I don't want to raise my personal bar to high, but I feel the amounts of effort I put into creating interesting NPC's is not fully showing at the table. It might be because I spend too much time prepping, or I'm organizing my notes wrong but it might as well be that I have troubles really moving myself into the mindset of the NPC.

I would like to hear what you do in preparing to play an NPC - not so much on creation, paper, stats etc. - but how to get into their skins and make them come alive.

This is what I'm doing in prep:
- I'm using the DMG to create NPC's
- I connect them to either the main storyline, player storylines or backgrounds
- If there's a chance they'll be involved in combat I add a simple statblock and attack stats
- Before the session I write down: what they want - how they'll act to get that (on top of the personality description I have from step 1)

In game:
- I describe their looks, the things that make them peculiar
- In conversation I let their personality traits shine through: direct or very indirect, friendly or is it all business, busy or quiet, etc.,
- They're in control: meaning I often notice the party thinks it's very easy to persuade somebody but the NPC's really have a mind of their own, unless they are convinced, persuaded or deceived combined with the favor of the rolls

What's missing example:
Yesterday I introduced an NPC which is a moon elf druid, high ranked member of the emerald enclave. They met him, and it felt....flat. This is a mysterious figure, who knows a lot about the enclave, their surroundings, magic etc. But somehow, the interaction stays limited to 'getting a quest' or some information. They're not bonding with the NPC's story, his mysticism and fail to see the oppertunities I'd like them to see.

How can I lure them into deeper conversations? Create bonds between the NPC and the players.... Any tips?

Have the NPC ask in-character questions about the PC's background and accomplishments. Showing interest in someone else is generally a good way to be seen as interesting.

Agreed- have the NPC ask the party questions to stimulate their interest. Everyone loves talking about themselves. They can then add pieces of their own story. 

Another big thing to remember is that what seems obvious in your notes or in the adventure guide is frequently not so to the players. It’s easy to misinterpret or fill in the blanks in a different fashion than is intended. I handle this in one of two ways: lean into it- don’t be too rigid to change your npc. I ran mines of phandelver and one of the PCs, for no real reason, HATED Gundren and thought he was up to no good. I didn’t make him a villain but I made him more of a shady businessman- there were rumors amongst some locals he wasn’t to be crossed and some of his rivals had conveniently gone missing. The storyline was purposefully murky- made the party ask who was worse- the black spider or who they were working for? This in turn allowed me to introduce some  points to make the drow more empathetic.

The second is simpler and very effective: if you feel an npc is being misinterpreted or ignored, tell a member of your party point blank to roll an insight check, set the DC low. Or even just ask some “what’s your passive insight?” And then you reveal a tantalizing clue- “you get the impression that this character knows more” “this character seems mysterious” “you notice they are wearing a sigil you’ve seen before” etc

This is a mysterious figure.  For this particular NPC, I might draw inspiration from Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.  Let him know things about the party that they don't think he should know.

"And you, Frodo Baggins of the shire, what would you ask of the Lady of the Forest"

"Uhhhh how did you know my name, and where I am from?"

Quote from dexterious12>>

The second is simpler and very effective: if you feel an npc is being misinterpreted or ignored, tell a member of your party point blank to roll an insight check, set the DC low. Or even just ask some “what’s your passive insight?” And then you reveal a tantalizing clue- “you get the impression that this character knows more” “this character seems mysterious” “you notice they are wearing a sigil you’ve seen before” etc

I love this idea! This creates mystery and involves not only the dialogue, but reading body language and things that are not said - I think this will add another layer to the interaction. 

Quote from crzyhawk >>

This is a mysterious figure.  For this particular NPC, I might draw inspiration from Galadriel in Lord of the Rings.  Let him know things about the party that they don't think he should know.

"And you, Frodo Baggins of the shire, what would you ask of the Lady of the Forest"

"Uhhhh how did you know my name, and where I am from?"

Also, loving this! Haha, I'm going to think about what they might know due to their position about the players iso only thinking about the storyline - making them the stars in the story. 

Loving this! It's really helpfull thanks a lot.

I think you're putting in a lot of good effort into your NPCs.

As with most game elements, less is more: sparse, effective design is better than exhaustive paragraphs of designing every character nuance.

