Ballad For The Bartender – 3 Quick Tips to Make NPCs More Interactive and Meaningful in Your D&D Game

The creak of the old, wooden door announces your arrival to the Queen & Assassin. Conversation in the busy tavern stops for a moment as the patrons look up with rough, weatherbeaten faces, before quickly returning to their mugs of ale and games of Three-Dragon-Ante. Navigating between the large, circular tables, your eye is drawn to behind the bar, where the Q&A’s one defining feature hangs — a heavy crossbow, obviously worn with age but still well-maintained.  The bartender, a tall man with a grey ponytail and goatee, notices your interest and points to the weapon, “That there is Betsy. She’s for anyone who causes trouble in the Q ‘nd A, especially with the rumors I heard ‘bout undead emerging from the Twisted Forest lately. But, enough of that gloomy shit, they call me Crossbow Hayes! What’ll ya have?” 

Greetings, 3WD-verse. DM Chris here! If there is one truly archetypal NPC, the bartender is it. Friend, confidant, drink deliverer, quest giver. They might be the first NPCs we create when fleshing out a new city, in addition to often being our player’s first roleplay interaction. 

Now, everyone in your world doesn’t need to revolve around beer and crossbows (although if you feel it does I’m always looking for a new campaign), but there are fundamental pieces there that we can use to make our other NPCs more interactive and meaningful. I’d like to share three simple tips to help make all your NPCs shine like our beloved bartenders. 

Crossbow Hayes – Our Subject

Crossbow Hayes, from the introduction, is an NPC bartender I created for 3WD’s homebrew campaign world, The Further. Like many NPCs you’ll create or prepare, he never really had time to shine in the campaign. The players took the story elsewhere, so we’re going to make lemonade from lemons like any good DM. Normally, we’d just set him aside in our trusty NPC pile, always ready for his next chance. Today, I’m going to give Crossbow some well-deserved screen time to help us learn how to build NPCs better.

Step 1: Where Are They From?

The first thing that any good NPC should have is a history. Not a full family tree, mind you, but a place in your world. I try to use the “what feels necessary” model when thinking about a NPC’s history. For me, that means just enough to summon them up without too much work. The amount of prep may be different for you, but the idea is still the same — how they got here makes them who they are. So we start with the essentials: Alignment/Race/Gender/Class. For obvious reasons, feel free to use only the essentials that you feel comfortable with.

Crossbow is a Lawful Evil Human Male Fighter. That tells me the very basics. Mr. Hayes has had some combat training, on top of a strict, self-centered code of behavior. And he is a fan of crossbows. Using that, and the world he lives in, we can give him a short backstory — “Jonathan ‘Crossbow’ Hayes was a member of an elite regiment of crossbowmen out of the desert city of Stormsand, called the Teeth of the Dragon. He and his friend found a hidden fortune out on patrol one evening. Crossbow’s friend disappeared and Hayes mysteriously found the money to open the Queen & Assassin tavern in the affluent port city of Blackcliff.”

With those few sentences, Crossbow is as much a part of The Further as the players. He lives in it with them, breathing the same air. And in the event that our living, breathing NPC isn’t used in the current campaign, we can send them to any world we want by replacing the place names and titles using time-tested “Mad Libs” technology. With a few tweaks, Crossbow becomes Laser Hayes, formerly of the Tears of Jupiter Black Ops unit, and the location is a run-down spaceport on the Galilean moon, Ganymede.

Step 2: What Would It Be Like To Meet Them?

Now that we know Crossbow’s story, we need to know a little about him personally. The brief history we’ve given him might come out over the course of a conversation, but what is it like to walk into the Queen & Assassin and order a beer from Mr. Hayes? Using two key details, appearance and personality, we are going to give him that most important of NPC qualities — a voice.

Appearance 

Describing a NPC’s appearance is one of the most basic of a DM’s tasks. For many of us, the temptation can be to provide a complete description, capturing every nuance of the colorful character you’re introducing. But then, what if I told you that no matter how faithfully you describe your NPC, no one at the table would draw the same portrait? You might respond, “Chris, then why describe them at all?” 

Good question. I’m not discouraging description — what I’m saying is don’t include anything that isn’t different or distinct from other folks. Keep it short and focused on defining features. For our featured bartender Crossbow, I went with “Tall, grey ponytail and goatee. Has a heavy crossbow on the wall.” Just enough to tweak the player’s imagination. And notice the reference to the crossbow on the wall. NPCs can also “wear” the environment they’re introduced in, as well, to help differentiate them from other characters in your world. 

Personality

If you thought I was brief with the description, let me tell you about NPC personality. Go leaner. This is where you’ll leave the last breadcrumb for when it’s time to use their voice, but remember that unless you’re a master impressionist your voices are going to sound similar. What you need, just like the description above, is just what makes them different or distinct. Crossbow’s personality — “gruff and gregarious.” 

Now we have enough for a voice, or a talk track if you don’t do voices. Because a voice is more about what the NPC is trying to say and how he is saying it versus the quality of the voice actor (all mine sound vaguely British). Crossbow is gruff, yet charming and sociable. He also might stab you in the back for the right coin, or at least send the party into a trap. Which brings us to the third and final step…

Step 3: What Do They Have To Say?

Unless the clouds open up and some divine deity pops out to give the players the mission, your NPCs are going to be the ones delivering your rumors and clues. The bartender specializes in these, but how do we make our other NPCs as effective? By making them more active or interesting. 

Active NPCs seek out the players, while interesting NPCs draw the players to them. Crossbow is a bit of both. He actively drops the rumor about the undead, yet the crossbow hanging behind him provides something distinct and interesting that gives the players an avenue for questions. This isn’t rocket science, just focusing on making the important NPCs stand out from the rest of the extras that fill our scenes.

And while you’re at it, why not have life intrude on both your players and your NPCs? Secondary NPCs can help to spice up interactions and add realness. Nothing connects more with people than seeing other people with similar problems. I like to use these lesser NPCs to add some humor or a familial/personal connection to the rumor. Maybe Crossbow’s somewhat incompetent helper keeps interrupting the bartender’s story with problems he’s having dealing with the customers? Or Olivia Hayes, his young daughter, has been one of those kidnapped by the undead? Making it personal adds some bite to what would otherwise be anonymous rumors. 

For a beautifully executed example of making it personal, I’m going to use our own DM Dave’s Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign. I don’t want to play spoiler for any of you looking to run or play that adventure (Spoiler Alert: It’s really good), but let’s just say that my bard, Rasgueado, befriended a tavern owner. She was around for almost two and a half sessions. And then Ras watched her being burnt to ash in a fiery blast. Holy shit, that was effective. Don’t abuse it, but let your NPCs become friends and confidants of your players and then put them in danger (or worse). It’s a powerful tool – use it wisely to make your NPCs memorable.

Final Thoughts

Engaging NPCs are one of the cornerstones of any successful campaign. If your players aren’t fighting or exploring, they’re probably interacting with a NPC. Look for inspiration in the archetype that taught us all how to deliver a rumor, and sing a Ballad for the Bartender.

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