A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement So What’s The NPC Like, Anyway?

So What’s The NPC Like, Anyway? by Creighton Broadhurst is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.

The supplement is available as a 15-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $3.99 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, three the front matter, Contents and Foreword, one page is an ad and one is the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one designed for print and high-end devices, the other for mobile and low-end devices.

The Foreword explains that NPCs can help a setting come to life, but designing a lot of interesting NPCs can be a problem. This supplement is intended to help by enabling the GM to quickly create NPCs, though the tables in it shouldn’t be used to develop every NPC.

Using the Tables explains that they are not intended to create fully fleshed out NPCs and do not have any game stats, or even such as race, sex or class. The aim is to allow the GM to quickly create minor NPCs. It explains how the tables work and what they contain, and that pre-generated NPCs are included.

Pre-Generated NPCs is a d20 table. Each NPC has profession, activity, appearance, personality and mannerisms.

Table A: Physical Traits is a d100 table to create the appearance.

Table B: Emotional/Behavioural Traits is a d100 list of behaviours.

Table C: Mannerisms is a d100 list of personal habits.

Table D: Activity is what the NPC is doing when encountered.

Table E: Profession is their profession, which isn’t class.

So What’s The NPC Like, Anyway? in Review

The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents are to a similar level of depth and are hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text is two column format or three for the tables and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of appropriate black and white illustrations. Presentation is okay.

This may be listed as a Pathfinder supplement, but it isn’t; it’s completely system agnostic. Not only that, it’s nearly genre agnostic too. Only Table E has entries that don’t fit that well outside fantasy, and even then, those could be changed, and they don’t make up more than a portion of the table. Overall, this is a more generally useful supplement than it might appear. The GM will need to put a bit more effort into developing an NPC, but these are for minor ones so not much more is needed. A name is the main ingredient missing. So What’s The NPC Like, Anyway? is a decent supplement and it can be found by clicking here.