Creating NPCs on the Fly

Don't let your NPCs be an ERROR

It is a classic situation... you have a guardsman escort the group through the palace to speak with the king. They ask this guy a few questions about the lay of the land and his own role as a guard. Next thing you know, they want to know his name and address so they can come back and find him later. What's a DM to do?

Firstly, don't worry. It's better to have your players clamoring for more non-player characters than less. If you included too many named, prepared NPCs the players will feel confused and lost in the shuffle. Most of the extras in your campaign do just fine as nameless and sometimes without games stats. The laymen of the realm, who aren't really fleshed out yet. However, there are times as mentioned previously in which you will need to create some details to support the story and their role in it. Be prepared for this contingency, and understand ahead of time that is is practically guaranteed to occur at some point during a session.

Building Character

The best place to find ideas for a new character are your campaign notes. Remember, everything in your campaign serves the story in some way or another. Even if it just establishes background features of the setting, it should be directed toward telling the story of the game. So look through your notes for what you are wanting to convey to your players right now. A miner who is a victim of a goblin attack, a snobbish aristocrat, a noble paladin... each of these could indicate something different about what kind of place the characters are in, and what is happening. These on the fly NPCs can even surprise you, and become some of the most important allies or enemies in your campaign.

If this is going to be a legit NPC, you will need to find a name for the character. I recommend keeping a list of names on hand at all times. Cross a name off the list when you use it, and add the name to your notes. Chris Perkins has made a great name list for Dungeons and Dragons, and for other settings there are random name generators available online. Print out about twenty names and keep them around for when players inevitably ask for the name of the local barkeep.

For making an NPC memorable just after he popped out of your head, it might be a good time to brush up on your impersonations. Basing the character's voice on a specific performer or cartoon character is an easy way to make a character stand out and distinguish themselves. After all, a character you made on the fly is not intended to be a stand-out original creation, but should be kept interesting.

When it comes to stats, these kinds of characters only ever need certain attributes anyway. They don't need to be meticulously worked out. If you have a generic stat block for certain levels of civilian or soldier, that will work fine. If not, you can decide these values on the fly based on what seems reasonable. The point is, don't sweat it.

Player Involvement

Some of these instant NPCs can and should be brought to life by the players themselves. I often let the group add minor details or names for new characters to drive the story and re-establish their role in building the adventure. In fact, my challenge for DMs who have a bit of experience under their belt is this: introduce an NPC who you don't know, and let the players tell you who it is. A familiar face walks up to a player, let them decide where they recognize them from, who they are, what they want. As I said before, every NPC should be important to the story, and what is more important than someone associated with a player character? It will give you more to work with and also draw out more details about the PC that you can use. And in the end, your campaign is about the PCs, so any opportunity to build upon them should be embraced. On the other hand, even a character that is brand new to your PCs can benefit from some "crowd-sourcing." Let your players add details and quirks to some characters sometimes, and you will have an easy source of fine details that have been personally endorsed by the group. (There's more on building around player preferences and expectations in this previous entry.)

For even more instant NPC inspiration, check out Dungeon World's nifty NPC generating tables. Also, you might be interested in using Story Cubes as part of the process. Next week there will be a lot more about the benefits of letting the players direct the story, how to draw out details about their characters, and how to keep your group engaged and part of the action. Until then, happy ventures!