Demography of Adventurers in Mystara

Art by David S LaForce from Basic Rules

When detailing settlements I sometimes wonder how many fighters, clerics, mages and thieves there might be in each one. As a result I have come up with quick and dirty ways of deciding how many city's inhabitants can cast Fireball or Raise Dead.  These numbers are suggestive only, and a DM's adventure requirements, common sense or perhaps the circumstances of a settlement take priority. 

I generally assume that 9 out of 10 humans count as Normal Men (i.e. 0-level). They have 1d4 hp and have no notable combat skills or training. This will include all sorts of roles in society, including children, housewives, farmers, shopkeepers, artisans and beggars. This means that 1 in 10 will have levels in a class. I realise that this ratio is fairly arbitary and DMs may well wish to change this, perhaps to 1 in 5 having class levels in more dangerous regions down to 1 in 50 having class levels in peaceful towns. 

So of those 1 in 10, how are the classes distributed? I would suggest a default ratio of:

• 40% Fighters (4% of general population)
• 20% Thieves (2% of general population)
• 20% Clerics (2% of general population)
• 20% Mages (2% of general population)

This is obviously subject to various conditions and influencing factors. A settlement with a large cathedral may have more clerics, while a settlement in Glantri would have no clerics but double the number of mages. Similarly an Alphatian settlement would have perhaps 50% mages, with the other classes taking up 16% each. But for most places I consider this an acceptable starting point. 

Demihuman settlements will have their own ratios, given that firstly they will have a greater number of combatants to non-combatants, and secondly they have their own classes. But I would suggest:

Elves

• 60% non-combatants (equivalent of 0-level humans)
• 20% Elven Rangers
• 20% Elven Spellswords

Dwarves

• 50% non-combatants (equivalent of 0-level humans)
• 45% dwarven warriors
• 5% dwarven clerics

Halflings

• 70% non-combatants (equivalent of 0-level humans)
• 25% halfling scouts
• 5% halfling defenders

Gnomes

• 50% non-combatants (equivalent of 0-level humans)
• 40% Gnome Warriors
• 10% Gnome Tricksters

So once I have decided how many have character classes, the next question is what levels are they? I generally assume that the number of NPCs at any level is half that of the previous level. This can seem like a fairly steep falling off. But unlike adventurers, most NPCs with levels do not have quite the same urge or opportunity to gain power.  And of those who do, there is a certain casualty rate - not all those who try to get to the next level will survive the process. There is also the mathematical simplicity and convenience of halving numbers to get quantities for the next level. Although one could say that the numbers of NPCs for a level are two thirds that of the previous level, it becomes mathematically more complicated to work out the numbers for each level given an expected total. 

So for a large town of 10,000 humans, I would expect approximately the following:

• 9000 normal (0-level) humans
• 400 fighters
• 200 x 1st level fighters
• 100 x 2nd level fighters
• 50 x 3rd level fighters
• 25 x 4th level fighters
• 12 x 5th level fighters
• 12 x 6th and higher level fighters
• 200 thieves
• 100 x 1st level thieves
• 50 x 2nd level thieves
• 25 x 3rd level thieves
• 12 x 4th level thieves
• 6 x 5th level thieves
• 6 x 6th and higher level thieves
• 200 clerics
• 100 x 1st level clerics
• 50 x 2nd level clerics
• 25 x 3rd level clerics
• 12 x 4th level clerics
• 6 x 5th level clerics
• 6 x 6th and higher level clerics
• 200 mages
• 100 x 1st level mages
• 50 x 2nd level mages
• 25 x 3rd level mages
• 12 x 4th level mages
• 6 x 5th level mages
• 6 x 6th and higher level mages

Naturally these are guidelines only and if the adventure or other aspects of the game require a higher level character then that should take priority. After all, nobody will tell a 20th level mage that he can't make his home in a small village of 200 people. 

Art byJeff Dee, source Expert Rules

Most of these folks with class levels will not be actual adventurers. Most of the fighters will be in the city watch, garrisoned soldiers, mercenary bands, or perhaps veterans who have quit the fighting life but still have the skills and stamina if they must defend themselves. Similarly most of the clerics will work and pray in temples, shrines, monastaries and churches of various faiths based in the settlements. The thieves will be street criminals, perhaps belonging to a guild, or freelance. A few thieves might be spies with political masters or military scouts. And mages include many academics, hedge wizards, perhaps even alchemists or fortune tellers. 

I tend to say that only 1 in 20 of those with character classes (so 1 in 200 of the general population) are actual adventurers. Some may consider this quite generous and reduce it down to less than 1 in 1000 of the population. It depends on how peaceful and stable the settlement is, and also what are the nearby opportunities for fame and fortune. A city that is free from trouble (such as Minrothad City) will have far fewer adventurers than one facing constant monstrous threats (such as Corunglain in northern Darokin). One could say that there are more occasional adventurers, but most of the time they earn their money in more conventional ways, such as mercenary fighters who will sometimes join dungeoneers, hedge wizards who want to investigate ruins to find ancient texts, or clerics sent on quests by their church elders. 

Thus our theoretical city of 10,000 people will probably have only about 50 full-time adventurers, with approximately the same distribution in class and levels as the rest of those with class levels- perhaps 20 fighters, 10 thieves, 10 clerics and 10 mages who regularly go on adventures.