This one is for JR and Lucie, who were curious about NPCs, hope this’ll be helpful! And thanks a bunch again to Monsters of Drakkenheim for sponsoring this, you can find the kickstarter right here! get.monstersofdrakkenheim.com/13 Be responsible with your skin flaying, y’all!
I got sick of filling my stories with interesting fleshed out characters only to have my players focus on random fillers, so nowadays I have less of a character list and more of a character tree. Bunch of descriptions, and depending on whom they focus on, I shift the quest in that NPCs direction, and then flesh them out with a backstory from a random pile that fleshes them out and connects them to the plot
oh that's so smart! do you have an example of an NPC you did this with so i can be sure i understand how this works (or examples of the kind of stuff you have on your list/tree)? I want to try it out
@@corkboardsandcuriosities sure! Back when I was running a basic Phandalin game, I panicked when they asked who else was in the bar and I said, "um, there's a guy, here, a regular guy, called Yahtzee!" After that all the main quests went to hell & Yahtzee was forced into the party. Since then I keep flash cards of character names & descriptions, and separate flash cards of backstories and plot tie ins. So if they ask, I provide them with a few NPC examples, they pick one to talk to and depending on his behavior and their's, the conversation splits into potential narratives, so I select a flash card with a backstory to match that narrative, and a potential connection to the main/side quest. If they move to the next guy, I just repeat the process till they find a sort of frankenstein-ed NPC they can actually bond with. For Example, here's a redhead waitress named Felicia that they prefer to speak to over the scarred brooding figure in the corner, and the conversation's friendly. Selected the 'friendly' option card which says she has info on their current quest and she's got a vested interest in a specific outcome; which would have mirrored the outcome desired by the nameless brooding figure, or not, but the PCs will never know for sure. Hope this helps, and congrats on the sponsor! Love your channel so it's great to see it's doing well
@@corkboardsandcuriosities it's a bit more detailed in the cards but I recommend using Scapple software to track all of them. You can create text boxes and connect them with arrows and potential crossovers, like mind mapping. In a lot of situations, picking one specific option card will shut the players out of other option cards in the future from other NPCs. I got the idea from Mass Effect 3, so basically causes opposing NPCs to butt heads and give party alliances more consequences. So I mark the option card corners with specific ink colors so I don't mix them up
I have a player who's character is a kobold artificer who absolutely HATES incompetence, so I made the guild master for the adventurer's guild insanely incompetent on certain aspects just to make him angry. My players love him, my player's artificer CHARACTER hates him. Has made for some amazing moments in dialogue
Never in my life have I clicked on a video this fast. Just yesterday I used When the Swallows Fly Low as a one-shot for a party who barely knew each other, on a WoW RP server, and they really liked it! I also enjoyed so much the fact that it was so story and character focused rather than combat. Thank you so kindly for sharing that one-shot with us!
I have to point out and say that I appreciate the quality of the script. It is clear that you've spent a lot of time into writing the text and making it enjoyable.
happy this resonates! I think it's definitely one of those things that once said out loud makes a lot of sense, and now that I have a name for it it's easier to remember it and use it as a framework.
I love that advice about starting with the bones, it can be very easy to have a cool idea for a character, but at the end of the day there’s a difference between a cool character and a good NPC. Something I’ve definitely realised is that whenever I introduce an NPC, and I want the party to interact with them, there should be something to gain from it. An example I’ve recently ran, in which admittedly I made the flesh before the bones, was this old, jolly monster-hunter character, who I originally made with an idea of him giving information or advice to the players about monsters. Then, mid-session, the players decided they wanted to look for someone who would offer transport to a city, and I realised that I could give this traveller a much better, and more pressing, purpose. He’s still a monster-hunter, and his personality (the flesh) has stayed intact, but by having him be available to offer transport to the players (in return for helping deal with some monsters on the way), it made me feel a lot more confident in presenting this character and having the players like him.
