Image credit: MegruliGuy

Need a party of soldiers to threaten your PCs’ hometown? Need a group of retainers for that noble that your PCs have wronged? Or perhaps your PCs want to hire a mercenary army to help them oppose the invasion of their kingdom and you need an easy way to create the army that they are able to recruit.

Here’s a free soldier/army generator for 5e Dungeons & Dragons and for the Low Fantasy Gaming system to make the creation of a customizable party of soldiers easy and fun!

Customize Your Bandits

It’s easy just to grab a stat block out of the Monster Manual. But if you want your soldiers to come to life at the table, it helps to fill in the little details that make each individual soldier in the party unique. Why are they working together? What are their goals? How ruthless are they and how far are they willing to go to get what they want?

• Backstory: The Maker’s Forge Foe Generator will create a backstory for your soldiers that you can tweak as needed to fit into the PC’s current situation. What battles have they been in recently? Are they reeling from a fight or looking for one? Are they tired and frustrated after a brutal defeat? What do they want? And most importantly: how does what they want conflict with what the PCs want?
• A name and vivid description: each soldier has a name that might be revealed during trade, negotiation, threats, or capture. And every soldier should be unique when you describe it to the PC that encounters them. Vivid description is the lifeblood of the roleplaying game. Man or woman? Distinguishing marks? What is she hiding from her allies? How loyal is he to the commander? What does this soldier want? And what is he prepared to do to get it?
• Weapons and hit points: soldiers will usually possess sturdy armor and use a variety of weapons and gear. And some soldiers are a lot tougher than others.
• A commander to lead them: most soldiers follow a chain of rigid command. These commanders may have their soldiers’ best interests at heart or may have their own ambitions and can be heedless of the lives under their command. What is the commander’s motivation for service? How does he treat those that serve him or fail to accomplish the mission objective?
• Veteran soldiers, stealthy scouts, archers, and conscripts: soldiers have specialist units among them, including archers to soften up the enemy before engaging with the infantry. Some units include veteran warriors that guide smaller units under command of the captain. Others include skilled scouts that travel ahead to locate the enemy or prevent ambushes. Other soldiers conscript commoners into their fight, most of whom can barely swing a sword.
• Loot: should the PCs defeat the soldiers, what gear, valuables, or previous bounty might they recover? What hints of further adventure might be lurking among the soldier’s possessions?

Foe Generator for 5e D&D and Low Fantasy Gaming

So what are you waiting for? Go use the Maker’s Forge Soldier Generator to get a jump-start on an army.

It does all the grunt work for you: stats, names, short descriptions, weapons, and HP for each soldier, and loot the soldiers are protecting.

All that’s left for you to do is to bring the soldiers’ goals into sharp conflict with the PCs and let the sparks fly!

Image credit: Steev / Ik

Need a party of bandits to threaten your PCs’ travels through that wild forest beyond the civilized lands? Or perhaps your PCs have been hired to protect a caravan traveling through the woods and you need an easy way to create the bandits that will set upon them during their journey.

Here’s a free bandit generator for 5e Dungeons & Dragons and for the Low Fantasy Gaming system to make the creation of a customizable party of bandits easy and fun!

Customize Your Bandits

It’s easy just to grab a stat block out of the Monster Manual. But if you want your bandits to come to life at the table, it helps to fill in the little details that make each bandit party unique. What brought them together? What are they after? How ruthless are they and how far are they willing to go to get what they want?

• Backstory: The Maker’s Forge Foe Generator will create a backstory for your bandits that you can tweak as needed to fit into the PC’s current situation. What are they up to in this remote location? Are they flush with loot from their last score? Are they tired and frustrated after numerous failures? What do they want? And most importantly: how does what they want conflict with what the PCs want?
• A name and vivid description: each bandit has a name that might be revealed during trade, negotiation, threats, or capture. And every bandit should be unique when you describe it to the player that encounters them. Vivid description is the lifeblood of the roleplaying game. Man or woman? Distinguishing marks? What is she hiding from her allies? How loyal is he to the chief? What does this bandit want? And what is he prepared to do to get it?
• Weapons and hit points: bandits will use any weapon they can get their hands on and may or may not be skilled in its use. And some bandits are a lot tougher than others.
• A captain to lead them: most bandits have a particular ruthless or greedy leader that directs their score and keeps discipline in the ranks of thieves. What is her motivation for a life of banditry? How does he treat those that serve him or fail to bring him what he wants?
• Veteran warriors, sneaky scouts, and rogue wizards: bandit crews come in all varieties. Some include veteran warriors that provide muscle for difficult scores. Others include skilled sneak-thieves that prowl ahead to burgle unsuspecting prey. Some might even count a rogue sorcerer or even guard dogs among their ranks.
• Loot: should the PCs defeat the bandits, what gear, valuables, or previous scores might they recover? What hints of further adventure might be lurking among the bandit’s possessions?

Foe Generator for 5e D&D and Low Fantasy Gaming

So what are you waiting for? Go use the Maker’s Forge Wizard Generator to get a jump-start on a party of bandits.

It does all the grunt work for you: stats, names, short descriptions, weapons, and HP for each bandit, and loot from their previous scores.

