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Thinker
2017-11-16, 09:56 AM
How do you like to run NPCs? How detailed do you make them? How do they interact with the PCs, the setting, and the story?

denthor
2017-11-16, 10:08 AM
No real stats at first.

Introduction could be anything from creepy. They are silently praying. To using a straight forward approach for thief\ Rogue. I have this uncle that can get you cash for your furniture for a small fee.

If the party bites get a baseline personally is it a coward over eats drinks, very reasonable "now we have to get everyone opinion" this resultsin never making a decision.

Are they secretive or spills everything?

Then stat out.

They can be a 12 wisdom cleric. They may be the greatest thing ever. Party does not know until they pick it up and go out.

Aliquid
2017-11-16, 10:31 AM
I have a list of random names and high-level character concepts... no stats beyond that. Whenever the PCs come across an NPC that needs to be given a name, I pull something from the list.

If the players like the NPC, or come across him/her again, I throw in a few more stats. If the players really like the NPC, I fully stat them out and have them a recurring character.

Tinkerer
2017-11-16, 01:03 PM
Depends on the NPC. Could be anything from a fully stated character complete with picture to a single word. Go ahead and guess which one the PCs would want to interact in depth with and which one the characters either kill within 6 seconds or completely bypass. Just guess :smalltongue:

cucchulainnn
2017-11-16, 01:10 PM
Back in the old days there as a book called the rogue's gallery. It had close to a thousand stat-ed out charcters with out names, and included equipment and magic items. It was very useful. I used it all the time to pick NPC or henchmen on the fly. I would be surprised if there isn't something similar for newer editions.

Future Sword
2017-11-16, 02:11 PM
Depends on the NPC. Could be anything from a fully stated character complete with picture to a single word. Go ahead and guess which one the PCs would want to interact in depth with and which one the characters either kill within 6 seconds or completely bypass. Just guess :smalltongue:

At my tables, they'd kill the real character, and latch onto the single-word guy like a pack of starved leeches.

RazorChain
2017-11-16, 02:29 PM
Well I have to stat them don't I? They stand between the PC's and loot.

Thinker
2017-11-16, 02:35 PM
No real stats at first.

Introduction could be anything from creepy. They are silently praying. To using a straight forward approach for thief\ Rogue. I have this uncle that can get you cash for your furniture for a small fee.

If the party bites get a baseline personally is it a coward over eats drinks, very reasonable "now we have to get everyone opinion" this resultsin never making a decision.

Are they secretive or spills everything?

Then stat out.

They can be a 12 wisdom cleric. They may be the greatest thing ever. Party does not know until they pick it up and go out.

Are all of your NPCs unique or do you go more with the idea that every bartender is more or less the same (until they meet a special one)?

LordCdrMilitant
2017-11-16, 02:42 PM
I typically have a list of NPC's with relevant information they know, and give them more characterization when the party interacts with them.

Thinker
2017-11-16, 03:10 PM
I typically have a list of NPC's with relevant information they know, and give them more characterization when the party interacts with them.

What do you do about NPCs that you might have to create on the fly?

Tinkerer
2017-11-16, 03:27 PM
Back in the old days there as a book called the rogue's gallery. It had close to a thousand stat-ed out charcters with out names, and included equipment and magic items. It was very useful. I used it all the time to pick NPC or henchmen on the fly. I would be surprised if there isn't something similar for newer editions.

I'm actually not very fond of these UNLESS you luck out and the writers have a similar sort of writing style as you. Don't get me wrong I take many, many, many things from outside sources but my NPCs I tend to create as I go. The best thing that I found was to practice making NPCs until I could whip one up a 1 minute NPC (basic combat NPCs and basic personality NPCs), a 5 minute NPC (more in depth combat NPCs and slightly in depth townspeople), a 15 minute NPC (fairly important NPCs, have combat and social parameters as well as notes on how they tie into the world), and a 1 hour NPC (full character creation, usually have (stolen) artwork, either very important or I was just bored and wanted to create a character).

LordCdrMilitant
2017-11-16, 07:00 PM
What do you do about NPCs that you might have to create on the fly?

