How to Get Players to Like an NPC

[@GrimBrotherIV]

Love the art attribution. I’m sure that’s a huge pain in the butt to do but mad respect for you going to the extra mile.

[@moogamooga2100]

Amen to that!

[@euansmith3699]

GM, "This NPC is a Dwarf" Player, "I like him already!"

[@NineInchFailz]

Dwarves are so lovable regardless of their traits lol

[@TheConnorRoberson]

I like introducing NPCs far earlier than they'll be relevant - so level 5 players are already meeting the cast of level 15 allies they'll work with in the endgame. That way, they have a history of trust and cooperation before they ever see each other as equals.

[@ZipperonDisney]

That's something I like too. Even just a rumor or hearing the name can do the trick

[@simonbanzhaf2352]

By the time the level 5 players hit level 15, won't those level 15 allies be in epic level gameplay?

[@michaelwolf8690]

Players like characters that are useful, but they love a character who wants to be useful. NPCs that are willing to do the grunt work for the players, chase down leads, watch the enemy hideout, just someone who's a good hunter who's happy to share some boar. One of my player's favorite NPC's was just a guy who invited them to share his campfire and offered them some food, they were so enamored by someone in the world that was just a good person that they latched on to him. Players like NPCs who save the kitten, but they also like the NPC that's the kitten. Doing what's right and putting themselves at risk to save someone's life makes players invested in them. This is magnified if your Kitten is grateful and ends up constantly looking for ways to help the Players. One of the NPCs that got picked up by the players was an alcoholic priest who had lost his faith, his ability to talk their way out of often authoritarian encounters with the church made him useful but helping him find redemption became something my players invested themselves in. Players like NPCS that have views that align with their own, but more-so when their views are a little more tame or a little more extreme, because it gives them a chance to contrast their character and still have the game world reflect their character point-of-view, or even sometimes a chance for their character to shift their perspective towards the NPC's. One of my favorite NPCS to throw at a party with a soldier in it is a soldier who used to fight for the enemy because the soldier player will always take an instant dislike to the enemy soldier NPC, but it doesn't last long when the enemy soldier NPC shows they're cut from the same cloth and always seem to back up the player with the soldier character because of their shared experience and mindset. Some players like NPCs that save them, almost all players love NPCS that need saving. Not NPCs that constnatly get into trouble and need rescuing but NPCs that are a little foolish or untrusting or naive that need someone to show them a better way. This creates some great RP in the game and for the players that take the bait it gives them a nice sense of accomplishment to teach someone a better way. This is the ultimate appeal of putting a child NPC into the party, they're impulsive, or short-sighted. Once they pull the child out of the clutches of they can dump them in the arms of distant relatives or an orphanage, until the child NPC demonstrates that they're just going to get into trouble again, then the player investment sinks it's claws in until the players can teach the Child NPC how not to end up in a ork's cage again.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Wow! Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought! Off your first point, that shepherd I mentioned later on gave the players one of his last three sheep to feast on. They LOVED him, and spent a great deal of effort to give him even more sheep.

[@TableTopFanatic]

My advice for NPCs is base the transactions and how they play out with an NPC off of real world examples. For example if the PCs are interacting with a clerk in a shop maybe that clerk is uninterested in their job and provides the PCs with short answers to questions at which point the PCs may get frustrated and ask to speak to the manager which you can then introduce as a boisterous shop owner that scalds the clerk and is over joyed at helping the players. This example can be seen in the real world on countless occasions and as such its more believable. Another example is the healer who when first met by the party is exhausted and sleeping at their place of employment. Upon awaking they begin to diagnose any issues with the party but they constantly go off on tangents or begin to laugh at seemingly idiot statements. This is due to their endless hours of work and being so exhausted. I find that basing NPCs off of real life analogues not only makes them more believable but also takes a lot of the guess work off the shoulders of the DM.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

