15 Traits All Good NPCs Have

My players ask how to spell "Fred." Like, three times. So, there's that...

One of my Player's favorite NPC's is a Gnome Archmage who regularly alludes to being a former adventurer. She has mused about casting Meteor Swarm on an enemy compound and laughing a little . She also made them muffins.
Another is a Dragonborn Potion Maker who is a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer. Whenever he thinks hard, gears appear behind his head like the inner workings of a clock. They also like to gather herbs for him to augment costs.

I have a oathbreaker paladin called krusk. And my players call him krusty.

Actually, given the names of Tolkien's dwarfs, they should all be speaking with scandinavian/east european accents. Never could figure why people associate dwarfs with scottish or irish accents.

That's why I can't stand critical role, Because every footstep is a committee discussion!

Had a npc cat familiar named Scrambles the DeathDealer

I'm half Scottish and that's my Scottish Burr sounds like that so Its cool and not insulting.. Gary the Intern should get a promotion ad become a full time employee and transformed into "Gary the Entry Level Employee"

I'll also say that if a Master doesn't have enough experience with NPCs, or tried something that didn't work, the Players can help him building the character.
For example: On a campaign I had, many years ago, in our Guild there was an NPC that didn't have anything particular, but since I didn't remember his name, when he spoke to us (the players) I answered with "Wait, who are you?" and he paused and awkwardly explained who he was and we started a back and forth were I was pretending to not know him at all and he kept trying to convince me that he was always in the guild, and since that exchange, every other player started treating him like someone we didn't know, and was so funny because every time he spoke one of us was like "Wait, who's this guy?" or we were talking about him with made-up names, pretending not to remember his, and from me not remembering an NPC name we created this recurring gag that lasted the entire campaign, and he became one of our favorite ones because it would make us laugh every time.

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Dwarves should be Texan!!! ⭐

In session 2 of my campaign I had a young farmer couple. The previous session had the old out of their prime adventuring party leave town to track a bandit lord leaving the party to handle the couples issue instead. My players had some great interaction with them and I dont know how I did it.

I have a forest gnome transmuter NPC with pink frizzy hair named Finch Tanglefern. She's usually in the middle of doing something really weird that she thinks will impress the wood elf court when players meet her. Or running animated objects for an archery tournament. People do seem to like her.

I think that all those are fine advices, but I'd say it's quite alot of questionning for 1 NPCs, and lets face it, players will likely not care about your director of bio-engeenering but adopt Janitor Joe as their best friend, so just taking a few sec to design NPC and flesh out those that player like is most likely a better use of your time. I use the DNA method myself, Distinct (1-2 specific appreance details, language tic or quirks) Need (what does the NPC need/want) Agenda (1-2 things the character doing in the world ex: guard the city, explore a grotto, develop interest in fine art in the city). I really feel it regroup most of the point and you have to ask yourself 3 questions, takes about 30 seconds.

Love your channel. Also loved Spackstory

The absolute best method, guaranteed to work without fail, if you want your players to remember and engage with an NPC is to really, honestly, truly have absolutely no intention whatsoever of your players remembering or engaging with the NPC! Every group of players will ALWAYS form an attachment to the random NPC that you pulled out of nowhere at the table in the heat of the moment and expected never to be seen again! Or one that had no name and was supposed to be killed!
For instance, in my Monday night game, there is a Gazer in my wife's character's backpack that the party were supposed to kill. They had already killed 3 others!! But the last one? I mean, why kill the last one? Instead, we should talk to it and maybe take it with us! Sure. Makes perfect sense. And now, if I go too long without telling them something that "Blinky" is doing, they'll ask me what "Blinky" is up to at the moment. I often have him float out of the backpack to chase small rodents or cats. It's really funny when the druid Wildshapes into a cat to scout ahead! 😁
So yeah, the best way to get your players to care about an NPC is for you to care absolutely NOTHING about that NPC at the time it introduced! 😂

For some reason iv'e always just used regular names for characters. I have enough trouble with regular names lol.

Although Jhonanonalonathan is one of my favourites I've used

I like the idea of having a character that has nothing really to do with the party but keeps ending up in trouble because of them.

I’ve used npc’s knowing others often. Had a PC randomly ask if there was a coffee shop. Made one up and sent them there, an Npc in that city would have frequented the place so hn they entered and dinged the bell a female clerk called out npc’s name and told them to hang on as they were getting the last of their order ready. They continued going back until they finally met the other person.

