Quote from: RPGPunditThis forum should be about how to figure out ways to fix all of the "bad" parts, and help you do the "good" parts even better.

Okay, I'll bite.

My bad: I feel I am weak at NPC characterization. How do I get my players to connect with my NPCs in a meaningful way? How do I avoid forgetable setpeice NPCs?

Though this may be more of a craft thing... there you go. What are the good techniques?

The closest thing I have to an effective NPC technique is that proposed by Ray Winniger in his Dungeoncraft colums. Namely

1) Define the role(s) of the NPC in the game (amongst: provide tactical options, provide information, provide an example of some particular character type, provide opportunity for adventurte.)
2) Provide a secret for every NPC.

I tracked these for a while and it works... to an extent. But as life gets busier, I found this harder to do.

Quote from: Caesar SlaadOkay, I'll bite.

My bad: I feel I am weak at NPC characterization. How do I get my players to connect with my NPCs in a meaningful way? How do I avoid forgetable setpeice NPCs?

Though this may be more of a craft thing... there you go. What are the good techniques?

The closest thing I have to an effective NPC technique is that proposed by Ray Winniger in his Dungeoncraft colums. Namely

1) Define the role(s) of the NPC in the game (amongst: provide tactical options, provide information, provide an example of some particular character type, provide opportunity for adventurte.)
2) Provide a secret for every NPC.

I tracked these for a while and it works... to an extent. But as life gets busier, I found this harder to do.

You can try giving each major NPC a goal - why is the NPC here in game terms as opposed to in the metagame terms Winniger uses - and a couple mannerisms you can hang your hat on. For example "waves hands about when talking" or "speeks slowly and precisely" or "rubs chin when thinking" and the like. You don't need to do the whole funny voices and accents thing if you don't want to. In a recent In Harm's Way game I ran, the ship's captain would take off his reading glasses and slip them into a pocket or the drawer when people came into his cabin. This endeared him to the players, who saw it as a bit of harmless vanity in a recently middle-aged man, which made him very human. Little things are noticed by the players, and add up to a sense of verisimilitude that's hard to get any other way.

-clash

Almost anyone is going to do a better job at telling you how to prep NPCs than me.  But!  All hope is not lost.  I can still give you some techniques for shaping up your NPCs during the session itself.

I did an improv workshop over the weekend, and I fell mildly in love with the idea of "heightening" that they propose.  Basically, they point out how powerful it is to have an actor heighten either (a) the amount of minor detail the audience knows, (b) the emotional relationships between people or (c) the stakes of a situation.

So here's my recommendation:  When in doubt, with an NPC, take fifteen seconds, think of something in one of these categories, and throw it in.  You never know what players will bite at.  Here's how I'd do it:

   Me:  So the guard says "No.  None may pass without written authorization."
Players:  Oh, we should totally just kill this guy, but I guess as paladins we can't.  We try to convince him again.
Me:  (think, think ... relationship!)  He sees the amulet of your God.  "Oh ... your grace!  I did not realize!  I ... I ... " he seems very torn.  "I hesitate to bar the way of a man of God, but my orders ... what should I do, father?  Do I follow my duty, or my faith?"
Players:  Sheesh, Tony, always with the moral quandaries.  I tell him "You must do what you think is best."  Does he let us through?
Me:  (think, think ... stakes!)  He stands aside to let you through ... but just at that moment the castellan walks up, scowling.  "Alric!" he snaps, "What manner of dereliction of duty is this!"  Alric blanches.
Players:  Oh for pete's sake.  "The fault is mine ... I have been too insistent.  And yet, it is important that I proceed!"
Me:   (think, think ... detail!)  The castellan glowers.  "Alric, this is not like the time that you kept a cat at your post.  You almost disobeyed your sworn lord!"
Players:  Oh, that's so cute!  A castle guard with a little kitten tucked away in the back room?  Man, we gotta take Alric with us.  He rocks!
Me:  (stupefied)  Uh ... okay!Now the example I just gave is really pouring the heightening on.  I expect it's better used as an occasional spice ... to taste, y'know?  But examples are to exemplify, not for playing in

Good stuff, Tony. And easily rememberable, to boot. Stakes/relationship/details.

I think that's one of my biggest problems... when I get rushed during gameplay, I forget details. Little memory helpers are often a boon to me.

I like the heightening stuff Tony - consider it stolen

My main method is to give each NPC a reason to be there and something the characters will remember him by.  The reason could be a goal the NPC has, a conflict with one of the PCs, or to fill some other role in the game.  The PCs need a way to remember them too otherwise they just fade into the scenery.  Accents can work here, but I'm careful with them.  I can do several accents rather badly, but none well.  So I only use an accent when I want the character to be portrayed in a lighthearted or goofy fashion.  Otherwise, beware.  Mannerism or catchphrases are good too, just don't overuse them.  Things like this should be a garnish, not a main course.

