Create Exciting NPCs for your Solo Games
And Free Game -Identity - This is The Lone Toad Newsletter August 2024
Welcome to the August 2024 Lone Toad Newsletter!
Alright, so you are wandering the deep depths of a dark and dangerous dungeon, or exploring a silent and cold space station, and you come across a NPCs. Woah, who is this person? Will they be a friend or an enemy? Is it someone important to your campaign or a nameless character that an alien or troll will chomp on?
Either way, you should aim for those NPCs to be as memorable and interesting as possible. And here are some tips and tricks for doing just that in your Solo games.
These tips are not just great for your solo game, but also for good techniques if you are GMing a game or playing a game where players can introduce NPCs (like a PBTA-type game).
Creating Exciting NPCs for Your Solo Games
NPCs are the cornerstone of any role-playing game. They drive the story forward, give clues to the players, and are the opposition that needs to be overcome. I think there is value in sometimes having simplistic characters. The town guard is corrupt because he’s a jerk. The medic is helpful because they are good.
But to really drive a story forward and create a campaign full of twists, turns and deep plots, you’ll want exciting NPCs who have depth, motivations and maybe a secret or two.
I have listed some easy-to-use techniques that anyone may want to use to create an NPC for their solo game, and some more advanced techniques you may want to try.
Distinctive characteristics
This is an old tip that has been kicked around for a while in traditional group play. Give each NPC you come across one distinctive characteristic. Give the old monk a limp, so you can always hear their distinctive walk as they approach. Give the corrupt town guard an accident that marks them out as a member of the lower class. How did they get the guard job?
The risk with this one is you can get simplistic. Obviously, an NPC is more than just a funny accent or distinct walk. But this tip is good for the first time you see a new NPC in your solo campaign.
Many solo RPGs and oracles provide great random tables to quickly create NPCs. They are good but I suggest not always rolling randomly if you have a good picture in your head about who this NPC is.
Advanced - Revealed Aspects
All right, so you’ve met a new NPC and maybe had a few interactions with them. Things are going well and you think you have a good indication of who this person is. Great, it's time to flip things on their heads.
Some solo games and oracles have a mechanic for injecting randomness into the game. When that happens, consider revealing an aspect of the NPC. A revealed aspect is something you didn’t know about the NPC that is suddenly shown to you. It was always true but hidden from your character for some reason.
I consider it a more advanced technique because it can be hard to tie a new aspect of the NPC into the campaign in a way that makes sense. In this case, I’d suggest finding a table to roll on or adding something that makes sense.
The corrupt guard is revealed to be working for a group of cultists! He identifies travellers who are entering the town that can be easy victims and is paid well for it.
The medic is so kind-hearted because their home world was destroyed by the Kel’tosh and she has dedicated her life to helping those that need it.
See how those extra details add so much more to the NPC?
In Ironsworn games, a great time to reveal an aspect is when you roll a match on your challenge dice.
Tie them to factions
Guilds, Empires, Corporations, Rebels, Cults. All these factions add interesting aspects and story plots to your story game. So when NPCs come along tie them into an existing faction or create a new faction.
You don’t need to have all the details about how they operate in the faction yet, just enough to give them more of a generic role and identity. For example, if you step into an Inn you’ll find an inn keep most likely. Instead of just having them be generic innkeeper, have the innkeeper wear the symbol of a religious order that may be important to your story.
Now they’ve suddenly gone from a boring NPC to something more. Is the innkeeper still involved with the church? Maybe they were a former adherent and were forced out? There is a lot more to work with.
Advanced - Split loyalties
NPCs may be loyal to more than one faction, what happens when those two factions are at cross purposes? The example of the corrupt guard. You could discover the guard was a member of the thieves guild when he was younger. Now you have the chance for some dramatics. Is he corrupt because he is still involved with the thieves guild? What happens when the guild asks him to look the other way as a large shipment of illegal goods comes through the gates?
You can determine what the NPC will decide with whatever Yes/No oracle you are using, possibly weighing it if the NPC may be more loyal to one faction than the other.
The guard has been approached by a friend from his childhood. They hand the guard a pouch of silver and tell him to look the other way when a certain cart goes through the main gate. Does the guard agree to do it? Rolling a simple Yes/No D6 oracle and adding a +1 because of his historic loyalty to the thieves guild. We roll a 4+1=5, which is a solid Yes.
