Demographics VI: Bring Class into It Again

With racial distributions in hand, I can create a simple system to populate a settlement with NPCs. Keep in mind that this is descriptive, not prescriptive: all I want is a list of the important characters in a place, and what their stats might be, and who their second-in-command is, when the PCs inevitably mouth off to them. I'm well aware that the 5e (or any edition) class system is not well suited to non-adventurers.

I've created an unholy mixture of Alexis's tables from here, here, and here, which provide excellent thought into how a population distribution is created in terms of level, and how base ability stats are inferred from that. The stats are modified based on this and the 5e Basic ruleset.

One thing to keep in mind is that these are not rules for character creation. There might be some overlap (for example, characters cannot decide their age).

Racial Distribution

This is determined in the similar way that a pricing reference amount would be determined for, say, wood or gold. Each settlement gets 1 reference for its base race. These are then distributed along trade routes. Once all this has been done, the total value is normalized so that we have a proper distribution which adds to 100%. Because orcs rarely trade, they are usually the minority, near those orcish cities which are plugged into the network. The deeper into a homogeneous nation you go, the less likely it is to see other races.

Class Distribution

According to this post, there are four types of 5e classes:

Type I - Institution based

Bards must train at a college. Clerics must train at a seminary. Wizards must train at a university. There are no monks in my world. These institutions are placed like any industry and distributed according to the same principles as the rest of the trade network (which is such a useful tool!).

institution	infrastructure	population
university	534	50000
seminary	534	25000
college	534	12500

Type II - Density based

Barbarians, druids, and rangers will all prefer wilder areas. They won't be totally absent from dense areas, just rare. On the other hand, rogues and thieves have more marks in a dense settlement.

Type III - Random

Paladins, sorcerors, and warlocks all have personal vows or obligations. So their distribution is small and random.

Type IV -Fighters

Everyone else is a fighter. Easy.

Score Determination

Depending on the class, the highest scores are assigned to appropriate abilities (e.g., wizards get the highest score in INT), and the rest are randomly assigned.

Age Distribution

Using the equations from here.

Aging Effects

Disclaimer: these are not character effects. They're just for NPCs for now. First, the age of the person is normalized to human-60. So a dwarf, with a slightly longer maximum lifespan of 125, is equivalent to human-60 when she is $60 \cdot {125\over 80}=93$ years old. Every year after this point, the character must roll 1d20 above their STR, DEX, and CON, or lose a point from each. Similarly, if they roll 1d20 above INT or WIS, they gain a point. CHA is unaffected.

Now then. How does it all shake out?

Drichsze, population 63122, founded in 3117. There is a seminary (possibly named after the town or for the deity it serves) and a bardic college (College of Drichsze) here. The top 25 highest leveled persons are:

• Hilkamyn, a 30 year old human male, Fighter 11
• Okorzych, a 55 year old human male, Fighter 11
• Madwgawn, a 22 year old human male, Fighter 10
• Czymiet, a 25 year old human male, Rogue 9
• Noraw, a 31 year old human male, Fighter 8
• Widdocko, a 45 year old human male, Rogue 8
• Marryawn, a 25 year old human female, Rogue 8
• Badow, a 22 year old orc female, Fighter 8
• Brwych, a 22 year old human female, Fighter 8
• Myszych, a 30 year old human male, Rogue 7
• Popachno, a 67 year old human female, Fighter 7
• Gwieck, a 52 year old human female, Cleric 7
• Tryzniek, a 25 year old human female, Fighter 7
• Rinajaal, a 31 year old orc female, Fighter 7
• Jezhciski, a 53 year old human male, Fighter 7
• Picarwe, a 56 year old human male, Fighter 7
• Elodwe, a 28 year old human male, Cleric 7
• Dwodre, a 47 year old human female, Warlock 7
• Tegalwy, a 23 year old human female, Rogue 7
• Dwowynn, a 25 year old human male, Rogue 7
• Rowtrano, a 63 year old human male, Rogue 7
• Dyceri, a 70 year old human female, Rogue 7
• Gwalwymar, a 35 year old human male, Fighter 7
• Dachafgalas, a 46 year old human male, Fighter 7
• Krycigone, a 59 year old human female, Fighter 6

Here is the beauty of the system. I don't have to assume anything about these people. Maybe Hilkamen is the ruler of Drichsze, having climbed the ranks through skill or fortune of birth. Perhaps Gwieck's connections through the College of Drichsze have placed her in a high position. Or maybe the criminal gangs run the city, through their leader Widdocko.

The list is dominated by humans, of course, but Badow's militant prowess is nothing to scoff at. What sorts of things has she had to endure as minority, and how has that shaped her?

Dyceri is the oldest here, although with a statblock of 5/8/11/16/15/15, her activities are more limited to teaching new pick-pockets the higher arts of political subterfuge. The oldest person is Llermy, who at 80 years old should have advanced past level 1...

What about the highest for each class?

• Glerwy, a 21 year old human male, Barbarian 5
• Caro, a 57 year old human female, Bard 6
• Gwieck, a 52 year old human female, Cleric 7
• Emhach, a 31 year old human female, Druid 2
• Hilkamyn, a 30 year old human male, Fighter 11
• Zienys, a 24 year old human female, Paladin 5
• Eniecho, a 55 year old human male, Ranger 6
• Czymiet, a 25 year old human male, Rogue 9
• Wocko, a 57 year old human female, Sorcerer 5
• Afakiro, a 31 year old orc male, Wizard 4
• Dwodre, a 47 year old human female, Warlock 7

What sorts of things have these people been through? What stories can they tell?

All this shows how a comprehensive framework does not replace imagination, but it provides a coherent structure upon which to base that imagination. Given the facts, we can easily construct a narrative which describes how this city operates, and how it might respond to the influx of a certain cast of party.