Wargames/D&D Campaign - Dynamic life of an NPC

Too often, NPCs have felt as stiff and unchanging as the little metal figures I parade across the table. I've caught hints over the years that this doesn't need to be so. Certainly, as players interact with NPCs, lives will change and things will happen. That doesn't seem to be a very dynamic world, though. 

In reading Tony Bath's "Setting Up a Wargames Campaign" and reading some stories about how Professor MAR Barker ran things in his Tekumel campaign, I've found that they had charts and processes to check on the status of each NPC at a given timepoint - yearly, at the minimum. The story goes that Professor Barker would sit down with his 1,500 index cards monthly and figure out who lived and died. 

Well, I'm getting to the point where I am looking to inject that sort of dynamic view into my campaign world. I've got armies tilting against each other, I've got some pretty big movers and shakers doing their thing, I've got players trying to to survive and improve this world... it's time to make the NPCs come to life.

Delving into Bath's book, and getting pointed to the old AD&D Oriental Adventure XXXXXXX has given me a starting point. What's below is a first draft of what I'll use on a yearly and seasonal basis to figure out what happens to the NPCs. I'm slowly putting them into an Access database, and I'll use the programmability of Access to automate this process. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Comments, questions, "You're an idiot" are welcome... well... mostly welcome.

This comes from my "Wargames Campaign Rules" document. 

7.3 Yearly and Seasonal Events

Determine if death/illness occurs (Yearly, for each NPC):

Age	Throw 1d6 -
1-20	If 1, throw again: 1-2 dead; 3-4 seriously ill (dies on 1-2 next year); 5-6 minor illness
21-40	If 1, throw again: 1-3 dead; 4-6 seriously ill (dice for season and start/mid/end)
41-50	If 1-2, throw again: 1-3 dead; 4-6 seriously ill (dice for season and start/mid/end)
51-60	If 1-3, throw again: 1-3 dead; 4-6 seriously ill (dice for season and start/mid/end)
61+	If 1-4, throw again: 1-4 dead; 5-6 seriously ill (dice for season and start/mid/end)

Determine if there is a birth (Yearly, for each NPC):

If character is married: 20-30 years old: 4-6; 30-40 years old: 5-6

If character is unmarried: Throw 1d6, if 1, then test for childbirth (unfaithful!) - if characteristics indicate tendency for infidelity, raise the odds.

Throw 1d6, if 1-2, then throw 1d6: 1 - mother dies in childbirth, 2 - child dies, 3 - child is born ill (throw twice in year checks up to 10), 4 - child has disabilities (throw twice in year checks up to 5), 5 - child is twins, 6 - mother cannot have further children

Determine gender. Once baby reaches 10, then determine what they will be class-wise, at 15, roll stats.

Determine other events

Some events will set the tone for a large area, like a duchy, for the year. Seasonal events would be in line with the yearly event, if they conflict, reroll the seasonal. For an event that affects an NPC, determine if this is at the ducal level or lower.

Yearly - at a duchy level

Dice 1d6 - 3 or more indicates a yearly event. If an event is indicated, dice 3d6 for event. Once the event is diced, then dice for the season and start/mid/end.

3. Noble/Royalty visits

4. Noble/Royalty assassination plot (at NPC/by NPC/within NPC area)

5. Astrological event

6. Natural disaster - Earthquake, Fire, Flood, Tsunami/Tornado,

7. Major Resource Famine/Bounty

8. Incursion, Major (at NPC/by NPC)

9. Incursion, Minor (at NPC/by NPC)

10. Major Conflict with another noble/royalty

11. Major Conflict within familiy

12. Plague

13. Political Plot - involved/target

14. Major Uprising/Dispute of population

15. Religious event

16. If married - divorce

17. If unmarried - marriage

18. Major Discovery

Seasonal - Nobility -

Event affects the NPC or the sphere of their influence/responsibility. These are events applicable for nobility/generals - those who control land/people.

Dice 2d6. 6 or more indicates a seasonal event. Dice 2d6 for event. Once the event is diced, then dice for start/mid/end.

2. Accident

3. Bandit Activity

4. Need to Tax

5. Monster/Famous/Supernatural Encounter

6. Minor conflict with another noble

7. Criminal activity

8. Minor Uprising/Dispute of population

9. Minor family dispute

10. Minor religious event

11. Minor resource famine/bounty

12. Visit with another noble in duchy

Seasonal - Non-nobility

Dice 2d6. 9 or more indicates a seasonal event. Dice 2d6 for event. Once the event is diced, then dice for start/mid/end.

2d6:

2. Accident

3. Criminal activity

4. Encounter with famous

5. Encounter with monster

6. Conflict with someone

7. Minor family dispute

8. Minor religious event

9. Minor personal downfall/windfall

10. Encounter with supernatural

11. Conflict with government

12. Visit with/by someone from another location w/in duchy (1d6 1 - outside duchy)

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