Given what's generally going on, it's not hard to fill in how people react. As a general rule, the low-level units of friendly organizations know very little and are privy to very little that you don't already know. I can give them a name and play the stock part.

As long as I know the bigger picture, too, it's not super difficult to deduce what any given NPC would be aware of, and how they react. From the big players, what their underlings know can be derived.

Sredni Vashtar
2017-11-16, 07:14 PM
At my tables, they'd kill the real character, and latch onto the single-word guy like a pack of starved leeches.

Whatever aspects they know of the real character will die with them, but if there's a history/ability/personality trait that they never discovered, then it's still available to be picked up by a different NPC. :smallwink:

Darth Ultron
2017-11-16, 10:35 PM
I break NPC's up into three groups:

1.Background: They get a name, description, and a line or two about them. Never stats, but then they don't need them. This type of NPC is all most never ''part'' of anything...they are just there.

2.Foreground: They get a brief write-up of roughly two detailed paragraphs, and partial stats. This type of NPC is part of the story, adventure, plot and setting...though often very limited.

3.Important. They get a couple pages of write up and full stats. Of course, this type of NPC is important to the game.

I have a huge list of stats, from places like Wizards.com and others. So I can take the Expert1/fighter1 character, copy/paste it, and change a detail or two easy enough. And then save and use that new character and do the same thing. Plus add in ones I make too. Though the vast majority of Foreground NPC's while unique in appearance and personality, have fairly average stats.

I do have a bunch of ''unattached'' NPCs, that I can grab and use if I do suddenly need one that is fully stated out. Though I can make up a ''fluff'' NPC in a couple seconds.

Future Sword
2017-11-16, 11:32 PM
Well, R.I.P., thread. It was nice while it lasted.

Thinker
2017-11-17, 08:32 AM
I'm actually not very fond of these UNLESS you luck out and the writers have a similar sort of writing style as you. Don't get me wrong I take many, many, many things from outside sources but my NPCs I tend to create as I go. The best thing that I found was to practice making NPCs until I could whip one up a 1 minute NPC (basic combat NPCs and basic personality NPCs), a 5 minute NPC (more in depth combat NPCs and slightly in depth townspeople), a 15 minute NPC (fairly important NPCs, have combat and social parameters as well as notes on how they tie into the world), and a 1 hour NPC (full character creation, usually have (stolen) artwork, either very important or I was just bored and wanted to create a character).

What game systems do you run? To make a 1-minute NPC, what stats or knowledge do you like to have about it? What about the 5-minute NPC? Do you make any effort for bystanders who the characters may or may not interact with? I like to at least have some names, looks, and behaviors jotted down.


I break NPC's up into three groups:

1.Background: They get a name, description, and a line or two about them. Never stats, but then they don't need them. This type of NPC is all most never ''part'' of anything...they are just there.

2.Foreground: They get a brief write-up of roughly two detailed paragraphs, and partial stats. This type of NPC is part of the story, adventure, plot and setting...though often very limited.

3.Important. They get a couple pages of write up and full stats. Of course, this type of NPC is important to the game.

I have a huge list of stats, from places like Wizards.com and others. So I can take the Expert1/fighter1 character, copy/paste it, and change a detail or two easy enough. And then save and use that new character and do the same thing. Plus add in ones I make too. Though the vast majority of Foreground NPC's while unique in appearance and personality, have fairly average stats.

I do have a bunch of ''unattached'' NPCs, that I can grab and use if I do suddenly need one that is fully stated out. Though I can make up a ''fluff'' NPC in a couple seconds.

Do you ever "promote" a Background NPC to a Foreground NPC or a Foreground to an Important NPC?

What game systems do you typically run? Do you tailor your NPC lists to the setting or just leave it kind of vague and generic?


Well, R.I.P., thread. It was nice while it lasted.
None of that please.

Darth Ultron
2017-11-17, 09:27 AM
Do you ever "promote" a Background NPC to a Foreground NPC or a Foreground to an Important NPC?

Yes, but not too often. Most background NPC's are ''stuck'' there and will not be going anywhere. A Foreground NPC is much more likely to get a promotion, but it is still rare.