“There’s a difference between creating a good character and a good npc” Damn, that’s like… the ultimate sum up sentence and now I feel dumb that I didn’t explicitly say that in the video
@@corkboardsandcuriositiesawe, thanks, glad you like that. Just something I like to remind myself when making npcs, and this video certainly nails on the head. Love the vibes and advice in all your videos!
I had a somewhat similar experience. I had once created a fire Genasi warlock to be a perfect fit mechanically with a Druid highwayman, but to have a jarring “odd couple” flavor. It was for an encounter that I never used. Later, I realized that the Genasi could serve a much better purpose. I had him appear as bounty hunter who was pressed into serving a thieves’ guild leader that the party was trying to track down. Two party members had split off for their own late-night vigilantism on the city, one was a Genasi who is very concerned with freedom, and the other is a bounty-hunter warlock. The NPC showed up and made a little bit of a fool of them at first, but they both instantly saw the commonalities they each shared with him and locked in on how they might redeem him. (Which they later did) It fit my party so much more beautifully than having him be part of just some random encounter.
My NPCs don't even usually have names until the party cares to ask. They are Quest Giver, Temple Healer, Annoying Sidekick, Suspicious Ally, etc. Then suddenly a new player decides torture works for interrogation and wants to know every detail of some poor NPC's innocent life. She became traumatized and dedicated herself to taking down these rogue heroes, and formed a posse of other loose ends left in their reckless wake.
Je découvre ta chaîne avec cette vidéo et j'adore, l'ambiance et les conseils sont super !! J'ai découvert que tu étais française dans les commentaires, je me disais aussi que je comprenais bien quand tu parlé, des sous titres en français ce serait cool ! Continue comme ça en tout cas, je m'abonne
Not only is your content spot-on and very useful, but the grotesque mnemonic of flesh and bones serves both to drive the message home AND make your video more memorable at the same time! Well done!
This video deserves so much more attention, that was so incredibly well articulated and I’ve got full faith in your DMing abilities just based off of this video alone 👏👏👏👏
One of the most memorable encounters for me in a recent campaign wasn’t combat, or exploring, or a puzzle. It was trying to convince a stubborn mayor that one of his town officials was a corrupt cultist. Having npcs who challenge the player through dialogue is so fun for me. It’s great for NPCs to have personality, but if they just always agree with the players then the world and the story don’t feel as engaging.
Aah thank you so much! I always worry whether I’m explaining things clearly! I sometimes struggles being concise hahah, so writing it down before filming really helps
This video is really good, thank you for making it. The idea of the npc bones is very nice. I also use some tables from "Persons of Interest" its a small pdf with lots of tables and ideas on how to make the npc background. Like "what does he want?", "what power does he hold over the players", it fits very well with your meat and bone analogy 😊
This is great info, I love how I can also apply this to my characters I wish to make in other peoples campaigns, too. Also your accent is absolutely soothing!
This is great advice. I've seen some of these techniques work in games recently, especially crafting NPCs specifically in relation to player characters.
@@corkboardsandcuriosities your likeness and vocal cadence is uncanny. Her distinct vocals and innocence is what makes her performance memorable 30 years later and it is definitely a hallmark of why your channel is so appealing. Your presentation of this material is as lovely as you. Please keep up the good work.
Love your videos and your aesthetic, and this is a great approach to npc's. On the last topic, I find that if you just treat them with a little respect, if not love, then you'll have little problem with your golems. They just want to be accepted for who they are. Also, they really don't appreciate when you try to make them a mate, unless they ask. Try listening to them. That's all they need. After all, the real friends are the golems we made along the way. ❤
I generally run mysteries for Vaesen, D&D, & Call of Cthulhu, and I regularly ask players for NPC contacts and important backstory figures. They key is to ensure that the "Bones" are a meaningful connection to the PC, but are also important for exploring the setting, culture, themes, clues, party relationships, and multiple character backstories. When your players realize that the NPCs are relevant to multiple players as they know other PCs and NPCs, you get a lot more buy-in. :)
I've been a DM for a while now, and have discovered that I'm not an expert with voices and personalities, mine ideas are not exceptional in that regard. However, I started using my npc's as tools. They are the means to my ends. If the npc is involved with something, that makes them useful for my players. Since a pc doesn't know them personally, making them likeable trough quirks is difficult. However, we tend to like useful people. After they meet, and I can tell that the players like or dislike them, then I invest into said npc and further develop them into the good / evil thing that I need. Besides, in my opinion it's more interesting to have a nobleman who's involved with politics and espionage, rather than a goofy shopkeeper.
yes absolutely! I suck at voices tbh, and even if I found a few tricks to differentiate my NPCs without necessarily voice acting, I know that is absolutely not a requirement (or even really a key factor) in playing NPCs. Purposeful design is where it's really at!
