Lots of improvisation means lots of NPCs coming and going in the game.

Lots of improvisation means lots of NPCs coming and going in the game.

Lots of improvisation means lots of NPCs coming and going in the game. How do you keep track of that over multiple sessions in YOUR game?

I was using a Word document, but re-uploading it was onerous. I converted to a Google doc so I could share more easily.

How do you do it for your games? (And if you say “I just remember it all” then break into a maniacal laugh I will pointedly ignore you.)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R5G95LlxlNv80RWBjPWrbRoBwLnOUIXtkA69JKKiw-s/edit#heading=h.5ydd5ptz1i1r

18 thoughts on “Lots of improvisation means lots of NPCs coming and going in the game.”

  1. I feel like a archeologist when I get back to old game notes anyway. “Hm, what could that mean? Could this scribble relate to a poorly spelled proper name, or is that in fact a notation regarding a dangerous incident? There is a sub-plot here, I sense it.”

  2. Andrew Shields Yeah, I feel like that too when I look at old notes I took even as a player. Who was this guy? Do I owe him a favor or was I planning on killing him?

  3. When we gamed together, my sister had one game notebook that she took sequential notes in. So, you had Chill next to Star Wars next to D&D next to Men in Black.

    Now and then she’d get this really puzzled look, then realize she was in the wrong campaign/system/genre of notes…

  4. My answer is usually “kill as many as I can as soon as I can”. Until then, old printer paper covered in whatever snacks were present last session. 🙂

  5. I use GoogleSheets, so it’s always available but I can more easily arrange things in horizontal as well as vertical ways. Plus I’m heavily reliant on my formula-based GoogleSheets randomizers for improv-ing anyway, so one more tab never hurts.

  6. Adam Schwaninger There was a time when no character sheet was properly christened until it had food stains on it. Now, my game sessions are much shorter and most of them are online, so the balance has shifted. But I remember those days.

    Adam Minnie Can you point to an example?

  7. Typically naming NPCs goes one of two ways:

    1. The GM drops the NPC’s name smoothly. All the players scribble down the name, because the GM planned it out ahead of time.

    2. There’s an awkward pause while the GM makes up a name or consults some random generator. The players all quip how the NPC doesn’t matter and eventually end up quoting Galaxy Quest: “You have a name, Guy!” -“Do I!? DO I!?”

  8. Haha Adam Schwaninger, spot on. By having both my prepared notes and my generators on my computer notes, I sometimes get away with it not being as apparent which is which. Also, I tend to try to give names as often as possible so it’s not immediately obvious which ones matter and which don’t. On the other hand, to keep things practical, I only really upgrade NPC’s to name status when they stand out from the mass in some notable way.

  9. I like tossing in lots of names. It is empowering to the players, because you never know who they will seize on as interesting and elevate to prominence. (On the other hand, then you run into issues of bookkeeping.)

    Story time! We were playing D&D 3E and they were at a meeting of bards. A vain and brutal elven bard woman had a downtrodden scarred-up bodyguard. (Both NPCs.) The party took pity on him, and one of them struck up a conversation.

    I decided his name was Brek. He was not a conversationalist, but he did tell them he once killed an owlbear with his bare hands. (Hence all the scarring.)

    They liked him SO MUCH that they decided to steal him. They sent the halfling rogue to distract his boss the bard with naughty underpants; she was always interested in new saucy underthings. While she looked the other way, they hired him out from under her and added him to their party.

    He eventually married the group’s barbarian, Furless (she was raised by gnolls, I didn’t have any human barbarian cultures handy) and they had many children.

  10. Adam Minnie that’s how to do it for sure. I should print out some lists of random names beforehand. My group’s not very electronics-savvy when we’re actually gaming.

  11. For some games with high expected rates of improv, like Lasers and Feelings, I go to name generators ahead of time and copy paste lists of names into my notes, adding a note beside each as it is assigned.

  12. I was using a paper version of this, just updated to sheets: 

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19r8ZtzdPXHpY4xDz4KhpWIGQPHANdeIUJ2cuQBTTQ70/edit#gid=0
    I’m planning names (for L5R I’m using the CCG as an inspiration) and gender (to create neutral, patriarcal or matriarchal environnement) and fill the other sections on the fly. 

    If the PC take interest in a character, it gets its own visit card. If not, it is stored there, ready to give consistency to often visited location or travellings to make the world alive.

  13. Good guys: Green text for names.

    Bad Guys/Threats: Red text

    Advantages are bonded, other important aspect-like thingys will be italicized.

    Blue for neutral. Etc….

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