All my players grew up with games like Zelda. When I have an NPC suggest a terrible idea, they don't see a terrible idea, they see a side-quest.

@ataxias8183

3 жыл бұрын

new side-quest the npc thinks it would be a good idea for your group to attack this chicken do you accept?

@davidweihe6052

3 жыл бұрын

@@ataxias8183 Given how tired we all are of iron rations, yes! Anyone remember the oregano?

@Zeftax

4 ай бұрын

A different problem, but with the group I'm DMing for right now, on session 1, I gave them this huge plot hook where there is a clockwork kraken in the bay and it has to be disabled before they can leave (which some of the PC were about to do before the kraken appeared). So what did they do? Did they go to the rathouse to discuss this issue with the mayor? Did they go to the gnome NPC that makes clockwork machines, which one of the PCs knew from their backstory? No, they went to a tavern, asked for rumours (I didn't have any prepared as I didn't anticipate that) and looked at the quest board (same thing). In short, they completely ignored the kraken and went to investigate some stolen sheep instead.

@indus7841

2 ай бұрын

@@Zeftax shouldnt of mentioned the sheep then :P

@Zeftax

2 ай бұрын

@@indus7841 I know, but they were just looking for a generic quest and completely ignored the main plot hook. I think sending them on an unplanned sidequest is better than a railroad. They have now succesfuly overthrown the bandit overlord whose gang was living in an old keep (they had some spies looking at a quarry to make plans to steal gunpowder (alternative way to defeat the kraken), and they were the ones stealing the sheep), which was previously occupied by a wizard who (as they will discover from some scrolls they will find there next session), was working on a magic concentration device (fresnel lens) (and then went mad from the mercury on lens rotation beds) and went to a small island just off of the main one to make a dungeon and continue the development of the lens (he is now a nothic there). They will also find a clockwork parrot, who the gnome NPC already mentioned he lost (if they do not make the connection, the parrot will mention it as well), so I hope they will bring the parrot to him and can learn that the kraken can be disabled with magic, but its too weak to reach him from a distance (and thus they need the fresnel lens to get the magic to reach the kraken). After this I hope they will be able to defeat the kraken and go from the tutorial island on the pirate themed adventure we had planned xD.

8:22 *The guide*, the shorcut, the point A to point B guy. 9:40 *The advancement*, the plot-hook. they advance the plot. 10:02 *The rival*, not evil, provides some friendly competition for the party. 11:56 *The mentor*, the voice of the DM. 13:46 *The long term*, the living npc (no more than 3 at a time). 15:08 *Support*, makes the lives of npc easier, the lil helpers, almost like Santa elves. 16:12 *Comic reflection*, the funny guy.

@penn6173

3 жыл бұрын

Legend

@Sinebeast

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you !

@oldsloppy69

3 жыл бұрын

Thane of time stamps

@MitchellTF

3 жыл бұрын

What strikes me most about this..is how LITTLE one of my enemies...actually uses this. I myself tend towards, quite a bit, the "Long Term". Or the "Support".

@danielbekmand5470

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you

"Building up courage to jump off a bridge." I laughed way too hard at that.

@PhyreI3ird

3 жыл бұрын

And his immediate reaction to what just came out of him made it even better xD

@IAmValenwind

3 жыл бұрын

@@PhyreI3ird and his continued increasing darkness was just icing on top. lol

This was incredibly helpful, but we all know that Sam was the real hero of LOTR.

@BrianTimmonsTX

3 жыл бұрын

Tolkien himself said as much.

@giovaniteixeira67

3 жыл бұрын

Sam is fat.

@sm5574

3 жыл бұрын

Indeed. He's there from the beginning, and he's the only one left at the end. (Not left alive, I mean, but the implication is that everyone else went their separate ways, leaving Sam to his life.)

@ohiograssman1564

3 жыл бұрын

It's OK Mr frodo. I'll do it for ya lol

@andy10121984

3 жыл бұрын

You misspelled bill the pony.

"How does a dwarven blacksmith know about 3000 year old elven cooking techniques?" "They had a good ale! And, I mean, once you have a good ale...you need some food to go with it..." "...How long did it take you?" "Ten years."

