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Message: <blockquote data-quote="77IM" data-source="post: 6709400" data-attributes="member: 12377">I found Phandalin and Red Larch to be pretty much opposites in terms of towns.Phandalin has interesting NPCs, who want things from the party, and who the party wants things from. I got really good milage out of the head of the mining guild, the mayor, and the guy rescued from goblins. The party has a reason to talk to several NPCs as soon as they arrive. The town's problems are obvious and can be solved via direct action.In Red Larch all the NPCs are boring. The PCs have basically no reason to talk to them and nothing they want from them. The NPCs just want to be left alone (except for a couple people who will give the PCs 50gp to do a minor side quest). The town's problems are unclear; the PCs are likely to kill the cultists in the dungeon before they even realize that those guys have been murdering travelers.If I were giving any advice for building and running towns, I would say: Focus on QUALITY of NPCs, not quantity. 3-4 really interesting touchstone NPCs is better than 20 ordinary NPCs. Make an NPC interesting by giving them an outlandish personality, by giving them something the PCs want (especially if it's something they want repeatedly, like a shopkeeper, priest, wizard, or innkeeper), and by making sure they want something from the PCs. Ideally, the things the NPCs want are all in conflict and the PCs have to choose between them or find a way to satisfy everyone -- which the PCs care about because the NPCs have something the PCs want.</blockquote>

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