I had an NPC that was a gentleman thief archetype with a folk hero reputation. He got on the party's good side by having his allies break them out of the jail they were wrongfully imprisoned in, and gave them their starting quest that leveled them up considerably. But he stayed on their good side by living up to the gentleman half of his archetype, agreeing to provide manpower for a PC's backstory quest, and revealed to the PCs that he grew up on the streets as an orphan. It also helps that, after his modest living expenses, this thief sends most of the money he would make to orphanages that could really use it. Honestly, I was aiming for the bare minimum of like, and was not prepared for the level of joy and excitement my players would display whenever my gentleman thief showed up. Still, the response made me very happy and, since the campaign I originally used him in fizzled out due to some players moving, I'm using him again for my solo campaign with one of the other players. Said player lives with me, so we've been doing this solo campaign in the same setting so that we can get our DnD fix even during the pandemic. The thief is more of a legendary figure in this one, with a popular book series that gets rebooted every 50 years. Except the truth is his namesake is a Dread Pirate Roberts situation, where every generation a new one gets trained up by the current one, and the "reboots" are more or less semi fictional accounts of their exploits. My player's character is a fan of the books, and I've been enjoying coming up with titles, characters, and scenes from this fictional book series. Honestly, whatever will get my player and I through this pandemic 😂

[@TheArcturusProject]

Just wanted to give a big f yes to you for listing each artist and time stamping! Wow!

[@mathmusicandlooks]

Quick shoutout to the voices tactic. I recently had a lvl 3 party barely survive an encounter with a couple vampire spawn in a crypt. They went on to discover a secret passageway that led to a Master Vampire. One of the PCs immediately ran away from the crypt for help. (Didn’t get very far, he had just regained consciousness.) The rest of the party was sweating bullets. The vampire came and faced them, and then greeted them and welcomed them in with a thick Irish accent. Almost instantly, everybody decided he was their new best friend. I initially planned for the vampire to betray them later on, but they built such a rapport with him that he’s not going to do anything to betray their trust either now. (They have no idea what an incredible service they’ve done for that town they were in…)

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks for sharing and for the thoughtful comment!

[@TigerKirby215]

This is a great guide for writers as well. I love D&D and want to learn how to DM because I love storytelling and want to tell stories that even I don't know the end of. I treat D&D a lot like a group storytelling effort, where everyone works together to make an amazing tale that they all love.

[@ZipperonDisney]

I think my biggest shift in DMing over the years has been shifting my focus from making my table less like replicate a video game and more like writing a screenplay

[@BeyondTheScreenRPG]

A great video for an important subject, you've certainly inspired some thought! I feel like the best way to make an NPC important to the group is to tie it to someone's backstory, but that won't always make them likable. To that end, the best results will probably come from using tips like yours and reading the room. My personal favorite is a generalization of "saving the kitten" - plan the meeting scene with first impression in mind. To make one NPC likeable I often use other NPCs (whom I can predict and control) to show the qualities I want them to notice. I've found that my players tend to like characters that feel human. These characters show bad qualities, but still have good qualities that makes them "redeemable" and realistic.

[@JordanNiks]

Sup Zipperon! I was watching your vids when you had like 400 subs and a few hundred views on your top videos!!! It's amazing how far you've come by just being you and providing perspective and sharing your expertise and experiences... This video is another awesome one and It's so cool to get here "late and see you have 5k views on day 2!!! Keep up the awesome work, I'm so stoked that you have already caught on in this niche - Keep after it man, Love the vids!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks so much for sticking with the channel! I've really enjoyed watching the growth too!

[@commonweakness9060]

another great video. been really digging your channel. keep up the good work. when i look over the npc's my players like i find that most of them fall into some type of stereotype. that is they are easy to understand and don't surprise the players too much. when they do surprise them it is rarely something that is out of character. example...i have a Tabaxi rogue name Gato Le Mew who has many cat like traits, but he is not always the most stealthy rogue. he has a little problem keeping his tail under control. this leads to him being seen and the party having to deal with the consequences. i think if he was a human rogue that was not very stealthy they would have already killed him. but since he is a big cat with a french accent that loves cheesy crackers, they keep him around.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Le Mew 😂😂

[@45jayster]

I love that you assume my characters actually like to play D&D and definitely aren't locked in my basement to be brought out once a week

[@ZipperonDisney]

😜

[@lmtgaming8325]

my party found a jailed npc last session, he was very exhausted and damaged. They could have easily killed him if they wanted, (they were worried for vampires to be in the area) but they didnt kill him, the cleric rather healed him and gave him some strength, now i didnt really have him "award" them with anything other than some information they were looking for. is there a way i can have the npc award them that might work?

