Episode 51
How to Make Life-Like NPC's with Robert from Dungeons, Dragons & Psychology
Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. We have a great episode with Robert from Dungeons, Dragons & Psychology. Get Robert's Book Session 0!
Here are some of the questions we asked Robert:
- Is it necessary to make your NPC’s lifelike
- What makes a good NPC?
- What makes a good villain?
- What makes a good ally?
- How do you keep track of your NPC’s?
Mentioned in this episode:
Add the Magic of Sound to Your Gameplay
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Brought to you by Session 0 Studios
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Transcript
all right to welcome back to how to be a better d m we have
lewis]:with us robert here and well you'll hear a little bit more about him in
lewis]:a second but first robert to help us all get warmed up what is your
lewis]:done master avatar and kind of explain that a little bit if you had to
lewis]:create a d and character that personifies how you d
weyland]:a
lewis]:m
weyland]:oh
lewis]:what would that character look
[robert]:well
lewis]:like
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:i would say it's going to have to be probably a bard
weyland]:oh
[robert]:because i do like to be a story teller
lewis]:oh
weyland]:oh
[robert]:in my d ming but it's also probably going to be a trickster for sure
lewis]:ah
[robert]:because one of my very favorite
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:things to do is
lewis]:m
[robert]:a d m
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:m yeah
[robert]:is to incorporate
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:a pretty brutal plot twist at some point so it's going to be a tricky
[robert]:bard hopefully i would say
lewis]:oh
[robert]:it's carismatic i at least like to look
lewis]:oh
[robert]:in the mirror most of the time and say hey yeah you're doing pretty good
[robert]:you know but
weyland]:hm
lewis]:oh
[robert]:not always not every day
lewis]:oh
[robert]:if nothing else he at least is decent with void is
lewis]:ah
[robert]:and he can weave an interesting story now this is the type of bard that
[robert]:is not great on an instrument but he definitely carries them around just to make
[robert]:people think that he could be
weyland]:i love
lewis]:i
weyland]:it
lewis]:like it i
weyland]:it's
lewis]:like
weyland]:also
lewis]:it
weyland]:very true
lewis]:that's
weyland]:to
lewis]:awesome
weyland]:most d ms where it's like the players don't realize
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:how much we
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:don't know what we're doing
[robert]:oh
weyland]:but they love it regardless
[robert]:absolutely
lewis]:oh
[robert]:fake it till you make it is like the motto of every g
weyland]:okay
[robert]:m i think
weyland]:exactly
lewis]:yeah definitely you want to keep up that curtain and tell people don't pay attention
[robert]:i've said
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:to the
[robert]:that
lewis]:man
[robert]:many
lewis]:behind
[robert]:times
lewis]:the curtain
[robert]:at the table so i absolutely agree with that
lewis]:yea
weyland]:oh oh
lewis]:i love it one quick follow up question on that but what would you say
lewis]:has been one of the most brutal plot twists you've pulled
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:on your
[robert]:so
lewis]:players
[robert]:i've actually talked about this recently with one of the players who was involved in
[robert]:this game on my show and early on in a home brew game that i
[robert]:ran that we call threads of the desert i had asked
lewis]:oh
[robert]:one of the other players
lewis]:oh
[robert]:to be the big bad evil guy but to play through the entire
lewis]:oh
[robert]:game with the party
lewis]:oh
[robert]:and we had this this one session
lewis]:oh
[robert]:where the three party members and there like there
lewis]:oh
[robert]:forever n p c who was traveling with them were in this room where they
[robert]:figured it out and they figured
lewis]:oh
[robert]:it out right at the same time
lewis]:my
[robert]:as he stabbed the n p c in the back and murdered her
lewis]:oh
[robert]:and so all of a sudden
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:we went from four member party
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:to
weyland]:uh
[robert]:a two member party
weyland]:uh
[robert]:and they realized the person that they've been
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:sharing all of their plots with all of their plans with everything that they were
[robert]:going to do to
lewis]:oh
[robert]:bring down the big bad evil guy was now invalid and yet they still had
lewis]:oh
[robert]:to go face him in his palace next session so
weyland]:i love it
[robert]:they were swearing at me a lot at the end of that
weyland]:oh
[robert]:but
lewis]:oh
[robert]:it ended up being probably one of our most memorable game moments ever
weyland]:wow that that's huge
lewis]:that
weyland]:so
lewis]:is
weyland]:then
lewis]:awesome
weyland]:so so i'm very curious about that when you asked that player to essentially be
weyland]:the big bad like did it take some convincing or a lot of like walking
weyland]:throg or was he just a gun how
[robert]:you know
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:like me he's a trickster um
weyland]:m
[robert]:and he was definitely in it a hundred percent and he was like well can
[robert]:i you know can i build the character myself can i do all this and
[robert]:i pretty much gave him like
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:blanche
lewis]:m
[robert]:permission to okay you're going
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:to be a twentieth level character by the time they finally face you at the
[robert]:end you're going to have
