Friends, Foes, Familiars, and Followers

First, I cannot recommend Unframed: The Art of Improvisation enough.  Trying out just a few of the ideas from this book made my GMing considerably better.

Ironically though, to be able to improvise at my best, it helps me to have some advance preparation.  I'm pretty terrible at thinking up things on the fly, especially from thin air, but I am good at taking a general idea and making it unusual, or running with it once there's something to hang on to.

Hence, my ultimate NPC creator!  This is not a document to be used during prep and planning (although I guess you could if you wanted) as there are more in depth generators available.  (In fact, I used Gamemastering for some of the ideas that appear on here.)  This list was specifically made to keep in your binder and to give inspiration on the fly.

I'll provide an explanation of each part, but at the bottom you can also just download the document and make it your own.

NPC Reaction Table

2d6	Reaction
2	Hostile
3-5	Unfriendly
6-8	Neutral
9-11	Friendly
12	Helpful

I had been using the LotFP reaction table, but I prefer this one.  Some of the most interesting moments in our games have been when the players made a "12" and became allied with a variety of unusual NPCs.  The ongoing drama of these NPCs provided multiple sessions of enjoyment rather than just a single encounter where they fight, snub the party or run away.

I only use this table when it's unclear how an NPC feels about the party, or to get an initial reaction before an important social interaction.  It's not something I'd use for monsters or villains.  It's modified by charisma, skills or abilities players might use, and situational effects (having a fancy coach, wearing nice clothes, etc.)

NPC Basic Drive (roll 1d8 and 1d4, then cross reference)

	1	2	3	4
1	Power responsibility, leadership	Service follow authority	Independence autonomous	Dependence association
2	Curiosity  seek knowledge	Ignorance simplicity	Acceptance by self or others	Rebelliousness challenging, changing
3	Order structure	Freedom flexibility	Saving materialistic	Experiential non-materialistic
4	Honor principled	Driven goal-oriented	Idealism	Realism
5	Family	No Ties	Social Contact many friends	Loner
6	Romance sensuality, art, beauty	Pragmatism	Vengeance aggression, retaliation	Avoid Conflict harmony
7	Eating	Fasting	Physical Activity	Inactivity comfort, rest
8	Status conspicuously different, elitist	Ordinary conformity, fitting in, invisible	Tranquility emotional Stability	Drama moody, pushing buttons

This chart was directly inspired by Unframed.  Robin D. Laws discusses the idea that in many interactions there's a petitioner (somebody wants something) and a granter (they have the power to give the petitioner what they want).  I like this idea, but I found I had trouble figuring out what most NPCs wanted.  I did some research and found a handy theory that boiled motivation down to 16 drives.  I figured out what the opposites of these drives would be and put them in a table.  I would use this chart when an NPC needs a desire, drive or motivation, but there isn't one given for them (or it's not obvious).  A shopkeeper wants to sell his stuff.  But what about this random cleric wandering the countryside?

+	Positive, beneficial, legal, acceptable
/	Neutral, quirky, inconsequential
-	Negative, harmful, illegal, deviant

If that's not enough, I also roll a Fudge die to see if their drive manifests in a positive, neutral or negative way.  For example, let's say their primary drive is "power."  In a positive light, this person might want to gain power so they can make the world a better place, to fix the system or help people, in a neutral light, they're just natural leaders and so go into politics because it pays the bills, in a negative light, they want power because they want to abuse it, control people, or some other nefarious purpose.

First Impression (Sensory) - roll 1d4 and 1d6, then crossreference

	1	2	3	4
1	Tall	Short	Hulking	Scrawny
2	Dirty	Pristine	Fragrant	Reeks
3	Athletic	Disabled	Attractive	Repulsive
4	Old	Young	Pale	Tanned
5	Clumsy	Graceful	Feminine	Masculine
6	Scarred	Twitchy	Sick	Unusual

This is just a quick and simple chart to give an idea of first sensory impressions.  The first 5 rows contain opposites, while the last row is just some miscellaneous things.  I assume everyone is average in most traits, so these would be extremes.  Tall isn't just a few inches taller, it's like Brienne of Tarth tall, hulking isn't just a strong guy, it's The Mountain.  Unusual is a challenge to think up something truly bizarre about this NPC.

