Your NPCs are Boring! (DM Tips)
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
- Tips for making more interesting NPCs for your D&D game!
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Hey! I'll have you know Charles the Guard has been instrumental in the Crown & Anchor winning the local darts league for the past 3 years!!
Now you're talking! Don't let his awkward demeanor fool you. The main is deadly with those feathered little spikes!
And has a Dex 18, but Charisma of 8 and is specialized in darts. His father was an alcoholic and beat him regularly, thus he really doesn't drink for fear of becoming what he hates... so Con 16.
His father was a adventurer and died looking for the lost city of Kaduk Dahul, and has some notes on the subject. And left him a chest. Two surviving adventurers of his father's party dropped off some of his father's belongings the placed in a chest and told him the joyful news. He hates his father so he has never opened his father's chest.
Characteristics: Shy.
Note that the guard is carrying no weapons, but he'll kill you 6 times with a handful of darts before you even know it happened.
Don’t you just love it when the chat builds you a great NPC! 😆
My name is guard. My hobbies are getting through my day without random strangers holding up the line. Try and bribe me again and I'll through you in the dungeon.
I like it.
Finally an NPC i can relate to.
This is what my buddy does because I’m notorious to talking to legitimately random NPCs to derail because I’m the worst.
Just playing Bards that go off around town, playing music, talking to everyone, getting arrested. Every town.
Also I’m DM’ing for the first time and he’s definitely gonna pay it back lmao
I once heard a very interesting Tip that can really help coming up with interesting Personalities on the Spot:
Just imagine the NPC like an Animal (and dial it up or down based on how silly your Game is)
So a Guard could be an overly entusiastic dog that talks all the Time and hugs you when you first see them but once you try to get pass him he gets aggressive fast but is easy to distract.
a Merchant could be a Weasel, moving back and forth speaking with a slightly squeeky voice and try to fool the PCs.
a Thief could be a Cat, speaking with a slight purr and trying to get their Way
Etc. The genius thing about this Method is that these Characteristics are engraved into most Peoples heads already. We know how a Rat, Cat, Dog, Elephant etc. are.. how they move, how they act, their Temper, their Clichees etc. and can use them on the Spot.
Bonus: When you are playing a Game with actual Anthropomorphic Animals it is even easier :P
Very cool idea.
Love this
Very nice
I’m an actor and this is a technique we use to create characters, too. Cool to think about using it in DnD
@@AngeloJGiannone oh That is cool to know that actual Actors use this.
I assume you learned a lot of useful things for creating interesting Characters in your Job?
One time I had to do this gross sewer hermit voice. I practiced it for a bit before the players showed up. A few hours later, it came time to break out that NPC. I opened my mouth... and Skeletor came out. And it stuck. Oh well.
Happens to me all the time. Doh!
@Tyler Durden Sounds like that would make a *great* podcast!
If a player character tried that on my guards they'd just tell em to shove off. No NPC owes the player their life story. And hell, if I flipped one question on the players they'd be just as stuck.
"What's your hobbies, rogue?" "Well, you know.... adventuring... looting... pickpocketing... drinking ale at the tavern........... adventuring...."
Dude. Calm down. Your campaign sounds boring. Its a fucking game, not a simulation through a boring asf world.
@@SplitGooseBut I think he has a good point here. A guard shoving the pc away and telling them to get lost is a lot more realistic and "not-out of character" for a guard than telling them their life story :D
Oh sure. It absolutely makes sense that the guard wouldn't give the PC the time of day. But I had fun with the illustration. :)
@@WASD20 Yeah, was just sticking to your illustration to keep it simple ^^
@@SplitGoose Sounds like you're the one who needs to calm down. He made a valid point.
For a campaign to be interesting, the characters have to feel like more than props that exist to drip feed information to the players.
They have to feel like people. And people don't generally like getting interrogated by random strangers.
First rule of GM'ing: If you make it, players WILL break it.
Yup! :D
I had a tavern, and one of my players killed everyone the other players the NPCs and of course the bar it got put on fire because it was wooden
@@XxBabyJazaxX that's what we call perfect role playing what I really want to know is what was there alignment if you remember
@@XxBabyJazaxX Was the character's name Nixie?
You mean like the horde of Wererats my party stumbled into when chasing a thief through the sewer, and the Fighter decided this was the time to employ diplomacy and roll a natural 20? Honestly, it improved the game a lot since it had a knock-on effect within the story and basically let me know "yeah, these guys aren't going to just fight whatever I put in front of them, are they?"
When I first started playing (late '90s), I wasn't fully grasping the "you can do anything you can think of" concept. I jokingly asked my DM "What if I just wanted to burn the tavern to the ground cause I'm just a bastard or something?" To help me understand I really could do anything, he allowed me to sneak around the back of the tavern, start a fire, and run like hell into the forest to hide (I did have to make a few checks for relevant skills). I've been playing D&D ever since (I'm the DM now) and I'm probably still never allowed back to that town!
Ah yes I have trouble getting players to realize that they can do anything
In my experience, the meticulously prepared main-npc with all the plot-hooks and mannerisms will largely be ignored by the players. While the random chatty guard they met on the corner will become a beloved, reoccuring npc...
Yup! 😂
That's why we recycle, plot hooks not used by the ignored will be plopped right onto the chatty guard.
