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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herobizkit" data-source="post: 3523661" data-attributes="member: 36150">A noble quest.  There is a time and place for everything, and talking is no exception. <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=":)" />And for starters, that's perfect.  Keep in mind that you're telling a stroy through the NPCs.  Each NPC can be, but doesn't have to be, as detailled as any Player Character.  That in mind, try and stat out a few key NPC's per area the PCs intend to visit, but add a few quirks/interests/habits to them as well.  For example, in my d20 Modern game, I made an NPC called "Big Red" -- he was a Dwarf Mage, with a flaming red beard, scottish accent, and always wore a kilt.  He's actually a tattoo artist, but got mixed up in a gang war on his block and became more "martial".  I got my inspiration from an actual tattoo artist in my hometown; he was every bit the Norseman, complete with flaming red beard which he wore in braids.  Since it's generally assumed that Dwarves have a Scottish accent (for some reason), it was easy to add that in, and ditto the kilt.  I also took Mage because I wanted him to be able to draw magical "tattoos" like scrolls for non-spellcasters.  Fun stuff.  The moral?  Use real-life people as inspiration for your NPCs. <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=":)" />To be fair, you have enough things to worry about as DM without worrying about add-on NPCs.  Leave the dice-rolling to the person he's supposed to be guarding, and worry about the rest of the monsters. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue    :P"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" />If you can talk, you can make a non-combat situation last 4 hours, IF comabt is not an option, or the PCs are really enjoying the event in question.  It's much harder to entertain a group with "just talking"; there's always someone itching to fight, sooner or later.  The idea, though, is this... keep the PCs talking.  If you require PCs to talk to a NPC to get a goal, make that goal require another NPC -- to buy stuff from, to get info from, to harrass them, or to just follow them around and comment on everything they do.Those kinds of adventures are really hard to make if you're not a decent writer.  BUT, there are easy ways around this, as well.  Try watching CSI, for example.  Keep a running log of the main characters, people they talk to, how those people are related to others in the show (ie this person is the daughter of that person; this guy saw that girl at the parking lot where the daughter from the previous example also saw that girl), and how the crime resolves itself.  If that doesn't suit you, try playing Clue. <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=":)" />  In Clue, you have to make all sorts of logical yes/no conclusions and filling out boxes on your score sheet to "rule out" people.  In the same vein, design an adventure based on the same logic puzzles... there are books with all kinds of said puzzles in them.  I designed a murder mysery based on such a logic puzzle and it went over very well; one victim, 8 suspects, all had a reason for why they'd want the victim killed. <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=":)" />The secret for making RP last is to keep talking until your audience gets bored.  Making character-centric plots... watch more TV. <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" /></blockquote>

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