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9 - Every NPC Everywhere All At Once
41 Plays1 month ago
James and Chuckie talk about one of the most underrated GM skills out there — making NPCs that your players actually give a damn about. Chuckie's got a gift for this stuff. The voices, the dialogue, running full conversations between characters — James has been wanting to pick his brain about it for a while, and this episode is the result.
✨Pro-Tips✨
- Props, even imaginary ones, are Chuckie's go-to trick for snapping into a character fast. Give your NPC a tie, a pair of glasses, a way they fidget — and suddenly you've got someone to play. He tells the story of Cockroach, from his Vampire: The Masquerade campaign. Sophisticated guy. Always adjusting the tie.
- You don't have to do the voices! Seriously. If you can't do accents, don't. Tell the table someone has a deep southern drawl and their brain fills it in for free. That's the Welcome to Night Vale trick — the audience's mind canon does the heavy lifting. The catchphrase is a prop too
- Trust yourself. Start with motivation and let the character build in real time. If you commit to it and you're having fun with it, your players are going to want to come back.
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Transcript
00:00:03
Speaker
Good. Good. So good. Good. So very good. Good.
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome
Introduction to Episode and Hosts
00:00:26
Speaker
to the Good GM's Podcast. I'm E.E. Morris, and today's episode is Every NPC Everywhere, All at Once.
00:00:37
Speaker
And now, here's Chuck and James.
00:00:42
Speaker
Hey everybody, how's it going? I'm James. I'm here with my buddy Chuck. Chuck E.T. How's everyone going? You're all good GMs and we're happy to be back here with you guys.
Tips for Creating Unique NPCs
00:00:52
Speaker
um So today is kind of a neat topic. It's one that I've been wanting to pick your brain about because one of my favorite things that you do, Chuck, is you have this amazing ability to come up with these NPCs.
00:01:02
Speaker
They have such unique voices. They have such unique perspectives and they're a lot of fun. Like when I played with you in the past, like you typically do, you typically do like an ETU or, you know, ah you know, ah we've done some, some, ah ah the, the call of Cthulhu game that we played where the guy that ran the sandwich shop and his wife were like yelling at us and stuff. Like you have this great way of coming up with great comedy characters and serious characters. don yeah You're good at the voices. You're good at the like dialogue. um You're, you're good at doing one thing that I can never do, which is having conversations between NPCs. But you know, that's another conversation for another day, whether or not that's, something that players enjoy but in reality you're really fantastic at this stuff it um so what i wanted to do today is his talk to you and come up with like ways that our good gms can learn how to be you know good npc makers how how do you make your npcs i know it's a big topic and one we actually didn't prepare for no no no we're good gms it's because it is because it's it's essential
00:02:00
Speaker
it It's so essential to it. and
Enhancing NPC Portrayal with Props and Traits
00:02:03
Speaker
like Even if you're doing a one-shot, even if you're doing a pre-made story, you get these little blurbs like, you know, Officer you know ah Fargood is an old man, like a middle-aged man, um you know, stickler for the rules, but they don't really give you, yeah like, you know, the voice right or the or the, like, you get you mild bits of motivation, right?
00:02:25
Speaker
Yeah. And one of the things that I know I heard quite some time ago was that, oh you know, ah and I think it was someone that was on stage actually was talking about how he was getting into character to the fastest way he'd get a character. He was like props.
00:02:45
Speaker
oo na And he was talking about, you know, if the guy has a tie, you know, he's, you know, he's, he's adjusting the tie. He's got glasses. He's, he's fiddling with the glasses. If he's got hair, you know, he's the, the, the macula hair is, he's always, you know, keeping the hair good and all this stuff. so So you're not saying have the props. You're saying, imagine the props, imagine the props, imagine the character. And that's what I did ah when I was running vampire. One of my favorite characters was Ravenose named cockroach.
00:03:15
Speaker
who and Right? Well, well know he was sophisticated. You know, you met him and it's like Mr. Little Roach to you. But it was a thing. He always had a tie. He was always adjusting the tie. You know, he'd get nervous and like he's adjusting the tie. So it helped me kind of stay in character for him. Yeah. Really fast. yeah um You know, voices, physical descriptions, those are all good. Those help, ah you know, and and when it comes to me having multiple NPCs talking to each other, um when we when we did Deadlands, lynched.