"I play darts...." DM feverishly scribbles guard has a set of 3 +2 darts in his pocket and sharp shooter feat.
I envisioned this guard to nail noobs to a rotating wheel in a cellar below the black dog tavern and throw darts at them while the wheel rotates.
"I play darts." Dargo smiled. "If you are interested, be at the back door to the Black Dog tavern at Midnight for some high stakes dart tournament."
Boom there's a plot hook
in my hell's rebels campaign i created one of my favorite npcs completely through improv. the party went to a local tavern to look in to some rumors about the tavern being especially rowdy and having almost nightly brawls. my fiance decided she was going to have her character hit on someone, so on the fly i created walter, a young alchemist-in-training at the local magical collage. he's shy and awkward, to the extent that he didn't show up for their first date after the tavern, but a relationship has been forming between the two characters, and she has her character go to the collage to see him almost every day.
Nice!
My party's favorite NPC I ever made was the goblin guard that was imprisoning them in Session 1. Bray had severe overbite, was constantly anxious, and a lisp.
He also repayed the party sparing him by bringing a line of goblin archers to assist for the first boss fight of the game. The party has dragged him and his now 32 hitpoints through dragon encounters, stealing smokepowder, hiding from giants, and more. The group actually did a one shot for X-mas featuring Bray and his goblinoids doing Die Hard.
Years ago, we did something similar. We took such a liking to our kobold guide, we later paid ransom to free him, took him with us, and I gave him money, armor, and weapons.
I miss him....💕
My parties current favorite is the goodlooking human wizard/paladin they adopted/kidnapped to come with them
@@meme-yu3zp "adopted/kidnap" hold up- sir or ma'am that adoption process sounds suspicious..
@@ayf449 tell that to my party xD
2 of my favorite NPC names were the twins Hayou and Euethere, pronounced hay you and you there. They were genetically engineered clones in a sci fi based game.
I liked this video, really good advice. Now I need a "how to make a good villain"
That is a good one. "Your Villains are Boring! (DM Tips)"!
Please make a villain video!!
Its pretty simple. First off motive. Jafar, for example, wanted to be the sultan of the city so he abducted the royal family and searched for a genie to give him wishes.
Secondly, make sure (as the example of jafar) that the villain is almost there or most of the way there. This gives the players the motivation to fix the problem as soon as possible.
You can also introduce the BBG early as a regular NPC, and have him be friendly with the players. Not deceitful, but fun. I played in a campaign where the BBG was a jester of the main town. He appeared in a couple different areas, mostly being picked on and stuff, but he turned out to be the bbg.
or, you could go with a different approach, maybe the bbg isnt a badguy at all. Maybe you never meet the main villain at all. Maybe some nice paladin was doing a favor to keep his sick father alive and the favor happens to be something to release an evil and it overtakes the paladin. Just think.
Think of a politician, change the name, sex and give them special abilities lol
Rather than a single name list, I have one (shorter) list per culture. E.g.: For Pathfinder in Golarion, I have a Varisian list, a Chelaxian list, a Halfling list, an Elf list, .... Then, I have a _separate_ notable details list with (generally) pairs of details (tall, 'German' accent, squeaky voice, fat, facial scar, says "I'm not sure I can talk about that" all the time, .... This allows me to pick details that match the type of character that the PCs are interacting with on the fly rather than having to find somebody that 'looks like a guard' or 'looks like a shopkeeper' in the name list.
When the PCs want to talk to somebody not previously detailed, I pick one from the name list and one from the characteristics list and run with that. _And I write that down in the description for the area_ so that when the PCs want to come back later I can remember what I did. I also write down any new details that arise during the improv.
I do similar things for businesses -- pick from a list of names and throw in an NPC from the names and characteristics lists. Then write it down for future reference.
For taverns and inns, since they tend to have a bit more interaction from the players, I like to write up two descriptions _without names or locations_ and then assign the details when the PCs decide to interact. At which point I'll write the name and location at the top of the page, along with any extra NPCs that might be needed, again from the name and characteristics lists.
Then file all of those pages/cards with the town description for later use.
Minimizes unused work while still allowing for a rich world.
I like using Excel where you can use autofilter to narrow down by gender, race, etc. Add columns for in-use, location, and such. In the same workbook, you can have other sheets for businesses/guilds, locations, titles, ...
Down the road, I'll put these in a database with a web page interface that could be accessed and updated from anywhere even from my phone (great when an idea his you on the go)
I always keep Donjon's random generator up too on a screen nearby. Helps with those, "Oh god, they want to talk to NPC's" moments.
Absolutely.
Today me (DM) and my group of players finished Out of the Abyss after a year and a half. Their favourite NPCs were JimJar (deep gnome betting on everything), Glabagool (sentient gelatinous cube), Stool (myconid sprout, little baby) and a kuo-toa archpriest. All with funny voice and quirks. Definitely unique and memorable, also useful as underdark guides and comic relief.
Sounds great fun! Congrats on finishing up the campaign!
HEY! My npcs just want to live out their own lives... dont judge them for deciding to play darts in their spare time .-.
Now I want to make a one shot that's just the PC is playing darts and trying to win the championship or something like that I don't know it's a dumb idea and it probably wouldn't work out well but worth the try
Man, I feel those story npc losses. I had a party breaking out of drow holding cells once, and I had several other prisoners they had seen and had a chance to save, including a story heavy NPC that tried to communicate with them. That drow hold got blown up with mining equipment, as did the missing son of the knight-lord of the realm...
