Class & Level Demographics
Frequency of PC Class Characters
No more than 1% of the population belong to the 'elite' (PC) classes - less in peaceful areas. Normally about 50% of these are 1st level (Novice), with 25% 2nd level (Trained), 12.5% 3rd level (Experienced), and so on, up through level 9. Of the remainder, typically between 2-10% are Warriors, 2-10% Expert, 1-5% Aristocrat, no more than 1% Adept or other spellcaster, and the rest Commoner.
For distribution of PC classes I use different numbers by area - eg for Greyhawk the breakdown in the 1983 WoG boxed set (50% Fighters, 1 % Monks, etc) is fine. For a generic world the PC encounter table numbers in the 1e DMG etc are fine. For south Ea I use:
01-10 10% Barbarian
11-12 2% Bard
13-17 5% Cleric
18-19 2% Druid
20-61 42% Fighter
62-63 2% Monk
64-65 2% Paladin
66-70 5% Ean Ranger
71-80 10% Rogue
81-90 5% Sorcerer
91-95 5% Wizard
96-00 5% Other (prestige classes, multiclass, variant classes, etc) or Fighter.
1. NPC classes: These make up 99% of the population, around 90% commoners, and usually about half are 1st level. The other 9% are Experts, Warriors, Aristocrats, Adepts, etc. Of this 9%, typically 50% are 1st level (Novice), 25% 2nd (Trained), 12.5% 3rd (Experienced), etc (1/2 at each higher level, round fractions up or down to fit the total pop).
2.PC classes: 1% of population, or less in peaceful areas. Of these 50% are 1st level, 25% 2nd, 12.5% 3rd, up through level 10. Of those levels 10+, there are typically 1/2 to 1/3 as many 10th as 9th*, then the next level has 1/2 to 3/4 as many, every +2 levels halfs the number. This gives a decent but not overwhelming number of high-level PC class characters.
*9th is a break-point, it's where CR 1 encounters no longer give XP, so there are far fewer 10th than 9th.
In a population of 1 million there are 10,000 PC-class:
5,000 1st (Novice)
2,500 2nd (Trained)
1,250 3rd (Experienced)
625 4th (Veteran)
312 5th (Elite)
156 6th (Ultra-Elite)
78 7th
39 8th
19 9th
19 10th+:
6 10th
4 11th
3 12th
2 13th
2 14th
1 15th
1 16th
|
LEVEL (PC Class) |
pop 10,000 |
pop 100,000 |
pop 1,000,000 |
pop 20,000,000 |
|
Total PC-class: |
100 |
1000 |
10,000 |
200,000 |
|
1 |
50 |
500 |
5000 |
100000 |
|
2 |
25 |
250 |
2500 |
50000 |
|
3 |
12 |
125 |
1250 |
25000 |
|
4 |
6 |
62 |
625 |
12500 |
|
5 |
3 |
31 |
312 |
6250 |
|
6 |
2 |
16 |
156 |
3125 |
|
7 |
1 |
8 |
78 |
1562 |
|
8 |
1 |
4 |
39 |
781 |
|
9 |
2 |
19 |
390 |
|
|
10 |
1 |
6 |
130 |
|
|
11 |
1 |
4 |
86 |
|
|
12 |
3 |
65 |
||
|
13 |
2 |
43 |
||
|
14 |
2 |
32 |
||
|
15 |
1 |
21 |
||
|
16 |
1 |
16 |
||
|
17 |
10 |
|||
|
18 |
8 |
|||
|
19 |
5 |
|||
|
20+ |
4 |
Hiring NPCs
PC-class NPCs' gross pay is typically 10gp per month at 1st level (Novice), 20gp at 2nd and 30gp at 3rd, doubling every 2 levels thereafter. This is in line with the relative power of the levels and the hiring costs in the DMG (eg 1st level Warriors' net pay is 6gp/month). Higher levels on dangerous missions would want a reasonable loot share too, 1/3 sounds reasonable. This is for long-term employment, mercenaries hired short-term may demand much more.
Minimum Pay By Level
1st: 10gp
2nd: 20gp
3rd: 30gp
4th: 40gp
5th: 60gp
6th: 80gp
7th: 120gp
8th: 160gp
9th: 240gp
10th: 320gp
11th: 480gp
12th: 640gp
13th: 960gp
14th: 1280gp
15th: 1920gp
I think characters over 15th would rarely if ever be available for hire in a regular campaign. If available to be hired, costs would be (on level squared x10 gp):
16th: 2560gp
17th: 2890gp
18th: 3240gp
19th: 3610gp
20th: 4000gp
For Epic level NPCs (in a _really_ high-powered game) continue the progression but multiply costs by 100gp instead of 10gp.
21st: 44,100gp
22nd: 48,400gp
23rd: 52,900gp
24th: 57,600gp
25th: 62,500gp
You can round the above numbers up or down for convenience. I think level-squared gives the best measure of relative power & thus expense across the board, although the CR system would suggest level 2 is x2 level 1, and thereafter +2 levels would be x2 cost, which leads to very high figures at upper levels. Certainly a level 20 Wizard is more powerful than 400 level 1 Wizards in most respects.
I guess if they had no equipment or were desperate they might be cheaper; but 10gp/m for F1 and 1000gp/month for an F10 seems reasonable to me; the F10 is certainly 100 times as powerful for most purposes. These are the kind of figures the PCs in my campaign expect to make; what works for PCs ought to work for PC-type NPCs also. The unmodified figures work for routine stuff like castle duty or long-term campaigning, for adventuring where the chance of death may be high I'd think a treasure share (1/2 or 1/3 PC's share) or a bonus equal to monthly pay per day of dungeon-delving would be required.