D&D: Five Ways to Come Up With the Party’s New Favorite NPC
Create memorable NPCs that your player characters will kill and die for after only knowing them for a day and a half.
There seems to be a point in every D&D game where the party runs into an NPC who was, somehow, unremarkable to the story. And yet, whether they’re quirky, small, or just kind of weird, suddenly they’re the only thing that matters to the party. Gods, monsters, angels, demons… the party would fight them all to keep that NPC from suffering even a little bit.
And while there’s no way to *make* the party love someone, there are plenty of ways to create NPCs that will keep the players coming back to talk to them. After that, the rest is up to you. Here are some handy tips for making memorable NPCs.
Be Interested
There’s an old adage that goes something like, “to be interesting, be interested.” And generally that means be active and engaged with what someone else has going on in their life.
This holds true for NPCs as well. One of the easiest ways to make them memorable is to have them remember the PCs. Let them have an opinion on how the PCs dress, how they speak, what they have going on in their life.
It doesn’t always have to be positive. A great NPC can be a tailor who hates the way the Fighter dresses, while not hating the Fighter. Maybe the NPC is too afraid to do what the PCs can do. But either way, reacting to the PCs is a great way to play the kind of NPC that will keep players coming back.
Be Vulnerable
As a followup to the last point of “react to the PCs”, one of the most surefire ways to get a party invested in an NPC is to have them be a little vulnerable. Let them be afraid, or sad, or let the PCs feel like they’re more powerful than the hapless shopkeeper who, it turns out, isn’t a secret badass, and people will notice.
It’s a good way to reinforce the narrative weight the players have in the world when NPCs feel like they are close enough to players to let their guard down. When Lob the Gob starts sharing the time he lost his favorite rat, it’s just a matter of time before the quest to recover ratty gets underway.
Have ‘A Deal’
Of course, on the other side of the spectrum of memorable NPCs are those who have their own wants and goals and aren’t afraid to go after them. In short, when an NPC has a whole deal that the party can easily figure out, like, “oh he’s a crazed black powder merchant” or, “oh she’s a little lost kenku” or “ah, a goblin tea brewer who wants to make the best tea”. Whatever their deal is, make it clear.
What goes into having “a deal” typically it’s things like an easily stated desire: to find my family, sell a bunch of magic items, be a criminal overlord – anything you can easily say; couple that with a viewpoint/opinion about things and you’ve got someone memorable in the making.
Voice Speaks Volumes
You don’t have to give every NPC a funny little voice to make them memorable. You don’t even have to do a different accent. But the best NPCs have personalities that make them easily identifiable. It might be in the way you physically hold yourself as the DM, or the way the character talks: formally, casually, quippy, quietly, fast, slow, using overly fancy words, being laconic… the list goes on.
Take a little time to find some unique aspect of an NPC’s personality and you can play that up. Subtlety and subtext are for cowards. Paint with a broad brush and then figure out the fine details later.
Make them Smol
Finally when all else fails? Make them a smol little bean. It works every time.