[@ZipperonDisney]

Maybe the NPC can talk up the party's good deed so that the next time they go to town they are treated like celebrities. Give them soft perks, praise, low DCs on social checks, favors from the villagers etc

[@lmtgaming8325]

@@ZipperonDisney thats a good idea! Thanks!😁

[@ostermillerjeffrey316]

Fantastic video! I just discovered you today and have already watched about 6 videos. I can't believe that there isn't more hype for this channel. Even better than Running the Game and that is high praise. Keep up the good work. Thank you!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks so much for saying so! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel :)

[@denniscastello504]

Another great video! I was struggling with this very topic not long ago. I had an NPC that I really wanted the players to like, partly because she had important information for them, but mainly because I knew she was going to betray them at some point and I really wanted that betrayal to sting. I was having trouble coming up with a way that would make her likable without making it too obvious I was trying to make her likable which would be telegraphing my moves and giving the game away. Then I hit on the perfect solution: I choose a picture of a girl with freckles. The players instantly trusted her. I don't know why people (or maybe it's just a guy thing) think "freckles = harmless" but it worked like a charm. When she finally betrayed them, ran off with the loot in the getaway car and left them to face the cops on their own, the players didn't understand what had happened. They made excuses for her, they held off blaming her until they "got the full story." They didn't want to believe that she had betrayed them. All because her picture had freckles. I still can't believe how well it worked. Anyway, thanks for the great video -- I look forward to your next one.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Ha! That's great!! Thanks for sharing and I'm reallt pleased you found this useful. Have you ever read Save the Cat?

[@denniscastello504]

@@ZipperonDisney I read many screenwriting books when I was in film school but not that one. Seems I'm going to have to remedy that.

[@ZipperonDisney]

@@denniscastello504 thought you might have - had to ask 😁

[@Pistonrager]

Oddly, my group REALLY liked my evil wizard NPC. He was the high mage at a wizard college. Think they latched onto him because he was the first NPC in the theif town that didn't try to take advantage of them. Strangely, the next module I'm the series had his wizards doing something so he hired the adventures to help. In the module the wizards are supposed to die horribly and be a mystery element to the plot. Somehow they got ALL the lowbie Wizards through the module. Major RP bonuses!

[@ZipperonDisney]

They fell for the baddie!? 😂😂😂

[@Pistonrager]

@@ZipperonDisney not romantically or anything, but a decent level wizard patron is always nice. They didn't even notice when he took control of their bar/casino!

[@michellebrowne9100]

My husband really struggles with creating characters, so maybe this will help him!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Cool! Let me know how it works out :)

[@foxunix101]

What then Conan at the end!!!!! Got me all goosebumpy haha

[@SonOfSofaman]

Great content as always. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with the rest of us!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Glad you liked it!

[@ngkay6993]

I'm very interested in watching one of your sessions, you have a lot of original ideas that I would love to see in action :)

[@ZipperonDisney]

I've done a few live streams you can check out! Nothing fancy, just my webcam pointing at the table, but it's enough to get an idea!

[@allisonniesen3230]

I have a player that is my best friend, but the bane of my existence as a GM. She mistrusts basically every NPC I put in the game.... whether they are meant to be friendly, against them, or neutral. Except some of the most random NPCs I put, usually making up on the spot, that I have no intention of being re-occuring.... she LOVES those. I have yet to crack the code on what makes her like them, unless it has something to do with how much booze they can give her. When I ask her out of game what makes her like or dislike a particular NPC, she doesn't have a real answer for me. I'd dismiss it, but she is VERY vocal on her thoughts and effects how the other players think too. Any advice on this?

[@ZipperonDisney]

Hmmm...I think you watched most of it! 😎 Maybe you can give her a nudge, and pointedly bring up the likable things the NPC has done?

