One of my biggest weaknesses as a GM has been NPCs. They're functional for my plots, but don't have a lot going on for themselves. And it's something that I've constantly worked to remedy, with only limited success.
In one campaign, my idea was to have one NPC that was well done. Everything and everyone else can be shoddy, but one NPC was going to work, dammit! This was Babs, a minotaur woman who ran a boarding house where the party lived. She was a caring, motherly figure, but she didn't have much beyond that. As much fun as players had interacting with her, she was only tangential to most plots.
Then I ran my super-long megadungeon campaign which didn't have many NPCs, mostly just monsters. Eventually I realized that the PCs were significantly powerful to the point that I couldn't begin forcing plot and NPC interaction on them without some pretty heavy railroading and shoehorning. When that group eventually fell apart, I decided that it was probably for the best.
It did lead to a short-lived reboot of the campaign, so I took the opportunity to flesh out the "town level" at least a little. I came up with the main vendors that the party would be interacting with. The only one that stuck in any real way was Dina Hillchaser, a halfling baker/alchemist. The party went to her when they needed healing potions and such, which came in the form of baked goods. Her healing potions were cupcakes. There were a couple of other neat things she could make, but I don't think we explored that much. She was also useful in that the party wizard could help her clear out her spice cupboard and get a deal on magical components for her own projects.
In one campaign, my idea was to have one NPC that was well done. Everything and everyone else can be shoddy, but one NPC was going to work, dammit! This was Babs, a minotaur woman who ran a boarding house where the party lived. She was a caring, motherly figure, but she didn't have much beyond that. As much fun as players had interacting with her, she was only tangential to most plots.
Then I ran my super-long megadungeon campaign which didn't have many NPCs, mostly just monsters. Eventually I realized that the PCs were significantly powerful to the point that I couldn't begin forcing plot and NPC interaction on them without some pretty heavy railroading and shoehorning. When that group eventually fell apart, I decided that it was probably for the best.
It did lead to a short-lived reboot of the campaign, so I took the opportunity to flesh out the "town level" at least a little. I came up with the main vendors that the party would be interacting with. The only one that stuck in any real way was Dina Hillchaser, a halfling baker/alchemist. The party went to her when they needed healing potions and such, which came in the form of baked goods. Her healing potions were cupcakes. There were a couple of other neat things she could make, but I don't think we explored that much. She was also useful in that the party wizard could help her clear out her spice cupboard and get a deal on magical components for her own projects.
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