skill.

You can also do the same thing with damage/equipment. Just take the average damage you want to inflict in a single hit and adjust weapons/strength accordingly.

If you really wanted, you could make a grand formula for basic combat design for a party.

Take the total number of wounds of your PC party. Give all NPCs the same toughness/armor. Calculate the average PC damage by taking the average of his or her normal attack, subtracting for toughness and armor, then multiplying by their chance to hit. Add this damage output value or each PC. Get the average toughness/armor rating of all PC. Calculate NPC damage as you did for PCs. Divide the total number of PC wounds by the total average PC damage and the total number of NPC wounds by the total average PC damage. Compare these two. Whichever side has a larger value is the one at a disadvantage in the fight. Now you hae a rough guideline for Easy/moderate/hard fights.

I'd recommend you put this whole calculation into excel so it can be easily tweaked as needed.

I have a pretty good handle on crafting NPCs to challenge but not slaughter my party.

My big problem is documenting them.

Some players of other FFGRPGs have made some really good NPC cards. Are there any for DH2e floating around?

The way I build NPC's for my Imperium or "good guys" is I try to follow the character creation set in the book, this kinda makes the characters who interact with the Players seen more real, I also determine what they have to begin with based on background and what I like but for additional info like gear, skills, and traits I didn't think of I figure a set number of experience. like say, 2000 for a more experienced NPC or just 1000 for a younger aged NPC, depending on their background. For Enemies I just pick a NPC that is already in the book and Tweak it to meet what I want to throw at them, I double checked the book and there really is not a section for making your own, all they have is Balancing Encounters. I do not do a lot of scratched built NPCs mostly because I worry they might be to strong or ridiculously to weak. But Id say go for it if you want to make your own, just be sure to play test everything, practice an encounter with examples of your Acolytes character sheets to make sure the NPC will work, there was one time during my first few sessions as game master I threw a Carnosour at the group and I didnt test the beast, it ended up Burning one to a crisp mangling another and was ready to kill the last two members until I used their NPC servitor helping them to kill it with a heavy bolter in the face, hard to get the acolytes moving after that, but I eventually did. Its all about learning from mistakes I guess!

I tend to make up stats on the fly. I have a concept and a picture of the NSC in my mind. In combat situations there are only a few stats you really have to have fleshed out. WS, BS (for attacks), Ag(Dodge), T(some tests, and bonus). Mostly I randomly place the stat somewhere around 35 for a somewhat challenging encounter. Then I just take a note on my notepad. If I see that the encounter is too easy or too hard I adjust the stats or cheat a little with the dice rolls to make it more adequate and suspenceful (Thank god for the GM-Screen).

The big baddies and/or recurring villians I do flesh out and put a lot of thought in it, but also mostly build them around the thought: What cool/nasty stuff do I want them to do and what stats do they need to do that.