What game systems do you typically run? Do you tailor your NPC lists to the setting or just leave it kind of vague and generic?


D&D(0-3.5E, Pathfinder and Star Wars(d6 and d20).

For game stats they start as generic. For example I have at least two generic tavern/inn/bar keeper stat blocks for each class and race, with the vague idea that they are ''semi retired'' adventurer types. So they can be made into a needed NPC in just a minute or two, the base dwarf expert2/fighter 2 becomes Muck the dwarven barkeep at the Muck and Mold Tavern by just switching the feat ''skill focus profession barkeep'' for ''aberration slimy skin feat''. And it is all ways easy to add a level or two to the ''base'' so the base dwarf expert2/fighter 2 becomes Surt the Loud by adding bard 2, and giving him a big drum.

And the more unique characters can be copied and two...cutting down the NPC creation time a lot. Like Hont is the good and noble lord of Westkeep, as a Fighter 5 with a unique build....but once you remove things like his ''noble born feat'' and his ''legacy weapon'', the stats are a ''generic'' 5th level fighter.

Generally, only important NPC get tailoring...but then, they are important for some reason.


Quite often, I'll binge watch a show....I'm on Supergirl Season two right now...and make NPCs off the characters in the show......Parasite became a Slaad Spelltheif, for example.

Tinkerer
2017-11-17, 10:33 AM
What game systems do you run? To make a 1-minute NPC, what stats or knowledge do you like to have about it? What about the 5-minute NPC? Do you make any effort for bystanders who the characters may or may not interact with? I like to at least have some names, looks, and behaviors jotted down.


At the moment I run Savage Worlds which tends to fit perfectly into that framework. However when I made the frame work I was running... some Palladium RPG or another. Or maybe it was White Wolf, I don't quite recall.

In terms of stats on the 1 min it varies depending on what the NPC is being used for. However I generally know what the stats will be depending on the personality or the other way around I know what the personality will be depending on the stats. No need to waste the time writing them down if I know that the boisterous circus strongman will have nearly maxed Strength and horrible Agility if I don't expect to use them. What I always record is the goals of the NPCs.

5-minute NPCs have enough time to record the stats, goals, and personality of each one. Just not very much depth on any of them.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by bystanders. I do use a list of names however that is for people who I have to come up with off the top of my head. Is that what you mean? 90% of my NPCs fall into the category of PCs may or may not interact with.

On the topic of NPCs who the player's may or may not interact with; I run a small number of persistent worlds so when I'm done with the NPC it goes into the folder/binder with the area name labelled on it. So I'm never worried about wasting an NPC since if the PCs don't interact with the NPC they just become world building. Sure the PCs never decided to stop by the sheriffs office in Oslo but if any other group comes by there and gets in trouble with the law I've got a sheriff fully stat'd and raring to go (I expected the PCs to have a run-in with the law but they were oddly discrete that time).

Thinker
2017-11-17, 11:38 AM
Yes, but not too often. Most background NPC's are ''stuck'' there and will not be going anywhere. A Foreground NPC is much more likely to get a promotion, but it is still rare.




D&D(0-3.5E, Pathfinder and Star Wars(d6 and d20).

For game stats they start as generic. For example I have at least two generic tavern/inn/bar keeper stat blocks for each class and race, with the vague idea that they are ''semi retired'' adventurer types. So they can be made into a needed NPC in just a minute or two, the base dwarf expert2/fighter 2 becomes Muck the dwarven barkeep at the Muck and Mold Tavern by just switching the feat ''skill focus profession barkeep'' for ''aberration slimy skin feat''. And it is all ways easy to add a level or two to the ''base'' so the base dwarf expert2/fighter 2 becomes Surt the Loud by adding bard 2, and giving him a big drum.

And the more unique characters can be copied and two...cutting down the NPC creation time a lot. Like Hont is the good and noble lord of Westkeep, as a Fighter 5 with a unique build....but once you remove things like his ''noble born feat'' and his ''legacy weapon'', the stats are a ''generic'' 5th level fighter.

Generally, only important NPC get tailoring...but then, they are important for some reason.