@MitchellTF

3 жыл бұрын

One of the more hilarious things, is when a one-shot NPC has the players latch onto them, and I'm like. "Okay, fine...this person is now really important." Conversely, I attempt to 'test' an NPC, and she goes over flat. (I once decided NOT to do a betrayal...because the NPCs were expecting it too much, so I decided...meh, the betrayal was unnecessary, and I need to train them to trust NPCs again)

@billstephens396

3 жыл бұрын

- my gambler NPC - Betcha I can do it in 5 years...

7:45 I'm not agreeing with this. You CAN make a shopkeeper very interesting. I had one NPC character for my campaign, it was a shopkeeper, who was very unsatisfied with her job and looked up to the adventurers. She was very curious and amazed by their stories. The players really liked her. Besides her giving many discounts, she was also pretty smart and fun, but she lacked the confidence to leave her shop and do something else. One night her shop was raided, and she was gone. The players put down their main mission to find her. Reason that she was kidnapped was because she hid away a magic weapon the bandits wanted to find. The group rescued her, but in the last fight she also found her courage and she started to fight back: She rescued herself. After that, she took out the magic weapon she had been hiding for so long and decided to become an adventurer herself. She accompanied the party for a few sessions after that, they taught her about combat. She eventually became a fighter and seperated ways with the group, she wanted to start her own group of adventurers. The group of players clearly showed that they found this ''side quest'' very wholesome, and Lydia Shortstep, the Shopkeeper, is still an NPC my players talk about after 2 years. :) Maybe I'll give her a comeback.

It's also useful to subvert expectations for some of these. For the Guide archetype: my players arrive at a town just north of the southern jungles. The players know the jungle as having a reputation for being extremely dangerous and impossible to navigate. In the town, they are encountered by Rico, a local guide who boasts about his great experience navigating the treacherous southern jungles. The players hire him and go to the jungles. As they travel, Rico continues singing high praises of his accomplishments in documenting the flora and fauna of the jungles. Also, he reveals an iron strongbox, whose contents he says are for absolute and dire emergencies alone. He does not say what's in the box. It's the first night in the jungle and the players are making camp. So far they have relied on Rico for navigation and foraging. Rico comes to camp with what he claims is the white dragon plant, a rare delicacy which can be boiled to make a tea so delicious it's heartbreaking. He brews it, takes a sip, and immediately falls over dead. The players open his box, and find inside... a sandwich. Will the players survive the jungles and manage to navigate to their destination? What will they do when the thieve's guild frames them for the murder of Rico? :) Feel free to steal this.

@blahrandomwteva

3 жыл бұрын

This is awesome! *Yoink*

@radred609

3 жыл бұрын

Delectable tea... or deadly poison >.>

@gnarthdarkanen7464

3 жыл бұрын

I like to set up a sort of market-share for "hirelings"... SO there's always more than one choice for whatever job the PC's are hiring for... like a guide. Once in a while, I'll have a guide in town who's WAY over priced compared to everybody else, and as glib in "the terminology" as anyone around... Only problem is, when he's hired every trip takes at least 3 times as long as it would just using the middle-of-the-road guy or guys... It's fun leaving clues around them as I work this kind of NPC... I mean... sooner or later, it gets obvious when you're "being taken for a ride". Sometimes the party just goes along with it, and it can take a while before they start "testing" their surroundings, like carving specific runes or symbols or even their names into trees and stuff... AND then go looking when they get the next "perception check" that seems to indicate something's up... ...and yes... sometimes it gets an NPC killed. BUT it's only an NPC... I can just build another. ;o)

@kasane1337

3 жыл бұрын

@@radred609 Oh, Iroh remembers that uncertainty, but always risks it.

@danacoleman4007

3 жыл бұрын

@@radred609 thank you, uncle

“Elrond is here because Elrond is great!” -best line ever.

I think there should be the emotional attachment NPC. This character has one purpose: to be beloved and then die horribly.

@blahrandomwteva

3 жыл бұрын

Any NPC the party gets attached to automatically becomes this NPC type 😈

@MrZAP17

3 жыл бұрын

It should be noted that their death doesn't have to be inevitable. The players just have to care enough to do a *lot* of babysitting. And if they slip up, well, that's on them.

@PhyreI3ird

3 жыл бұрын

If you make that an NPC type you employ, players are much more likely to notice and stop caring about your npcs. Play it smart and like Mr. ZAP said, don't force it. If you want it to have maximum impact I really think it needs to be from a mistake _they_ made.

@redravenriot3650

3 жыл бұрын

One of my players is dating an npc She’s pregnant of him Today I turned her into a frog and he panicked I should kill her

@blahrandomwteva

3 жыл бұрын

@@redravenriot3650 Or better yet, a high stakes rescue mission. Players (generally) love that shit.

