The Ghost:NPCCreationGuidelines/Top

NPCs, the bane of every ST's existence. You need them, by their hundreds, and in some cases they need to be as detailed as the PCs, and in many cases they need to be more powerful in some way: BUT the PCs have trouble enough keeping track of their own sheets and abilities: how can you handle creating dozens upon dozens of NPCs when there are no good guidelines for what a character should look like in terms of stats? This rule set addresses that.

First Precepts

The first thing to remember about the content on this page is that it is not a rule variant, but more a set of rules which the ST can apply to create detailed NPCs of any power level. For a more 'quick and dirty' solution Google "Fixalted Simplified NPCs".

Second thing to remember, this establishes guidelines for the relative availability and scalar nature of Attributes, Abilities, Backgrounds, and Virtues. It uses Mortals as it's base assumption and therefore is only really suitable for starting Exalted PCs and most NPCs: exalts who have been active a while break all the rules by their nature.

Third, as mentioned above these are guidelines, if you have a good NPC idea which does not fit this set of rules do it anyway. These rules are here to help, not hinder, and should never be taken as some kind of gospel.

Stat Guidelines

This is where the guidelines for the various stats of Exalted are spelled out, do note that these stats may not match those in the books, this is either A: Deliberate, or B: because I didn't know what the books said and made something up, in either case please use the Talk page to discuss any issues you have with the material presented.

Attributes

The guidelines for Attributes are fairly well laid out: 1 is substandard, 2 is average, 3 is above average, 4 is exceptional and 5 is full mortal potential: the rare exceptions to this going to no more than 6 and those being considered 'superhuman'. However a few of the stats need some better guidelines so that players and STs are not so tempted to simply treat the scales as if they had only 3 settings, 1, 2, and 5.

Strength

Strength: 1 and 2 STR don't need much in the way of further explanation: but the next four levels do.

3: For strength 3 is actually almost as common as 2: you are probably a sturdy yeoman farmer, a stevedore on the docks, or the strongest person in a family of intellectuals. Players and STs should feel justified giving any adult character 3 strength if they have a job requiring heavy lifting or strenuous activity or who 'works out'. Numerically people with STR 3 are one in 10

4: STR 4 however is much more unusual. If the character has STR 4 they almost certainly are both naturally stronger than average and have a job that requires abnormal physical exertion, such as miner, warrior, or farrier. Numerically people with Str 4 are about 1 in 1000

5: Str 5 is far rarer than even str 4. This is the province of Olympic weight lifters and animals such as horses. Players and GMs should not feel justified giving characters this level of strength unless they also have some kind of background such as cult or influence which marks them as being well known in their region. Numerically people with STR 5 are one in a Million.

6: This is the province of legendary heroes such as Samson, Goliath, Gilgamesh, Hercules, and Paul Bunion. People with this level of strength come along once in a millennium, other than among the exalted, appropriate god blooded, and animals.

Dexterity

Like with strength one and two the first few levels of dexterity require no further explanation, but the next four on the other hand need to be defined a little better. Dexterity is one of the two 'godstats' of Exalted, and unfortunately far to many players and GMs just put it at 5 for all of their characters for mechanical reasons, the guidelines bellow will give more thorough definitions of each level above average so that a more realistic approach can be taken.

3: Unlike Strength you should not feel justified in giving almost anyone above average Dex. Without native talent almost everyone has Dex 2, and it is something that can only be trained in a limited manner, the natural degree of Dexterity you have as an adult can be increased by no more than 2 dots through training if you are being realistic and not one of the exalted, but conversely your natural aptitude cannot take you to more than Dex 4. Jugglers, dancers, and warriors typically have Dex 3 and no higher, and most of them from training more than talent. Numerically people with Dex 3 are one in 100 or less.

4: Dex 4 is exponentially rarer than people with Dex 3, just as people with Dex 3 are rarer than people with Dex 2. Dex 4 is the province solely of those with natural talent for dexterity or an incredible degree of training, probably since birth. Characters who might have Dex 4 include Martial Artists, Circus Acrobats, Cat Burglars, and Assassins. Numerically one person in 10K has Dex 4

5: Now we get into the province of legends. Numerically one person in 10 million or less has Dex five, and GMs should er on the side of less. This is the province solely of those with BOTH a natural talent for Dexterity and training. People who have Dex 5 that people in the real world would recognize include the most legendary of Olympic figure skaters, Jackie Chan, and SEAL team 6. People in exalted who could possibly have this level of dexterity in Exalted include Ninja, Martial Arts Masters in their prime, and Princes of Thieves who's names will be legend in the criminal underworld.

6: Like STR this level of Dex is the stuff of mythology, but unlike STR I cannot think of a single instance of a hero who is legend for his Dexterity. There are those who are legend for dexterity related Abilities but I cannot think of a hero from folklore and mythology who is known for his incredible agility or speed which would not require charms in exalted to accomplish his legendary feats. As such without suitable god-blood or similar STs should probably consider 5 the upper limit of mortal Dexterity.

Appearance

No Attribute is more often abused than appearance, and it's easy to see why. Not only is Appearance the god-stat of social combat it is one of the fondest fantasies of most players, to be a legendary beauty or devilishly handsome. However, the truth of the matter is that like the majority of the population most exalts should be appearance 2, exaltation selects for heroism, not beauty. Furthermore without the power of exaltation it normally should not be possible to upgrade your appearance after you reach adulthood. Some argument could be made for doing so if you change certain habits such as always being dirty and disheveled or ceasing to constantly scowl, but under normal circumstances most people have a single constant appearance score and this should not change positively after their features stabilize at full maturity. Moving on, what follows is a more complete accounting of the potential scores for appearance from 0 to 6, which require a more through explanation than most stats.