Here's how I think NPCs should go together:

• Role: Why are they even in the Adventure? Quest giver? Adversary? Ally? Showing off a facet of the campaign world? Interface with the equipment list in the PHB? If they don't have one, then don't make this NPC.
• Physical: General stock appearance: tall graceful Eleven leader. Optionally, one physical call out ( Players will only remember 1 if you add multiples ): silvery scar over the left cheek
• Affect & Speech: How do they present themselves? A good short hand is pick one of the 7 dwarves from Disney's Snow White, and an energy level of High/Medium/Low . Low energy Doc = calm; wise; slow and deliberate in their speech and manners. Optionally give them a verbal tic, or repeatedly used stock phrase.
• Motivation: What is it that they want in interacting with the Party? They'll want something, even if it's just be polite and humor these strangers until they go away.

That's really all you need for a stock Character: a shopkeeper, a guard, an informant in a bar, etc.

But if you want the NPC to be alive and important to the Party, you need to add one of what I call a humanizing element

• Vulnerability, Fear, and Pain
• Hopes, Dreams, and Aspirations
• Values, Virtues, and Beliefs
• Flaws and Failings

These are elements that cause us to empathize with a person, if well played. These make them seem like people. You might even blend these slightly - the Baron is in fear for his kidnapped youngest son, but is fighting his pride, not wanting to show vulnerability, even to the Party - but don't try and give every NPC all of these at once.

These are the easy ones to portray, in that they can be presented without any shared history with the Party.

If the interaction with the Party is ongoing, you can start to bring in dynamic aspects of their Character.

• Self-Awareness
• Growth

The combine wonderfully with Vulnerabilities and Flaws - especially if the growth is overcoming them, or even succumbing to them in the case of a tragic character. These are only demonstrated through time, so are really only possible with major reoccurring NPCs, but they show a living and dynamic character, which is even more relatable.

The astute reader will have picked up on the fact that a lot of this is cribbed from The AngryDM :D For further reading, I'd suggest this: https://theangrygm.com/angrys-two-note-npc/

Thansk Vedexent, this is a very nice extension to what I was doing and makes it a bit more structured and focused on the personal things. I've started to read the Angry gm's arcticles, although I like the funny way of writing it doesn't help in easily taking away the right conclusions but your overview helps a lot. I'll stick to the first 4 for most of the NPC's and work out the other 2/3 elements for those NPC's who have an important role in the story. Thanks.

Yeah, Angry has some really good content, but the angry gimmick and the writing style ... oy! 

I don't always agree with the content, but once you boil it down, it's almost always good enough and well thought out enough to be well worth the migraine level pain of his prose.

Reskin, reskin, reskin. As a shortcut, I like to pick movie actor/characters and steal their personalities and general look, adjusted for the D&D world.

Making memorable NPCs is still a new skill for me, so I currently only do 0-2 notable ones per game. (Not every game has an utterly amazing NPC! Sometimes I'm focused more on improving other stuff. Although one of my current groups seems to really like RP, so I'll be making more of an effort. )

Quote from RivaGrayEyes >>

As a shortcut, I like to pick movie actor/characters and steal their personalities and general look, adjusted for the D&D world.

This is very effective technique to solidify an NPC in your own mind. I can still clearly picture a particular town official NPC because he was based on Mark Addy's portrayal of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones.

Thanks for the tips everyone I have used it to my advantage in preparing the next session!

As others have said, sounds like you are doing some excellent prep.

Have you tried asking one or more of your players what they think? It might feel flat to you, but to them your characters are interesting and vivid.

Or, they might tell you what they would find more engaging.

It's also worth remembering that some players aren't into complex roleplaying with NPCs. They may instead look to optimise a character to negotiate such encounters, and therefore want to roll the dice and be given the information "earned".

Hi Jarly8, 

Yes I've certainly asked for feedback, they've certainly enjoyed the NPC's - however - I do notice that they say this based on the NPC's which are interesting to them. Meaning, the characters have their own preference offcourse. The mage likes the Harper mage, the Ranger likes the mystical Druid Emerald Enclave member and so on. This is not a bad thing, although sometimes this does make me feel that they're not that interested when meeting other NPC's and their attention kind of drifts. 

I am aware of the high bar I'm putting there :)

But let's see after next session if this has helped the interaction.

Quote from Rob_molenschot >>

 

But let's see after next session if this has helped the interaction.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on!