For the past couple of weeks, I've been putting together a small random generator for NPC creation. I'm not 100% done, but I've got enough done that I'd like to start getting opinions.

The goal was to make something that's a little more robust than other generators of its type. What this NPC generator does is (after making a random name) create a personality for the NPC based on loose personality classes. It then assigns preferences to the NPC based on that personality, and it weights their occupation based on what their personality might incline them towards (so someone who's thoughtful and altruistic might be more inclined to take up a medical profession).

It'll also extrapolate a set of (EotE) stats based off of their species and personality/occupation inclinations.

The NPCs have special rules in place for generating specific types of names, as well. Right now, it supports Wookiee-specific names, Twi'lek-specific names, and Human compound names (Starkiller, Sunrider, etc.) in addition to basic name generation.

GMs can constrain the NPC generation to be based off of specific names, species, or locations, with the last of those options also weighting the types of NPCs that show up (so if the user selects "Spaceport," he'll see more pilots, engineers, etc.).

It also supports occasional additional information, things like affiliations, current actions/mood, etc.

Please let me know how well it works for you, if you see any errors, or if you have any suggestions. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

http://thompsonpeters.com/eote/misc/NPCgen/

Still testing it but... just awesome! Thank you so much

If there is any bug or suggestions I'll send it to you. That would be great that you add this here http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/85616-compiled-resources-list/page-16

EDIT: Back to top page button sometimes fails.

Very nice! What are your future plans? Will some skills also be generated relative to the type of NPC?

Very nice! What are your future plans? Will some skills also be generated relative to the type of NPC?

Yeah, I'd like to consider basic skills or talents too. I don't want to be too detailed, because then it's harder to turn into something generic and usable for all Star Wars games, and it also limits the freedom of the GM to expand on the character. But some basic stuff? Probably. I've left a space open in the layout for that kind of thing.

I know that I'd like to be able to consistently expand the pools from which the component parts are drawn, and I'd like to continue to add new name generation paradigms. Twi'lek and Wookiee are the only types of names that have a really obvious pattern to them in the SW universe, but there are a few others that have hints of a pattern, and I can probably add the option to generate names for those species specifically.

I'd also like to make an Android version, if people are interested at all.

The big reason, too, that I'm getting this out there now is because I'd like to learn what other people would want to see in this kind of tool, and that'll help determine what I add, feature-wise. If someone's got a great idea, I'd love to add it.

Good point with the skills/talents. Maybe just generic phrases like, "He is a good slicer." Leaving it up to the user to determine how good that should be for their own purposes.

The only other thing that I can think of right now is perhaps short one sentence story/job/adventure hooks? Something like, "Ada is looking for passage to Bespin." or "Taryn is looking for someone to deliver a package."

Nothing detailed, so it's up to the GM to get creative with complications and all of that (e.g., why is she looking for passage?). Not sure if that's beyond what you intend though but just putting it out there to flesh out the characters. Maybe have it as an optional function? In case the GM only wants NPCs to flesh out a scene.

This is a very nice tool! Thanks!

Very cool! The GUI is slick and "Star Wars-y", and the controls are simple and straightforward. I like it. I did notice one pronoun problem with female names ("She... with his..."). Also, while the "He likes... he dislikes..." line can sometimes read like it's from an online dating profile the random personality info is golden for GMs who want something other than a cookie-cutter NPC.

As mykab stated, appropriate skills, talents, special abilities, and gear would be great, as would being able to select the adversary type (minion, rival, or nemesis). The flavor text generator would probably need to be modified for minions, as they're a group and not an individual.

Also... how about an adversary export feature for use in my GM Tools? A user could download the XML, then import the adversary into the tools. I know I'm prejudiced in this regard, but that would be way cool I can give you the rundown on the file format, if you're interested.

This is pretty sweet.

My big recommendation is to allow the user to generate an NPC without having to reset first. The "Generate NPC" button becomes unresponsive after the NPC has been generated. The user would have to reset before being able to generate another NPC.

