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A GM's guide to effective NPCs



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Sun May 04, 2014 8:46 am
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Caesar says...



So stalking around the forums, I read two delicious articles, one by @OliveDreams, Creating the Perfect Secondary Character, and one by @TemporarilyShane, Writing Rounded Characters. Thus I felt the need to comment them from a storybooker's perspective.

Both of these are quite excellent, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say, for a GM, these are not necessary.

While Shane's might be a great guide to developing your Player Charcters, for an NPC, that's just way too long. You're probably not going to spend that much time on NPCs (assuming your storybook is in its infancy stages, or has started recently), and definitely not when a PC randomly starts talking to an NPC. You won't have the time. While a personal War and Peace for every character might be interesting, most of the time, I feel,
that's not going to happen.

I think OliveDreams' is definitely more applicable here. She touches on some points which are just as valid, if not more so, for storybooks. As a GM you want your NPCs to seem deep enough at a glance, because that's all they're going to get… conversely, there's going to be a lot of NPCs, especially if you're running your campaign in an urban environment, more so if there's mystery involved. The PCs are going to do a lot of talking, and you definitely don't want to flounder when this happens (because it will).

Thus, what to do?

Firstly, all of the points in OliveDreams' article are valid. When creating your NPCs, you want to give them one trait they'll be remembered by, and you'll want to give them an origin story, albeit a very brief one. I view her third point different: instead of breaking up the drama, in a storybook, the NPCs should nudge the PCs towards more drama, because how else is the story going to progress? The NPCs won't be sticking with the PCs long enough for you to establish a foil system (the other PCs can do that, if they've been created well in the group). As a GM you will have NPCs who are going to be mostly helpful to the PCs, those who are going to be neutral, and those who are going to oppose the PCs. It's useful to set up some general guidelines for each of these categories.

For example, NPCs aligned with the PCs will provide information when asked, or assist the PCs on missions. They might even sacrifice their own well-being for them. Neutral NPCs might be thinking of their own safety or personal gain, such as a conniving shop-keeper or a bounty hunter which will easily sell out the PCs for personal gain. Those aligned against the PCs might trick, trap, or otherwise go to lengths to ensure the PCs suffering. On the other hand, you could align them independently of the PCs, on a rough 'good', 'neutral' and 'evil' axis, and set up general behavior for the NPCs that fall into these categories -- if only to make things easier for you, the GM. If you're running a campaign with a lot of intrigue and where you have big character development planned, keep in mind people don't fall into categories so neatly, they're usually shades of gray. If this is the case, you should think more of their purpose and to what ends they'll go to achieve what they want.

Another tip I have for you guys: before the start of a main mission, plan things out beforehand. You'll have a rough idea of the places they're going to be visiting, and of the things they'll be doing. As such, you should also consider what kind of people they might encounter. A shady shopkeeper? A mercenary guild? Helpless bystanders? Once you have that down (at least vaguely), generate twenty (or less, you know, a number you think will be appropriate) names, pick the most interesting ones, assign to each a face and a sentence of personality, and the NPCs purpose/how they'll act concerning the PCs. Then, generate ten more names, just in case.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
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