The perfect NPC summary

[Will Doyle]

Ignoring game stats, what makes for the best NPC description in a module? I'm interested in how we can most effectively describe NPCs in as few words as possible.

When you design your adventures, is there a "magic formula" that you turn to for listing NPC traits? What's most important to you - a description of how they look? Their motivations? A flaw? A role they play in the story? A "shtick" you can act out?

 

[JamesonCourage]

Ignoring game stats, what makes for the best NPC description in a module? I'm interested in how we can most effectively describe NPCs in as few words as possible.

When you design your adventures, is there a "magic formula" that you turn to for listing NPC traits? What's most important to you - a description of how they look? Their motivations? A flaw? A role they play in the story? A "shtick" you can act out?

Oh, really interesting thread idea! I'm really hoping that people chime in with what they do, so I can Frankenstein the bits I like.

I use this setup:
(1) Name (Sex Race, Level or Hit Die): Who they are (when they were born and when they died). Some facts about who they are, what they've done, and who or what they know that's relevant to the campaign or setting. (Personality trait, personality trait, something that drives them to act, something that inhibits them, something they don't know but wonder about.)

So, it'd look like this in my notes:
(1) Dupuk (Male Human, level 5): A town guardsman (born in 29 YAP). He defeated Sir Eddis Lorros in the Mock, and was drafted by Sir Aldvero Sare after his two impressive performances. (Gentle, Kind, DF: Earn Love, CH: I revere the gods, MY: Should I tolerate others?)

 

[Dungeoneer]

I do voices. I can't help myself.

Suddenly my players find themselves arguing with a feisty dwarf with a broad Scottish accent.

 

[LostSoul]

[Name]
A [job/talent/class] who wants to [goal] because [motivation].

 

[haakon1]

(1) Dupuk (Male Human, level 5): A town guardsman (born in 29 YAP). He defeated Sir Eddis Lorros in the Mock, and was drafted by Sir Aldvero Sare after his two impressive performances. (Gentle, Kind, DF: Earn Love, CH: I revere the gods, MY: Should I tolerate others?)

Good NPC. How do people create good NPC's?

1) Random determination of traits?

2) Based on real people you know, or perhaps combining traits from different people to "file the numbers off"?

3) Based on real people from history or current events, or fictional characters (anybody you don't know in real life)?

4) Out of actual play, with decisions made on the fly by the DM's whim?

5) Out of actual play, with the player's attitudes becoming the "truth" about the NPC?

6) Out of actual play, rolling dice to set attitudes/reactions on the fly?

7) Something else?

My method tends to be 2, 3, & 4.

 

[Will Doyle]

A couple of great formulas there! I really like LostSoul's suggestion. For me, that would work well for "bit-part" named NPCs in an adventure. For more important characters (a recurring patron or villain for example), I'd want something a bit more detailed - closer to what JamesonCourage is suggesting.

When creating NPCs on the fly, I sometimes end up jotting down "acting notes", e.g. paces up and down when he talks, always fiddles with his hair, nasal voice, etc. I think these often end up being the most memorable things (for the players, at least).

For a published adventure, I also think it's important to establish the NPC's role in that particular story: which may be separate from their overall goal. I'm also quite keen on high concepts: a single line that gives you the gist of what makes that NPC special - like a FATE aspect, or a "one-unique thing" in 13th Age.

I'm currently toying around with something like this:

1: Name, gender/race/class/level
2: High Concept
3: Role in Story
4: Appearance
5: Roleplay Notes

For example:

Indiana Jones (Male Human Explorer 12): College professor of archaeology and serial treasure hunter. "Indy" has broken into the Thuggee Temple to steal the fabled Sankara stones and rescue the kidnapped children of a local village. He wears a leather jacket and his beloved fedora, and is armed with a pistol and bullwhip. Indiana Jones is quick witted and charming, particularly toward women.

 

[dd.stevenson]

This is what I roll with. I had other ways of expressing #3, but I liked DDN's terminology enough to adopt it. Usually any relevant NPC history is already going to be baked into the session notes; if I need to make up more, I just do it on the fly drop in a note at the bottom.

1. NAME is a PROFESSION, IN SUCH-AND-SUCH A SITUATION.
2. Sensory cues
3. Ideals/Flaws/Bonds
4. Quotes (emotional context)

1. Indy Jones is an archeologist/university professor on a quest to find the ark of the covenant and save his father from the nazis.
2. Wry half-apologetic smile, never-left-behind fedora, heavily worn bullwhip
3. Ideals: macguffins belong in museums; Flaws: hates snakes, hates condescension from his father; Bonds: loyal to his father, loyal to marcus brody, doughty and charmingly arrogant to female colleagues
4. "Don't call me Junior!" (exasperated); "Those fools don't know what they have." (bitter); "Nazis. I hate those guys." (grim); "The original stone tablets that Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed, if you believe in that sort of thing. Didn't you guys ever go to Sunday School?" (exposition)

 

[TarionzCousin]

Great thread so far. Nice advice. I'm taking notes.

For me, the most critical thing an important NPC (defined as "someone the PC's might encounter at least once more) have is an agenda. He/She needs to want something, even if it never comes up in game.

Also the usual: name, description, shoe size, etc.

 

[JamesonCourage]

Good stuff in this thread! Keep it coming, guys.

Good NPC.

Thanks! He didn't feature much in the campaign, but the players thought of him fondly, and one learned a lot about religion from him.

How do people create good NPC's?

1) Random determination of traits?

This is generally how I do it. I have d% charts for personality traits, driving force (what drives you to act), challenge (something that inhibits you), and mystery (something you wonder about). The players even use them on their PCs.

Heck, if the NPC is important enough, I might even roll up their background on the Life Course my RPG has (it's like a background generator, about birth condition, siblings, parents, who raised you, childhood events, and adulthood events). I rarely do this, but I have on some NPCs.

2) Based on real people you know, or perhaps combining traits from different people to "file the numbers off"?

3) Based on real people from history or current events, or fictional characters (anybody you don't know in real life)?

I don't think I've ever really done these.

4) Out of actual play, with decisions made on the fly by the DM's whim?

I've definitely done this a lot, but using the random charts has added so many unexpected and interesting situations that I'm hesitant to go back to this being primarily how I decide things. Still, even with some personality things decided randomly, there's a ton to work with, and I just fill in the blanks as I see fit.

5) Out of actual play, with the player's attitudes becoming the "truth" about the NPC?

6) Out of actual play, rolling dice to set attitudes/reactions on the fly?

I've never done these, really. But I have strongly considered have a reaction table, or something to that effect. It wouldn't necessarily set their personality, but generating their current mood or something could be useful.

My method tends to be 2, 3, & 4.

I don't think I'd use number 2, but number 3 would be cool to use, if I was more acquainted with history. Adapting personalities from current events could be really interesting, too.

 

[Tharian]

One idea that I have only done on a limited basis but that really intrigues me enough to keep trying it is to pick characters from movies or TV shows that have mannerisms or speech patterns that would help give me a mental image of how I see a particular NPC behaving in front of the NPCs.

I've managed to use one (potentially recurring) NPC that had a silent stoicism inspired by the character "Gibbs" from NCIS that even managed to do a head slap to a different NPC that had behaved badly (from the NPC's perpective, that is).

Another character was inspired by the Fatal Fury character Jubei as he was portrayed in the motion picture (basically a lecherous old man who would manage to get real serious when the situation called for it).