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

@jackorion8590

3 ай бұрын

@theadhdm we have historical records of great doctor Frankenstein making a bride already, my good sir. Shall we follow his esteemed blueprints?

@TheADHDM

3 ай бұрын

@@jackorion8590 Eeeh what's the worst that could happen, sure

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

You should have gotten the flesh golem extended warranty

@evanhoffman7995

3 ай бұрын

Did I request thee, Master, from thy dice to mold me NPC? Did I beseech thee from stat blocks to promote me?

@z-beeblebrox

2 ай бұрын

@@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

@TheLoveTruffle

3 ай бұрын

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.

@hawkname1234

3 ай бұрын

@@TheLoveTruffle Quantum NPC prep!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

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

@phoenixdzk

3 ай бұрын

@@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

@phoenixdzk

3 ай бұрын

@@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 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.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

“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

@eaglelord145

3 ай бұрын

@@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!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

@@eaglelord145 thanks so much! and that is indeed a very good rule to GM by!

@mathmusicandlooks

3 ай бұрын

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.

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

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

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! Really love the idea of making the conversation a mini-game, and designing NPCs specifically to push the players' buttons.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

Thanks! My entire life's purpose is to push players' buttons.

Off-topic, but I do appreciate that you tagged this video for D&D and TTRPGs! I get that TTRPG creators kind of have to tag everything "D&D" for the algorithm's sake, but it's always a relief to see acknowledgement that other tabletops exist. This video is making me appreciate Sandpoint, a major town in Pathfinder's lore, a lot more. That town is full of vivid NPCs a GM can draw on to prompt relationships and conflict. You just have to browse and then generate some coincidental meet-cutes (or whatever the enemy version of this is).

@koboldcatgirl

10 күн бұрын

Shoutout to Koruvus, the rival who was always doomed to die. They fought his horrifically mutated Lamashtu-scarred remnants two days ago. His PC rival does not know how to feel about it, just as planned. He was designed for her to hate him before he died.

This video does a great job of talking about baking narrative utility into NPCs, but on the subject of how to make your NPCs "feel real", in creative writing the basis of character can be broken into 5 parts [they actually also call these the "Five Bones", coincidentally]: Strengths - [what do they excel at, what excites them, what qualities of them do others find agreeable] Weaknesses - [what do they struggle with, what are the less admirable parts of their personality, what are their shortcomings] Desires - [what do they want, usually most effective if they have short term, long term, and continuous wants, these often connect with each other] Fears - [what upsets them, what do they have to lose, think of both immediate concrete fears and long term abstract fears] Actions - [what are they doing, why are they doing it, how does it interact with their strengths/weaknesses, and how does it help them reach their goal or mitigate their fears] Those five things are seen as the critical elements to make a character "feel real" in fiction. Any other details you add to the character should feed into these aspects of their personality, either matching them or being in tension with them. This push and pull creates compelling character dynamics. For an example, here's how I wrote a random innkeeper the other day Innkeeper [example] Strengths - never forgets a face or conversation, can talk their way out of anything, reads people like books, non-threatening Weaknesses - eavesdropper, over-confident, often perceived as a pushover, greedy Desires - [long term] wants to expand business, [continuous] wants to draw more customers, [short term] resolve business conflict with new inn across the road Fears - losing business to competitor, failing at self-actualization [not making it as a small business owner], stagnation Those are pretty simple, but I started there. Then I decided on a whim they should be an exuberant goblin named Beekibee. From there, the action seemed natural: Action - Beekibee overhears PCs at a table drinking, asks them if they would be interested in starting a brawl at the Inn across the road and "accidentally" lighting it on fire in exchange for a partial ownership stake in Beekibee's Inn. And suddenly we went from generic Innkeeper to Beekibee, a grimy scheming little goblin that you mentally imagine to always be on the edge of every conversation in the bar, always listening for the right hands he might be able to employ to do his dirty work. I might flesh Beekibee out further - why does he own an inn? why is he not with other goblins? does he have a family and, if so, what's their relationship like? etc. I can think that up on the fly if the PCs ask [Beekibee would lie about all of those, which would be in-character], but just from that paragraph's worth of traits and actions I already have hooks to get the PCs interested in Beekibee, whether as a potential employer/business partner or antagonist if the PCs decide to not go along with his plan. This can seem like a lot of work, but remember that you can work backwards from where that character is to figure out what they should be like. I want to make a blacksmith who doesn't seem to like their work. Why wouldn't they? > family business, not their choice. What would she do if she could do something else? > Singer. Already from there, we've got a skilled blacksmith with a tense relationship to her family who dreams of being a singer, dreads each day she wakes up to the smell of iron, and is afraid she will die an old blacksmith with children who are blacksmith. She's looking for a reason to shut the place down, pack it in, and run away from her old life, but each day she hammers away with only the odd interruption of a customer coming in to look at her wares or place an order, her only excitement the times she gets to go off on someone trying to short-sell her for the work she already feels she's sunk too much of her own precious time into. She seems agitated - call her Brennende [Norwegian for 'burning']. Give her hard-set features hiding green eyes that seem like they are always looking somewhere beyond what's in front of her and dry brown curls held back by a delicately-shaped iron clip, wearing sweat-stained canvas clothes under a worn black metal apron, oiled brown leather boots with singed metal carpal guards, and a thick leather gloves caked with grime from constantly handling metal. When the PCs walk into her workshop, they hear her singing a song in time with her hammer strikes. She doesn't react to them entering - she has to finish hammering out the impurities in a blade before it cools too much. She keeps singing. They listen and hear a bittersweet song about longing to travel the sea. She finally quenches the blade and takes the moment to look at the party through the cloud of steam, her song gone and a frown settled on her face. She finally asks them what they want while looking over her work, her eyes on the edge with the sword extended in the direction of the party. And just like that, we have a character in about a minute.

