Population Demographics, Article II
3/29/2004
by R. Padraic Springuel

Okay, last time we outlined a baseline system for NPC advancement. We did so by modifying Sean Reynolds system based on some of our own ideas. Now were going to modify our system further to account for harsher environments.

First off we need to establish what qualifies as a "harsher environment." Obviously its an environment in which it is more difficult to make a living than normal. But what is normal and how do we quantify how much harsher other environments are? Fortunately the DMG does this for us. On page 133 (3.0 DMG, first printing) we find a table entitled Terrain Modifiers to Encounter Level which lists 7 different types of terrain; plains, hills, forest, desert, mountains, aquatic, and swamp. This table also provides the average EL for random encounters in that terrain type and a modifier to NPC level. The DMG would have us add this modifier directly to the level of the highest level NPC. However, were not just interested in the highest level NPC, were also interested in how NPCs advance over the course of their life.

There are two ways to account for this change in focus. The first is to use the modifier to change the CR of the average year. So in a swamp the average year is a CR 6 encounter instead of CR 1 (the modifiers are as follows: plains 0, hills 0, forest +1, desert +2, mountains +3, aquatic +4, swamp +5). If we plug these modified CRs into the system we established earlier then we get approximately what the DMG would have had us do. Only the aquatic and swamp environments dont line up exactly with the highest level NPCs being 6 and 7 respectively instead of 7 and 8.

The second way to account for our change in focus is to decrease the amount of time that it takes for an NPC to experience something equivalent to a CR 1 encounter. For instance, we could say that in the forest environment, each half-year is a CR 1 encounter, instead of each year being a CR 2 encounter. If we divide each year into an equal number of parts (1+ the terrain modifier), call that a CR 1 encounter, and then award experience appropriately, we find that there is very little difference between the two ways of treating harsher environments. The second does serve to slow the progression through the levels in the more difficult environments (desert, mountains, aquatic, and swamp) but the highest levels attained by NPCs in these environments remains the same. (1) Since I favor the slower progression and its easier to believe a level 1 NPC could survive multiple CR 1 encounters better than a single CR 6 one, Im going to use the second method over the first.

So, what do we have? Well considering the number of numbers Im going to use to describe this, let me put them in a table to make them easier to read:

NPC AGES

Obviously the increase in the CR of the average year translates into a faster progression through the earlier levels (for those that survive) which then tapers down considerably by the time they become equal to the challenge (i.e. they are the same level as the CR). Harsher environments breed hardier people, as we would expect.

Now we need to address the issue of population mobility. In medieval society a persons identity was defined by two things: the groups to which they belonged and the place in which they lived. Most people are born, live, and die in a very small radius and are associated with the same group of people all their life. This is why exile was considered such a harsh penalty. An individual forced into exile was essentially deprived of their identity. The one exception to this was the migration of rural peasants to cities.

There is an expression that describes why this exception existed: "City air makes free." In most cities, those peasants that lived there for a year and a day were freed from their manorial obligations (work and coin that they owed to their lord). As a result, most cities would tend to grow over time as more people moved in and became permanent residents. When taken into consideration, these two facts indicate that for smaller communities the environment should be a dominant factor in determining the highest level NPC to be found in the community.

However, in larger communities, environment should play less of a role as these communities will have a larger migrant population which can come from all kinds of environments. In fact, in the biggest cities, environment shouldnt play any role in determining the highest level NPCs present because the city will be drawing its population from all possible environments.

Before we move on to generation there is one more thing I want to touch on: training. Now while this wont affect the levels attained by the NPCs, it will effect how they correspond to their ages, so Ill discuss it in our next article.

1 - I should also note that there is a slight acceleration in later level advancement in the less difficult environments, but as this only makes a year or twos difference Im going to ignore it.

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