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:two levels in divine rank we were using the three point five deities and demigod
[robert]:so
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:you could actually build out characters that had divine rank and
weyland]:now
[robert]:then he took it and run with it he built it he built himself as
[robert]:an avatar and that's what was playing with the characters
weyland]:oh
[robert]:was his avatar
weyland]:m
[robert]:and
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:oh
[robert]:so then as they go to face
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:off him is he's an even more powerful version
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:of the character that had been traveling with them
weyland]:that's awesome
lewis]:wow that is that is super cool i bet you picked specifically him because he's
lewis]:a trixter and that probably went very much in line with
[robert]:you
lewis]:what
[robert]:need
lewis]:you
[robert]:a
lewis]:look
[robert]:trickster
lewis]:for
[robert]:and
lewis]:right
[robert]:somebody who's willing to you know stick to the story and keep a secret and
[robert]:he's always kind of been that guy at the table who doesn't really like to
[robert]:share too much about his character anyways
weyland]:m
[robert]:so it fit really well with him
lewis]:ah
weyland]:m so how long
lewis]:ah
weyland]:how many sessions
lewis]:i love it
weyland]:did he have to play
[robert]:m
weyland]:that role
[robert]:quite
weyland]:before
[robert]:a while
weyland]:was figured out
[robert]:we we pretty much play a weekly game every week and i think it was
[robert]:over a year into the game before the reveal
lewis]:oh
[robert]:finally happened
lewis]:oh
weyland]:that's that's
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:incredible
lewis]:yahchesthat
weyland]:love that
lewis]:is amazing tanner do you want to ask the second warm up question and then
lewis]:i will introduce
weyland]:yes
lewis]:our guest
weyland]:um so aside from that awesome moment you just had right there do you have
lewis]:um
weyland]:any other favorite
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:d m moments just from your time
[robert]:yeah for other d m moments i think one of the one of the coolest
[robert]:things
weyland]:okay
[robert]:that i had done was i wrote this adventure path for my characters and it
[robert]:was very much lowing along the lines of the pathfinder adventure paths it was like
[robert]:a similar to a d and d moduale um
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:and i wrote this whole thing as a murder mystery um and that was like
[robert]:probably one of the most difficult things in terms of writing because you have to
[robert]:think about all the clues and making them
lewis]:oh
[robert]:obvious enough that the players will move
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:on to the next clue but also
lewis]:ah
[robert]:not so obvious that they're going to figure it out right from the very beginning
[robert]:and having that last session of that where they finally figure out who the killer
[robert]:was
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:and had that final confrontation was a really cool went for me just because it
[robert]:was like oh yeah i wrote it properly and it didn't give it away before
[robert]:the final moment and it still led them to where
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:i wanted
lewis]:oh
[robert]:them to end up
lewis]:oh
[robert]:the in the when i came up with the idea so seeing like that whole
[robert]:big thing
lewis]:oh
[robert]:come together and work out the way that i wanted it to was like a
[robert]:really proud personal moment
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:m
weyland]:i would be proud of that too because mysteries are so hard i have
[robert]:oh
weyland]:no idea how people write them
[robert]:it
weyland]:let
[robert]:is
weyland]:alone
[robert]:definitely the hardest
weyland]:you know
[robert]:hardest piece of writing i've had to do as a d m just because there
[robert]:were so many moving parts
weyland]:yeah and unlike a writer
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:of a book where you're like oh i can go through it a few times
weyland]:to make sure it's could as a d m you're like okay i've got this
weyland]:idea players are going
lewis]:oh
weyland]:to screw it up
[robert]:hm
weyland]:opera and with from that base line
lewis]:oh
weyland]:and then
lewis]:m
weyland]:yeah get on you snap
lewis]:that's really interesting being a d m is kind of this balancing act because on
lewis]:one hand it's writing but on the other hand it's experiential well it's like experienced
[robert]:right
lewis]:curation i guess it's it's similar to like event planning and that you know you
lewis]:plan certain things but some things might go off without a hitch of other things
lewis]:might go one
[robert]:that's
lewis]:way or
[robert]:a good
lewis]:the other
[robert]:way to
lewis]:so
[robert]:look at it as
lewis]:that that's really interesting
[robert]:an event
lewis]:and actually
[robert]:planner
lewis]:oh
weyland]:never thought of that
[robert]:yeah
weyland]:like that love
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:that
lewis]:yeah well my friend is like he was talking to me and he's like you
lewis]:know i think i might be interested in event planning and i was like maybe
lewis]:that's kind of how being a d m is because we're like hotel staff for
lewis]:these
[robert]:hm
lewis]:players that come to our hotel and and then were like hear the activities and
lewis]:you know maybe they don't like
[robert]:i mean
lewis]:it
[robert]:i
lewis]:or
[robert]:guess
lewis]:whatever
[robert]:it's true
lewis]:i know
[robert]:like you're thinking about all the
lewis]:but
[robert]:different elements that go into what a player wants in a game and then you're
[robert]:trying to figure out how to make all of those elements happen in
