NPCs and Campaigns

A summary of various stuff I do with NPCs and links to longer works.

As always I stress that this is how I do things and what I’ve found work over 49+ years of playing and a 46+ year old AD&D game. People differ. Systems differ. And so forth.

But a very common set of questions I get concern NPCs and how I create, manage, and utilize them. This is going to be a summary of stuff (with links to the originals) from my blog found here. I do hope you’ll look around there.

Side note: I do lament the loss of G+. When I was first writing these articles they prompted a lot of excellent discussion on G+ that is now lost to time.

How many NPCs of various levels do you have?

I tend to limit the number and level of NPCs based on population for “non-placed” (meaning ‘I made them’) NPCs in the campaign. Its really hard to create every NPC everywhere so the guideline is:

1-Use the guidelines for percentage of the population that might be henchmen from the DMG to get 1st level guys, and
2-3-Every level higher is half the size, rounded down, then
Split up by classes from the henchman section.

From this article I wrote in 2014.

I also created NPC only classes to make standing armies, etc. make more sense in my campaign, but that a different post!

How do you make PCs care about the NPCs?

There are a few ways. One is to make sure that the NPCs have their own motivations, actions, and such that continue when the PCs aren’t there. That means NPCs interact with the PCs on their own, independent, motivations, not just as responses to the PC’s actions.

Article from 2015.

Make sure that NPC adversaries aren’t just attacking directly. have them be as indirect and wily as any PC and every NPC reaction is more engaging.

Article from 2014.

Create the power structures for you campaign, or at least have a vague idea, even if the answer is “none”.

Article from 2014.

Make sure that NPCs aren’t either chumps nor unbeatable, even if they are allies.

Article from 2014.

Do not overuse the ‘the seemingly good NPC was actually evil all along!’ trope often at all.

Article from 2013.

And make sure you enforce travel times, encumbrance, light usage, and so on, including buying from NPCs and the entire campaign will benefit, especially the interactions with NPCs/

Article from 2020.

What does your NPC population look like?

I make sure that armies and military forces are of ‘logical’ size.

Article from 2014.

I make villages and towns look “realistic” in age distribution and such.

Article from 2016.

And I use in-game demographics to model how large populations change, especially from war.

Article from 2013.

How do you manage NPCs?

I already mentioned that NPCs are independent and act on their own, not just reacting to PCs, what they are doing is going to happen even if the PCs don’t notice. I do this by routinely revisiting all the major (and many minor) NPCs to see what they are doing, how they are doing it, etc. with the players typically unaware of the majority of it.

Example in an article (one of a long series about that Orcish action!) from 2018.

And I manage NPCs mainly by using 3x5 cards and file boxes. I update actions on these and make sure to go through the boxes every 2-3 months minimum to make sure I am not missing anything and to update everything.

Article from 2013.

Since I wrote that last one about 13 years ago I now also use digital files for major NPCs, but the 3x5’s remain.

What tools do oyu use to make, manage, and run NPCs?