Episode 2: A World Full of Willies
"They don't even need to be humanoids. You can have your shopkeeper be a glob of some sort of green goop." -Dev
"They don't even need to be humanoids. You can have your shopkeeper be a glob of some sort of green goop."
-Endeavorance
Having NPCs in your world is pretty unavoidable. And, in most cases, you'll need to have a lot of them.
Luckily, we're here to help. In this episode of the Atlas Loom, Dev and Diana walk you through how to flesh out powerfully memorable NPCs that make the world feel real. And, on the flip side, how to convincingly make up some random dude on the spot and make it seem like you had them perfectly prepared the whole time.
Which we've all had to do way more times than we'd like.
Topics covered in this Willy-filled installment
- Breaking down famous NPCs and discovering what makes them memorable.
- Creating nonhuman NPCs.
- Writing NPCs with a twist.
- Encountering NPCs at different levels of power.
- NPC goals and motivations.
- Using clocks to create dynamic NPC lives.
- What bare-minimum things should you have to build (or improvise) an NPC?
- Fleshing out a diverse array of personalities.
- Knowing when to make an NPC an expected archetype.
- Making the party want to connect with your NPC - or not.
- Working with players to establish their known NPCs and backstory relationships.
- Fruit snack sponsorship plea.
- How to handle NPCs that are dead and gone, but that have lasting impacts.
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Authors
Diana
