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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

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DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 34D: The Battle Turns Again

Tee, now outside the tower, levitated into the air and tried taking potshots at the ratbrutes… but the dwarf, having safely retreated down the hall from the melee but still with a clear line of sight, started summoning fiery-eyed hawks with metallic, razor-sharp feathers to harry her. Their cruel beaks and claws took bloody gouges of flesh out of her.

2D battlemap = 2D thinking.

But if you neglect the third dimension in your game, then you’re flattening the game experience. (Pun intended.)

This session provides a pretty good sampler platter of third-dimensional stuff: The multi-level tower. The structure with both a rooftop and interior level. Windows looking down on the battlefield. Spider-creatures crawling around on the walls and swinging on webs. Flying imps. Levitating heroes. Leaping and climbing and all kinds of stuff.

A few things I think about when combat goes vertical.

Multiple Elevations. When designing your dungeon and/or battlemap, don’t forget to include multiple elevations. It won’t do you any good to remember that the third dimension exists during the fight if you get trapped by 2D-thinking during design and everything is flat as a pancake.

I kind of roughly think of this in terms of bumps and levels. The distinction here is not a particularly firm one, and I may have just made up those terms as a convenient way of leveling thoughts that have been pretty vague in my own head. A bump is basically just something that alters a continuous floor level — a dais, a rocky outcropping, a treehouse, etc.

A level, on the other hand, is a completely separate floor. A balcony flanking one side of a courtyard is a great example. You might also have a floating platform thirty feet above the ground, or a cliff that leads to a lower pit. It’s possible the two levels are directly connected, but they might have completely separate exits and entrances.

On that note, something to think about here is what the transition from one elevation to another looks like: Is it as easy as just stepping from one to another? A set of stairs or a ladder? Do you have to climb or jump? This will obviously have a profound impact on how the fight plays out, so think about the chokepoints you’re creating on the battlefield and how limited access can create challenges for both PCs and NPCs to overcome.

(And since NPCs can often have access to abilities that the PCs don’t — i.e., a dragon flying or giant spiders climbing on the walls — this can also create asymmetric battlefields.)

Levitation v. Flying. Of course, being able to move through the air is a great cheat code for navigating spaces with multiple elevation.

I think it’s important for levitation to feel distinct from flying, particularly in D&D. (They’re separate spells for a reason!) The key thing is that levitation only allows you to move straight up or down unless you can push or pull yourself along a wall or ceiling. This is fun in its own right because it creates a unique challenge for levitating characters, but in D&D it’s also how you set up the reward of unlocking full-blown flight later in the game.

Fun levitation “hacks” you can play around with: How far can you go by pushing hard off a surface? Do you just float in a straight line until you hit another obstacle (like an astronaut in zero-g)? Or is it more limited than that? (Maybe you could determine distance from a push-off the same way you would with a jump?)

Can you push off other combatants? Or be thrown by them? (And if so, how would you want to resolve that?)

Something else to think about is aerial strafing. The image of a dragon flying past a battlefield and unleashing a torrent of flame is pretty awesome. Some games will try to enforce that “realistic flying” (as opposed to magical/Superman-style “perfect” flight) mechanically, but many won’t (in part because a lot of those systems just turn into a huge bookkeeping headache).

If you want to try to enforce “realistic flying,” it’s probably enough to just require a minimum movement each round, and just assume that somehow the character is doing aerobatic maneuvering to pull off whatever path that movement actually takes.

Either way, even if it’s not mechanically “required,” you can still describe your dragons strafing the battlefield.

Tracking the 3^rd Dimension. If you’re using miniatures, how do you keep track of all this?

If you’ve only got one or two or maybe a few fliers on the battlefield, I find it’s usually enough to just provide a clear indicator of THAT CHARACTER IS FLYING to help everyone keep track of things.

The most effective — and also visually pleasing — way of doing this, in my experience, is some kind of platform that the character’s miniature or token can sit on.

• You can buy combat risers specifically made for this.
• The dice cubes that d6s or other dice sets are sometimes sold in can be a great solution.
• The little plastic platforms that pizza places use to hold up the box lid are also great. Plus, they’re free. All you need to do is start a collection.

I’ll often track the elevation of a flying character by just writing the number on the Chessex battlemap right next to them. If can’t write on the map, or don’t want to, you can also use numeric tokens or a stack of blank chits.

