Dungeons & Dragonsoften becomes an exercise of improvisation and quick thinking from the dungeon master. Even when ample time is available, creating many characters while keeping them interesting and identifiable from each other is a difficult ask. Published adventures often contain dozens of important NPCs and uniquely portraying them all can feel impossible.
Thankfully, a variety of tools and products have come to the rescue for DMs. Here, you can find help for both session prep and on-the-spot play at the table. Whether you need a quest-giver for your campaign or a random goblin in the street, these products can help keep things interesting.
The Game Master’s Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying
The definitive book for better gameplay
One of the best resources for those running a TTRPG, offering a full guide to engaging with players. Make your games feel fresh and improve the role-play of you and your players.
Possibly the best book for any dungeon master to have, this excellent entry in the game master series of books presents the methods and skills to foster role-play at the table. You’ll cover a variety of topics while reading the book, but the main throughline is for gameplay to welcome proactive choices from the players.
In many adventures and settings, the characters react to outside events and may not experience much agency. The give-and-take of roleplay between DM and player is strongest when both sides exhibit a level of agency and control.
The resources inside all focus on preparation and styles of play, leaving very little if you want help live at the table. For creating villains and scenes that inspire and engage players through your roleplay, this is a true gem. With an incredible value propositionat under $15, you won’t regret the purchase of this GMing tool.
NPC Portraits Deck Fantasy
Draw a card and take on a role in just seconds
This set of NPC cards focuses on fantasy characters to fill out your game world. With all the classics like elves and dwarves, you’ll have options for quest givers and tavern keeps galore.
Do your players often approach random citizens or tavern patrons? Keeping a pile of pre-prepared characters helps gameplay to move quickly without leaving the world feeling bland. With character decks like this, you can draw an appropriate card and have a personality and stats ready instantly.
With these fantasy NPCs, including art and descriptions, you can focus on portraying the person in front of the party. Quirks of speech, personal thoughts, and other information are all packed into these cards. The ability to grab one and instantly use it for an NPC lets you improvise unique characters quickly.
During sessions, it can be easy to slip into identical patterns and ideas, causing multiple NPCs to feel the same. Experienced DMs can mix the traits of different cards for more character combinations. Newer dungeon masters may struggle when reading NPC blocks like these if they are not used to them, but they are still great when examined in advance.
Scrying Stones - DM Scenario Dice
Roll away your roleplay troubles
Containing a set of custom dice with images for generating content Scrying Stones keep ideas and scenes fresh. Whether describing a character or a place there are dice for every need here.
Just as NPC cards can help you deliver characters to the table, generative tools like these Scrying Stones can add depth to your roleplay scenes. The environment and goals are just as much part of the roleplay as the characters that players interact with. The DM is not just the people, but the game world itself.
Particularly useful for exploration or when the adventure goes off-rails, these dice help you fill increatures and locationsas you play. A quick roll of the right dice can set you on the path of roleplaying success, providing vital sparks to your creative flame.
These can become even better when paired with other materials like the previous deck or other oracle-like tools. Many generative tables or charts exist as Oracles that you may consult for game events, and adding cards and dice to support them further improves spontaneous gameplay.
The Game Master’s Book Of Non-Player Characters
When an NPC matters, choose the very best
Jeff Ashworth brings another amazing entry to The Gamer Master series with a heap of NPCs for your game. Included are over 500 premade NPCs and additional resources like adventures, plot hooks, and more.
Every game will have its quest-givers and plot-important folks, this is the tool for those recurring characters who matter most. The mentor at the party’s favorite haunt needs more than a simple description or random quirk and the Game Master’s series of books have the answer.
An entire campaign’s worth of settings, characters, and quests can be run from this one book. It has dozens of important NPCs with statistics and complex wants and flaws. Just as you reference a stat block for a monster’s physical traits, there are text blocks to describe the full personalities of characters and all their unique elements.
Detailed features help you understand how to play people as though they were real, with possible story hooks and reactions included to cover every scenario. No matter your character needs there will be something for your campaign here, just don’t expect to use one at the table with no prep.
Happy Story 18 Cubes Bundle
Roll up some inspiration with Happy Story Cubes
This bundle of Happy Story Cubes comes with 18 dice across a handful of categories like emotions and actions. Roll the dice to make a story or scene instantly.
Another excellent product in the line of Oracle tools, story game dice can provide a variety of roleplay assistance. You may not expect much from something that is meant as a silly family activity, but the selection of dice can cover many duties at the game table.
Similar to the Scrying Stones, you can select the dice that are appropriate to your current needs and roll them for an instant starting point. You can take a die for locations and one for moods to choose a random place of origin and emotion for your NPC. Perhaps the blacksmith the party approaches is feeling down, which could affect the outcome of a request for help.
Any kind of story dice like these can be a great help both at the table spontaneously or during game prep. Like random tables or character descriptions, this is meant to keep ideas fresh and prevent the game from feeling repetitive. Tools like these are best used together and practiced often to build creative skills.
The Improv Handbook
Learn how to bring out your best in improv
Tom Salinsky and Deborah Frances-White bring you into the fantastic world of reactive theatre with The Improv Handbook. Learn and build the skills for engaging roleplay through methods of spontaneous acting.
Improv may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of tabletop roleplay, but the concepts of DMing and improv share many traits. The golden rule of improv, yes, and can be an excellent starting point for roleplay encounters. When you portray characters, you want to open doors of opportunity for roleplay.
If a player presents something in the roleplay exchange, building upon it and returning it to them makes them feel like part of the world. Practicing and learning improv skills helps you respond quickly and in character as you play the NPCs of the world.
The idea of “yes and” roleplay can appear scary at first, like you will lose control of your game, but it is often the opposite. It presents you with a great deal of control when you learn to adapt to and guide the roleplay of your game in an improvisational manner. You’ll likely feel much more prepared for the unexpected as well if you cultivate the skill.
FAQ
What Is An Oracle And What Does It Do?
In tabletop gaming, an Oracle is any chart, product, or randomization method that you can consult to generate a result for an action or question. For example, manysolo-play RPGsinclude some form of Oracle that you roll against to dictate what happens when you attempt something or need to decide the next event.
It is a broad term that encompasses almost any method of receiving random or pre-determined results. This can include anything from random character-creation tools to a multiple-choice response chart for an encounter.
Do I Need To Be Good At Acting Or Omprov To Roleplay?
While the talents and skills involved in acting of any kind can assist tabletop roleplay they are in no way necessary. Many incredible moments of roleplay come from those who have zero experience in any kind of theatre or acting.
Although many popular D&D play shows or podcasts will include voice actors or notable figures, there are also plenty of high-quality games run by those without the same experience. Learning vocal or acting skills can be great, but you should not feel they are necessary to run a good game.