Quite often, I'll binge watch a show....I'm on Supergirl Season two right now...and make NPCs off the characters in the show......Parasite became a Slaad Spelltheif, for example.

That sounds pretty cool. It must keep the game fresh by injecting characters from other media. I might have to start doing similar!


At the moment I run Savage Worlds which tends to fit perfectly into that framework. However when I made the frame work I was running... some Palladium RPG or another. Or maybe it was White Wolf, I don't quite recall.

In terms of stats on the 1 min it varies depending on what the NPC is being used for. However I generally know what the stats will be depending on the personality or the other way around I know what the personality will be depending on the stats. No need to waste the time writing them down if I know that the boisterous circus strongman will have nearly maxed Strength and horrible Agility if I don't expect to use them. What I always record is the goals of the NPCs.

5-minute NPCs have enough time to record the stats, goals, and personality of each one. Just not very much depth on any of them.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by bystanders. I do use a list of names however that is for people who I have to come up with off the top of my head. Is that what you mean? 90% of my NPCs fall into the category of PCs may or may not interact with.

On the topic of NPCs who the player's may or may not interact with; I run a small number of persistent worlds so when I'm done with the NPC it goes into the folder/binder with the area name labelled on it. So I'm never worried about wasting an NPC since if the PCs don't interact with the NPC they just become world building. Sure the PCs never decided to stop by the sheriffs office in Oslo but if any other group comes by there and gets in trouble with the law I've got a sheriff fully stat'd and raring to go (I expected the PCs to have a run-in with the law but they were oddly discrete that time).

When I say bystanders, I mean the people in the background of a scene - the other patrons at the Broken Goblet, the students at the Hill City University of Art, the shoppers at Market Square, etc. I think you answered that with your list of names. Have you ever reused any of your minor NPCs or seen a minor promoted to a major?

Tinkerer
2017-11-17, 12:30 PM
When I say bystanders, I mean the people in the background of a scene - the other patrons at the Broken Goblet, the students at the Hill City University of Art, the shoppers at Market Square, etc. I think you answered that with your list of names. Have you ever reused any of your minor NPCs or seen a minor promoted to a major?

Over the course of an average session that's probably between 50 and 500 people for the bystanders so no I definitely don't keep a complete list. I use the list of names to generate a description on the fly though (WAY easier to come up with a unique description and personality at the drop of a hat rather than a name).

Oh yeah I definitely reuse characters, that was why I mentioned the constant world. If it's a town that some party has been through before there are probably between 10 and 30 NPCs already pre-generated (50 NPCs or up for the biggest cities which have had several groups through).

In terms of NPCs gaining importance I use that often enough that I have two categories in my book: promotion and evolution. Using 5 through 15 minute NPCs I have all of their info on an index card and while the PCs are conversing with them I am taking notes. If I run out of space then I kick them up a notch (BAM!). So when an NPC gets bumped up to the next rank through PC interaction then I consider that an evolution. An evolved character may not have all the detail that a character who was made at a higher level may have but they usually have as much or more character depth.

A promotion is when I decide based on the characters actions or intent that an NPC needs to have more detail. So for instance if the first time the party goes through a town they are just passing through then the casino owner would either be a 1 minute or a 5 minute NPC. If they come back to rob the casino though that casino owner would jump up to either a 15 minute or a 1 hour NPC and get a rewrite.

Oh I forgot to mention one other fact; a 1 minute NPC gets 3 lines on foolscap, the 5 and 15 minute characters go on individual index cards, and 1 hour NPCs get character sheets.

Thinker
2017-11-17, 01:13 PM
Over the course of an average session that's probably between 50 and 500 people for the bystanders so no I definitely don't keep a complete list. I use the list of names to generate a description on the fly though (WAY easier to come up with a unique description and personality at the drop of a hat rather than a name).

Oh yeah I definitely reuse characters, that was why I mentioned the constant world. If it's a town that some party has been through before there are probably between 10 and 30 NPCs already pre-generated (50 NPCs or up for the biggest cities which have had several groups through).

