Skip to content

NPC Builder

A tool for building distinct character voices and tracking motivations for significant NPCs (or PCs). This framework creates memorable characters without relying on accents.

Launch the NPC Builder

Character Motivations

Motivations are categorized into three tiers based on scope and timeframe:

Minor Motivations - Short-term objectives like ensuring timely delivery of goods or resolving a squabble with a neighbor. These are immediate concerns that may be resolved quickly, either through the NPC's own efforts or with PC help. Once fulfilled, minor motivations give way to new challenges. Short-term goals often represent the needs of the NPC.

Moderate Motivations - Mid-range objectives like establishing a trade partnership or securing a political alliance. These require sustained effort and resources, typically involving multiple steps or significant obstacles. PCs can be involved for longer periods as they work through challenges. Once achieved, moderate motivations can lead to new opportunities or ongoing complications.

Major Motivations - Long-term aspirations or core driving forces like seeking revenge against a sworn enemy or ascending to power within an organization. Major motivations shape the NPC's entire life trajectory and drive bold, ambitious endeavors. Achieving or failing to achieve these can have profound consequences for both the NPC and the world around them. Major motivations are slow to accomplish and slow to replace.

Example: Thalgar, Dwarven Blacksmith

Minor Motivations:

  • Ensure Timely Iron Shipment - Needs high-quality iron to arrive on time from distant mines. Asks PCs to secure his shipment.
  • Repair Broken Forge - Forge made of rare stone from his abandoned ancestral home has cracked. Asks PCs to retrieve replacement material.

Moderate Motivations:

  • Expand Business Reach - Needs coin and wants to establish trade partnerships with neighboring towns. Asks PCs to spread word of his wares.
  • Train Apprentice - Needs help with increasing workload. Asks PCs to watch for a worthy apprentice.

Major Motivations:

  • Reclaim Family Forge - With stone retrieved and money from expanded business, he can fund an expedition to reclaim and restore his ancestral home with PC help.
  • Become Master Craftsman - Wants to earn the prestige of his forefathers. His father died with their family hammer somewhere in the wilderness. He wants it returned so his line can forge master crafts again.

Building Character Voice

Creating distinct voices without accents involves layering speech characteristics. Start with easy changes, add moderate changes for more complexity, and incorporate hard changes for significant NPCs.

Easy Changes: Volume and Speed

Volume

Loud:

  • Confident - Project their voice with certainty because they know they're right or that no one will challenge them.
  • Commanding - Know the best way to be heard over the rabble is to rise above it.
  • Excitable - Has difficulty reigning in their volume due to excitability or impulsiveness.
  • Angry - In perpetual rage that results in always being loud and acts as a challenge to anyone who might interrupt.
  • Attention-Seeker - Wants to be the center of attention and habitually draws attention to themselves.

Soft:

  • Shy - Uncertain and hesitant in interactions, seeming to lack conviction.
  • Enigmatic - Prone to secrecy and confidence, habitually avoiding attention because only those they want to hear them will hear them.
  • Serene - Gentle and soothing tone from someone who doesn't need to project to be heard or confident.
  • Respectful - Deferential or polite to show respect because their actions reflect their bearing more than their volume.
  • Muttering - Constantly chattering to themselves, but impossible to hear because their words are usually for themselves.

Speed

Fast:

  • Nervous - Always anxious or tense, trying to speak as quickly as possible before being interrupted.
  • Excitement - Unable to contain enthusiasm, talking over themselves because they speak faster than they think.
  • Urgent - Everything is important and must be conveyed before it's too late because everything is always in crisis.
  • Impatient - Unwilling to take time to properly engage in conversations because there's something else they'd rather be doing.
  • Fast-Talker - Trying to pull one over by confusing conversation partners because they don't want anyone to take time to hear what they have to say.

Slow:

  • Thoughtful - Deliberate and careful in speech, taking time to consider each word because being correct is more important than being quick.
  • Calm - Tranquil and relaxing in communications with no urgency because taking another moment will change nothing.
  • Authoritative - Measured and commanding because they know no one will interrupt them.
  • Weary - Always tired, slow to communicate because of perpetual exhaustion.
  • Uncertain - Vague or unsure of their own thoughts because they don't know what you want to hear or have never thought about the subject.

Moderate Changes: Tone, Emphasis, Pauses

Tone

  • Cheerful - Always sounds upbeat and positive, even when the situation doesn't warrant it.
  • Sarcastic - Caustic, biting edge to speech, often with exaggerated intonation to emphasize insincerity.
  • Monotone - Speaks in flat, unvarying pitch that makes them seem disinterested or robotic, but can also convey unflappable calmness.
  • Sincere - Speaks with genuine emotion, often heartfelt, making them seem honest, trustworthy, and relatable.
  • Hostile - Aggressive and confrontational, often with a sharp edge that can make even neutral statements sound like threats.

Emphasis

  • Key Words - Places stress on important words within a sentence to draw attention to them, changing the meaning significantly based on what is emphasized.
  • Repetition - Repeats key phrases or words to ensure they're noticed and remembered.
  • Pitch Variation - Uses changes in pitch to emphasize certain parts of speech. Rising and falling tones make speech more engaging and highlight specific points.
  • Volume Shifts - Alternates between speaking loudly and softly to maintain interest, underscore points, or confuse the listener.
  • Dramatic Pauses - Pauses at strategic points to let the significance of words sink in or to convey authority.

Hesitations and Pauses

  • Stumbling - Pausing because they're tripping over their own words due to talking too fast, forgetting what they're going to say, or forgetting words.
  • Awkward - Pauses at odd times, suggesting discomfort, social anxiety, or unease.
  • Calculated - Pauses deliberately to control conversation flow and manipulate listener perceptions, sometimes to lie.
  • Uncertain - Often hesitates, using filler words like "um" and "uh."
  • Thoughtful - Hesitates as they carefully consider their words, suggesting a deep thinker who values precision in communication.

