Most NPC advice out there focuses on

voice, personality, and quirks. But

after many years of playing this game, I

realized that this is actually backwards

and leads to NPCs everyone forgets and

to games that all feel the same. So

today, I'm going to fix this by giving

you a five steps method to create

amazing NPCs. And to make it easier to

remember, I will use it on a very basic

character and transform it into one

worthy of your table. But just before we

dive into this method, I just need to

clarify. What do I mean when I say we

build NPCs backwards? Well, I think

instinctively we start on the outside.

We all have lists of names and a few

default voices, sometimes a short

backstory. And because our players love

to surprise us, we use them, put them in

front of the players and hope it does

the trick. And sure, sometimes it does

and it's all you need. But most of the

time, three sessions later, players

can't really remember their name. And my

take is that it's not because you suck

as a DM, but because you built it in the

wrong direction. I think we're so scared

of hurting player agency that a lot of

us default to superficial NPCs to avoid

railroading, even when building the more

important ones. And when we don't, we

tend to treat NPCs like we're writing a

character in a novel. And that's a

problem because those need to be

interesting in themselves. But an NPC at

the DND table doesn't. They need to do

something to your players. This is very

different and it's what separates a

character and a force which creates

pressure which then leads to memorable

moments at the table. Okay, so let's

build this NPC. It will make it really

easy to understand. Let's start with the

basic version and fix everything that's

wrong with it as we go. I'm going to

call him Mever. I think Mever is a

middle-aged human man. He's a little

chubby and he is a merchant. He sells

cloth and has been in town for about 6

weeks right now. Now, he's pretty much a

prop with a job, a name, and let's be

honest, absolutely no reason whatsoever

for everyone to remember him. But that's

going to change very soon. So, the first

thing our NPC is missing is a want. He

has a job, but this is a game, so we

need a want to put the NPC in motion. If

we just give the NPC a job, it will only

react when the players show up. But a

want means the NPC will have a reason to

do stuff, which will make it feel very

different. An NPC without a want doesn't

really feel wrong or unbelievable, but

just kind of empty, which makes them

easy to forget. Right now, Maver has a

job. We said he sells cloth. Uh, but if

we stop there, even if we decide to make

him a quest giver, here's what's going

to happen. The players will walk into

his shop, buy a blanket or something,

and he will tell them that there has

been bandit activity on the road, which

is bad for business, and ask them to

handle it for some gold. The players

will go kill the bandits, level up, and

get paid. And then they will never think

about him again. Mever will have played

his part, and there will be nothing left

to think about. So, let's give him a

want and see what happens. I think Mever

wants to recover a journal. His younger

brother was a novice in the clergy of

the world's god of light, and he wrote

down everything he saw in the monastery.

Unfortunately, the brother died, and the

journal disappeared. and Mever has been

looking for 2 years and chose to settle

in this specific town because he thinks

it might get him closer to the journal.

Now the NPC feels completely different.

The dude is still a merchant. He looks

the same and everything, but now every

conversation can have this subtle

undertone and the same bandit quest can

become a lot deeper. Maybe he thinks the

bandits could know something, have the

journal. We have room to grow. By the

way, if you've ever struggled with NPCs

before and find this video helpful,

please hit the like button with your

most powerful ability to help it reach

more people and create better games for

everyone. But a want is not enough. A

lot of DM stop there, and it's a shame

because if you're not careful, a want

quickly starts to feel a bit like a

shopping list. It tells you what someone

is doing, but the why is often still a

bit fragile. If we want the want to

trigger some kind of story, we need more

emotional weight. If the want is a bit

too clean or logical, the players will

just solve that and move on, which is

not great story material. But if we

stack a wound on the want, it becomes

much harder to solve the NPC because the

want stops being just about the thing

they're chasing and it starts to be

about trying to prove something or

become someone. And this opens up a lot

of role-play opportunities which will

make it easy for players to feel that

depth. The wound acts as some kind of

texture generator. So, how does it work

with Mever? So far, he just wanted the

journal because it belonged to his

brother, which yeah, of course. But if

we stop there, players will find the

journal, give it to him, get the gold,

and that's it. Again, he'll be forgotten

soon. So, let's get him his very own

wound. I think Mever was on the road

with the journal when Bandits attacked

and he got scared and fled, leaving

everything behind. His brother was

already dead, so it's not like he

sacrificed him or anything, but their

journal was the one thing he had left

and he didn't try to fight for it. I

like this as it would. It's a mix of

shame and regret. And it changes the

want quite a lot. Now he's not just

trying to get some journal back, but

trying to forget that coward version of

himself. and players can't solve him

anymore because giving him the journal

doesn't really close the wound. Our

little NPC needs to see himself act and

in the end the journal is just a symbol

he's decided would prove his capable.

It's quite irrational and therefore

human and more interesting to play out

on the table. But there is one very

important thing you need to know about

wounds which will have an impact on how

you use them. They don't have to be

visible. Players might never take the

conversation in a direction that would

make them learn that Maverick ran, but

you as the DM know. And that will color

how you respond to the player's actions.

Say the players do decide to help out.

Maybe he'll be a little too grateful and

still feel odd because deep down he

knows he needs the help because he

failed. This is how you know that your

wound is a premium wound. All right, so

this is cool. But if we want this NPC to

truly be one of those players talk about

for years, we're still missing

something. I think the best NPCs are

never fully legible. What do I mean?

Well, I think there is always something

that doesn't 100% add up. And of course,

I say this and you immediately think,

"Oh, yeah, of course, a secret." And

yeah, kind of. The problem with most

secrets is they tend to be a little

passive, like a dark past, for example.