As a DM, I established my dominance by killing all the npcs in one village my pcs had been in for a while and had started to like, no one outmurderhobos the DM.
Lmao. Such a dark noir of a world you must run. 😮
@@kisaknight626 One time they tried to kill a mayor, just because they could
@@michelefornovotapia2600 Now, did you advise them of this, this 'anything you want to do' rule, or just testing the DM limitations?
@@kisaknight626 they were actually advised to help the mayor with a problem, but then one of the pcs died, they got captured for breaking the law, and well, that lead to the assassination attempt. It went from 0 to 100 pretty fast
@@michelefornovotapia2600 Ah, so a coverup to make the mayor look better without dirtying his own hands. That sounds like a great campaign and a lot of fun twists.
10:06 My group has actually done the inverse more than once; we've met NPCs that were supposed to appear once for flavor and brought them along on the adventure, forcing the dm to make stuff up about them on the fly.
Once had a chicken used as a messenger with the "Magic Mouth" spell, and the barbarian took "Keith, the Articulately Arcane" everywhere with him, and trying to get him to perform. Became the party mascot.
My group asserts that I use 3+ H's in every name. So any time they ask for a spelling they like to assume there are multiple H's, even when there are no H sounds. It's pretty amusing most of the time :D
Thanks for making videos! Hope your channel continues to grow. I like how you integrate a lot of examples where you are trying things as a DM and it doesnt quite work out. I think that helps newer DMs like me avoid pit traps that may sound good, but we can use your experience as a shortcut!
Captain Elvis is one of my NPCs. He is an anthropomorphic wolf who stands 7 feet tall. Pirate Captain, Sold into slavery and lived life at the sea. Right eye patch with black and gray fur and wears 3 flintlocks around his neck. He was keel hauled once....yeah. The players made a coup and mutiny.
A good idea I do sometimes is I like to make npcs on cards with enough detail that if I forget I can react the npc and then as I do more and more quests I keep the cards for if I’m out of creative energy so I can keep the game smooth
Man, it is the first time I am DMing. And I am using your videos to help guide me. You are a lot of help, even 2 years after the video. Thank you! :)
I ran a game where the player’s first encounter was three NPCs with a broken wagon wheel. I wanted to test my PCs’ moral code, expecting the PCs to either kill the distracted NPCs or just walk on by. Instead, they decided to spend the time to assist in replacing the wagon wheel. All in all, we don’t have to many murder hoboes in our group.
It's really nice (and rare) to hear wholesome D&D stories :)
Good resources. Thanks. We were also turned on to a small book and now its follow up, Fable Tables and Fable Tables 2 we found on Amazon. They are small, low cost books with gobs of random charts to roll on or chose from if so inspired.
As far as the intro goes, there's an easy way to keep the players from getting distracted by the gate guards: make the guards at the gate an elite type of guard, such as a royal guard. It's not implausible that the royal guard would guard the city gates as a show of force, while the city guards man the walls and maintain order throughout the city. Plus, you can easily dissuade players from interacting with them by taking a page from the Queen's Guard book. To quote Wikipedia: "Sentries receive instruction on how to eliminate nuisance or any suggestion of threat from members of the public. There is a protocol they follow which begins with "stamping" (coming to attention sharply). He will also shout: "Stand back from the Queen's Guard" or similar. If this does not eliminate the nuisance or threat he will repeat the stamp and shout again. If the nuisance or threat still does not cease the sentry will assume the position of "port arms" whereby he points his rifle at the source of the interference with his duties. If these warnings are not heeded the sentry then has the choice of detaining the person(s) himself or pressing the button in his sentry box to summon assistance." Having something like that happen out of nowhere when the players try to interact with them would probably go a long way towards keeping them moving.
As far as interesting NPCs, or I guess characters in general, I find that unusual builds and personality traits you don't often see portrayed make for the most interesting characters. Juxtapositions are good for this, especially if you're making teams or families of characters. For example, in the campaign I'm currently writing, I have a major NPC who is "built like a bear, and almost as hairy". He seems somewhat intimidating on the surface, but he's perfectly cheerful and amicable. Then there's his wife, who "barely reaches five feet, with hips that would make a pear envious". While she's small, she's fiery and has a voice that can be a lot louder than one would expect, which makes for a nice surprise when she loudly berates her husband for shouting, just before she's actually revealed.
For names, I find it easiest if you have a theme. In my case, basing my setting on a real place (Scotland, in this case) makes it really easy because at least 75% of the names will end up being either real names or words from the local language. The other advantage of that is that, especially if the place has its own dialects of English, you can have a local form of Common, which helps to make your dialogue better as well.
As to your first point, I think that could definitely work. However, I don't really WANT to discourage my players from interacting with NPCs. There's a time and a place for this kind of guard for sure, and it's good to have a mix of various interactions, but I'm okay with having to improvise a friendly interaction.
I definitely agree that having a them with your names is solid. It's the way the real world works, and it makes your game world feel more authentic if naming conventions are fairly consistent in certain locations.
Or variety, the other guard might be more talkative.
