NPC Instincts, Obligations, And Quirks
Every DM knows that when the players explore the world they will be running into large amounts of NPCs (Non-player characters) to give them adventure hooks, quest information, and propagate rumors. It can unfortunately be a HUGE burden to create really memorable NPCs that have lasting effect in-game. To help with this, I've scrubbed the internet and come up with a list of notes that you can either roll on or choose from to quickly and simply create an NPCs from scratch. I often prep this ahead of time knowing that the players will be in touch with a specific character, but they can easily be used on the spot when your player decides to speak with a random townsfolk that you had no intention of creating!
| Instincts | Obligation To | Obligation Type | |
| 1 | Selfishness | Their family | Monetary |
| 2 | Selflessness | Their hometown | An Oath |
| 3 | Cowardice | Their Direct Superior | Gratitude |
| 4 | Hedonism | Their Racial Identity | Societal Pressure |
| 5 | Heroism | Their Local Guild | Familial Pressure |
| 6 | Sarcasm | The local Head of Church | Indenturehood |
| 7 | Empathy | Their Employer | A Fiendish Contract |
| 8 | Reliability | Their Sibling(s) | Religion |
| 9 | Honesty | A Direct Superior | A Career requirement |
| 10 | Accuracy | A Direct Inferior | An Affair/Emotional Entanglement |
| 11 | Independence | A local Loan Shark | Guilt |
| 12 | Stinginess | A Parent | A Parent |
| 13 | Lust/Sexuality | Their Extended Family | Their Extended Family |
| 14 | Laziness | Their Children | Their Children |
| 15 | Calmness | A Doctor | A Doctor |
| 16 | Recognition | A Head of State | A Head of State |
| 17 | Provision for friends/family | A Criminal | A Criminal |
| 18 | Paranoia | A Close Friend | A Close Friend |
| 19 | Hatred | The Wild | The Wild |
| 20 | Greed | A personal Oath/Code | A personal Oath/Code |
| 21 | Curiosity | Nature | Nature |
| 22 | Anger | Society / Mankind as a whole |
Society / Mankind as a whole
|
| 23 | Procrastination | ||
| 24 | Narcissism | ||
| 25 | Criticism | ||
| 26 | Stoicism | ||
| 27 | Ambition | ||
| 28 | Compassion | ||
| 29 | Decisiveness | ||
| 30 | Humor | ||
| 31 | Innovation | ||
| 32 | Benevolence | ||
| 33 | Discipline | ||
| 34 | Random/Weird | ||
| 35 | Kindness | ||
| 36 | Curiosity | ||
| 37 | Wanderlust | ||
| 38 | Skepticism |
NPC Quirks
While motivations and obligations will help ground what your NPC needs in their life, quirks will help your role-playing become more intuitive by giving them a style.
- Terrible Scar
- Often fixes their Monocles
- Gaps between teeth
- Rash
- Tattoos with Runes
- Missing limb, joints, fingers, teeth
- Spits when talking
- Fidgets quite a bit
- Picks ears
- Rubs hands together
- Sucks on teeth
- Mismatched eyes/Blinks a lot
- Acne
- Overweight
- Underweight
- Always eating or drinking
- Bites fingernails
- Wandering eye
- Facial piercing
- Limp
- Lisp
- Foreign clothing
- Accent
- Uses long words incorrectly
- Rubs chin
- Tugs on ear
- Picks nose
- Bites lower lip
- Trims or cleans nails with long knife
- Twirls hair with finger
- Single hair or beard braid
- Many hair or beard braids
- Rings or bells in hair or beard braids
- Smells like sweat
- Smells like dogs
- Smells like horses
- Smells like cheap cologne
- Smells like expensive cologne
- Smells like cedar wood
- Tongue tiedBraggart
- Never looks anyone in the eye
- Superstitious
- Unusual jewelry from far off land
- Freckles
- Pockmarked skin
- Eye tic
- Bucktoothed
- Talks loudly with bad hearing
- Whispers believing being watched
- Holier than thou attitude
- Makes puns
- Clumsy
- Quotes famous poet, regularly
- Quotes religious text
- Refers to self in third person
- Chews grass, stick, or leaves
- Closely examines everything
- Keeps hand on weapon
- Keeps hands in pockets
- Hair falls out
- Exotic weapon
- Claps hands often
- Smacks palm with fist
- Asks often about his own appearance
- Rubs palms on thighs
- Stretches often
- Seems cold or hot
- Yawns often
- Polishes brooch or buckle often
- Rubs luckstone or fetish
- Twirls coin between fingers
- Always wears thick, leather gloves
- High squeaky voice
