NPC random statistics roll chart?

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Usually these things are campaign specific, and usually region specific within a campaign.

For a town, you can probably get away with one table. For a large city, you should have one per district or region or whatever (Watts vs Beverly Hills vs Chinatown - quite different ethnic layout) but even if you have a generic "City" table, it should be more cosmopolitan than a generic "Country" table, and both should be different from Europe to Africa to Asia.

Never mind Fantasy or Sci Fi games, where you might have Elves in L.A., or Cardassians on the space station (or in L.A.).

True enough. On the off chance anyone has such a chart for a late 20th/early 21st century Earth's society, i'd greatly appreciate it :-).

Originally Posted by Gigermann

Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but it might help. It will require some "interpretation" to use. See this post.

I will take a look at it. Thank you, Gigermann.

Originally Posted by Fish

Yes, I did create a random statistic chart for NPCs. It covers ethnicity, education, income, and occupation, based on the relevant year-2000 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States.

It doesn't cover sex or sexual preference, politics, or any Advantages or Disadvantages.

Would you mind sharing it :-D?

[Fish]

Sure, I'll post it here when I get home.

[Dwarf99]

Originally Posted by Collective_Restraint

Not necessarily unfair but it's cool and realistic that when PCs face a group of enemy thugs, they don't end up all with the same ST, DX, IQ and HT.

Originally Posted by Bruno

No, but there IS something unfair about the GM knowing that the party is poorly set up to deal with wizards, and "randomly" picking to give magery to encountered NPCs 50% of the time in a game world where he declared that Magery is a 1/100 thing.

Using a somewhat combat skewed example, but substitute any Intolerance or Social Stigma or Enemy or whatever on the players part that makes running into one kind of person unexpectedly often a potential problem.

both of the above people may note that

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

I don't like to always choose on the spot, because that runs the possibility of unfairly biasing certain PC benefits. Having a random list to pull traits from makes me feel better.

Exceptions are another matter :-).

the original quote that I was referencing referred to PCs, as such anything the GM throws at the PCs had little relevance to what I was pointing out... you might have been thrown off by the fact that I didn't specify that the only problem I had with the above quote was how it referred to PCs making "random mage pcs" and cookie cutter NPCs with "the same ST, DX, IQ and HT" irrelevant to my only intended complaint... </um sorta rant>

that said I completely understand the need for it in terms of NPCs but consider it pointless for PCs

[Ragitsu]

Originally Posted by Fish

Sure, I'll post it here when I get home.

Hm. Are you far from home?

[Fish]

Ack, sorry! Been very busy the last few nights. I'll leave myself a note.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Dwarf99

the original quote that I was referencing referred to PCs, as such anything the GM throws at the PCs had little relevance to what I was pointing out...

The title of the thread is NPC random statistics, and the first post is about NPC random statistics. You were responding to the OP, whos post doesn't appear to be about PCs at all. It's about NPCs, and how they interact with PCs.

At least, that's how I read it, and it looks like that's how Collective_Restraint read it as well.

[Dwarf99]

@ Bruno

no I was responding to Ragitsu's post which I quoted not Ragitsu's OP

[Ragitsu]

I'm confused. Oh well.

[Fish]

This is the chart I created. It is based on ethnic distribution in the United States in the year 2000; it is not adequate for a worldwide randomizer. Results would have to be adjusted for particular sections of the United States where the distribution differs (for instance, in the South, where there are more black residents; or in San Francisco, where there are more Chinese).

Character Trait Randomizer


AMERICA, Year 2000 (TL8)
ANCESTRY.  Roll 3d to determine the general ancestry, and roll additional dice
as indicated.  The following list is roughly weighted according to U.S. Census
data for the year 2000.  It is not precise and many figures have been 
adjusted or repositioned within a few percentage points to fit the probability 
scale of 3 six-sided dice.

