Human

Most humans met on the road are 0-level folk with 1-6 hit points, but nearly every group adds leveled leaders, guards or specialists on top of the rolled number. Equipment lists below are typical, not fixed.

Aborigines roam otherwise empty country, sheltering in caves or groves with clubs, spears and stone axes. Per 10 there is one 3rd-level fighter plus a 10% chance of a 3rd-level priest shaman; a 5th-level chief rules with 1-4 4th-level subchiefs. Sixty percent of meetings are with male war or foraging parties, and 40% happen near the lair, where women and children match the males in number.

Barbarians and nomads herd, weave and carve, living in villages, tents, yurts, wagons or boats. They favor bows, clubs, knives, spears and swords, wear at most shield, helm and breastplate, distrust unknown wizards, and give foes -5 on surprise.

Tribal villages of mud, grass, ice or bamboo grow, fish and hunt in any climate. Leadership mirrors the aborigines, plus a 4th-level priest per 10, a 6th-level priest per 30, and an 8th-level shaman, usually druidic. Women equal the men, 20-50 slaves are present 75% of the time, and arms are bows, clubs, knives and spears with shields only.

Rival parties of 2-8 seek glory and gold; a lone one may be lost, scouting or the sole survivor. Roll class, then level band (low to very high). A powerful adventurer brings 1-100% of his followers, enough to make a small army, and casters retain 1-100% of their spells, rounded down. Veteran fighters and clerics usually ride unbarded medium warhorses in plate with shields.

Magic: every level adds 5% (cumulative) per item category marked Y. Reroll a cursed or useless item once per category, otherwise the category is empty; a priest without a usable miscellaneous weapon checks for a rod, staff or wand instead, which must also be usable. Treasure types are L, M for fighters; J, K, M for clerics; L, N, Q for wizards; J, N, Q for thieves. Knights, mercenaries, priests, soldiers, thieves and wizards use these level and item rules too.

Bandit gangs of 20-200 raid travelers and lone farms, gaining an extra 3rd-level fighter per 20, and an 8th-level or higher leader once they number 100 or more. Arms are spears, swords and small shields, with bows for up to a fifth; armor is none for half, leather 35%, padded 10%, ring 5%. Brigands are better equipped, with higher morale.

Pirates answer to a captain (8th level when under 200 strong, otherwise 10th), a lieutenant of 6th or 7th, and four 4th-level mates. Each 50 add a 3rd-level fighter and chances of a cleric (15%, levels 12-15) and wizard (10%, levels 6-9); each 100 add a 5th-level fighter. Leaders wear chain, crews leather; all carry knives, polearms and swords, a fifth have light crossbows and a tenth heavy ones, and ships may carry catapults or ballistae. Buccaneers are similar but neutral with evil leanings.

Slavers keep 10 captives for every 1-10 of their own, under a fighter, thief or multiclass leader of levels 6-11, a lieutenant just below, and 1-12 guards each (level 1-2). Per 50 heads, a wizard (6th-8th) joins 10% of the time and a priest (5th-7th) 5%. Slaves are chained in strings of 10-100, count as serfs, will aid rescuers within their limits, and 1% have a class. Thieves and thugs hide blackjacks, darts, knives and short swords and pick on the weak or wealthy.

Berserkers frenzy in battle, striking twice a round or once at +2, typically AC 7 from leather and shield; dervishes are fanatic nomads with +1 to attack and damage. Neither ever checks morale, and in peace they may pass for warriors or armed pilgrims.

Knights serve a lord on quests, missions or patrol, half the time with squires and followers. They bear dagger, lance, sword and mace or flail, with shield and plate or chain, on a medium or heavy warhorse, usually barded. One in 20 is a defeated knight stripped of his gear, who may hide his identity until rearmed. Mercenaries are low-level sellswords, equally likely to be marching to war, meeting a client, seeking hire or going home.

Militia soldiers follow a captain of 6th or more and a lieutenant 1-4 levels below, each with 1-12 men of level 1-2, and a 5th-7th level cleric 5% of the time per 50. During local wars, half are bound to or from the front. Navy sailors serve under a 6th-level captain and 5th-level first officer, with bows, knives, polearms, swords and sometimes siege engines. Constables fight as fighters of level 1-4; out in the wild they are hunting a fugitive or probing a case at equal odds, and a quarter of the time a deputized 0-level mob tags along.

In a caravan only a tenth are merchants and a tenth drovers; the rest are guards under a fighter (6th-11th) and a lieutenant just below, each with a dozen 2nd-level guards. Each 50 people bring chances of a wizard (10%, 6th-8th), a priest (5%, 5th-7th), and a thief (15%, 8th-10th) with 1-4 thieves of 3rd-7th. Nine-tenths of their wealth is goods, hauled by one wagon or 10 pack beasts per 5,000 gp.

The gentry are rich but not noble, armed with daggers or short swords and attended by d4-1 sword-and-spear guards (1st-6th level) and 1-6 servants who usually panic. Middle-class travelers and pioneers carry daggers, knives and short swords. Free peasants and near-slave serfs alike wield clubs, daggers, staves or farm tools and almost never own treasure. Among farmers and herders, 65% are farmers at work; herders appear with their beasts wherever there is pasture or a market. Fishermen and sailors use cutlasses, knives, short swords or belaying pins (1 damage). Tradesfolk deal fairly for pay, fight only in self-defense with staves, tools or knives, hold 90% of their treasure as wares, and 1% are retired adventurers.

Pilgrims, 75% on foot, always travel with priests: 1-6 of 2nd level, 1-4 of 4th, 1-2 of 6th, and one of 8th aided by a 3rd- and a 5th-level assistant. For each 10 pilgrims, roll 10% for 1-8 fighters (1st-8th) with 1-6 thieves (2nd-7th) and 5% for a 6th-9th level wizard. Their alignment shapes them: lawful good fighters are paladins, chaotic good ones rangers, neutral priests druids, and lawful evil pilgrims all fight as dagger-armed berserkers. A high priest has a 5% chance of secretly carrying a holy artifact guarded by traps and spells.

Traveling priests have followers half the time, and each wizard brings d4-1 servants and guards, the guards being fighters 1-4 levels below their master.