NPCs

Nonplayer characters – whether
played by the GM or the Adversary –
are vital to an adventure. The GM can
even plan an entire adventure around
a few interesting NPCs and what hap-
pens when the PCs become involved
with them!
Design the most important NPCs
before you work out the encounters
and other details of the adventure.
Their abilities, personalities, motiva-
tions, and backgrounds set the tone
for the whole adventure, and give you
ideas for encounters and lesser NPCs.
Build important NPCs just like PCs,
complete with full-scale character
sheets and brief character stories, so
you can roleplay them well.
Create less-important NPCs –
spear-carriers, cannon fodder, shop-
keepers, and the like – after you plan
the first encounters. You do not need
complete character sheets for these
characters; all you need are notes on
their important statistics. Some trivial
characters require no planning at all!
If you suddenly need to know (for
instance) a skill for one of them, just
roll 3d and use the result.
Finally, work out a few “generic”
NPCs to use, as needed, in improvised
or random encounters. For instance,
in an adventure set in a fantasy city,
you could prepare a few city guards, a
couple of storekeepers, a couple of
thieves, and maybe a strolling min-
strel or wandering drunk. If you need
them, you have them . . . and if you
don’t need them now, you’ll have them
for next time. Guards, like taverns, can
be recycled over and over again!