The PCs decided to stray off the path you envisioned? Oh noes, they're talking to the adviser of the king instead of the king himself when you expected them to insist on being let in? And they will be fighting whoever the villain wanted them to fight, clearing the path to ultimate power for him? They have taken the offer about being caravan guards and discarded your adventure? Truly, the dangers of gamemastering are many and hardto foresee! What is a GM to do with such unruly PCs?

In all of these cases, one of the first obstacles is: I haven't prepared any NPCs! Who are they going to meet? I worked so hard on this adventure, should I put them back on the rails?

Well, if you decide in favour of the rails, this article is probably of no use to you -- you can prepare everything in advance, after all. Unless you're short of time, in which case, keep reading.

And if in the above situation you'd go for the let them do it and see what happens option, you should definitely keep reading. It might help with the NPC part.

The best part of this method is, you do basically the same thing regardless of system, only the numbers change!

Sounds too good to be true? Yeah, but hey, it's not like I'm selling anything to you. You can take it or leave it.

Improvising the character of NPCs

So, the first part is the narrative part. PCs go somewhere, I presume you have decided what the place will really be like. I'll also assume you can describe the clothes people from the setting would wear. The problem is, what kind of people are there?

Ask yourself three questions:

1. Who should be there, logically? That's probably who they were looking for.
   
   (Thugs, smugglers, prostitutes, thieves and second-rate gladiators in a seedy bar in Rome, frex).
   
   
2. Who really shouldn't be there, but might be?
   
   (A peasant who just sold his wares on the market, spending time in that seedy bar in Rome, is a good example -- what are the odds he could keep his hard=earned money?)
   
   These ones also serve as plot hooks the players didn't anticipate.
   
   
3. Who shouldn't be there, and really wouldn't be, unless there are unforeseen developments?
   
   (Same seedy bar, Rome, a beautiful, free, armed blonde woman with long wavey hair. What's this? How did she end here? Is someone keeping her here after abducting her, or is she bringing the ransom for her kidnapped little brother? Or is she the foreign concubine of an old Senator that's here to meet in secret with her legionary lover? Or is she here to avenge her village by killing the same legionary, or someone else? Nigh-endless possibilities, which are likely to pick up the PCs' interest. And all of this just because I had a nice image in my headÖ if they approach her, I'll decide fast why she is actually there and whether she would tell them this).
   

You don't need to introduce such NPCs everywhere. But once in a while, there might be someone...

Also, do these convincingly, make them interesting, and the players will probably think you were ready with the bar in advance. It has happened to me.

Good, now we know who's there. But why are they here? Most of them would have goals, that's why they're at the scene. Even if it's "to get drunk and have a good time", it's a tip for you how to roleplay them. Most of the patrons in a bar would have this goal. Some might be there to meet a business partner. A couple might be there for stirring up troubleÖ Again, I doubt you'd need me to explain this. I'm just emphasizing that you need to decide on this, because it's likely to come up.

Now that we know who we met, what the hell are their stats? I don't have anything pre-written... Oh the horrors!

NPCs, mechanically speaking

The second part is the mechanical part. Basically, you start by no longer worrying about point totals. Remember, a GM has many more characters to take care of. It's unreasonable to expect they'd get the same level of detail as the characters! Actually, they might even have their stats organized a bit differently.

So, if your system has some kind of really broad skills, like "Bang!" skills in GURPS, use them. If not, let me explain the concept.

A broad skill means just that, it's really broad. You can have a skill that covers all the skills and contacts needed for a given job - fitness instructor, military, whatever. This means that instead of having a guard in GURPS that's got Broadsword 12, Axe 13, Shield 14, Shortsword 14, Brawling 11, you've got a guy who's got a Legionary 14 on his character sheet. That's it, give him whatever stats seem fitting, and contacts and savoir-faire in the military, some streetwise and carousing. Need anything else?

Well, does it make sense a legionary should know it? If yes, he's got it, maybe at a penalty. If not, he's got it at default, or at a weaker skill. It's that simple. Mind you, a more important NPC might have hobby skills, occupational ones, and some unexpected background skills. But that's a more important one. And the final sheet still fits on a single line, most likely. Legionary 14, Fitness fanatic 10, My Pa Was A Tanner! 11, did this fit on a single page? And yet this guy knows more about treating injuries, diets, and well, tanning skins. You know who he is, what he does in his free time. How is that not a major NPC with broad competencies? Did you expect the drunk legionary to know about healing massages and leatherworking?

On a final note, it might be a skill that covers a given non-professional activity. "Connoisseur of French cuisine 12" would still entail cooking, good taste perception, a bit of food-related history, knowing other people in the same hobby, and knowing the staff of French restaurants. Regardless, I think you get the idea.

So far, I was using GURPS for my example. But it really doesn't change if I'm using, say, Reign! Well, it doesn't change that much.

Augustus, Legionary 5d+ED. (Also, Fitness Fanatic 4 dice, Tanner 5 dice). Done! (Although in Reign, he might as well be just an extra with no stats. Let's assume he's a named character for the sake of the example, though).

If the game is using concepts like Passions that have a mechanical meaning, you add the main ones. Again, he doesn't have to have all the ones a PC would have, not unless he's a major character. See the part about goals? That's why you put them here, but you can use them to give you hints about people's passions. Or you can make them unrelated to the

Actually, you don't even have to scribble down all of that. Most of it is short enough that it can remain in your head.

Does it really work for any system?

Some of you might doubt the above method will work for any system out there. Some systems might be too dependent on the NPCs being built just like PCs, you might argue.

Granted, I'll concede the point -- the above might not work for any system. I'm still not sure how to make it work for D&D 3+, or for Exalted, myself. Too much in these two depends on feats and charms, which should be picked carefully from a budget!

But then, such systems are more like the exception than the rule IME. In most systems, what matters would be to have NPCs for the players to interact with and that they would have stats, should you ever need them. Of course, I'm speaking from my own, not quite universal experience.

Besides I'm pretty sure some fan out there might explain it to you how to improvise an NPC statblock even in D&D 3 or Exalted! I just haven't bothered to ask since I stopped running them with the default systems.

So, next time you need NPCs on the fly, don't panic. Just remember this article, scribble them on the fly, and keep running!

And, most importantly, have fun!