Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 138 - Making Trustworthy NPCs

Episode Date: August 21, 2022

It's hard to make NPCs that the PCs will trust, open up to, be vulnerable with.  Unfortunately it's not something that anyone can do with 100% success rate.  So, how DO you make NPCs the players will gravitate toward?  How can you portray these NPCs in such a way that the party wants to interact with them?  Tune in and find out. #DnD #DungeonsandDragons #Pathfinder #DMTips

This week on the Taking20 Podcast. Suppose you have an NPC that you want the PCs to connect with in some way. Like I said in the opening, you can't force that to happen, but you can make the ground fertile for it to happen on its own. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 138 of the Taking20 Podcast. This week, all about making trustworthy NPCs. This week's sponsor, bananas. I know you love bananas because they're just so appealing. Yeah, you probably expected that pun, didn't you?

Let's face it, that was low-hanging fruit. If you like this podcast, please consider telling your gaming group, your friends, your mailman, your local congressperson, and people at your local game store about it. I'd love to see it reach a wider audience and bring more people into this tabletop or RPG hobby. Please forgive me, but we had a milestone sometime this week, and I really feel like celebrating just a little. This little podcast passed 20,000 total downloads this week, and frankly, I can't believe it. As a peek behind the curtain, we're now up to around 250 downloads a week. It does fluctuate a little bit, depending on the topic that I cover, but I just wanted

to take a minute to thank each and every one of you that are listening, whether this is your first episode or 138th. I greatly appreciate all the feedback and suggestions that I've received. I read every email that I get and every message I receive on social media. All I want to do is make a podcast that you enjoy and find informative and make the occasional fart joke. Thank you so much from the bottom of my dry, old, withered, crusty, stone-hardened heart. My love to all of you. Okay, enough of that mushy crap. Episode 150 is coming up in the middle of November,

and I'd love to have another giveaway. So if you know someone who may like to sponsor a giveaway, please reach out to me, and I'd be happy to reach out to them. Fair warning. This episode is the first of a two-part series. I had originally planned on covering betrayal in this week's episode,

but after giving it some thought and starting to work on the betrayal episode, I realized betrayal has a prerequisite. Trust. Trust is reliance on a group or a person, and then for the PCs to trust NPCs, there has to be a reliance on that NPC, trusting in that NPC's strength of character or consistency of action. Unfortunately, let's start with the bad news. The ball is entirely in the player's court to decide whether they like or trust an NPC. We DMs can try to make the NPC someone the characters would trust, but it's not something you can force. On the other hand, yeah, we can't force trust,

but what we can do is set the conditions to be ripe for the PCs to trust an NPC. For a loose comparison, if you've ever worked in a garden or farm or flower bed, you can't force plants to grow. All you can do is plant the seeds in the right place with the right amount of sunlight, make sure it's appropriately watered, and hopefully your hard work will pay off. It's our job as GMs to make sure the ground is watered, and hopefully your hard work will pay off. It's our job as GMs to make sure the ground is fertile for PCs to trust NPCs and hope that the trust emerges from the environment that we've set up. Players and by extension characters have to engage with NPCs in ways that can build trust. One of the ways you can do that, by the way, is in social encounters.

In episode 80, I talked about social encounters, their design, and their purpose. Social encounters are opportunities for your characters that aren't built around being combat gods to show off a little bit. The diplomatizers, the intimidators, the bluffers, the characters with lots of lore and knowledge and capabilities inside a city or crowded area interaction with their fellow man. Social encounters I talked about in that episode need clear goals, give the NPCs a motivation, try to pique the PC's curiosity or emotions, and then encourage or reward the players that engage in the encounter without getting all stabby-stabby. Of course, there are characters

