I've started writing my own campaign, I've never DMed before, only ever been a player, so its all new and scary. I was just wondering what everyone's systems were for making important NPCs. At the minute I'm using Beyond's random character sheet generator (entering race, name and class,) just to save some time deciding stats etc, but essentially creating a playable character that I will be using as either a big bad or an important player in the story.
Is this a good method? Am I over complicating things just so I can be a little more comfortable? Is there an easier way of doing this but still includes the detail I'll need?
Help, experienced DMs!! Bestow your knowledge and advice onto me.
That's what I did when I needed a big NPC for the party go go up against. I knew I wanted him to be a spellcaster, so I decided on wizard and leveled him up appropriately, then I picked the spells I wanted him to cast, and finally, I picked the equipment I wanted him to have. Get it as close as you can to what you're looking for and then fudge things as needed. You're the DM so if you need to bend the rules a little to get exactly what you want, it's your prerogative :)
Welcome to the DM world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
That's what I did when I needed a big NPC for the party go go up against. I knew I wanted him to be a spellcaster, so I decided on wizard and leveled him up appropriately, then I picked the spells I wanted him to cast, and finally, I picked the equipment I wanted him to have. Get it as close as you can to what you're looking for and then fudge things as needed. You're the DM so if you need to bend the rules a little to get exactly what you want, it's your prerogative :)
Welcome to the DM world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
*EDIT* The deleted comment was my post, but was not in reply to TexasDevin like I wanted it to be.
Thanks! It's nice to know I'm not over complicating things!
And thank you, I'm a little nervous but I'm very excited. The bones of my world are almost finished now, so I can't wait to run it.
First thing I do is figure out who the big bad is and what they want. Power? Gold? Magic? Souls? Become Mayor, General of an Army, become a God? or Are they a fallen good character that is doing evil in the name of good? Or, do they just want to see the world around them burn ie, The Dark Knight Joker. (my current bad guys is this. An old thief that feels like life has cheated him, so he is looking to cause as much chaos to his city has he can before he dies. This involves him making deals with humanoids like goblins, and bugbears; as well as cults he would never have considered in his younger days. He is using the chaos to go after those that he feels stopped him from becoming something bigger and better.)
Next, when is the party going to meet this big bad AND are they suppose to defeat the big bad at this moment? This helps you with how much you need to know... ie. stats. If they are not going to meet the big bad for a while, you can have the pc's meet up with NPC's that talk about the big bad. Not all the information has to be true. Let the conversations, decide what feels right to you. What are the things the PC's react too. If it is someone they are going to meet soon, but they are not going to fight or defeat. Then let the big bad break the rules. Rolls some dice behind the screen and... (shifty eyes) lie to your players. This is the big bad... it gets to cheat without explanation. If you can lie to your players in a believable way, especially if you evoke and image like Gary Oldman as Dracula, backing into the shadows. Then as they rush forward with their light, a torrent of rats or spiders go running away; or the big bad is just gone. In a situation like this, Always let the players roll the dice. The players won't feel cheated, but no matter what they roll, they get pretty much the same result. A glimpse of the bad guy rounding a corner, the attack just misses, or hits, but does seem to affect them the way it should. After this, you are going to need have a magic item, or powers, that represent that "cheat," but, you will have time to figure that out. I love putting my big bad in front of the PC's before they can do much. It gives the other adventures leading up to the final meeting more weight, and that final meeting gravitas. Especially if you let slip, that the bad guy is getting more power too. Shrug... even if he is not. You can do a little James Bond villain here too... where he thinks the PCs are below his worth so after defeating them he lets them live so they can see the chaos they failed to stop.
In my opinion, you don't need the "stats" of the big bad, until you know your players are going to fight and or defeat the big bad. You can play around with a lot of game stuff; role-playing, NPC's talking about rumors, player hand outs in the form of letters warning them off, an envelope with a giant lock of PCs hair that they noticed was missing days or weeks before, an NPC that knows about the big bad and added the PCs turning up dead or missing before they could get all the information: you can do all this before hand to get the feeling of the bad guy. The most important thing here is verisimilitude. Cheat, but don't break the believably.
Once you get to stating them out, just pick the bonuses you want. You don't need to roll randomly unless you want to, but you may end up with a big bad that is not as good (evil) as you had hoped. The stats should be a little bit better than the PC's, with a weakness. Remember too, Action economy is huge in the big bad guy fight. If it is one against four or five, your big bad is going to down in a round or two. So you will need some way to break up the PCs actions or the bad guy is going to need to be able to do more.