00:03:49
Speaker
yeah Yeah. We
Making Scenes Engaging and Memorable with NPCs
00:03:50
Speaker
started in Gomorrah and it was going from Gomorrah out to where wherever it was. Cause I'm a good GM. I remember these things. That was years ago, man. It was a couple days ago. But one of the things I remember is that um your character And another player for our lead. Austin James. Austin James, best gunslinger around. ah They were in the Red Hill Hotel and they had made friends with ah the owner and baron the barke yeah the barkeep. barkeep.
00:04:21
Speaker
And ah no, the ah the waitress, the waitress. Okay. Yeah. And so, and she was upset. And so talking to them and then it's it's the owner, you know, basically chastising her to get back to work. And so it was just a real quick go between those two, you know, just to kind of go because it entertains me. yeah you know it It entertains me and hopefully I can do it well enough that it's going to entertain other people.
00:04:46
Speaker
You know, it's it's funny you say that because I did. Actually, it's funny. I just I was listening to Skorkowski. I was watching him and he was talking about memorable NPCs. And actually, one of the things he said made me laugh because he's like, never have whole scenes where the NPCs are talking to other because that makes sense to me. He's the example of like the king and his brother, and you're all in the court, all the player characters they're watching and the king and his brother start having an argument and they talk about who should be in charge. And the one brother challenges the other brother to a duel. And then one of his characters, at one of his NPC characters that he you know plays is like, well, I'll i'll volunteer to be his champion. and And he's like, no, no, no, I've got this. And then we watch them play a battle. No, that had better be over with fast. Well, that's the thing. So, and I, and i agree with that, but I also like my problem is, So an example, your characters went to a bar to talk to four guys who were war veterans from the great war.
00:05:40
Speaker
And there was like this bar in Harlem and, you know, you, you know, two or three of you had gone together and I had four guys that all had information, but they all pretty much had the same information.
Describing NPCs Through Actions and Mannerisms
00:05:50
Speaker
So what I did in that case was just describe all of them and how their mannerisms were. And I pretty much only let one of them do the talking. Cause that's all I was able to do. Cause I can't, I have a hard time switching in my brain. yeah you know what? That's perfectly fine.
00:06:04
Speaker
Cause I tell her, I remember that scene and even, even, and I was sitting there going, but I could say things like when this was brought up, you looked over and the guy in the corner who wasn't making eye contact gets a little shifty. Cause something, something, the one guy said made that guy feel uncomfortable. So it was a cue maybe to, you could either talk to him or say like,
00:06:24
Speaker
tell me more about that without that character actually having to have a different voice. Exactly. um Yeah. and And if you can't do the voices, don't. Yeah. um Welcome to Night Vale.
00:06:35
Speaker
Welcome to Night Vale has an awesome thing that I never heard before. And it makes so much sense. The audience's mind. Canon will fill that in.
Players' Imagination in NPC Development
00:06:47
Speaker
Okay. and If you tell me that,
00:06:50
Speaker
the That the person I'm talking to, you give me his name, her name, whatever. ah You give me their name, their description, and then you tell me that they have a deep Southern accent.
00:07:03
Speaker
Right. And then I start to go into, well, over there, they're having issues and we don't know what's going on, but swear to you, somebody got lit on fire last night. In your head, you've just filled that in. Well, don't about you, but over there, there's a fire. You've already filled that in. You tell me they have a Brooklyn accent. Everyone, everyone in their head has what they think a Brooklyn accent sounds like. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, exactly. You can imagine those things. We've all lived in a world with American media everywhere and we get to know these things. One thing I like to do, though, is, again, I say I agree with you and that's fine. If you can't
Creating Distinctive NPCs with Mannerisms and Voices
00:07:43
Speaker
do voices, don't do voices. Even if you can't do voices, find a way to... Because really, what's the point of an NPC? If it's just, here's the information you need... never see you again is it like here's a character that may or may not become something that player characters have like grow to like and the best way to do that is come up with the different mannerisms so i i look at my characters when i'm thinking an npc i sort of imagine them in a movie and who would play them and kind of come up i don't necessarily have to do the voice but i sort of think of what's their what's their what is their accent but like what where is their voice in their body because you can have a character whose voice is way down here in the bottom of their chest You can have a character whose voice is like way up here in the nose, but I haven't changed anything other than where my voice is coming from in my body.