[@TheArcturusProject]

Perhaps she’s feeding off of your emotions. What I mean is, perhaps she detects that an Npc was just made up on the spot by how you role play them or describe meeting them. Maybe she subconsciously knows this is just a rando and isn’t relevant to the plot and she likes the idea of befriending a nobody and making them into a somebody. Kind of a rags to riches, zero to hero story. Or perhaps she feels that she can trust random npcs that you make up on the fly because you haven’t put thought into how they will manipulate and betray the party. Solution could be to act more casual with npcs you want her to like, and Maybe even have a random npc she befriends betray her... she might be building up a fear of betrayal that just keeps building the longer she goes without being betrayed. She might say “finally! I knew it!” Then relax a little. Or become a paranoid hermit... Perhaps you should present scenarios where the party would have benefitted greatly by trusting someone she said they should not trust. Maybe another group of mercenaries trusted a noble that she did not, and now that other group is rewarded with a small keep and being lord protectors over a brand new frontier community that discovered a rich supply of diamonds in the mountain. Then after a couple times of the party missing out on massive rewards because she talked them out of trusting someone, they might build up the courage to be like NO! We aren’t gonna listen to you any more! We are gonna trust him and be rewarded with a small castle and a powerful alliance! A few different ideas but hopefully one rings true with your specific scenario!

[@allisonniesen3230]

@@TheArcturusProject Those are all good ideas, and I'm probably doing some of that without thinking about it :) I'll definitely try the "reward someone else" option, since I half set up another adventuring party that could potentially be rivals. I'll work on fleshing that out and popping that up the next time it's convenient! Thanks for the ideas ^_^

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Yes building trust with a NPC and the party is key. Good video Have a good game

[@joandudley4847]

Amazing video, thank you so much this is so useful! Gonna use these tips in my game. 🤟

[@ZipperonDisney]

Awesome!! Glad you like it!!

[@ZipperonDisney]

glad you liked it! 😁

[@Jdwg72]

Great advice, and dope background music.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Glad you liked it! This is one of my favorite vids

[@mrmastaofdesasta6994]

I mainly watch this video to create characters that hurt my players when I kill them off

[@ZipperonDisney]

Have you seen my video on getting players to hate the villain?

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Great video to find on a sick day. I got time to write!

[@ZipperonDisney]

That was me yesterday 😣 get well!!

[@TheTriniemperor]

Interesting video. Subscribed, hope you get more traction.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks! I really enjoy seeing the channel grow :)

[@Maninawig]

Wait, this is supposed to be for Dungeon Masters? Being a player class, I hope it's OK that I'm here as I do enjoy your videos. I clicked on this one specifically cause I have a couple sidekicks I want to make beloved (first one to come to mind is Jean Sérien and Chissel, where he's a Fallen Aasimar Paladin PC, but the party is left guessing which one is the noble and which one is the retainer.)

[@luizoctaviodesa]

Please, keep making videos, they're awesome! Greetings from Brazil o/

[@ZipperonDisney]

Oi! I'm glad you like them! More are coming soon!

[@dane3038]

Top shelf DM advice as always.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thank you!!!

[@forgesoulfire1320]

The legacy of the highly honored noble family Paladin, yes you heard me right, their actual last name IS Paladin, the lineage had continuity in my older setting so strong and for so long I believe I was last on Leopald "Leo" Paladin XXIV, with at least two claims to Demi God children appearing in their lineage as well from the family habit of taking to travel with great heroes and at least managing to bed, if not wed them the two historically recorded times... (it was discovered in game and got weird) all, over the generations like one to five have claimed to marry legendary heroes but not recognized champions of greater deities like the parents of the Demi God cistern. This line, was old enough in the world setting they literally built up the settings archetype for chivalrous paladins in the now multiple works except one, where as unrelated but not an elfen Samurai was responsible for the knight archetype and therein was adopted by the Paladin family... it's a whole thing, sadly players repeatedly rather felt bad for the family inherited obsession with classical Paladin rhetoric and behavior, while not actively trying to move them to change for their own undisclosed reasons. Then I have that one shot never met again but loved npc mutant orc with a name stolen from his weapon and flavored by his poor spelling skills. You see, we called them Stumph, and when he was murdered by a player Stumph gifted his ax to his killer and died proud of his battle for life a new life. Failed or not. Now, it may serve to explain this one time meeting was during a grand tournement on a lesser plane of hell, the top four Victors would get to break their soul contracts which were forcing them to remain in hell and as well... they would be given an unquestionably unique opportunity back in the realm of the living. Now, a further layer in this onion of a game... Was that the players played competitors at different points in real world time, creating awesome yet bizarre encounters, sometimes entirely unique and sometimes an echo of one another... as far as Stumph's weapon though, that ax was itself an abberation with its head or blade stuck THROUGH a tree stump, and a warped and gnarled tree root or branch as it's handle nonetheless Stumph was supremely deadly and his ax continued to appear in later games with misled merchants expanding on the story of that simple but beloved briefly coined 'noble' orcish mutant warrior.

