Non-player Characters

 One of the critical things that any good campaign will have is good and interesting non-player characters (NPCs).  Without good NPCs the world around the player characters will feel boring and lifeless.  Some of these will be recurring NPCs, others that simply show up once; occasionally what was planned to be a one time NPC becomes a recurring one.

Now before I start talking more about NPCs I need to briefly talk about the difference between NPCs and monsters.  The reality is there really isn’t a difference, though generally I think people consider monsters to be stat blocks in a bestiary/ monster manual while NPCs are other humanoids.  Immediately there are some flaws in this divide, since the bestiary has humanoids like orcs.  I think a more useful divide is monsters are things that the GM only ever intends for the players to fight, presumably kill and move on, while NPCs are any creatures that either have non-combat interactions or otherwise more nuanced interactions with the player characters.  This could include the innkeeper, or a recurring villain that confronts the players a few times and is behind other problems the players are addressing.

It is important to have memorable and interesting NPCs but you don’t want to spend a ton of time on most of them, ideally a lot of your NPC have generic stat blocks, or even no stat blocks at all.  Despite that, give your NPCs something interesting, an odd accent, a noticeable physical trait, personality quirk or the like.  This is especially important for NPCs that you intend to be recurring/ongoing presences in the campaign.  Players probably won’t remember a random nameless innkeeper, but they remember Stephanos, the talkative innkeeper who has acid scars on his hands and always has a story from his days as an adventurer.

It is important to keep a record of any NPCs you are likely to need to re-use.  Guaranteed the one NPC whose name you forget will be one that one of the players remembers the name of.  It will also make it easier to try to maintain some kind of naming convention for different areas/cultures/ races.  Always try to maintain the illusion that the GM always knows the answers.

 

 

Every campaign will have both important and minor NPCs.  Important NPCs will need considerably more time to prepare, as most minor NPCs are little more than a generic stat block, name and a quirk or two.  However important NPCs likely have a bespoke stat block, more developed personally and backstory.  These important NPCs fall into a few categories, including villains, allies, mentors and rivals.

Villains are a key aspect of a campaign, as the goals and motivations of a villain will shape the entire campaign.  Always remember that a villain is the hero of their own story/in their own mind.  They should have clear goals, even if they are not immediately apparent to the players, and logical motivations for pursuing those goals.  A druid fighting against unchecked civilization will have a different impact than an Orc warlord bent on conquering lands for his own glory.  Rarely is a full on mustache twirling villain an interesting foe.

 

 

Allies and mentors are a primary source of quests, support and advice.  They can provide information that is valuable to the party to complete quests and fill in gaps in knowledge.  A key thing is that these types of NPCs should overshadow the players, no one wants to simply watch while a GM controlled NPC actually wins all the fights for you.  That is not to say that allies should never participate in combat, they just shouldn’t be the centre of attention.  Something like a bard or a buffing cleric could be a great ally to have along for a climactic fight, giving the PCs extra buffs or healing to stay in the fight longer; another option could be a defensive focused melee character who focuses on keeping enemies from engaging casters and ranged characters.  What you don’t want is a GM controlled Paladin to roll up and be the thing that completely destroys the big devil that is the boss you are fighting.

Rivals can be a great way to challenge players, especially if the rivals are also attempting to complete the same tasks/quests as the players.  It forces the players to focus on getting the main mission completed, as getting distracted with side tasks will mean their rivals will complete the main quest first.  Rivals can also challenge the player character’s morals, getting them to question how far they will go to win, even against those who aren’t evil.

 

 

Of course a NPC doesn’t necessarily have to stay in the same category for the entire campaign.  Villains could be redeemed and become powerful, if distrusted allies.  Allies can become rivals due to jealousy or betrayal.  A great villain could appear to be a mentor or ally of the players, subtly directing them to actions that advance the hidden villain’s cause without them initially realizing it; likely the level of dislike and hatred the players will have when they realize they have been betrayed and made complicit in the villain’s crimes will be much greater than a NPC that was always a villain.  Other options are to have a friendly NPC be forcibly converted to evil ends, it ways that may be irreversible.  Perhaps an ally nobly sacrificed themselves to hold off enemies while the players escaped to fight another day, then many sessions later they encounter that ally brought back as some kind of sentient undead.  

As always, great ideas trump generic advice.  If the players are cool with it, maybe a long quest line has been trying to find an ally who for some reason is the only one capable of defeating the main bad guy. 

What are your thoughts about NPCs in campaigns? Are there specific tricks you use to make NPCs more memorable?  Do you use different voices for your NPCs?