I've run enough sessions in a row now that I've started to notice my strengths and weaknesses as a GM.  Specifically:

• I'm great at action scenes.  I can come up with action-packed scenarios off-the-bat, and make them fun.
• I'm good at evocative backdrops.
• I'm still struggling with improvisation and pacing.  Sometimes I slow down and double-check stuff when I should just keep stuff moving.  Sometimes I have trouble figuring out how to move things along or what to do next.  I'm improving in these areas though.
• I'm "okay" on creating interesting NPCs.  On paper, they're fairly interesting.  They have motives, personalities, and whatnot.
• I absolutely suck at having NPCs interact with the PCs.  I don't know why, but I can never get beyond a feeling that they're merely set-dressing, there to deliver their lines or otherwise do whatever action is required of them to move the plot along, and anything outside of that I just can't cope with.  They don't "come alive," unless I simply resort to making them goofy charicatures and play their personalities up for laughs...  the more serious ones come out way too pantomime and cardboard-cutout.
  

Obviously it's the last bit I'm really having issues with.  Do ya'll have any advice for helping me breathe some life into my NPCs?  How do I do "normal" dialog?

My new trick is so simple you probably won't believe it works:  Create opportunities for your NPCs to say insightful, important things about other people ... notably the PCs.

Being insightful and important doesn't mean they're true.  If your young rebel says to the PC paladin of law "You're just a hypocrite!  You obey the law because the laws are all to your advantage!" that's not necessarily true, but it's a hell of a thing to say, and will leave an impression.

How many NPCs are we talking about, here? I don't think anyone can do justice to (say) fifty or more in a whole town. Give them the attention the PCs are likely to give them - so, five or six NPCs with quite distinct personalities, the rest just sketched out.

Concentration on a few makes it easier, I find. Does the tavernkeeper in each town need their own distinct individual memorable personality? Probably not. But some Earl they see every day, or their character's brother they see once a week, etc - they need to be individual.

If you keep it down to about five or six, or an even dozen, tops, it should be okay.

Quote from: RedFoxObviously it's the last bit I'm really having issues with.  Do ya'll have any advice for helping me breathe some life into my NPCs?  How do I do "normal" dialog?

These kinds of questions require examples Give us an example of an interaction between a player and npc, and why you think it's not working out. Also do your players complain, that your characterization is weak?

Regards,
David R

Quote from: David RThese kinds of questions require examples Give us an example of an interaction between a player and npc, and why you think it's not working out. Also do your players complain, that your characterization is weak?

Regards,
David R

I'm not sure if I can really give you a transcript or anything...  I just feel uncomfortably bland about certain NPC portrayals.  I feel like I'm just giving infodumps or something, rather than giving them someone interesting to interact with.  My current Big Bad is very panto, for example, and I can't seem to come up with any good dialog for him.*

I haven't had any complaints, other than my own.  The worst I've heard so far is umm...  well, okay, I've gotten nothing but praise so far.  

*The villain is an arch-wizard in my Uresia fantasy campaign, tasked with hunting down the PCs and taking the mcguffin (a floating island map) from them.

One technique we use in characterization is what I call Markers.  We try to give each figure of note some sort of audio or visual marker.  It might be a twitch you do, a way of speaking, a way of walking around the room.  It works as a signal to the players that person X has walked into the room.

For example, in one game I had the King's Hand sit in a chair a certain way.  Every time I adjusted my posture to that way of sitting they all knew who was in the room and interacted naturally with him.  The key is establishing that early in the encounter with the character so that in the future, when you shift to that they seemlessly realize who it is and just flow right into it.  Makes conversations and encounters feel natural.

I'm focusing on these two bits:

QuoteI absolutely suck at having NPCs interact with the PCs. I don't know why, but I can never get beyond a feeling that they're merely set-dressing, there to deliver their lines or otherwise do whatever action is required of them to move the plot along, and anything outside of that I just can't cope with.

QuoteI just feel uncomfortably bland about certain NPC portrayals. I feel like I'm just giving infodumps or something, rather than giving them someone interesting to interact with.

Are the parts I bolded true?

droog highlighted some interesting points. Keith laid down some techniques that some folks have had a lot of success with.

My take. It all goes back to gming being more alchemy than chemistry. You say your players dig your style. So far, the most important element is taken care off. Now, you.

I don't know. You say NPCs have that hint of pantomine. You want them to be more than infodumps (gotta admit, this is the first time, I seeing this term, used in this way...yeah I'm so uncool ). You create interesting backgrounds for them.