I like the tool. My biggest feature request is some way to save/export the info. I can't even select the text to copy paste it, so it will be a chore if I want to use this when creating adventure assets.

Good point with the skills/talents. Maybe just generic phrases like, "He is a good slicer." Leaving it up to the user to determine how good that should be for their own purposes.

What I'll probably end up doing, after I get the purely descriptive part to a place where people are happy with it, is customize it further for more detailed EotE support. In the next big update, I'll almost certainly include a few additional general stats in the empty box down below, and if I can get to it, I'll start to add some basic skills.

The only other thing that I can think of right now is perhaps short one sentence story/job/adventure hooks? Something like, "Ada is looking for passage to Bespin." or "Taryn is looking for someone to deliver a package."

Nothing detailed, so it's up to the GM to get creative with complications and all of that (e.g., why is she looking for passage?). Not sure if that's beyond what you intend though but just putting it out there to flesh out the characters. Maybe have it as an optional function? In case the GM only wants NPCs to flesh out a scene.

There's actually already support for this, but I've left it as a random element. In addition to the basic information that pops up every time, there's also information generated that tells where the person's from, where they've recently been, what they've been doing/what their goals are, what they look like, and what their current mood is. Those only pop up occasionally because my original concern was cluttering the basic, pertinent info. What I've had suggested was a secondary information screen that has more detail (the above detail), and I'll probably work on that for a second version. The "what they've been doing/goals" variable is almost exactly what you describe, and I really like having it available, because like you've said, it's nice to have a small hook into the NPC.

I did notice one pronoun problem with female names ("She... with his...").

Thanks for the catch! NPC gender is assigned on a variable basis, but I left some of my descriptions with static pronouns accidentally.

I like the tool. My biggest feature request is some way to save/export the info. I can't even select the text to copy paste it, so it will be a chore if I want to use this when creating adventure assets.

Also... how about an adversary export feature for use in my GM Tools? A user could download the XML, then import the adversary into the tools. I know I'm prejudiced in this regard, but that would be way cool I can give you the rundown on the file format, if you're interested.

Save/export has been requested a couple times, and I'll make that a priority. Since it's a web-based Flash application right now, saving out files is tricky. Would you guys like a desktop version of the tool if it made saving files a little easier, or is the web interface your preference? Making the text selectable in the web version (for copy-paste) is easy enough, so I'm talking more along the lines of having some formatted export of data.

OggDude, I've looked through your NPC XML files, and they seem fairly easy to parse (because... XML files). If I make it to that step (and I'd like to, but the first goal will be something plaintext), I'll shoot you any questions I have. Thanks!

Thanks for doing this though, it's a really nice tool as others have said. I like what you are planning already!

And as for my preferences, I wouldn't mind having a desktop version to be honest if it exports into a stat block for Edge now that you've mentioned specific Edge support.

Right now with just the descriptions I'd live with being able to copy/paste

Okay, so first couple of large changes. I've set it up so that all the information will display for all characters all the time (instead of displaying it occasionally at random). The basic information and extended information can be tabbed between with a button next to the text.

I've also added support for skills. It was surprisingly pretty easy, and it actually helps to flesh out the characters (or clarify the characters) quite a bit, so thanks for anyone who pushed for that.

Finally, I've started adding export support. I went ahead and tackled the more difficult problem before the easier one, because I've really got my priorities in order.

That is to say that the only export I have right now is into an xml export that can be directly imported into OggDude's GM tools. I'll have a plaintext export later (would you guys rather have a text export or a pictorial export?).

There's more content to add, and I definitely already have some ideas for changes I'd like to make in regards to adding more information to the "extended" screen. I'd also like to take a stab at making NPC classifications (minion, rival, nemesis) in the future - for now, they're all rivals of various stripes.

Please let me know what you think!

http://thompsonpeters.com/eote/misc/NPCgen/

I really do love the expanded descriptions and the compatibility with the GM Tools is a great addition, thank you This does help make minor NPCs much faster, especially ones that only get used for a singular encounter or just in a scene.