I've never heard any advice like this on TH-cam before, but I really needed to hear this. I gotta remember that this is a game. It doesn't matter how "realistic" or "deep" an NPC is if it doesn't serve the game in some way.
i really like this. i think the part that stuck out to me was focusing on the goal of the character and not so much who or what they are. i've had a project lately where i'm trying to make a campaign module and i have to fill a small town with npc's. and it's such a tiring task to come up with useful data about this or that character. stepping back and asking 'what purpose is the character supposed to serve' really makes the whole exercise feel different.
This was a FANTASTIC video! Thank you! I recognize through this what my NPCs have been missing: Their bones! They all skipped half of flesh day for sure but they've never experienced Bone day! Well now I'm running through em all to give em bones. Excited to watch my players experience the power of bonomancy!
You're accent and style aesthetic is amazing 👌I recently made a rival (+crew) for one of my PCs who is a proud ranger. His rival is a cocky young female ranger and he has been eagerly accepting every challenge she has thrown at him and the rest of the Party is loving it too.
Creating mirrors for your PCs is an excellent choice. I have noticed that my players get invested when they reflect the worst or deepest parts to a character. So that is definitely true. What has also helped me is creating NPCs that have clear goals that are counter to the PCs. I run a lot of investigation games so, having these conflicting goals, can really make the investigation feel more exciting!
I’ve had a handful of especially memorable NPCs over the course of my games. One was a creepy pale demon with a long drooling tongue who spoke like The G-Man and was always helpful but in a weird way, like offering to suck eldritch horrors out of the brain of a player who was suffering from information overload. Another character was a ditzy Druid with a Jackalope familiar who simply exuded the essence of filth. I made subtle references to those characters later on (months to years later irl) and the entire party instantly recognized them and shouted “No!” when they realized they might end up interacting with them again. I was so proud that they had such a visceral reaction to these characters, especially since in the case of the stinky Druid, there was no out of character reason to have such a reaction to the mere smell of her, but the impression was strong enough that they acted like it was real.
As ANY good necromancer will tell you, you can in fact make a flesh golem out of a single colossal tongue or an entity without a skeletal system, like a gelatinous cube or giant Amoeba. A necromancer may do many things, but remember the task you have for this creation. I love your Drakkenheim setting.
Kitty is the real star of this channel. He usually sits on my lap while i'm recording, but the past few videos he's decided he no longer wants to be in the shadows.
Very much appreciate the idea about how the psychological landscape of NPCS can become the locus for the conflict, rather than being elements within a conflict. Also, very much like the link between necromancy and the hermeneutic framework. The necromancer in me very much appreciates it.
Great video and advice, but the only thing I can think about regarding bones and NPCs... is the NPC Brennan Lee Mulligan used in escape the bloodkeep who was worried about his bones. Too worried probably.
That's cool and all but you forgot the part where you try to understand what they seek in an ideal partner and insert into the campaign an npc modeled specifically for them (then have them die/betray them)
I love your work a lot. I'm just sad that your such a young tube youber. I totally want you binge watch you videos all day long!! please keep up the fantastic work.
Love the video, but I definitely only clicked on it originally because I was hoping for a reference to Brennan Lee Mulligan's NPC Avanash from Escape from the Bloodkeep. "What is crazy about wanting to keep my bones?!?"
remember there is situs inversus and situs perversus for orgen placemant. inversus (when your organs are mirror image of what they would be normally) and perversus (when an organ is placed in a weird spot)
This one is for JR and Lucie, who were curious about NPCs, hope this’ll be helpful! And thanks a bunch again to Monsters of Drakkenheim for sponsoring this, you can find the kickstarter right here! get.monstersofdrakkenheim.com/13
Be responsible with your skin flaying, y’all!