Thank you for the advice, it's been very helpful. I would pose an alternative point: our NPCs are not boring or under developed, rather we are not giving our players reasons to engage with them. I think that partly comes from the elitist attitude most characters have. "No one is more important than me, the hero, so just give me the quest and I'll be off." I read several responses here that gave perfect solutions: 1) guard tells inquisitive PC to move along, 2) keep shoving critical NPCs in their face...etc. So, the question becomes how do we effectively introduce our NPCs beyond basic descriptors in such a way that PCs will take notice, treat them with due respect, and engage with them. I think this would be a useful follow on video.
Agreed. Great ideas.
Awesome npc list. Probably one of the most useful things I've seen for a DM
That's great to hear!
As a dm i feel your loss of story heavy npcs
As a DM of almost 4 years, it's literally never happened to me... Weird.
Reskin them and introduce them again a few sessions later. Your players will never know the difference.
I have a handful of NPCs for my world that we haven't even played in.
There's Salin, a retired dragonborn adventurer who discovered lost tombs of knowledge. Balthazar, a stressed cleric working in the holy city trying to help the grand cleric heal the sick. Atreus, the centaur bartender who wants to keep his family fed. Silvester, the senile tortle who has a fascination for anything shiny. Caspian, a boy prince in an underwater kingdom. Valder, the halfling leader of a cult known as the Keepers of Zalren. And last but certainly not least is Navarra, a terrifying woman they call the Dragon who lives in a chasm known as the Wyrm's Spine and controls an enormous hoard of kobolds.
I'm excited to play them.
It was around 15 years ago i guess, i was busy creating a world down to it's finest deteails for about more than 3 years, when i was done, i've collected the best roleplayers and most serious gamers i know, for the game, at that time they were about 2 to 5 years older than me, mid twenties to almost thirties so to speak. Anyway, after creating the characters and backstories, they've started the game knowing each other and had this simple mission to deliver a message to a certain town which was almost a month far. On their way they went into this tiny village 'Ei'sergon' with around 200 residents to resupply, i told them about their surroundings and the closest structure to them which was obviously a tavern, they asked a villager passerby about where smith lived, went to smith bought some stuff and left the village (which actually made me lose my faith in experienced role players, for every single villager had their back story, character sheet, rumours they like to talk about, every building, every inventory, in the damn village was written down, who liked who, who had a problem with who, who had a crush on who etc) Years later i've played with a group of newbies with the same map, and guys went to tavern bought themselves an ale each, had a chat, with barkeeper, had a discount from the steward/stablemaster which they met and bought a drink to in the tavern, went to their quest town with a horsewagon(2 on their own horses though) which they got paid in return for acting as guard, returned to the previous town and settled there for the entire game. Until finally one of them became the owner of the village as his fief, another as the town priest (who also built one of the best hospitals in the world there with the help of anohter player and townsfolk) and another created a trade empire with foundation built on that very town... Most civic and best amateur game i had(though it was sometimes even more boring than this comment) shorty, experienced players with time tend to become powerplayers, which kinda sucks, they always try to use short cut means, by doing so either killing npcs or ignoring them and other content we painstakingly create altogether, older dms prefer creating detailed worlds and encouraging sandbox gaming rather than giving quests and random encounters all the time, after all that is the only way we can see/experience stuff we haven't writen down ourselves, guys being a dm is only fun when players actually act like living in the game, keep that in mind please.
Another amazing one nate! Great for beginner GMs! I would just like to add some stuffs (and reiterate some other stuff), all new GMs LISTEN UP!
1. Preparation- This is the easiest and yet most time consuming of the steps, it takes time, even lots of it. I would get a blank notebook (or three) and just write down names, places, history, fighting styles, and whatever your brain can think of in a few (or many) hours. This of course would couple with your already prepared adventure, that has in detail descriptions, dates, times and of course a plot and npcs (RIGHT GMS??? RIGHT???? YOU DOOOO HAVE AN ADVENTURE PLANED DON'T YOU?!!?!?!!)
2. Improvisation- This is gonna come with time, and it looks different for everybody, buts its going to make the game world come alive if you have a fluid answer for every question. Not saying that you have to become and immediate Mathew Mercer, but i've noticed that if you have an image of the place your playing in in you head, then it becomes easier to answer nitpicky questions that your players might ask. (and trust me they probably will end asking nitpicky questions *glares at players)
3. Knowing Your Players and Your World- seriously know them..... understand them, its gonna help...
Upvoted for the hilarious start! When it comes to borrowing from popular fiction for NPCs, I personally tend to be wary of picking anyone too obvious because it can really break immersion in your world if you've picked someone that would feel out of place. One way of getting around this is to pick a less major character, so they may still feel vaguely familiar but won't be as obvious. If your crazy cat lady hedge-witch is actually based on Arabella Figg, with her dress sense, house, mannerisms, and cats and is called Florence Adavo, you still have the book/film character to base your NPC on but it doesn't scream out in an immersion-breaking fashion.
I've had a moment where an important NPC died. It was in the Lost Mines of Phandelver story, where at one point the party encountered Glasstaff, and he had this whole page of information to use in dialogue, but the party ended up surprising him and killing him within 1 turn. He didn't get to speak a word. I even practiced a voice and mannerisms for him..
So yeah, definitely know what you mean.
You’ve helped with my dming so much thank you dudeski!
Namaste nigga :)
Cool! Thanks for watching!
Good Video!
I would add one tip to your list. Get them connected! Show your players that your NPCs are not floting in a void but have relationships with other NPCS.