Quote from: MaddmanI like the heightening stuff Tony - consider it stolen

My main method is to give each NPC a reason to be there and something the characters will remember him by.  The reason could be a goal the NPC has, a conflict with one of the PCs, or to fill some other role in the game.  The PCs need a way to remember them too otherwise they just fade into the scenery.  Accents can work here, but I'm careful with them.  I can do several accents rather badly, but none well.  So I only use an accent when I want the character to be portrayed in a lighthearted or goofy fashion.  Otherwise, beware.  Mannerism or catchphrases are good too, just don't overuse them.  Things like this should be a garnish, not a main course.

I'm very good with accents and voices - I should have been a voice actor - but I'm well aware that most people aren't, and usually it's because they go overboard with it. A little goes a long way, as with mannerisms. One or two = good! More = bad!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceYou can try giving each major NPC a goal - why is the NPC here in game terms as opposed to in the metagame terms Winniger uses - and a couple mannerisms you can hang your hat on.

Goals, motivations, objectives are great.  It allows you to have the NPC to act *on* or *against* that players in a way that allows the NPC to change naturally as the game progresses, and also is an easy way to keep them consistent, but not static.

Oh, and goals and motivations also give opportunities for the players to act on the NPCs (as well as vice versa).  So the change the NPC undergoes is, in some sense, a testament to the players.

Some players get more engaged with things and people they can have an impact on.

Quote from: TonyLBOh, and goals and motivations also give opportunities for the players to act on the NPCs (as well as vice versa).  So the change the NPC undergoes is, in some sense, a testament to the players.

Some players get more engaged with things and people they can have an impact on.

Heightening, goals and motivations, and mannerisms all can make your NPCs come alive and engage your players, and they are all simple to implement. We've had some great posts here!  

-clash

All good advice. I'm a little more derelict in my duties For instance, I don't sweat the small stuff. Minor npcs - town guards, traders, villagers etc are not fully characterized

I tend to use the "NYPD Blue uniformed police officer" approach - you know the uniformed guys in the background of the crime scene. Background noise so to speak.

Okay, say the pcs approach a couple of town guards. What I do is to make sure they are never just standing around guarding. They are whispering amongst themselves, talking about the current events of the day, their families whatever - make it feel real. Not much characterization is needed, just the feel that these are real people with lives of their own.

Depending on the genre throw in random stuff - it's best to not even plan what the minor npc is going to say or do - just throw it out there. The barmaid who makes a rascist remark, the recently widowed villager who makes a pass at one of the pcs.

For detailed npcs who could have a long term asociation with the pcs, as others have mentioned, goals, motivations, mannerism etc are important. But what is more important IMHO is that those goals, motivations etc should evolve. Don't allow these npcs to remain static.

Regards,
David R

One trick I've found to be helpful is to mentally cast the NPC as if they were going to be in a movie or tv series.  It's best to follow all of the solid advice already given in the thread, but once you have that, doing this can help you decide how to convey things like mannerisms.

I don't find that it's really mattered much that I'm not that great of a thespian -- in fact, I don't think I can act.  It's not that I'm trying to explicitly do an impression of the actor that I've cast, but rather that the casting leads me to being able to improvise things like word choice, patterns of speech, ticks/quirks/mannerisms, and so forth.  

Things as simple as word choice and speech patterns can very much help to distinguish NPCs and bring them to life for the players.  A guard who speaks in short, clipped sentences is much different from one who lapses into digressive, rambling conversations (like yours truly) with the PCs.

Quote from: Pebbles and MarblesOne trick I've found to be helpful is to mentally cast the NPC as if they were going to be in a movie or tv series.  

A friend of mine is a great CoC GM, and one of the things he does is use props.  He'll print off headshots of old obscure 20s and 30s actors for both PCs and NPCs.

Quote from: MaddmanA friend of mine is a great CoC GM, and one of the things he does is use props.  He'll print off headshots of old obscure 20s and 30s actors for both PCs and NPCs.

I was going to do that for my Spycraft PbP.

Admittedly inspired by Spatulalad's Spycraft PbP.

One technique that I picked up recently off another board is to frame an NPC's identity in terms of who, what, where, why, when and how:

WHO is the NPC?
WHAT are they trying to accomplish?
WHERE will they try it?
WHY do they want to accomplish this goal?
WHEN will they make their attempt?
HOW will they go about fulfilling their goal?

It's simple and kind of obvious (I was slapping myself in the head for not figuring it out for myself), but effective.  I only do this for the major NPCs in my game; for minor characters that will maybe have one line or so in a session, I just imitate some bit player from a Law & Order episode or something.

I suck at doing voices or acting out mannerisms at the table, however.  I just resort to quick descriptions of these things during play.

Quote from: MaddmanA friend of mine is a great CoC GM, and one of the things he does is use props.  He'll print off headshots of old obscure 20s and 30s actors for both PCs and NPCs.

Antique stores are great sources for photographs from this era, and they tend to be really cheap.  I've also found old Sears catalogues and such, which make for instant equipment guides as well as evocative props.  I bought up a bunch of this stuff when I was prepping an Adventure! campaign a couple of years ago, but the game never took off; I'm holding onto them just in case...