00:08:29
Speaker
Exactly. Another thing is, is maybe you've got a character who says, you know, old, old, old boy, or like, you know, you know, like, like, you know, my man or whatever, like throws, throws in a catchphrase. Yes. Like not just a catchphrase, but like, like, listen, my man, you know, or, or, you know, like let me tell you old boy, you know, like, or something that like like is, is something that they bring up. Like you said, with the tie. Yeah. To me, that's the equivalent to props. Very much. Very much. You know, different. Exactly. And when I'm doing the NPCs,
00:09:04
Speaker
for me, cause it's just easier. i don't try to fill in all those blanks. No. Like when you were talking to the, um, the waitress, I only had a couple of things. Like I knew, yo oh Oh, she's a little bit hysterical. Right. So you got your motivation.
00:09:25
Speaker
So I knew that she had that annoying, hysterical voice. that stare Were you doing a voice? i didn't. I hate you so much.
00:09:35
Speaker
But yeah, but but I agree with everything you said. Um, you know, the owner was, you know, fiddling with the glass, you know, just, but you need to get back to work. Cause I don't pay you to talk to the others. Just give him a drink or something, you know? And then that'll help me maintain that character a little bit.
00:09:56
Speaker
And then that also, if I have him talking to her, And then if a third person comes in, then it's a real quick, you know, okay, the like the sheriff comes in, he's got the badge. and So now the badge, now he's he's now he's upright and he's talking. Do you know what happened across the street?
00:10:16
Speaker
Oh, it was terrible. Hey, get back over there and get them drinks. Sheriff, I don't want you coming in here starting your problems. No, listen here. I need to know what's happening across the street.
00:10:28
Speaker
And so that it just helps
Collaborative NPC Creation with Players
00:10:30
Speaker
you real quick. The main thing to remember voices and characters. Yeah. Right. But the main thing to remember, because this is where I've screwed up a lot. What South Skokowski was talking about, you know, the mistake of doing the whole scene. Oh yeah.
00:10:43
Speaker
Oh yeah. I've gotten wrapped up into it. And then I've looked up, I saw everybody else like going, Oh, Okay. We're just watching, I guess. is It's very important to make sure you give them a few seconds, like bing, bing, bing, and then get a player character and get the other player character. as is there As a point to that, if you don't mind me coming in here, one of the things that I suggested to you is, yeah, have that exposition. Like you had, this is the the time the time you were that I'm thinking of in particular was as a cut scene before the story. And you're really good at that. You set the scene, you you imagine it like a movie and you can have a scene before the player characters are even involved. And what I had suggested to you, which is, I think is fair and something that, that other GMs might want to include is let's say you have a scene like that, where three mob guys are having a conversation, give those characters, maybe even pre-write it as a script and give them to the players. Let them be involved. If they're, if they're partaking in listening, why not let them partake in care and character creation?
00:11:39
Speaker
Like you do a really good thing with, with helping to make characters. Like we talked about, I think once where you say, give me a, give me a, give me a thing, give me a thing. And then you create your characters from that. Right. um So tell us a bit about that. Cause I love that one.
00:11:52
Speaker
ah i actually, I did that because I, I, I had a player. um I was, cause I like to run ah pre-written material. It's just easy for me. It's my script. Here it is. Everything I need right there. and Plus they're there and they're written for a reason. Play them.
00:12:09
Speaker
Um, so what, uh, I had, a I was running a story and a player had read the story. And so he knew as soon as I said a name, the player knew that that character was crucial to the story.
00:12:25
Speaker
And that player proceeded to try and kill that NPC right then, right there. Like, with with no probabilification, no nothing, because that player knew that that care that NPC was important.
00:12:39
Speaker
So, from that moment on, ah even if it was a named character in it, like, i would say, okay, hey we're in there, and here's the owner.
