FreeNPC: An Interconnected World of Characters

[Noah K]

Hello everyone!

This is going to be the official thread for the FreeNPC Project's collaboration with Campaign Logger.

I'm getting caught up on the backlog of NPC profile conversions and the collected CL links will be posted here as a resource.

If you'd like to see the original character profiles, I have an interconnected archive at www.freenpc.com.

I'm committed to keeping FreeNPC a free project, but if you'd like to support it on Patreon there are additional perks available.
Check them out at the FreeNPC Patreon.

FreeNPC Campaign Logger Links:

Stream Link of Collected Characters

FreeNPC Campaign Logger JSON File Download

1: Symon Vasilisk, Human Fighter
2: Anson Martell, Half-Elf Rogue
3: Alycia Martell, Half-Elf Ranger
4: Luciana Proveaux, Elf Sorcerer
5: Grish, Half-Orc Barbarian
6: Vandryn Orrivar, Elf Bounty Hunter
7: Balthus Stormslaugh, Dwarf Crime Lord
8: Caston Agosta, Human City Guard
9: Edwick Bailee, Human City Guard
10: Davon Bosh, Human City Guard
11: Farin McCreigh, Human City Guard
12: Hallam Bardholt, Human City Guard
13: Osmand Pratch, Human City Guard
14: Uldar Thross, Undead Warlock
15: Cthadras, Eldritch Entity
16: Korbin Sunderwolf, Dwarf Merchant
17: Rowell Sunderwolf, Dwarf Criminal
18: Ianna Sunderwolf, Dwarf Craftsman
19: Kaita Lacertainian, Dragonborn Wizard
20: Filkis Gimbleshins, Gnome Wizard
21: Josiath Isengrae, Human Cleric
22: Merritt Bluestring, Halfling Rogue
23: Silmarea Tillari, Elf Wizard
24: Aedris Calliasta, Elf Cleric
25: Jia Byrdsong, Half-Elf Bard
26: Ulika, Half-Orc Cleric
27: Tarmina Stonebluff, Dwarf Monk
28: Onna Arkander, Human Paladin
29: Vesper Irastava, Fiendling Rogue
30: Whistler, Gnome Vagabond
31: Gwyraendring, Green Wyrmling
32: Clover Brightfoot, Halfling Prostitute
33. Thacklen Fellcross III, Human Noble
34: Larra Sunderwolf, Dwarf Goodwife
35: Nohrgo, Goblin Boss
36: Markaius Thallion, Human Paladin
37: Yarsh, Goblin Hunter
38: Saralie Savrigne, Human Cleric
39: Krick, Goblin Scout
40: Valdur Zalavaris, Dragonborn Fighter
41: Crannaughfax, Red Dragon
42: Breagan Zalavaris, Dragonborn Rogue
43: Peri Bluestring, Halfling Barkeep
44: Zinnia Griffenglass, Gnome Sorcerer
45: Eska Nahele, Firbolg Druid
46: Moriah Elsene, Air Sagani Bard
47: Dargado Kavarothenai, Goliath Druid
48: Harkova Brieaer, Avestan Fighter
49: Silverback, Hobgoblin Bounty Hunter
50: Raphine Cordaye, Half-Elf Druid
52: Qur, Bugbear Thug
53: Paxe Ravelle, Catfolk Warlock
54: Ishki, Birdfolk Cartographer
-
These NPCs are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License.

 

[JohnnFour]

I have shared out: 1-15 now.

 

[JohnnFour]

Alycia's link points to Symon.

 

[Noah K]

Alycia's link points to Symon.

Fixed!

 

[ELF]

I got to say that your names are great! They build a coherent cultural framework and paint a vivid picture of the character.

 

[Noah K]

I got to say that your names are great! They build a coherent cultural framework and paint a vivid picture of the character.

Thank you, I'm glad that's coming through!

Names are really important to me and I try to make them "fit" each character in the way they sound and what they mean if they have a meaning. Sometimes there is a lot of back and forth and spelling changes until a name sticks.