If you want more than that, more sophisticated combat risers will incorporate height-tracking, either through a gauge or through stackable pieces.

(The stackable risers are great because they give an easy visual reference for where different flying combatants are located in relation to each other. In my experience, though, it’s best not to get too tightly trapped in the idea of tracking specific 5-ft. or even 10-ft. increments with the risers. Partly because you can easily limit the flexibility of your three-dimensional space. But more importantly because fidgeting with stacks of plastic bits can be a real drag. So I tend to use the stackable risers to broadly indicate which vertical “level” combatants are on — these guys are all about ten feet up; these guys are about forty feet up; etc. — and, if more precision is needed, it can be handled through the other tracking methods we’ve described.)

Mapping 3D Spaces. Of course, if you’ve been designing areas with multiple elevations, it’s not just the combatants you need to depict verticality for.

If you’re using 3D terrain, of course, this problem can often take care of itself.

If the separate elevations are fairly clear, just noting the height difference on the map is often enough. For more complex spaces, you might want to sketch a side-view next to the primary battlemap, providing a quick reference for, e.g., how high the tower is vs. the carriage-house vs. the boulder vs. where the harpies are currently flying.

Tip: Duplicate minis or other tokens can also be to track figures simultaneously on both maps; the battlemap giving X-Y coordinates, and the side-map giving a X-Z coordinates.

Calculating Movement. Tracking the elevation of characters moving straight up and down isn’t too hard, but as soon as characters start moving at angles through the third dimension it’s easy for your brain to break.

Your grade school math teacher told you the Pythagorean theorem would be useful! And they were right!

But what I’ve done is actually prep an Aerial Distance Table: Calculate the horizontal distance and vertical distance traveled, and a quick cross-reference on the table will tell you far the character actually traveled in a straight line.

This table appears on page 78 of Legends & Labyrinths, so you can grab a copy for yourself.

Campaign Journal: Session 35A – Running the Campaign: Withdrawing in Victory
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

SESSION 34D: THE BATTLE TURNS AGAIN

January 5th, 2009
The 18th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

… AND AGAIN … AND AGAIN

Things looked bleak. But then Agnarr, who had been feigning death while secretly being replenished by Dominic’s touch, surged up – stabbing the ratbrute in the back from his prone position. The ratbrute with a snarl of rage backhanded him, sending the barbarian back into unconsciousness, and then moved towards Seeaeti.

But Dominic, with another burst of divine energy, had managed to close up Tor’s grievous wounds. With the vicious serrated edges of raw flesh still glowing from holy power, Tor stood up.

The ratbrute whirled to face him… and then was forced to retreat before his bloody-minded assault. It cried out to the dwarf over its shoulder. “Woreron! Help me! Help me, please!”

But to no avail. Tor cut him down.

The dwarf, having apparently exhausted his supply of spells summoning a veritable swarm of hawks to plague Tee in the air, charged back into melee. Tor, who had been anticipating doing the same to him, blocked the sudden and unexpected attack in frustration.

Ibulli swooped out of the door and up to a level equal with Tee… who promptly released the magic of her boots and dropped back to the ground as the summoned hawks began winking out of existence.

Tor headed towards the spider-thing, letting Agnarr (newly rejuvenated once more by the constant ministrations of Dominic) take his place in the skirmish with the dwarf. Ibulli and the dwarf both fought towards each other, trying to encircle the battered heroes. And then the quasit reappeared as well – darting in and out of invisibility as it harried them time and time again.

But then Dominic dumped a potion of see invisibility down Tor’s throat, and he could finally see the invisible quasit. The quasit, on the other hand — getting ready to leap onto Agnarr’s back — never saw it coming: Tor thrust his sword straight through its tiny chest.

The quasit screamed in pain and tried to pull itself off Tor’s sword… but it was too late. Tor smashed the blade to the ground, cleaving the demonling in twain.

THE FINAL BLOWS

With the quasit’s death, Ibulli gave a wail of pain and re-doubled its efforts.

The combatants circled each other in a furious flurry of blows, but then Elestra emerged from the tower and Woreron the dwarf found himself caught between her and Tor.

With Woreron’s defenses harried, Tor was able to land a blow hard enough to dent the dwarf’s armor. Electricity arced up from the impact and the dwarf grimaced in pain.

But then the grimace turned to a grisly smile and the dwarf took a casual swing at Elestra with his battleaxe, easily sweeping aside her rapier and cutting deep into her thigh.