The first thing to understand, which apples to all of these stat readouts is that 'appearance' is more than your actual appearance, it includes things like how you smell, how you stand, your facial expression, how you gesticulate, how you are groomed, and what your clothing looks like. These factors combine can allow a certain small degree of upward mobility in terms of your appearance scores effects but are not enough even when combine to cause a permanent increase to appearance as all of them except matters of stance and gesture are temporary and changeable. STs should perhaps consider allowing a permanent increase of 1 point to appearance over a character's starting rating if they can marshal all of these factors on what would reasonably be considered a permanent basis, but under normal circumstances this is more of a temporary circumstance bonus awarded by the ST.

0: Appearance zero is the province of the disfigured and deformed. People who look like walking corpses and stink of blood have this level of appearance. Outside god blooded and certain exalts this type of appearance is exceedingly rare, 1 in 10000 people or less is this hideously ugly. It must also be noted that people with this level of appearance are so hideous looking that they appear monstrous and are treated as Appearance 5 when attempting to intimidate people. People known to the modern audience with this level of appearance include Freddy Kruger, Your Typical Zombie, and Lotney 'Sloth' Fratelli from the legendary children's movie "The Goonies".

1: Appearance one is more than 'substandard' it means that nearly everyone will get at least 1 bonus success against you in social combat. However, though people with this level of appearance are considered 'ugly' it is actually fairly common. Depending on the local between 1 person in 20 and one person in 50 will have this level of appearance. It also should be far more common among the Exalted than the general population, as having a poor appearance score gives a person more opportunities to display heroism. Those with appearance 1 probably have uneven features such as a walleye, harelip, or badly deviated septum.

2: There is more to say about appearance 2 than you might think, While it may be 'average' it also runs the gamut of typical mortal phenotypes. Nappy hair, wavy hair, straight hair, frizzy hair; short hair, long hair, bald; brown hair, auburn hair, red hair, blonde hair, white hair, gray hair, black hair, blue hair, green hair; lavender eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, tawny eyes, brown eyes, ruddy eyes, gray eyes, hazel eyes; black skin, brown skin, red skin, tanned skin, pale skin, pink skin, golden skin, bluish and greenish skin; small teeth, square teeth, round teeth, pointed teeth, large teeth; tall, short; thin, fat, or fit: there are places where every conceivable combination of these are or have been considered the height of beauty and the depths of ugliness somewhere in creation. However: NONE of them actually are. One's appearance, as has been intimated above, has less to do with one's actual appearance per-se as with ones carriage, bearing, scent, and poise. In so far as appearance actually plays into it it is not about if you are one ethnicity, or a specific social class, but if your features are well proportioned, not by any arbitrary standard but in relation to themselves, if your skin is free of blemish, or in some cases has one small blemish in just the right place to keep one's perfect symmetry from becoming overwhelming and unnatural seeming. ST's should feel comfortable rating almost anyone at appearance two, and in fact should do so for the VAST majority of people.

3: Appearance 3 is actually more common among above average scores than almost any other. About 1 person in between 10 and 80 has it depending on region. These are the 'popular' people of your high school, office, gym, church, country club, or PTA. It usually does not take much to set someone above the 'average' of the human population, probably not even something you can put your finger on exactly: they just have this look or stance that says 'obey me' to some primitive part of your brain: and here is the kicker, which exalted does not model at ALL well: you probably HATE them for it. One thing that almost everyone in the real world has which practically no exalted GM thinks to include on NPC character sheets is a negative intimacy towards people who are more attractive than them: and it makes sense. Having a negative intimacy towards someone or something boosts your MDV against social attacks which try to make you act in accordance with that person or thing's interest, which, lets face it, in the case of the 'popular' people usually run counter to your own. Having traded on their good looks their whole life most of these people are selfish, opinionated, self centered, grasping, conniving, jerks. Having a negative intimacy towards them is a survival mechanism: but unfortunately it can only provide a +1 to your MDV which brings us to...

4: These people. This level of appearance is fortunately FAR rarer than appearance 3, by an entire strata of rarity, from appearance 3 to four we go from the 'popular' people to the people who are your local and state leaders, mayors, chiefs of police, state senators, and spokespersons for your company. THESE are the people who can actually get by solely on their good looks, because against the majority of the human race even that +1 leaves us at a -1 penalty, and in social combat that is huge. Fortunately for the rest of us in numerical terms these people are about 1 in 10 to 25 thousand, so chances are that we never personally meet one in our entire lives.

5: While the jump between appearance 3 and four is vast, the jump to appearance 5 is much less so proportionally, perhaps one person in 100 to 500 thousand has this level of appearance. These are the models, the actors and actresses, and the national politicians, if you can think of someone that is a 'household name' and is not known for being homely it is possible that they have this level of appearance. However, there are those...

6: Ironically, considering how much I rail against abusing high temperance, 'legendary' appearance is probably the most common legendary stat in existence. The Queen of Sheba, Helen of Troy, Marylin Monroe, Betty Paige, Sean Connery, Brad Pitt, just to name a few. Interestingly Cleopatra does not actually make this list, according to her contemporaries she actually had appearance of 4 or 5, but legendary manipulation and socialize.

Intelligence

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