NPCs (non-player characters) are part of a rich narrative tapestry and Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Whether they're vital to the quest or just add a little extra flavor to the adventure, they're essential to effective world-building. While some interactions go smoothly, others dealing with the local populace can be quite chaotic — sometimes due to player self-sabotage and sometimes due to the evil machinations of a rogue DM.
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Experienced dungeon masters know how to use these troublesome NPCs to create fiendishly clever traps, puzzles, and stories for their players. But sometimes it is reflected in spectacular style. I spoke with Dungeon Master Oskar who explained some Dungeons & Dragons NPCs that he and other DMs like to bring to the table to unleash on unsuspecting players.
Barkeepers and pub owners
Always be nice to the people who prepare your food and pour your beer
On paper, bartenders and tavern owners are respectable local figures who can help by gossiping, showing the way, and providing other important information. However, players often see these NPCs as a challenge to steal, break, or kill something without them noticing. These opportunistic acts of folly usually lead to chaos through miscommunication and often reveal conflicts within the party.
In smaller settlements, the local tavern is often the center of the community and the first stop for many weary travelers. Thus, immediately upsetting someone who could be valuable to the party for any number of reasons can make a simple campaign infinitely more difficult.
NPC Filler
Meet Bob – Bob tries to mind his own business
In an effort to bring the scene to life and engage the players, the DM may describe the scene in detail. Sometimes, to help with the world building, they choose to describe one or two NPCs present. These guys aren't particularly important and are just there to set the mood. But players can grab onto that poor, irrelevant NPC and try to figure out his deep, dark, secret meaning to the plot.
A party fixating on one small, relatively insignificant character can leave the DM trying in vain to get the player back into the quest, often with limited success. A skilled DM can turn this to their advantage and suddenly this guy who was just trying to enjoy a pint at the local pub becomes a key player in a story of fantasy intrigue and espionage.
Curators
Never underestimate librarians
Curators can often appear as harmless knowledge holders, bookworms and historians. However, many players forget that curators are specially selected by organizations chosen for their ability to secure something very important. This often leads to unpleasant parties crossing paths with the curators under less than ideal circumstances and being replaced by an angry librarian with powerful spells or unexpected martial arts skills.
A good example is the Curators of War Domain archives. The clerics and acolytes of the war domain in general are already highly skilled in martial weapons and martial arcana, with only the most skilled or zealous of them being chosen as curators to defend the bonds that sometimes lead the mind to violence and conquest, meaning that curators also require a tempered will.
A pet
Protect him with your life!
They like TTRPGs Dungeons and Dragons they are notorious for their evil enemies, but every player knows that there is plenty of humor and joyful whimsy to be found in the world of magic. The extent to which the group will go to protect or bond with any random forest animal they come across is insane.
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Players craft improvised leather armor for their pup or give a random animal a mysterious crystal that grants magical abilities rivaling the gods themselves. The hamster of the party will often survive the horrors of the campaign and live a long and fruitful life. Potentially with some honors or knighthoods.
The Familiar or Mount
Can we keep him?
Familiars or mounts have similar reactions to pets, but are usually stronger and potentially more dangerous. A well-known player or horse says a lot about his companion. Usually these creatures are some form of hungry beast or monstrosity that one member of the party insists they can control. This hubris is often proven wrong ten minutes later when they destroy a basic allied NPC.
Unlike a pet, a familiar is only a close companion to one player and can be the bane of their party's existence. A player attached to a familiar or mount will love on it as if it were a teddy bear and not a 9 foot tall owl bear. Holders can be completely impractical, get in the way or be completely forgotten.
Street rat
Riff Raff… Street Rat…
The streets of a fantasy metropolis are a rough place for a child, so any children the group meets are likely to be orphans, pickpockets, or pranksters. They may be on the run from a death threat or the law. The parties could effectively adopt the child or hand him over to the city guards for a reward.
A wanderer can teach him how to load dice, while a cleric can attempt a spiritual conversion. Tank builds are known for taking them under their wing and teaching them to fight. Either way, a street rat might be able to derail or save a situation on their own when given the right inspiration from the right party member.
Lone follower
He was only 3 days away from retirement
Sometimes a brief moment of characterizing an enemy NPC can lead to an unintended side story. When a sneaking party passes a patrol of unwitting minions, a particularly downtrodden and disgruntled minion may complain and be reprimanded by name. This scumbag has now got a massive target on his back.
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The party can choose to hunt him down personally or defend his honor by killing the rest of the patrol for bullying him. Players always love to harass a random henchman as he climbs the ranks of the Big Bad or embarks on an unexpected redemption arc.
Recurring guard
He used to be an adventurer like you, then he took an arrow in the knee
A recurring guard is an authoritative, more official version of a follower. They are usually ambiguous figures whose loyalty to the party often depends on their behavior. As bureaucrats and authority figures, it's fun to tease and undermine. They treat heroic adventurers as stand-ins and are often publicly embarrassed by less lawful parties.
Ultimately, these less legal parties tend to accept these characters as a form of nemesis-lite and see them as a way to unwind after an intense encounter. Parties can go completely out of their way to seek out and mentally torture that one stale and uptight guard.
Dragon
When there's a bard…
Where some players see a formidable foe, some bards see an encounter with a dragon as a unique opportunity to get to know one another. Having a chaotic bard in your party who can't help but try to romance every ridiculous creature that crosses their path can add a disturbing new dimension to the quest.
In the rare cases where the bard doesn't get the whole party in trouble with their dangerous nexus points, it can lead to surprisingly positive conclusions. A defeated dragon can only spare the player. Even better, the dragon may choose to keep the troublesome bard. Everyone is a winner.
The player-character's family members
Surprise! It's trauma time!
Family gatherings in D&D never plan When a DM decides to write a player character's family member into a campaign, things can get out of hand very quickly. A party will rarely have the decorum to keep things civil and respectful. Depending on the mood of the player, it can be a matter of life and death.
Sometimes social tension can be the most destructive. The party may not be too pleased when their parents come up with a childhood nickname. On the other hand, a troublesome party member may choose to attack another player's grandmother. The possibilities of traumatic experiences are endless.
- Franchise
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Dungeons & Dragons
- Original release date
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1974
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