Last weekend my players tensed up, when they heared their questgiver to talk !two sentences! with his wife. Suddenly they took it all more seriouse
My big weakness with NPCs? Names.
Hell it's my weakness even when it comes to rolling up a player character.
The tables in Xanathar's Guide to Everything are a godsend, but honestly I recommend everyone who has my problem go check out Reaper Miniatures' online store. About 95% of their minis have actual names instead of just being "Paladin with sword and heater" and you can freely swipe those. Kain Swiftblade, Grundor Hoardtaker, Quinn Rowan, Klaus Copperthumb, Woody Stumpwimple, Dorian Starbow....
Great tip. Also, did you see the list I posted in the video description?
Having a list of super simple characters that aren't tied to specific locations / professions etc yet is a great idea.
I love this series! It makes me laugh but also has great information
"Because that's how players are sometimes"
Yep. Had the players start as newly transferred slaves in Thay, and their waystation fort was attacked by an army of undead. they had to flee the place. They then saw a griffon rider a few miles away (who was present back there) inspecting a destroyed mercenary caravan. PCs were meant to be spotted, and the rider was meant to save both his and their asses by having them pose as the mercenaries, so he doesn't get executed by his superiors for not saving the already paid mercs. Instead they rushed him, punched him unconscious, killed him, then ran into the woods where they wandered around trying to find out why the campaign seemed so spontaneous and not thought out.
Rough, always need a backup hook (multiple backups actually) for something on which the entire campaign will hinge.
Yeah. That day i learned that no amount of preparation will prepare me for what the party will do. My first homebrewed campaign so it was a massive learning experience.
Glad I stopped by to view this one... I'm knee deep in Dragon Heist and feeling a bit overwhelmed with so many NPCs in Waterdeep. Definitely going to pick up the Game Mastery Guide and stop by the dollar store for some notecards!
I know what you mean ^^ Playing in a metropolis like Waterdeep can be totally overwhelming, especially if your players are of the roleplaying kind. At least I found this little helper to have an overview of all the regular NPCs of the adventure. www.dmsguild.com/product/256224/Dragon-Heist-NPC-Map
I'll admit most of my shop keepers or blacksmiths are well known throughout my campaigns. Mine and my players favorites has been an traveling Gnome Enchanter/Inventor by the name of Sporks. He's old, senile, forgetful, stubborn, and a jokester. He once lauched one of my players out of a catapult that was on a side of the largest mountain on my map to have him test a new of invention of his call the travel pack. It had 10 different strings to pull to activate different qorky abilities. One of them was a parachute but my favorite was a magical utensils dispenser shooting out forks, knives, spoons and even plates/bowls at random. My player had no clue what was happening until sporks was escorting him up the launching pad. I've slowly started add a family tree of NPC and My own characters of sporks into my campaigns. 9ne of the first questions when running across a Gnome now is are you related to Sporks.
My most beloved NPC was one I made up in a split second to entertain my players while they were travelling, he was a young gnome who couldn't get enough of life and was constantly changing his name based on the coolest thing he had seen in the past 30 seconds... they talk about that little guy more than any that I'd spent hours writing up.
I'm a little late to this, but I have one suggestion here:
If your D&D session (or any game) was going to be $100m summer blockbuster movie, who would you cast to play that role? Clint Eastwood or Samuel Jackson would make very different street "toughs". It gives you an instant go to with your NPC. I hope this helps.
Rogue: What's your name.
Guard: Fuck off.
10:10
Yes, it hapend.
The "Darth Vader" of the cronicle. Father of two of the caracters. The one that comanded to destroy the Temple of Oulusca were the weding that iniciated the campain. They did not even crossed paths with them yet. And, after about 14 months, they literally nuked his homebase with the Total Anhilation spell.
Ouch. There are always ways to adjust, and sometimes The unexpected actions of players can create a much better story than you ever could’ve planned. Still, it can be a bit stressful in the moment!
@@WASD20 Well. As a matter of fackt... Sudenly, he became a third level Sorcerer with the Prism of Reflection spell. So... he nuked them back. He was a "social villain". But turns out that the Sorcery one entered the mold quite well.
Really glad I watched this for the voice tip... I can only do a British accent on a good day, so focusing on differences in speed/tone/voice quality is so much easier for me when playing/differentiating NPCs
Thanks for the list, that's a very cool idea!
I started my first campaign very unprepared and did not even have the town that my players were in planed out. Basically I had nothing. So my players wanted to explore the town and I had to improvise the whole town... I guess I did good because my players liked it and even manged to buy a restaurant in the town as well as become enemies with a local. :| it was very hard and taught me a valuable lesson.
My githyanki NPC: My name is Yurzog Kossilex Durmogh Ve-Kael VII and you will respect me.
My players: Hmm...how about Zoggy?
XD. I’m a big fan of the ridiculously long name that necessitates a clever nickname. :)
@@WASD20 I'm not sure the majority of my players' nicknames qualify for clever 😂😂
@@lawrencekenworthy8918 Haha! I get it. I guess I appreciate ANY nickname. While one could argue that if they really cared about the game they'd learn the full names, I'd definitely say if they care enough to come up with their own name they can actually remember or pronounce, that's pretty good. :D
If more people played D&D this channel would probably have millions of subs.