All that’s left for you to do is to bring the bandits’ goals into sharp conflict with the PCs and let the sparks fly!

Image credit: David Harrington

Wizards are tough to generate quickly in fantasy games. Most basic settings and rule sets provide a generic wizard in their list of monsters or NPCs, but what if the PCs encounter a traveling band of wizards? What if they visit a school that trains wizards?

Here’s a free wizard generator for 5e Dungeons & Dragons and for the Low Fantasy Gaming system to make the creation of a customizable party of wizards easy and fun!

Customize Your Party of Wizards

The key to bringing a party of wizards to life is to make them unique, each wizard with his or her own motivation and whatever shared motivation that has brought them together. And, since the distinguishing feature of wizards is their magic, each wizard should have his or her own list of spells.

• Backstory: The Maker’s Forge Foe Generator will create a backstory for your wizards that you can tweak as needed to fit into the PC’s current situation. What great task has brought these wizards together? What are they up to in this remote location? What do they want? And most importantly: how does what they want conflict with what the PCs want?
• A name and vivid description: each wizard has a name that might be revealed during trade, negotiation, threats, or capture. And every wizard should be unique when you describe it to the player that encounters them. Vivid description is the lifeblood of the roleplaying game. What odd vestments is this wizard wearing? What strange devices does she hold in her hand? What does this wizard want? And what is he prepared to do to get it?
• Weapons and hit points: wizards are not usually known for their weaponry, but that doesn’t mean they travel unarmed. And when push comes to shove, not all have the same hit points.
• Spell lists: each wizard has his or her own spell list that they have spent their lives mastering and perfecting. This should be reflected in how they approach matters that concern them and how they defend themselves in combat.
• High mage or archmage to lead them: most parties of wizards have some kind of master steeped in arcane lore. What does this master of the dark arts want? How does she treat those that have gathered with her?
• Journeyman wizards, familiars, and more: wizards come in all varieties of skill and mastery. Perhaps the party is traveling with a group of new novices who have barely scratched the surface of arcane lore. Or perhaps they have been dabbling with sinister occult lore and have consorted with fiendish imps to gain knowledge or power.
• Loot: should the PCs defeat the party of wizards, what gear, valuables, or arcane implements might the party be carrying? What hints of further adventure might be lurking among the wizard party’s possessions?

Foe Generator for 5e D&D and Low Fantasy Gaming

So what are you waiting for? Go use the Maker’s Forge Wizard Generator to get a jump-start on a party of wizards.

It does all the grunt work for you: stats, names, short descriptions, weapons, and HP for each wizard, and a customized spell list with ready to use combat stats formatted for easy reference.

All that’s left for you to do is to bring the wizards’ goals into sharp conflict with the PCs and let the sparks fly!

Image credit: Ilgoblin

Orcs have always been a staple of low-level encounters. They are easy to fit into many types of settings, they serve well beneath any number of wicked masters, and they are easy to scale up and down to adjust the challenge for your PCs.

Here’s a free orc generator for 5e Dungeons & Dragons and for the Low Fantasy Gaming system to make the creation of customizable bands of orcs easy and fun!

Customize Your Party of Orcs

Veteran players (and given the media saturation these days, even newbies) are familiar with orcs, but that isn’t a problem as long as you bring them to life.

• Backstory: The Maker’s Forge Foe Generator will create a backstory for your orcs that you can tweak as needed to fit into the PC’s current situation. Where did this band of orcs come from? What do they want? And most importantly: how does what they want conflict with what the PCs want?
• A name and vivid description: your orcs should each have names that are revealed during trade, negotiation, threats, or capture. And every orc should be unique when you describe it to the player that encounters it, even if the player has heard orcs described a hundred times before. Vivid description is the lifeblood of the roleplaying game. What sets this orc apart from his fellows? Separate from the band itself, what does this orc want? And what is it prepared to do to get it?
• Weapons and hit points: orcs use whatever weapons they can get their hands on. And not all orcs have the same hit points, so when you cross blades with one, you can never be sure what it will require to take them down. Even in raw combat, let each orc be unique.
• War captain: every orc band has a leader, and most have a veteran warrior that has seized his position through ruthlessness and aggression. What does this war captain want? How does he treat those that follow him?
• Lieutenants and support: many orc bands will consist of more than just a group of warriors and their captain. Perhaps shamen or war priests accompany them on their latest foray. Or cunning thugs trained in the art of stealth and subterfuge? What about savage berserker orcs that fly into chaotic rages in the midst of battle? Adding flavorful support can spice up an otherwise vanilla encounter.
• Loot: should the PCs win the day, what gear and valuables might the orc band be carrying? What small hints of further adventure might be lurking among the orc band’s possessions?

Foe Generator for 5e D&D and Low Fantasy Gaming

So what are you waiting for? Go use the Maker’s Forge Orc Generator to get a jump-start on a party of orcs. It does all the grunt work for you: stats, names, short descriptions, weapons, and HP for each orc, even the loot they’re carrying should your PCs defeat them. All that’s left for you to do is to bring the orcs’ goals into sharp conflict with the PCs and let the sparks fly!