Help I followed your instructions and now my NPC is cursing me as their creator and begging me to create a grotesque companion for them
@theadhdm we have historical records of great doctor Frankenstein making a bride already, my good sir. Shall we follow his esteemed blueprints?
@@jackorion8590 Eeeh what's the worst that could happen, sure
You should have gotten the flesh golem extended warranty
Did I request thee, Master, from thy dice to mold me NPC?
Did I beseech thee from stat blocks to promote me?
@@TheADHDM GOOD NEWS! The blueprints worked! BAD NEWS...the blueprints worked
I got sick of filling my stories with interesting fleshed out characters only to have my players focus on random fillers, so nowadays I have less of a character list and more of a character tree. Bunch of descriptions, and depending on whom they focus on, I shift the quest in that NPCs direction, and then flesh them out with a backstory from a random pile that fleshes them out and connects them to the plot
It's always good to be ready to let go of any NPC the players aren't interested in, no matter how much work goes into making them.
@@TheLoveTruffle Quantum NPC prep!
oh that's so smart! do you have an example of an NPC you did this with so i can be sure i understand how this works (or examples of the kind of stuff you have on your list/tree)? I want to try it out
@@corkboardsandcuriosities sure! Back when I was running a basic Phandalin game, I panicked when they asked who else was in the bar and I said, "um, there's a guy, here, a regular guy, called Yahtzee!"
After that all the main quests went to hell & Yahtzee was forced into the party.
Since then I keep flash cards of character names & descriptions, and separate flash cards of backstories and plot tie ins. So if they ask, I provide them with a few NPC examples, they pick one to talk to and depending on his behavior and their's, the conversation splits into potential narratives, so I select a flash card with a backstory to match that narrative, and a potential connection to the main/side quest. If they move to the next guy, I just repeat the process till they find a sort of frankenstein-ed NPC they can actually bond with.
For Example, here's a redhead waitress named Felicia that they prefer to speak to over the scarred brooding figure in the corner, and the conversation's friendly. Selected the 'friendly' option card which says she has info on their current quest and she's got a vested interest in a specific outcome; which would have mirrored the outcome desired by the nameless brooding figure, or not, but the PCs will never know for sure.
Hope this helps, and congrats on the sponsor! Love your channel so it's great to see it's doing well
@@corkboardsandcuriosities it's a bit more detailed in the cards but I recommend using Scapple software to track all of them. You can create text boxes and connect them with arrows and potential crossovers, like mind mapping. In a lot of situations, picking one specific option card will shut the players out of other option cards in the future from other NPCs. I got the idea from Mass Effect 3, so basically causes opposing NPCs to butt heads and give party alliances more consequences. So I mark the option card corners with specific ink colors so I don't mix them up
I have a player who's character is a kobold artificer who absolutely HATES incompetence, so I made the guild master for the adventurer's guild insanely incompetent on certain aspects just to make him angry. My players love him, my player's artificer CHARACTER hates him. Has made for some amazing moments in dialogue
Great video! Really love the idea of making the conversation a mini-game, and designing NPCs specifically to push the players' buttons.
Thanks! My entire life's purpose is to push players' buttons.
Never in my life have I clicked on a video this fast.
Just yesterday I used When the Swallows Fly Low as a one-shot for a party who barely knew each other, on a WoW RP server, and they really liked it! I also enjoyed so much the fact that it was so story and character focused rather than combat.
Thank you so kindly for sharing that one-shot with us!
omg I'm so happy you played it! I haven't heard much back from this one so I'm really happy it went well!!!! haaaaaaaaa I'm so glad you liked it
It's wild to see a creation of the Dungeon Dudes now becoming a sponsorship for newer D&D/TTRPG channels. Thank you for this video, instant subscribe!