“A fine hit, youngling,” he grinned manically at Tor. “But what are you going to do once your friend is dead?”

“What did he say?” Agnarr shouted over the din of battle.

“He’s taunting me!” Tor laughed. “He’s actually taunting me.”

Tor swept the dwarf’s axe to one side and killed him. “That. That’s what I’m going to do.”

He pulled his blade free from the dwarf’s corpse with a crackle of lightning.

Agnarr, seeing the dwarf fall, threw his own blade aside and grappled Ibulli – thinking it imperative that the creature not be allowed to flee lest it fetch yet more reinforcements to the fray.

Ibulli struggled to escape. And perhaps, if Agnarr’s massive thews had been unsapped he might have held. But eventually the thrashings of the creature freed it. It began to fly up and away…

… and Seeaeti leapt up onto its back, grabbed the spidery head in its teeth, and tore. The bloated body of the spider-thing collapsed at Agnarr’s feet while Seeaeti landed nimbly a few feet away with the head clenched between his teeth. He padded over and dropped it at Agnarr’s feet.

The barbarian laughed. “Good boy!”

WITHDRAWING IN VICTORY

The invisible Dominic did a quick sweep through the partially excavated building from which the ratmen had emerged, but found little of interest.

Of much more interest, however, was the room from which Woreron the dwarf had come. It turned out to be his personal bedchamber, with a wooden bed, a chest of drawers, and (most interesting of all) a large iron coffer.

The chest of drawers contained nothing but clothing and personal items of little note, but the iron coffer was locked. In fact, a careful inspection revealed that it was double locked – with a second, concealed keyhole on the base of the coffer which disabled a trap on the primary lock. Tee quickly picked both locks and opened the coffer to find several potions, a collection of fancy snuff bottles, a silk purse filled with coins, and a thick sheath of papers.

From there they worked their way back through the complex – searching the bodies as they went. On one of Ibulli’s claws they found a bone ring matching in all ways those they had recovered from the creatures which had breached the Banewarrens and they fell into a brief discussion concerning its meaning. (Was there a connection between the cultists and the activities at the Banewarrens?)

On Woreron’s corpse they found two keys (causing Tee to groan at the thought of the wasted time she had just spent picking the locks on the iron coffer).

On Gavele, they found a note:

LETTER FROM REGGALOCH TO RHINNIS

Rhinnis,

I think we are being foolish. The Brothers of Venom are almost certain to betray us. They seek nothing less than complete control over the venom-shaped thralls. I am leaving to warn Malleck in the Ebon Hand Temple. He must know about the violent treachery they plot. Watch your back until I can return.

Reggaloch

Tee suspected that this was the note she had seen Gavele remove from Reggaloch’s corpse in the apartment complex.

Heading cautiously up the stairs in the tower, they found the second level choked full with Ibulli’s webs. Hidden within the webs they found a small cache of gems and other treasures, including a finely-crafted wooden puzzle locket. Once Tee realized what she was looking at, she was able to quickly undo the puzzle, revealing the locket’s hidden compartment. Within it, they found another letter – this one only half completed — written to the Brothers of the Quaan.

UNFINISHED NOTE TO THE BROTHERS OF THE QUAAN

Brothers of the Quaan—

The cultists’ research into askara has proven successful. I have obtained a sample which I will send with this missive. Its effects are even more potent than we had been led to believe. They have, if anything, improved upon the arts of Jessuk. I think it truly possible that we may have gained the key for both subjugating and using the scum of the natural races.

Although my mission has been accomplished, I shall not return yet. There is another project here – one the cultists believe to be even larger than their venom-shaped thralls. They talk of a huge machine in the caves beyond, and something called the Final Ritual which will be performed […]

Then, in the lower level of the tower they found a hidden compartment beneath the stairs, containing a small bed. Hidden under the mattress of the bed, there was another letter, this one written by Gavele and addressed to Wuntad.

LETTER FROM WUNTAD TO GAVELE

Gavele—

I applaud your sentiments. As long as none of the Tolling Bell are challenged and the work is not threatened, allow those squabbling fools to do whatever they want and spill blood wherever they will. The strongest shall prevail. Chaos shall reign. The Night of Dissolution nears and all acts are as homage to those who will be freed!

Wuntad

Satisfied that they had found all that there was to find, they quickly hurried back up the stairs and out of the Old City.

