Atreus's RPG Works

I know I’ve seen this in countless other locations, but one of the worst-kept secrets in all of game-mastering, is the art of the quirky NPC. Ah – here’s a mention on Dungeon Mastering.

What brought about this thought you ask? Two weeks ago I started playing Valkyria Chronicles. About an hour or two into the game, you become the leader or a military squad and have to recruit/choose your squadmates. In so many other games, this would be purely a selection screen but there are three things that stand out in Valkyria.

The first one, which also has game ramifications, are the Potentials each character has. This is a list of traits the tells you about their personality or their background. If they were born in the city, they might get a bonus when fighting in the city or be less effective in other environment.

Each potential squad member also has a list of the people that they like. I’m not sure what exact benefit it grants, but think of this: the game designers have built a relationship graph into the game.

Finally, when you select each one you get a short animated cutscene of them “joining up.” It’s just a short talking head sequence, but each one has their one voice and mannerisms. One them (I wish I knew names, but I actually haven’t found time to play past this point yet) even seemed reluctant to be there, or perhaps he’s just very distracted. Others have seemed to be proper soldiers and yet others have seemed out for blood.

Each of these characteristics, when ported into your game can make for more interesting and memorable NPCs. What else have you used?