Among the many aspects of Dungeons and Dragons, one which
seems, least exploited is the non-player character aspect. Many campaigns
appear to have shop-owners, hirelings, and other townsfolk,
with all of such having nearly identical traits. This tends to become
rather boring, with all non-player characters encountered being as
greedy (or as generous) as the referee. To correct this, additional characteristics
for non-player characters could be incorporated into the
game. Guidelines for such items are:

PRIDE (EGO)

01	None, -15% greed (see below), -1 constitution, -5% work quality (see below).
02-07	Little, -10% greed, -1% work quality
08-13	Some, -5% greed
14-89	Normal
90-91	Good well being, +1 charisma, +1 cons.
92-93	Very good well being, +1 cons., + 5% greed, + 5% work quality.
94-98	Vain, -1 chr., +1 cons., + 10% greed, +2% work quality.
99	Egotist, +1 cons., -2 chr., + 15% greed.
00	Egomaniac, +1 cons. -3 chr., +20% greed.

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Pride (ego) should be rolled once, and left unaltered.

GREED

Any negative amount	Gives things away, sells items (when he has to) for 1/10* price.
Zero	Gives things away, sells items (when he has to) for 1/5 * price
01-20	Loans things, sells items for 1/2* price.
21-84	Loans things, sells items for normal* prices.
85-95	May loan (2/3 chance), sells items for normal* prices.
96-00 + 4	May loan (1/3 chance), sells items for normal price + 10%.
00 + 5 to + 9	May loan (1/6 chance), sells items for normal price + 20%*.
00 + 10 to + 14	May loan (1 /12 chance), sells items for normal price + 50%*.
00 + 15 to + 17	May loan (1/20 chance), sells items for double* price.
00 + 18 or + 19	Never loans, sells items for 2-1/2 times* normal price.
00 + 20	Never loans, sells items for triple* price.

*Share of due treasure a hireling will accept/demand. Eg. — A
character with a greed of -15 has 50 g.p. coming to him after an adven-
ture. He only accepts 1/10 of this (5 G.P.). Likewise, a character with a
greed of 00 + 20 would, in the same adventure, demand 150 G.P. (triple
the normal share). Also stands for the amount of interest demanded on
loans (fractions = 0% interest demanded, normal = 5%, + 10% =
10%, . . . double price = 100%) per game year.

Greed can be rolled like Pride, or the referee can use a base percentage
method. When using this base percentage method, the referee
rolls Greed as normal, then subtracts ten and notes the result. Whenever
a Greed percentage is needed, the referee should roll a 20-sided die
and add the result to the base percentage (however, Greed will never exceed
00 + 20).

‘Greedy people’

Dear Editor:
I am writing because of inflation. In these
times, prices are so high it’s even affecting
Dungeons & Dragons.

I haven’t been playing D&D for too long but I
do know when people are starting to get greedy.
I do admit that is even happening to me, otherwise
I wouldn’t be writing. I can remember when
10,000 gold pieces was a fortune. Nowadays
you’re not considered rich until you have 10
million.

I have just read “The Tax Man Cometh”
(TD-36). It didn’t help. I need advice, and soon,
before you’re not considered rich until you have
10 billion gold pieces.

Maybe you could do an article with the same
idea as “The Tax Man Cometh.” But please, be
serious this time.

Paul Reilly
North Kingstown, R.I.
(Dragon #40)

QUALITY OF WORK

Below 01	Trash, falls apart in 1-6 uses, worth about 1/10 price.
01-02	Cheap, wears out in half the normal time, worth 1/5 to 1/2 price.
21-99	Normal.
00-00+5	Sturdy, lasts twice as long as normal, worth up to 2-1/2 times normal price.

Quality of work should be rolled once per item.

Also, non-player characters of special types would have certain restrictions;
such as: shop-owners never have a Greed below 20, spies
never have a Pride factor below 08, hired thieves tend to be greedy
(with a Greed factor above 21), armorers have a Pride factor above
13. . .

With these additional statistics, bartering could become part of the
game, especially with hirelings’ wages.

Thus, the utilization of Pride, Greed, and Work Quality factors
could aid immensely during a campaign.