I like to add a line of detail to each NPC's story each time the characters interact with them. It keeps me from falling off the deep end and backstorying everyone in the world, while NPC's my players latch onto wind up fully fleshed & developed.

So, I have this trio of NPCs in my game. One is an Advancement NPC that morphed into a Long Term NPC friend, one was a Guide that now serves as an Advancement NPC, and one is a Mentor. Over time, it evolved that the three of them had been adventures together when they were young, but only the Mentor had kept adventuring once they'd become successful (the other 2 retired and went into business for themselves). The Mentor has been nerfed to prevent her from becoming a shortcut by making her exceptionally old, so her magic is really good (8th level caster), but a 90 year old woman is in no position to trek around or engage in battle. The other two retired at roughly the NPC equivalent of lvl 7, so while they're still physically capable (dwarf and drow, so slow aging by comparison), they aren't strong enough to be much help against the big bad guy. The retired two have admitted that they just couldn't continue adventuring because the third was just a bit too crazy, destructive and impulsive, accidentally burning down taverns by using fire spells indoors or angering people at really inconvenient moments (she's a "classic" CN...not evil, just disruptive, though now mellowed with age), making her also a bit of a dark mirror as a Mentor for our PCs. Finding out all the stories about the NPCs adventures has been fun for the players. They're starting to ask a lot of questions about the history of the troupe. My players actually want to do a short side game now playing the NPCs in a PC party, as a prequel to their current game. Lol.

One warning for the "rival" in that inexperienced or unaware DMs might actually turn them into a DM character insert. You need to ask yourself if you really need this rival npc or will the players just see this as you the DM trying to create a character that you're playing who is better than the players. To prevent this, consider having the character not start out as a rival, or have the players complete a quest and move to a new town where they might find this character now with a grudge because the players stole their chance at glory. Some rivalries, certainly in real life, can have one side or both wanting nothing more to happen than have the other person fail, be ruined and humiliated because they are petty and bitter individuals, but there's also the kind who tries to elevate the other side, in this case the players, to make sure that they are keeping up to their own ever increasing skill. You can then wrap the "rival" into one of the other NPC types so it isn't just the players asking "Why is the dm using this character as a chance to be a jerk to us in the game?" Make them the begrudging guide, or a mentor or trainer, they could be a long term npc that doesn't have to be around the party. Maybe they could go away on their own quest due to the actions of players. Of course there are people out there who do seek out to make these characters for the sole purpose of one upping their own players but I didn't want to touch on that aspect as I wanted to highlight other ways this npc could be done.

@tomasfrybl3597

3 жыл бұрын

As an inexperience and unaware DM I gotta thank you for this!

@gnarthdarkanen7464

3 жыл бұрын

It's worth pointing out that there's a difference between a "healthy competitor" and "a jerk"... It does take a bit of real-world experience to understand things like sportsmanship and good competition, as well as "quiet dignity and grace" in which we should aspire to accept our failures as well as our successes. Of course, letting the PC's best the "rival" and turning him into a sniveling mess of tears and anguish when they "win" is amusing, and can be cathartic to the Players as well. There is a lot of bad sportsmanship out there in the real world, and if you've ever been on the "consistently losing side" with a jerk in the room, it's kind of satisfying to have a similar "jerk" in game getting his karmic justice... and being a wuss about it. ;o)

@Vestlandsguten

3 жыл бұрын

In my games, these "rivals" create themselves, as the players continually betrays and cheats the npc's who started off as advancement-npc's. XD

@jasonreed7522

Жыл бұрын

1 way to create a rival is to have "public quests" where obviously multiple adventuring parties are going to he competing for the reward. (Probably best to have 3 other groups tops and only 1 is on the same quest at a time) This then makes these quests into a bit of a race, and you can have the players determine how much underhandedness happens by having the npc parties not do anything dirtier than the players have done. But they can also be cooperative if the show up midbossfight or have the players issue a quest themselves. (But if you really angered them then they could be a problem if they show up midbossfight as either new enemies or simply laughing from the sidelines)

Guy: "Sam never overshadowed Frodo" Me: "ummmmmm..."

"Only when the rocks fall together, does everybody die." ;)

The dude feeding pigeons in the park is actually the BBEG's lieutenant having a mid-life crisis, and depending on the PC's interaction they might have an in to the BBEG's lair. Or, maybe he is the BBEG! And they can turn him into an ally based on their interactions.