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!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

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!

Great video! Love the gothic body horror motifs and happy to see you getting the sponsorship.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

gothic and body horror is everything i live for _deep bow_

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.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

2 ай бұрын

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!

Way too useful and thought-provoking AND I love your hair

I'm so happy you got a sponsorship, your videos are nuggets of gold

New video! 🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations on the sponsorship. I didn’t know even writing NPCs can make my skin crawl with gothic horror.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

yayyy! skin crawling, mission accomplished!

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.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

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!

Now I feel I need a black market flesh golem dealer. The parts are fresh, just don't ask questions.

@NamelessMonk

3 ай бұрын

That sounds like a cool creepy NPC just by premise alone!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

I can’t tell if you meant IRL or as an NPC. Either way I’m all up for it.

@namelessspook7987

3 ай бұрын

@@corkboardsandcuriosities as an NPC of course... I would never condone black market flesh golems... Never...

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.

@nathanpetrich7309

Ай бұрын

They weren't even interrogating the right NPC!

8:06 lol Oh wow you're evil! And in the context of you being a DM you should take that as a compliment. 😆😁

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

finally someone sees how evil and dangerous I really am

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 👏👏👏👏

Great tips! I think it can be so easy to lose sight of the fact that our NPCs ultimately serve a purpose!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

purpose flavored bone stew!

I have never before subscribed to a channel after watching only one single video. I did so today! This video is absolute gold!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

15 күн бұрын

this makes me so incredibly happy

I've seen a few of your videos now and I always find them helpful and fun, thanks for all you do!

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!

Strange concepts, but it's always nice to improve our NPC's. Love your voice, keep the videos coming!

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

"strange" to me, is always a compliment thank you!

Always looking forward to your content. Well-written, well-produced, tons of inspiration! Thanks. 🙏

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!

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!

The mirror reminds me of the multiple and most intriguing functions a foil serves. Self reflection and inspection.

Instantly subbed when I saw the manual subtitles Love the editing!! Keep up the stellar work :D

Just saw the shoutout to your channel on DnD Shorts' new video. Congrats on making the big time!

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 🫡

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 ^^

In this thumbnail you look like a Greek statue 🧜🏻‍♀️

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

that's because I am one _hair flip_

This is a fascinating chanel. Your approach to DnD intrigues me.

@4saken404

3 ай бұрын

Yeah this channel is a real gem. Hard to believe how few subscribers she has. For now, anyway.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

@4saken404 Hahaha I’ve been posting videos for less than a year, I’d say that the channel is already doing pretty good!

