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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 8010735" data-attributes="member: 53980">I think it was well detailed for the description of a particular section of street. Certainly it could have used a few colorful details, but as [USER=29398]@Lanefan[/USER] already stated (and which was my impression as well) it was just a brief write up of locations. You could convey that this is a bad part of town by describing the rank scent of garbage that hangs in the dead air. Alternately, you could suggest that this is a well-cared-for area by describing the colorful flowers planted alongside the road which dance as a cool spring breeze gusts through them. Comparing a section of street to the Prancing Pony or the town in Yojimbo seems a bit of a mismatch. In the former, you're comparing a section of street to a busy inn, while in the latter you're comparing the section of street to an entire town. That's apples and oranges IMO. I don't get the sense of a tactical readout from his description, although I do think it could be fleshed out a bit. Given that in the original example the players are looking for assassins (who are in the orphanage) it seems like a good assortment of locations in the area. Of course, if you value expediance, you could just have them track the assassins to the orphanage and start with describing the orphanage they are standing next to. However [USER=29398]@Lanefan[/USER] was angling for more of an investigative scenario, where the players need to figure out where the assassins are hiding.I never described the shop keepers as "quest givers". Those are your words, not mine. I said that they don't need to be red herrings, and can serve purposes outside the assassin hunting scenario. I offered three possible uses that they could serve (resupply, information, and needing something). That wasn't an exhaustive list of possibilities, just low hanging fruit within the context of a D&D game, illustrating that it doesn't take much to transform these elements into more than just red herrings. Other possibilities might include a character taking an interest in an NPC as a friend or even romantically. The possibilities are quite open ended.Maybe it would help if I describe my approach for designing NPCs. Central to their design is one or more motivations. The motivation is what drives the character. We've been discussing them as traits in this thread, but when properly done I believe they need to be actual motivations. The baron's is that he has a fragile ego and wants to be respected. He also wants to overcome the darkness of Ravenloft (though the way he goes about this isn't remotely useful). The honorable guardsman's is that he wants to uphold his honor. From there I'll add something distinctive about that NPC, some detail that stands out about them. This could be their appearance, or a personality quirk, a scent, or anything really, as long as its notable. The baron has his weird (for Ravenloft) positive outlook, while the guardsman might bear many scars as a result of the constant duels he fights to maintain his honor. Then I figure out what their capabilities are. What resources do they have to accomplish their goals? This might admittedly be simply imploring others to help them.The baron has authority over the town, as well as the guards who serve him. The guard might simply have his fighting prowess (if he's a personal guard) or he might also have some authority if he's a member of the city guard.Finally, I fill in any missing details that I think are relevant, though I avoid going overboard here. The players frequently do things that I don't anticipate, so improvisation is to be expected. Note that I don't do this for every possible NPC in my game (that would be excessive). Just the ones that I think might matter. Although that's somewhat misleading, as I tend to start by populating a town with some interesting NPCs and then having them be around town to interact with (or not). Sometimes the PCs latch on to a throw away NPC (an urchin they asked for directions) and I end up retroactively fleshing out an NPC who already exists because it was improvised. Even when I improvise though, I try to keep those three elements in mind.</blockquote>

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