Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns (Kobold Guides Book 6) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Kobold Press
Published: 2016-07-29T00:00:00+00:00

Crooked

Characters

A Simple Guide to Creating Memorable NPCs

Richard Pett

The greatest usefulness-to-dollar (or in my case pound sterling) value of anything I’ve ever bought for roleplay has to be my first edition DMG—it is literally a firestorm of ideas and inspirations. Small wonder we waited so long for it at the time. She still sits at my side as I write adventures, her tables and ideas helping me out of many a tight corner.

There’s a great resource in the book, spread over three pages and titled “Non-Player Characters” with the subhead “Personae of Non-Player Characters.” It’s crammed with aspects of personality—too much almost—everything from randomly generating alignment and moods through what an NPC collects. The tables remain amazingly contemporary and useful, and it’s been the inspiration for many a crooked NPC I’ve had the pleasure to drag, kicking and screaming, into reality. The DMG forms a magnificent starting point for creating a truly memorable NPCs; I just transform them a little.

Working on a new NPC can be divided into constituent starting points using the method below—but do use this suggestion as merely a beginning. The best NPCs start with a kernel of an idea that grows into a rich crop in your own imagination and campaign.

The Traits

First, use a d50 to determine an overt trait. Generally bear in mind the intention to create someone memorable, so go for it big time. Your secretively cruel NPC doesn’t merely pull the wings off butterflies, she makes an art out of cruelty. She rises in the morning and goes to bed at night thinking cruel thoughts or reflecting on cruel actions past, present and future. If you prefer not to depend on a random roll, pick a trait to start from. As we’ll see shortly, rolling for two or even three traits can also suggest interesting concepts; how many is entirely up to you, and opposing traits can make for even more fun NPCs.

If you prefer subtle, then tone these traits back to a level you’re happy with and be sure to have a good spread of shades of light and dark.

Traits

1. Aggressive

2. Angry

3. Awkward

4. Belittling

5. Capricious

6. Charmless

7. Cheerless

8. Compulsive

9. Cruel—overtly

10. Cruel—secretively

11. Cunning

12. Deceitful

13. Delusional

14. Dour

15. Draconian

16. Erratic

17. Faded

18. Greedy

19. Hungry

20. Hyper

21. Immature

22. Irritable

23. Isolated

24. Jealous

25. Lazy

26. Manipulative

27. Meek

28. Melodramatic

29. Merciless

30. Miserable

31. Moody

32. Narcissistic

33. Opinionated

34. Outrageous

35. Paranoid

36. Pathetic

37. Pessimist

38. Precise

39. Puritanical

40. Racist

41. Repressed

42. Scathing

43. Self-important

44. Self-indulgent

45. Selfish

46. Timid

47. Troubled

48. Vain

49. Vindictive

50. Vulgar

The Crooks

Once you’re happy, use a d50 again, this time to develop a crook—an overt aspect of that NPC. This is in many ways a physical manifestation of the trait and might suggest a reason or result of the trait in question. These crooks are deliberately broad in nature to create memorable NPCs. If you want to tone them down a little, come up with your own lists—once you get started you’ll soon find they flow easily.

Crooks

1. Always seems to have an open wound or blemish

2. Attends to an imaginary parent and speaks to him or her loudly and often

3. Awakes at night screaming and falls asleep by day

4.

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