Hi guys.

I am just starting to plan my first dark heresy game.

I have a lot of experience with WFRP and numerous other games, but i was wondering if any of you could give me some advice on making workable NPCs for Dark Heresy.

I find it expedient to only stat up the most important of characters. The specific stats and equipment of almost every character aren't that important, and while you see them in all of the "official" RPGs, it's usually just not worth the time. Often just giving them a standard profile from within the dark heresy corebook for a civilian or worker etc will do just fine. What's really important is their role within the story. Every character should do something, whether it's driving storyline forward, providing hints etc. If there are NPCs in there who are aides to the characters, for example a doctor that they might frequent since no-one in the cell has the medicae skill, could be quite a straightforward character that the PC's barely interact with. Investing these guys with a little personality works wonders in making the world more real for your players. Just using the example of a medic, we could make him a black market backstreet sawbones, a disenfranchised noble, a clinic physician who's stealing supplies and selling them on the black market, a trauma surgeon who deals with occult/alien related wounds, etc.

I'd advise that the NPCs in the core book are pretty good for most uses, make sure you know what the talents do and be sure to use them (I write out a cheatsheet for my NPCs with short descriptions of the talents, but I have been accused of over-preparing).

An NPC's equipment is far more important than in other games, be sure to give the real nasties Man-Stopper loaded guns and grenades. Show variety here and you can get away with pretty much the same stat-line for a wide range of goons and expendables.

If your stuck for names then I recommend looking at the names for slightly older saints from the Roman/Byzantine era as these can be pretty evocative.

Oh and don't forget to describe how many skulls the NPC is wearing and how many tubes are coming out of their head, it's pretty much mandatory in the 41st Millenium.

Besides preparing your npc, prepare a list of names (male/female; low gothic & high gothic). Due to the "feel" of names in 40K, you are very unlikely to come up with one if the pc demand to the name of a figure you did not planned to be important. At least, that what happens to me twice!

Right, sorry . I don't think i made myself clear. For the most part i am very happy with the list of extras that the book provides. I can happily money around with them.

What i was specificially hoping for advice on was the creation of Player equivilants NPCs, such as foils, and Major NPC's, such as 'big bad end guys'. The book and the GMs guide give advice for demonhosts and alien horrors, but i need some advice on what heretical Planetry govorner, who's primary hobby is dueling looks like on a sheet. I also need to know how you would go about making the acolytes of another inquisitor.

My advice (and my personal approach) would be to pick a rather matching npc stat from given books (DH core rules, TF, etc) and "boost it up".

I would not advise to go through a process similiar to pc character creations. The afford isn´t worth the end product. All in all, how many of the skills and attribute will really come into play?

In fact, often I just think about the attributes for my major npc, some defining talents (thumbing through the talent list, filling "preqisits" as needed) and think about his general field of "expertise", perhaps noting some skills.

If during the game the questions arsis if said npc has "skill x", it does merely takes a secound thought to decide if the answer is "no", " yes" "yes +10" or "yes+20".

If the npc is intended for combat, I do not only design him and his equipment but a group of flunkies/bodyguards/henchmen he is likely to be with. If we are not talking about daemon hosts or similiar monstrosities, a single npc is NO match for a group of player characters. Players are to **** resourcefull about putting there figures to best use. And "outnumbering" works very good in DH (four on one = +30)

In addition, I try to prepare the "battleground" to make things go more fluid... and prepare "when" and "how" the major npc is going to "run for it". Perhapbs preparing a flight as well.

Besides "battle and stats", having ideas about his general resources and his generel contacts, Henchmen, networks and standing in society. This also helps to have a picture off who could provide infos about the NPC, who might be turned against him etc.

Right, in which case for such high calbire NPCs I usually spend a little while looking through the talents and equipment and cherry picking a few good tricks to pull on PCs along with a slightly above average stat line. Ensure the NPC has a good chance of not being shot to pieces in the first round, usually a little Toughness helps a lot here, most PCs can take a few hits before going down so don't be afraid to strike from surprise to scare them and get the first hit. However I wouldn't play them too smart unless you like getting involved in protracted fire-fights, cover may help PCs but it's a pain against an NPC. Melee fighters are my favourate particularly if they can close very fast and deal a good strike in their first attack or two, don't be afraid to use photon-flash or smoke grenades to get the desired effect here.

As for peronality and motivation and that whole "character" thing. That's the GM's perogative. Can't help there unless you're more specific.

Thanks guys.

I'm a pretty simulationist kind of storyteller, so i am going to be needing slightly more Indepth NPCs than most of you are suggesting methods for, but still there have been a few jems.

Edith The Hutt said:

Don't worry, this i can handle

I am a GM who really prides himself on his NPCs and I will undoubtedly have many throughout the course of a game.

That said, I recommend begining where most of these people have suggested. Take a career, then flush it out only so far as will be necessary for the game. Don't bother rolling stats, just pick reasonable numbers for the npc's power level. When you have the opportunity, roll details up randomly - from appearance, to background, age, quirks, even a divination - this will add a level of diversity to the character you might not have considered before ... it is amazing how a few rolls can really shape a personality or a portion thereof. Indeed, if you have the time, I'd recommend copying the pages for equipment/psyker powers/tech priest powers/etc. and adding numbers so you can roll those things up randomly as well. You will find that this will - again - generate outcomes you hadn't thought of on your own and you will have to come up with creative ways to use the items/powers you produced. ( I used to cherry pick all these things for npcs, but discovered randomly preparing them made the encounters more interesting for me as well. )

For skills, pick those you'll likely use through the cource of the npc's involvement and plot those out to his current rank. Leave holes were some of the skills are not identified, so you can add them when you realize you forgot something or as the npc develops. Though it should only take about half an hour to create a character once you've got it down, leaving a few details blank can really be useful later on.

If something doesn't make sense later, don't be affraid to change it ... the players will likely never know and it is the story which is most important, after all.

If you need more advice, be specific, what - precisely - do you need help with? Aside from directing you to premade characters I don't know what more help anyone could be.

thank you jack of tears.

What do you consider to be a good standard array of statistics for player equivilant NPC's and for major NPCs?

I am working on the idea that player equivilant NPC, with EXP roughly equal to that of the pcs is challanging encounter, provided he has a couple of mooks to prevent him being instantly wasted. Is that about right?

zombieneighbours said:

Stats in the 30's and low 40's to begin with, with a +10 to distrube for each rank after their first. (thus, at rank 3 they'd have 20 points to distribute between their stats - keeping in mind that no stat can raise more than 20 points)

zombieneighbours said:

That really depends upon how many people are in your party. I'd say 1 pc equivalent character and 1-2 mooks for every member in the party. If things are going poorly you can always have one kick ass item on standby that he can use against the PCs which will "malfunction" in his last action before he can be taken down. (so they don't get their hands on a working version of whatever that item happens to be)

Remember, too, that if this npc is as skilled as your pcs, then he should also be as smart and use tactics - when preparing for such a battle, or just in general, it might be good to have a few of the individual's items noted with creative ways to use them against the players. Sure the npc is thinking on his feet, but presumably he has been in these tough scrapes before, so he'll have strategies already worked out. (and, of course, do not forget to use cover!)