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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 9173470" data-attributes="member: 3586">It is entirely doable, and indeed desirable, to have interesting NPCs with arcs in published adventures.The arcs don't need to be incredibly detailed, but they do need to be there. Yes, occasionally players will disrupt them, but what else are players for? But without those arcs, too many NPCs in longer campaigns end up as one-shot and forgettable.You can see an attempt done for an arc for the squire Darrett in Shadow of the Dragon Queen, where you're introduced to him as an enthusiastic young squire in the opening chapter, and he reoccurs throughout the adventure experiencing major events - such as the death of his mentor, assuming the mantle of a Knight of Solamnia, trying to serve in the Kalaman army, experiencing defeat and betrayal, and eventually rising to - effectively - second in command of the army.At least, that's what's intended. Unfortunately, the designers rather squib it by having the PCs not present for a lot of the major turning points in his story - and not really writing the other scenes with the impact they need. But if you include a few scenes - or enhance them:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">His despair after his town is burned and his mentor slain, giving the characters a chance to inspire him.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The characters coming upon him in the aftermath of the betrayal as he's fighting for his life, and saving him</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Him riding at the head of an army to save the characters when all seems lost</li> </ul>That's the sort of stuff that gives his story impact. He interacts with the characters in key, memorable moments.I've heard reports from friends about the NPCs in the DDAL BMG adventures set in the Moonshaes, where they have great storylines and personalities. (Eric Menge mentioned how he put them through hell). This sort of reoccuring NPC is what you want.Meanwhile, when you get to branching storylines, this becomes more difficult and you have to step back and do a bit more in-depth design. My advice here is to not overcomplicate things, and create simple branches. You don't need that many decision points or significant encounters to make an NPC memorable. I've been considering the NPCs in The Shattered Obelisk, and one of the bits of advice the adventure gives early on is to make the NPCs sympathetic (i.e. memorable) so the PCs want to save them. How does it help you do this? It doesn't. They're one-shot forgettable NPCs - typically they give one quest and don't have anything else to say. And, for most of the NPCs introduced, the adventure completely fails to use most of them in all of the new chapters. (Instead, it decides to introduce a new important NPC rather than use an existing one. Sigh).Cheers,Merric</blockquote>

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