that like to get all stabby-stabby, so another way NPCs and PCs can interact is combat encounters. The easiest ways to get the PCs to engage with an NPC is to have the NPC help the group out in combat. Like the NPC flanks with a PC, they defend a PC, they provide a distraction at the right time, boom, instant opportunity for a connection between that PC and NPC. But truly building trust can't be a one-off encounter. It really requires multiple interactions. It's easiest with NPCs that have a reason or an opportunity to be in the PC's lives for an extended period of time, like NPCs at quest hubs, for example, that the characters will visit multiple times. Shopkeepers, quest givers, locals who live near the PC's homes or castles or space

apartments or wherever they happen to reside. This doesn't mean that interactions have to be deep philosophical conversations over tea that result in some sort of existential crisis, like are we truly free in this kingdom, or what's the meaning and purpose behind all this adventuring when the monsters just keep coming back to within the dungeons? Wait a minute, what is the purpose of cleaning out the dungeon if it's just going to have monsters again next week? Money, Jeremy. The purpose of adventuring is to make money. Oh yeah. The interactions with NPCs could be shallow, but regular. Suppose you have a neighbor who always waves to you in the mornings. You see her every day for years, and she leaves about the same time you do for work.

But then one day you don't see her. Or the next day. Or the next. Now, in our very non-magical world, it probably means that she's visiting relatives, or she's sick, or on vacation, or a business trip. Hopefully nothing more nefarious, but even casual interactions like this can build a sense of connection with someone. The same could be true of that vegetable salesman that always sets up his cart with the notched wheel on the corner close to

the blacksmith where the PCs live. He's there hawking his wares and the PCs keep meaning to talk to him about the name of his cart, Turnip the beat. Then one day, his cart isn't there when the PCs walk by. The next day, someone else is standing by the cart. Same notch, same place on the wheel, but now it's selling chicken and vegetables, and it's called Bok Bok Bok Choi. Where's the original guy? What the hell's with the names of the food carts in this town?

We really need to move away. The players depend on you as a DM to describe the world around them. You, in effect, are the camera and can focus the narrative attention wherever you would like to nudge the PCs to go. So if there's an NPC who's trustworthy and steadfast, make sure you call attention to their positive characteristics and actions the NPCs take that can prove to the PCs that they can help build that trust. Building connections and trust is easier, by the way, in role-play heavy campaigns. It doesn't mean it's impossible in the more tactical games, but it requires more work on you behind the

screen to give excuses for interaction. Now, in some campaigns, players tend to be wary or distant of NPCs. They treat them like part of the background, or at best, cardboard cutouts that come and go without making much of a ripple in their lake, much less a wave. Most groups don't focus much on small interactions in the game world. Buying groceries, walking their pets, getting mail from the postman. And for the most part, these interactions are mundane, trivial, and frankly inconsequential to the game. The DM doesn't mention them and the PCs aren't going to care, but for good reason. Otherwise, game sessions would be six hours long as everyone reads the letters they receive telling them the guild is going to be voting on dues changes next year.

Be sure to show up on Saturday so you can make your voice heard. It's hard in a lot of campaigns to build these connections without grinding the game to a standstill, detailing interactions with every NPC they come across. You could just detail the one or two NPCs you want the characters to connect with, but that's A, going to set off red flags in the players' minds when you do that, and B, feels a bit like railroading. You will connect to Chris the Barber because reasons. I can't talk about the reasons, but they're good reasons, and you need to talk to Chris. Hi, I'm Chris. Please ignore the scissors in my hand and love me. The fuck was that?

Okay, rewinding a bit. Suppose you have an NPC that you want the PCs to connect with in some way. Like I said in the opening, you can't force that to happen, but you can make the ground fertile for it to happen on its own. I did get some feedback that a user would like more summaries before I start waxing poetic, so here are seven things that you can do to make NPCs easier to trust. Play on players' proclivities, make them less hostile, make them unique, make them act trustworthy, make them useful, have them openly trust the PCs, and give the occasional NPC a connection to one of the character backstories. Okay, let's dive into the details. 1. Play on your players' proclivities and preferences.