I have to point out and say that I appreciate the quality of the script. It is clear that you've spent a lot of time into writing the text and making it enjoyable.
Ooh thank you so much! I always worry that I spend too long in the script writing phase.. so this comment feels really good to read! Thank you!
i’ve been ignore Bones in my NPCs too often cause I didn’t have a good definition for what they needed. thank you. this helps a lot
happy this resonates! I think it's definitely one of those things that once said out loud makes a lot of sense, and now that I have a name for it it's easier to remember it and use it as a framework.
Great video! Love the gothic body horror motifs and happy to see you getting the sponsorship.
gothic and body horror is everything i live for
_deep bow_
I love that advice about starting with the bones, it can be very easy to have a cool idea for a character, but at the end of the day there’s a difference between a cool character and a good NPC.
Something I’ve definitely realised is that whenever I introduce an NPC, and I want the party to interact with them, there should be something to gain from it.
An example I’ve recently ran, in which admittedly I made the flesh before the bones, was this old, jolly monster-hunter character, who I originally made with an idea of him giving information or advice to the players about monsters. Then, mid-session, the players decided they wanted to look for someone who would offer transport to a city, and I realised that I could give this traveller a much better, and more pressing, purpose. He’s still a monster-hunter, and his personality (the flesh) has stayed intact, but by having him be available to offer transport to the players (in return for helping deal with some monsters on the way), it made me feel a lot more confident in presenting this character and having the players like him.
“There’s a difference between creating a good character and a good npc”
Damn, that’s like… the ultimate sum up sentence and now I feel dumb that I didn’t explicitly say that in the video
@@corkboardsandcuriositiesawe, thanks, glad you like that. Just something I like to remind myself when making npcs, and this video certainly nails on the head. Love the vibes and advice in all your videos!
@@eaglelord145 thanks so much! and that is indeed a very good rule to GM by!
I had a somewhat similar experience. I had once created a fire Genasi warlock to be a perfect fit mechanically with a Druid highwayman, but to have a jarring “odd couple” flavor. It was for an encounter that I never used.
Later, I realized that the Genasi could serve a much better purpose. I had him appear as bounty hunter who was pressed into serving a thieves’ guild leader that the party was trying to track down.
Two party members had split off for their own late-night vigilantism on the city, one was a Genasi who is very concerned with freedom, and the other is a bounty-hunter warlock. The NPC showed up and made a little bit of a fool of them at first, but they both instantly saw the commonalities they each shared with him and locked in on how they might redeem him. (Which they later did)
It fit my party so much more beautifully than having him be part of just some random encounter.
My NPCs don't even usually have names until the party cares to ask. They are Quest Giver, Temple Healer, Annoying Sidekick, Suspicious Ally, etc.
Then suddenly a new player decides torture works for interrogation and wants to know every detail of some poor NPC's innocent life. She became traumatized and dedicated herself to taking down these rogue heroes, and formed a posse of other loose ends left in their reckless wake.
They weren't even interrogating the right NPC!
Way too useful and thought-provoking AND I love your hair
Again, another very well-made video and one filled with thought-provoking content.
I'm so happy you got a sponsorship, your videos are nuggets of gold
Je découvre ta chaîne avec cette vidéo et j'adore, l'ambiance et les conseils sont super !! J'ai découvert que tu étais française dans les commentaires, je me disais aussi que je comprenais bien quand tu parlé, des sous titres en français ce serait cool ! Continue comme ça en tout cas, je m'abonne
Haaa merci et bienvenue!
Not only is your content spot-on and very useful, but the grotesque mnemonic of flesh and bones serves both to drive the message home AND make your video more memorable at the same time! Well done!
This video deserves so much more attention, that was so incredibly well articulated and I’ve got full faith in your DMing abilities just based off of this video alone 👏👏👏👏
New video! 🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations on the sponsorship.
I didn’t know even writing NPCs can make my skin crawl with gothic horror.
yayyy! skin crawling, mission accomplished!
