Instant NPCs

Sometimes the players will come across someone who becomes important in the moment. When the ritual goes wrong and a poor captive gets the power cosmic what does that villager do with it? Who were they?

When you need a quick NPC all you need is an instinct and some way to pursue it. We call that a knack, it can be anything from a skill to a title to a debt owed. Combine the two and you have an NPC who has something they want and a way to try to get it—you’re ready to go.

100 Instincts

To avenge
To spread the good word
To reunite with a loved one
To make money
To make amends
To explore a mysterious place
To uncover a hidden truth
To locate a lost thing
To kill a hated foe
To conquer a faraway land
To cure an illness
To craft a masterwork
To survive just one more day
To earn affection
To prove a point
To be smarter, faster and stronger
To heal an old wound
To extinguish an evil forever
To hide from a shameful fact
To evangelize
To spread suffering
To prove worth
To rise in rank
To be praised
To discover the truth
To make good on a bet
To get out of an obligation
To convince someone to do their dirty work
To steal something valuable
To overcome a bad habit
To commit an atrocity
To earn renown
To accumulate power
To save someone from a monstrosity
To teach
To settle down
To get just one more haul
To preserve the law
To discover
To devour
To restore the family name
To live a quiet life
To help others
To atone
To prove their worth
To gain honor
To expand their land
To gain a title
To retreat from society
To escape
To party
To return home
To serve
To reclaim what was taken
To do what must be done
To be a champion
To avoid notice
To help a family member
To perfect a skill
To travel
To overcome a disadvantage
To play the game
To establish a dynasty
To improve the realm
To retire
To recover a lost memory
To battle
To become a terror to criminals
To raise dragons
To live up to expectations
To become someone else
To do what can’t be done
To be remembered in song
To be forgotten
To find true love
To lose their mind
To indulge
To make the best of it
To find the one
To destroy an artifact
To show them all
To bring about unending summer
To fly
To find the six-fingered man
To wake the ancient sleepers
To entertain
To follow an order
To die gloriously
To be careful
To show kindness
To not screw it all up
To uncover the past
To go where no man has gone before
To do good
To become a beast
To spill blood
To live forever
To hunt the most dangerous game
To hate
To run away

100 Knacks

Criminal connections
Muscle
Skill with a specific weapon
Hedge wizardry
Comprehensive local knowledge
Noble blood
A one-of-a-kind item
Special destiny
Unique perspective
Hidden knowledge
Magical awareness
Abnormal parentage
Political leverage
A tie to a monster
A secret
True love
An innocent heart
A plan for the perfect crime
A one-way ticket to paradise
A mysterious ore
Money, money, money
Divine blessing
Immunity from the law
Prophecy
Secret martial arts techniques
A ring of power
A much-needed bag of taters
A heart
A fortified position
Lawmaking
Tongues
A discerning eye
Endurance
A safe place
Visions
A beautiful mind
A clear voice
Stunning looks
A catchy tune
Invention
Baking
Brewing
Smelting
Woodworking
Writing
Immunity to fire
Cooking
Storytelling
Ratcatching
Lying
Utter unremarkableness
Mind-bending sexiness
Undefinable coolness
A way with knots
Wheels of polished steel
A magic carpet
Endless ideas
Persistence
A stockpile of food
A hidden path
Piety
Resistance to disease
A library
A silver tongue
Bloodline
An innate spell
Balance
Souls
Speed
A sense of right and wrong
Certainty
An eye for detail
Heroic self-sacrifice
Sense of direction
A big idea
A hidden entrance to the city
The love of someone powerful
Unquestioning loyalty
Exotic fruit
Poison
Perfect memory
The language of birds
A key to an important door
Metalworking
Mysterious benefactors
Steely nerves
Bluffing
A trained wolf
A long-lost sibling, regained
An arrow with your name on it
A true name
Luck
The attention of supernatural powers
Kindness
Strange tattoos
A majestic beard
A book in a strange language
Power overwhelming
Delusions of grandeur
The wind at his back and a spring in his step

Names

Finbar, Hywn, One Eye, Alhoro, Arlon, Yev, Slime, Jocat, Ewing, Lim, Poy, Milo, Deryl, Medlyn, Astrafel, Daelwyn, Feliana, Damarra, Sistranalle, Pendrell, Melliandre, Dagoliir, Baldric, Leena, Dunwick, Willem, Edwyn, Florian, Seraphine, Quorra, Charlotte, Lily, Ramonde, Cassandra, Durga, Aelfar, Gerda, Rurgosh, Bjorn, Drummond, Helga, Siggrun, Freya, Wesley, Brinton, Jon, Sara, Hawthorn, Elise, Clarke, Lenore, Piotr, Dahlia, Carmine, Hycorax, Ethanwe, Sinathel, Demanor, Menoliir, Mithralan, Taeros, Aegor, Tanner, Dunstan, Rose, Ivy, Robard, Mab, Thistle, Puck, Anne, Serah, Elana, Obelis, Herran, Syla, Andanna, Siobhan, Aziz, Pelin, Sibel, Nils, Wei, Ozruk, Surtur, Brunhilda, Annika, Janos, Greta, Dim, Rundrig, Jarl, Xotoq, Elohiir, Sharaseth, Hasrith, Shevaral, Cadeus, Eldar, Kithracet, Thelian, Finnegan, Olive, Randolph, Bartleby, Aubrey, Baldwin, Becca, Hawke, Rudiger, Gregor, Brianne, Walton