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Message: <blockquote data-quote="seasong" data-source="post: 400262" data-attributes="member: 5137">I always try to make my NPCs a bit human, and so there is always some level of identification with them. But ultimately, what I identify with is the story. I think of my characters in terms of flats and rounds, hooks and anchors, flavor elements and meaty story archetypes.On the other tentacle, my players often identify strongly with this or that NPC, and that makes necessary a certain amount of additional investment in the character to maintain the level of "channelling" that the players want for that NPC.For example, in the "New Avengers" super hero campaign I'm running right now, one of my players is obsessed/infatuated with Dr. Black, a haughty London telepath known for her composure and grace. So I practice a faint English accent (accented, upper class), devote fair mental resources to maintaining her general "air", and so on. And although she's a flat and anchor (story archetype: elder advisor), I know that killing her would have a HUGE impact on where the campaign went - murderous revenge would merely be the start <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />. So I cultivate her, and I won't kill her on a minor note.Probably the most identification I've ever had is with Trakini, a merchant who crops up in many of my high-magic fantasy campaigns, plying his trade across dimensions. He's a real bastard, but he's also too useful to simply dismiss. And he's got a quirky attitude that I like playing out <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />.</blockquote>

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