#RPGaDay2024 for 14 August: Compelling characters

Today's prompt: Compelling characters

As a player, I'm very strongly a Develop-In-Play guy, letting characterisation emerge through the events of the game rather than trying to have a strong sense of who my character is right from the giddyup. That's a little tougher as a referee, especially with my emphasis on intrigue - a big part of my prep is creating a social milieu for the players to explore - so my approach to non-player characters is a bit more like many gamers approach their own player characters.

So what are my basics for creating non-player characters with whom players are likely to interact?

• Relationships: characters have spouses, children, siblings, close and distant relations, coworkers, friends, romantic partners, allies, rivals.
• Goals: characters have personal preoccupations, avocations, ambitions.
• Strengths and weaknesses: characters have abilities and deficiencies, insight and blind spots, mastery and inexperience.
• Quirks: characters have hobbies, interests, habits, 'a distincitive way of looking at things.'

It doesn't take much to do this, honestly; because of my extensive use of random reactions and morale rolls, my goal is to "prep to improvise," so often just the non-player character's basic attributes - and I lean heavily on generic characters for this - plus a couple of tags or keywords or something can be enough to help maintain consistency in characterisation.

In my experience, non-player characters should feel like real people living in a real world, and my prep and referee roleplaying is toward that end.