A few years back I shared the Universal NPC Roleplaying Template that I’d developed for recording NPCs in my campaign in a way that both (a) focused prep on the essential elements for running a great character and (b) organized that information into a format that makes it easy to pick up the NPC during a session and play them with confidence.

(And also to rapidly swap between multiple NPCs in a single scene.)

It’s probably worth checking out the full breakdown of the template, but it basically involves splitting the NPC’s description into four major categories:

• Appearance
• Roleplaying
• Background
• Key Info

And, generally speaking, the result will be a briefing sheet for each NPC. You can attach a photo or illustration of the character if you’d like, and then you’re good to go.

I’ve used this template for years to great success. You can find it in a bunch of different published scenarios I’ve written or developed. I’ve gotten feedback from a lot of GMs who have had tons of success with it.

But there is one question about the template that I’m asked perhaps more than any other:

“You expect me to do this for every NPC in my campaign?!”

And the short answer is: Nope.

The template is intended for significant NPCs: Ones who will either be the primary focus of a scene (e.g., a major suspect being interrogated) or a supporting cast member who will be featured across multiple scenes (or possibly even multiple scenarios).

Obviously, there are lots of other NPCs in the world, and they don’t all require the same level of care and attention. Your goal with these NPCs should be to keep your prep tightly focused and as short as possible.

THREE BULLET POINTS

For quick NPCs, whether prepped ahead of time or spun up on demand during a session, I’m generally aiming to capture the essentials of the character in three bullet points. Each bullet point should generally have no more than 1-2 sentences, and each bullet point actually corresponds to one of the categories in the Universal NPC Roleplaying Template:

• Appearance
• Roleplaying
• Background

The “Roleplaying” bullet point is a good example of my intention here: The full template features multiple roleplaying bullet points, but with a quick NPC I’m looking to boil that down to just one essential bullet point. Because the type of information you need to run the NPC hasn’t fundamentally changed; you’re just trying to keep that information short, simple, and to the point.

Here are some quick examples:

KAIRA LIGHTBURN

• Appearance: Blond hair, but with half her head shaved to reveal a large, blue, runic tattoo.
• Roleplaying: Kaira closes her right eye when thinking about something or considering a deal.
• Background: Kaira has managed the Annodyne Armory weapons shop for mercs on Lytenol Station since her father was killed by Imperial troops during the Union Riots of 2432.

CJ ASSANTE

• Appearance: Pale, coppery skin with large blue eyes. He wears an immaculate Brioni suit.
• Roleplaying: Believes that Matani is innocent. Will react very badly to anyone suggesting otherwise.
• Background: His parents were Palestinian refugees. He worked his way through Yale, then worked his way up, and now owns CJA Investments.

PAUL ASAFIELD

• Appearance: African American man in his late ‘50s. A cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
• Roleplaying: A wracking cough.
• Background: Works in Manhattan’s 7^th Knows his partner, Kira Butterfield, is on the take for the Bonetti Family, but isn’t willing to put his neck out.

Appearance is just a quick sketch, usually focused on a single detail that will evoke the character in the players’ imagination and let them fill in the rest.

Roleplaying for a quick NPC is something I usually default to a mannerism. For me, that’s the most useful hook, and I find that the rest of the character will usually flow easily through that mannerism. Your mileage may vary, but try to identify what that actionable hook is for you.

Background is very much just the broad concept of the character. Just enough to give them a specific place in the world and perhaps just the lightest hint of what their life is like. You can, of course, improvise more details on top of this barebones foundation as needed.

Tip: If you’re wondering how to pick names for NPCs you improvise during a session, I recommend prepping a list of generic names that you can grab from as needed. Check out Fantasy Names for a sample list and some of the tricks I use.

KEY INFO

Conspicuously absent from our bullet points is the Key Info section, which is used to separate and highlight the key information an NPC has which is required by the scenario. (Which helps make sure you don’t miss this key information while running the scenario.)

Even though these are minor NPCs, they can — and arguably should! — still play key roles in how your scenarios play out. For example, a passerby on the street can still give vital information about the bank robbery in their eyewitness report during a mystery scenario. Or a goblin cult leader might have a useful map they’d be willing to trade in a dungeon scenario.

What this really boils down to is that if you an NPC has Key Info, then that should be handled in a distinct section which contains whatever amount of information (and however many bullet points) are needed for the information in question.

In other words, Key Info for a quick NPC is going to be handled exactly like it’s handled in the full roleplaying template.

EXPANDING THE QUICK TEMPLATE

As you’re roleplaying these quick NPCs, you’re quite likely to discover things about them: Where did CJ Assante and Matani first met? What was the name of Kaira’s father? What brand of cigarettes does Detective Asafield smoke?

You can just jot this stuff down in the margins next to the NPC’s bullet points.

The next thing that’ll happen is Neel Krishnaswami’s Law of the Conservation of NPCs kicking in: You’ll need a rich kidnap victim… couldn’t that be CJ Assante? And what if Asafield was assigned to the case?

In fact, a piece of advice I frequently give is to pay attention to which NPCs “click” at the table: Which characters do the players really respond to? Which ones do you have a ton of fun roleplaying? Which ones do you notice the players keep talking about even after they’ve left the scene?

It’s almost always a good idea to grab those characters and figure out how to bring them back.

All of which is to say that, at some point, you’ll almost certainly find a minor NPC blossoming into a major one. When that happens, of course, you’ll likely want to expand their write-up into a full universal roleplaying template.

And because the quick NPC template has a structure that mirrors the full template, it’s super easy to make the swap. You just take the bullet points from your quick NPC write-up — plus the notes you’ve been making! — and split ‘em up into separate sections. Then you can just fill in the gaps!

FURTHER READING
Universal NPC Roleplaying Template
Advanced NPC Roleplaying Templates
Campaign Status Module: Supporting Cast
Random GM Tip: Memorable NPCs