OK, I've got an NPC i'm prepping for an upcoming game (my group hasn't played the last couple of weeks to I'm trying to get ahead) and I'm having trouble coming up with any good talents to assign him.

NPC is an Archeologist. He's not exactly a good guy, but isn't really intended to face the players head-on in any kind of combat encounter, and it's entirely possible he'll be able to show up again in future adventures and is technically "recruitable" should the players decide to drag him along.

Currently I've got him pretty well statted, All the characteristics feel about right, skills look good, equipment is what he's supposed to have, and I made him a low level Nemesis to be able to benefit from strain...

But thats it. So he feels kinda flat. I gave him Adversary 1 so if they do fight him it'll be brief, but there's a chance for Despair. But I just can't think of anything else to give him. He's an NPC, so Knowledge talents seem kinda pointless, combat talents just don't feel right because he's not a fighter. He's not a face either... so talky talents don't seem to fit....

Any ideas? He doesn't NEED anything, but I'd kinda like at least one to distinguish him as more then just a glorified mook....

From my perspective, the things that distinguish an NPC have more to do with performance flourishes, interesting qualities in their character, a striking voice or vocal style you can do that will make them stand out.

If you give their performance some character, that's more memorable to me than adding a specific talent just so they have one.

Maybe pick an actor who you'd like to play the NPC and do the actor's voice or style. Maybe he sounds like Samuel Jackson or Christopher Walken.

Maybe he's got an unusual visual style, some kind of strange fashion sense or eccentricity. Maybe he's eccentric and rather than walk places, he stands on a little hovering platform like Yoda used in the prequels and floats from place to place. Maybe he wears a monocle or has a hat with a baby mynock living in it.

Just some ideas

He should still have Knowledge stats, even as an NPC - particularly if he's recruitable, and therefore could directly be asked things. Otherwise, honestly, NPCs in this system don't stand out on paper, and don't really need to. Ultimately, his personality, background and interactions are going to be more important than his character sheet - particularly if he's not rolling for things and your players aren't going to see the character sheet.

I second Progressions' point about making the character memorable non-mechanically. Give him something distinctive, a bit of a background, an affectation and a goal. Then see if anything mechanically organically jumps out at you. Perhaps he's the galaxy's foremost expert on rudabega, or perhaps he has an almost complete collection of Jedi Master trading cards (clearly banned). You don't need a mechanical effect to have a memorable character.

On the mechanics side of the fence, just build him as you would a PC with about the same amount of XP. Focus on his strengths and emphasize his weaknesses. If you want to make him mechanically distinctive, consider Signature Abilities and bump him up with enough XP to trigger the one you want (but only give him more XP than your characters to get to that Signature Ability).

Adversary 1 on top of an equivalent PC build should be enough to challenge the party in an area or two, but not make him a world-beater.

Maybe he has a trained animal or droid that helps him or protects him when he goes tomb raiding?

Nah there's a second character that handles that part of the adventure....

At least I'm not feeling so bad about having trouble coming up with something....

And I hadn't realized it, but this has brought attention to his lack of RPing notes, so that's an improvement there.

Thinking Indiana Jones I can’t help but think of the rival professor he has that always seems to be just one jump ahead of him.

One Jump Ahead: Once per game session you can ambush the players and perform a social test to try and convince them to hand over the artefact.

Gather the Minions: Once per session per rank you can form a minion group (one per rank) to assist you to convince the target of your One Jump Ahead talent to hand over the artefact. If when you perform your social test add a boost dice for each minion group. Should you roll a Despair then add a Rival to the Minion Group of a suitable level, he will then double cross you to take the item for himself.

Note the GM is left to pick a suitable size and type of minion group or rival to suit the encounter.

Needs some tweaking, but not too shabby.... Once cleaned up, One Step Ahead would work in his debut adventure, and Gather the Minions would actually match my Plan-B if the character actually survives his debut Adventure...

Don't forget you don't have to build by PC rules for NPCs (though it's not a bad idea if they're going to spend a long time hanging out with PCs.) You can always create custom career-specializations for their use, or just toss a couple of interesting things on them and call it a day. In our game, Astromech is a unique specialization of Technician (used by our R2) and Medical Tech is a unique specialization of Colonist (used by 41-Vex)

Oh, I'm quite aware of that, thanks.

Don't forget you don't have to build by PC rules for NPCs (though it's not a bad idea if they're going to spend a long time hanging out with PCs.) You can always create custom career-specializations for their use, or just toss a couple of interesting things on them and call it a day.

This was a point I was going to make. Technically, you don't even need a Talent or Special Ability to put your NPC at an advantage.

There's an NPC in The Jewel of Yavin , I won't say who, but this might still be a spoiler. There's a sidebar giving the GM the option to "save up" Despair results rolled during a portion of the adventure. If a certain amount are saved up in this way, (in this case, 1 per PC) the NPC learns about their plot to steal the Jewel.

Now I'm curious. The example of Indiana Jones and a rival professor or archaeologist has come up a few times.

I also know it's also come up on the Order 66 Podcast. (even though I never listen to it.)

So... has anyone else here actually used Belloq as an NPC?

I did. I even had other NPCs mispronounce his name the way Sallah did. During a face-off, the player tricked him into insisting on being first into a find, knowing that automatic defenses were still online. It was a fun NPC while he lasted.

One of my imperial npcs had a belloq moment. The crew had a sizeable haul from a famous shipwreck. They didn't know who they were really working for. Our face got in contact with him, giving him the coordinates so he could set up salvage rights on his behalf. He claimed the treasure for himself.

Have they met this NPC before?

Do any of the PCs have anything that may link them to this character?

Sometimes its not talents that matter but the back story, just saying Belloq was a rival of Indy's as part of his obligation, if you want something like that maybe take a look at theirs?

Could actually be an old friend who went down the wrong path, someone who might go out on a limb for that PC until they're betrayed... now that would be quite the story if you can pull it off!

On copperbell's advice. I have made NPCs I intended to introduce in upcoming sessions and then turned around and written short stories involving a player's character and the NPC. I then send these stories out to the player's involved before the next session.

Fortunately, my players trust me enough to write for their character when it comes to short stories like that.

If I were looking for a Talent to make this character stand out, I'd likely go with "Stroke of Genius", especially if it is used to counter something the PCs are trying to do to him. Aside from that, some rare equipment, especially if it has no combat advantages, would go a long way toward making him memorable. He could have a holocron that he can only access the surface impressions of, for instance, making him very noteworthy to any force sensitive characters.