Inspiration for NPC's

[Saganen Hellheart]

Hey there fellow GM's and players

I'm making a homebrewed campaign. And therefore looking for inspiration for NPC's. I would like them to be realistic. I think many encounters and npc's are either evil or good.... simply because that's how they are born.

I seek npc's with more realistic traits, containing both good n' evil and lawfull n' chaotic traits.

If any of you know about an archive, generator or book with it. I would be very very happy.

-
Hellheart

[Byrdology]

My favorite is a rogue/magus/ duelist elf named Iyrick Qualorn. A former adventurer turned curioso dealer. A gambler, a scoundrel, and a competent swordsman who loves only the finest of things and is a true friend to those who earn his trust. He was orphaned young and raised by human priests of the luck maiden. He has a twin brother who was raised by Zhent (forgotten Realms) agents to be an inquisitor of Cyric, and a nephew by his brother, a tiefling ranger (pirate) who has befriended his uncle although they are not aware of their connection to each other.

[Coarthios]

Are you asking for NPC's, a place to look at NPC's or "inspiration" for NPC's?

If you want NPC's, you should clarify what kind of NPC's. I like to build mine around the player characters and then fold them into elements of the campaign setting.

If you're looking for an NPC generator, I'm sure there are some out there.

If you're looking for "inspiration" sources, literature, movies and comic books are a good place to start.

[Saganen Hellheart]

Nice one Byrdology :)

Coarthios... I ask for all of it :)
As much as possible.. What NPC's have been great succes in your games?

[_Cobalt_]

A guildmaster who is all prim and proper. Until the after-expedition party. He's Monk (Drunken Master) for a reason. It also helps those barroom brawls when he can knock his assailants out in 3 rounds if he wants to.

[Coarthios]

Saganen Hellheart wrote:

Nice one Byrdology :)

Coarthios... I ask for all of it :)
As much as possible.. What NPC's have been great succes in your games?

Well what's the world you're operating your campaign in? Who are your PC's? I would start with those two elements and try and build interesting, likable characters. I give them power over different aspects of the PC's world so they have to interact with and form opinions about them.

My Villains are not unlike what you suggest. They are often doing what they think is "right" even by their twisted world view. And I try to make them likable or have a quality that is admirable in spite of their "evil" ways.

Generally speaking, if your characters aren't interesting, no one will care. Really, I would need to know what world you're using, what kind of players they have and what flavor of campaign you're going for.

Unless you're looking for generic NPC's like the blacksmith and the Innkeeper...

[ParagonDireRaccoon]

There are a few free pdf downloads with npcs on paizo.com. I usually model important/recurring npcs on characters I've played, or characters I've seen friends play (that the group would not be familiar with). Npcs don't all have to be completely fleshed out to have personality. Once I had the group hired by a high-ranking wizard in the local wizards' guild. The wizard arrived with streaks of color in his hair and on his robes, from an alchemical experiment that exploded. He briefed them, and then said he had to get back to get some work done before the guildmaster returned. I knew some of the players would relate to getting work done without the hindrance of a newly promoted team lead, so that got a few chuckles and made the npc relatable.

I try to include a limited number of npcs based on well-known sources. One or two major recurring npcs based on characters from Star Wars, A Song of Ice and Fire, or Lord of the Rings often goes over well. But more than two characters from sources that well known might make it look like the GM is not putting a lot of effort into npcs.

Making a list of recurring npcs you'd like to have could be a good place to start. You could have an inn where the party hangs out between adventures, and have several npcs for the inn. The innkeeper, a few regulars and townspeople, and one or two contacts might all be found at the inn. There could be a few npcs who hire the party occasionally who hang out at the inn. Important shopkeepers probably have enough income to be regulars at the inn. There are probably clerics and wizards who the party will seek out, to buy healing and magic. There could be a fence who doubles as a contact to the rogues' guild. There might be neighborhood kids who play in the streets, and occasionally are hired to discreetly deliver a message to the players.

That covers most of the must-have npcs for a trip into town. You could have a farm further away from the city than most, the party could stop by to say hi and occasionally the family will info on strange creatures in the area. There could be a semi-retired ranger who lost a family heirloom while adventuring, and the party runs into him at unexpected times (this can be for comic effect or as deus ex machina, the ranger might turn the tide when a battle is going poorly).

While it's a good idea to limit the number of npcs who are recognizably based on characters from books or movies that the players will recognize as being obviously based on well-known characters, you can use any inspiration and modify it so it's not immediately recognizable. If you take all of the main characters from A Game of Thrones and add a vowel at the end of their names, the players will recognize it. But if you use Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory as an npc (or a character you like from any sitcom) and a few characters from movies (pick a few actors/actresses you like, then pick a role for each that is not the most obvious role they've played) that makes it easier to run an npc. If, after a few sessions, one of the players realizes the npc who hires the party is based on Leonardo DiCaprio's character from Inception the player might think it's cool. The benefit to this approach is when the players do something unexpected (like 'accidentally' spilling holy water on the npc to make sure he's not a demon or rakshasa) you can ask yourself "what would character x from movie y I'm basing the npc on do?"

I hope that's helpful.

[Calybos1]

I believe the GM Guide has a section on generating character traits and quirks for NPCs.

[LeoDelmondes]

There is a character i´ve been thinking to inspire a NPC for some time now. He is the Mister E, from the trenchcoat brigade, Vertigo, DC Comics. His is blind, but he can see in various different lines of the past and the future. This kind of makes him a little crazy, because he can see the possible evil ways a person can take, and the consequences if the person chooses this ways.

In the series "Books of Magic", he wants to kill the main character because if he chooses the wrong path, he may become a very powerful wizard and make another world war. I mean, Mister E is not necessarily evil, he is doing what he belives is the right thing to do. But he may kill an innocent fot that.

If you put this together with the sense of honor of a Paladin, you will have a righteous avenger with a distorted mind. I may use that someday.