The great thing about having a big bad that the PCs see... is once they defeat them. You can have the big bad behind them that then never knew about and now, while they saved the day this time... there is something else out there. If you have not found him yet, you can also look up Matt Colville on YouTube, he has a bunch of great information and tips for new DMs.
Good luck, and welcome to the DM's chair. Hope you love it.
First thing I do is figure out who the big bad is and what they want. Power? Gold? Magic? Souls? Become Mayor, General of an Army, become a God? or Are they a fallen good character that is doing evil in the name of good? Or, do they just want to see the world around them burn ie, The Dark Knight Joker. (my current bad guys is this. An old thief that feels like life has cheated him, so he is looking to cause as much chaos to his city has he can before he dies. This involves him making deals with humanoids like goblins, and bugbears; as well as cults he would never have considered in his younger days. He is using the chaos to go after those that he feels stopped him from becoming something bigger and better.)
Next, when is the party going to meet this big bad AND are they suppose to defeat the big bad at this moment? This helps you with how much you need to know... ie. stats. If they are not going to meet the big bad for a while, you can have the pc's meet up with NPC's that talk about the big bad. Not all the information has to be true. Let the conversations, decide what feels right to you. What are the things the PC's react too. If it is someone they are going to meet soon, but they are not going to fight or defeat. Then let the big bad break the rules. Rolls some dice behind the screen and... (shifty eyes) lie to your players. This is the big bad... it gets to cheat without explanation. If you can lie to your players in a believable way, especially if you evoke and image like Gary Oldman as Dracula, backing into the shadows. Then as they rush forward with their light, a torrent of rats or spiders go running away; or the big bad is just gone. In a situation like this, Always let the players roll the dice. The players won't feel cheated, but no matter what they roll, they get pretty much the same result. A glimpse of the bad guy rounding a corner, the attack just misses, or hits, but does seem to affect them the way it should. After this, you are going to need have a magic item, or powers, that represent that "cheat," but, you will have time to figure that out. I love putting my big bad in front of the PC's before they can do much. It gives the other adventures leading up to the final meeting more weight, and that final meeting gravitas. Especially if you let slip, that the bad guy is getting more power too. Shrug... even if he is not. You can do a little James Bond villain here too... where he thinks the PCs are below his worth so after defeating them he lets them live so they can see the chaos they failed to stop.
In my opinion, you don't need the "stats" of the big bad, until you know your players are going to fight and or defeat the big bad. You can play around with a lot of game stuff; role-playing, NPC's talking about rumors, player hand outs in the form of letters warning them off, an envelope with a giant lock of PCs hair that they noticed was missing days or weeks before, an NPC that knows about the big bad and added the PCs turning up dead or missing before they could get all the information: you can do all this before hand to get the feeling of the bad guy. The most important thing here is verisimilitude. Cheat, but don't break the believably.
Once you get to stating them out, just pick the bonuses you want. You don't need to roll randomly unless you want to, but you may end up with a big bad that is not as good (evil) as you had hoped. The stats should be a little bit better than the PC's, with a weakness. Remember too, Action economy is huge in the big bad guy fight. If it is one against four or five, your big bad is going to down in a round or two. So you will need some way to break up the PCs actions or the bad guy is going to need to be able to do more.
The great thing about having a big bad that the PCs see... is once they defeat them. You can have the big bad behind them that then never knew about and now, while they saved the day this time... there is something else out there. If you have not found him yet, you can also look up Matt Colville on YouTube, he has a bunch of great information and tips for new DMs.
Good luck, and welcome to the DM's chair. Hope you love it.
Thank you so much! This has been super helpful. I have an idea for the smaller big bads but not the main puppetmaster, but knowing it’s something I can make as the campaign progresses is a massive relief.
I’m super excited to get to tell a story myself and I hope my players enjoy it as much as I’m enjoying writing it
Don't over prep. It can be so tempting, but let the game grow organically. You only need to be two to three steps ahead of your characters. You need to know where they are going, but it doesn't have to be A, B, C, Destination. Players very rarely do that and if you let them play in the sandbox a little bit off to the side of "the road," the game feels more real to the players. And leaves them with a sense that choices matter. If they come to a crossroads one way leads to the swamp, another leads to the mountains.... no matter which way they choose have it lead to "the adventure." The only thing that has changed is the "decorations" for the setting of "the adventure." Then if they come back to the same crossroads have it lead somewhere else. This comes back to my "lying" to the players. The only way this doesn't work is if you have said, "In the swamp there is an black dragon," while in the mountains "there is a bunch of bandits." But even then, you could have the dragon. It has eaten all the bandits and is taking their "loot." Or in the swamp they run into the bandits, they have killed the dragon and taken the "loot."
