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<blockquote data-quote="John Dallman" data-source="post: 8568910" data-attributes="member: 6999616">If the NPC has a clear story purpose, I need enough detail to role-play them for that activity. If they're a potential ally or companion for the PCs, a full character sheet is useful. This means I sometimes create a character sheet a session or two after the NPC first appears. For example, in my India campaign, there's an NPC who in his first session was never seen, but the characters were investigating the crime he'd committed, and trying to track him down. The things I improvised in response to their investigation fed into the details I came up with between sessions about where he'd gone and how he'd got home. In the second session they tracked him down and managed to arrest him without killing him. Since his capabilities are potentially useful, and I knew more about him by this point, I did a full character sheet after the second session. In the third session, next weekend, they'll probably try to get him to work for them, but he's dangerous enough that they may feel they have to kill him. In a low-magic setting, he has an overwhelmingly powerful ability to convince people to do what he wants, at least in the short term. All of the PCs who were subjected to this succumbed; two had gone round the back, were not targeted and shot him, almost killing him. Taking him to the capital of India may not actually be a great idea, but that seems to be their plan.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="John Dallman, post: 8568910, member: 6999616"] If the NPC has a clear story purpose, I need enough detail to role-play them for that activity. If they're a potential ally or companion for the PCs, a full character sheet is useful. This means I sometimes create a character sheet a session or two after the NPC first appears. For example, in my India campaign, there's an NPC who in his first session was never seen, but the characters were investigating the crime he'd committed, and trying to track him down. The things I improvised in response to their investigation fed into the details I came up with between sessions about where he'd gone and how he'd got home. In the second session they tracked him down and managed to arrest him without killing him. Since his capabilities are potentially useful, and I knew more about him by this point, I did a full character sheet after the second session. In the third session, next weekend, they'll probably try to get him to work for them, but he's dangerous enough that they may feel they have to kill him. In a low-magic setting, he has an overwhelmingly powerful ability to convince people to do what he wants, at least in the short term. All of the PCs who were subjected to this succumbed; two had gone round the back, were not targeted and shot him, almost killing him. Taking him to the capital of India may not actually be a great idea, but that seems to be their plan. [/QUOTE]

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