weyland]:oh
[robert]:the same game at the same time i mean bringing all of those components together
[robert]:so i think it's a perfect analogy
weyland]:h
lewis]:well
weyland]:m
lewis]:thank you i'll have to write it down so i can seem
[robert]:uh
lewis]:smart some other time when i bring it back up
[robert]:uh
lewis]:but thank you adventurer for coming back and listening to how to be a better
lewis]:d m like i said we're here with robert w who is one of the
lewis]:hosts if i understood from the dungeons dragons and psychology podcast and we are lucky
lewis]:to have him here with us talking today about n p cs and making life
lewis]:like p c and how that is all done and i think you brought up
lewis]:one particular topic kind of in your first experience that you shared with us that
lewis]:of having an forever n p c with your group and i think that's probably
lewis]:a really good place to start because if you have a forever n p c
lewis]:with your group they naturally have to be somewhat life
[robert]:hm
lewis]:like in order to feel like another member of the party because they wouldn't be
lewis]:there if you didn't want them to have some sort of emotional connection to all
lewis]:the players so what are some things you do
weyland]:m
lewis]:to really make it so forever n pss aren't just someone
[robert]:uh
lewis]:that the party makes fun of like
weyland]:m
lewis]:happens
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:sometimes and certain people's group so m not i'm not saying mine but some some
[robert]:i
lewis]:groups
[robert]:think
lewis]:out there
[robert]:excuse me i think those are important to like the m p s that can
[robert]:play comic relief for tense moments in game but i
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:do think one of the most important things about having good mpcsis making them name
lewis]:m
[robert]:you're your players come to
lewis]:oh
[robert]:the table with back stories and ideas of what their life was before and i
[robert]:think that's a really important piece
lewis]:m
[robert]:of an m p c like if they are just
lewis]:oh
[robert]:very too dimensional maybe you have a voice for them and a place for them
[robert]:to exist that doesn't really give your players a lot
lewis]:oh
[robert]:of depth into
lewis]:ah
[robert]:what that character is and it doesn't really make them that interesting to engage in
[robert]:if they have quirks and personality traits and they have a back story and they
[robert]:can tell you stories about their past and things that they've experienced if they feel
[robert]:like a real person in the way that you would engage with a real person
[robert]:that's going to be what makes them very interesting and also
lewis]:oh
[robert]:if they have something that they something that is important to the party that they
[robert]:provide so be it a service like it's somebody that they come to
lewis]:oh
[robert]:for magical exchanges or even if
lewis]:oh
[robert]:it is just a little bit of brevity
lewis]:ah
[robert]:and they've had a hard time and like oh let's go kick it
lewis]:oh
[robert]:with you know our good friend the bug bear down at the tavern who always
[robert]:you know buys us around and makes us laugh around the table i think those
[robert]:kind
lewis]:a
[robert]:of things are also really important to
weyland]:yeah yeah i
[robert]:oh
weyland]:like that and especially
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:what you were kind of saying about they need to have something
lewis]:oh
weyland]:to offer i haven't thought
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:about it before
lewis]:ye
weyland]:but even with interactions with other people to some extent there is that thing where
weyland]:you're
[robert]:mhm
weyland]:you're interacting with them with the idea that oh they fit the specific role in
weyland]:my life
[robert]:right
weyland]:um and if somebody just doesn't have a role that they fill
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:and most often times we don't talk with
lewis]:oh
weyland]:those people at all right so it's like it makes it very different if you're
weyland]:talking to an n p c who's just the guy on the side of the
weyland]:road versus someone you're actually like oh ever time we talk with him there's a
weyland]:chance i could get something good
[robert]:right
weyland]:and so it just adds a lot more energy to the conversation
[robert]:when i'm when i'm writing an m p c i always try and think of
[robert]:several things like what
lewis]:oh
[robert]:is something like a speech pattern that they have or
weyland]:ah
[robert]:i mean not just in the way that they sound like i might give them
[robert]:an accent but what
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:are things that they frequently say like i have one mpcveron in several games and
[robert]:he always says well you did hear it from me
lewis]:m
[robert]:but and you know that's always like okay we know he's going to be our
[robert]:our source for rumors right because he's always he's always got that little catch phrase
[robert]:that oh you didn't hear it from me but here's what i've been hearing on
[robert]:the streets you know and
weyland]:xactly
[robert]:but i
weyland]:oh
[robert]:think things like that things that give them a little bit of
weyland]:h
[robert]:depth and uniqueness
weyland]:m oh
[robert]:and you know each of your m p c it has something that specifically them
[robert]:they'll always stand out as though they're an individual rather than just oh it's the
[robert]:same bartender we've always ever had every time we come into a tavern right
lewis]:m
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:h a faceless bartender number two on every tavern right
[robert]:exactly
weyland]:well well that's great so
lewis]:that's funny
weyland]:here's my question though justin and i were talking about this earlier in preparation and
