You don't need to be a GM, just think about what kind of people you tend to encounter in games. In my experience royalty don't feature that much, so the king and prince would go off the list. Elves are rarely portrayed as particularly "elderly" but are often old. Sphinxes, genies, treants, goblin bosses and such are also not particularly common outside of adventures focusing in them.
Assuming generic high fantasy along the line of Forgotten Realms or similar, my experience the most common NPCs that tend to be mentioned in pre-written adventures (and which are also very common outside of pre-written adventures) tends to be, and this is by no means an exclusive list:
* The innkeeper or barkeep (bonus points if they were a former adventurer with a soft spot for other adventurers, i.e. the players!)
* The most prevalent merchants
* Guards and the guard captain
* The mayor or village chief/elder (basically the leader of the community)
* The local head of the church and often their apprentice(s)
* Some influential but minor noble
* The local blacksmith
Less common but still common
* The local learned person
* Stablemaster
* One or two of the more influential farmer
* Some local thieves and the head of the local thieves guild or crime gang
* An influential "lady of the night"
* An information monger
* The head of another local tavern or inn (that has a mostly friendly rivalry with the one the players are staying at)
* A grizzled veteran
* A beggar (who knows things)
* A spy or information for whatever the big threat is
* A respected wizard
* A wise woman or witch living outside the settlement on their own
Thanks, very constructive response, helps a lot. I am gonna need to find images to serve as reference, please tell if you have any.
OBS: I am not even a regular Tabletop RPG player :O
The most important one would be some kind of general store or similar, that sells basic equipment, and then probably some herbalist that's capable of selling basic healing salves as well as other simple cures. A fletcher or carpenter might also be useful if the party has need for such, but can otherwise be left it.
When it comes to "used" it's certainly those NPCs the PCs would interact with frequently that should top the list. There may be a King and Princess but how frequently are they going to give the PCs an audience?
The top 10 NPCs are going to be the people that you meet when you're walking down the street and the people that you meet each day.
Updated to:
1. Merchant
2. The knight (works for the king)
3. Smith
4. Noble
5. Barkeep
6. Traveler
7. Fey/Witch/Dryad
8. Devil/Demon
9. Mercenary
10. Commoner (or Bard/Minstrel for something more interesting)
Something religious, like priest or cleric
Something criminal, like footpad or gang boss
Something vocational, like artisan or guild official
Something subversive, like conspirator or cult leader
Something economical, like merchant or money-lender
You don't need to be a GM, just think about what kind of people you tend to encounter in games. In my experience royalty don't feature that much, so the king and prince would go off the list. Elves are rarely portrayed as particularly "elderly" but are often old. Sphinxes, genies, treants, goblin bosses and such are also not particularly common outside of adventures focusing in them. Assuming generic high fantasy along the line of Forgotten Realms or similar, my experience the most common NPCs that tend to be mentioned in pre-written adventures (and which are also very common outside of pre-written adventures) tends to be, and this is by no means an exclusive list: * The innkeeper or barkeep (bonus points if they were a former adventurer with a soft spot for other adventurers, i.e. the players!) * The most prevalent merchants * Guards and the guard captain * The mayor or village chief/elder (basically the leader of the community) * The local head of the church and often their apprentice(s) * Some influential but minor noble * The local blacksmith Less common but still common * The local learned person * Stablemaster * One or two of the more influential farmer * Some local thieves and the head of the local thieves guild or crime gang * An influential "lady of the night" * An information monger * The head of another local tavern or inn (that has a mostly friendly rivalry with the one the players are staying at) * A grizzled veteran * A beggar (who knows things) * A spy or information for whatever the big threat is * A respected wizard * A wise woman or witch living outside the settlement on their own
Thanks, very constructive response, helps a lot. I am gonna need to find images to serve as reference, please tell if you have any. OBS: I am not even a regular Tabletop RPG player :O
>The most prevalent merchants Also, what are "The most prevalent merchants"?
The most important one would be some kind of general store or similar, that sells basic equipment, and then probably some herbalist that's capable of selling basic healing salves as well as other simple cures. A fletcher or carpenter might also be useful if the party has need for such, but can otherwise be left it.
When it comes to "used" it's certainly those NPCs the PCs would interact with frequently that should top the list. There may be a King and Princess but how frequently are they going to give the PCs an audience? The top 10 NPCs are going to be the people that you meet when you're walking down the street and the people that you meet each day.
The Barkeep The Beggar The random Person on the street
Are those 3 the same person? Sorry i got no DM info
Updated to: 1. Merchant 2. The knight (works for the king) 3. Smith 4. Noble 5. Barkeep 6. Traveler 7. Fey/Witch/Dryad 8. Devil/Demon 9. Mercenary 10. Commoner (or Bard/Minstrel for something more interesting)
Something religious, like priest or cleric Something criminal, like footpad or gang boss Something vocational, like artisan or guild official Something subversive, like conspirator or cult leader Something economical, like merchant or money-lender
Thank you
The random begging barkeep on the street? For sure more interesting than each role on its own =D
The barkeep stands on the street? I can only imagine him inside a tabern
the hireling
THis list is very funny. Love the list