Continuing on with our February theme of tabletop game tips, let's move on to one of my favorite things: non-player characters! I adore adding in NPCs and my poor players have so many NPCs they run into all the time. So what makes for a good interaction in a game?

1. Goals of Their Own

The NPCs have their own goals, plans and ideas. They have their own idea of what needs to happen and how to make it happen. This mainly applies to NPCs with bigger roles. Every single shop keep doesn't need a backstory and motivation that really plays a big role.

However, if there is a noble giving the adventurers a quest, there's probably some reason behind it and some 'proper' way of it being handled. They have their own issues to worry about and reasons for interacting with the players. That shapes how they speak to and behave towards the players.

2. Flaws/Interesting details

There's always the running joke in DnD that players will want to talk to Boblin the Goblin and not the mysterious hooded wizard in the corner. Why? I mean a friendly goblin with a fun name is way more interesting! An NPC should have something that helps make them stand out. Now, that could be their name, their appearance, their way of speaking or some other fun trait.

Maybe the noble that hires the party regularly always wears a beautiful purple pendant and speaks with a faint stutter. It makes that NPC feel more real and also stand out against the background of the rest of the fantasy world. I also find it helps to have NPCs with names that start with different letters or sounds... something I neglected in my current campaign with Faylie and Raeleigh (recurring NPCs) regularly get mixed up because their names are too similar. Whoops!

3. Opinions on the players' characters

NPCs should not be impartial or indifferent to the characters interacting with the game. Whether they're good or bad, the characters have made an impression. In ttrpg, the characters impact the world and that includes the NPCs so have them react to what's happened, what the characters have done. If you've never had a group of NPCs form a fan club for the players then I suggest going that route because that creates a whole lot of fun for everyone involved!

Honestly, I could write about NPCs for a ton of posts but I'm going to keep it to a minimum for the start of all this. Stay tuned through the rest of the month for more ttrpg tips!