00:12:50
Speaker
Um... you know uh give me give me the name give me this give me that and yeah i had the then and plus again that gets the players involved it's a lot of fun too and it gives them gives them a chance to create those characters right like you'd say like give me give me an emotional like give me give me like a social aspect of this guy and you get guys like me that are like he changes accents every third word or something like Most of the time you're going to get guilty of that too. I really am. He's got a nervous sort of thing. He plays with his fingers a lot or something. And that gives you a character that takes a lot of the weight off you as the GM. Oh, yes. Come up with that. And it gives a lot of fun as ah as ah as a role player, as a GM to be able to do like improv. by But like, I need a i need a location. i need a, you know, it's the same kind of idea. yeah For ETU.
Creating Memorable NPCs with Catchphrases
00:13:37
Speaker
When we were running Sonny, the convenience store owner Oh, I loved him he was one of my favorites Oh, he's the best yeah He's absolutely the best And they had a great catchphrase It's it's all it's not all about the conversation It's all about the dialogue Come on over Sonny, Sonny enjoys having you in Come over you you you Have you gone over looked at the back corner?
00:13:58
Speaker
Look at what I look at. Look, now i he never, he's always third person. That's the other thing I try to maintain. Sunny, Sunny has something to just show you. Come over here and look at that. Sunny always has what you need. thats yeah Well, how much is it?
00:14:11
Speaker
It's all about the dialogue. You know, it's like, what does that even mean? It's a convenience store, man. What are talking about? What does that even mean? It's hilarious. So, oh yeah, he's the best. He's always the best. And that and that's the whole thing is like once the players are involved,
00:14:27
Speaker
and they help you and they make that character, they're going to love that character. They, they're going to want to see more of that character, yeah you know? So yeah, absolutely.
Player Involvement in NPC Creation
00:14:38
Speaker
You know, do that as, as for the opening scenes. Um,
00:14:44
Speaker
Oh, yeah, but you got to know your players. yeah You got to know your players. You got to, because if I, if I were to you don't always get that luxury, right? Like sometimes you're doing it at a local gaming store. Sometimes you're doing it as a con game. Sometimes it's just, yeah you know, but it again, at the end of the day, it throws them right off. Like, like, like they suddenly think, oh, this is who I'm playing. It's like, no, this is no, this, that was just an opening thing. um But again, with the cold opens, I have learned the hard way.
00:15:11
Speaker
to time myself, try to have it in a head, have bulletin points. I can ding, ding, ding. Here we go. well i wait line We can talk about those opening scenes. Cause I think they're great. And we can talk about that. I think that's another, another episode oh yeah absolutely before the game, get everybody into like the location that they're in and everybody does little different. so But in regards to NPCs, like we talked about Sunny being like a memorable NPC that the players wanted to come back to.
00:15:35
Speaker
um i'd I'd like to talk real quick to that to that topic, is thinking back to some of the NPCs that I've made and like and how I distinguish them and how I'm... like So one of the, one of the things we talked about earlier was like, you know, fidgeting or catchphrases or or things like that. Another one I found very useful and it was, and I'll get back to the story in a minute, but was pacing.
00:15:58
Speaker
Like if you have a character that's always like, okay, so I've got a lot of information and I want to give it to you and I want to help you out here because I'm an NPC and I need to be here for you. But if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to talk to me. And then you have the character who takes their time while they're talking. Oh yeah.
00:16:13
Speaker
oh yeah And those are things to distinguish them. But my favorite, my favorite, like I've had so many good NPCs and most of mine are coming up the top of my head. Like I'll come up with somebody and then realize like halfway through the scene, I'm like, I love this guy. I hope my players don't kill him today. And so one of my absolute favorite, I was playing ETU again, back to ETU. We're talking about ETU a lot on the show, but I was playing ETU and there's a character that runs the pawn shop, Pinebox Pawn.
00:16:36
Speaker
oh And I've never seen a lot of people use that character as much, but I had somehow made a character so memorable and a play so remarkable that almost every other session, the players, when when left with a decision about where to go, because I was running it very sandboxy the last time I ran it.
00:16:55
Speaker
was we should head over to Pine Box Pond and see what, you know you know, what's his name, Forrester harris Harris is up to, or see if we can find that piece of equipment that we need. there was And I always made sure that there was something there that caught the player's eyes, whether they could afford it or not. But the point was, whenever they were looking for something,
00:17:14
Speaker
they would find it. It might not be exactly what they were looking for. And I would give them magical artifacts that were cursed or whatever, just because it's in the shop. But the best part was I had imagined him. He was played by the guy that played, i think his name was Doc on season five of Buffy, a very slender character. very like almost a snake-like older man. I had envisioned him to be this skinny guy. And he, he worked at Pine Box Pond. My favorite thing was like, he was very calm and thoughtful in every word he said. So if you came in looking for something, he says, Hmm, I imagine that there's probably something like that over in the far corner. Right.
