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Post by ericfromnj on Dec 28, 2016 20:13:21 GMT -8
I would be interested in seeing what other people do to make their NPCs "pop" so to speak.
I try to give them motivations and certain goals but I am curious how other people go about it especially how Stu designed NPCs for L5R
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
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Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Post by sbloyd on Dec 28, 2016 21:11:51 GMT -8
I think a big part of it was that they didn't go "inactive" when the camera wasn't pointed at them.
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Post by lowkeyoh on Dec 28, 2016 22:06:56 GMT -8
stork 's suggestion long ago of animal forms really helps and is fantastic. Paired with archetypal worldviews of class in DND, clan in L5R, job in shadowrun can create enough instant personality that gives depth to the acting. Mouse paladin blacksmith is very different than lion paladin blacksmith is very different than lion ranger blacksmith. That's all blacksmiths but their ideals and mannerisms are all slightly different. The step beyond that, for me, is continuity. This is a person that exists in the world, what was yesterday like for them? Gary the shop keep that scored a huge government contract can be super dismissive of the needs of the party. Gary shop keep that hasn't had a sale in a few days is very different. Gary the shop keep that just got broken up with, burgled, is hung over, or just got back from a nice vacation are all different starting points. Quick personality, quick outlook, quick continuity + name is my go to for improv npcs. Have a table or just make arbitrary decisions. The continuity part is really what drives connection with recurring characters.
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Post by uncommonman on Dec 28, 2016 22:53:19 GMT -8
I think that most flat characters only have one set of characteristics.
The L5R boss (the name escapes me) had multiple things going for him, he was gay/romanticly involved and had a leadership role.
If you give the NPC one base motivation and one side motivation you have a more realistic person.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2016 1:00:08 GMT -8
The important factor for making characters three dimensional is time. Only so many notes can be hit in a single scene. Only so much can be revealed. Thus what you need is more interactions with an npc whereupon you can discover their depth. This is a major problem for games were travel is constant. Thus the games with the best NPC's tend to be ones with defined settings. In Dresden we look at the Denizens of Chicago. In L5R it might be the people of a single court or land.
Everyone should have their own goals, problems (otherwise their goals would be accomplished already, wouldn't they be?), and motivations. By having these listed out by character (NPC or otherwise), you can see who is in competition with each other, etc. Another great thing to consider is what resources each person has at hand. Dresden Accelerated has a great section on faction building that goes over this type of stuff that I highly reccomend.
When it comes to NPC, I like to have a record of them. I use Roll20 and thus have them filed on there, but screen hangers would also be great. The reason why? Half is for me, half is for the players. I have a picture, name, and what information the players know about them available to them with any stuff they don't know or secrets hidden from them (players get the outside of the hanger while I have the inside). Thus I have all my notes on how to play the NPC and I don't need to constantly be reminding people of names or affiliations.
Always remember that any character can become reoccurring. Perhaps they survive a fight or just have a particularly good interaction. Note down the important stuff about them so you can add onto it and build that depth.
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Post by Yeoman Colubris on Jan 16, 2017 3:02:43 GMT -8
The step beyond that, for me, is continuity. This is a person that exists in the world, what was yesterday like for them? Gary the shop keep that scored a huge government contract can be super dismissive of the needs of the party. Gary shop keep that hasn't had a sale in a few days is very different. Gary the shop keep that just got broken up with, burgled, is hung over, or just got back from a nice vacation are all different starting points. Quick personality, quick outlook, quick continuity + name is my go to for improv npcs. Have a table or just make arbitrary decisions. The continuity part is really what drives connection with recurring characters. One simple thing to add to this great recommendation is "what is the character doing now." Nobody is standing around waiting for the party. They're going about their day. Working on their own problems, going for their own goals. You can find a lot of advice about making NPCs. Most of it amounts to (1) GM notes about how to get into character mentally (E.g. motive, personality, incentive, objections) (2) Memorable description so the players can keep one NPC straight from another (physical description, acting mannerisms, speech patterns, quirks) (3) A hook/Plot point/Quest opportunity. Why do the PCs care about this person? In my experience, the important thing is to pick different specifics for each NPC so the players don't spot a pattern and to get into the NPC's head as much as possible so you're actually portraying a different person each time. I like one and two word vivid descriptions because they're easy to conceptualize and portray similarly over and over again.
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Clayman
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Post by Clayman on Jan 24, 2017 8:31:24 GMT -8
A thing I try to keep in mind, especially with "important" NPCs who are in the middle of the plot, is that players tend to remember characters the most in two situations: their introduction and the last time they interacted. This isn't always the case, but unless the NPC has done something particularly memorable or remarkable these two tend to stick around. As such, I try to make the NPC introduction interesting, especially so when the characters are building up to meet them. I like to flesh out details such as how organized their stuff is or how calm they are in the situation. If you're feeling like a hippy you could ask a player "What does your character notice about them?" and let the player inform you. I feel like unless this is executed with modicum of care, the players tend to pigeonhole important or interesting NPCs into archetypes/stereotypes.
With that informing me, to build interesting NPCs I like to use the 1D expanding system, or whatever they call it, that you see a lot in Futurama or Community: select the role you want the character to fill (hero) and make a 1-dimensional character (Fry) with one primary characteristic or archetype (stupidity). Then you add a second, tempered, characteristic (romantic) and maybe sprinkle in a few extra characteristics (courageous/caring) here and there to keep the character relatively fresh as s/he's fleshed out. As the character is developed, the interplay between competing characteristics tends to make for a compelling experience. I've found that this system is helpful in making sure the players want to interact with the character. This works for villains just as well: power hungry ruthless maniac with a good sense of humor that sometimes causes problems, and neutral NPCs: arcane fletcher who's desperately angry with the world but quietly tries to atone with past wrong doings. and so on and so forth. From there I make their introduction almost exclusively about their primary characteristic, subtly or otherwise: dimwits are doing stupid things, the ambitious are conspiring, the kind are helping someone, etc. etc. Then I try to flesh out secondary characteristics later on, in other meetings if possible.
Well this is the system I've used the most with p.good success. I actually didn't really like Stork's idea about animals and whatnot for campaigns, because I've met very few people in my life who I would say have the characteristics of one animal or another, and I feel like that might make the game less immersive/believable. But I suppose it's useful when you need to flesh out an NPC on the fly when you're working outside of your prep. Or if you're in a setting where that's totally kosher.
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Post by ayslyn on Jan 24, 2017 9:49:21 GMT -8
From Sol Stein's Ten Commandments for Writers
He also mentioned to never strive to make your characters realistic. Real is boring. Real people don't make for interesting characters. Make them mild characitures. Take the important bits and dial them up a notch or two (no need to go to eleven in this case).
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