My Games

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

5d4 NPCs Generated with my Character Formula

My recent Design Pattern post on Social Intrigue was one of my most popular recent posts, and people seemed to especially like the Character Formula Design Implementation. So I figured, why not just do a whole Weird & Wonderful Table of pre-generated NPCs. It'll demonstrate the versatility of the Character Formula and give me and others a useful bank.

As a reminder, here's the Character Formula:

NPC: [Adjective] [Occupation] and [Hobby/Other Notable Activity] who [Personality Quirk]

But it's more of a suggestion than a hard rule. I'll have a handful of Roles as I discussed in the Social Intrigue post, in this case, a little broader, more so for different genres than specific roles within a Social Intrigue campaign.


Please comment with your own NPCs as well :)!


Role: Fantasy Tavern Keeper
  1. Joy von Otter: Suspiciously friendly bartender and taxidermist who will not tolerate whistling in the bar.
  2. Benjy Beau: Ungainly barback and bare-knuckle boxer who likes to eat gross foods.
  3. Mr. Diceslingger: Automaton chef and monster hunter who laughs at the wrong parts of jokes.
  4. Crybaby Boo: Ghostly bouncer and dollmaker who cries after every fight.

Role: Cyberpunk AI
  1. Chaz Chiptune: Honky-tonk DJ and meteorologist who despises modern videogames.
  2. Marxxx: Superficially socialist HR specialist and premium personal assistant who was supposed to be so much more.
  3. The Transmigration of John Smith: Experimental human consciousness upload and avid gameshow fan who is so vanilla it's kind of kinky.
  4. Penelope Porpoise: Washed-up uplifted porpoise and former corporate mascot with an opioid feedback loop to deal with the pressure of celebrity.

Role: Roaring 20's Gangster
  1. "Spicy Lou" Santino: Quiet accountant and sports gambler who haunts the other gangsters in their nightmares.
  2. Saul "Rock-A-Bye Baby" Rosen: Swollen brawler and adoring parent who leaves the thinking to the thinkers.
  3. Mia "Womandrake" Murdoch: Mysterious merchant and mystic whose antics could put Houdini to shame.
  4. William "Billy Dreams" Stevens: Suave real estate tycoon and science fiction fan who stares right through you.

Role: Super-spy / Secret Agent
  1. Acid Mongoose: Austere stealth agent with conspicuously few interests who can "regenerate" from a clone farm.
  2. Cackling Fox-Hare: Saboteur and erotic comic creator with a shit-eating grin who once destroyed an entire city in a single sentence.
  3. Six-Shooter Prawn: Gargantuan gunman and photographer who can dual-hipshot with sniper rifles.
  4. Norman: Nondescript spy and birdwatcher who is eminently forgettable.

Role: Superhero "Alter Ego"
  1. Riley Reiner: Rambunctious personal trainer and stamp collector who still loves the limelight after all this time.
  2. Simone Simpson: Nihilistic electrical engineer and soup kitchen volunteer who isn't sure what she believes anymore. 
  3. Neal Nguyen: Charismatic middle manager and vlogger who enjoys the simple life (when he can have it).
  4. Jivan Jarodia: Perky stay-at-home dad and graphic designer who sublimates his violent temper through acts of kindness.

2 comments:

  1. Role: Cthulhu Cultists
    1. Sharon Buchanan: Thrill-chasing housewife who presses her own pills to sell on the side. Believes in ghosts, believes the ghost of her childhood best friend watches over her.
    2. Pete Kravitz: Pushy car salesman, fond of nature documentaries and predator-prey metaphors. Wants to retire early and spend the rest of his life on a yacht.
    3. Mary Lu: Narcoleptic self-publishing authour. Plays a mean game of darts, but is a sore loser and a worse winner.
    4. Antoinette Jefferson: Experimental artist, and a hoarder who bounces between collections. Good at finding peoples' buttons, compulsively presses them just to get a reaction.

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    Replies
    1. This is a good role! And I like these NPCs; I'm glad you seem to have implicitly caught another pattern I didn't state explicitly but was trying to do.

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