Equip NPCs

[Der Nibelung]

Not sure if this is possible, not knowing if NPCs de-spawn or are permanent;

I have houses and industries in Hub. Every once in a while the town gets attacks and some of my Shinobi allies and Hub guards get beat down.

Would it be possible to trade or donate weapons and armor to them to use?
Normally I wait until there unconscious and loot/drop items onto them.
One way would be to have all NPCs tradable with a -100% mark down. You'll give them items with no cash back, then they'll equip the best/most appropriate weapons/items...

Maybe a town/guild leader can quest you into providing equipment for his NPCs?

[Hatsune_Neko]

Most NPC's despawn over time.
that is currently a feature to help with game performance, this should hopefully change once more optimization is done.