In terms of NPCs gaining importance I use that often enough that I have two categories in my book: promotion and evolution. Using 5 through 15 minute NPCs I have all of their info on an index card and while the PCs are conversing with them I am taking notes. If I run out of space then I kick them up a notch (BAM!). So when an NPC gets bumped up to the next rank through PC interaction then I consider that an evolution. An evolved character may not have all the detail that a character who was made at a higher level may have but they usually have as much or more character depth.

A promotion is when I decide based on the characters actions or intent that an NPC needs to have more detail. So for instance if the first time the party goes through a town they are just passing through then the casino owner would either be a 1 minute or a 5 minute NPC. If they come back to rob the casino though that casino owner would jump up to either a 15 minute or a 1 hour NPC and get a rewrite.

Oh I forgot to mention one other fact; a 1 minute NPC gets 3 lines on foolscap, the 5 and 15 minute characters go on individual index cards, and 1 hour NPCs get character sheets.

I like that system. I may have to replicate it within my own notes scheme.

Darth Ultron
2017-11-18, 01:07 AM
That sounds pretty cool. It must keep the game fresh by injecting characters from other media. I might have to start doing similar!

Well, here is a great DM tip: For the most part, as a human, as a DM, you will be ''stuck'' making only things you ''like'' in a ''set way''. It is easy to fall into your ''set ways''. And it is easy to see the oppose of your ''set ways''....but anything else is a bit fuzzy.

But....if you grab something from someone else imagination and use it....it is 100% ''not you''.



When I say bystanders, I mean the people in the background of a scene - the other patrons at the Broken Goblet, the students at the Hill City University of Art, the shoppers at Market Square, etc. I think you answered that with your list of names. Have you ever reused any of your minor NPCs or seen a minor promoted to a major?

Well, NPC's in the background are really just set pieces. ''The coffee shop has a dozen or so people sitting in it drinking coffee'' is just vague background.

I reuse NPC's in a setting often, like Zara is the innkeeper of the Purple Palace in Memmon.

And the vast majority of the important NPC's Wander, so they can be found anywhere, like Lug the Nut, traveling gnome tinkerer.

It is rare for a minor nobody to get a promotion....but an important NPC is often hidden in the background.

Quertus
2017-11-18, 11:49 AM
I tend to flesh out their personality, motivation, desires, goals, and history whenever possible. I rarely give them stats unless absolutely necessary - but try to know them well enough that stating them out shouldn't be hard.

Jay R
2017-11-18, 12:16 PM
That sounds pretty cool. It must keep the game fresh by injecting characters from other media. I might have to start doing similar!

Don't forget that one of the "media" you can draw on is your own life. I often give an NPC an overlay of a former teacher, friend, student, or other acquaintance. I can ask myself, "How would Karla react here?"

Avigor
2017-11-18, 01:04 PM
Depends on the NPC. Could be anything from a fully stated character complete with picture to a single word. Go ahead and guess which one the PCs would want to interact in depth with and which one the characters either kill within 6 seconds or completely bypass. Just guess :smalltongue:

Pretty much this.
Sometimes, the NPC's without stats can be the funnest to play with, such as when I started a 5e Princes of the Apocalypse run several months back and took the kids briefly mentioned in the description of the starting town (I don't think it even gave them names) and fleshed them out into a pair of twin girls and a younger brother that they would torment, including stealing things he needed to complete his chores. They even took a liking to one of the PC's and I was contemplating a sub-plot of them trying to hook him up with their mother lol, too bad the campaign fell apart.

LordCdrMilitant
2017-11-20, 02:52 AM
That sounds pretty cool. It must keep the game fresh by injecting characters from other media. I might have to start doing similar!



When I say bystanders, I mean the people in the background of a scene - the other patrons at the Broken Goblet, the students at the Hill City University of Art, the shoppers at Market Square, etc. I think you answered that with your list of names. Have you ever reused any of your minor NPCs or seen a minor promoted to a major?

I would be careful.

References are fine if either everybody likes the source material and is on board with the reference, or if nobody else knows about it.

Darth Ultron
2017-11-20, 08:24 AM
I would be careful.

References are fine if either everybody likes the source material and is on board with the reference, or if nobody else knows about it.

The trick is to just use the more personality and less of the other stuff.