8:06 lol Oh wow you're evil! And in the context of you being a DM you should take that as a compliment. 😆😁
finally someone sees how evil and dangerous I really am
One of the most memorable encounters for me in a recent campaign wasn’t combat, or exploring, or a puzzle. It was trying to convince a stubborn mayor that one of his town officials was a corrupt cultist. Having npcs who challenge the player through dialogue is so fun for me. It’s great for NPCs to have personality, but if they just always agree with the players then the world and the story don’t feel as engaging.
I watch few of your contents, but you really explain well what you trying to say. Thanks for all the help you are telling us and keep the good work.
Aah thank you so much! I always worry whether I’m explaining things clearly! I sometimes struggles being concise hahah, so writing it down before filming really helps
This video is really good, thank you for making it. The idea of the npc bones is very nice. I also use some tables from "Persons of Interest" its a small pdf with lots of tables and ideas on how to make the npc background. Like "what does he want?", "what power does he hold over the players", it fits very well with your meat and bone analogy 😊
This is great info, I love how I can also apply this to my characters I wish to make in other peoples campaigns, too. Also your accent is absolutely soothing!
Some fantastic tips in here, and great use of infotainment.
On an unrelated note, your voice and accent is wonderful to listen to.
Just saw the shoutout to your channel on DnD Shorts' new video. Congrats on making the big time!
I have never before subscribed to a channel after watching only one single video. I did so today! This video is absolute gold!
this makes me so incredibly happy
Always looking forward to your content. Well-written, well-produced, tons of inspiration! Thanks. 🙏
Great tips! I think it can be so easy to lose sight of the fact that our NPCs ultimately serve a purpose!
purpose flavored bone stew!
The videos keep getting better! Very fun analogy to creating an NPC as some sort of Flesh Golem 🤣
aaah thank you that makes me so happy to hear! I was really unsure right before uploading this one hahahaha
@@corkboardsandcuriosities You have the gift as a talented teacher and dungeon master
As a beginning GM this advice is liberating and enlightening, thank you!
Instantly subbed when I saw the manual subtitles
Love the editing!! Keep up the stellar work :D
This is a fascinating chanel. Your approach to DnD intrigues me.
Yeah this channel is a real gem. Hard to believe how few subscribers she has. For now, anyway.
@4saken404 Hahaha I’ve been posting videos for less than a year, I’d say that the channel is already doing pretty good!
Congrats on the sponsorship! And thanks for this really helpful video, I've been struggling with NPC's as of late so this was perfectly timed!
This is great advice. I've seen some of these techniques work in games recently, especially crafting NPCs specifically in relation to player characters.
Beautiful & lovely accent. Your advice couldn't be more helpful. I'm working on my first campaign. :)
Butch, who's motorcycle is this? It's not a motorcycle, baby it's a chopper. Who's chopper is this? Zed's. Who is Zed? Zed's dead baby... Zed's dead.
y'know, you're not the first one to make that comparison hahaha
@@corkboardsandcuriosities your likeness and vocal cadence is uncanny. Her distinct vocals and innocence is what makes her performance memorable 30 years later and it is definitely a hallmark of why your channel is so appealing. Your presentation of this material is as lovely as you. Please keep up the good work.
I've seen a few of your videos now and I always find them helpful and fun, thanks for all you do!
Interesting and useful thoughts as always, Val, thanks. Your sophisticated fashion is quite contrasted to your dark theming of your script, ha!
I think this was one of the most usefull videos about NPC creation that I saw. Loved it ❤
What a beautiful voice you have, I need to roll save for Constitution to prevent my heart from melting
Great and practical advice! The idea of turning info dumps into active conversations is one I'll need to try in my next game 😁.
I like start with where an NPC is, why they are there, what they want and how they will receive the party. I then flash them out. Great ideas here 🫡
Now I feel I need a black market flesh golem dealer. The parts are fresh, just don't ask questions.
That sounds like a cool creepy NPC just by premise alone!
I can’t tell if you meant IRL or as an NPC. Either way I’m all up for it.
@@corkboardsandcuriosities as an NPC of course... I would never condone black market flesh golems... Never...
