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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG) $5.99
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Ben B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/25/2015 20:45:28

This supplement clocks in at 17 pages, including 12 pages of content. An NPC Grudge is the opposite of a boon: it is something an NPC can do to make things more difficult for the PCs other than just attacking them. After a brief introduction, we dive straight into a list of Grudges, sorted by the kind of NPC that gives them. They are organized first into regions (Urban grudges from NPCs in a generic city, followed by Rural, Frontier, Nautical, and Wilderness). Within each region, the grudges are sorted by the social standing or occupation of the NPC who grants them. For example, the urban grudges are sorted into lower, middle, and upper class NPCs, along with guard NPCs and other generic occupations.
The effects of the grudges are quite varied. The simplest grudges involve the NPC using their influence to give the PCs circumstance penalties on some kinds of skill checks while they are in the area. Others involve providing information to enemies of the PCs, or providing false information to others to create new enemies for the NPCs. Many grudges work via deception, such as giving the PCs an item which supposedly indicates favor with one faction (that the PCs will deal with shortly), but which actually indicates favor with an opposing faction. Wilderness NPCs can destroy or conceal bridges or shortcuts, or guide predators to the PC. Many NPCs can influence others to apply their grudges as well. For example, one NPC can blackmail others into causing trouble for the PCs, but if the PCs end up helping the one being blackmailed, that NPC can switch from a grudge to a boon. A few NPCs have stat-blocks, though most don’t. It might actually have been better without the statblocks, as they aren’t particularly remarkable and won’t be as helpful to the user as more grudges with the same word count would have been. Small color illustrations of generic NPCs are sprinkled throughout this PDF. Short Term Use: Since the NPCs are all fairly generic, it is relatively easy to work several grudge into your campaign, either by introducing an insignificant/generic character, or, more likely, by attaching grudges to appropriate existing NPCs in your campaign. Also, if the PCs earn the ire of an NPC, you can look for a generic NPC in this supplement which matches and use that grudge. However, they do take more planning to utilize fully than a typical combat encounter. Hence, this supplement earns a short term rating of 4/5. Long Term Use: If you have time to plan grudges, you can cause far more trouble for the PCs than with a simple combat. Due to the way grudges can trigger each other, and the fact that the PCs may earn new grudges in their attempts to bypass or undo existing grudges, you can spin entire adventures out of a relatively simple objective blocked by a barrage of grudges. They work best at low and lower-mid levels, though, as higher level PCs are more likely to be able to negate the effects of most of the grudges. There is a fair amount of repetition in the later sections of the supplement. Even ignoring the repetitive grudges removed, though, you can get a lot of use out of this supplement without too much difficulty. Hence, it earns a long term rating of 4.5/5, rounded up to 5 due to the low price.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Robin C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/21/2015 13:51:49

RPG System: Pathfinder Converting to d20: Easy to moderate Series: The counterpart of this book is the previously published 101 NPC Boons.

This book offers DM's creative new ways to have NPC's react to a grudge against the PC's in ways that are in keeping with their position and abilities. Inside is a selection of various types of NPC's, sorted by the locations the PC's may meet the in - for example, city guards, upper/middle/lower class, wilderness, nautical, etc. When a PC mistreats or otherwise offends any of the various NPC's, the NPC may decide to hinder the PC with a grudge. A guide or explorer who provides incorrect directions or omits the dangers of known monster lairs, a priest who offers the PC's shelter or sanctuary when they are being pursued - then drugs their food and informs on their whereabouts to the pursuers, and a toll collector who informs on the PC's movements and known equipment are all examples of situations where a PC could find themselves hampered from offending an NPC.

Most of the book is nearly system-less, as a NPC scribe in Pathfinder vs D20 vs GURPS usually doesn't need stats to interact with PC's or to hinder them with their connections. There are 3 NPC's for Pathfinder within, and all were created using other 3rd party products by this publisher. If you are playing another RPG system you may be able to use their backgrounds as-is, but you will need to convert their statblocks, and probably their races and classes as well.

I like the idea behind having NPC's more empowered to hinder the PC's when they are mistreated or slighted. I think it encourages players to role play interactions with the NPC's that may sometimes be taken for granted, and to take more care and be conscious of how the NPC's perceive their characters. Sadly, this book is nowhere near as good as it's counterpart - 101 NPC Boons. I suppose that's to be expected, as the books were written by different authors. I was left with the impression that this book was an afterthought, made to "cash in" on the success of the previous book. There's a few good ideas in here, but I wasn't terribly inspired to use anything in my game. Overall, I was disappointed it wasn't as good as 101 NPC Boons was.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Jason C. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/06/2013 14:20:21

The concept is simple: 101 reasons NPCs will mess with the player characters and 101 ways for them to do so.

What Rite Publishing has done with this core concept, though, is to go beyond that and provide a detailed look at what NPCs with a grudge may do even if they are of a power level far less than the PCs - merchants may use their contacts to get others to gouge the PCs, city officials may send guards to pester them with fatuous demands, thieves may target their storerooms and send pickpockets to target them in the markets, and so on.

