NPC's make up the majority of the universes population. Some are more important than others. Importance to a storyline should always dictate how much depth you put into their creation.

These NPC's simply exist to take up space or enhance the setting. PC's will have little or no contact with them so the require almost no development. You probably don't even need to name them. Girl1 or Merchant will normally suffice.

Extras include villagers, servants, townfolk, passerby's, and children. Soldiers, guards, and other cardboard characters could also be extras. If the PC's aren't gonna deal with someone don't waste time or energy on their creation.

Glorified Extra's. These NPC's might have a few lines or a short convo with the PC's but for the most part they are just filler. You could probably give them a name and perhaps a very short descript but thats about all you need.

Walk On's are generally any unimportant character that the PC's interact with.

These characters are above extras. They aren't key figures in the plot but they might interact with the PC's quite a bit. These characters should have a name, descent descript, and distinct personality.

Supporting Cast members might be a captian of the guards, mayor, officer, or any other character that is fairly important but not key to a plot.

These characters are important to a storyline. These characters should have a name, good descript, and distinct personality. a few notes about thier background, motiations, and goals might also be useful.

Key figures might include the PC's employer, high ranking enemies, someone with neccessary info, or any other character that the PC's will interact with alot.

The central figures in any storyline should be the PC's themselves. The PC's are the heroes (or villians) of every plot. If you create NPC's which are more important to the plot than the PC's then you are doing something wrong.

Kings might be more important to the world, Gods might be more important to the universe, but the PC's should be the driving force in the plot. Everyone else is secondary.

Secondary only to the PC's this character (or group of characters) will be at the center of the storyline. You should put as much effort into this NPC as you would put into your favorite PC. Central Villians should be extremely detailed and believable. Even if the PC's know virtually nothing about this character, you should know everything. You should know what he looks like, his personality, his skills and powers, why he is doing what he is doing etc.. Knowing your villians motivations is key to guiding the storyline.

As a storyline evolves, undoubtibly some NPC's will move up the importance ladder. Extra's might become Walk On's, Supporting Cast might become Key Figures, theoretically an Extra might become the Central Villian. This is part of running a storyline. If an NPC grows in importance give him the attention that his new found role deserves.

Hiding the importance of NPC's can be an excellent practice when running a storyline. Imagine the PC's shock when they find out that the unimportant beggar which was asking them for spare change was actually the Central Villian in disguise. Mix things up a bit. If players always know who is important they will only pay attention when important NPC's are around. If they never know who is important, they will begin paying attention to everyone at least to some degree.

Using the same NPC's over and over is a good practice when running storylines. As players become familiar with your NPC's they will be able to visualize and interact with them better. Reusing characters will also allow you to play up the past deeds of the PC's. Players will be quite pleased when their characters actions create lasting alliances or favor with NPC's. They might not be pleased when their actions create last enemies but at least they will know their actions mean something.

Using the same Villians over and over is just as good if not better than reusing other characters. Players hold grudges against bad guys. Pitting them against a bad guy that they already know and hate can only make a storyline more memerable.

It is for this reason that you shouldn't put villians in a position that will always get them killed in the end. A plots goal could simply be to stop a villians plans. Killing off his minions or building a huge alliance to oppose him could be just as effective as actually killing the bad guy.

If the Central Villian escapes, you have the option of bringing him back with some new scheme or plan (perhaps exacting revenge against the PC's for spoiling his first plan?).

Killing off every single bad guy is unrealistic. Very few villians are going to wait around to be killed when their plans go south.

Even if the Central Villian was slain perhaps one of his key underlings has had him rezzed? Maybe the underling moved up to take his role as Central Villian?

Sometimes the bad guy should die, however if it is at all realistic for him to live to fight another day, I recommend this course of action.

�2001 Joe Pombo