My point is, don't paint yourself into a corner by having "a story" you want to tell. It is a group effort. Give players options or the illusion of options. When you get further a long, it becomes fun to have two or three options prepared. Let the PC's choose one, and let the actions the PCs took there have carry over into the next area. In the above option, no matter which one they chose, the other bad guy attacks the village they are operating out of; or the 'bad guys," hear of the attack, and know about the PC's. Especially a dragon, looking at the wizard, "Your mage fire you used on the brigands will not find so willing a target her in my swamps." It is a good way to let the players know that what they do has meaning.
One other thing, steal. Steal from other people that may be more creative. If another DM did something cool that you saw in a game, or in a book, or in a video game, or in a movie. Use it. 33 years later, I am still stealing ideas my brother did or had when we were kids. He has always been more creative (some might say "evil") than myself, and my players thing I am amazing. So I let them think this. Ha! If a DM did something really cool for your character, do that thing for someone else.
This video has some good advise about being a DM as well.
Thank you! I do keep worrying I don't have enough prepped so it's nice to hear :') Thanks again!
I would say to prep as much as you like. Don't feel the need to overprep, but if you're inspired, then roll with it. Be ready for large chunks of the awesome stuff you have prepared to go undiscovered and unused when PCs take a different path than what you expected. Don't despair. Hang onto that stuff and look for opportunities to work it in later. And when you find a chance to use it again, you've already done the hard work!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Not all those who wander are lost"
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey all,
I've started writing my own campaign, I've never DMed before, only ever been a player, so its all new and scary. I was just wondering what everyone's systems were for making important NPCs. At the minute I'm using Beyond's random character sheet generator (entering race, name and class,) just to save some time deciding stats etc, but essentially creating a playable character that I will be using as either a big bad or an important player in the story.
Is this a good method? Am I over complicating things just so I can be a little more comfortable? Is there an easier way of doing this but still includes the detail I'll need?
Help, experienced DMs!! Bestow your knowledge and advice onto me.
Sincerely,
Emilie, the scared and very confused.
Tiefling Warlock by day, Aspiring DM by sesh
That's what I did when I needed a big NPC for the party go go up against. I knew I wanted him to be a spellcaster, so I decided on wizard and leveled him up appropriately, then I picked the spells I wanted him to cast, and finally, I picked the equipment I wanted him to have. Get it as close as you can to what you're looking for and then fudge things as needed. You're the DM so if you need to bend the rules a little to get exactly what you want, it's your prerogative :)
Welcome to the DM world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
*EDIT* The deleted comment was my post, but was not in reply to TexasDevin like I wanted it to be.
Thanks! It's nice to know I'm not over complicating things!
And thank you, I'm a little nervous but I'm very excited. The bones of my world are almost finished now, so I can't wait to run it.
Tiefling Warlock by day, Aspiring DM by sesh
First thing I do is figure out who the big bad is and what they want. Power? Gold? Magic? Souls? Become Mayor, General of an Army, become a God? or Are they a fallen good character that is doing evil in the name of good? Or, do they just want to see the world around them burn ie, The Dark Knight Joker. (my current bad guys is this. An old thief that feels like life has cheated him, so he is looking to cause as much chaos to his city has he can before he dies. This involves him making deals with humanoids like goblins, and bugbears; as well as cults he would never have considered in his younger days. He is using the chaos to go after those that he feels stopped him from becoming something bigger and better.)
Next, when is the party going to meet this big bad AND are they suppose to defeat the big bad at this moment?
This helps you with how much you need to know... ie. stats. If they are not going to meet the big bad for a while, you can have the pc's meet up with NPC's that talk about the big bad. Not all the information has to be true. Let the conversations, decide what feels right to you. What are the things the PC's react too. If it is someone they are going to meet soon, but they are not going to fight or defeat. Then let the big bad break the rules. Rolls some dice behind the screen and... (shifty eyes) lie to your players. This is the big bad... it gets to cheat without explanation. If you can lie to your players in a believable way, especially if you evoke and image like Gary Oldman as Dracula, backing into the shadows. Then as they rush forward with their light, a torrent of rats or spiders go running away; or the big bad is just gone. In a situation like this, Always let the players roll the dice. The players won't feel cheated, but no matter what they roll, they get pretty much the same result. A glimpse of the bad guy rounding a corner, the attack just misses, or hits, but does seem to affect them the way it should. After this, you are going to need have a magic item, or powers, that represent that "cheat," but, you will have time to figure that out. I love putting my big bad in front of the PC's before they can do much. It gives the other adventures leading up to the final meeting more weight, and that final meeting gravitas. Especially if you let slip, that the bad guy is getting more power too. Shrug... even if he is not. You can do a little James Bond villain here too... where he thinks the PCs are below his worth so after defeating them he lets them live so they can see the chaos they failed to stop.