00:17:49
Speaker
If you'd like to go have a look over there, you might find what you're looking for. But
Using NPCs for Continuity and Familiarity
00:17:53
Speaker
my favorite thing about him was if they bought something from him, he'd pull this ledger out from under the desk and he'd, yeah thump it down on the table and you'd see him open it with such care and precision. Like each page was gilded and he'd find the last page with a, with a ribbon that was perfectly pressed and shiny and turn the page. And he would write something in a penmanship like, and I'd move my hand in such a way, excuse me, I don't mean to bump the microphone, but he I moved my hand in such it a way that was like, he was doing calligraphy yeah and he would say, great. Yeah.
00:18:25
Speaker
So that will be $7. seven dollars Thank you. Sign here. And then close the book and say, so we have an accord. Yeah. Yeah. I never used that. Like we have an accord in real life, but this character did. Yes, exactly. Cause the dialogue is important. And and it was no surprise that it was no surprise that, you know, he wasn't a good guy. oh yeah, absolutely. they still wanted to keep coming back to see what goodies he had for sale. Yes, exactly. And that's the other thing that makes NPCs that much more important is that, you know, for of the players who are also the audience,
00:19:04
Speaker
You know, they know, they know as the audience, you are watching a horror movie and they know that this guy is evil to his core. Probably some kind of devil or w wizard or something. Yes, absolutely. But characters know there's no such thing as devils or wizards. Exactly.
00:19:22
Speaker
no So that's perfect. so Spoilers. You want me to give you a spoiler? Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, okay. So I'm running ET right now, right? Oh, yeah. Going through all that stuff. All right. So the pawn shop owner.
00:19:33
Speaker
h What character do you think I what what What actor do you think I i modeled him after Oh I don't know i don't know man you're you're a funny dude You could go anywhere like it could be you know Danny DeVito Of course it is That's hilarious i was gonna It's funny you say that because I was like imagining for a second I'm like ah like Again i know't Are we talking Forrester Harris we talking like a different Pinebox pawn shop I think he was the former sheriff Okay. Yeah. Okay. Cause in my mind, in my mind, the guy that like Forrester Harris, the guy from that, like I had the the doors, like he had that place immaculately cleaned.
00:20:11
Speaker
The door had a bell that rang true. yes The name pine box pond. The door was like polished oak with the glass and the like gilded letters, pine box pond on the door. Like everything was perfect and immaculate when you walked in. Whereas there was another pawn shop that was like fork it up pawn or something.
00:20:27
Speaker
Like I think that was in the book. But yeah, i was thinking, well, what about like a Nicholas Cage? Like, like he's always, he's always on top, you know, like Nicholas Cage, um of Christopher Watkins is a classic. Those are great characters. But yeah, no. So yeah, da dant Danny DeVito. ah Have you ever read Stephen King's Desperation?
00:20:49
Speaker
Oh, I thought you were to Needful Things, but no, I haven't read either. No, no, no, no, no. Well, this is, this is, this is your homework. If you get an opportunity, even if, even if you just like, just Google it real quick. oh yeah Good thing I don't have any other homework. So yeah, just keep adding on to you. But yeah, if you get a chance, look at that. So there there's just spoilers. But yeah, that's important. and And also for me as the GM, that's what's helping me stay involved. too. yeah right know that that's That's how I get to play. Because you get to play. That's the point. Having these
NPCs Supporting the Narrative
00:21:23
Speaker
NPCs and like like like and you know from what I understand, like there's different ways to keep the NPCs involved. like You can't force them into the into the story, but knowing that they're there, it means the characters are willing to go back to them. Now, there are definitely times where you have an NPC, like ah a mentor or a like an assistant, like some yeah you're doing like a fantasy game. You might have a guy who comes and takes care of of your horses or a cook right or somebody who's part of the traveling party that isn't that you get to play, but it should never, ever take the spotlight away from the no the player characters. Each NPC has.