The grudges are organized by area (nautical, urban, merchants, and so on). If the PCs in your campaign are active in an area, you'll quickly be able to find appropriate NPCs to start causing problems for them.

A few of the grudge-holders are given full stats, for reasons I'm not really able to discern - it seems like for a product like this, which isn't going to be tied to a specific setting, you would want to give guidelines and maybe a skill total or two, but not necessarily the full stats. (I'm trying to remember the last setting I played in where a city guard gargoyle would fit in. Planescape?) This would help people fit the grudgeholders to their own setting and campaign.

There are no bookmarks, but the work is short enough that it doesn't matter.

I do question the price (currently $6). While it's certainly worth (much) more than a throwaway $1 "list of 101 things" supplement, since it's far more than that, I question whether 101 NPC Grudges is worth six times that. The majority of the grudges, though solid in terms of being hooks, are just a few sentences long. There's little here on how to decide when a grudge is a good idea in campaign terms, nor on how to settle grudges with people who have developed them. It's a good - maybe even great - collection of hooks but has not really been developed into how to incorporate them into campaigns. I tend to see collections of hooks as being lower-priced items.

This is not to say the quality is in any way lacking! If you want to see a new approach to grudges and ways to make opponents of lower combat power level come alive, this is a great place to start.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Dark M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/21/2011 13:32:01

101 NPC Grudges by Rite Publishing

This product is 17 pages long. It starts with a cover and credits. (2 pages)

101 NPC Grudges (12 pages) It starts by explaining the idea behind the product. Sometimes PC's do things that will make NPC's dislike them or even do something that makes someone that hears about their deeds to hold a grudge. This gives you a 101 sample such NPC's and what they do to make things harder on the PC's. It is broken up by Urban, Rural, Frontier, Nautical, and Wilderness. Most of them are Urban or rural there is a handful for the other three. There is also a handful of full stat blocks for some of the NPC's. Most of them are left for the GM as a stat block shouldn't be needed anyways.

It ends with a OGL and ads. (3 pages)

Closing thoughts. The art work is a mix of color and black and white, it ranges from meh to pretty good. Editing and layout is very good. I didn't notice any mistakes. I like the idea of the product and it can add real spice to the game by having new NPC reaction that are problems for the PC's but more social or RP focused problems. Something the PC's just can't or shouldn't just hack down but have to deal with in other ways. Now the product is not perfect. The only real short coming is that outside of rural and especially urban there is just not many options. I get why, urban is far easier for these type of things. I would have liked to have seen some more for the other three though. If you are looking for some non combat idea's to use against the PC's in a urban environment then pick this up for sure. So what's my rating? I am going to give this one a 4 star review. It is great for a urban environment, good for rural, but only tosses a bone to other situations.

Trust me, I'm a Succubus.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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101 Npc Grudges (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/04/2011 09:28:02

This pdf is 17 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 2 pages of advertisement, leaving 12 pages of content for a whopping 101 reasons the life of your PCs has just become more complicated, so let's delve in, shall we?

Being a follow-up to RiP's excellent 101 NPC boons, which featured non-monetary rewards for PCs, 101 NPC Grudges does just the opposite and provides us with a wide array of potential complications the PCs may encounter due to true or perceived conflicts with NPCs. "Do you have enemies? Yes? That's good, it means that some time in your life you have stood up for something." And PCs tend to stand up to a lot of ideals and people... The grudges are organized by general location (e.g. urban, rural, etc.) and cover every strata of social life, from beggars to magistrates to city watches. From being mislead to overpriced services to excommunication, expulsion from guilds to fey tricksters harassing them, this pdf provides an interesting. mostly fluffy approach to the grudges. While 3 sample statblocks are provided (all more complex than your run-of-the-mill NPC, featuring a Gargoyle-watchman, a Wyrd-paragon and a Fey), most entries come with sample names and short personalities that exemplify what can be done to harass the PCs, making this file potentially quite useful for other systems as well.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's two-column full-color standard and the (mostly) stock-artworks are fitting. The pdf unfortunately has no bookmarks. Essentially, what impressed me the most about this file is the potential for chain-reactions of the respective grudges. Especially in an urban environment, you could chain a LOT of the respective grudges together to make the PC's life a TRUE pain without rolling a single damage dice. After a string of bureaucratic hindrances, the PCs will start to truly hate the mastermind behind their misfortunes and should definitely be out for some payback. Which might spiral the grudges further. It's an awesome array of complications that thankfully do not devolve into "X tries to kill them". On the other hand, though, the NPC-grudges provided for the nautical and frontier environments fell behind a bit in originality and details behind the urban and rural environments, featuring less sample NPC-names and being generally a bit more common and less imaginative. This is not enough, however, to truly tarnish the overall appeal of this neat, fluff-centric book. In the end, due to these minor gripes and the lack of bookmarks, I'll settle for a final verdict of 4 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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