I'm trying to create some NPCs to fill out a scenario I'm writing and I was curious about what the level curve looks like in Golarion (or, more accurately, what people think it looks like).
I'm a long-time Forgotten Realms gamer, so I'm used to just automatically creating 20th level BBEGs because of the nature of that setting.
It doesn't seem like that's the case in Golarion, though. Whereas virtually every nation in Faerun seems to be dominated by a 20th level spellcaster of some sort, there seem to be very few max level NPCs in the Inner Seas Setting book and the various sourcebooks that I have (Taldor, Cheliax).
What do people think? If I wanted to create a wizard who really stands out as powerful, but isn't the most powerful being on the planet, what level would be appropriate?
Based on a lot of the NPCs in Cheliax and Taldor, I was thinking between 12 and 15.
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I suggest 12th level as the 'soft cap' for most of the powerful full casters (there are exceptions of course, but not too many given the geographic scale involved). The big 6th level spells are pretty sweet, but it keeps limited wish, resurrection and greater teleport from being 'for hire' outside of the very largest metropolis cities.
There is the False God Razmir, who is actually a level 19 Wizard. So that would suggest that spell casters like Razmir DO exist, but they are rare AND powerful enough to be compared to a God. So while you CAN create a high level spell caster, they SHOULD be very famous.
There may be high CR enemies that still don't have too many class levels if they start with monster as a base. Genie wizard, giant warlord or evil fey druid could be an appropriate challenges for high-level game while fitting well in the setting. They could be powerful while not that famous.
The fame in my opinion comes from the association with some organization and influence. Just being powerful won't make you famous, unless you're active. In that sense, I can imagine high-level wizard living quietly, probably in their personal demiplanes, and not being famous, while 10-15th level characters being famous for leading nations or influential organizations.
At the highest ranks you have mythic level 20 casters like the most powerful of the Runelords or setting staples like Geb, Nex, Arazni, Jatembe, or the Whispering Tyrant. These are the elite of the elite. Many are considered to be myths and legends. I tend to equate Tar-Baphon with Szass Tamm from FR, for what it's worth.
Then there are top-tier, level 17-20 casters (but not mythic) who have access to the highest ranks of magic like Echean Ansolandi from the Children of Steel adventuring group (out of Rival Guide book), Queen Elvanna from Irrisen, Razmir the Living God, still other Runelords, etc. These are people of great power who often have carved out realms for themselves (not the case in Echean's situation and Elvanna was handed her kingdom by Baba Yaga).
Below that are other, powerful casters like Alpon Caromarc in Ustalav, Ruby Prince Khemet III of Osirion, etc. who also feature prominently in their regions but do so without access to the top tiers of magic.
So don't feel that in order to make an NPC truly "powerful" that they have to be level 20. There are plenty of powerful casters in Golarion that don't have access to level 9 spells. But if you're aiming for an enemy to challenge characters of high levels, look to level 20 casters with mythic ranks. Good luck!
Creative Director
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There's a paragraph about this topic on page 253 of the Inner Sea World Guide, but the short version is that we think of there as being 4 bands of NPCs.
Level 1-5 are the most common, and the vast majority of the "NPC classes" (commoner, expert, etc.) never get out of htis band.
Level 6–10 is the general spot for movers and shakers of a region, along with NPC heroes, leaders, and notables..
Level 11–15 is for "Powerful" characters including leaders of nations or famous heroes/villains.
Level 16–20 is "Legendary" and should be reserved for NPCs you want to be significant elements of long-term campaigns.
One could also go through all of the 145 or so Adventure Path volumes we've published and tally up each level to arrive at a spread of NPCs more organically, I guess. I challenge the internet to create this information, in fact! :-)
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One could also go through all of the 145 or so Adventure Path volumes we've published and tally up each level to arrive at a spread of NPCs more organically, I guess. I challenge the internet to create this information, in fact! :-)
Actually, I have this partially completed. :P but using the NPCs from all the campaign settings. In part because the APs are artifically skewed towards higher levels (high level characters have to occupy 3 of the 6 books just to be CR appropriate). I've also ignored characters below 6th level because they are simply too numerous and unimportant.
Right now I've got in excess of 300 entries in the spreadsheet and a fairl nice declining exponential curve. Something like 1 in 1000 people who are 6th level make it to 18th. More data will obviously refine that. (Higher than 18th is hard because there's so little data).