There are a lot of factors that determine whether a duet campaign is a success or not but one factor rises above the rest: the quality of your NPCs. This is also an area where there is a sharp contrast between group and duet campaigns. The number of players has a direct correlation to the quality of NPCs needed to make a campaign work. With the typical group you really only need basic NPCs but as you contract the number of players, then NPCs become far more important till you get to a duet where if your NPCs aren't good then you're going to have problems. We're going to be covering NPCs in the next three articles, beginning with an overview in this article, then on to creating good NPCs, and finally how to roleplay your NPCs. 

Your Portfolio of NPCs

For myself, I visualize my NPCs as coming from a collection of personalities I can effectively roleplay. In my typical duet campaign there's a lot of NPCs with dozens of distinct characters the player will records in her notes as important. When you consider the number of duet campaigns I've run over the years I've conjured up literally thousands of NPCs. However, they are all derived from about a dozen personalities - that's it. These personalities are a mix of classic archetypes, people I've known, and, more commonly, NPCs or PCs I've run over the years. Once you get an NPCs who works it makes sense to just keep adapting that character for future needs. Of course, the other side of this is that when you have a NPC who fails horribly you want to bury that NPC where no one, especially you, will ever find it again.

When you start out as a narrator, your first NPCs are all classic fictional archetypes. There's nothing wrong with the streetwise urchin, the old sage, the weary soldier, the idealistic young hero, and so forth. These are "classic" archetypes because they work. At some point as a narrator you will start tweaking these archetypes and start adding new ones. You do this by incorporating elements from people you know or from fictional characters that are well-developed. You also start to experiment; while some NPCs will crash and burn, you will find some winners. The whole process is to build up your portfolio of NPCs or, more accurately, archetypes that you can tweak and recycle for your NPCs. 

I do want to point out that some narrators have an easier time conjuring up good NPCs than others. It's not how expressive or dynamic you are as a narrator but how attentive and empathic you are as a person that sets the foundation for your NPCs. You have to understand real people to create realistic imaginary people. Some narrators aren't good at this and some simply don't care about NPCs. This is perfectly fine with group campaigns but if you want to run a solid duet you need to master the art of NPCs. 

The Ultimate Goal

I can't emphasize this enough: the ultimate goal of any NPC is to get a reaction from the player through the PC. Always keep in mind that your player is your audience. You don't necessarily need to fully develop the personality of an NPC if you instead look at the NPC as a tool for provoking a reaction from the player. This approach also helps you narrow down your efforts. You probably know your player fairly well so that should help when it comes to crafting NPCs for your campaign. Some things to consider on this point: 

• Use your knowledge of the player. If you know that your player hates an actor or character from a movie (or a mutual acquaintance or work colleague) then that's a great model for an NPC who you want the PC to dislike. Just think about your player's feeling about people and personalities and it should provide you with a lot of ideas how to effectively craft NPCs to get reactions. 
• Keep background characters in the background. Don't waste time and energy giving an unimportant NPC a dynamic personality to engage the PC when there are other NPCs that really need to be noticed. Prioritize.  
• Negative reactions are easier than positive reactions. This is why bad guys are more memorable; it's really easy to generate a negative reaction. So don't go overboard with how you generate a negative reaction. Think of movies or books where the negative reaction is so strong it kind of dulls your actual reaction. We shutdown at a point and you don't want to ever to shutdown the responses of your player. So in other words, you don't have to make a villain into a serial killer sexual predator cannibal to make an emotional impact on your player … okay if you do then you might want to consider getting a new player. With negative reactions, the key is to use less to get more. Honestly, a little condescension towards a PC can be more aggravating than a knife wound, which just knocks a few points off a character sheet. Keep that in mind - aim for the player when you want negative reaction. The best target is the player's emotional investment in and admiration for the PC. 
• Positive reactions are difficult, very difficult to generate. Your first instinct is to go overboard when you want a positive reaction such as the classic example of the innocent damsel in distress. You aim for all the heartstrings and generally this works, but then this is not a sustainable character and for savvy players these sort of heavy-handed NPCs can be annoying. The truth is that the best approach is precision. You aim for one positive reaction and craft the NPC or scene to produce that reaction. So if you want an NPC to become a traveling companion for a PC you usually have two reactions you need to deliver: loyalty and competency. Of the two, loyalty is always the best. Honestly, players would rather have a somewhat competent NPC who is loyal than the most skilled NPC in the galaxy whose loyalty might be a little suspect. So how do you produce a reaction of loyalty from interactions with an NPC? You make that NPC loyal to someone else but not in a way that would challenge loyalty to the PC. Reflection works very well. Show a friend being loyal to an NPC and the PC will sense loyalty from the NPC. 
• NPCs generate reactions when they interact with the PC; the better designed the scene, the better the reaction. Honestly, scenes or vignettes are where everything occurs. You can spends hours developing a great NPC but if you don't have a good scene for the NPC then all your work is pointless. The secret for a good scene is simple - the PC must be invested emotionally and have a real choice to make in the scene. It's not easy to pull off, but that is the key. The more engaged the PC is in a scene the stronger the reaction to the NPCs in that scene. This is important. In a very dynamic scene, which can involve anything, where the PC and the player are really engaged then you can be subtle and generate very strong reactions. 
• Sometimes NPCs don't work. If the NPC is going to travel or work for the PC then if the player doesn't like that NPC the NPC needs to disappear. If you have a villainous NPC who the PC is simply unimpressed with, then have that NPC die off. If you have a wise old mentor for the PC who annoys the PC then it's time to end the mentorship and maybe bring in a new NPC to work with the PC. Players will invest more in NPCs if they know they have a choice about that NPC. 
• You have an endless well of imagination. You don't need to bend over backwards to make sure your evil mastermind always escapes; in fact, if the PC has the evil mastermind in her grip then give her the win and come up with a new evil mastermind. I have been narrating for over a quarter of a century and have had some great NPCs but I keep coming up with ones that are as good, if not better, than ones I've used in the past.  

The Importance of Notes

Sometimes all you need is a list of names and you can wing great NPCs. The list of names though is key; it really does help to have a list you can quickly consult when you need a name on the fly. That said, you also need to keep notes. Good NPCs sometimes slip from your mind after a few sessions have passed and a few words next to the name can help jar your memory. I've mentioned before another point and that is to not break up the flow of an adventure by spelling out names; let the player make a phonetic guess for her notes. In fact, I often change the spelling I had to the player's as I use her notes as the master list. Of course, that only works if you have a player who takes good notes, which is about 50/50 odds from my experience with duets. 

Okay enough for this article, next time we delve more into designing NPCs for a duet campaign.