weyland]:the original
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:concept for this kind of discussion
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:was okay how do you make your npcs feel like like my question was do
weyland]:we do you feel like every n p c needs to feel life like in
weyland]:a campaign or even just like most of them
[robert]:i don't think that every n p c needs to feel life like but i
[robert]:do think every important n p c needs to feel
lewis]:oh
[robert]:life like so if they are just you know serving the character a drink it's
[robert]:i think it's
lewis]:oh
[robert]:perfectly fine just to be just to say oh yeah the bartender drops off your
[robert]:drinks and sets it on your table and ask for his coin whatever you don't
[robert]:even need to interact with him let the character be ground just like they are
[robert]:in the movies right but think
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:of it in terms of the movies if they're giving plot if they're giving purpose
[robert]:if they're adding to a character's back
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:story if they're if they have
weyland]:oh
[robert]:written lines in the
weyland]:oh
[robert]:script of the movie then yeah they need to feel like they have that moment
[robert]:to speak they need that
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:that uniqueness so that they are actually a character
weyland]:that's great
lewis]:that's really insightful if i can add um the way you phrased it kind of
lewis]:it made me kind of put myself in the play of
weyland]:m
lewis]:the players as if you know i go to a restaurant and the waiter sometimes
lewis]:they come up an they're like what do you have today and then we order
lewis]:and and then that's at other times they are super interactive
[robert]:hm
lewis]:and it probably based on the place they're at or other times the people i'm
lewis]:with are very interactive with the waiter and things like that so i think one
lewis]:thing to add to that kind of conversation is that maybe if you're struggling talking
lewis]:to the listener here if you're struggling with figuring out how to make your p
lewis]:cs feel life like which ones need to kind of think about your own life
lewis]:and the interactions you have with your own plot as it were
weyland]:oh
lewis]:you know interact with the people at work a whole lot
[robert]:hm
lewis]:more versus people at rest ants are people driving on the side of the road
[robert]:right and i think another kind of little trick that i use before i worry
[robert]:about if i'm going to give them a voice or a cork or personality trades
[robert]:or all this is do the players even need to remember this
weyland]:oh
[robert]:person's name and if the answer is no then i probably don't need to put
[robert]:that much information
lewis]:oh
[robert]:or that much work into making that that character dynamic so i want to put
[robert]:my energy more towards the ones that are important and do have a piece of
[robert]:the story that's part of their back story
weyland]:yeah exactly like i find that with one shot sessions
lewis]:m
weyland]:i learned the most about making enpcs because they're essentially all throw aways but you're
weyland]:like okay at least two
lewis]:oh
weyland]:of the people need to be memorable
[robert]:right
weyland]:right most often right
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:and so like the last session that i ran on saturday you know i was
weyland]:having the same issue were as like okay do i do a weird voice
[robert]:uh
weyland]:or something
[robert]:uh yeah
weyland]:now and and for the most part i found that i didn't need to and
[robert]:right
weyland]:the story went well i think that there's because there's so
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:many excellent podcasts
lewis]:ye
weyland]:streams out there where you know these are professionals who put a lot of a
weyland]:lot of work and every n p c feels amazing
[robert]:yeah
weyland]:i think that sometimes for us the more layman you know d ms or g
weyland]:ms we we feel like we need the same it's like no you know just
weyland]:put as much effort as you're able to and make a certain number of n
weyland]:p c is memorable the other ones it's okay if it's filler
[robert]:and like in in one shot game like you're talking about you're right there's only
[robert]:really a few mpcs that really need to have that but those are going to
[robert]:be like your quest
lewis]:ah
[robert]:givers right or your people who are giving you hints to the plot um or
[robert]:or a plot hook or something like that but yeah on your other point
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:like the professional voice actors like matt mercer and critical role and
lewis]:yah
[robert]:one of the things that just constantly amazes me when i listen to that show
[robert]:is how matt can have an entire
lewis]:h
[robert]:race of creatures like like when they're in their dwarf in city everyone of his
[robert]:dwarfs sounds a little bit different than and so you can pick up like that's
[robert]:that's incredible to not just okay here's the accident i use for dwarfs he's got
[robert]:like twenty accents
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:that he uses for dwarfs so they still also in similar but still unique and
[robert]:that's a very very difficult ask for a person who is not a professional voice
[robert]:actor but at the same you can do that same kind of thing without using
[robert]:voices just by giving them patterns of speech or catch phrases that they use that
[robert]:are different from anyone else so as you're making your notes for you m p
[robert]:c is instead of saying okay this can have my my typical dwarf in voice
[robert]:that i use but they can take a lot of long pauses in between answers