Hard Changes: Vocabulary, Metaphors, Speech Patterns

Reserve these for PCs you'll play for extended periods or important recurring NPCs. Create clear notes because these are difficult to adapt on the fly.

Vocabulary

Technical Jargon - Terms specific to profession or expertise:

  • Blacksmith: "quillon" (crossguard), "quench" (cool to harden metal), "billet" (semi-finished metal)
  • Leatherworker: "gusset" (piece inserted into seam), "scarfing" (thinning leather), "skiver" (thin leather)
  • Farmer: "fallow" (unseeded land), "silage" (fermented livestock fodder), "sward" (grazing field)

Slang - Informal language indicating background or social standing:

  • Street Urchin: "quacksalver" (charlatan), "gardyloo" (warning), "nick" (steal)
  • Thief: "oak" (rich man), "academy" (brothel), "frummagemmed" (hanged)
  • Noble: "giglot" (flirtatious woman), "snollygoster" (unprincipled politician), "guerdon" (recompense)

Regional Terms - Vocabulary giving characters a sense of place:

  • Coastal Villager: "flotsam" (wreckage), "scuttle" (sink), "spindrift" (spray)
  • Forest Villager: "holt" (small wooded area), "dingle" (small wooded valley), "bracken" (coarse ferns)
  • Mountain Villager: "corrie" (hollow in a mountain), "tarn" (small mountain lake), "rill" (stream down a mountain)

Metaphors

Common Metaphors:

  • "Steady as a rock" - reliability
  • "A storm in a teacup" - blowing something out of proportion
  • "Casting pearls before swine" - giving something valuable to those who can't appreciate it

Cultural Metaphors:

  • Elf: "The root of the problem" - finding the source of an issue
  • Dwarf: "Set in stone" - permanence
  • Orc: "Trying to bleed a stone" - something impossible

Professional Metaphors:

  • Sailor: "Navigating troubled waters" - dealing with difficulties
  • Knight: "Bearing the weight of the shield" - responsibility of protecting others
  • Blacksmith: "Striking while the iron is hot" - seizing opportunities

Speech Patterns

Repetition - Repeating words or phrases establishes obsession, nervousness, or excitement:

  • Gloating: "Well, well, well…"
  • Insecure: "Sorry, sorry, sorry…"
  • Exasperation: "It isn't right! I thought we had this…listen, it isn't right. They said they would help and now they're backing out. It just isn't right!"

Phrasal Verbs - Slang verbs that distinguish nobility, region, or education:

  • Noble: "Proceed" instead of "go on"
  • Rural: "Looked after" instead of "cared for"
  • Educated: "Exhausted" instead of "ran out of"

Sentence Structure - Complexity indicates education or state of mind:

  • Simple: "We work hard. We live simple."
  • Complex: "Our community has always been one of diligence, embracing a life of modesty."

Complete Character Examples

Leona, Human Revolutionary

Background: Passionate leader of a revolutionary movement, fighting for freedom and justice. Her speech is powerful and inspiring, aimed at rallying followers.

Speech Elements:

  • Speed: Moderate
  • Volume: Loud
  • Tone: Commanding
  • Emphasis: Repetition
  • Pauses: Calculated
  • Vocabulary: Simple, Direct
  • Metaphors: "Freedom is a flame that must be kindled."
  • Speech Patterns: Rhetorical, persuasive

Speech Example: "We stand at the brink of change! (Pauses dramatically) Our fight is not just for us, but for our children, and our children's children. We will no longer be shackled by the chains of oppression. Together, we rise, and together, we will prevail. Every step we take brings us closer to our goal. Freedom is a flame that must be kindled. We must breathe into it a breath of life. We must cradle it with both hands and never let go. For the sake of our children and their children, we fight!"

Korrin, Orc Shaman

Background: Deeply spiritual orc shaman connected to ancestral spirits. His speech is measured and imbued with mysticism.

Speech Elements:

  • Speed: Slow
  • Volume: Soft
  • Tone: Sincere
  • Emphasis: Key Words
  • Pauses: Reflective
  • Vocabulary: Technical Jargon (spirituality: "totem," "ritual," "incantation")
  • Metaphors: "Spirits guide us like stars in the night sky."
  • Speech Patterns: Measured, deliberate

Speech Example: "The spirits whisper to those who listen with an open heart. (Thoughtful Pause) Each breeze, each rustle of leaves, carries a message from our ancestors. In this sacred grove, we perform the rituals and incantations that have been passed down through generations. Our totems, carved from the ancient trees, are a testament to our unity with the land. Spirits guide us like stars in the night sky, showing us the path even in the darkest night."

Nia, Human Merchant

Background: Savvy merchant from a bustling city marketplace. She is persuasive and always looks for a good deal, speaking quickly and with enthusiasm.

Speech Elements:

  • Speed: Fast
  • Volume: Moderate
  • Tone: Cheerful
  • Emphasis: Pitch Variation
  • Pauses: Stumbling
  • Vocabulary: Slang (medieval: "groat," "mark," "hap'orth")
  • Metaphors: "A good deal is a golden opportunity."
  • Speech Patterns: Rapid, enthusiastic bursts

Speech Example: "Step right up! I've got the finest silks this side of the river. (Pauses slightly, then speaks quickly) You won't find a better price anywhere, I guarantee it! These are worth every groat, ah, every mark. Look at this weave, see the quality? A good deal is a golden opportunity, rare and precious. (Speaking Rapidly) So, what do you say? Take it now before someone else snatches up this deal!"