Would love to get some comments / discussion, suggestions on this very early doc!
“This is based on Jason Cordova’s 7-3-1 system. The “1” refers to the practice of “as the GM, give every NPC at least 1 trait that you can express at the table.”
This doc is an attempt to put together a useful list of GM “tic” suggestions to bring life to NPCs! My current plan is to categorize it by NPC disposition, and I am very open to suggestions.
What’s Jason Cordova’s 7-3-1 system? I googled, but couldn’t find anything.
Yochai Gal helped me find it! Gauntlet podcast episode 26, (“Life as a new GM”) and starts around the 1 hour mark.
I think Jason responded once and I recorded what he wrote
“In a little extra detail…
Prep 7 encounters which can be air-dropped anywhere you might need something. (NPCs, places, etc.). Give each a motivation. This is an amalgam of advice from Dogs in the Vineyard and Monster of the Week.
Always describe 3 things the characters can sense (what things look like, how they smell, sounds in the environment, etc.). That’s an active thing you should do during a scene change or when some new character is onscreen. You can also build some of that into your 7 encounters above. This is advice cribbed from Jared Sorensen’s Rule of Three.
Always do 1 thing to physically embody an NPC. A voice, an accent, a body posture, a nervous tic, etc. Just one thing is all you need; the players will fill-in the gaps in their minds. That came from an old episode of the Jank Cast. “
Paul Sheppard Yep! That’s pretty much it. Thanks!
Sounds like great advice. I know I’m going to steal it!