 

[beerwithdragons]

Just a thought. Perhaps a link to a plain text file that has all the markup for CL. Then we all can copy paste and keep the formatting? If there is a way to do this already from the links, please let me know. These are wonderful! Thank you!

 

[beerwithdragons]

One more thought, @ELF do you know if there Is a way to make a generator like the 3 line NPC that @JohnnFour has for this type of format from @Noah K ?

 

[JohnnFour]

@beerwithdragons Yes, Noah will be releasing CL compatible files. I'll be sending out a download link to Campaign Logger subscribers in the near-ish future.

 

[ELF]

One more thought, @ELF do you know if there Is a way to make a generator like the 3 line NPC that @JohnnFour has for this type of format from @Noah K ?

Not impossible, but it’s a lofty goal.

The 3 line NPC generator combines human-written paragraphs, each paragraph describing a different aspect of the character. It can produce high-quality results, but their variation is limited. Generators that use more atomic components are much harder.

It’s certainly possible to create NPC generators that produce a lot of detail, but having the details form an interconnected whole as in @Noah K’s carefully designed descriptions is quite a different story.

Characters have so many variables with interconnected dependencies that the decision trees would need to be long. And many of the decision trees are not universal, but culture-dependent.

Still, @Hannu has already created impressively detailed NPC generators and something like that is a long-term goal for me as well.

 

[ELF]

And creating a network of NPC’s that are ’aware’ of each other is even more challenging.

You’d have to step further away and use a basic design unit that is not a character but a plot element. The intersections of plot threads would manifest as characters.

You could model the different types of relationships between the characters and how they look from each character’s viewpoint. It would probably be possible to fake this to some degree, but variable matrices would still be desirable.

Maybe some day we’ll have the tools also for that...

 

[beerwithdragons]

@beerwithdragons Yes, Noah will be releasing CL compatible files. I'll be sending out a download link to Campaign Logger subscribers in the near-ish future.

Thanks @JohnnFour and @Noah K !

 

[beerwithdragons]

@ELF Maybe a text/graphical mindmap of NPC's linked by CL notations.

 

[beerwithdragons]

Thanks @Noah K ! I'll start looking through these a bit more!

 

[beerwithdragons]

Thanks @Noah K ! @JohnnFour Will the latest file you shared as a JSON file be updated with these new NPC's?

@Noah K Can you put a link at the top of your thread for the raw JSON files and update it as you go?

 

[JohnnFour]

Yes, the file will be updated.

 

[JohnnFour]

Here's an evergreen link to the Campaign Logger import file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2mppv6573i68on9/FreeNPC Published Profiles.json?dl=0

And here's Noah's Patreon, which gives you advanced access and voting:
https://www.patreon.com/FreeNPC/overview

 

[Noah K]

Hey everyone! Check out the customized stream that @JochenL and @JohnnFour have developed for FreeNPC! Thank you!

https://campaign-logger.com/freenpc/

Not only has the look gotten a serious upgrade, the new format includes numbered profiles and a library of tags on the right-hand side of each entry for easy filtering!

This new functionality has brought up a question for those of you using these profiles and NPCs:

How useful do you find the NPC traits?

Are you using them, or should that space be devoted to more Connections?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

-
Noah

 

[ELF]

Wow, the new feed options look great! The tag list in the margin is an excellent addition.

How useful do you find the NPC traits?

I'm a big fan of traits. The 'hard' traits (such as race and occupation) are especially useful when searching for just the right character.

The 'soft' personality traits are not that useful for searching as they are more varied and freeform. But the personality traits are wonderful when bringing the NPC to play: a quick glance at the trait list gives me a summary of the character's most important elements, and a handy refresher on how to portray that particular character.

While connections are definitely useful, they may not always fit every campaign without modifications, and I feel that they do not need to be as immediately accessible as traits. So I would prefer the current model with the traits in the spotlight.

 

[Noah K]

Thanks for the feedback @ELF! That's really helpful to know!