What ACTUALLY Makes Complex and Interesting NPCs?

[@josefstein9062]

I feel like Brennan Lee Mulligan is so perfect at this. He draws his party and audience in with absolutely ridiculous and hilarious characters, but also solidifies their personalities with actual goals and traits. In his worldbuilding, he takes everything to its logical conclusion!! Brennan is such a philosopher and I love him for it

[@coreyjameswood]

I gotta say this is quite eye opening even if it seems like most DMs would look at this and say "Yeah obviously!" Having that ability to give a PC the chance to look within themselves and see where they may need to change themselves in order to truly be who they need to/were meant to be is brilliant and honestly something I hadn't really considered before (of course I don't DM much either, but this is great food-for-thought as a player too.) This could really help players that want to roleplay their backstories and even more so their personalities, and could even attract those that may have never really given the roleplay aspect of D&D a second thought. Fantastic video as always!

[@tstymctst]

And then sometimes the DM creates an NPC who's only supposed to introduce a plot hook and die, but they accidentally become emotionally complex through a couple of throwaway remarks, and one of the PCs refuses to let go of them, so three years later he's a DMPC getting married to the PC... (It's me, I'm the player. My friend who runs that campaign should have known better than to give me a sad, sweaty elf who had *definitely* slept with my tiefling before. What was I supposed to do, *not* keep him??)

[@emilymares9623]

I always try to make at least one NPC that is a foil to each of my party members through out my campaign.

[@hanava4065]

What is a foil of a character?

[@yooooo8600]

@@hanava4065 A character whose purpose is to kinda show off another character’s personality and beliefs. This is often done through contrast and opposites. For example, in a game I’m playing in, me and another player accidentally created foils for each others characters. My PC is driven by a need for revenge, to a point of near self destruction, due to a loved one being murdered in his past, while the other player’s PC also had a loved one get murdered in his backstory, but he specifically does not want to seek vengeance on the killer because he doesn’t think the loved one would’ve wanted that.

[@C._Bradford]

@@hanava4065 I've got a wild magic sorcerer in one of my games who's village periodically churns out sorcerers who gradually go insane and are thus exiled. He's trying to find a way to break the curse and save his mind, but I have a recurring villain from his village who embraced the madness to explosive effects. That's a foil.

[@manticorephoenix]

Having a rival gives someone some goal to strive towards, either overcoming, or understanding

[@chasenovak122]

Been loving all the Brennan appreciation I’ve been seeing since EXU Calamity. It’s so awesome to see someone I genuinely admire finally receive the recognition he deserves!

[@wanderingshade8383]

I love to make all of my npcs emotionally complex. While I'm capable of fun voices, I find that I have difficulty sticking with them for long periods of time, so I avoid giving important npcs particular mannerisms and voices, instead focusing on their three-dimensional personality. My npcs are how my players come to understand the world they're in, so while not every single one needs to be complex, recurring ones do.

[@kelpiekit4002]

I think it's good to have a few NPCs you care about as a DM. Just so long as you remember their audience for them is yourself, not the group. Just 2 or 3 figures that you build a bit of head cannon about what they are doing while the players are not near them. Not to share with the players. Just to mentally enjoy your group's world. If your players run into them again they may get glimpses of life beyond their heroic journey, but nothing they are involved with. And if an NPC you care about dies due to players you're allowed to be sad about it, just like a player losing a character. Even if it's a villain. You can't make every NPC deep and complex. It's too much to expect players to digest and doesn't give you as DM enough focus to enjoy them yourself. But personally I feel DnD is played both externally and internally and so having a few NPCs you play internally gives the world life and depth and, most importantly, makes you care about the world your players are affecting.

[@catherineelmore2004]

When I saw where you were going and Brennan in the thumb nail, I had some guesses for NPCs who might show up- and I was so, so glad to see the Jawbone and Adaine talk about her anxiety disorder. I cried with Siobhan watching that. The “not a character flaw” speech and seeing Siobhan’s reaction was such a great catharsis for everything her character had gone through all season- and seeing it happen in part because of a character who just as easily could have been a one off caricature or even an antagonist had the scene at the Black Pit, some roles and some choices gone differently was *so good*!

[@zendikarisparkmage2938]

This is good advice for players who want to roleplay. My players mostly want to roll their dice, slay some monsters, complete the quests, and EAT YOUR BEANS.

[@MisterDiceGuy]

As a DM I feel like the best sessions that draw in players hit on Accomplishment, Excitement, Determination, and Reflection. Accomplishment: May not even be their own, might be the BBEG, but showing the effect of following through shows there is something capable of attaining. Excitement: Might be just raw excitement for the journey ahead or it could be peril and danger. Determination: Motivating factors such as loss, revenge, success, greed, etc. Reflection: Giving people something to think about, mourn, examine, analyze.