Love your videos and your aesthetic, and this is a great approach to npc's. On the last topic, I find that if you just treat them with a little respect, if not love, then you'll have little problem with your golems. They just want to be accepted for who they are. Also, they really don't appreciate when you try to make them a mate, unless they ask. Try listening to them. That's all they need. After all, the real friends are the golems we made along the way. ❤
Strange concepts, but it's always nice to improve our NPC's.
Love your voice, keep the videos coming!
"strange" to me, is always a compliment
thank you!
I generally run mysteries for Vaesen, D&D, & Call of Cthulhu, and I regularly ask players for NPC contacts and important backstory figures. They key is to ensure that the "Bones" are a meaningful connection to the PC, but are also important for exploring the setting, culture, themes, clues, party relationships, and multiple character backstories. When your players realize that the NPCs are relevant to multiple players as they know other PCs and NPCs, you get a lot more buy-in. :)
I've been a DM for a while now, and have discovered that I'm not an expert with voices and personalities, mine ideas are not exceptional in that regard. However, I started using my npc's as tools. They are the means to my ends. If the npc is involved with something, that makes them useful for my players. Since a pc doesn't know them personally, making them likeable trough quirks is difficult. However, we tend to like useful people. After they meet, and I can tell that the players like or dislike them, then I invest into said npc and further develop them into the good / evil thing that I need. Besides, in my opinion it's more interesting to have a nobleman who's involved with politics and espionage, rather than a goofy shopkeeper.
yes absolutely! I suck at voices tbh, and even if I found a few tricks to differentiate my NPCs without necessarily voice acting, I know that is absolutely not a requirement (or even really a key factor) in playing NPCs. Purposeful design is where it's really at!
Always great to see another of your videos pop up! Food for thought (what do Golems eat?)
In time, they eat you!
@@corkboardsandcuriosities a comforting thought, that I will live on in my creations.
I love this style of video. Great information conveyed efficiently. It kept my interest the whole time
Your videos are just so good! I'm taking all of this for my next campaign for sure ^^
I've never heard any advice like this on TH-cam before, but I really needed to hear this. I gotta remember that this is a game. It doesn't matter how "realistic" or "deep" an NPC is if it doesn't serve the game in some way.
Congrats on the sponsorship! I'd use your link if I wasn't already backing it :-D
hell yeah! I'm super excited they reached out, the kickstarter looks so goooooood
Love this channel!
Best npc video I've seen! Keep making content you're great!
This is great advice! It's easy to fall into the trap of just making a cool person -- and forgetting that they need to serve and in-game purpose
yes! I think with NPCs is the moment we tend to forget that the most easily, and i've definitely made that mistake a lot haha
Glad this resonates!
Thanks for another great video! Useful info, entertaining presentation, and I love your humor. Also, you have a good voice for asmr
Another thought provoking and insightful video. As always…. Thank you!
i really like this. i think the part that stuck out to me was focusing on the goal of the character and not so much who or what they are. i've had a project lately where i'm trying to make a campaign module and i have to fill a small town with npc's. and it's such a tiring task to come up with useful data about this or that character. stepping back and asking 'what purpose is the character supposed to serve' really makes the whole exercise feel different.
I absolutely love your content! Extremely inspiring! Please never stop
This was a FANTASTIC video! Thank you! I recognize through this what my NPCs have been missing: Their bones! They all skipped half of flesh day for sure but they've never experienced Bone day!
Well now I'm running through em all to give em bones. Excited to watch my players experience the power of bonomancy!
The mirror reminds me of the multiple and most intriguing functions a foil serves. Self reflection and inspection.
Amazing stuff. I am stealing this right away.
As any good necromancer will tell you, the real treasure was the friends we made along the way
You're accent and style aesthetic is amazing 👌I recently made a rival (+crew) for one of my PCs who is a proud ranger. His rival is a cocky young female ranger and he has been eagerly accepting every challenge she has thrown at him and the rest of the Party is loving it too.
Amazing video. as always. Helped me a lot with my world building. Thank you!
