How To Maximise Your NPCs as a Game Master

you arrive at the village you you want to talk to everyone in the village you you want a description of all 194 residents what type of clothes is the merchant wearing what's the color of his tabard what what do you mean what kind of plate mail it's plate mail it looks like plate mail it's plate mail i mean stop asking me all these kinds of questions how do you cope with all this requested info and at the same time make your game better this is how hello my name is guy and in today's episode of how to be a great gm we're talking about a technique that i've been using for about two days and 18 years we're talking about using images in your game but first this awesome video is brought to you by by my blood i break thy seal serve me endless dice serve me this is a new kickstarter and i have to say these dice are absolutely different they're so so different now there's a link down below in the description of the video uh for you to go and find this but i would suggest you stay until the end of the video and watch the clip that they provided on these i don't think i've ever seen a better promo clip for dice anyway that's at the end of the show so um endless dice we'll talk more about that at the end anyway npcs are the lifeblood of most adventures and i know that when i run a game without npcs i kind of feel like i'm missing an arm or a leg i i feel like i'm missing something and yet npcs can also be really difficult to manage and to handle if you want to know how to create npc dialogue on the fly there's a link down below because that's one of the most requested videos but today we're talking about using visual support to help you as the gm create as enjoyable experience for your players as possible there are many sources for us to turn to in this digital age so feel free to use whatever you normally use whatever is your go to when it comes to finding pictures of potential npcs bearing in mind copyright if you are going to be broadcasting your game that's a different story so i am using the beta version of a new piece of software that i have spoken about for quite a while now on this channel i'm talking about portrait workshop it is still in beta uh and it has been in beta for about a week now at the time of the recording of this video anyway and what i like about it is that i can tap and i get a few options and instantly it generates a thousand portraits that's it that i can use as i so choose or you know i can choose i can anyway this video is not about portrait workshop i'll be unpacking that software in more detail later on in the month so you have your image library wherever it comes from what do you do with it you've got cool characters and and you know cool artwork but but that's only the first step we need to look at this the function of the npc what kind of description we're going to give with that image and the goal of the npc so let's get cracking the function of the npc is critical and i have a method of dividing npcs into two groups fodder npcs and plotter npcs fodder npcs simply exist to give the pc some basic information a barman who says go left at the end of the road and then you'll find a princess that's a fodder in pc but plotter npcs are there to give guidance or mentorship or support or long-term aid whether they're there to answer just a basic question or to drive the adventure is entirely up to you and it might change that it's quite dynamic but if they're there just for basic stuff don't spend time finding a portrait for them i mean you're wasting your time just use a few simple descriptions which we'll talk about later on in the video and boom done if they're going to be there for longer if they are plotter npcs then find a portrait then that makes absolute sense now again this is a function of portrait workshop is that you you have so many to choose from it's really really really easy to then go well look here's a plotter or here's a fodder npc and whether they use it or don't use it you haven't spent any time looking for portraits that's what i really kind of like it's all about time saving right because we spent a lot of time doing all this kind of stuff anyway so how did this how how much description do we then give well if we don't have any visual material then i would always suggest you get engage at least three senses they look old and slow and you can hear they're ragged breathing even from here as you approach the smell of old baking soda seems to cling about their ancient frame i have no idea what baking soda smells like but it's kind of the smell that i associate with old with old people that all or like camphor whatever i mean you can describe their speech patterns and so on if you're using a visual aid of some kind so a portrait for example then there are different things that you should be saying there's no point in saying oh look here is a picture of a man and a green jacket his hair is black why are you describing the picture you don't need you you picked you need to enhance the picture a picture gives us all the info visual information that we need we don't need anything more than so don't describe visuals describe the sounds the smells the mannerisms the quirks give the players additional information not the same information you're not a parrot you're a gm now we also need to give those npcs a goal and hopefully whatever supporting material that you come up with that you find will actually give some kind of indicator of that so a blacksmith with a hammer or a forge a guard with a spear or those kinds of things i mean the goal of the npc is seldom to do anything then get out of the work that they're doing to finish the work that they're doing or just to go and have fun somewhere so your picture should reinforce that okay so then we turn to the next