"the only 7 NPCs you will ever need" I think makes more sense. trying to read your title made my brain explode

@Velzhaed

3 жыл бұрын

Lol. I'm not the only one worried he's having a stroke.

@MyMagnificentSelf

3 жыл бұрын

The words order for the title I hate.

@patriciaebrahim3471

3 жыл бұрын

I clicked on this video to see if anyone else had commented on this. Glad i'm not alone

This was a great video. After thinking about the question, I realized that I would add a few more NPC's to the list. I noticed that the archetypes mentioned closely mirrored Jungian Archetypes: The Guide is the Explorer Archetype, The Advancement is the Magician Archetype, The Rival is the Hero Archetype, The Mentor is the Sage Archetype, The Long Term is the Lover Archetype, The Support is the Caregiver Archetype, and the Comic Reflection is of course the Jester Archetype. I already wanted to add the Antagonistic as the Outlaw Archetype (This being the contrary character like a gate guard you need to get past without killing), and the Extra as the Everyman Archetype (Faceless and indistinct from the crowd), which leaves the Ruler, Artist, and Innocent Archetypes. The Innocent NPC is of course the character / characters that need to be rescued. It's good to introduce this character in one of the other roles first, to establish their utility / pathos for the PC's. The Artist NPC is the mad scientist, Hephaestion smith, or crazy wizard that goes beyond what the rules traditionally allow. They create one-of-a-kind magic objects, threats, and locations. They differ from the Support character in being antagonistic as often as helpful, and they differ from the Antagonistic character in being largely neutral to the PC's. Finally, the Ruler Archetype is the character that is in charge of all the other NPC's. They can overlap with the Advancement, Antagonistic, or other archetypes, but are distinct in their narrative function to lend verisimilitude. The Ruler Archetype allows the PC's to access or contend against a wide variety of resources (soldiers, prisons, propaganda, money) that they would not otherwise encounter. While the other Archetypes tend to support the PC's in some way, the Ruler, Artist, and Antagonistic Archetypes tend to bend the story-narrative around them and provide more obstacles than aide.

I can't think of other types, but I can think of many times I have cross-typed NPC's. The cleric that disliked the NPC's and showed it at any chance, but was actually an important mentor who, slowly grew to like them and actively became a mentor. This was planed and based on the Master-Of-Arms from the movie The Black Shield Of Falworth.

@tomasfrybl3597

3 жыл бұрын

Cool, kind of like detective (officer, captain) Lance from the Green Arrow series.

I always feel like I might make it as a GM when I realize I've accidentally done something in my games intuitively that turns out to be a part of Guy's advice.

I was taking a drink when you mentioned Drop Bears and I nearly choked, that was a great tidbit to drop in. I laughed so hard after that. Thanks for the fantastic video!

@euansmith3699

3 жыл бұрын

Not just Drop-Bears; but Undead Drop-Bears... and poisonous to boot, I assume.

@dreadogastusf3548

3 жыл бұрын

@@euansmith3699 Thankfully not dire, undead Drop-Bears.

i used to be a janitor on the base and know exactly where to hit to deactivate the mega weapon, also i worked on the flagship and know all about it's special equimpent and .. *roll20* i yes i also was on special detachment strike force assigned to the prince ...

@chaosmastermind

3 жыл бұрын

But I'm not going to tell you anything about it, because I'm no snitch.

@elbruces

3 жыл бұрын

Finn in the Star Wars movies does this all the time. "I used to be a stormtrooper so of course I know the exact layouts of every Imperial facility we end up in!"

@chaosmastermind

3 жыл бұрын

@@elbruces Batman: Of course I can cure cancer, I have a batarang and a crime computer. I know where Atlantis is and how to Kill Superman too. I'm Batman.

No! (I cry dramatically) I need my cast of 197 intricately crafted DMP- I mean NPCs in order to guide my players through my fantasy world!

@stevevondoom4140

3 жыл бұрын

who else is going to find every secret passage immediately, and also the traps?!?!?! ;)

@billstephens396

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevevondoom4140 Don't forget the one who will win every contest at the fair to get a personal meeting with the Queen...