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 advice. I've seen some of these techniques work in games recently, especially crafting NPCs specifically in relation to player characters.

Congrats on the sponsorship! I'd use your link if I wasn't already backing it :-D

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

hell yeah! I'm super excited they reached out, the kickstarter looks so goooooood

Best npc video I've seen! Keep making content you're great!

I absolutely love your content! Extremely inspiring! Please never stop

Thanks for another great video! Useful info, entertaining presentation, and I love your humor. Also, you have a good voice for asmr

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. ❤

The videos keep getting better! Very fun analogy to creating an NPC as some sort of Flesh Golem 🤣

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

aaah thank you that makes me so happy to hear! I was really unsure right before uploading this one hahahaha

@danielzarkos

3 ай бұрын

@@corkboardsandcuriosities You have the gift as a talented teacher and dungeon master

I think this was one of the most usefull videos about NPC creation that I saw. Loved it ❤

As any good necromancer will tell you, the real treasure was the friends we made along the way

Some fantastic tips in here, and great use of infotainment. On an unrelated note, your voice and accent is wonderful to listen to.

Always great to see another of your videos pop up! Food for thought (what do Golems eat?)

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

In time, they eat you!

@joolsgrommers1466

3 ай бұрын

@@corkboardsandcuriosities a comforting thought, that I will live on in my creations.

Another thought provoking and insightful video. As always…. Thank you!

Great ideas and you made them very clear. Thank you :)

Great and practical advice! The idea of turning info dumps into active conversations is one I'll need to try in my next game 😁.

Amazing tips! Really love all of your videos😊

Love this channel!

Beautiful & lovely accent. Your advice couldn't be more helpful. I'm working on my first campaign. :)

This is excellent, thanks for the advice!

Love your editing style!

I love this framework! To the point and helpful, thank you

I found your channel today and I love all your videos! 😊

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!

Interesting and useful thoughts as always, Val, thanks. Your sophisticated fashion is quite contrasted to your dark theming of your script, ha!

Amazing video. as always. Helped me a lot with my world building. Thank you!

What a beautiful voice you have, I need to roll save for Constitution to prevent my heart from melting

Just discovered your channel. This video alone is well worth subscribing.

I've never heard any advice like this on KZread 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.

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

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

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!

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

@corkboardsandcuriosities

2 ай бұрын

Haaa merci et bienvenue!

Going to have to watch this again to make a checklist/recipe for NPC creation.

Excellent advice. I’m taking notes 😇

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!

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)

New to your channel. This is excellent advice!!

Getting my ADHD called out hard today when the three examples are exactly the kind of NPC I like to toss into scenarios. It helps that those are all great opportunities for interesting yet open-ended interactions. The decision to agree with the conspiracy theorist can spin off into a whole sseries of events that wouldn't have transpired, in the same way deciphering their theories from truth could.

Absolutely useful insights ❤

Great video, as a new DM I've been focusing on the roleplay/fluff part too much...time for me to tackle the meta 😂

Super cool. Ça me donne de super idée pour mes futures parties :)

this video is lovely

This is very helpful!

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.

damn, thats plain amazing advice. Thank you very much

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.

May we all have the calcium of player character relatability and and vitamin D of engaging social encounters to avoid osteopenia in our NPC :)

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

And feed your NPCs enough milk, for heaven’s sake!

Every npc my CoC group has wound up liking was a conversational adversary. The puzzle advice is accurate. Memorable silly accents help sometimes too ^^'

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.

Such weird and alien thoughts! I will have to watch the video again to gain sufficient understanding.

@corkboardsandcuriosities

3 ай бұрын

“weird and alien”… I feel seen 🥹

Great video, as usual!

hands down one of the best ttrpg channels!

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.

i love your style :)

Thanks, great advice 😎🤘🍻

You made me feel more secure in my creations

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?!?"

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

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.

amazing video

A very profound video! Hopefully the cool D&Dudes gave you a shout out too ☺️

Awesome video. Side effect: this really makes me want to roll a Necromancer for my next campaign. Oh well.

Love your videos.

Amazing stuff. I am stealing this right away.

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.

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.