House Rules and Habits- NPC Traits

When I started running Victoriana, it was the Second Edition. All the bits and pieces were identifiably present in that version but Third Edition cleaned up the game, making it a lot more cohesive. It’s much easier to read and understand but there are a couple of great pieces of Second Edition that got lost. One of these is NPC Traits.

Player characters in Victoriana are very complicated and comprehensive with lists of skills, talents, assets, privileges, and spells. It’s just too much to go through that for every Non-Player Character, so I use Competencies and Traits. While NPC Traits are mentioned in 3^rd Edition, they deserve to be a more integral part of an NPC’s stat block. I think these quick descriptions can do so much more than they currently do.

The three main stats of an NPC are the Competencies: Physical, Mental, and Social. These are analogous to the attributes of a Player Character (Strength, Dexterity, Fortitude etc). They provide 90% of the mechanics needed, but I go a bit further for named NPCs that needs to react and interact with the player characters.  Here is an NPC as an example:

Jeroboam Hinge (Orc Chimney Sweep)

Initiative: 4

Physical: 4

Mental: 2

Social: 4

Health: 10

Combat: Work knife (4)

It’s not bad, but there is nothing distinctive about Jeroboam Hinge, nothing about how to portray him or his modus operandi. Instead of skills, privileges, and talents, a couple of descriptive traits give me exactly what I need. These traits give bonus dice just like skills when Jeroboam Hinge performs any action to which the traits might apply. So Jeroboam has:

Traits: Things go missing around him +3, Protective of his apprentices +2

Now Hinge has some life in him. He’s a sneak thief, but he watches out for the people in his care. These traits tell me exactly what kinds of choices he’ll make around the player characters. He steals small things when people aren't looking while gaining +2 dice to his pickpocket, Conceal,  and Hide and Sneak pools. These might also be more than just bonus dice. If Hinge has to make a mental competency test against a player character threatening one of his apprentices to make Hinge surrender, that +2 bonus could become a +2 black dice penalty or he may just automatically give in.

Traits can also differentiate characters with very similar stats. If I make another chimney sweep keeping all of the competencies the same but give the character new traits, such as Good judge of horseflesh at the track +2 and Small frame +3, they become a completely different character without requiring looking up skills and talents. Mind you, if I still need some special rules, I can still add special rules. I don’t want to have to remember how a monster’s regeneration works or how to calculate their speed burrowing underground. I’ll write down whatever details I need about a monster’s rules, but in general, traits boil down an NPC’s stats down to what I really need and give me quick reminders how they operate. Traits simplify creating NPCs and make them easier to use at the table.