How do you write up your NPCs?
What kinds of notes do you take on them?
>>46428259
Usually just appearance, personality, and notes on the interactions the PCs have had with them
>>46428281
This. You want just enough information about them so they feel complete without making anything feel scripted or boxing yourself in.
>>46428259
Give each NPC atleast two personality traits, no matter how small a character he/she/it/C̹̪͎̯̘̬̫͠t̠͉̕h͖̜̙ųl̫̟̙̫͕̺̗ṷ̮͙̜ is.
If they're an Elf, don't just make their personality arrogantor cock-craving; Maybe make them overly-secretly curious about Human culture or orderly.
If they a Tiefling, Drow, or other Special Snowflake race, don't just make them brooding about how "everyone is racist against them"; make them hunger for the secrets of good Hobbit cooking or surprisingly fatherly.
If they're a Cleric, don't just make them religious and religion-abiding; make him greedy or paranoid about displeasing their deity.
No character should be completely one-dimensonal.
>>46428259
It depends of the NPC.
I like having small flashcards that state their name, stats, skills and simple description or title. Kinda like the scenes in Borderlands where they pause time and put the persons name and title.
>>46428259
>Name
>Looks
>Current Job
>Current Relationships
>Goal
Three details.
>>46428259
Depends on how important they are.
If they're a character I suspect the PCs will interact with regularly, I'll write up a short bio, make notes for myself about things like their family, profession, history, etc...
If they're a character they'll only see once or twice? I'll jot down a couple things and mostly just wing it and write down anything I establish in-game.
Of course, that's subject to change - sometimes players get attached to those one-off characters.
I learned a pretty good tip for general notes on npcs, the bare essentials
Race
Class
What they want
What they fear
its worked well for quick reference and i just improv most of the rest unless theyre a major npc
>>46428259
I just throw shit together, i don't make any real details about them unless they last more than a session.
>>46428259
Personality -
Occupation -
Visual -
Secret -
I do this for every major character, putting one or two sentences at most beside this. Any other details I need I'll either have in my head or improv. Idea from phd20.
>>46433588
>>46428646
Interesting organization, making note of these
Looks.
Personality.
Motivations (chaging according to how the campaign progresses).
Anal circumference.
>>46428523
While DMing, a friend of mine made an elf NPC named Alphonse who was a clumsy, awkward, bookish librarian. We all loved him.
>>46428646
Mostly this, and I give them scores for brawn, brains and social out of ten so I have a framework for their responses.
If them become recurring characters with important skills or talents, then I make a character sheet for them.
>>46428281
This, but I will often draw up a very small amount of backstory, so that I'm aware of where they're coming from so that they make sense in the setting.
Minor NPCs like shopkeeps get to be improvised.
>>46428259
Like this:
>His/her name is X
>S/he is/acts like Y
>S/he will do Z
>S/he has Ä with them
>His/her role is Ö
>Players interact with him/her when Å happens
>>46435049
And as for how they look i just have a basic concept in mind, raid google images and choose the most fitting.
Base them on popular characters from fiction.
If you want to keep getting away with it, give them an unusual voice to throw the players off. e.g. Han Solo with an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice.
>>46428259
I use blank cards. On one side, I write stats I rolled up in advance. When I need an NPC, I pull a card out of the deck, decide on name/class/etc, write all those on the other side of the card, along with 2-3 general traits of the NPC and their goals/desires/alignment. I have 1 deck with just stats that I can pull from when i need and NPC, and another with already prepared characters I can use if I need one.
If an NPC expands and becomes a more important character I stick it to my NPC GM notebook with a piece of duct tape (so i can flip it if I need to) and dedicate a page or two to the new information I need about it.