	ANCESTRY OF U.S. CITIZENS
	3	0.5%	Pacific Islands (including native Hawaiian)
	4	1.4%	Native American (including Alaska)
	5	6.7%	Asian (roll again below)
	6-7	11.5%	Hispanic (roll again below)
	8-13	67.6%	Caucasian (roll again below)
	14-15	11.5%	Black (roll again below)
	16-18	4.7%	Mixed ancestry (roll again twice; successive 
			rolls of  Mixed indicate further mixtures)	

		ASIAN (roll 3d; add +1 to Wealth roll below)
		3-6	9.3%	Japanese
		7-8	16.6%	Filipino
		9-10	24.1%	Chinese
		11	12.5%	Vietnamese
		12	11.6%	Korean
		13-14	16.6%	Indian
		15-18	9.3%	Other (Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, etc)

		HISPANIC (roll 3d; subtract -1 from Wealth roll below)
		3-5	4.7%	South American (Brasilian, Columbian, etc)
		6	4.6%	Central American (Costa Rican, Guatemalan, etc)
		7	6.9%	Cuban
		8	9.7%	Puerto Rican
		9-15	69.4%	Mexican
		16-18	4.7%	Spainish (viz, from Spain)
	
		BLACK (roll 3d)
		3-4	1.9%	Black Hispanic (including Haitian, etc)
		5-14	88.8%	Black American
		15-18	9.3%	Other (including Africa)
		
		CAUCASIAN (roll 3d; add +1 to Wealth roll below)
	3-4	1.9%	Canadian
	5-6	7.4%	Mediterranean Europe (roll again below)
	7	6.9%	Middle Eastern (roll again below)
	8-9	21.3%	Eastern Europe (roll again below)
	10-11	25%	Western Europe (roll again below)
	12-15	32.8%	Great Britain (roll again below)
	16	2.8%	Northern Europe (roll again below)
	17-18	1.9%	Other

		Mediterranean Europe (roll 3d)
		3-4	1.9%	Croatian
		5-6	7.4%	Greek
		7-14	81.4%	Italian
		15	4.6%	Sicilian
		16-18	4.7%	Other (including Libya, Crete, Morocco, etc)

		Middle Eastern (roll 3d)
		3-6	9.3%	Israeli
		7	6.9%	Egyptian
		8	9.7%	Pakistani
		9	11.6%	Iranian
		10	12.5%	Syrian
		11-12	24.1%	Lebanese
		13	9.7%	Turkish
		14-15	11.5%	Saudia Arabian
		16-18	4.7%	Other (including Afghanistan, Kuwait, etc)

		Eastern Europe (roll 3d)
		3	0.5%	Romanian
		4-6	8.8%	Czechoslovakian
		7	6.9%	Hungarian
		8-9	21.3%	Lithuanian
		10	12.5%	Russian
		11-14	40.7%	Polish
		15-18	9.3%	Other

		Western Europe (roll 3d)
		3	0.5%	Belgian
		4	1.4%	Swiss
		5	2.8%	Portuguese
		6-7	11.5%	French
		8	9.7%	Dutch
		9	11.6%	Austrian
		10-16	60.6%	German
		17-18	1.9%	Other (including Andorran, Luxembourgian, etc)

		Great Britain (roll 3d)
		3-4	1.9%	White colonial (including Australia, Hong Kong, etc)
		5	2.8%	Welsh
		6-10	45.3%	Irish
		11-14	40.7%	English
		15-18	9.3%	Scottish

		Northern Europe (roll 3d)
		3-9	37.5%	Swedish
		10-12	36.6%	Norwegian
		13	9.7%	Finnish
		14-18	16.2%	Danish (including Iceland)
				

EDUCATION.  Roll 3d to randomly determine your level of education.  Some 
adjustments may apply to your Wealth roll, if you wish to roll randomly; 
otherwise, ignore the modifier.
	3-4	1.9%	Doctorate	+5
	5	2.8%	Professional degree	+6
	6	4.6%	Master’s degree	+4
	7	6.9%	Associate’s degree	+2
	8-9	21.3%	Some college (no degree)	+1
	10-11	25%	High school diploma only	—
	12-13	21.3%	Never graduated high school	(-1)
	14-18	16.2%	Bachelor’s Degree	+3

WEALTH.  Roll 3d to randomly determine wealth.  It is only weighted by 
population, and not by gender, race, or profession.  This chart assumes TL8 
and a starting income of $20,000.  You may add the modifiers from Ancestry 
and Education to the first roll; if you roll Very Wealthy or above, you may 
only apply your Ancestry modifier.
  