4:23 Now I 'll have to throw a band of random dudes with similar names at my players, just for the lols xD
NPC Tips & Tricks:
A short list of names (two columns, five rows sections. Two sections per card). To make a last name, just pair any name in any row or column with any other word.
Also make a similar list next to this one or behind it of common nouns, verbs adverbs, etc. that link well with names. Example:
Clink. Door
Foot. Wise
Butter. Chain
Bam. Dimples
Stink. Poor
These are east to come up with, even using the age old flip through a dictionary, stop on any random page and quickly point at page and pick whatever word you pointed at, technique (or whatever jumps out at you).
Another trick I use is a thesaurus. Wow. So much inspiration in a thesaurus, without even looking for it (Paperback or internet, either works). Just start looking at synonyms (and/or antonyms) for a word, then just look for stand out words, or rarely heard words/great sounding words. Just keep looking up groups within group of the thesaurus. Treasure Trove of wealth in a thesaurus. I have even found campaign ideas within.
My last gaming group was pretty chaotic while they played. After a while, I would come to the table with a vague plan, and a few stat blocks, dice, and miniatures, and a lot of improv.
That guard encounter could be interesting if we ramp up the awkwardness.
First of all this guard is a young sheltered adult. 18 years of age. He is in over his head at guard duty and is intimidated by his fellow guards. He is doubly scared by the party of adventurers. He has never seen a party of adventurers. So when the rogue starts acting all friendly, he is really unsure what to do.
He keeps using the excuse, "I'm on duty" but does so in the shyest way possible. He stutters, ums and uhs all over the place (giving the game master ample time to think of what the shy guy will say next). As the rogue continues to be friendly inviting the guard for a drink, the game master asks the player for a persuasion check.
If successful the rogue convinces the guard to join the party for some drinks. Shenanigans ensue and in all likelihood that young guard is in a world of trouble for being drunk on duty. (I'm assuming that is what is going to happen based on the rogue's dialogue. Might just be a friendly bit of chit chat). Perhaps the rogue is seducing the guard because they have a hidden agenda. A whole world of possibilities is open to the rogue for succeeding on the persuasion check. Whatever the rogue wants this guard to do, will most likely happen.
If the rogue is unsuccessful in their persuasion check, the young guard will call for help. "Help, this stranger is harassing me!" More guards come and ask what the commotion is about. The rogue is now in a sticky situation. As the rogue tries to talk themselves out of the hole, other party members will probably get involved trying to talk the rogue out of doing something stupid. The situation gets out of hand leading to a misunderstanding. Now the guards have a close eye on the party. From now on, if the party slip up, all hell could break loose.
NPC Character Sheets.
I make these on business cards too (colored). First, I make temp cards, nameless. Then when I finally flesh it out, I make up personal mini sheets for an NPC. Even one that will eventually be dead (I have used dead NPCs in other groups (name change just a little).
I am horrible at names. This list is a great template for me to start and expand on. Thank you!
Excellent!
Very helpful video. Thanks.
4:15 I actually had this happen by complete coincidence in a super hero game I played in with friends. There were 5 of us and 4 of the PC had hero identities that started with R. Ridley, Revolver, Refraction, Red Bone. The 5th was Quantum Break and for plot reasons she became the leader so we collectively called ourselves QB and the hard Rs.
My children want to learn the game. As I have never played myself I wasn't sure how to even teach them. I had picked up the "Essentials starter set (great set) good for basic rules, but I still wasn't sure how to explain to my kids. Your videos are extremely helpful. Once we are through the prewritten adventure of "Icepier peak" I think I am ready to write my own campaign because of your information.
Just started DMing my first campaign last night. The party will be travelling with 2 NPCS, Lara and Clowder. Lara is a scribe "I graduated first in my class you know!" and is super hyped to adventure and write down everything they discover. Type A personality, overachiever, organized. Clowder is a University Professor who really isn't into the whole adventuring thing but if going along to make sure Lara doesn't get killed (though he would never admit it). He's totally disorganized. They bicker a lot. "Yes yes, I know, first in your class. Don't get ahead of yourself Lara."
Rogue: What's your name, guard?
Guard: Fuck off. Working.
I had this guard type of scenario once and at that moment only managed to improvise them as if they were silent just like the queen's guard in the UK. Worked... :-D
I don't know what you're talking about! I love Charles!
I will use character personalities from anime and incorporate them in my dm sessions. Awesome idea of not writing in unnecessary details of npcs early on.
I have a NPC by the name of Gerewin Kell, a Dwarven Tinkerer. I had a problem with my players sorta letting the NPCs get killed or killing them themselves. To prevent this I made it so the PCs could give Gerewin supplies and he would create some type of machiner or tool. For example: By giving Gerewin some string, wood, springs, ball bearings, and crossbow bolts, he could throw together a small ballista. It helped my players realize NPCs could actually be useful for more than bait.
So simple... but so extremely helpful!!!!
As someone who needs more than just a 2 word personality trait to improv a decent character off of, I suggest, if you're in a similar situation, you prep yourself half a dozen or so more detailed personality profiles. Your party might exchange a handful of words with a couple dozen NPCs over the course of a session, but odds are they're only going to dig deeper than how the NPC might immediately serve them (giving directions, service at a shop, etc) for a handful, and that's where you pull out these. Try to have a decent range - someone who's really laid back, someone who's a braggart, a snob, a genuinely decent guy, the scary silent type who will rip your face off if you disrespect them, and give them just enough to go on that you can actually play that character.