Mannerisms - roll 1d4 and 1d6, then cross reference

	1	2	3	4
1 (eyes)	Blinks	Winks	Rolls	Distant
2 (words)	Stutters	Slurs	Mumbles	Repeats
3 (hands)	Gestures	Picks	Fiddles	Works
4 (voice)	Loud	Bored	Monotone	Petulant
5 (mouth)	Coughs	Chews	Fake smile	Noisy
6 (style)	Swears	Jokes	Loquacious	Digresses

Mannerisms can also help set an NPC apart, although I've found them hard to use.  (Unfortunately, I'm also abysmal at doing accents.)  Here are 24 quick ones that could also provide inspiration for others.  You could even just roll a d6 and use that as inspiration.

Personality Traits - roll d10 and d4, then cross reference

	1	2	3	4
1	Bully	Delusional	Addicted	Extremist
2	Liar	Aggressive	Flamboyant	Confused
3	Con	Bigot	Bossy	Coy
4	Depraved	Elitist	Gullible	Insecure
5	Coward	Lazy	Gloomy	Toadying
6	Lewd	Cocky	Neurotic	Paranoid
7	Vain	Passionate	Careless	Jolly
8	Pious	Altruist	Grumpy	Cruel
9	Taunting	Sadistic	Needy	Intense
0	Insane	Reserved	Diplomatic	Flirty

For super quick traits, I'm going to use this chart.  It's basically taking the work of all the other charts and just putting it into one trait.  I handpicked these to be interesting, provide variety and be fairly easy to play.  The previous charts will provide nearly endless inspiration, but this one will cover many NPCs in a pinch.

Wilderness Encounter

D20	What’s the NPC up to?
1	Seeking spiritual fulfillment, praying, ritual
2	Searching for a mate, mating, displaying
3	On guard patrol, defending territory
4	Seeking shelter, building shelter/lair
5	Looking for water, drinking, swimming
6	Looking for food, eating, hunting
7	Looking for warmth, comfort, fire, light
8	Looking for treasure, carrying treasure
9	Looking for lost companions, missing child
10	Out to prove their worth, bullying
11	On a quest for knowledge, reading, studying
12	Playing a game, having fun, singing
13	Being pursued, injured, fleeing
14	Pursuing, chasing, transporting prisoner
15	Grooming, shedding, preening, bathing
16	Trapped, tangled, captured, being eaten
17	Fighting, ambushing, marching
18	Traveling, migrating, exploring
19	Mutated, undead, illusory, diseased
20	Trained, tamed, charmed, ordered

This chart is heavily influenced by Telecanter's Receding Rules, 1d8 and Dreams in the Lich House (I've talked about my idea to combine them here).

Like the previous chart, this is a good one-shot motivation generator.  It's especially useful for a wandering monster or NPC that is likely to be an enemy, but it's also useful for putting the NPC into some sort of action or position so that everybody the party meets isn't just walking down the road.

Basic NPC Stats

NPC	0 Level
HP: 1d6	1d3 / 3-5 (average die)
Modifiers	+3, +2, or +1
Armor	None: 12 Leather: 14
Shield	+1 melee / +2 ranged
Weapons – 1d8	Long Sword Battle Axe Mace
Weapons – 1d6	Short Sword Hand Axe Spear
Weapons – 1d4 (-2 vs AC 15)	Dagger Club
Gun – 1d8	Ignores armor

Your mileage may vary here, but I wanted to have the stats handy for the average human in a LotFP game.  This has stats for the weapons they might have as well as an idea for generating hit points (d3 for a commoner, non-fighter type; averaging die for a stronger, fighter type, and d6 when it doesn't matter or total variation is desired).

Here is the word document if you'd like to take it and use it!

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Links I used for research in addition to those above:
Forum Discussion 1
Forum Discussion 2
Massive list of personality traits