challenge that you face when presenting an image rather than just giving a description it is the image versus your description do not present an image and say oh okay so um this is what the npc looks like except says cloak is red he doesn't have the axes and there isn't a red eyed wolf around his heels and it's actually a woman you might have found the right mood or tone of the character in an image but not the right character in which case say this this portrait which isn't of the woman standing before you by the way but it is in the same style and mood of the character dark and brooding and hunter-like why use the image then if you're not going to use the right one an image creates a very powerful cue for us as a species as humans it really really gives us information it really enhances your game so that's why i would do it now we also have to keep in mind how we're going to display images now my good friend brother basically he was notorious for trying to show images that he had sourced from the net and he would print them out but he never had them organized it was like playing an online game back in the 90s we'd walk into the bar and suddenly the whole scene would stop as he was frantically searching for the picture of the barman the buffering was strong with him if you've got a display screen setup that's awesome if you've got images on your phone that's awesome if you printed them out that's awesome but make sure that you are displaying only the image that is relevant to what you were talking about now if you display more or if the pcs get to see the players get to see more it can derail your game and it sort of breaks immersion as they get curious about what they see another way of doing it a very good friend of mine had a monitor set up just next to the gaming table and a powerpoint looping on that with it had portraits it had images it had notes that the pcs had encountered in previous sessions after each session he would then load up that particular sessions images into the powerpoint and add that to the loop it was mesmerizing it was so good at causing us to remember oh that remember that now that brings me to record keeping generating an npc on the fly is easy if you watch my other videos but keeping track of which image sits with which npc can be tricky if you print them out well just write on the back of the portrait write the information down if it's digital then save them and log them on something like world anvil or whatever you're going to be using make a log but do not make the mistake of showing a portrait to your group this week and then changing it the following week because you found a better one or you don't remember what last week's one was creates confusion there is also a real challenge in terms of tmi too much information don't introduce the npc with an image a six page history and a rundown of what they did for the past week oh i ate this and then that an image a few key notes on the npc speech mannerisms how they move what they what they doing that's more than enough the portrait does 80 of the work presenting your images must be slick and smooth if it takes longer to show the npc than it does to describe the npc you failed you really have it's got to be quick it's got to be it's got to be it's got to be slick otherwise you're buffering right finally if you need to set up five screens a hyper fast optical data network and voice integration and activation you've gone too far it's gonna be amazing but that's too far using images in your game is really great so long as it's seamless and integrates into your existing game and doesn't take you huge amounts of time to set up now if you don't normally show images why start now well as a gm i like to experiment with and when new software pops up like portrait workshop i go well can that make my game better yes or no prepping images is great but it's also nearly impossible you never know who the pcs are going to talk to so whatever system you find whatever your source is it has to be quick it has to be responsive it has to work for you not the other way around so what are your sources for portraits that are quick and easy to use that's the important thing now if you are interested in portrait workshop as i said i'll be doing a video at the end of the month uh on them but there is also a link down below born in the heart of darkness they searched for light rose from the watery abyss summoned by the golden hand i have never come across such a law filled dice kickstarter before now they they sent me the two sets the silver shiny set and then the from avenus born darkness set and i mean the numbers are crisp even though they're quite intricately designed they're sharp they're clear i mean they're a little bit bigger than normal dice by the way they are a little bit bigger than normal dice now there is also some cool early bird stuff too to watch out for um so jumping on this kickstarter it starts with this video so now the price set it's also fantastic if you're looking for christmas ideas this is i think this is the one to get this year anyway thank you to watching until the very end and until next week i wish you and yours the very happiest of gaming

Channel: How to be a Great GM

Views: 21,656

Keywords: how to be a great game master, how to gm, great gm, campaign creation, dnd campaign, dnd campaign design, dnd campaign ideas, rpg campaign design, rpg campaign ideas, rpg campaign, role playing campaign, campaign design, fantasy campaign, game master guide, dungeon master guide, epic guide to creating campaigns, npc tips, how to create a npc, what are npcs, npc guide, npc dialogue, npc, npc man, npcs in dnd, d&d npc, npc descriptions, npc names, running the game

Id: -96AINPbeT8

Length: 12min 3sec (723 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020