- Offers exotic beverages or foods
- Wears scarf around ankles or wrists
- Wears vest with bell buttons
- Fascinated by fire
- Smells like tobacco
- Wears ancient fashionsOily skin or hair
- Obvious cosmetics or mask
- Lazy eye
- Always wears ‘lucky’ hat, scarf, ring
- Mole
- Always wears favorite color
- Wears clothes too big or too small
- Wears obvious wig
- Paranoid
- Picks teeth with knife or fingernails
- Waxed facial hair
- Belches loud and often
- Sneezes often
- Coughs regularly
- Blinks often
- Roll twice
- Wine colored birthmark
- Rubs eyes often
- Chews on braid or lock of hair
- Bites fingernails or cuticles
- Polishes spectacles, never wears them
- Twists ring
- Picks lint off clothes, his and PCs
- Has hiccups
- Watering eye(s)
- Taps foot or drums fingers
- Sunburn and peeling skin
- Dark tan lines
- Very pale
- Toothless/wooden teeth
- Dressed in furs or leather
- Dressed in formal attire
- Dressed in silks and lace
- Has black eye
- Bruised extremities
- Arm in sling
- Bandaged extremity
- Stutters
- Clothes have bulging pouches
- Giggles, inappropriatelyWears well tended ancient weapon
- Refers to good old days often
- Wears heart shaped beauty mark
- Has one or more gold teeth
- Ogles opposite sex openly
- Paper cuts and ink stained fingers
- Serious burn scar
- Rings sewn on clothes with fetishes
- Clothes made of woven leaves
- Pregnant woman/Expecting Father
- Rubs calluses on palms with thumb
- Carries cloth covered basket
- Sharpens knife with whetstone
- Spit polishes thick, fancy bracelet
- Hard of hearing
- Gives a different name every meeting
- Regularly blows stray hair out of eyes
- Bows before speaking and after
- Flatulent
- Hooks thumbs in belt and bounces
- Walks like a sailor
- Crumbs in beard and clothes
- Food stained face
- Wine stained ‘moustache’
- Carries small snake, mouse, or lizard
- Wears foreign style clothes
- Has long, lacquered nails
- Mute, speaks through sign language
- Blind, sees through familiar’s eyes
- Uses foul language
- Runny nose
- Always late
- Instructs PCs on latest fashion
- Bad cook, begs PCs to eat
- Rubs large belly often
- Blatantly pouts
- Calls PCs by wrong names
- Convinced PCs need reforming
- Fascinated by non human races
- Has vampire bite scars on neckGestures wildly with hands
- Carries satchel filled with junk
- Hacking cough
- Sweats profusely
- Shaving cuts on face
- Military manner
- Animal bite or claw scar
- Sleepy
- Always out of breath
- Sketches PC while talking
- Flips key ring with finger
- Covered with road dust
- Rolls “R’s” while speaking
- Snorts while laughing
- Complains of heartburn
- Talks of health problems
- Loses items and asks PCs to help look
- Survived torture, has no fingernails
- Vegetarian
- Only eats meat
- Conceited
- Pathological liar
- Taps foot incessantly
- Rubs back of neck
- Has paint stained hands and clothes
- Nods often
- Says “hmm – hmm” often
- Asks rhetorical questions and answers
- Denies gossiping and proceeds to gossip
- Falsely claims he is an adventurer too
- Greatly exaggerates
- Hand covers mouth while speaking
- Keeps hand on PCs shoulder
- Carries crumbs to feed birds
- Hands coppers to beggar children
- Speaks to animals like people
- Speaks to ‘spirits’
- Writes down everything PC says
- Mixes languages
- Wears armor covered in runesSmells like lavender
- Smells like alcohol
- Smells like soap
- Smells like roses
- Scratches
- Has leaves in hair or clothing
- Archaic speech
- Spotless, glossy boots
- Rope burns around neck or wrists
- Pasted on moustache or beard
- Hair dye covering collar
- Wears flower in hair or clothing
- Mixes gibberish with words
- Keeps arms folded
- Picks at scabs or loose skin
- Dresses colorblind
- Has wart on hand, covers it always
- Constantly Squints
- Combs hair with fingers
- Jingles coins in pocket or pouch
- Intoxicated or acting
- Talks in rhyme
- Plays with charm on necklace
- Sniffs often
- Has arthritis in hands
- Rubs old knee injury
- Avoids crowds
- Nose bleeds
- Wears notched belt
- Scared of Spirits
What types of ideas have you used? Feel free to post some notes and I will create a massive resource for us all to use!