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You are here: Home / Archives for NPCs

A Busy Year, Part 1: NPC Importance

December 30, 2015 by Shawn Merwin

Working as a part-time RPG freelancer is a proverbial rollercoaster ride. Sometimes it is thrilling, and other times the reward at the end of the ride is that you get to stop.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Columns, Editorial, Featured, Know Your Roll, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: D&D, freelancing, NPCs

Steve Townshend on Adventure Design Podcast

March 19, 2012 by Mike Shea

Mike Shea of Sly Flourish and Steve Townshend, freelance WotC designer and trained actor, discuss the ins and outs of great adventure design in this most recent Critical Hits podcast.

Filed Under: Critical Hits Podcast, Interviews, Podcasts, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, adventure design, heroes of the feywild, improvisation, madness at gardmore abbey, monster manual 3, monster vault, NPCs

Nonplayer Conundrum

July 14, 2011 by dixontrimline

Because the population of a typical game world runs more than four to six, there will be a vast and diverse representation of nonplayer characters in every game, and not just the ones that want to strangle the characters with their own intestines.

Filed Under: Editorial, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: characters, DM advice, NPCs

Review: “Masks: 1,000 NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game”

July 5, 2011 by Dave

Masks: 1,000 NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game is what it says: 1,000 NPCs ready to be dropped into any game. While they don’t have any stats (like Eureka, the book is systemless), you’ll find each NPC has a full name, a brieft summary, a quote from the character, appearance, roleplaying advice, a description of personality, motivations, background, and a set of traits (that are shared across multiple entries.)

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: eureka, masks, NPCs

From Different Walks

April 16, 2010 by guest

Players are very good at throwing curve balls at your plans and wandering away from everything you spent precious time preparing the beforehand. When this happens it can be tempting to steer and force your players back on course, tempting but not advisable. Today I’m going to give you 10 adventure hook wielding NPC’s that can be picked up and thrown into your campaign when needed. Whether it be from a player curveball, lack of preparation time or even an impromptu game session.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Adventure Hooks, NPCs

Video Interview with D&D Creative Manager Chris Perkins

February 23, 2010 by guest

Nick interviews D&D Creative Manager Chris Perkins about being a killer DM, running D&D for celebrities, and making your NPCs memorable by doing voices.

Filed Under: Critical Hits Podcast, Interviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, D&D, killer DM, NPCs, penny arcade, pvp, robot chicken, voices, wil wheaton

About the Author

  • Shawn Merwin

    Shawn Merwin is a freelance writer/editor and game designer with delusions of adequacy and a penchant for games and stories. He's worked on several organized play campaigns: Living Greyhawk, Xen'drik Expeditions, Living Kalamar, Living Forgotten Realms, and D&D Adventurer's League to name a few. His design work for Wizards of the Coast includes Dungeon Delve, Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress, and Halls of Undermountain, as well as two seasons of the D&D Encounters Program. His most recent project is co-designing and editing the Fate-powered game Part-Time Gods of Fate for Encoded Designs. You can follow Shawn on Twitter.

    Email: shawn.merwin@critical-hits.com

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