[robert]:where they can sit there and always tap their face or rub their beer you
[robert]:know that can have something quirky about them that you don't necessarily have to know
[robert]:twenty different darvan voices you can just have one or two different inflections and different
[robert]:things that make them look like different characters you know is just little stuff like
[robert]:that i think an can go a long
lewis]:um
[robert]:way
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:h one thing that might help the listeners if you're struggling thinking about some of
lewis]:these things to add to your characters i would say the best thing is to
lewis]:start looking at your interactions with people like it's kind of a joke between me
lewis]:and my wife that whenever we go over to my family's house my mom and
lewis]:my sisters always say it will be good for some reason that's just like their
lewis]:thing
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:like when they're done talk an they're like yeah we're going to go here we're
lewis]:gonna go do this it'll be good
[robert]:right
lewis]:and we kind of make fun of them for that until i started noticing in
lewis]:my interactions with my dad i have a catch phrase apparently where he says something
lewis]:very dadjokish and then i say oh dad
[robert]:uh
lewis]:and he actually loves it now because he thinks it's really funny but if or
lewis]:an m p c that would essentially be my catch ray so i found it
lewis]:useful to start looking at interactions with people and start seeing some of these commonalities
lewis]:but i mean you do have to kind of step back from the conversation wild
lewis]:present which is somewhat difficult
[robert]:hm
lewis]:but that might be of use
[robert]:yeah i mean you definitely bring up a good point because in all your interactions
[robert]:with people you find that everybody has patterns of speech and everybody has little things
[robert]:that they say to especially in terms of like if they're feeling nervous don't know
[robert]:what to say the kind of fall back into those habitual patterns speaking
lewis]:ah
weyland]:yeah exactly and
lewis]:for
weyland]:i think
lewis]:sure
weyland]:that that's
[robert]:m
weyland]:that's the nice thing is that if you have no experience with it don't worry
weyland]:about accents don't worry about anything
[robert]:hm
weyland]:like that just worry like hey
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:treat yourself and your many
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:different facets as different people you know
[robert]:right
weyland]:because we're all much more real and these npcs don't need to be as real
weyland]:as one of us
lewis]:oh
weyland]:so we can kind of like almost take a little part ourselves and kind of
weyland]:turned them
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:into
lewis]:oh
weyland]:the different linguistic or other aspects of them but
lewis]:kay
weyland]:so i had a question i find that you know when we're talking about making
weyland]:realistic or memorable n p cs
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:i find that they get very
lewis]:m
weyland]:like in terms of motivations they can feel very one to like villains can feel
weyland]:like oh they're just they're just destroying towns because why the heck not
[robert]:right
weyland]:and good people are like oh i apparently
lewis]:uh
[robert]:okay
weyland]:just spend every men of my day thinking about how to help people
[robert]:right
lewis]:h
weyland]:you know it's like how do you
lewis]:oh
weyland]:how do you make them not as one toned
[robert]:so one thing that i've that i've done
lewis]:oh
[robert]:and i mentioned this in my book as well is i like to think of
[robert]:my heroes as though they believe that my villains as though
lewis]:yah
[robert]:they believe they are the hero
lewis]:h
[robert]:our own story and i think that goes a long
lewis]:oh
[robert]:way in flashing out a good villain because i think the best villains
lewis]:oh
[robert]:usually in some way or another are right about what they're doing they're just probably
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:doing it in the wrong way i think you know like than
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:as from the marvel
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:world is a great example of that he's not wrong about you know the number
[robert]:of resources being limited in the universe and people consuming them in the way that
[robert]:humans you know kind of like ants destroyed the world that we're living on he's
[robert]:not he's not wrong about that he's just
weyland]:oh
[robert]:going about it in the wrong way and so i think that
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:that's a good way to flash out a villain is to have them make a
[robert]:point that is right make their their drive something that they could see themselves
lewis]:yah
[robert]:being heroic in doing
weyland]:okay
[robert]:but make it kind of obvious that if you're lacking some of the classic hero
[robert]:traits of like empathy and understanding and concern for other people
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:you're obviously going to go about it the wrong way
lewis]:so like two or three steps from being a hero that's like a pretty good
lewis]:villain how do you kind of i guess the best way to say this is
lewis]:how do you make heroes that aren't the players that like tana was saying don't
lewis]:seem too good to show but don't also seem corrupt like how do you walk
lewis]:that
[robert]:i
lewis]:balance
[robert]:think it's just remembering that you know there's light and dark in everything and nobody
[robert]:is like this perfect shining
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:example of goodness i think it's really one of the things i
lewis]:oh
[robert]:like to refer back to a lot is i don't
