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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kid Charlemagne" data-source="post: 1728140" data-attributes="member: 93">I think that if you try to give the NPC's in an adventure understandable motivations, a lot of that kind of thing comes naturally.Taking your points one by one:1. The note about "location" is a big one - but are you talking more about home brewed adventures for a campaign, or fully detailed-out adventures for publication?  For the first, clearly yes, placing them in context improves things massively.2. Common NPC's are a great way to foreshadow events later in a game.  The bartender can mention something that refers to a plot thread you intend to develop down the line; a friend NPC might get sent off to war that presages a conflict that will involve the PC's 5 levels further on.3. Villains with motivation are important.  They can make the difference between a game where the players do something because they think the DM wants them to do it, and one where they do something because they understand the ramifications of inaction.4.  I always give villains an escape plan.  IF things go bad, how will they high tail it out of there?  Hardly anyone would fight to the death.  And if they get out, recurring villains are a good thing, too.  Its all the more fulfilling when you DO stop them for good.To these excellent suggestions I will add one more:Don't be afraid to let the players kill your pretties.I mean, you create cool NPC's.  So do I.  ALWAYS keep in mind that the reason you are creating them, is so the players will get the maximum amount of fun out of "killing the #$@* out of them", as Heydricus would say.</blockquote>

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