They don't have to be stereotypes like those, either - if you've got a common background for the session, work from a few real world examples, professionally written fictional examples, and relevant backgrounds in places like the 5e sourcebooks to come up with a framework on which you can hang something that seems like an actual person. And leave yourself enough blanks to be flexible - after all, a person with the personality trait of being enthusiastic about their work can be a very different person depending on if they're a farmhand (likes plants and animals and the outdoors and the satisfaction of hard work), a guardsman (stickler for procedure, very by the book, professionally polite and detached), or a merchant (greedy and capricious, or obsequious and derives satisfaction from ensuring the customer finds everything they could ask for)...but not so many blanks that you have to flail for which example you want - the enthusiastic merchant could be a money grubbing ...donkey... or they could be a genuinely nice person who lives for the smile of a customer who's found exactly what they're looking for, or even just someone who's good with numbers and sees their running a general store as a service for the community - putting their aptitude for math and organization to a good and beneficial use.)
The trick is to find the balance that works for you - don't be afraid to take the time and give yourself a few canned personalities so you can pull out the one that fits, even if it's a paragraph of description rather than a couple of words. DMing is an art form; while there are definitely a number of wrong ways to do things, the only right way is one that works for you.
I find using Czech and Croat names as inspiration ads a lot of flavour to my npcs.
Good list of card characteristics! Totally agree with your philosophy of ensuring you have everything you need AND are only spending time on things that really pay dividends - which is a great observation. Do you have similar "forms" you recommend for writing other elements? (rooms, traps, major setpeices, etc.)
No, but I will certainly take those into consideration for future videos. Thanks!
Well I ask because I'm actually working on a set of forms that I'll be talking about on my channel. Seems like a tool every GM should have, but I haven't seen it done until you mentioned the NPC form in this video. Want to do a collab and talk about the topic?
So far my players favorite npc I made is a gnome archdruid named Earl with a pet hydra he called an alligator named bessie, he spoke with a what I call a swap person accent, and when he would call bessie he would yell sooooooweee.
Completely improved but they loved it
Thanks this was really helpfull!
I feel, for any character or group of decent importance, what they have and especially what they want can really help you think on your feet and improvise. For example, If your BBEG's plan is accidentally thwarted, if you know what they have, what they want, and the lengths they will go to get it you can improvise as your villain much easier
Love your videos
Actually have the Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master in my Amazon Wish list before watchign this video for wanting to buy it when I have the spare cash!
As for names, I prefer taking common name like Michael or Ronald and scramble them a bit and adding some extra letters, so the result is like Micharoel or Rodenald
My DM made the leader of the local hellnights guild a gnome in a unicorn onesie. When my friend passed his initiation test, he was offered either the red/black armor of the hellnights or a unicorn onesie with the same stats.
-he didn't pick the onesie :(
My DM also had this gray pair of tainted Angel's that lived in the grey wastes. After solving their puzzle we had tea together and we convinced them to help us at times.
Another boss was a Flamboyant Demon with backup dancers. Every round everyone would have to make a performance check to determine if they got a buff/debuff.
Basically, things like this really made the story memorable, enjoyable, and encouraged me to develope my character and how he interacted with the world
One of my players decided he wanted to try and join the side of the killers they were trying to track down in a murder mystery.
To do so, he attempted to burn down he building where some of the murders happened to hide his evidence.
He ended up burning down just about the entire town before I pulled a DM card and had the guards and some citizens control the fire and put it out.
He is now scheduled to be a hitman for the enemy the PCs are currently fighting, so it should be fun. One PC rogue vs. his previous adventuring group!
In the Isle Abbey section of Ghosts of Saltmarsh, there's a bunch of NPCs who's names all started with O
there was Ogmund, Ozmydaius, and Odium.
my party was pretty good about remembering which one was which, but I still thought it was funny the WOTC did that.
My favorite kinds of names are the long, kind of silly ones that either can be shortened to something more practical and cool sounding or are accompanied by a nickname from something. If you're in a superhero setting or any organization with ranks like a military, 40k's Inquisition, a thieves' guild, etc., callsigns or hero names are a great way to get both a cool short name and a silly long name. I just love it when you're called "Sam" and then need your full name for something and it's something like "Samwell Archibald Reginald Alexandrius Smorkle". Or you're known as Supercell, that hero with lightning powers, and your real name is something as boring as Kevin Smith.
More people need to find you!
Had a PC try to kill the quest giver before they even got introduced to the quest giver! thankfully the NPC was strong and practically smacked the player's snoot with a rolled up newspaper, that newspaper being magic. So yes, always be prepared to deal with the NPC death.
One of our greatest NPC moments was a one off farmer who was inspired by our paladin standing up to the bandits that had been harassing him. MF grabbed his pitchfork and jumped right into the fray. In the closing moments of the fight, one of the bandits pulled off his mask, revealing that he was one of the farmers neighbors. He pleaded for his life, "Stop Garth, stop! You know me, you know my Ma!"
"Damn right I know your Ma, and she's gonna be burying you tonight!", Garth exclaimed as he ran him throw with the pitchfork.
NPC names:
I have found that creating a name around ‘poop & fart jokes’, tends to sway players to love them more. I hate it, but tried it once long ago, and rarely ever does that particular NPC not stand out in front among all other NPCs. Latest NPC joke name I used “Unkfart”.
