CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull D100 NPC Generator is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kent David Kelly. This is a generic supplement although it is aimed at OSR games.
This is a 26 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $1.19 but was purchased for $0.99 during a special offer. One page is the front cover and around half a page are ads for other supplements.
The Introduction states that this is different from most of the author’s products (it’s much shorter for one) and has limited graphics. The supplement is intended to quickly generate NPCs, but it isn’t a complete NPC generator – for that, Dungeon Delver Enhancer is suggested – instead aiming to build the core of an NPC is five minutes. Using This Book explains that the book can be used during play, to create an NPC on the spot, or to create them between sessions. The user is recommended to then use the specific system of their choice to fill in the relevant game details. The supplement is then comprised of a series of d100 tables, eight in total, although not every table has 100 results. Each table has some accompanying explanatory text.
Table 1: Names has 100 different names, both male and female, from various sources, which are indicated for each result, such as Greek or Roman mythos, Arthurian, Italian, Norse and for specific races. The user is recommended to refer to the Dungeon Delver Enhancer for more names.
Table 2: Race recommends that in most cases race be human and for the others roll a non-human race on the table, which includes sub-races.
Table 3: Class is stated to favour the traditional iconic classes, namely the 1972-85 Gygaxian ones.
Table 4: Epithet has different epithets the NPC can be known by. Each result has a positive, a negative and a neutral epithet. This is followed by a note on alignment, and how it shouldn’t be determined randomly, but chosen logically based on other generated material. There is a brief d10 table for generating one of the traditional nine alignments randomly.
Table 5: Ability Scores is a random table of ability scores, following the traditional six, generated by 4d6 and drop the lowest option. Each result has six values, which can be arranged to taste and the text explains how the “power rating” has been determined. This is followed by another method of generating ability scores quickly.
Table 6: Experience Level refers to the Game World Generator and has different levels including multi-class options.
Table 7: Personality is intended to make the NPCs unique and each result has two different variants.
Table 8: Likes and Dislikes has a list of different things that NPCs could like or dislike; whether it’s a like or dislike is chosen by the GM.
Appendix A: Carried Wealth, By Experience Level is a list of how much money an NPC of a particular level might have on them.
Appendix B: Owned (And Possibly Carried) Magical Items is the worth and types of items an NPC might own by experience level. This is accompanied by warnings that players should not start treating NPCs as sources of lootable items, instead of going on adventures to find the same.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull D100 NPC Generator in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with the various major sections linked, although it lacks a table of contents. The supplement is short enough that navigation is generally decent. The text maintains a two column format and appeared free of errors although there were places where titles were at the bottom of pages, which should have been corrected. This supplement is stated in the Introduction to lack the traditional illustrations seen in the larger supplements, although it does have new headers and footers. The lack of illustrations is actually a plus, given the typical rather scattershot method by which they are used. Presentation is generally decent, apart from the stated problem with titles.
An NPC, or at least a framework for one, can be run up very quickly using this system. The GM will need to spend some time fleshing that NPC out; in some more modern systems, adding the game stats is by far the most complex part of the creation. CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull D100 NPC Generator is probably useful for a GM who wants the ability to quickly create NPCs in this manner and it can be found by clicking here.
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