Non-Player Characters (NPCs) are the soul of your game. Your player characters (PCs) are often aloof vagabonds with zero attachments. So NPCs are essential conduits giving context to the impact of events and player influence on the world. NPCs can add depth and complexity to your game, making it more engaging and exciting for your players.
But making NPCs takes time.
It's often not clear where to invest the precious little time you have in fleshing them out. So we have an escalating process that can help you expand upon them as needed. Depending on player interest, your intentions for their longevity, or simply how many times an NPC makes an appearance, you can go deeper into the process of detailing them.
<aside> 💡 Don’t feel constrained by the order we have presented. If you’re inspired by an NPC, do everything that is coming to you. This is just an order that works for us.
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Perhaps most importantly, when making an important NPC, what are the simple tips that will increase the odds your players are gravitationally drawn to them? Certain details can ensure NPCs stick around when you want them to.
<aside> đź“ť The NPC template can be found here:
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Below, we’ll explain every level of involvement and the details we put into our NPCs.
Every NPC needs at least these details to introduce them or pique the interest of your players. These steps typically don’t take more than 5 minutes within your game prep.
Players will never ask their name when you’ve got one ready and they’ll always ask when you don’t. With a thousand random generators, there is no reason not to have one. This allows us to provide lengthy fantasy names, and reduce them to something players will remember. If you skip this, Butlier Facadisis Montrose II will 100% become “Buttface” by the end of the session. Better for them to provide the players with a shorter, “My friends call me the Viper”. Realistically, it’s still 50% they end up Buttface.
Giving the NPC a job is often the fastest way to get a sense of the character and provide you with a low-effort starting point. It also points players to the NPC’s potential to assist with their quests. The more clearly helpful, the more likely they are to make a reappearance, or vice versa.
Giving your NPC specific personality traits provides a lot more flexibility and ease when roleplaying them. With PCs, we recommend 5 traits, striking a balance of positive, neutral, and negative traits depending on the character needs. For a GM that’s balancing many different NPC’s, this is overkill. So we usually give an NPC a single trait to start. If the PCs continue to encounter this particular NPC or they are used again in the story… add a trait. Only when that character continues to be useful are they fleshed out. So the shopkeeper who started off as one-dimensional (hurried) becomes hurried, optimistic, generous, paranoid, and cautious as the players continue to get to know them after repeated encounters.
<aside> đź”— For a complete list of character traits, check out our Complete Character Development Guide PDF.
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What is the character in the middle of doing with the players first meet them? This quick description and context gives the players a lot more to work with in their very first interaction and makes the world feel more alive. What does their daily life look like?