This is a place for G.M.s and GM wannabes to share ideas and their own methods of play. It is not a locked forum so be aware your players may be watching!
I'm pretty new to this whole gaming world, and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with creating my own campaigns. I'm disliking all the time it takes to make NPCs!
I was wondering, does anyone have some NPCs that they've created before and wouldn't mind sharing with me?
Feel free to email me pdfs, too.
Thanks so much in advance! I'm excited to see what all of you have!
there are many NPC presented in the adventure books, and the rifter's adventure articles. just change their names and do tweeks on them to fit the game you're running.
There are light outlines random NPC tables in the HUGMG from mooks to mid-level badies.
May you be blessed with the ability to change course when you are off the mark.
Each question should be give the canon answer 1st, then you can proclaim your house rules.
Reading and writing (literacy) is how people on BBS interact.
As a side note, if you have any type of generic NPCs you'd like me to do up as an NPC generator, please let me know. It's a slow-burn project I plink away on from time to time, but it's still active.
What are you finding that is taking up the time to make the individual NPC? In theory you don't need the NPC to be fully fleshed out, in fact depending on their prominence in a campaign you might be able to get by with just the bare minimum of information on the NPC and others with varying sized "missing gaps" in terms of information you have worked out (example, you don't necessarily need to know what every skill slot is being used for just the "main" ones and maybe a few auxiliary). You might also be able to get by with a core template that shares the OCC/RCC and just make minor changes to it to suit individual NPCs (example a CS Dog Pack, they all have the same OCC so really you only need to focus on the differences between the members instead of reinventing the wheel each time).
Palladium used to have "buggy" and Database program for Rifts that could speed things up (it was for RMB-era, and you might have to spend time updating the tables beyond the few books included in it). Even w/o it, you might be able to automate some aspects of the NPC creation depending on your programming skill level.
I think I want npc's fleshed out more so I understand better what they can and can't do. And whatever gear they might be carrying. And I kinda wanna see what other people are making with their npc's and chars. Im currently trying to run Rifts, but i like alot of the systems. I feel a more complete npc is easier for me to get into the personality of for better role playing. I fear I am making all mine generallically similar and boring.
Also, I'm not good at programming
Oh, jumping through books is harder than having a page for an npc. And chars run together in the books, too. I like the way Machines of doom do theirs.
Chloe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 12:24 pm
I think I want npc's fleshed out more so I understand better what they can and can't do. And whatever gear they might be carrying. And I kinda wanna see what other people are making with their npc's and chars. Im currently trying to run Rifts, but i like alot of the systems. I feel a more complete npc is easier for me to get into the personality of for better role playing. I fear I am making all mine generallically similar and boring.
Also, I'm not good at programming
This right here is *exactly* why I made my disposable NPC generators. Many NPCs are similar, and the developed NPCs I see all over the place in the sourcebooks are almost always exceptional NPCs, usually with highly improbably attribute rolls.
The NPC generators I've made scale up with level, and most offer some variants with additional skill and equipment packages so they're not all generic. You can certainly take these and make an exceptionally powerful NPC by having that otherwise-average NPC be level 15.
I only like to invest the time to roll up NPCs that I plan on using as recurring characters, especially villains.
Chloe wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 12:24 pm
I think I want npc's fleshed out more so I understand better what they can and can't do. And whatever gear they might be carrying. And I kinda wanna see what other people are making with their npc's and chars. Im currently trying to run Rifts, but i like alot of the systems. I feel a more complete npc is easier for me to get into the personality of for better role playing. I fear I am making all mine generallically similar and boring.
Also, I'm not good at programming
This right here is *exactly* why I made my disposable NPC generators. Many NPCs are similar, and the developed NPCs I see all over the place in the sourcebooks are almost always exceptional NPCs, usually with highly improbably attribute rolls.
The NPC generators I've made scale up with level, and most offer some variants with additional skill and equipment packages so they're not all generic. You can certainly take these and make an exceptionally powerful NPC by having that otherwise-average NPC be level 15.
I only like to invest the time to roll up NPCs that I plan on using as recurring characters, especially villains.
Those are really detailed. I think I might be able to use them. Thank you.
Chloe wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 10:32 pm
Hi everyone,
I'm pretty new to this whole gaming world, and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with creating my own campaigns. I'm disliking all the time it takes to make NPCs!
I was wondering, does anyone have some NPCs that they've created before and wouldn't mind sharing with me?
Feel free to email me pdfs, too.
Thanks so much in advance! I'm excited to see what all of you have!
Rifter #45; Of Bows & Arrows (Archery; expanding rules and abilities) Rifter #52; From Ruins to Runes (Living Rune Weapons; playable characters and NPC) Rifter #55; Home Away From Home (Quorian Culture; expanded from PF Book 9: Baalgor Wastelands)
Official PDF versions of Rifter #45, #52, and #55 can be found at DriveThruRPG.
Chloe wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 10:32 pm
Hi everyone,
I'm pretty new to this whole gaming world, and I'm just starting to get my feet wet with creating my own campaigns. I'm disliking all the time it takes to make NPCs!
I was wondering, does anyone have some NPCs that they've created before and wouldn't mind sharing with me?
Feel free to email me pdfs, too.
Thanks so much in advance! I'm excited to see what all of you have!
Just my two cents.... Ive been running games since the 1990s and I dont believe I have ever fully fleshed out a NPC. I have generic stats for thug, soldier, cop.....etc.
I understand the theory behind having a bunch of NPC with skills and such, just not my style.
I think I might be able to use them. Thank you. 
