"Just us?" Shireen asked, raising one eyebrow.
As the sorceress entered the throne room, her companions entered behind her. The hulking giantkin Forufti, whose life she had spared in the Sky's Teeth mountains after Sa'Thrirael had tricked him into trying to kill her. The zipping blur of Black Morgana, the pseudodragon she'd freed from a cage in the lair of the assassin lord known only as the Red Spider. The dark-skinned minstrel Ariadne Asher leaned against the doorway, idly strumming her lute, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she took in every detail of the scene to be re-told once the battle had finished. The courtyard rang with the chant of the Thousand Swords, a company of allies that had flocked to Shireen's banner with every victory she'd won on her journey to the Throne of the False God.
"No," Shireen said, lightning beginning to spark from her fingers. "You are alone, Sa'Thirael. I am not."
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| And you will see why that was a mistake on your part. |
The Friends You Make Along The Way
Every player has little tics, and one of mine is that I have a habit of stealing NPCs, and sucking them into my character's personal gravitational pull. Even in games where my character isn't a part of a larger organization, and hasn't taken the Leadership feat, I have this tendency to adopt NPCs who cross my path.
Because even if the NPCs aren't there to help the group mechanically (they're not fighting on the field, hauling our loot, or making us money), they still add to the story. Their interactions reveal things about the party's beliefs and histories, and they can add interesting support elements to the tale being told. And just because I'm the one who pulled the NPC in originally, that doesn't mean they're exclusively mine; they're a part of the story, and they may end up growing closer to someone else in the party over time, adding to their personal arc as things go forward.
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| All those little story points form a beautiful ring around the party after a while. |
Something else I've found, though, is that when you include these extra elements that are attached to your character, it makes your character feel more like a part of the setting. It turns them into an organic element of the world, and that in turn makes everything in the story just flow better.
Which is why I recommend everyone try to either grab onto a few NPCs you meet along the way, or just pre-package your own as part of your backstory if possible.
How Do You Get NPCs To Add To Your Story?
As with most things in storytelling, the simple answer is, "You just say they're present, and bam, there they are!" However, since RPGs are a collaborative game (and sometimes it helps to have some useful prompts) these are some of the most effective situations I've found for adding support NPCs to a game in a "legitimate" way.
- The "I Know A Guy" Method: I talked about this back in The "I Know A Guy" Strategy For Adding NPCs To Your Game, but the short version is that when your group needs assistance, information, etc., ask who in the group knows a guy. Does the watch detective with the extremely high Knowledge (Local) check have a regular informant? Does the fighter who used to be a local champion have a fan that might get the party invitations to the duke's party? Stuff like this is the easiest way to draw in NPCs spun from the ether. A good way to tie these NPCs in is to make them part of your Small Legend, too, so if you're not familiar with that idea click through to read up on it.
- Hiring NPCs: Whether you take on a hireling to help carry loot, or a driver to mind the wagon, this is one of the easiest methods in the game to expand your roster. Because even if the character's purpose is to be your party's coachman, or valet, they still add to your party and can make for a fun expanded cast.
- Recruiting Defeated NPC: This one isn't just for video games, but it does require you to have a DM that will run NPCs who surrender, and whom Diplomacy can work on. Still, if you're in that sort of situation then it can be a ball to negotiate terms with former "villains" to earn their loyalty. Whether it's the orc raiders who just needed supplies who now operate as the guard staff of your party's captured castle, or the cleric of a dark god who reformed and found a new faith in order to redeem their past misdeeds, this can be a great way to continue the story, and ask what happened after. It also gives players a good reason to take NPCs alive, for any DMs out there.
- Class Features: The most common method of adding NPCs to your game is to do it via class features and in-game abilities. While some deride it as just looking for cheese, it is arguably the best way for a player to exercise some control over the narrative, and to have some characters that are entirely theirs to control.
If you take the Leadership feat, for example, you gain a cohort and a bevy of followers that can give you (and by extension the party) a wide reputation and a lot of support in small ways when you need it. Animal companions, familiars (especially improved familiars), and eidolons can also inject a lot of personality into a game, and act as ways for you to spiral out your character's story. Even something as simple as summoning monsters via spells can be a good way of injecting a little glimpse into the character's relationship with the cosmos beyond. While animals may not offer much in the way of story, the reaction of celestial and infernal creatures to the one who summoned them can offer fun details. Especially if you make it clear that you're summoning the same creatures again and again, implying they respect you, they fear you, or you have some power over them that can compel them to aid in your endeavors.
These are just some of the more common methods that I've found work in my games, so I thought I would pass them on to all the other players out there. However, as with anything else that happens at the table, you need to make sure your group (your DM included) is willing to embrace this kind of strategy. If they are, it can lead to a lot of great stories. If not, though, then you're going to end up fighting to try to bring in supporting characters to your narrative, and that can often lead to far more stress than it's worth.
Some Inspiration For Your NPCs
Whether you're a DM who wants NPCs on-hand for your players to interact with, or you're a player looking for some characters to implant into your backstories, the following supplements by yours truly may be just what you need to start the wheels turning!
- 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern
- 100 Random Bandits To Meet
- 100 Merchants to Encounter
- 100 Nobles to Encounter
- 100 Pirates to Encounter
- 100 Prisoners For a Fantasy Jail
Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!
That's all for this week's Fluff post! If you've used this in your games, share a story down in the comments!
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I'm doing that as a DM right now. Treat the PCs as if they had Leadership if they're below four PCs. And just have people be a part of the "team".
ReplyDeleteIn Carrion Crown, Kendra isn't just a free house. She also worries about the PCs, fills in the blanks of some mysteries, and has made a few scrolls for the PCs unprompted.