Alliteration for the win. If you have experience with your gaming group and you've played with them before, chances are you've learned how your players play. Harper min-maxes their characters for combat and doesn't, quote, do social, end quote. Alex likes role-playing haggling with shopkeepers. Ben has a soft spot for lost or hurt animals. Given her preference, Mia would role-play conversations with everybody. So, you know this. Judiciously use this information to your advantage. Don't make every NPC have a hurt kitten or puppy or bunny. It's just not realistic, and the PCs may start asking questions like, who the hell's hurting all the bunnies in this town? And when it comes to hurting cute things,

someone has a wild hair. Yeah, baby, that was worth a full Greg Hahn rimshot there. But maybe have an NPC named, I don't know, Clarissa, who needs help with a hurt animal. That would tend to grab Ben's attention. He's playing a druid and can help Clarissa's llama with its cold. That's a built-in excuse for an NPC interaction with a PC. Later on, Clarissa brings Ben some vegetables from her farm or buys Ben a lager at the local pub, strikes up a conversation. Bang! Another interaction between PC and NPC. Later on, as the PCs are tootling about town, casually mention that you see Clarissa chatting with one of the local farriers or

trading produce for iron ingots, or maybe laughing at a young kid who's running through town wearing a guard's helmet that's way too big for them. Sure, you're pointing the PCs towards this particular NPC, but it could pay off down the road when the PCs maybe need someone who knows how to run a farm they inherit, or maybe they steal the farm or kill its current inhabitants and start living there in the most violent, hostile takeover ever made. But similarly, since your player Alex loves haggling with shopkeepers, roleplay the interaction, even if it's only briefly. Give Roja the shopkeeper at the general store a goal and motivations that Alex learns over time. Then have the shopkeeper change suddenly between visits. Alex's character has always liked talking to Roja, but now Mikhail is behind the counter today.

Where's Roja? Is Mikhail giving inconsistent answers as to where Roja is, or maybe he really doesn't know how to run a shop, so that might make the player suspicious. Is this the seed of an adventure, or is there just a mundane explanation? When Roja is finally found, was there something nefarious going on? And if so, that could lead to an adventure that could further connect Roja to the PCs.

Playing on your players' preferences is not metagaming or cheating in some way. In a way, it's giving your players what they want and what they enjoy helps them have a good time while accomplishing your needs of starting a potential adventure or building connections to this NPC as well. Tip number two, have fewer

openly hostile NPCs. I remember a conversation years ago with another DM friend of mine who lamented that his players don't really connect to any of the NPCs he brought in. So I asked, hey, can I play one night? And then when I did, every single NPC he role-played was gruff, short, difficult, openly hostile, willing to stab the PCs, and kind of an asshole. I tried to role-play a conversation with the NPC,

and in character, the DM said, I don't need your fucking life story. Are you going to buy something or not? So my character bought a potion and left. After the session, I said the NPC was pretty hostile and the interaction wouldn't be something my character would enjoy. He's not going to stick around and talk to Captain Jackass, the potion salesman. So make most of your NPCs somewhere between polite and amicable. It really doesn't matter if the NPC has a genuine desire to get to know the PCs

or if they're just putting on a fake smile. I mean, hell, most people on Earth interact It really doesn't matter if the NPC has a genuine desire to get to know the PCs, or if they're just putting on a fake smile. I mean, hell, most people on Earth interact somewhat amicably with those around them, so why would your world be any different than that? Interactions can usually range from genteel to gruff or polite to cold, but usually people act in a generally socially acceptable manner. Now, I know you're thinking of someone right now who's an exception to this rule, aren't you? Yeah, you're probably thinking of someone who in the South we would just say, bless their heart.

