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<blockquote data-quote="toucanbuzz" data-source="post: 8599862" data-attributes="member: 19270">Good NPCs can make your game world come alive. Years ago, Dragon Magazine created a % table of traits like tries to sell you something, then ran an article about 3 simple categories to make memorable, believable NPCs with no advance preparation:<ol>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Visual (first impression such as a really bad squint due to poor closeup eyesight)</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Speech (style such as speaking in a low whisper + cues like calling everyone &quot;dahling&quot;)</li>
<li data-xf-list-type="ol">Mannerism (way they act when with PCs such as pulls on bottom lip when thinking).</li>
</ol>Take your random bartender. The PCs are looking for info on the haunted mine. The DM could say &quot;the bartender says to talk to Kasey whose family once supervised the mines.&quot; Or, you could make your world come alive a bit more by simply pulling 3 random traits.Marta the Bartender squints at you as you try to order a drink. &quot;Come closer dahling,&quot; she says in a low whisper. &quot;I can't see you from back there and I lost me screamin' voice yellin' at my kids.&quot; She chuckles to herself. When the PCs ask about the haunted mines, she tugs on her bottom lip. &quot;Dahling, you'll want to speak to Kasey. His papa was a supervisor once way back when. I can hear him laughing over near the fire.&quot; I've attached my 1-pager shrinking Dragon Magazine's work to something I can reference on the fly instead of multiple pages. Even so, credit where credit is due to Dragon Mag for providing most of these ideas. Ultimately, if it's a major NPC, I'll flesh them out even more with a few catch phrases and mannerisms, but the basic idea is there. No bad accents needed. And, the trait might naturally create its own story. Why does Marta have a low whisper? It takes a second to add that bit if I want. Instead of kids, maybe she lost it to [insert hook].&nbsp; If you get lucky, a random NPC like Marta might catch on and become a major part of your next storyline.Anyone else do something like this?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="toucanbuzz, post: 8599862, member: 19270"] Good NPCs can make your game world come alive. Years ago, Dragon Magazine created a % table of traits like tries to sell you something, then ran an article about 3 simple categories to make memorable, believable NPCs with no advance preparation: [LIST=1] [*][B]Visual[/B] (first impression such as a really bad squint due to poor closeup eyesight) [*][B]Speech[/B] (style such as speaking in a low whisper + cues like calling everyone "dahling") [*][B]Mannerism[/B] (way they act when with PCs such as pulls on bottom lip when thinking). [/LIST] Take your random bartender. The PCs are looking for info on the haunted mine. The DM could say [I]"the bartender says to talk to Kasey whose family once supervised the mines."[/I] Or, you could make your world come alive a bit more by simply pulling 3 random traits. [I]Marta the Bartender squints at you as you try to order a drink. "Come closer dahling," she says in a low whisper. "I can't see you from back there and I lost me screamin' voice yellin' at my kids." She chuckles to herself[/I].[I] When the PCs ask about the haunted mines, she tugs on her bottom lip. "Dahling, you'll want to speak to Kasey. His papa was a supervisor once way back when. I can hear him laughing over near the fire." [/I] I've attached my 1-pager shrinking Dragon Magazine's work to something I can reference on the fly instead of multiple pages. Even so, credit where credit is due to Dragon Mag for providing most of these ideas. Ultimately, if it's a major NPC, I'll flesh them out even more with a few catch phrases and mannerisms, but the basic idea is there. [U]No bad accents needed.[/U] And, the trait might naturally create its own story. Why does Marta have a low whisper? It takes a second to add that bit if I want. Instead of kids, maybe she lost it to [insert hook]. If you get lucky, a random NPC like Marta might catch on and become a major part of your next storyline. Anyone else do something like this? [/QUOTE]

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