[@celebkiriedhel]

I have an opposite type of problem, in that all the npc's even the throwaway ones have a story. e.g. a child npc that was created on the spot to provide directions, lives with a strict farmer father but dreams of eating chocolate which is a rich person's food. Now the party will probably never encounter that npc again. But in my head I've got story for the next 5 years, so the consequences of that interaction will impact the starting village. I think having a familiar location that is in a state of flux can also be a great impetus for storytelling. And having npc's that live lives separate from the players is one way to do that.

[@olahmundo]

I remember once while I was DMing where my player did a warlock. Long story short, he is an orphan, and he made a pact without knowing the details. The patron was banished in another dimension, and wanted the warlock to become stronger to take his body. The patron temporarily took his body once and killed an inquisitor who tried to get rid of them. However, there was an elder woman, a cleric, nearby. She understood the situation, and instead of being aggressive with the party, I approached the warlock and started to act like his mother. It was a very dramatic scene, one I wasn't even planning, just because a random NPC got worried and the PC never really had this sort of interaction before. She also gave the party advice on keeping the patron at bay and where they could get further help. Every time I make an NPC I try to elaborate (or improvise) a personality, back story and goals, because at the end of the day, they have to act like people. They may not be important plot wise, but they have their own shit going on and that is relevant to them

[@p2jnyoom]

Am running a game, and honestly? Very helpful. The major DMPC is the mentor, but they’re largely unable to assist because, well, they are a veteran of the career they and the players have. They have more important business to attend to, with potentially dire consequences if not handled well. The task they'll say they have is that they research biomes and alert guilds if there's abnormalities that threaten people. Which is a very spun truth, something their job will allow. His actual job, the thing his job won't allow, is that he's essentially building a village of others that the ruling people want dead, and is seeking out these dispossessed people before they die to the wilds or others who reach them first. The minor DMPCs, or the friendly group of people who also share the career, meanwhile, are of those dispossessed peoples. Because of the major DMPC, they can do their work, both by having gotten a place to call home, but because Major is allowed to function as a sort of extension of the higher-ups; they don't have to deal with anyone else, who very well might want to kill them, if they deal with Major. But, all things considered, I was lacking ideas on how to flesh the Minor DMPCs out, and this video has sparked a few ideas.

[@EilonwyG]

I don't think I've done this. If I did, it was accidental. It sounds like fun. Although usually the emotional drama comes from within the party and between party members, but I can definitely see a case for the catalist for change to come from an NPC as well. Definitely good stuff to think about. It's some next level DMing, lol.

[@kmungal]

my favorite NPC i ever came across was Malo, it agreed to everything and only ever said the word "yup"; Malo was the bravest being ever and totally kicked ass. it won hearts by just surviving the impossible.

[@Mary_Studios]

I will say you don't have to make all of your npc's supper complex to make them feel emotional and real. I had an enemey that the party was fighting who managed to deal with and they found a peice of paper from an npc that they hate (I think it has something to do with the fact that I had her make them all go unconssious and steal their blood to make clones to use as an army for her master) telling her that her brother had died and had tears on it. One of the players told me that made them feel real and not insane or just some enemy to fight.

[@levenloos6861]

Love your vids! Keep it Up, you are one of my inspirations for DMing and you got me into DMing

[@fishlobs]

thanks for this vid i will endeavour to think about this in the game i just started.

[@Rob_Boss99]

Honestly, these are just good tips for writing in general. Solid videos man. Keep it up 👍

[@JustASleepyFox]

i really love the song toward the end of the video! does anyone know what it is?

[@herman1francis]

I know that if I presented our rogue with an even edgier version of herself she would try to outedge the edgy npc

[@moki4895]

Heck yeah 👹👹

[@jeremiahpratt2492]

Why does every npc gotta be an educated adventurer? Where's the npc's that have their own problems to worry about, and aren't constantly hurdling around the npc's. The npc's should be a theatre performance for your world and it's hard ship. They should be rude and timid among outsiders, conniving and feuding amongst themselves, and they shouldn't tell the party their whole backstory the first time they meet. There should be some mystery to npc's, like there is to strangers in real life. And they should definitely blur the line between good and evil.

[@Delmworks]

So what I’m getting 4 minutes in is that NPCs should be foils to the character…alright, that’s great advice. Thanks for providing advice about the role playing side by the way-I got a good handle on everything else in the hobby but this has been a struggle

[@wbbartlett]

Unfortunately, many DMs and players equate 'emotionally complex' with 'having a stupid and annoying voice/accent' as the included clip perfectly demonstrates.

[@PlayYourRole]

...the included clip was representing an NPC who is not complex, my friend.

[@wbbartlett]

@@PlayYourRole Lol, that'll teach to me to pay more attention in future. Stupid NPC voices is a particular (welsh accented) bugbear of mine.