I know there's a lot of decisiveness around AI, but if you have ChatGPT, try adding this to your Custom Instructions:

When asking about an NPC, provide detailed descriptions Fantasy Race, gender, easy to say Name, Physical Appearance, Mannerisms, Speech Patterns, Background/History, Goals, wants, needs, mundane fears, occupational fears, Motivations, Flaws, Skills and Abilities, Relationships, Alignment/Values, Secrets, Role in the World, Unique Traits, visual or audible quirks, verbal affectations, a unique voice, caste or place social hierarchy, a current activity, an idle activity, and limits before the NPC will want to move on. Cast a real world actor to play them and why they were selected. Adjust the average slightly towards unique, weird, idiosyncratic, or memorable traits. 10% of the time include a somewhat absurd trait.

I unfortunately don't have a group to play with:(

But, I have created 6 different lvl 1 characters in case I found a group.

Anyhow, last year I was potentially going to be a GM for D&D at my local library. Though, no one signed up to play:(

Anyway, I created some "House Rules" and 3 NPCs. The first NPC is an ancient Elven Druid Woman inspired by a combination of "Granny from Beverly Hillbillies" & the song "These Old Bones by Dolly Parton". She dresses in a faded elegant dress with hair braided around her head in a sort of crown. She is a Master of Alchemy & "Herbal/Old Wives Remedies" and can somewhat divine the future by rolling "Bone Dice" she also makes some powerful Moonshine:)
The second NPC is her Great-Granddaughter inspired by "Elle May from Beverly Hillbillies" combined with "Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Who is a Ranger and Apprentice Alchemist/Diviner.
The third NPC is a Bard/Fighter inspired by "Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as well as the stereotypical old Folk/Country Singer. He is married to the Ranger and plays the Banjo beautifully.
All 3 are "High Elves" and they are basically "Traveling Gypsies" with a Caravan/Wagon pulled by 2 Horses and also have a small pack of very loyal Dogs. You could meet them randomly on almost any road & trade with them.

One extra note that affects all of these: know your players. There are several of these options, such as Reference other NPCs, that work for some tables, but for mine, it won't. Even if we play two weeks in a row, about 75-80% of the previous session will be forgotten by the subsequent session, so minor things like an NPC picking up horseshoes while the party is at the blacksmith would be a wasted effort, no matter how much "I," as the DM, think it's important. Though I've gotten a little better, I'm still pretty far away from actually understanding what/who my players will respond to.

I can confirm in the loving of weak and adorable characters. In my last campaign I introduced a truly pathetic goblin named Moop who had no self respect, esteem, or hygiene. By the end of the session one of my players had announced that if Moop died they would quit the campaign. And the others didn't object in any way.

Give back the skits

We're 60 sessions/2 years into the campaign and my players can't remember "Andes" (the most prominent figure of the region they're in) yet. I get so many variations of the name that are so much more complex than the name actually is.

At least they remember Raisin though, a particularly loud and is-this-bravery-or-stupidity embodying Lizardfolk.

wants and desires
any "potential adventure" npc has something they want but a reason to not just go get it. they can equally be a quest giver or become a replacement pc if someone dies. i'm careful not to fill them in too much

fears
for the simpler NPCs this is mostly just the rumor mill of what bothers the town, but

likes and dislikes
a pet peeve as a quirk can be fun

"its so you can roleplay them better"
more role than play but a bit, yes.

ad spot
yay, books. um wut? oh :)

quirks
one eye or hand gesture tops.

unique voice
hi mid or low. pauses more or less. speaks fast or slow.

verbal affectations
scottish vs scotch nah. All my dwarves say "aye" or "nay" instead o' yes and no. All my halfings say "heya" or "nup". And a few other pairings. That's it. no attempt at accenting otherwise or i get exhausted.

place in a hiearchy
thusly wants or desires. they HAVE a place. do they like it or not? sounds simple, fills the character up.

something the npc does
nervous habits.

simple names > complicated names a.e. lord dracula > count stra'ad
strahd is one syllable, i dunno about this example.
but my "secret sauce" is the less I expect the npc to be adopted the shorter their name is. In any case it won't be unpro..pur.. nuncibbl.. able to be said by their business partners or heralds. otherwise their nickname will be short in its stead.

mirror the pcs
but not enough to outshine them. even if they're an expert or mentor. they can even have heard of the pcs

refference irl actors
or RL reference something/somebody the players do know. Maybe the weaponsmaster is Shad and wears red leather... and Ivvers is his friend from back when they adventured together (you've heard of shadiversity right?)

one npc at a time
i think of this more as "one camera at a time" but focus, yes.

the limit as pacience aproaches zero, of a very long conversation, is equal to...
hahaha

refference other npcs
dont force it
I feel like these are the same thing - don't Try Too Hard TM, the world's a world, let them explore it.

