One of the things that makes a D&D session memorable if meeting a friendly NPCs the party comes to know and love.
We all know that D&D is about two things: playing as a party of traumatized outcasts who make anachronistic jokes and references that somehow become a found family, and getting way too invested in the personal lives of fictional characters who were just sort of created on the spot because someone needed to run the shop.
And I guess every now and then you get into a fight with some goblins or whatever. But how do you know what kinds of friendly NPCs to make? Well, if you are tired of panic-introducing a new face every time the party asks a question, here are a few ideas you might be able to play around with.
Well-Stocked Merchant
One person you can be sure every party of adventurers will come across at some point in time is a merchant who stocks the goods they need. Humanity never gets away from doing a little shopping, and especially since most worlds don’t have fantasy drop-shipping over the magical internet (some do, and if yours does, I respect that choice and you, you champion of DMs), you’re gonna need a merchant.
The trick here is to give them a big, possibly welcoming demeanor and opinions about the things they have for sale and the adventurers doing the buying. This can take several forms. They could be eccentric, crotchety, a little too smooth, dopey – the list is endless, but whatever the personality, it’s the interest in the customer and the goods that makes them memorable.
A Local Sage
You know, sometimes you just need to know something about the world. And while there are plenty of ways to finesse it, there are only so many clever things you can try before you need to just info-dump on the party. When you have to do that, sometimes you can soften the blow by giving them a friendly NPC to do the info-dumping. Enter the local sage.
This is an NPC that’s probably a spellcaster, but most of their magic is focused on knowing things. They’re your window to give players the necessary information and also translate the ancient languages or decipher the runes that no one can. Make them a little bit hopeless at something the PCs can do well while still being highly competent at all the sage stuff, and you’ve got the makings of a fast friend.
Overworked And Underpaid Guard
If you need a quest-giver NPC that can also, on occasion, help the party out with some of their legal troubles, might I suggest the town guard who isn’t paid enough to deal with whatever horrible situation you want the party to solve. From rampaging owlbear to carrion crawler infestation or whatever else. Bonus points if they’re a captain – but this is someone the PCs can come back to for either advice or more things to do.
Tavernkeep
Adventurers are gonna spend time in taverns. That’s just the way of things. Part of the fantasy of D&D is getting into character and thinking about “hey yeah what kind of food would my Wizard order at the One-Eyed Yuan-ti?” And then doing that. Tavernkeeps are stock and trade NPCs whom you’ll find countless examples of in D&D lore, that’s how popular they are. How to make your own? Really just have them remember the PCs and ask questions about their backstories from time to time and you’re off to a great start .
“Crazy” Old Person With A Dire Warning
Finally, the classic “person who has visions of a terrible, ominous portent.” These are usually people who have lived through a disaster and can feel it in their bones that it’s coming again. Never listened to, of course – half of the fun of this kind of NPC is having the others write them off as “just a crazy old codger” so that the PCs feel cool and special and smart when they heed these dire warnings and find an adventure waiting.
Happy Adventuring!
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