The minor NPCs that my players gravitate towards and become a big part of the story are often my favorite NPCs. In the second session of the campaign, they found a goat they used as bait to ambush a predator. The goat was named Kevin by one of the players, survived the encounter, and is now looked after by my party who treat him like a horned baby. Another favorite is a gang leader they were introduced to by a drunk dwarf and dragonborn in a tavern. He wasn't even supposed to be in my game, but he turned out to be an undercover member of an intelligence organisation in a land my PCs aren't all that familliar with. Now he and his asociates trade information with the party and it has worked out great so far.

Having GMed since the mid 80's, I'd say the list provided is accurate. Most of the NPCs in a game that the PCs come to know in some way will fall into these 7. One note I would add for new/novice GMs: Not all NPCs in this list need to have a fleshed out character sheet. Some will, but many will not. The guide who is only going to get the party across the sea, doesn't need to have a full stat list, rather keep a ledger of named NPCs the party interacts with with little notes about them. I often have a list of NPCs that consists of their name, where the party encountered them, physical and personality descriptions, and then a small list of skills or simple notes on stats like "master sailor", or "high strength score but low wisdom." These notes get added to as the game progresses and if you find that the NPC is being interacted with more and more, or that the notes on the NPC are becoming more of a laundry list of skills and abilities, then perhaps elevate them to a full NPC character sheet. I use a loose guideline that if the NPC has been in several sessions or the group have returned to them many times to the point that the NPC has been in 7+ sessions, then consider making a full sheet for them. There are exceptions to this, of course, and you have to play it by ear, by the feel of the game. The ship captain above, will probably never need a full sheet, no matter how many times your PCs interact with him, but the guide that has now traveled with the party for months and has become a major fixture in the group probably will.

Song passed down from the illiterate slaves "one ventures into the cave, one goes around the bend! Two reach an impasse at the brook, three venture for the seeeeea! Five rescue damsels of the land, Eight take the girls and fleeeeee! One, one, TWO and three, these are the old man's key! Five, eight, and then thirteen, the last one is my pleeeea!" All along a captured adventurer hid the answer of the dragons riddle in the slaves songs, in an attempt to get revenge on him... his last efforts to retain his dignity in defeat. A final 'muck you' to the dragon.

@MonkeyJedi99

3 жыл бұрын

A Fibonacci sequence riddle. I love it!

@MegaMawileTheNommer

3 жыл бұрын

@@MonkeyJedi99 I always love sequence riddles. They are obscure enough to make your players think, but (Often) easy enough that with a piece of paper at their disposal they will usually get it and have that great moment of "EUREKA!"

I like the tie-ins with LotR characters. It works as a great, concrete illustration of the various NPC types. "Get in the Swing with Archeron; grim-dark fantasy in the 1930s".

Not sure how this ended up in my recommended list but glad I clicked on it. Excellent video. I haven't played or run a game in some years but you brought back some great memories.

Excellent video. It really explains the purpose of characters and plot tools in a way that I think appeals to both new and advanced DMs. Well done, sir. I learned a lot

I love all of your videos! GM'ing for a couple years, I've unknowingly used only a few of these NPC types. I can't wait to make my adventures more structured with your advice!

This was so darn helpful. Thank you so much for sharing your insight with us! ❤

'No more than 3 long term NPCs in the party' - my party has adopted 5 at this point and refuse to let them go lol XD

@davidpoudrier4132

3 жыл бұрын

Our party just adopted a cow.

@twistanturnu529

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidpoudrier4132 Mine had a cow at one point but the player whose character owned it left our group so the cow went with him lol 😂

@Remagenify

3 жыл бұрын

Thats when you as the gm take out the sniper rifle and say "Numbers gotta be thinned, for the plot of course."

@MasumiSeike

3 жыл бұрын

welp... we are a party of 2 players, Bard/warlock (me) and Paladin/sorcerer (other player) as well as mother, Father, sister, niece of my character (the pali is in a relationship with my sister and step-day to my niece) 1 cat, boyfriend to my bard, adopted daughter of my bard as well as a dead Piddlewick II I had adopted in Barovia and who got killed as we didn't notice he walked away from camp that was like a son to my bard. and the Pali player just adopted another animal... We are the NPC's here...

Playing RPGs for over 25 years now (mainly the dark eye), this is a really focused and helpful little list to narrow down to the most important details of your NPCs. Thanks!

Mind blown! This is super helpful. I'm thinking about my various NPCs and how most don't have a function. Knowing what their role is will help me play them much better.

Thank you for posting this! As a pretty inexperienced GM that gonna start a new post-apo adventure, this helped me alot of what i needed!