lewis]:oh
[robert]:know if you remember the old book of vile darkness from from dungeons and dragons
[robert]:three point five but there's this really great image in there of
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:paladin standing over two female succubuses who are in an embrace of love and he's
[robert]:standing over them with his sword and the caption underneath it reads something like paladin
[robert]:must choose between honoring love and destroying evil and i think those kind of things
[robert]:where you understand that
lewis]:oh
[robert]:all morality is is a spectrum and that even if you
lewis]:oh
[robert]:are a paladin it doesn't mean that you can't struggle with darkness even if you're
[robert]:evil it doesn't mean you can't struggle with light kilo ren is a great example
[robert]:of that he knows he's a villain and he's trying to extinguish being good from
[robert]:himself because he thinks that villainy is the only way it's going to bring you
lewis]:oh
[robert]:know the entire universe together in peace so i think
weyland]:oh
[robert]:just like
lewis]:oh
[robert]:thinking
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:of things like that where
lewis]:ah oh
[robert]:they're like cleverly done and you can see both the good and the evil inside
[robert]:a person and find ways to show case that as m p c is don't
weyland]:oh
[robert]:just make him be all like oh yeah ah i follow my goddess and i'm
[robert]:like the perfect virtue of harmony and everything that she says i do m just
[robert]:give them a little bit of humanity make them struggle with
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:my goddesses asking this of me or the priests are asking this of
lewis]:oh
[robert]:me but i just don't know if it's really what i should be doing is
[robert]:person i think that kind of thing adds a lot of depth to an n
[robert]:p c is seeing that they struggle with their own morality
weyland]:oh
lewis]:if it's okay i'd like to kind of dove tail the
weyland]:oh
lewis]:conversation um thus far
weyland]:ah
lewis]:we've kind of been talking mostly about preparing pss what strategies or techniques do you
lewis]:use when you have to essentially create
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:an m p c on the fly
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:because the group decided to go a completely different way and now
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:they're super interested in guard at the town wall for no reason and you have
lewis]:to essentially create everything you just said up on the spot what's your what's your
lewis]:take
[robert]:so that
lewis]:on that
[robert]:that's always the celis heel of every d m right is you have all these
lewis]:oh
[robert]:plans
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:and they only last until your characters have ideas
lewis]:yeah oh
[robert]:so i think
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:for me just practice like practice improvisation and i think
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:one of the best things to practice is coming up
lewis]:a
[robert]:with a name on
lewis]:oh
[robert]:the spot because that's what
weyland]:ah
[robert]:players always asked
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:like cool cool what's your
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:name and then you're away tuck in that like hold on let me look at
[robert]:my name generator or something like this so a trick
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:i have always
lewis]:oh
[robert]:used and i'm sitting next to one of the
lewis]:h
[robert]:people who play in one of my games right now is and
lewis]:m
[robert]:i'm gonna give away one of my
weyland]:ah
[robert]:greatest
lewis]:my
[robert]:d tricks right now is i like scan the room really quick and piece
weyland]:to
[robert]:names of things together to come
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:up with a name
lewis]:oh
[robert]:like o oh there's a hammer over there and die okay well he's like that's
[robert]:a so he's cube hammer he's lord cubehyou know just some something ridiculous like that
lewis]:oh
[robert]:but i mean even like i know i've made a character his name like ritz
[robert]:before because there was a writ cracker box in the corner of the room
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:and so just like things like that pull from whatever you have available
lewis]:oh
[robert]:and then take notes like that's the biggest part of it if you are going
[robert]:to create an n p up on the
lewis]:oh
[robert]:spot you got to make some notes as soon as you do it because if
[robert]:you happen to create that smash in p
lewis]:yah
[robert]:c that they all love they're going to keep
lewis]:yah
[robert]:coming back to him and you're like why this guy was just something
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:i
lewis]:yes
[robert]:made up on the spot and they just want to keep hanging out with him
[robert]:so you want to remember all of those things that they really
lewis]:oh
[robert]:thought were cool about him in the first place so that you're able to bring
[robert]:him back and have them
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:still be as as influential to the party as they were the first time that
[robert]:you played them
lewis]:on one thing that i actually do another secret is i have often taken the
lewis]:names of my players first or last and just put them backwards
[robert]:nice
lewis]:so
weyland]:m
lewis]:katon ottley who used to e used to do stuff on this podcast we have
lewis]:a character who is katon's last name in the thing and i find that's really
lewis]:easy because they don't they don't put together but super easy because you just pick
lewis]:some one and say what's your name backwards the unfortunate thing is we have a
