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Help needed creating npcs
Topic Started: Jun 18 2015, 10:21 AM (986 Views)
Sage
Pokémon Trainer
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I've just started my first campaign as a gm and I've kind of ended up in a difficult situation. I've found it to be extremely tedious to create NPCs. It's even harder to create non-trainer npcs like villagers, merchants, and the like. Does anybody have advice on how to make creating these npcs easier?

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Techatticup
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Pokémon Trainer
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When I DM for any of my tabletop games making NPCs was always a bit difficult at first. Here is a list of things to consider when making someone...
1st: Location
Location is KEY, you would never find a Street Thug in the middle of a quite farm village. You would also neevr find a sailor in the middle of a desert, unless something very tragic has happened *cough* gale of darkness *cough*.
2nd: Value
What I mean by value is how essential are they do your story. If you group is just passing through a village they will likely never return to, but choose to stop by at the mart, just have the store front teller be named something normal like "Bill" or "Samantha" and be done with that as a description. But if the character might show up again down the road as someone of interest then give them a name, physical description, maybe a special type of pokemon, maybe and staple quote or two.
3rd: Improv
Improving is huge when it comes to playing GM, you will never know what happens when you GM. I like to think of GMing as a perfect example of Murphy's Law (If something can go wrong it will go wrong). Your party might be walking down a road when they decide to walk a path, maybe not less traveled, and they might dodge an encounter. And maybe you might want to quickly recycle the NPCs they were going to encounter. Simple changes like the way they act, maybe the pokemon they have can be done in just a few seconds.
4rd: Back Up
When GMing you should always have a small book on you, in it put a couple pages off to the side that you can pre-make some people or pokemon to throw into the fray if you need to spice things up a bit or fix something the party has done.
5th: Previous Tales
One of the great ways to make NPCs is to look at other pieces of entertainment. You could strip entire characters from your favorite series or base similarities off of them. I could through Steven Stone into my campaign, or I can through a Rock enthusiast named Rocky who happens to like steel pokemon.
6th: The Internet
If your feeling like your creative juices are not flowing like they were a while ago, then go to the internet. There is a plethra of NPC generators online that will make a plethra of characters ranging from youngster joey to ace trainer Wilton.
I know some wonderful people in this project have made a list of utilities you might be able to use to your advantage found here:
Tools & Utilities
If your seeking more advice you can go here:
GM Advice
If you need more inspiration or idea, check out people playing tabletop games on youtube and watch for a bit. See what the Gm does when introducing characters.
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Marhatus
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For NPC's, you don't always have to create them like you're creating a PC. If they are a trainer and aren't that important, generate some pokemon for them, and maybe (if you want to switch things up) an order or something to make them a bit more interesting. Even if they are important, you can just choose a few things that you think make them more interesting, and that you'll actually remember to use. Building a NPC as a full PC-build doesn't do anyone any good if you forget to use most of the features you built them with, and/or if you spend time in-session trying to read over and understand what things they can do. NPC's don't need full builds, since the PC's are unlikely to ever "see" their builds, and as long as you are being fair and don't do something silly like give them capstsones from 5 different classes, no one's going to bat an eye.

As for the other aspects of making NPC's, the names of the skill ranks make them easy to decide on the fly (eg. "This guy's a black-market merchant, so he's probably fairly good at lying"), and things like names, personalities, secrets, etc. have lots of random generators online. Some of the stuff you'll have to come up with yourself as makes sense for your world, but not every character needs to be super detailed. It's ok to have the occasionally bland/bit character, and it's ok to have a character that's not more than a gimmick; if your players become interested in them, you can fill in the details later.
Edited by Marhatus, Jun 18 2015, 12:11 PM.
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Gamesdisk
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I cant add anything more then that. I do however do this quick check list that I ask myself.

Are they faster then the all PC's/ the fast PC / The slow Pc.
What would you find in their pockets.
How many hits will they take before they go down. I tend to cheat with most of my monsters/ NPC when it comes to table top face to face games and have them go down when I feel they should.
What is their main skill/s?
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Birdy51
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My suggestion is to name your NPCs. All of them.

Names are powerful things, and the right name for an NPC can really define their personality. I'll name a few. Like Giles, an old cantankerous name. Perfect for an aging farmer, or perhaps a call back to Giles Corey of Salem.

I recently made two NPCs name Beat and Tell. They were twin Bug Aces with a rhyming tick. Their Pokémon? A Heracross and a Pinsir named Fren and Zee.

Or Celesta, a mild mannered Fairy-Ace with a saintly background.

Basically... Start with a name, even if the players may never need to know it. Amadeus the store clerk will never have to announce his name, but throw on a thick Viennese accent and throw in some musical puns and you now have a memorable character selling the players potions at the local mart.

Name em, and let the creative juices fill in the blanks. That's what I always say.
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Torchlyte
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GamesDisk
 
How many hits will they take before they go down. I tend to cheat with most of my monsters/ NPC when it comes to table top face to face games and have them go down when I feel they should.


I've done the same thing. Use this sparingly though (and in believable situations), or your PCs may notice and get annoyed.
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KellGM
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Usually I match HP of the party average to keep it interesting, but if I want something harder I double or sometimes quadrople the HP of the party average for foes. I keep the other stats the same as party average. This tends to be my cheat in DnD as well. Oh look lvl 5 colbolts....Lets just increase their HP by a lot and now they won't die and being menacing to the party instead of annoying one shot dead monsters. Depending on your group they may hate it or enjoy it. There has to be a few throw away battles here and there just so they feel OP (Over powered) and feel like they're getting somewhere though. This is just my OP (Opinion)
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BatiroAtrain
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Pyramid King
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The very first thing you need to think about when you're creating an NPC is 'how long are they going to interact with this guy?' If the answer is not long, then just give them a name, some personality quirks, maybe a Pokemon companion for flavor, and you're done. No need to give them skills or features if they won't be using any of them.

If a player attempts a skill check against an NPC, it's very easy to simply give them arbitrary skills or set a DC for the success of their action. For example, your player wants to try haggling with a random shopkeeper. Think about their personality and physical features. If they're just some kid working for minimum wage, they might use Untrained Intuition to know if they're being messed with, or they might not care and flat-out refuse to haggle (uh, my boss will kill me if he knows I lowered the price, sorry). If the shopkeeper is an older, experienced salesman, they might have Adept Guile and try to make a counter-offer against the PC's haggling! It doesn't take much for these small fry NPCs to make them stand out; one or two quirks and a memorable interaction will make your world feel more alive.

Now, if your players will be interacting with an NPC for an extended time, or battling them, you still don't have to go the full mile in creating a character. Eyeball their stats with what's already been established. If you introduce what is clearly a rough cue-ball biker guy, and your punk Player decides to fistfight him, assign the biker guy some random stats, like 15 ATK, 12 DEF and about 60 HP - tough and durable, but still possible to beat in a 1v1. You don't even really have to be strict with his stats, either; you could just rule in the back of your head that the biker goes down in 2 strong hits or 5 weak ones. If you have a rough grasp on classes, you could also say he knows some entry-level moves from Roughneck or Athlete without actually statting him out. Basically, the less you have to think about or write down, the easier it will be on everyone, including you.
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