Literally stopped and started the video dozens of times while taking notes on a second playthrough. Thanks; good stuff.

Still the very most useful DM tips video I've ever watched. Still sharing it a year later on DM groups.

Helpful one. Thanks. Also, I like how your style is evolving in videos. The more matter of fact presentation is good

Thanks for another fantastic video! Vital information and I like how simply it was laid out! Brilliant comparisons to the Lord of the Rings, made the types very easy to understand. Anyway, back to worrying about undead dropbears...

The ideas here blew my mind about the possibilities with NPCs. Thanks Guy!

This is a very important video. I have bookmarked it. This is the kind of video for which I subscribe.

Great tips! Helped me tremendously figure out some missing elements in the campaign I am running that has periodic highs, but seems to run on empty sometimes as the Players lack ideas at times or just come up with really horrible ones. :)

Thank you for doing these videos! They really help!

Omg, I needed this video! Thank you sm

This is a very informative video. The way you compared characters to LOTR really helped me understand what I need to do and what I can do with my NPCs. Thank you!

Very useful and thought-provoking vid. Thank you! I'll be using this info.😁

Great list, really helps design NPCs effectively, and highlights what the purpose of the NPCs should be. Thanks a lot!

Thank you, I was running only Advancement, Mentor and Support. Big help.

Man, what an excellent and thorough breakdown. Sub earned.

Awesome, gonna make it right! Thanks for the tips and keep it up!

Great insight. Thanks for sharing.

I'm just getting into D&D, this was really enlightening! I'd really love to be a DM but I feel like I need to know much more than I know now. Awesome explanations!

invaluable tips I will be saving this for later. Thank you so much. XOXO New DM.

It has been a long time since I have watched a video of Guy and it a breath of fresh air. Thanks buddy.

Outstanding! Thank you!

I applaud that intro. Well done with the rhyme!

Great video. Really helps identify what purpose an npc interaction should serve.

I missed so much near the start after the building up the courage to jump off a bridge bit from laughing. That almost broke me. Love your videos Guy.

Tracking the NPC types to LOTR characters is brilliant. Great way to find a very commonly understood context

@th3m4dj4ck

3 жыл бұрын

And yeah, I know, almost all RPG stuff tracks to LOTR. But that is also my point

I hit that subscribe button because you told me! And also because this video contains quite a good bunch of useful information.

Thanks! I really needed this video

Great video! Thanks for the tips

Thank you again!! 🖤🖤🖤

It's funny how I knew a lot of this before but Guy just puts it in a way that made it click. Going back to the drawing board and refining my NPC's. Thank you Guy!!!

This has been very useful. Right now i'm writing my first campaign and was fleshing out every NPC in case players fixate on them. Now I'm just going to try using these 7 archetypes and use very basic descriptions for the NPCS of every new town I make.

Great video. Thank you.

Can we all take a moment to recognize this man is a great resource to the rest of us. I always find myself coming back to him for guidance or gaining perspective outside of my own point of view. He is consistently putting out great videos that are very useful. 👏 👏 👏

This is absolutely wonderful! I am a bran new DM and this is exquisite advise.

This was a VERY helpful video.

Nice vid. I thoroughly agree with you.

Good advice! Thanks for the video

You surprised by your own dark depth was amazing. I love your mind.

Hey Guy I absolutely love this incredibly helpfull video. I would also love see a series in that style like the (insert number here) locations/treasures/curses/.. Anything that is helpfull for a modular campaign. Keep up the good work 😃👍

Great vid!

Very helpful. Thank you.

This makes me think of the npc’s I’ve already included and what role they played. The priest who both prevented the party from being arrested by forgiving them (they were bathing in the holy spring by the chapel) and gave info that if they went there and there in a different town and mentioned her name, they could get more help from someone who knows more then her. She showed a plot line. Jinny the young adventurer wanted to go slay a dragon but her elderly traveling father couldn’t go that far and thus had to slow her down. The party adopted her and promised the father they’d train her to be a propper adventurer. She always makes horrible rookie mistakes and needs to be told what strategy to use, she also tends to be comic relief. The mouse is the mvp, it holds no utility but it’s v Smol and seems sentient in some way. Also raises questions about the celtic/druidic part of the world it seems to be tied to. I got more npc’s like these that the party brings up when I ask them about what npc’s they like n stuff (feedback is good for me). Now no npc was made with a function in mind, but I can still see functions when I think about them.