Why wouldn't a spaceport or medieval town or Wild West saloon be the same? Have most of your NPCs hover around, I don't know, distantly polite. Make the NPCs at each extreme the warm and open to openly hostile rare, so they really stand out from the crowd and the PCs will take notice. Which leads me to tip number three. Make your NPCs distinct and memorable. Make some NPCs different from the rest, especially if you want the PCs to interact with them and notice them. Be descriptive about the NPC, what they're wearing, what their hair looks like, any distinct features. If you want to use a distinct voice and you're good at it, great, do that, but you don't have to be. Which, by the way, do not be afraid to try different voices at your table. If your

Scottish accent is bad, use it anyway. If you can't keep an accent consistent, but damn it, you're trying, use it anyway. If your Southern accent somehow gradually fades to sound less like a Southern gentleman and more like I married my sister and she divorced me and took my dog, use it anyway. Oh, this is going to sound stupid? Yeah, so? Unless you're a professional DM who's expected to keep a consistent voice for the same characters, session over session, year over year, don't worry about it. Have fun with it. Your players, I guarantee, will remember that NPC with the wacky accent.

But voice isn't the only way to make an NPC distinct and memorable. It could be their appearance is unique. Hey, who's the new guy in the Hell Knight armor over in the corner? Or, that girl looks like she just tromped through a mile of swamp to get here. What's her story? Or, hey, barkeep, that person in the far table over there close to the fire is way too good looking for this dump. No offense, Reginald. Who the heck are they?

To make them distinct, you can also give them motivations. They can be memorable because they're passionate about freedom and they give impassioned speeches in the town square. They're working hard to buy the shop next to theirs so they can expand. Having the PCs find out these motivations of the NPCs can make them more memorable in their minds. Yes, I do recommend you make the occasional NPC quirky. I mean, players like weird. They love weird NPCs with really voices that are so far out there and

they look really unusual or maybe they completely play against type. And here is where I must once again heap praise on Matt Mercer for his NPC Victor the Powder Merchant on Critical Role Season 1. My gosh, Mercer could give a master class on NPC design. And by the way, if you haven't watched any of the YouTube videos and you don't want to watch the hundreds of hours of Critical Role, just go find the YouTube video on Victor the Powder Merchant where all the clips are together and get ready for a laugh. If you make every NPC wacky, it would be exhausting behind the screen, and if every NPC is quirky, none of them are. Occasionally, and I do mean occasionally, have an NPC who really doesn't act like the others. Don't overdo it, because if you wear it out, it won't stand out. But if the NPC does stand out and the players enjoy interacting with that NPC, they're coming back. Tip number four, make your NPCs trustworthy.

Duh statement of maybe the entire damn podcast, 138 episodes now, but trustworthy NPCs act in a trustworthy manner. NPCs that are trustworthy are reliable, transparent, they respect the PCs, they are honorable, compassionate, etc. If there are NPCs that you want the PCs to interact with, have them display those qualities and it tends to make the PCs want to come back. They're selfless, they're noble, they're generous to others. Especially if these acts by the NPC tie into the story some way.

Show them helping out after a catastrophe. Show them sharing what they have with those that are less fortunate. Especially if later in the story, what that NPC has will be taken away from them. Tip number five, make your NPCs useful. Want to make your players take notice of an NPC? Make that NPC useful to. Want to make your players take notice of an NPC? Make that NPC useful to them in some way. Like they help out with combat, they provide a service for the characters,

like they can buy and sell things. It's a convenient place for information, convenient source of equipment, treasure, sale of loot. They may not be close friends with Shin, the black market trader, but she knows how to fence stolen goods, get a new clean license plate for stolen vehicles, or get you a fake passport. She is consistent, delivers on time, and even nudged the PCs towards a lucrative adventure or two.

People tend to trust those that provide a service for them. I mean, in a very minor example, I adore my barber. She's amazing. I've gone to her for about five and a half years now. I trusted her to cut my hair not long after my third brain surgery when my scar was relatively fresh. I mean, wait, okay, not like bleeding and gross. It was healing and the skin was closed and that kind of thing. But I knew it was not something that I wanted to share with a lot of people. But