DONT OVER DO THIS, ONE is fine a session or small group.
I had an NPC in the first game I was DMing, who:
- always gave the players a thumbs up when they succeded at something
- had a habit of staring at people for uncomfortable amounts of times
- didn't drink
- pet a werewolf
- was always happy to join the players on adventures
- sacrificed himself to save one of the PCs
The party loved him so much, (one of them started to cry when he died) I ended up making him appear in other campaigns as well and he ended up getting a pretty interesting story "the legend of the Ash Knight"
Rey is a good boi, and I seem to be good at creating NPCs :)
I think even in pre-written modules like for D&D, you can make memorable characters with the right care and improv. When my party ran Curse of Strahd, a handful of really incidental NPCs ended up becoming beloved by the party and our DM found ways to let us keep checking in on them (I think the funniest was our paladin ended up falling in love with Vasilka at the Krezk abbey!? But he wasn't the brightest, so...)
Ha ha, loved the Hobbit reference! (I still can't keep all those dwarfs straight!)
I used to be an adventurer. but then I took an arrow to the knee. I have found quoting Skyrim guards works well.
my npc's are so unique my group talks about them constantly out in the real world. i have a maniacal evil laughing dwarf, and a bumbling incompetent myconid sprout to name a few
Basically... Have like 40 names stored for major races, 10 for minor races and choose randomly ( has to grow or change in each session for no repeating )
Difficult names is something our DM is deliberately good at. If you get the pronounce wrong, the NPC'S tend to be offended after correcting you three times, leaving some awkwardly fun moment in our Cyberpunk red game.
one thing I tend to do to have interesting npcs is have the boring ones out there. Lets face it most people in the world are boring, and most guards are going to be a little dull, but thats why you might remember the captian, not just because they are the guard captain but because theres a little depth. but thats just me, great advice Nate!
Tbh, my players learnt not to kill the NPCs early on when they came face to face with one of the gods of wrath in my story. Safe to say, one of the players being one shot taught them not be murder hobos.
I had the thought: Maybe if you aren't as confident in spitting an NPC out with no warning, you can write out a handful of generic NPC backstories and motivations, but leave them vague enough to fill most roles. When the players talk to an NPC, grab a card and roll with it. Jot down the name and now you've got a general personality and a few backstory details for your NPC. If they end up being important you can add more, but if they aren't you can erase the name and return them to the pile. Replace used up templates and that seems like a decent way to have a few ready.
Great video, and plenty of useful advice!
I figured it out a LONG time ago. Don't waste a lot of effort on an NPC, until you toss the poor idiot into the game. You can spend hours getting together the campaign direction(s) and plausible choices, Build EPIC NPC's... and the Players do something completely different or slaughter the NPC's for the gold in their pockets...
I rarely do more than a name-list now, myself. From one situation to the next, I toss a named NPC into conversation as applicable and watch... listen... take notes, even about whatever the hell is spilling out of my own mouth as we go along...
Sure, in the beginning, I had "archetypes" for NPC's by categories and trends, even a few tables for rolling a "type" and whether or not to undermine the stereotypical values of that type...
BUT now, I just dubiously "improv" it... off the cuff, try to concoct a reasonable character in my head, while I plod the Party through their approach and try to discern what works, regarding the NPC and desired effect in the scene or on the game...
Folks, there's no real short-cut to growing your skills at Improv'... Sorry to say, you can read and watch TV or YT for inspiration, but it comes down to being able to think on your feet, and finally to cut off the "thinking time" whether you've got something "great" or not... You play the hand you're dealt. Sometimes it's glib and witty and full of pizzazz... and sometimes it's a knobby-nose lesbian dwarf who drinks too much and can't put three words together sensibly when she's sober.
OLD television is good research, though. I WILL give you that for free. I love crawling through the shows I know for a FACT not one other soul at the table has ever seen. It's black-and-white, so they wouldn't willingly watch it if the internet was out for a week! AND out comes a dead-on STEAL... and they never even notice.
Okay, realistically, once in a while, I run across a table of "antique TV nerds" and I get called out. THAT is JUST AS MUCH FUN as when I sneak "Chester from Dodge City" across the table and nobody even stops to ask about the limp... Sometimes, in a "wacky" session, I've even been known to give rewards in XP or some in-game "save-your-ass" mechanics (think inspiration, but less powerful per point and WAY more useful in trade)... for those who can correctly spot the NPC's historical origins...
The bottom line is "have fun with it" when you improv'... It's so much easier to just let fly the silliest or strangest mischief off the top of your head when confronting a "question" than it is to "stress out" about making this a "believable" or approachable or even a "relatable" NPC for the Players to interact with. AND when you start to have fun at it, relax a bit, it's liberating for your MIND to actually start functioning and coming up with better answers... Give yourself a break. You'll get "there" from here. I believe in you. ;o)
One time I added this super upbeat warlock who was basically a kid and he was supposed to try to help but really just get them into trouble but the second they met him they clonked him on the head and stole his money.
Once ran a cleric of St Cuthbert based off of Randy "The Machoman" Savage, ooooh yeah!
I add character to mine by getting my friend to voice them. Once my party was interrogating an npc and the wood elf Druid told our arcane trickster to cut slits on the npc’s fingers and the Druid made thorns grow out of the cut fingers making them fall off.