NPC and Automatic Movement

I instantly thought of of a game when I read your query, but I couldn't remember the name... so after much digging and searching I found out that it was Wizard's Quest that I was thinking of, but after going back and rereading the basic mechanics, it still might not be what you're looking for, although I think this fits the game nicely:

Each turn, orcs currently on the board are reinforced by a random die roll (Each player rolls 1d6 to determine Region, all Territories in that region get 1 Orc each). Spaces which contain four orcs then frenzy and attack any and all players in adjacent spaces. The Dragon then goes marauding as he flies from space to space determined by a random die roll (First 1d6 to determine Region, Second 1d6 to determine Territory, 3rd to determine no. of armies or Orcs are 'gobbled'. He stops his flying for a turn as soon as he lands and devours at least one of the players' men (He will eat orcs in a pinch, but they're not very filling).
The Wizard also makes a visit to a randomly determined space, (same procedure as Dragon), bringing with him reinforcements and protection from attack. (Wherever he lands, he will 'prosper', i.e. add 3 men or 3 orcs to, the space. No attacks or allowed against territories of the Region the Wizard is currently in. Only attacks from the region to a space outside it and an attack against the Wizard himself are allowed (To kick him out of the region, allowing combat again, and 'prosper' another space).
---taken from http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/310.

Hope that helps, though like I said, this may not be too random and not what you're interested in - but it's something to ponder!

-Jon

I'll chime in with how NPCs work in my pirate game. Pirate ships get two 'actions' per turn - move twice, attack twice, move and grapple, or move and attack. For simplicity, I won't cover special actions here, as most NPC ships don't use them.

When an NPC is spawned on the game board because of a mission, they spawn with one of the following 'order' depending on the mission:

1) Move. The simplist, really. From where the ship was spawned, the player who went before you moves the ship how they see fit towards the desired location (usually a port on the other side of the game board), using two move actions per turn. These ships do not attack unless 'grappled' in which case they defend themselves.

2) Defend. Also simple. The ship stays where it was spawned, and uses attack actions to fire cannons at the player's ship when it gets within range - two attack actions per turn. It does not attempt to grapple, but if a player grapples it, it will fight with its crew.

3) Guard. This is given to ships who guard other ships (probably one with a Run order). These ships spend their actions moving towards their charge (the ship they are defending), unless the player's ship is within range of their cannons. In this case, it attacks the player's ship and then moves towards its charge (attack and then move). If grappled, it will fight with its crew.

I considered adding a 'move, then attack' clause if it made sense, but decided against it (reasons below - *).

4) Attack. This ship moves towards it's target ship (usually the player who spawned it, though sometimes another spawned ship the player is trying to defend), and attack with its cannons. It will also try to grapple the target ship. (Essentially, move and grapple if possible, otherwise move and attack, else move twice).

Some notes, if you are scratching your head:

Ships take up one hex.

Moving means moving your ship a number of hexes equal to (or up to) it's speed. By moving twice, you move up to double your speed. Speed ranges from 4 (a slow ship) up to 8 (a fast ship), with the average being around 6.

Attacking with cannons means firing as many shots as you have cannons at a single ship within range. Cannon range is usually 4 or 5 hexes (yeah, I know - the scale is a bit off).

Grappling means using grappling hooks, etc. to grab the other ship and prepare to board. You can only grapple if you are adjacent to the other ship. Once you have grappled a ship, you crew fights the other crew hand to hand, and you cannot use your cannons.

In all cases, NPC ships are controlled by the player to the left of the player who spawned them. They are only allowed to attack and/or grapple the player that spawned the ship, not any other players. I'm still working out what happens if another player bothers your NPC ships - though it will probably be something like this:

Move: Keep Moving.
Defend: Open fire at the last person who attacked me.
Guard: Continue guarding, but add those who attack me or my charge to the list of people to attack.
Attack: Switch targets to last person who attacked me.

In all cases, they will defend themselves if grappled.

When controlling NPC ships, you are required to use actions as described by their orders. For example, if you are controlling a ship with a 'guard' action, you may either attack and then move (if an enemy is within range at the start of your turn), or move twice. You must move towards your charge.

If no ship is within range at the start of your turn, and you move it once only to find that now the other player is within range, you are obligated to take another move action, even though common sense says to attack him.

For all movement, you must take a path that moves the NPC ship closest to your destination or target. If there are multiple paths, you choose. If there are multiple hexes equidistant from the destination, you pick which one you end up in.

Hope that helps.