I found your channel today and I love all your videos! 😊
I love this framework! To the point and helpful, thank you
Creating mirrors for your PCs is an excellent choice. I have noticed that my players get invested when they reflect the worst or deepest parts to a character. So that is definitely true. What has also helped me is creating NPCs that have clear goals that are counter to the PCs. I run a lot of investigation games so, having these conflicting goals, can really make the investigation feel more exciting!
Great video, as a new DM I've been focusing on the roleplay/fluff part too much...time for me to tackle the meta 😂
Going to have to watch this again to make a checklist/recipe for NPC creation.
Love your editing style!
Great ideas and you made them very clear. Thank you :)
Amazing tips! Really love all of your videos😊
I’ve had a handful of especially memorable NPCs over the course of my games. One was a creepy pale demon with a long drooling tongue who spoke like The G-Man and was always helpful but in a weird way, like offering to suck eldritch horrors out of the brain of a player who was suffering from information overload. Another character was a ditzy Druid with a Jackalope familiar who simply exuded the essence of filth. I made subtle references to those characters later on (months to years later irl) and the entire party instantly recognized them and shouted “No!” when they realized they might end up interacting with them again. I was so proud that they had such a visceral reaction to these characters, especially since in the case of the stinky Druid, there was no out of character reason to have such a reaction to the mere smell of her, but the impression was strong enough that they acted like it was real.
As ANY good necromancer will tell you, you can in fact make a flesh golem out of a single colossal tongue or an entity without a skeletal system, like a gelatinous cube or giant Amoeba. A necromancer may do many things, but remember the task you have for this creation.
I love your Drakkenheim setting.
2 mins into the video. So far, excellent. Then kitty makes an entrance. That's when I subscribed.
Kitty is the real star of this channel. He usually sits on my lap while i'm recording, but the past few videos he's decided he no longer wants to be in the shadows.
Very much appreciate the idea about how the psychological landscape of NPCS can become the locus for the conflict, rather than being elements within a conflict.
Also, very much like the link between necromancy and the hermeneutic framework. The necromancer in me very much appreciates it.
Great video and advice, but the only thing I can think about regarding bones and NPCs... is the NPC Brennan Lee Mulligan used in escape the bloodkeep who was worried about his bones. Too worried probably.
That's cool and all but you forgot the part where you try to understand what they seek in an ideal partner and insert into the campaign an npc modeled specifically for them (then have them die/betray them)
hands down one of the best ttrpg channels!
This is excellent, thanks for the advice!
Super cool. Ça me donne de super idée pour mes futures parties :)
I love your work a lot. I'm just sad that your such a young tube youber. I totally want you binge watch you videos all day long!! please keep up the fantastic work.
Love the video, but I definitely only clicked on it originally because I was hoping for a reference to Brennan Lee Mulligan's NPC Avanash from Escape from the Bloodkeep. "What is crazy about wanting to keep my bones?!?"
remember there is situs inversus and situs perversus for orgen placemant. inversus (when your organs are mirror image of what they would be normally) and perversus (when an organ is placed in a weird spot)
damn, thats plain amazing advice. Thank you very much
Awesome video. Side effect: this really makes me want to roll a Necromancer for my next campaign. Oh well.
this video is lovely
A very profound video! Hopefully the cool D&Dudes gave you a shout out too ☺️
Such weird and alien thoughts! I will have to watch the video again to gain sufficient understanding.
“weird and alien”… I feel seen 🥹
Excellent advice. I’m taking notes 😇
In this thumbnail you look like a Greek statue 🧜🏻♀️
that's because I am one
_hair flip_
Woah! 😱 How you get a sponsorship from the Dungeon Dudes!? 😭😱 THATS SO COOL (I’m jealous o_o)
Also I love your video :3 love the aesthetic :3
New to your channel. This is excellent advice!!
That's definitely an interesting thumbnail to catch my attention
this begs the question of what the tendons of NPC-crafting are
silly accents?
Great video, as usual!
Absolutely useful insights ❤
May we all have the calcium of player character relatability and and vitamin D of engaging social encounters to avoid osteopenia in our NPC :)
And feed your NPCs enough milk, for heaven’s sake!