Their bodies were wracked with poison. The Brotherhood of Venom had lived up to its name and taken their toll. But, in the end, they had little difficulty escaping through the sewers and emerging onto the streets of Ptolus about a quarter mile from the apartment complex.

DWARVENHEARTH RESEARCH

This is a thick bundle of parchment tied together with black ribbon. These papers appear to be a disparate collection of research pertaining to Dwarvenhearth – a legendary dwarven city referenced obliquely in many ancient texts and believed to lay somewhere beneath Ptolus.

SEALED DOORS: Several dozen pages appeared to have been excerpted from the reports and journals of many different delvers. These describe massive doors found in various locations deep in the caverns beneath Ptolus. These doors are all virtually identical and clearly fashioned with dwarven skills, but have apparently proven impenetrable.

Included in these papers are several sketches of the doors, including an arcano-map of one of the doors (etching the patterns of arcane force present in the doors) and attempts to decipher (unsuccessfully) the various wards and seals protecting the doors.

ESTIMATED SIZE: Another large section of the research appears to be an attempt to estimate the size of the complex locked behind the doors that had already been discovered. It appeared that some of the doors were more than a mile apart, suggesting a city larger than some of the Kingdoms of the East. More than ten thousand dwarves might have once lived there.

THUNDERSONG: There are many myths collected from the Three Kingdoms regarding a mythical axe known as Thundersong. This is one of the great dwarven axes. There are several notes connecting various pieces of research which make it clear that the writer believes Thundersong lies within the city of Dwarvenhearth. There are references to the tale of the Woman Thane of Utarien, a legendary swordswoman of the Three Kingdoms, who the writer connects to the “Line of Queens” associated with Dwarvenhearth in several ancient texts.

CATHEDRAL CAVERN: In the middle of the papers, carefully wrapped in silk cloth, is what appears to be the original copy of a small, ancient painting depicting a subterranean cavern of mammoth proportions. Built on the floor of the cavern are five massive ziggurats. There is a short inscription of dwarven runes on the front of the painting. On the back, written in faded common, are the words “The Cathedral Cavern”.

CONCLAVE OF THE QUEEN: There is one enigmatic note buried in the various pieces of research which reads, “I believe that the Conclave of the Queen is responsible for the loss of the third testaments.”

STUDIES OF AKNAR RATALLA

The pages of this small notebook with a cover of black leather are covered with meticulous notes regarding Aknar Ratalla.

AKNAR RATALLA: Aknar Ratalla was apparently a minor, but powerful, warlord in the annals of prehistory a few decades before the founding of Arathia. References to him in historical records are apparently scant, because the notebook’s writer has clearly had to go far afield to collect much of the lightly detailed material.

SIEGE OF THE DALENGUARD: Aknar Ratalla cut a wide swath through the lands of what would become western Arathia. At the height of his power he laid siege to the Dalenguard at the foot of the Spire. In one of the texts collected here, this siege reportedly lasted for “101 days and nights through the hard winter of the wolf”.

THE END OF AKNAR RATALLA: Aknar Ratalla possessed the “power of the Vested” and he wielded the Blade of Chaos. With these “twin mights” he was “unvanquished”. Nonetheless the Siege of the Dalenguard ended when Aknar Ratalla disappeared and his warriors scattered.

THE TOMB OF AKNAR RATALLA: In the back of the notebook are three scraps of badly tattered parchment covered with various illustrations and dwarven runes. Several pages near the end of the notebook provide a translation of this text along with an extensive and evolving analysis of it.

The writer believed that Aknar Ratalla and the Blade of Chaos were interred in a dwarven-built tomb somewhere in the caverns beneath Ptolus. After what appears to be years of research, it appears that – from the scraps of parchment and other sources – he has reconstructed the secret path that would lead to the tomb.

Unfortunately, the path originates at a place named Kaled Del – a small dwarven settlement beneath the city. Recently rediscovered by the Delver’s Guild, the location of Kaled Del nevertheless remains a secret: The Delver’s Guild has kept that secret in order to monopolize trade with the dwarves.

There are several pages of frustrated ruminations as the author attempts to re-discover the location of Kaled Del himself… but meets with failure.

“I shall speak to Gavele about going to the Guild directly. The Tolling Bell must surely realize the importance of recovering an artifact such as the Blade of  Chaos.”

Running the Campaign: Combat Verticality – Campaign Journal: Session 35A
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index