What Is My NPC Up To?

 

Every now and then, the party will drop in on a local contact, merchant, or village elder on a whim. While non-player characters are not active adventurers, they carry on with routines and obligations in the background whether observed or not. Stonemasons mix mortar, merchants audit ledgers, household chores demand attention, and tavernkeepers scrub down tables. NPCs are not static game pieces waiting in suspended animation for the party to walk through the door.

When a referee needs an immediate snapshot of what a contact is doing upon arrival, a single six-sided die provides the answer. Rather than leaving the circumstances entirely abstract, the roll determines the current state of affairs, while the prevailing hour and the NPC's temper toward being interrupted determine how the scene plays out.

Core Activity Table (Roll 1d6)

1. Resting or Recharging: Slumped in an armchair, napping, or catching their breath out of sight.

2. Entertaining Guests or Visitors: In deep conversation with a neighbor, client, debt collector, or rival.

3. Taking a Meal or Drink: Sitting down to broth, bread, or a tankard; dining alone or with family.

4. Occupied with a Private Diversion: Engaged in a minor personal pursuit (mending gear, whittling, tending hearth ash, or reading).

5. Hard at Work: Fully immersed in their trade, manual labor, inventory, or professional chores.

6. On the Move / Heading Out the Door: Grabbing a cloak, gathering tools, or stepping into the street for an errand.

Applying Time-of-Day Shifts

A character's routine shifts as the day progresses. The baseline roll assumes typical business hours, but adjusting the result according to local time keeps the outcome grounded:

• Morning to Midday (Working Hours): Roll normally. If the result is a 1 (Resting), treat it as a 5 (Hard at Work) unless the character is known to be nocturnal, ill, or exceptionally indolent.

• Evening (Downtime Hours): Add +1 to the die roll (maximum result of 6). This naturally pushes the encounter toward meals, visitors, errands, and social calls.

• Dead of Night: Do not use the standard progression. Treat results 1–3 as sound asleep, 4–5 as waking to investigate noises or tending home security, and a 6 as absent from the premises entirely on clandestine or urgent business.

The Interruption Check (Roll 1d6)

Finding out what someone is doing is only half the puzzle; the crucial element is how they take to being disturbed by armed adventurers. Roll a second d6 to establish their immediate disposition toward the party's arrival:

1. Hostile or Agitated: Visibly annoyed by the disruption; snaps at the party to state their business or clear out.

2. Distracted: Multitasking; answers in clipped sentences without breaking stride or looking up from the job at hand.

3. Guarded: Covers a ledger, slides an item out of sight, or halts abruptly; suspicious of the intrusion.

4. Professional: Sighs, sets aside their work, and treats the matter strictly as practical business.

5. Relieved: Welcomes the party warmly, glad for an excuse to step away from whatever they were doing.

6. Enthusiastic: Eager to pull the visitors into the moment; insists on offering a cup, pulling up a bench, or asking for an extra pair of hands.

Turning Mundane Encounters into Action

When the die indicates an NPC is occupied with minor personal business (4) or heading out the door (6), the moment can be used to set local scenes in motion rather than leaving the interaction inside four walls:

• Trivial Pursuits (Result 4): The specific distraction can reveal practical details about local life. An apothecary grinding dried leaves might grumble about poor supply routes, while a blacksmith oiling a blade might remark on unusual night movements along the perimeter.

• Errands on the Move (Result 6): If the contact is stepping out, they do not need to turn back inside to talk. The party can walk alongside them through the town square, docks, or alleys. This gets the characters out into the wider settlement, exposes them to ambient rumors and local color, and provides an opening for players to lend an arm with heavy chores or sensitive deliveries to earn easy goodwill.

This article is an updated and expanded version of an older post, located HERE.

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