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GameMastery Guide / Nonplayer Characters / Making NPCs Unique

Stereotypes

Source GameMastery Guide pg. 85
The concept of NPC includes any and all creatures not controlled by a player, although NPCs are commonly associated with a measure of deliberateness and design work, while monsters are more likely drawn whole cloth from the pages of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary or similar ready-made resource. Any creature has the potential to be an NPC, though. Anything the PCs decide to talk with instead of slay might have a reaction: something to say, views shaped by its culture, and an attitude toward the PCs dependant on its alignment and the PCs’ actions. Many monsters are simply NPCs whose purpose is to be an opponent for the PCs, but spells like charm monster can change all that very quickly, and so can other actions on the part of the PCs, such as not simply killing everything they encounter. Turning monsters into NPCs creates some great roleplaying opportunities. For example, all orcs and kobolds are not alike—at least in their own opinion—and they have goals of their own beside standing in a dungeon location waiting for PCs to come and kill them.

GMs should remain aware of a creature’s setting and believability when considering monstrous NPCs. Although a conversation with a hobgoblin might prove novel in the right circumstance, the surest way to make the local green grocer interesting is not to make him a bugbear, while having the true villain of a campaign be an awakened pigeon can shatter the believably of even the most outlandish fantasy campaign. An unusual race should never be considered a replacement for the work of creating an interesting personality and motivation for a character, and monstrous NPCs should be thought through just as thoroughly as normal NPCs.

Archives of Nethys

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Stereotypes