So, how about a sheriff?

[Wakshaani]

Sheriffs and deputes are a western staple, and while the Guild Guard are hwat they are, the smaller towns need some lawmen to help keep order. Some are clean, some are crooked, and some aren't as clean as they want to be. I figure they'd generally qualify as Minions, probably have a good Grace and Tenacity, bounce around INtimidate, some social skills, pistol, rifle, and horsebackin' ... but what about weak stats? Skills that theys hould have that don't leap immediately to mind, like possibly Bureaucratics to handle the law, or pugilism for wrasslin' the town drunk into a cell without having to just shoot the guy?

 

Anybody have some law dogs that they'd like to share?

[011121]

I'd probably just grab a guild NPC from the fatemaster's almanac, which one would depend on what kind of sheriff I wanted them to be.

[dgraz]

Innocence has a Sheriff.

[Claymore65]

For Stats, take a look at the Guild Seargeant. He might be what you're looking for.

 

Skills include Evade, Intimidate (perfect for a Rough and Tumble Sheriff), Leadership (for a nicer one), Notice (for finding criminals), Shotgun (replaced with any weapon), Teach (for teaching the Deputies), and Track (for finding those criminals).

[Wakshaani]

I'm still struggling with how much *STRONGER* every NPC is than the PCs. That's counteracted somewhat by cardflips, but not terribly much.

 

I have to go in and whack about 4-10 points off the stats of everything.

[Claymore65]

Part of the intent of the game is to have Players start at about "Guild Guard" level.

 

At the beginning of the game, they're not actually that exceptional. They can hold their own against tougher beings, but not against anything too crazy strong.

 

With skill-points and more, they can eventually get a lot stronger. Once you have about a +6-7 to hit, things get really dicey for their foes.

 

I've also found that the Card Flips really make a massive difference. When fighting minions (which you should mostly be fighting anyway), much of the time they only have to match their stats to win duels against them.

[Ampers&nd]

I agree, my fated facesmash most minions and they've only played 4 sessions, we already have a player with ML7 and another with Sh7, the NPC stats seem pretty low when they start hitting things.

 

My Sheriff for expectation was based on the guild guard chassis, with some skill swaps to make him more tracker/wilderness based for those posses, as well as making him a bit tougher.

[Wakshaani]

Part of the intent of the game is to have Players start at about "Guild Guard" level..

 

While this is true, and I can appreciate it, the NPCs are often *not* at Guild Guard level. Where a PC is at +2 on stats, for instance, it's common to find ordinary blokes at +5, +6, +8... not for  Enforcers or Masters, but plain ol' minions.

 

Add to this a lack of peons (Which Terror Tots and Gremlins should have been, but aren't to keep the tabletop and RPG stats aligned) and it's not quite the balance I want in my personal game.

 

A few examples: Guild Pathfinder (A scout, a role a starting PC might want) is at +8, a Gunfighter's also at +8, while a harlot is at +3.

 

Desperate Mercenary's at +8, Ronin are at +10 (!), Freikorpsmen are at at +8 for teh basic grunt, while Terror Tots are +10 as well.

 

Yikes!

[Claymore65]

To be fair, your "Combat" PCs shouldn't be at +2. They should be at least at +4 if they actually hope to contribute to combat. +5 if they want to be useful, and higher if they want to hit all the time. Once you hit a "+6/+7" (which frankly is very easy to do, you only need a +4 in an aspect and +3 in a skill), you'll find they hit pretty much all the time.

 

Also, I'm a little confused about what you mean. where are you getting "+10" for the Ronin? They hit at 10. They have an Acting Value of 5. That means their total value is 10, since 5 + 5 = 10. Not "+10". They hit at "+5". If your PC's defense flip is less than 10, then they hit. Honestly, if you have +4 defense the odds of not getting hit aren't too bad. You just need a 6 or higher.

 

Let's look at a Desperate Merc, one of the easier enemies. The Ronin, Gunslingers, and Freikorpsman are all intended to be slightly stronger.

