Good GMs Podcast

9 - Every NPC Everywhere All At Once


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James and Chuckie talk about one of the most underrated GM skills out there — making NPCs that your players actually give a damn about. Chuckie's got a gift for this stuff. The voices, the dialogue, running full conversations between characters — James has been wanting to pick his brain about it for a while, and this episode is the result. 

✨Pro-Tips✨

  1. Props, even imaginary ones, are Chuckie's go-to trick for snapping into a character fast. Give your NPC a tie, a pair of glasses, a way they fidget — and suddenly you've got someone to play. He tells the story of Cockroach, from his Vampire: The Masquerade campaign. Sophisticated guy. Always adjusting the tie. 
  2. You don't have to do the voices! Seriously. If you can't do accents, don't. Tell the table someone has a deep southern drawl and their brain fills it in for free. That's the Welcome to Night Vale trick — the audience's mind canon does the heavy lifting. The catchphrase is a prop too 
  3. Trust yourself. Start with motivation and let the character build in real time. If you commit to it and you're having fun with it, your players are going to want to come back. 

Happy Canada Day buds, get out there and give'er!

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Good GMs PodcastBy James Currie, Chuck Taylor