I absolutely agree with NPCs that the players hate can be just as interesting as ones they love. Sir Pelliton was a relatively minor villain in my campaign, but he will be forever remembered for basically calling the goblin figther in the party the party's pokemeon.

even if they're interacting in a crowded area some nps is gonna be, ummmmm, camera focus, and others are a little bit wallpaper. you can describe a teeny bit of them for flavor.

it doesn't mean players might not latch on to someone else, mind.

examples: the tavern owner at center of town is a good chef. another tavern in what is really a decent size town is not only the best brewmeister, he's the only brewmeister, all the beer in town's made by him. the bar regulars know each other. the wife of the center-of-town tavernkeep isn't just a random wife, she's a priestess of the waters, which is why this town in the middle of nowhere has good beer and is such a nice place to live.

give yourself reasonable excuses to pass players the same info about the region from completely different npcs.

When I first started GM'ing, I was guilty of creating obnoxious NPCs that I shoved down the players' throats. Eventually, they reached a point where they just decided to kill off nearly any NPC that they had to interact with. After a break, I tried a different tactic: I had important NPCs try to ignore the PCs. It's a tactic I use with cats. Funnily enough, it worked (both with cats and the players). I've varied it up since then, but having the NPCs be indifferent to the PCs is one of my favorite go-tos.

people have nicknames or shortnames to be easily said in context. your throwaway npc named miko because mike sounded too boring even for that, could be short for some "finer" name, or just someone's firstname of more than one, should your players Adopt them or become regulars at their bar.

I had some ruling noble type have a favorite cinnamon buns shop.

What is the go-to accent that UKers use for their diabolically evil characters?

One of my players continues to mispronounce the name of a NPC. I say it is because the PC is a Dwarf and that happens to be how he pronounces it! 😂.

When they roll an insight check I share a mannerism that gives them the idea, like the NPC makes a nervous shift in how they stand.

9. Names that are easy to say and remember:

There's a reason why common names exist, they're just that common! Take advantage of that fact.

John Smith (english)
Johann Schmidt (german)
Glup Shitto (star wars)

Infamous npc in one of my groups was Stephan Medani. There were three things that made him infamous with the group: His appearance, his attitude, and his voice/laugh. They loved him because of how much they hated him. He had a hitched pitched, annoying voice and a weird laugh, as well as he dressed almost like a noble mime (mime makeup and noble garb). And he always had this cocky look on his face. He was almost cartoonish. Two years later and my group still will mention his name or do his laugh. And they love to tell other people about him. Sadly that campaign was cut short so we will never know what they would have done to Stephan.

Dwarves sound better when theyre from brooklyn

When the PCs blow off the NPC..have that NPC stalk them, like Pennywise or the guy trying to ask about your car's extended warranty! 🤣

Karan of Karanistan. The most self-entitled witch ever.

We have our BBEG

Luke! This was released 8 hours ago and I needed it 24 hours ago! Don't you know this channel is how I keep my campaign together?!

bad Scottish accent but an EXCELLENT DWARF ACCENT :D

Its also worht noting the your ide aof a great NPC might not be what your players idea of a great NPOC is.. sometime our DM would reveal much later that our favortie NPC was mad eup on the spot and wasnt even meant to be important but WE as the players gravtited to them for whatever reaosn so the DM improvised and ROLLED with it

My dwarves have a bad Nordic accent. My dwarves are also very Viking inspired. That’s why I have NPCs with names like Skoal Wintergreen

Resonate. Not resignate. I'm here for ya dude.

What I find fascinating...and gratifying...is that my NPCs seem to be memorable. I'm not good at mechanics, but I do seem to be able to bring characters to life. For example, I have a gnome artificer named Gimbles Timbers Stumbleduck (everyone calls him "Ducky"). I was told verbatim how much my players love him. I even had an almost throwaway character become memorable just because of the way he treated the half-orc fighter. He had to explain that it was not the fighter's race but what he was wearing that was bothering him: I gave him a catastrophic fear of metal. The players were intrigued. Finally, I created a nasty, arrogant creep nicknamed "Talon". As I hoped, while he was needed for a mission, the party despised him and played it accordingly. I seem to be almost automatically following your tips, Luke, so I can say they work.

God please help me I need timestamps to watch this videos

Great video!! Thank you.