How do you do NPCs?

[carborundum]

Do you give them all different voices? Do you use the third person? How about when there are more, and they talk to each other? Two voices? A summary of the conversation? Third person report style "The minister says he's never heard of the bad guy, his assistant says 'Hang on a minute... what about that guy at the party with the funky hat?'"

We're starting the sea voyage in the Savage Tide soon and I'll have loads of NPCs, so all tips are welcome!

 

[shilsen]

I do different things depending on the individual NPC, the situation and the degree to which the PCs are interacting with them. I certainly don't invest equal amounts of time and energy in all of them.

Do you give them all different voices?

I don't do voices. Since I'm Indian and my players are American, whatever voice I do they'll likely sound like AoL customer service

Do you use the third person?

I usually utilize both first and third person, with the proportion of first person being directly proportional to the quantity and quality of the interaction. If the PCs are exchanging a couple of words with the barmaid and moving on, odds are it'll be all third person. If the PCs are talking to the head of the paladin's church, I'll have mostly first person, with a little info in third.

How about when there are more, and they talk to each other? Two voices? A summary of the conversation? Third person report style "The minister says he's never heard of the bad guy, his assistant says 'Hang on a minute... what about that guy at the party with the funky hat?'"

Usually either a summary or third person report style.

We're starting the sea voyage in the Savage Tide soon and I'll have loads of NPCs, so all tips are welcome!

One thing I'd recommend is finding a couple of NPCs that you'll get a lot of mileage out of having interact with the PCs, and focusing mainly on them, using the others mostly for flavor and in third person. And when I say "mileage", I mean roleplaying and entertainment mileage, not just ones who'll be important for plot reasons. Rather than pre-deciding which ones these should be, I'd give each NPC who appears a little stage time, and try to pick up on which ones the PCs have a reaction to. In my games, I've found that some of the most memorable NPCs are ones which were completely throw-away ones whom the PCs for some reason found interesting, amusing, infuriating, etc. And some NPCs who I would have expected the PCs to find really interesting really didn't work out that way. So I suggest making the judgement calls based on the PCs' responses.

That said, as someone who has played the voyage in the Savage Tide as a player, I have to mention that if you don't have them wanting to murder Avner, you're not doing it right

 

[haakon1]

No voices, usually, for me either. My voices come out as some variant of Southerner, English, Scottish, German, and Indian -- or a mix of them! -- so it doesn't add much. I do use old tymey grammar sometimes, especially with less educated characters.

I mix 1st person and 3rd person without thinking much about it. It depends on the importance and fun of the interaction. Often 3rd person is to summarize something and get to point. As in, "Can I buy this?" "Yeah, she says she can probably get it, but it'll take a week to get it and she needs the money up front."

1st person is more like "I want to tell the captain of guard to let the drunk guy go." "OK, whaddya say and give me a Diplomacy, or Intimidate or Bluff if you want to go that way."

 

[Chimera]

All extraneous NPCs are voiced in a robotic monotone and named according to simple standards.

For example; Standard Village NPC #456C.

This discourages PCs from interacting with anyone but the pre-designated NPC personae.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I do voices, I like to think I'm quite good at accents. I have done the 'talking to myself' bit with two NPCs. Sometimes I do third person and summarise dialogue. It depends on whether I think the NPC talking will be interesting. If I'm bored with a scene and want to move on then I summarise. That's one of the GM's best powers.

 

[Elf Witch]

I don't do voices. But i do try and give different major NPCs a different style of talking. Yhe Lord Marshall of the chruch I use a serious tone. My dryad gets a flirty palyful tone.

I use a mix of first and third. It depending on if it is a role playing moment or something simple like gettting directions or buying something.

One of my players joked that he likes my NPCs because they don't all cop an Attitude with the PCs and some of them are actually helpful. But now he does not who to kill.

 

[moritheil]

Usually different NPCs have different personalities. It's pretty obvious who's talking.

 

[Flynn]

I do voices myself. I like them, and they aren't so intolerable that the players stop me from doing so. I try to remain as consistent as possible, so that the players can tell who's talking. I think it adds a bit to the game, and allows the PCs to develop relationships with the NPCs. Giving them a little quirk also helps make them a little more than two-dimensional, so that's a recommendation, too.

Hope This Helps,
Flynn

 

[hong]

The NPCs whose mouseover tooltips say things like "farmer", "peasant", "guardsman", etc say things like "nice weather today, innit?" or "my back is killing me". The ones with proper names generally give more dialogue options.

 

[hong]

I don't do voices. Since I'm Indian and my players are American, whatever voice I do they'll likely sound like AoL customer service

Apu!