Creating NPCs

Remember that one of your principles is to give your characters life.

You want your NPCs to be distinct and memorable, believable and compelling people instead of just names on a sheet. A world full of interesting NPCs is a rich and mysterious world.

You want your players to care about your NPCs and their fates—even if that means hating them or wanting them dead. When your players care about your NPCs, it's much easier to punctuate the PCs' lives with adventure.

Finally, you want your NPCs to act with integrity and their own internal logic. This makes them more believable and compelling, but it also means you can fall back on, "What would this NPC do?" and answer it honestly. It's a key part of playing to find out what happens.

So: how do you do that?

• 1) Give them a name
• 2) Conceptualize them
  • Build on what's established
  • Ask the PCs questions
  • Pick a memorable trait
• 3) Give up to 3 impressions about them
• 4) Flesh out details as needed, such as:
  • An instinct
  • Their connections to others
  • Their motivations
  • How you'll embody them in play
  • Game stats: tags, HP, armor, damage, and GM moves

You might also add details to treat them as a follower, monster, and/or threat.

You'll often improvise these details in play and flesh out the NPC between sessions. But if you expect an NPC to appear in an upcoming session, prep some or all of these details in advance. As always, though, prep only as much as you find useful and valuable.