lewis]:character player whose name is hannah you know it's
weyland]:ah
lewis]:the same front wards backwards so that
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:that doesn't work so actually on the on the topic of keeping track you know
lewis]:van notes that was actually a question we were planning on asking because for me
lewis]:that is super difficult so so what methods if any do you have for kind
lewis]:of keeping track of these mpcs do you just kind of jot things down and
lewis]:then come back or
[robert]:you
lewis]:how
[robert]:know
lewis]:do you go
[robert]:i'm
lewis]:about
[robert]:actually
lewis]:that
[robert]:actually love that you ask me this question because
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:actually built
lewis]:oh
[robert]:a d m tool that is available on amazon for
lewis]:oh
[robert]:just a couple but it's just
lewis]:oh
[robert]:a book
weyland]:oh
[robert]:of n p c notes it's called the n p c compendium and you just
[robert]:fill it in it's got like stat blocks and notes about character background
lewis]:oh
[robert]:the quirks that they use phrases that they use tattoos like it just
lewis]:oh
[robert]:gives you it's each one's a single page and there's a hundred to the book
[robert]:and so that's what i like to use and i give it to any of
[robert]:the d ms who
lewis]:oh
[robert]:run games for me um just as like a tool for them to have because
[robert]:it is really useful and there's a table of contents in the front that you
[robert]:can put the names of all the characters and what pages they're listed on so
[robert]:that then
lewis]:oh
[robert]:you can go back and flip
weyland]:kay
[robert]:through and find s p
lewis]:m
[robert]:c is really easy and i think
lewis]:oh
[robert]:just even if you don't use that tool something like that is really helpful like
[robert]:just having a notebook dedicated to your npcs is going to be really useful but
[robert]:also get in the habit of making the same
lewis]:oh
[robert]:notes about each m p c so like you're always going to list how do
[robert]:they sound how do they look how do they act around the players and
lewis]:ah
[robert]:i think always like
weyland]:oh
[robert]:listening are they a or foe of the party and do they have any secret
[robert]:motivations that the party don't know
lewis]:a
[robert]:doesn't
lewis]:yah
[robert]:know about and i think those kind of things are really important to keep
lewis]:h
[robert]:track of
weyland]:yeah that's great it's great advice especially the idea of just kind of keeping it
weyland]:a similar format
lewis]:yah
weyland]:you know so
[robert]:hm
weyland]:you can almost have a rollo dex
lewis]:h
weyland]:kind of
[robert]:yeah
weyland]:dilio
[robert]:exactly
weyland]:for that because i think some people just don't realize it's like hey just because
weyland]:you use n p cs in different ways it doesn't mean that you know it
weyland]:wouldn't be helpful they know the same thing about them especially your accents my goodness
[robert]:right yeah
weyland]:you know
[robert]:and that's a big one too because you might
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:pull off an accent when you first
lewis]:oh
[robert]:introduce an m p c if you don't write that down when
lewis]:oh
[robert]:you come back to it you can be like what voice was that
lewis]:oh
[robert]:using for this person and just
lewis]:ah
[robert]:not be able to give the same experience if you don't have it notated somewhere
weyland]:yeah and in cases like that honestly what i'd recommend i have a friend who
weyland]:is very good with accents
lewis]:ah
weyland]:and he says
lewis]:oh
weyland]:that for him he kind of needs a phrase to work his into it
[robert]:i do the same thing absolutely
weyland]:exactly
[robert]:yeah
weyland]:right so like when you're writing down the accent don't
[robert]:yeah
weyland]:just say oh it's this kind of accent be like phrase this
[robert]:yep
weyland]:is how you work your way into it
[robert]:yea for the longest time whenever i
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:had a dwarf
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:i would have to start their conversation by saying great because that was the only
[robert]:way that could get me into like oh that's great you know like it had
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:to it had to have that word in there somewhere like it's a
lewis]:classic
[robert]:great day out here you know and then then i can roll into it
lewis]:yah
[robert]:after that but i had to start
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:every interaction with a dwarf early on with that word because it was my
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:key word to get
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:into the accident i think that works really well
lewis]:oh
weyland]:exactly
lewis]:that's awesome one actually one other i guess hack that you could probably use with
lewis]:that roledecx in conjunction with your compendium is you know in different situations you could
lewis]:probab take some of these npcs obviously from campaign to campaign or session of session
lewis]:or whatever um and take the same n p c change the name and maybe
lewis]:the accent keep the character six i guess obviously any you know identifying features but
lewis]:essentially play them the same way so that way you don't have to necessarily come
lewis]:up with a completely new character maybe all the bartenders are exactly the same they
lewis]:all you know one one serves vodka versus
[robert]:m
lewis]:one serves ale primarily and you know um just so that way d ms who
lewis]:don't have as much time they don't they don't feel as pressured too create you
lewis]:know a full world that they still have these resources and you know i guess
lewis]:the idea is you don't have to create completely new m
[robert]:right
lewis]:p s every time you can just maybe take one change one or two things
