Creating a Compelling NPC

Epic Adventure

Preparing to run a new game can be daunting. A game master must design the world the players will be adventuring in. They will need to create a compelling story, a reason to adventure. They will need to fill their new world with set pieces, action, and amazing locals. Finally, they will need a villain, a character that will compel the players to risk their own lives to stop it’s evil machinations.

As game masters we often find ourselves excited for the first night of the campaign. The scene is set and everything is ready to go.

Then the players make their first moves.

“Let’s stop by the blacksmiths shop before we go, to see what they’ve got.”

“Uh ok, lets see…the blacksmiths shop, got it. You see the blacksmith working behind a forge.”

“Cool, what do they look like…Are they young or old? Do they look like they know what they are doing? Hey excuse me! How long have you been working iron in this town? Do you live above the forge? Have you ever seen a shield like the one I’m carrying?”

And, all that hard work sits unused in the notebook while you have to create an NPC on the fly.

The Non Player Character is one of the most important aspects of any roleplaying game, but it’s the one we typically spend the least time creating. Good NPCs will make an adventure, while bad ones can derail things faster than you can image.

A great example of this just happened in our groups Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. In the opening session I introduced Lt. Poole to the players, specifically one player character Dr. Lillian McKay. Dr. McKay was a pathologist working at the hospital so it only made sense that she would be familiar with some of the NYPD Homicide detectives. With an Appearance Score of 85 it also tracked that the overworked, out of shape, rumpled detective would have a little bit of a crush on the pretty doctor. So while the Lt. would intimidate everyone else, he would probably over share a little with Dr. McKay. Bring her some coffee and bagels, while dropping off confidential police files, checking up on her occasionally just to make sure she was ok.

When I killed him in a very brutal manner, I could see the player visibly get a little angry, and that’s when I knew I had pulled it off.

It did piss you off a little didn’t it Christina?

[Kick to Christina]

Today Christina and I are going to talk about creating compelling Non Player Characters and give you some tips and tricks to do this quickly and on the fly.

So, Christina, How do you like to start creating your NPCs?