It's hard to make it have an impact on

the game. But I think that active lies

make NPCs kind of feel like puzzles and

that's way more interesting to play. I

think your NPCs need to have something

they're currently doing to protect what

they want. It's all about it having an

impact on their behavior. And this

matters a lot because if you give them

something like this, you don't have to

lure dump it on your players and they

can actually see the secret in action

before getting to the bottom of it. that

will trigger some actions on their part

and therefore make the NPC feel way more

memorable. And so far, the way we set up

our example NPC does not really allow us

to do this. He has the want and the

wound, but they're kind of separate from

his merchant identity, which will make

it hard to observe. So, let's give him a

cover. I think the way we do it is we

tie those together like this. His trade

is completely real and he sells the best

blankets in the region. But he has

recently changed his suppliers just to

justify setting up shop in this specific

town because he knows the bandits are

closed and have the journal. And now you

can have the players hearing rumors from

those suppliers at the tavern saying

that they don't actually understand why

they ditched their previous ones which

were better or guards saying they

couldn't refuse him entry but found it

odd that they'd come here because he

came from a wealthier region. It makes

coming up with a hook much easier and

gives more texture to the NPC. We're

looking good so far, but we still have

two more layers to go through before

we're done with Maver. And just before

we see what we're still missing, I just

wanted to let you know that if you find

this stuff useful, but don't know where

to start, I actually made something that

might interest you. It's called the

living town. It's a collection of 15

interconnected NPCs with wands, secrets,

and store hooks baked in that you can

just drag and drop into your campaign.

They give you a great starting point and

will make your next session even better.

So, just check out the link in the

description. All right, so we have the

core of our NPC, but when the players

aren't there, what is he doing? I feel

like most of the time NPCs just

basically stop existing when the

characters aren't interacting with them.

And that's really not like how people

work in real life. And of course, NPCs

aren't really people, but this

contributes to this we don't care

feeling we've been trying to solve

throughout this video. I think NPCs,

just like real people, should always be

in the middle of something. You need

movement to avoid your game feeling like

a film set. So, the way you fix this is

you have your NPCs already doing

something when they encounter the

characters. They could be talking to

someone, organizing things, writing

something. There's a million ways to do

it. But this has a massive impact

because now when the players walk in,

they don't feel like they're just

starting a quest, but discovering an

area of the world that already had its

own independent life. So, if we go back

to our NPC right now, there are things

under the hood, but they're just sitting

there waiting to be discovered. So,

let's give him a bit of momentum. What

if about 2 weeks ago, Maverick paid

someone to try and locate the bandit

camp where he suspects the journal might

be, and he hasn't heard from the guy

since? Is he dead? Maybe. Or maybe he

found the journal, realized what he had,

and is currently wondering if he should

take it to the clergy to maybe get an

even bigger reward. And this is making

me never nervous. So now when the

players walk into the shop, they find

him pacing like a maniac, maybe talking

to himself, slightly agitated, and he

stops immediately when he sees them. And

what I really like about this is it

didn't just make the character more

interesting, but it also helped build

the world. Now we have another NPC, the

informant, and he could turn out to be

100 different things. This force idea we

mentioned at the start is really

starting to take shape, but something is

still missing. How do we make sure that

we're not just building a beautiful

railroad? Because when you keep adding

layers to NPCs, they become more

defined, which means you risk more to

either see the players do something you

never planned and become frustrated, or

to force them down a specific path,

which will be frustrating for them. The

way you avoid this and keep everyone at

the table happy is you let the players

build an ignition point. What is that?

Well, let's go back to that aggressively

pacing moment. When the players enter

the shop and see the NPC just furiously

walking by himself, they can react in

different ways. Maybe they will become

suspicious or have compassion or find

him funny. Your job is to pay close

attention to their reactions in this

moment and to make it shape where the

story goes from there. For example, say

the players find the pacing quite

intense considering the shop is empty

and their brain goes to this looks like

scheming. And now the way they talk to

the NPC is a bit aggressive. Well, he

can give them a few clues, lead to the

quest, but decide that actually Meford

wants the journal to have some kind of

insurance against the clergy and

blackmailed them. If the players see a

lost man trying to put on a brave face

when they enter and act accordingly, you

can decide that Mever is being taken

advantage of by the informant who wants

to betray him and that the informant is

going to become some kind of lower level

villain. The point is the reaction of

the players is insight into where the

table is at right now. And it gives you

ammunition to then take the story in a

direction that will feel fun for them

and for you. Because even though you did

plan a few things ahead, you get to

modify them on the fly and be surprised

by the collaborative aspect of it all.

So, are we good then? Well, let's go

back to the beginning. Our NPC is still

a slightly awkward middle-aged human man

who sells blankets and whatnot. So, the

shape is still the same, but what's

underneath is a lot deeper. He wants

something that's costly. He's running

from something he can't outrun. He has

an active secret. He's in motion. And we

have several doors opened. So, we know

that no matter what the players do,

we'll be able to tell a cool story with

them. And just like that, we went from

boring NPC nobody will ever remember to

force, which will generate story and

make the world feel alive. Am I saying

you absolutely need all five layers for

every single NPC ever? Of course not.

You can definitely pick a few of these

elements depending on the type of NPC,

it's role in the story, etc. Maybe you

start with just a name cuz your players

did something you didn't plan. A cool

moment happens as a result and before

your next session, you decide to use

these steps to give it more depth and

make them have a role in the story. You

can definitely do that. The result will

feel even more organic and memorable.

What matters is the direction. You start

with a wants and build from there. But

now that we know how to make amazing

NPCs, we have a problem. Because even if

your NPC has a want, how do we make sure

the world around them works as well as

they do? I believe the easiest way to

make sure it is the case is to build the

world and that you should 100% make your

own to become a better DM. So, click on

this video next to find out how.