lewis]:and then move
[robert]:and
lewis]:forward
[robert]:in a pinch
lewis]:you know
[robert]:you know you can always rely on a generator to pull that up i
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:mean there's ones that have just like m
lewis]:sure
[robert]:p c description generators are very useful in just coming up like with quick back
[robert]:stories or quirks
weyland]:ah
lewis]:m
[robert]:at some he has and i've definitely used those in a pinch especially when characters
[robert]:are running off on their own and just like hey we want to interact with
[robert]:another m p c and you're like okay
weyland]:oh
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:yep
lewis]:you're like sure whatever um well robert we are coming down to the end of
lewis]:our time together unfortunately we will definitely have to do this again so well we'll
lewis]:re connect figure out another time because i'm actually really interested specifically in creating a
lewis]:murder mystery but
[robert]:awesome
lewis]:we'll have to schedule that another time m final words for our audience from tanner
lewis]:myself you robert and then we'll give you a chance to talk to them about
lewis]:how they can reach out to you support you see what you're up to m
lewis]:tanner
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:d you want to go first that way robert
weyland]:absolutely
lewis]:can have some time to think
weyland]:with n p
lewis]:oh
weyland]:c s i think the biggest thing is just making sure
lewis]:a
weyland]:quality kind of trumps quantity it's better to have
lewis]:oh
weyland]:one uh character that you've really worked on that's like really funny versus a few
weyland]:that's like semi funny and same for like one character that you really connect with
lewis]:oh
weyland]:versus
[robert]:m
weyland]:a few that's like oh they're just generally people i guess you can sympathize with
weyland]:you know just put in the time um and then do filler for the rest
weyland]:people expect filler what they don't expect is for you to just knock them off
weyland]:your off
[robert]:m
weyland]:their
lewis]:yeah
weyland]:feet
[robert]:m
weyland]:well just a really good character
[robert]:hm
lewis]:and then i'll go next robert
[robert]:ah
lewis]:just so you have just as much time as you want to think and really
lewis]:prepare one thing i would say is kind of thinking about this all today there's
lewis]:nothing wrong with just pick people you know in real life and fashioning pss after
lewis]:those people now that i think about it i think that's something that i really
lewis]:want to try moving forward for the next little bit just
weyland]:yeah
lewis]:to really focus in on what are their call real life corks how do those
lewis]:come across you know even in small interactions how can i you know put my
lewis]:dad into you know into d and d with some of his small little quirks
lewis]:and just kind of personify and i think that will hopefully make me better at
weyland]:ah
lewis]:creating npcs and picking up on those those nuances but also making a little bit
lewis]:more interesting in life like so that's that's one thing i'm going to try and
lewis]:i would recommend that the listener also try so robert final words for
[robert]:i would
lewis]:our
[robert]:just say
lewis]:adventurers
[robert]:one idea that i've played with a few times in the past and has been
[robert]:really fun that i would suggest maybe giving a shot is when you're having like
[robert]:your session zero or your characters are building there stores let each one of your
[robert]:players write an
lewis]:oh
[robert]:n p c as well and then give that to you to just put into
[robert]:the game somewhere later on it can be really fun and it makes that n
[robert]:p c ver meaningful to the
lewis]:oh
[robert]:players when they were like oh
lewis]:yes
[robert]:that's that's crazy farmer joe that's the one that i wrote
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:you know and and then they get
weyland]:yeah
[robert]:to
lewis]:yes
[robert]:see that and interact with it and it just
lewis]:a
[robert]:kind of
lewis]:m
[robert]:brings their attention
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:right to the table so i just think that kind of a fun and unique
[robert]:way that
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:you guys might want to try it it's been
weyland]:ye
[robert]:pretty interesting when i've done it in the past
lewis]:oh
weyland]:i love that
lewis]:i love that anything to help our d ms save time and save money and
lewis]:i think outsourcing the work to the players is like top
[robert]:agreed
lewis]:of the list on that but thank you so much for being here with us
lewis]:robert how can our audience reach out to you support you and see what
[robert]:yeah
lewis]:you're doing
[robert]:thanks for asking you can definitely check out my book session zero the m g
[robert]:to writing great campaigns
lewis]:ah
[robert]:in any system you can
lewis]:ah
[robert]:find that on amazon also check out my pod as it's the dungeons dragons and
[robert]:psychology podcast and you can find that wherever you find any podcast it's on all
[robert]:the platforms
lewis]:yeah
[robert]:and the best place to get in touch with me personally is v email dungeon
[robert]:dragon psychology at email dot com or on instagram and it's at dungeons underscore dragons
[robert]:underscore psychology
lewis]:m oh
weyland]:perfect
lewis]:excellent we will get all those up in the show notes as well as the
lewis]:link to your n p c compendium we don't want o forget that but thank
lewis]:you so much robert thanks tanner for being here listener adventurer will be here next
lewis]:week for another great show until then let's go ahead and roll initiative
[robert]:thank you
lewis]:some
[robert]:guys
lewis]:thanks so much robert i guess i should stop recording
weyland]:uh
lewis]:um
weyland]:h