PITS & PERILS: MOOKS

I'm planning to go back to Pits & Perils as the rules for my Ravensburg game. I originally created the city of Ravensburg to run P&P for the Wednesday night group. The P&P rules were a blast, and they were a perfect fit for the campaign feel I was going for, resulting in a near-total lack of house rules. The only issue that came up at all when we played the game was that combats with human and demi-human adversaries tended to run a bit long, as they have fairly high HP just like the PCs. In P&P, all hits (except criticals) do one HP of damage.  While an orc, for example, is a first-level enemy with 1-3 HP, a first-level human Brigand has 10 HP just like a PC fighter. To help speed up combat in "non-boss" encounters, I'm simply going to tweak some stats to effectively create a new common enemy, the "Mook" which comes in four varieties, as follows:

NEW ENEMY: MOOK. The most commonly encountered human or demi-human foes are mook-types such as Ruffians, Thugs, Cultists, and Apprentices. Each has 1-3 HP. Mooks may be encountered on their own (except Apprentices, see below), or as the minions of stronger NPCs or monsters.

Ruffians are mook-type Fighters and Dwarves. They do not wear better than leather armor (+1), though they may carry shields (+1). A ruffian leader may wear chain mail (+2). Apart from the above limitations, and their limited level and HP, they are just like the normal class (humans get +1 to attack rolls, and dwarves have their race abilities).

Thugs are mook-type Thieves. Apart from their limited level and HP, they are just like thieves (they have Dexterity and are thus skilled at climbing walls, hiding/sneaking, and stealing objects).

Cultists are mook-type chaotic Clerics. They do not wear better than leather armor (+1), though they may carry shields (+1). They have no faith points. They may be led by an Initiate, who has 1 faith point, and who may also wear chain mail (+2).

Apprentices are mook-type Magicians and Elves. They are almost never encountered on their own, but rather in the presence of (or at least in the lair of) an NPC magician or elf who is their master. They typically share the alignment of their master. Apprentices all have 1 spell point. Human apprentices always serve a human master and are subject to the normal armor and weapon restrictions of Magicians. Elven apprentices always serve an elven master, and they may wear no better than leather armor (+1), though they may carry shields (+1) and use any weapon. Apart from these limitations, and their limited level and HP, they are just like normal Magicians and Elves.