I trusted her. I trusted her not to judge me for what I had and what I'd been through. She's, by the way, she's not like a barber from the middle ages, bleeding the bad humors out of my blood and performing dentistry on the side. How the hell did I get here? Oh, we open up to each other about our families and our friends and the like, but not too much. It's just a very comfortable position to be in. She even uses a straight razor to shave my neck sometimes. Intellectually, do I know she could go all Sweeney Todd and murder me right there in the chair? Yep, but she hasn't yet, so I'm going to trust her with that sharp blade close to my jugular. She provides a useful service and displays wonderful qualities to boot. For example,

if your players run across a city guard, well, there are dozens of city guards they're going to see on their adventures. But that one city guard that put herself at risk to help the PCs fend off a drow invasion? They're going to remember that guard's name. 6. Have the NPCs trust the PCs first. Demonstrate to the PCs that the NPC trusts them in some way. Right or wrong, good or bad, it's natural tendency to react positively to someone who genuinely displays trust in you. Have the NPC, I don't know, open up to the PC about something. Share secrets that they have, like they were born with a certain power and

have been suppressing it their entire lives. He isn't really named Clarence Owens. His name is Perry Sindermane, and he's the nephew of the Big Bad. He's trying to take the Big Bad down without his corrupt family finding out. Or maybe the secret they share is that they're a doppelganger, and they're confessing to the PC because they want to help the side of good. Have the NPCs share hopes and dreams. They're only a pirate till they save enough money to buy land back. She's a rival that will stop at nothing to kill someone. All he wants to do is win the approval of his father. So sharing those hopes and dreams is another way that you can have an NPC start building that connection to a PC.

You can also have the NPC show a vulnerable, weak side of themselves. A weakness, if you will. Like, NPC vulnerabilities, by the way, could be an episode unto itself, usually stemming from something hidden, but just have the NPC open up and show the side that they don't show to the rest of the world. These activities, showing weakness, showing vulnerable sides, they're only done when you truly trust someone not to hurt you. You are really letting them inside your armor. So have an NPC do that to a PC and the PC will automatically start thinking, this NPC trusts me, why shouldn't I trust them back? Tip seven, and it's the one you should only pull out in rare occasions. Give an NPC a connection

to a character backstory. This works well if it's not overdone. There's nothing more annoying than every single tavern or inn that you go to. There's somebody from one of our players' backstories somewhere in there. It makes the world feel small, too interconnected. But occasionally, pulling out somebody from your cleric's backstory or the sorcerer's backstory or whomever that can expand on that character and give that character an arc where they can grow and expand themselves and become better. That's wonderful. Last thing I want to say is more of a warning than a tip. PC trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. It requires time and patience and it must be built slowly. It does require the opportunity for the PCs to demonstrate trust to the NPC, so the NPC may wind up needing something from the

PCs in the future. Have that happen, and let your PCs demonstrate a level of trust that maybe you didn't even know they had. Getting your PCs to trust an NPC is a lot like tending a garden. You can't force it. You can't demand it. All you can do is set the conditions right for the PCs to choose to trust an NPC. Make them friendly, make them useful, make them distinct. Have them trust the PCs first and tie a few of them into character backstories and I guarantee your players will want to trust these NPCs you've created and they'll have fun doing it. Have a suggestion for me? Please message me on IG or Facebook or send me an email at feedback at taking20podcast.com. Also, we spent 20-some-odd minutes building the tower this week. Next week, we're going to talk about how we can

take a hammer to the whole tower and knock it down as a juicy moment of betrayal or NPC's turn on a party. If you've donated to the podcast over at ko-fi.com slash taking20podcast, thank you. This podcast keeps going thanks to generous donors such as yourself. And if you haven't donated, please consider doing so. But hey, if you don't have the money and you still want to support the podcast, please help me spread the word. I love emails. I love messages on social media. Please feel free to reach out to me there.

But before I go, I once again want to thank this week's sponsor, Bananas. When a banana is taken care of by its family, all they can say is, hey, thanks a bunch. This has been episode 138, Making Trustworthy NPCs. My name is Jeremy Shelley,

and I hope that your next game is your best game. The Taking 20 podcast is a Publishing Cube media production. Copyright 2022. References to game system content are copyright their respective publishers.