Using Shadowdark to flesh out NPCs
Our Monday night YouTube livestream with Tim Shorts, Flint Fireforge, and Vance A. was all about NPCs: How do we create them? Where do we find inspiration? And, how we use them in our #TTRPG sessions.
When I need a quick NPC, I look no further than the Shadowdark RPG core rulebook.
One of the best things about the Shadowdark RPG is how fast it lets you roll with the punches—literally and figuratively. Whether you’re a forever GM, a newbie, or just running a one-shot, you’ve probably had that moment where the players decide to talk to the barkeep, stablemaster, or shady guy in the alley. And suddenly, you’re scrambling to come up with a character on the fly. Good news: Shadowdark has your back.
Tucked inside the rulebook (pages 124-129), you’ll find a set of roll tables designed specifically for making quirky and memorable NPCs in seconds. I have used this in games including D&D 5e and SoloDark. It works great! These tables are designed to let GMs improvise on the fly with minimal prep. You can roll randomly or just pick results to quickly flesh out a shopkeeper, informant, rival, or faction ally.
Besides tables for the basic types (ancestry, age, alignment, and wealth) on page 124, there is also a table of possible occupations for your NPC on page 125.
Next, turn to the terrific d20 table for NPC Qualities that includes, their appearance (balding, sweaty, tattooed, etc), what they do (always eating, card tricks, spits, drops things, forgetful, etc), and a secret (afraid of storms, needlessly picks pockets, best friends with the prince, etc). There are a lot of rich ideas to build useful interactions with players rapidly.
NPC Qualities
Plus, there is a Rival Crawlers section to create other adventuring parties you might meet in town or down a dank, smelly dungeon. Are they friends or foes? Lastly, pp. 128-129 are two full pages of naming ideas and conventions for creating names according to ancestry or by-the-syllable. Who couldn’t have fun with this?
Whether you’re prepping a session or scrambling mid-game, these NPC tables are a lifesaver. Just open up your Shadowdark rule book, roll some dice, and let the chaos unfold.
Happy gaming!
Watch our NPCs livestream (Mon., May 5, 2025), here:
You can follow me on YouTube: @EruditeDM, or on X: @EruditeDM. Feel free to email me at EruditeDM@gmail.com.
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