 

They have a 10 in total defense (5 for the actual stat), meaning a PC with +2 to hit hits them on an 8. Sure, that's a low chance, but it's still possible. A PC with a +4 (which I find to be "average" for a PC wishing to be able to shoot/slash only a tiny bit) only needs a 6 or higher to hit, which is actually fairly likely. A PC with +5 only needs a 5 to hit, a PC with +6 only needs a 4 etc. With each "+1" they gain to hit, it becomes significantly easier for them to hit. Trust me, they can get hit really easily as long as the PC builds even moderately for combat. A "+2" to hit is an example of a character who wants to do pretty much no combat, and if they complain about hitting then, there is a problem. You should have at least a +4 to hit if you wanted your characters attacking and actually hitting.

[Wakshaani]

+5/6/8/10/etc in stats, not acting value. Total up Might, Resilience, Charm, and so on for a final total.

 

PCs are at +2, period.

 

Random harlot on the street having more points to play with isn't great, but when a generic gunslinger's the same as a PC on their 6th+ step on the path, it's a little galling.

 

Acting values are a whole other thing.

[Claymore65]

Oh, I thought you meant Acting Values. I was really confused by what you meant lol.

 

To be fair, the actual aspects of the NPCs don't really matter much. I wouldn't take too much stock in them.

 

If it bothers you, just lower the stats in your mind and increase the skills to compensate.

 

For Neverborn though, I assume it's intentional. They are monsters that are supposed to superior to humans in a lot of circumstances, but they lack some of the skill humans have.

[zeeblee]

Perhaps all of these NPCs are at +X on their Aspects because they've already fulfilled their destinies and didn't take any Manifested Powers?

 

I've never run into issues with NPCs having higher total Aspects than PCs mostly due to the fact that their skills are often more limited, they are hard limited by Rank, PCs get to variably add to their total (card flips, which will average higher than a Minion's Rank), and PCs actually have some control over that total due to cheating fate.  I think NPCs also have to live in a weird "challenge rating" due to the fact that you don't want every Minion to be a threatless mook as soon as your PCs reach Pursuit 6, Fate Step 3.  As it is I personally have found that if I want a fight to be dangerous (with my crew of 5 Fated), then I have to throw in about 3 Minions, one Enforcer, and do what I can to keep the primary fighters away from the biggest threats.  Then when it comes to talking encounters, most of the Bestiary NPCs have pretty abysmal stats for it since they come from the skirmish game, and are thus focused on combat.

 

--------------

 

As for the topic of sheriffs.  I don't have one right now, but I did have a custom-made witch hunter that acted as a sheriff in a mining town with a magic problem.

 

Witch Hunter Zebre

Enforcer or Henchman depending on threat level needed

Dabbler 5, Thalarian Doctrine

 

Might: 2

Grace: -2

Speed: 1

Resistance: 3

 

Intellect: 0

Charm: -3

Cunning: 2

Tenacity: 3

 

Skills:

Centering - 2

Evade - 2

Toughness - 2

Notice - 1

Sorcery - 2

Enchanting - 2

Tracking - 1

Heavy Melee - 3

Counterspell - 3

 

Talents:

Wall of Muscle

Arcane Musings

Armor Training

Spell Affinity (Fire Immuto)

Rush

Spell Affinity (Engulf)

 

Defense - 4(11)

Willpower - 5(12)

Wounds - 9

Walk - 5

Charge - 6

 

Attacks:

 

Large Custom Focus Hammer

3

5(12)AV

3/4/6 stunning

 

Engulf

Rng 5

12 :tomeAV :+fate  (aka, :-fate to Fated Willpower flip)

Burning 7

 

Elemental Weapon

12 TN

Burning 4

 

She is a large brute, and a force to be reckoned with, and was designed to be part of a brutal potential boss encounter for the Fated. 

 

Roleplaying her:  Zebre prefers force and action to talking, and she keeps conversations short.  Pretty much just a bully with authority, and part of a big local conspiracy in a growing mining community in the northern mountains of Malifaux.