00:21:58
Speaker
a specific task. They have a specific reason why they are there. And some NPCs, not they're not all created equal. You know, it's just like how in movies and TV and all that, some NPCs are there all the time.
00:22:14
Speaker
And other NPCs are only there every once in a while because they're plot hooks. And it depends on it depends on your game too. Like like for Masked and I Lithotep, you guys are traveling around the world. yes Odds of you ever going back and talking to the Mordecai Lemming, who's like there oh this a professor, you know, he studied, he traveled the world, he knows all kinds of stuff. He has this singing drum from Africa, and but he doesn't really sing anything. It just, it goes, take me back to Africa. You know, it's it's like this character that, you know, was a lot of fun.
00:22:41
Speaker
but for one session and the characters, the players all seem to like him, but we'll, he's still going get his fruit basket. He's still, if you don't, you know, um but, but that's the kind of thing there's, and and you can't like, you can spend hours and hours and hours designing your NPCs and have them like show up for half a scene before one of the player characters is like, I think they're a bad guy and shooting them, you know, or something, whatever it is. I'm not talking about, I'm not talking about you entirely here, but I'm just saying like in general, right.
00:23:11
Speaker
didn' Let yourself be surprised by who you can play and let your players decide who's the ones that they want to come back. How many times have you prepped a scene or prepped something for a game and it completely fizzles? Oh, I know. And you we had a whole yeah had a whole topic about that, about prepping. It's the same. It's the same thing for npr NPCs. Yeah. You know, I heard another thing where some, oh my gosh,
00:23:39
Speaker
Oh, I cannot remember who said this. I'm a horrible person, but I've heard it a lot a lot from a lot of different and GMs is, uh, yeah, sometimes you got to kill your babies.
00:23:51
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I know it sounds terrible, but it's true. It's the same. Well, and and so, okay, let's, let's pick one, one last topic, I think before we call it a close. So, and then we'll, and then we'll do a recap and pick our best tips for, because I mean, we're just, we're kind of having a meandering conversation, which I like, yeah but let's talk about that. Talking about um yeah killing your babies. what would Sorry. my train of thought disappeared. um So let's talk about, um Like how um ah I lost it. I'm sorry. It'll come back. No, no. Kill your baby. So they have they have each NPC has a point.
00:24:25
Speaker
and Right. Right. And you can't you can't just hold on to them all the time. yeah And so it's, you know, they they can't, because like you said, they can never, they should never, ah you know, overshadow the players.
00:24:38
Speaker
Absolutely. They're there. if if If it's necessary for something bad to happen, don't be afraid just sacrifice that NPC. Yeah.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah. It's just, it is what it is. Okay. So, so, so I guess I don't remember where i was going, but another good topic for NPCs that I want to bring up is the idea that they are often there to give information.
Strategies for NPCs Sharing Information
00:25:00
Speaker
They are cool givers. They are, they're, they're story hook givers. yeah How,
00:25:05
Speaker
How do you decide how each individual NPC, because like, it's a boring game when you go to the tavern to get the information. You're like, hi do you know anything about the haunted house up up on the hill? I know everything about the haunted house up on the hill. First of all, the rumor is that it's haunted by a ghost who hates the color blue. He was once a a fisherman whose wife was was, you know, like, how do you decide how, like, you you don't, again, we'll talk about how to not hide your best clues behind a dice roll, because then you screw up a story that way. yeah But how do you decide how an NPC is going to react and how much information and how do they get that information? What are their motivations? Okay. um Like I said, I enjoy because I'm lazy. um i like I like pre-written materials.
00:25:50
Speaker
Um, because in the end I'm going to have to dissect it and make it my own anyway. course. Of course. Uh, so I get the help is that when they go, that scene where they go into the tavern to get the information about the the haunted house.
00:26:06
Speaker
Uh, if it's written well, then I already know that the bartender only knows Yeah. yeah The waitress only knows Yeah. That guy in the corner is shrouded in shadows and is smoking the pipe and has his hood put over his head. He only knows X. Right.