[@broke_af_games9661]

No no no no... Pretty good? This was a Great video. Thanks man.

[@heyitsMattyP]

banging edits my dude

[@ZipperonDisney]

Uppin' my game ;)

[@daxdleader719]

Can you do a video on redemption arcs please?

[@ZipperonDisney]

That's a great idea! I'm for sure putting character arc on my to-do list ❤️

[@stevevondoom4140]

and than BAM! doppleganger werewolf... ;)

[@ZipperonDisney]

Rakshasa ;)

[@theprinterdude9687]

I want to make an npc that will make them sad when it dies Planned on making it sacrifice itself to the party on a quest which is a little higher level then they can handle Thats why the helped npc is there in the first place But in the time between they meet the npc and the npc dies i want them to get attached to it How do i do that?

[@ZipperonDisney]

Here's what I'd do: follow the tips for liking, but add in an arc that the PCs witness. Something like the start out cowardly but end up brave due to the PCs influence, or they start off disliking the party but grow to openly admire them

[@theprinterdude9687]

@@ZipperonDisney that seems reasonable So like a shonen protagonist... Or a tsundere...

[@jccraftmage2313]

This is great content and just what I needed.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Excellent! Welcome aboard!

[@BlitzkriegBeard]

I'd like to present you the opposite, Kill the Kitten. You can very easily use this to establish some very hated villains. A case in point, the original John Wick film.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Totally! I say kill the puppy in my "Hate your Villian" vid -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZDae6JsocSDaa8

[@jacobgarcia5542]

i know this isn't relevant to the vid but i'm diggin the hat lol

[@ZipperonDisney]

It's cold in Ohio in winter, and I wore my tie dye hoodie in the last video!

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

Good video, but please consider toning down the background music next time. It becomes really distracting after a while.

[@ВладимирХарченко-з2т]

Yeah, none of us ever use mimics in our games. 😅

[@DaleZawada]

Cool video!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks!

[@trioofone8911]

Write a book!

[@ZipperonDisney]

I am! -> mailchi.mp/019b044e6360/galdersgazetteer

[@Ackadabagada]

These are some great tips! Sorta unrelated, but I feel like the music in your videos muddies your voice a bit and is a little distracting. Still, the quality of the advice is worth the minor discomfort.

[@superior6533]

I'm just here to kill npc's and make the party feel that pain. The NPC I plan to kill is a wheellchair bound divination wizard that helps by giving some features. the wizard couldn't run from enemy forces and decided to stay and fight. And the funniest thing is that the wizard just got captured and some time later the wizard will send a letter just before the her execution and the letter will be peacefull and talk about how she was very happy with her 25 year long life but oh ooh. Her lover (wich is an important character in the storyline) will get really shocked.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Ouch 😨

[@superior6533]

@@ZipperonDisney The plan has been pulled of succesfully and we even had the most epic moment of the campaign so far. Right now they will bring a guy to the enemy forces and he will try to find the wizard on his own. But he'll return with the letter and not her.

[@foxunix101]

I loved this video

[@ZipperonDisney]

Glad you liked it dude!!

[@Joshuazx]

I think the subject of How to Make a sympathetic character is a little too much for 10/11 NPCs.

[@ansonlevine4602]

A campaign I played in had this conjuration Wizard named Dave who was just a lazy, depressed guy working in accounting for a Mages Guild. He was just supposed to be a random guy but we all tried to makes jokes to him and cheer him up. Eventually it became a mini-quest of ours to convince Dave to go on a quest with our party. We managed to convince him to join our guild by offering him a lifetime supply of alcohol and a raise from his previous job. Good times.

[@ZipperonDisney]

That's amazing. I love it :) That's EXACTLY the sort of thing we play RPGs to do!!!