So if you‘re going to be running a DnD game, I don’t care if it’s a module or a homebrew game, you are going to be creating brand new NPCs. For those new to the game, NPC means Non Player Character, and refers to a character that is played by you the DM. And there also a good chance that you are going to be making them up on the fly.
When I look back at the NPCs I’ve used in my games, I would say it’s a 60/40 split, with 60% being created on the fly. But whether you are creating the character on the fly, or planning ahead, the most common problem is how do you create an NPC that is memorable and adds to the world.
One of the biggest mistakes in world building is that DMs neglect to consider how much they can impact your ability to do world building. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no players wants to hear your long monologue of exposition about the history of the world or the town the players are in. But having them talk to an NPC that can subtly discuss those elements helps to make your world feel real and more vibrant.
So one of the most common things I’ve seen in my research on this subject was “Create them as if they were a full blown character.” I find this to be a terrible practice, for a couple of reasons:
- 1 – Your NPCs most likely aren’t adventurers, and the character creation process is very much built to favor adventurers.
- 2 – You are going to spend a lot of time on decisions that don’t matter. Like for example, no one cares if your shop keeper has anything in “stealth”, and I really doubt you are going to have to make a stealth check while the players are shopping.
Ultimately, in my experience, the following elements are required as the baseline for building your NPC:
- Name
- Age (approximate)
- Size (rough height / weight)
- Physical Description (Race, Clothes, Hair, Eyes, Tattoos, accessories, etc)
Those elements are important because this will be the first thing that your players see when they interact with the players. You will describe them, and these details will help. Consider the following:
Along with that, I recommend considering the setting that your players will meet them in, for example the shop. Consider this…
“You walk into a shop with a blond human standing behind the counter, ‘How can I help you?’”
Vs
“You walk into a older building and shop where the walls are lined with old wooden shelves that are finely cleaned. Behind the counter is an older man, with brown hair that is splattered with lines of grey. His eyes are dark and sunken in, but he smiles as you enter, his hands holding a cloth as he polishes the counter. He smiles as he says ‘welcome travelers, how can I help you on your journey?’”
The second one is a lot more engaging, so taking the time to describe the setting, and. The details of the person matter here.
Next it comes to the personality of the person, I find keep a standard set of questions that I make sure I answer, and it helps me to keep this person interesting.
- Personality Trait
- Ideal
- Bond
- Flaw
- Goal
- Secret
The first 4 are straight out of character creation, and will help you to build out a characters personality in a way that’s interesting. The last two I find are critical and should have some thought put into them. The Goal being what that person is trying to accomplish in their life. For example take your generic shopkeeper, if their goal is to ”make enough to get out of this town and never look back,” they are going to act very differently than a shopkeeper who “inherited this place from their parents and want to grow it into the best magic item.”
And finally I like to add a “Secret” to the mix, something that adds an element of realism to the NPC. It doesn’t need to be something super sinister. Like your shop keeper’s secret could be he “hates this place”, or “secretly wants to be an adventurer again, so he lives in the past”. They add that extra element of realism.
Or my favorite “secretly knows he’s not good at his job but tries to hide it.”
Once you have those, the optional questions I would ask are the following:
- Voice
- Pet Peeve
- Interests
Depending on the NPC, I might fill these in, Pet Peeves can be a lot of fun, and make your NPC very interesting.
Now the final point I wanted to talk about was how to handle creating NPCs “on the fly”. I keep this list of questions in my OneNote for DM’ing. So I answer them super fast if required. And keep a “Fantasy Name Generator” up for use.
Finally, I have the illusion of “on-the-fly” by creating a bunch of generic NPCs and keeping them in a section of my OneNote, I will randomly sit down, and for game prep create 4-5 NPCs and keep them in OneNote for later use. This is a great way to feel more prepared or I’ll roll on the trait, ideal, bond, and flaw table and then build an NPC around what comes up.