el-remmen
Moderator Emeritus
(EDIT: reviving this 13 year old thread because it is still relevant and something I am struggling with in transition from 3E to 5E)
I have always used a lot of "named" NPCs in my games. I don't necessarily mean non-player characters that travel with the party (though sometimes this is the case with guides and servants and henchmen or people to be escorted, etc. . ) But I also mean the cast of characters in various town, villages, roadside inns, organization, noble courts, ships' crews, etc. . .
In the past I never had much trouble keeping track of who is who, mostly because despite the large number over the course of a campaign, typically only a small number were met repeatedly and they were hardly ever met in large groups.
In my own notes, some NPCs are nothing more than a name with a class level and alignment - for example: Anton (F2/LN), others have a line or two of physical and/or personality description - others have actual stat blocks on 4x6 index cards that I keep filed in a little box. . .
However, with my [then] current campaign, "Second Son of a Second Son," which revolves around the adventuring lives of young nobles, the cast of NPCs seems to have exploded! Perhaps the actual numbers are only slightly more inflated, but the lineages and relationships of various noble courts, which play very heavily in the game (which is inspired in part by Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series), lead to 1) a lot of tangled webs of interaction and knowledge, and 2) a lot of these NPCs being present at once, in terms of noble courts and social functions.
We have a page on the setting wiki to keep track of them all (which I, as a favor to my players try to keep up to date as possible - though the players sometimes chip in and add their own notes to the info) - the link to the specific page is here - but I know that the pure number of names can be very confusing and remembering who said what to whom, when and why - adds a extra level of confusion, especially when the political motivation of the noble houses in general have to be kept in mind (not to mention thieves' guilds and churches and rebellious political factions, etc. . .)
I am not the type of DM to present 'faceless' NPCs most of the time. I would never say something like "The lord wants to hire you." The playing of NPCs is a large portion of the fun for me as DM - and their motivations and behaviors can play important role in the various long-term plots and schemes. Also, I am a very much a "the world does not revolve around the PCs" kind of DM, which means that the NPCs are always doing something, whether or not the PCs interfere. So. . .
I guess I am not sure what I am asking here, except do other folks have such large casts of fleshed out NPCs? How do you handle them? How do you (and your players) keep track of them? Do your players take advantage of this resource?
I have always used a lot of "named" NPCs in my games. I don't necessarily mean non-player characters that travel with the party (though sometimes this is the case with guides and servants and henchmen or people to be escorted, etc. . ) But I also mean the cast of characters in various town, villages, roadside inns, organization, noble courts, ships' crews, etc. . .
In the past I never had much trouble keeping track of who is who, mostly because despite the large number over the course of a campaign, typically only a small number were met repeatedly and they were hardly ever met in large groups.
In my own notes, some NPCs are nothing more than a name with a class level and alignment - for example: Anton (F2/LN), others have a line or two of physical and/or personality description - others have actual stat blocks on 4x6 index cards that I keep filed in a little box. . .
However, with my [then] current campaign, "Second Son of a Second Son," which revolves around the adventuring lives of young nobles, the cast of NPCs seems to have exploded! Perhaps the actual numbers are only slightly more inflated, but the lineages and relationships of various noble courts, which play very heavily in the game (which is inspired in part by Martin's Song of Ice & Fire series), lead to 1) a lot of tangled webs of interaction and knowledge, and 2) a lot of these NPCs being present at once, in terms of noble courts and social functions.
We have a page on the setting wiki to keep track of them all (which I, as a favor to my players try to keep up to date as possible - though the players sometimes chip in and add their own notes to the info) - the link to the specific page is here - but I know that the pure number of names can be very confusing and remembering who said what to whom, when and why - adds a extra level of confusion, especially when the political motivation of the noble houses in general have to be kept in mind (not to mention thieves' guilds and churches and rebellious political factions, etc. . .)
I am not the type of DM to present 'faceless' NPCs most of the time. I would never say something like "The lord wants to hire you." The playing of NPCs is a large portion of the fun for me as DM - and their motivations and behaviors can play important role in the various long-term plots and schemes. Also, I am a very much a "the world does not revolve around the PCs" kind of DM, which means that the NPCs are always doing something, whether or not the PCs interfere. So. . .
I guess I am not sure what I am asking here, except do other folks have such large casts of fleshed out NPCs? How do you handle them? How do you (and your players) keep track of them? Do your players take advantage of this resource?
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