00:26:25
Speaker
You know, but then everybody in town knows X. Right. so And you're using X, but you're probably meaning A, B, C, D, and Yes. Information. Yes. So so then then let's go back to that because that's another topic we should hit on later is how to give clues in such a way. What if bartender knew ABCDE, waitress knew ABCD and E, the guy in the smoking corner knows ABCD and E and everybody in town so that if they don't talk to the guy in the corner, they're still able to get the information that they want. But but how they deliver is going to come from a different perspective. Right. The bartender. Yes.
00:26:59
Speaker
Is is is positive and he but he but he knows tourism is is good for the town so he he's quick to say oh there's no such thing as a haunted house on the hill why would you even say that it you know it was owned it was owned by an old fisherman whose wife died but but there's no ghosts involved in that right you know.
00:27:15
Speaker
Right. You know, like reading between the lines. if you're making the NPCs, like whole cloth, you know, it's like, you like, maybe it's like, oh, hey, talk if if all that's written is you go, if when the when the player characters go into town, they can learn these rumors. ABCDME. Yeah. Right. But it doesn't tell you who tells them that. Now you have to make it. So then, now, you're just banking on the players.
00:27:44
Speaker
If the players, if one player goes to the tavern, They get that little morsel. Yeah, you don't give all those the model of the information. Yeah, exactly. Now you just follow the players. Where are the players going? They're going to help you fill in all the stuff.
00:27:59
Speaker
And if there's not enough players for all the information, then they can run into somebody else. Or just just follow the players. And they'll organically learn what's going on.
00:28:12
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. So so that that's, that's how I usually try. Let's,
Best Tips for Memorable NPCs
00:28:17
Speaker
let's, let's draw to a close. Let's pick one best tip that you can give to be a good GM in regards to how to make and and utilize that maybe we haven't said, or just to reiterate one that we've already said to to make, to make good GMs. Good, good, or good, good. Yes. yeah i mean Props.
00:28:35
Speaker
Props. um yeah think think of the Think of the tie, the hair, the glasses, like said, the fidgeting. I'd even take that a step further. Some of my favorite GMs, JC from Wild Cards, she would have like wigs and hats and mustaches and stuff. Yes, uh, to, to, to, to distinguish, you know, her, her characters, her, her, her NPCs from, hey if you got it, if you got it, use it, baby. Right. Yes, absolutely. Yep. Um, and for me, I would say probably one of the biggest things is, is trust yourself when you, when you start, uh, let yourself create the characters as you go. If you have a rough idea in your head, like motivation is probably the biggest thing to dictate it. But if you look at the situation, you say, well, I know they're a professor, so they're probably well-educated, which means that they're going to speak with big words whenever possible.
00:29:24
Speaker
And they're probably like, they live alone and they're older, so maybe they're neurotic. So all of a sudden you create this, this like persona without even thinking about it. But once you lean into it, go with it because it's amazing how, how your character that you create If you trust it and you believe in it and you find it fun to play, the NPCs, the player characters rather, are going to adhere to that as well. and they're going to say, yeah, that guy that that guy that you had that that that that said, called me old boy all the time and would cough.
00:29:53
Speaker
you know yeah He was fun to play with. you know So I'm going to go back to him when I need you know this or that. Because they're going to want to. Yeah, absolutely. Because you enjoyed it and therefore they're going to enjoy it. Yeah, so yeah.
00:30:04
Speaker
absolutely awesome so thank you for joining us today on good gms yeah and uh don't forget to join our patreon good gms uh like so patreon.com forward slash good gms podcast um you know you can sign up for free just go create an account for yourself if you're not already a patreon member and then sign up for ours and then you get a lot of cool bonus exclusives and if you're a paid member you get some cool silly games that we've been playing lately too so yes Thank you so much.
00:30:30
Speaker
Go out there, have fun, be good. Yes, be good-er. Be good-er. Stop being just good. You can be good-er. Good-er. Have fun. Bye.
00:30:44
Speaker
Thank you for watching. If you like or dislike what you heard, let us know. If you want to suggest an idea for an episode, ask the host a question, or just tell Chuck and James what you really think of them, join our communities at patreon.com forward slash good GM's podcast, or find us on the usual social media platforms.
00:31:12
Speaker
For now, I'm E.E. Morris, and you're all good GMs.
00:31:30
Speaker
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00:31:46
Speaker
And me. Yes, E.E. Morris. I put my own money to back our projects because we're all good GMs.