		WEALTH OF U.S. CITIZENS (roll 3d)
		3-5	4.7%	Dead Broke or Poor (up to $5,000)
		6-7	11.1%	Struggling ($5,000 to $15,000)
		8-11	46.3%	Average ($15,000 to $40,000)
		12-14	28.2%	Comfortable ($40,000 to $100,000)
		15-17	8.8%	Wealthy ($100,000 to $400,000)
		18	0.4%	Very Wealthy and above (roll again below)

		Very Wealthy and above (roll 3d; Caucasians get an additional +1)
		3-10	50%	Very Wealthy ($400,000 to $2,000,000)
		11-14	40.7%	Filthy Rich ($2,000,000 to $20,000,000)
		15-18	9.3%	Multi-millionaire (more than $20,000,000)


OCCUPATION.  Roll 3d to randomly determine occupation, or select an area 
of occupation below.  This random list may be used instead of the Education 
and Wealth rolls; they are not designed to interact.  The distribution of 
professions is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, August 
2007.

	3	0.5%	Natural resources and mining (roll again)
	4	1.4%	Military
	5	2.8%	Information (roll again)
	6	4.6%	Wholesale trade (roll again on Manufacturing list)
	7	6.9%	Construction (roll again)
	8	9.7%	Manufacturing (roll again)
	9	11.6%	Retail trade (roll again)
	10	12.5%	Professional (roll again)
	11	12.5%	Education and health (roll again)
	12	11.6%	Local government (roll again)
	13	9.7%	Leisure and hospitality (roll again)
	14	6.9%	Financial (roll again)
	15	4.6%	Transportation (roll again)
	16	2.8%	State government (roll again)
	17	1.4%	Federal government (roll again)
	18	0.5%	Utilities

		NATURAL RESOURCES
		3-7	16.2%	Logging
		8-10	33.8%	Oil and gas extraction
		11-18	50%	Mining and support industries

		INFORMATION
		3-4	1.9%	Internet publishing and broadcasting
		5-9	35.6%	Telecommunications
		10	12.5%	Motion picture and sound recording
		11	12.5%	Internet service providers
		12	11.6%	Broadcasting
		13-18	25.9%	Publishing

		CONSTRUCTION
		3-6	9.3%	Non-residential buildings
		7-9	28.2%	Non-residential specialty contractors
		10	12.5%	Civil construction
		11	12.5%	Residential buildings
		12-18	37.5%	Residential specialty contractors
		MANUFACTURING
		3	0.5%	Leather goods manufacturing
		4	1.4%	Beverages and tobacco manufacturing
		5	2.8%	Electrical equipment and appliances manufacturing
		6	4.6%	Wood products manufacturing
		7	6.9%	Chemicals manufacturing
		8	9.7%	Paper and printing manufacturing
		9	11.6%	Vehicle manufacturing
		10	12.5%	Food manufacturing
		11	12.5%	Fabricated metal manufacturing	
		12	11.6%	Computer and electronics
		13	9.7%	Machinery manufacturing
		14	6.9%	Plastics manufacturing
		15	4.6%	Furniture manufacturing
		16	2.8%	Textiles manufacturing
		17	1.4%	Apparel manufacturing
		18	0.5%	Petroleum manufacturing

		RETAIL TRADE
		3-5	4.7%	sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores 
		6	4.6%	home furnishing stores
		7	6.9%	health and personal care stores
		8	9.7%	clothing and accessories stores
		9	11.6%	department store
		10	12.5%	motor vehicle and parts stores
		11-12	24.1%	food and beverage stores
		13	9.7%	building and garden supply stores
		14	6.9%	general merchandise stores
		15	4.6%	gasoline stations
		16	2.8%	electronic appliances stores
		17-18	1.9%	other stores

And that's where I stopped working on it. I didn't create the sub-charts for government, health and education, leisure, and so forth. I still have the raw data but I haven't tried to break it down into dice probabilities yet.

[Dwarf99]

Originally Posted by Ragitsu

I'm confused. Oh well.

your OP mentioned a random chart for NPCs which is all well and good

then later you mentioned unfair biasing of PC traits to which I later made some minor criticism that has now been rendered irrelevant by misunderstanding

I'm not trying to bring it back up to cause trouble or anything just in the hopes of clearing away the confusion