In my opinion, you don't need the "stats" of the big bad, until you know your players are going to fight and or defeat the big bad. You can play around with a lot of game stuff; role-playing, NPC's talking about rumors, player hand outs in the form of letters warning them off, an envelope with a giant lock of PCs hair that they noticed was missing days or weeks before, an NPC that knows about the big bad and added the PCs turning up dead or missing before they could get all the information: you can do all this before hand to get the feeling of the bad guy. The most important thing here is verisimilitude. Cheat, but don't break the believably.
Once you get to stating them out, just pick the bonuses you want. You don't need to roll randomly unless you want to, but you may end up with a big bad that is not as good (evil) as you had hoped. The stats should be a little bit better than the PC's, with a weakness. Remember too, Action economy is huge in the big bad guy fight. If it is one against four or five, your big bad is going to down in a round or two. So you will need some way to break up the PCs actions or the bad guy is going to need to be able to do more.
The great thing about having a big bad that the PCs see... is once they defeat them. You can have the big bad behind them that then never knew about and now, while they saved the day this time... there is something else out there.
If you have not found him yet, you can also look up Matt Colville on YouTube, he has a bunch of great information and tips for new DMs.
Good luck, and welcome to the DM's chair. Hope you love it.
Thank you so much! This has been super helpful. I have an idea for the smaller big bads but not the main puppetmaster, but knowing it’s something I can make as the campaign progresses is a massive relief.
I’m super excited to get to tell a story myself and I hope my players enjoy it as much as I’m enjoying writing it
Tiefling Warlock by day, Aspiring DM by sesh
Don't over prep. It can be so tempting, but let the game grow organically. You only need to be two to three steps ahead of your characters. You need to know where they are going, but it doesn't have to be A, B, C, Destination. Players very rarely do that and if you let them play in the sandbox a little bit off to the side of "the road," the game feels more real to the players. And leaves them with a sense that choices matter. If they come to a crossroads one way leads to the swamp, another leads to the mountains.... no matter which way they choose have it lead to "the adventure." The only thing that has changed is the "decorations" for the setting of "the adventure." Then if they come back to the same crossroads have it lead somewhere else. This comes back to my "lying" to the players. The only way this doesn't work is if you have said, "In the swamp there is an black dragon," while in the mountains "there is a bunch of bandits." But even then, you could have the dragon. It has eaten all the bandits and is taking their "loot." Or in the swamp they run into the bandits, they have killed the dragon and taken the "loot."
My point is, don't paint yourself into a corner by having "a story" you want to tell. It is a group effort. Give players options or the illusion of options. When you get further a long, it becomes fun to have two or three options prepared. Let the PC's choose one, and let the actions the PCs took there have carry over into the next area. In the above option, no matter which one they chose, the other bad guy attacks the village they are operating out of; or the 'bad guys," hear of the attack, and know about the PC's. Especially a dragon, looking at the wizard, "Your mage fire you used on the brigands will not find so willing a target her in my swamps." It is a good way to let the players know that what they do has meaning.
One other thing, steal. Steal from other people that may be more creative. If another DM did something cool that you saw in a game, or in a book, or in a video game, or in a movie. Use it. 33 years later, I am still stealing ideas my brother did or had when we were kids. He has always been more creative (some might say "evil") than myself, and my players thing I am amazing. So I let them think this. Ha!
If a DM did something really cool for your character, do that thing for someone else.
This video has some good advise about being a DM as well.
Good luck.
Thank you! I do keep worrying I don't have enough prepped so it's nice to hear :') Thanks again!
Tiefling Warlock by day, Aspiring DM by sesh
Lots of good advice here on the npc and not overprepping. But where you can prep are the little thing that slow down a game.
There are more that every DM uses.
But GLHF
Thanks! I have prepped a few encounters and taverns etc, but the rest like the maps and post its for initiative are great ideas. Thank you!
Tiefling Warlock by day, Aspiring DM by sesh
I would say to prep as much as you like. Don't feel the need to overprep, but if you're inspired, then roll with it. Be ready for large chunks of the awesome stuff you have prepared to go undiscovered and unused when PCs take a different path than what you expected. Don't despair. Hang onto that stuff and look for opportunities to work it in later. And when you find a chance to use it again, you've already done the hard work!
"Not all those who wander are lost"