Really good video Guy

Loved your video and subscribed. I've played and DMed since the 1970's but I had to cease due to medical issues. I plan to resume within a few weeks, this time in 5e. Listening to you, we seem to think alike.

great advice thank you!

Love your content! You're the best! This is my obligatory comment to enhance your KZread algorithm performance.

I love all your character voices!

Best reasons to hit the subscribe button ever. It's free, and it's there. If I was not already subscribed, that would have cinched it!

I have been lucky to have 2 Great GMs. Both had NPCs that we still love & talk about. One of them my character married! Thank you for posting!!!

In my head when the mentor explanation started: "Your health is low! Do you have any potions? ..or food?"

8th archetype - Alad Probably the most loved and famous NPC of your fans. Loved Alad in Ghosts of Saltmarsh show. Thank you.

Nice work on the video WIS +2

most enjoyable video and usefull advice

I would argue that "The Guide and the Advancement" are really about getting information into the hands of the player.

Very helpful video, but what I latched onto the most was from the beginning of the video. Flavoring one of the NPCs to be a super-fan of the party. Although my players would probably pull an Oblivion and find a mountain to throw them down

In the dark sun game I’m playing now that I think about it the guards/slaves my templar bought fell into a few of these roles. They were support characters in that they did small tasks for the party. They were also kinda dumb and would offer the comically stupid ideas. They also ended up being advancement NPCs in that when they were brutally killed by this defiler it made it clear who our enemy was and that said defiler was the next barrier to our progression.

Guy! The voice you use to introduce Acheron was boss. As much as I watch you, you always manage to pull another rabbit out of that hat!

Wait, shouldn't the title be: "The ONLY 7 NPC's you will ever need" ??? Kinda confusing...

@HowtobeaGreatGM

3 жыл бұрын

I honestly don't know. I think it should be: These are the 7 NPCs you ever need - but that doesn't work either... sigh

@SwedishNeo

3 жыл бұрын

@@HowtobeaGreatGM "Here's some NPCs you might need" is probably the most honest title for it. :p

@matthewparker9276

3 жыл бұрын

Only these are the 7 NPCs you will ever need, is also (I think) grammatically correct, but it doesn't sound right either.

@futuza

3 жыл бұрын

@@HowtobeaGreatGM The 7 NPC Archetypes?

@magonus195

3 жыл бұрын

@@HowtobeaGreatGM How about just "7 NPCs a GM Needs"

One of my favorite types of NPCs would be "The Irritant", basically an NPC that the players desperately need for some reason but who is either rude, or careless, or obnoxious in same way that drives the characters nuts. Also, there is "the McGuffin", an NPC that is central to the quest and who must be saved for the characters to succeed. McGuffins and Irritants can be fun types to combine.

More vids like this please

I am very impressed I would have never ever I would ever be here! my recomends brought me here. everything you said so far is spot on to my mind and thinking of what a DM should be and makes sense for role-play. I agree. 4th dimension magic sometimes happens but is extremely rare, the 7 gods must be, the, The.

Thanks! Very interesting ideas. I'm watching you video and learn English too

Brilliant analysis. I don't agree but that comes from your early statement about separating the NPC from the monster which I do not do. I try to view everything as it's motivation and hindrance. Within that context I can generally fit one or more of your 7 NPC archetype for directing and managing the game. So more in the spirit of Golem and how Golem's tragic story shows his motivation and hindrances. He is a bit of a monster but he does drive the story as per your NPC type. The reason why I frame him the way I do is because even if the party didn't come across him he would still have his motivation and hindrance and would still be acting based on that. His influence on the world would still occur even without player interaction; though, it might be limited to fishing and obsessing about evil fashion accessories in some cold dark wet place away from prying eyes.

I nearly always have an NPC in the player group... to influence the group for inside... send them on a bad track (or try to), send them on the right track (or try to) and to help make stuff move forward when the players are semi stuck. But my NPC is always kinda a follower... it's the PLAYERS stories after all... not the NPC`s one. // My shop keepers are often quite important in SMALL towns... there isn't 200 shops... so they often return to see the same vendor. Players often ends up becoming semi friend with vendros and stuff :P

The thing that this channel has thought me is the universal formula: [Yes the person/place holds the clue but the problem is [that]".

I wish guy would have recorded this intro in a starbucks so he'd freak everyone out

Thanks.