Recurring Characters
What is better than seeing an old friend again and what is worse than seeing a hated foe? Recurring characters can take a normal average situation and turn it into something dramatic.
A relaxing tavern scene can be turned upside down when your blood rival comes down the stairs. A desperate battle can be given new hope when a skilful ally appears with reinforcements.
These recurring characters can tie different story plots together into a unified overall story and give coherence to solo games that can sometimes delve into the random. You can do this two different ways, sometimes this is dictated by the system or oracle you are using, so make sure you are following your procedures as much as you want to.
Random Rolls
Lots of different solo oracles and systems have a way of introducing recurring NPCs. But if it doesn’t you can create a simple system. Every time you are set to meet a new NPC roll a D6, and on a 6 you meet a former ally. On a 1 you meet a former foe. A 2-5, create an NPC as normal (using the principles from this newsletter!).
Then lay all your potential allies and foes on a simple D4/6/8/whatever and roll that. Now you have a random recurring NPC to crash into your scene and mix things up.
Vibe It
This is my preferred method but you have to know your own solo play pretty well. When you get to a point when you feel a recurring character would be a good fit for the story, add them in. It could be part of an extraordinarily great or bad roll of the dice.
It comes down to how you play your game and how much faith you put in random oracles or guiding the story actively.
And there you have it! Several techniques for ensuring you never have a boring NPC in your solo game again!
Recommendations
Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition
Mythic Game Master Emulator is a well-known name in Solo roleplaying since the first edition was published in 2003. The Second edition was published early last year and has a lot of improvements over the original. Mythic has a ton of great mechanics, charts and techniques for creating NPCs in your campaign.
What techniques do you use to make interesting NPCs in your solo game? Share with everyone else in the comments!
Croaker RPGs WIP
It’s been a busy month for Croaker RPGs as I work on my One-page RPG entry, but the biggest news is…
Identity (FREE GAME) is released!
It is the mid-90s. You've discovered a dead version of yourself. Not someone who looks similar to you. An exact copy of you. The same clothes, in the same car, with the same scar. You continue your life as unusual and terrifying things happen.
Will you solve the mystery? Or will you bury your head in the sand?
In the end, you must answer the most important question.
Are you the real you?
Identity is a full-fledged Solo Roleplaying game of introspective horror:
A 29-page fully designed self-contained solo roleplaying game
Based on the simple but powerful Push system by Cezar Capacle
A horrific starting situation that will drive you into the story
Character generation that will create a unique person to play
Six compelling agenda points for you to unravel
Eight oracles to keep your play exciting and random
A printer-friendly character sheet/oracle cheat sheet.
Rules for play-by-post
Identity is free to download to readers of The Lone Toad, my gift to you all for reading along and being awesome supporters.
If anyone does an actual play of Identity, let me know! You’ll be featured prominetly in a future Lone Toad Newsetter!
The Lost City of Cargoth (FREE GAME)
The Lost City of Cargoth will be free for a bit longer as I add more content and prepare it for a full release!
Please don’t share these links, instead share this Lone Toad post which will help grow the community!
Want to get more in-depth updates from Croaker RPGs? Subscribe to Sneak Leaps. Last week I wrote about a solo narrative war game I’m working on. It’s a fun project so far!
Be sure to check out my other games here!
Other RPG Stuff
Grab this bundle from Black Dragon Dungeon Company, all their games at a steep discount. Some great stuff in there including solo RPGs, an RPG about winning an argument with your parents, and setting journals.
Doomsday Machines is a new newsletter about the different apocalypses, real and fictional. Well worth mining for some RPG inspirations.
This post about the magic in the Harry Potter world was really interesting.
- reviews the Solo Game Master Guide in his newsletter.
Friend of the newsletter
has started his ADnD actual play and the first post blew (what is left of) my hair back. Worth getting in on the ground floor.Free League has announced a second Edition of the Alien RPG. Alien is one of my favourite RPGs, so I’m interested to see what improvements they make to the system.
What RPG or solo RPG news do you think we should all be talking about?
Up Next for The Lone Toad
Later this month we are diving into the O.R.A.C.L.E. solo procedural system as created by Alfred Valley for Thousand Empty Light, but as seen in Eco Mofos. It will be another deep deep dive.
Thank you for Reading!
As always I write this because you all read it. Please like this newsletter and share it with others who may be interested.
I'd love to you hear your ideas and tips for creating interesting NPCs in your solo campaign. Pop them in the comments here!
PS Identity looks really cool. Thank u!