THE NPC (non-player character) LIFE
“How do I make my NPC memorable?”
This is perhaps the most asked question amongst gamemasters. The answer starts with understanding that every NPC needs to be useful to the player characters or to the gamemaster (GM). They serve as the mouthpieces for the GM. They do this by providing flavor, being a guide, a plot advancer, a rival, a mentor, a long-term ally, a lackey, or a comic reflection.
With that understanding, we can now move on to how to make them great. An easy answer is to give them silly voices or outrageous personalities. These really do work and finding the right voice for an NPC can do wonders in your game sessions. If you give them a certain voice, accent, tone, and mannerisms you need to keep notes on that as well because you will almost always forget how you played them while your players remember.
Doing these things requires the courage to step outside your comfort zone. Be willing to look ridiculous and have fun doing it. And not just once in a while. It takes practice to get good but the rewards are worth it. Be willing to look ridiculous a lot so you get comfortable at it so you can feel like a pro.
It takes more than funny voices and personality to make a great NPC. First, you need to create the basics. Their name, gender (obvious or hidden), what they look like, what they do (fellow adventurer, merchant, thief pretending to be a servant, etc), what is their adventure/story goal, what is their attitude/personality, and what is at stake for them in the adventure/story.
This is where you can stop if it is meant to be a minor NPC. For a major NPC, you then have to create even more things like what are their ideals, their desires, and their fears. Keep track of their disposition toward the players… for instance, they might start as indifferent and gradually get warmer/friendlier. They might start as suspicious and slowly improve to indifferent. They can also move the other way towards hostile too, depending on the players. Their equipment, special skills, and mannerisms should also be noted as repeated interactions might happen with the major NPC. Make them a character sheet, just in case.
Give that NPC a secret or mystery about them. Don’t always give them the bland, expected type of NPC. Let there be more to them than they are letting on to your players. Do this by describing oddities about them. For example, that friendly old lady apothecary always offers comforting tea but has jars containing eyes of many kinds on a shelf above her tea canisters. Another interesting thing you can do is make your NPCs weak or in need of help. This tends to play into the players’ need to be heroes.
That brings us to the one factor you have no control over, luck. Sometimes things just happen and even that lowly minor character you made up in the heat of the moment becomes beloved to your players. This happens so often that you need a contingency plan. Make a note of NPCs you create on the fly. Be flexible and find ways to let the NPC return for more interactions with your players. The more they like that NPC, the more you develop them.
