Agner
Topic Author
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu 05 Jan 2023, 21:07

General help with NPC management

Tue 24 Jan 2023, 11:12

Hey folks
As a rookie GM I would love to get some advice/input on how you typically manage the creation of unplanned NPCs. What do you do when the story suddenly call for you to introduce a new NPC? Do you take a few minutes to roll one up or quickly make one up on spot and then gradually fill out their stats as they are required ? Or do you have a list of different premade NPCs to pull from when needed?

Also how much "flair" do you tend to give your side characters in terms of motives, desires and background story?

Thanks, Agner
 
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Angelman
Posts: 356
Joined: Sun 11 Apr 2021, 12:46

Re: General help with NPC management

Wed 25 Jan 2023, 22:38

Hey folks
As a rookie GM I would love to get some advice/input on how you typically manage the creation of unplanned NPCs. What do you do when the story suddenly call for you to introduce a new NPC? Do you take a few minutes to roll one up or quickly make one up on spot and then gradually fill out their stats as they are required ? Or do you have a list of different premade NPCs to pull from when needed?

Also how much "flair" do you tend to give your side characters in terms of motives, desires and background story?

Thanks, Agner
This is a good topic, mate :)

I start with the character's "character"; their function in the story and the personality I feel like putting forward. It is a spur-of-the-moment thing and I never, ever pause play to go through the character creation movements, or anything like that. I rarely even stat them, and if I need to roll for something, I just wing it on the spot. Typically, a name and some vague story function hooks is all a random NPC gets in my games, and often then grow into momentous characters during play, through player interaction, mostly.
"And the rain sets in,
it's the Angelman.
I'm deranged".
--David Bowie, I'm Deranged
 
Agner
Topic Author
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu 05 Jan 2023, 21:07

Re: General help with NPC management

Thu 26 Jan 2023, 16:32

Cool. Thanks for the answer. That´s how I handled it as well, just winged it and made up stats on the fly. Worked alright and kept the pace of the game going.
But my roleplay was certainly a bit wonky for the first few minutes as I was a bit too indecisive when it came to settling on a personality for this new NPC.
Guess for the future I´ll just immediately commit to some archetype and just go with it.

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