Maybe what you need is a bit of spontaneity. Don't create interesting backgrounds. Go with the flow. Surprise yourself. Have a very rough idea,of what the charcter desires but not how he/she will react to the pcs. Maybe if you don't know what's coming till the very last second, you wont have time to act...but react. Maybe that's the solution.

Off course, it's tricky, if you're not used to this sort of play. But it's the only idea I have at the moment.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: droogI'm focusing on these two bits:





Are the parts I bolded true?

Often, yes.  Unless, as I said, I play the character for laughs...  in which case I have little problem conjuring and sustaining an interesting character.  But I'm not attempting to run TOON, where everybody is a charicature.

I think and plan in terms of broad strokes, because if I get too detailed I get bound up in minutia and a certain rigidity or calcification occurs.  Rather than simply rolling with the game and riffing off whatever I need, I end up checking my  notes for any important details and try to force things (and the PCs!) to conform to what I've already plotted.  Not good!

So when I create NPCs, they're usually rather one note...  broad strokes, just like everything else.  ALL I know about the big bad is that he's an arch-wizard who's after the mcguffin (I haven't even settled on why yet, which is an obvious lack of motivation behind his personality), and his physical characteristics, who he works for (in general terms), and his name.  I might have notes for personality traits like "haughty" or "twitchy."

So yeah, they're 2D but I don't want them to appear that way.

Quote from: David Rdroog highlighted some interesting points. Keith laid down some techniques that some folks have had a lot of success with.

My take. It all goes back to gming being more alchemy than chemistry. You say your players dig your style. So far, the most important element is taken care off. Now, you.

I don't know. You say NPCs have that hint of pantomine. You want them to be more than infodumps (gotta admit, this is the first time, I seeing this term, used in this way...yeah I'm so uncool ). You create interesting backgrounds for them.

Maybe what you need is a bit of spontaneity. Don't create interesting backgrounds. Go with the flow. Surprise yourself. Have a very rough idea,of what the charcter desires but not how he/she will react to the pcs. Maybe if you don't know what's coming till the very last second, you wont have time to act...but react. Maybe that's the solution.

Off course, it's tricky, if you're not used to this sort of play. But it's the only idea I have at the moment.

Regards,
David R

I may've been a bit disingenuous with how I described my NPC prep in the first post.  I'll see if I can dig up some actual NPC notes I have and copy them here so ya'll can see exactly what I come up with / what I have to work with.

Quote from: RedFoxSo when I create NPCs, they're usually rather one note...  broad strokes, just like everything else.  ALL I know about the big bad is that he's an arch-wizard who's after the mcguffin (I haven't even settled on why yet, which is an obvious lack of motivation behind his personality), and his physical characteristics, who he works for (in general terms), and his name.  I might have notes for personality traits like "haughty" or "twitchy."

So yeah, they're 2D but I don't want them to appear that way.

Things have a habit of sometimes appearing as they are.

So you've answered your own question – if the NPCs don't really have a reason to act, you have trouble giving them credible speech. That's because the things they say have nothing behind them.

You're focusing on the surface – how can I characterise? I'm suggesting that what you need is character.

You can still do this with broad strokes, as long as the strokes are to the purpose. A sentence about what the NPC really wants is worth more than a page of characteristic quirks like 'haughty'.

Quote from: droogThings have a habit of sometimes appearing as they are.

So you've answered your own question – if the NPCs don't really have a reason to act, you have trouble giving them credible speech. That's because the things they say have nothing behind them.

You're focusing on the surface – how can I characterise? I'm suggesting that what you need is character.

You can still do this with broad strokes, as long as the strokes are to the purpose. A sentence about what the NPC really wants is worth more than a page of characteristic quirks like 'haughty'.

Good point.

What makes a good motivation for NPCs?

Quote from: RedFoxGood point.

What makes a good motivation for NPCs?

Which NPC?

Quote from: droogWhich NPC?

NPCs in general.  What motivations are interesting and make for good NPCs?

I dunno, I guess I'm asking how to approach this.  Thinking on it, I have one NPC that has a specific motivation; a half-dragon who wishes to fully embrace her draconic heritage and become a full-fledged dragon.  However, my portrayal of her continues to feel flat.  Is it because I'm missing the "why" there?

Additionally, the big bad has a motivation:  Recover the mcguffin.  Again, he's missing the "why."

So am I missing some essential part of "motive"?  And if so, how do I come up with ones that work and help me craft excellent NPCs?

The half-dragon: why is she interacting with the PCs and what does her desire have to do with them?

The big bad: yes, why?

The way I see it, you're sort of undercutting yourself by talking about 'mcguffins'. Get specific.