When creating NPCs what are the stats you should have fleshed out?

[the adventurer]

I'm getting ready to start up a GURPS campaign (my first) and I'm building a list of NPCs that my PCs may have to fight or otherwise outwit. So I'm just trying to figure out the bare minimum number of stats I need have something to roll against. At this point this seems right to me.

IQ - if they need to make a skill check (doubles as per and will)
DX - to roll to hit
HP - to know when they die
Swing/Throw Dam - for damage if relevant
DR - Defence
Dodge - ditto

That sound right? Or is even this too much?

Also, related question. I'm trying to figure out wha the balance for HP is, between PCs and enemies. The game setting is contemporary fantasy/horror with a lot of guns.

[Faolyn]

I think it depends on what sort of NPCs they are. If they're non-combat, non- characters, don't bother with HP or ST or combat abilities. Unless you want to be hyper-realistic, assume that a strong blow will kill or incapacitate him. Likewise, if they're combat-oriented, don't bother with IQ. Assume average stats for everything else.

Of course, important NPCs should be more fleshed out. But since PCs are capricious and may decide to adopt that barmaid you didn't even bother to name at first while completely ignoring the king, it's hard to always know which NPCs are important.

(Having said that, I'm terrible and often fully flesh out my NPCs for absolutely no good reason. I'm working on it, though.)

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Faolyn

[snip] (Having said that, I'm terrible and often fully flesh out my NPCs for absolutely no good reason. I'm working on it, though.)

Me Too. Having said that, I think that this technique actually helps my (limited) spontaneity, because if I don't know what going to happen, but know how the NPCs would react if the situation was presented normally, it usually goes much more smoothly.

[Stripe]

Online info, resources, and support for GURPS, GURPS Fourth Edition Forms: NPC Record Card and Time Use Sheet.

TheMook.Net's NPC Record Cards (Fillable), an interactive form PDF of the GURPS 4e NPC Record Cards.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by the adventurer

Also, related question. I'm trying to figure out what the balance for HP is, between PCs and enemies. The game setting is contemporary fantasy/horror with a lot of guns.

Normal human GURPS characters tend to have 10-14 hit points. Unlike D&D, this does not intrinsically go up as the characters develop.

Surviving GURPS combat is not done by having more hit points, especially against modern guns, but by not getting hit, via tactics and dodging, or having good enough armour to stop bullets (not easy). GURPS combat is a lot more dangerous for PCs than D&D, and much more caution is required.

[Fnugus]

It very much depends on the campaign type and the importance and role of the NPC. I have a non-combat intrigue campaign, and I often find it necessary to do full writeups on NPCs to make them seem real enough to be a part of a complicated scheme. If the goal is just something to meet a few times and outwit/fight, only the core attributes and a few relevant skills are necessary.

A nice writeup could be something like:

ST      HP       Speed
DX      Will     Move
IQ      Per      
HT      FP       SM
Dodge   Parry    DR

Quick summary of attacks (type/skill/dam)
Quick summary of relevant traits (ads/disads)
Quick summary of relevant skills

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by the adventurer

That sound right? Or is even this too much?

For one-shot NPCs, you don't even need that. Just make a descriptive bang skill, like Bartender! or Merchant!, and give him a skill level; 12 is average professional competence for a non-life-or-death profession. Assume all attributes and sub-attributes are 10. You'll need more for combatants, of course, but you can reuse the same basic stats for them, just changing the weapon skill.

[copeab]

I tend to go more for relative skill levels -- I look at what the PCs have and set the NPC levels by that.

Generally:

NPC is a push-over: 4 or more less than the PC
NPC is a minor challenge: -3 or -2
NPC is somewhat challenging: -1 to +1
NPC is rather challenging: +2 or +3
NPC can wipe the floor with the PC: +4 or better

Stats are a bit different, as they don't show the same range as skill levels in most cases. Normally, I keep these fro 9-12 unless the NPC is supposed to be quite exceptional in a stat.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by copeab

I tend to go more for relative skill levels -- I look at what the PCs have and set the NPC levels by that.

Generally:

NPC is a push-over: 4 or more less than the PC
NPC is a minor challenge: -3 or -2
NPC is somewhat challenging: -1 to +1
NPC is rather challenging: +2 or +3
NPC can wipe the floor with the PC: +4 or better

Stats are a bit different, as they don't show the same range as skill levels in most cases. Normally, I keep these fro 9-12 unless the NPC is supposed to be quite exceptional in a stat.

Since the initial post asked specifically about HPs, I'd say that I do something like your relative skill levels, at least as a rule-of-thumb principle. Especially for supernatural NPCs, and several of my campaigns have had horror/supernatural with big guns.

I mean, if the NPC is a fearsome elder demon, it won't do if he's got roughly the same survivability as the PCs! Either he has many more HPs, or he has some other form of protection (or both!): he's very tough (DR), or difficult to hit (fast, great dodger, difficult to see etc.), or simply a normal gun (or a normal round) won't hurt him. The PCs should fear this guy!
OTOH, cannon-fodder NPCs will be incapacitated, at least, if you hit them in the torso with one round from a good gun and you make an average roll to damage.

[Rurouni_Bill]

It sounds like you've covered most of what you need. I'll also throw in a primary weapon skill and whatever non-combat skills make the character noteworthy. I do have a bad habit of stating out NPC's fully, but it is decent practice. I use the gurps character assistance and just save them all. Over the course of a couple of years I've built up a pretty sizable go-to roster. I've also had decent luck using templates in the program to pretty quickly assemble generic folks.