NPCs based on real people

[Aliquid]

How often do you base your NPCs on real people?

I find that if I need to create an NPC that creates a social challenge for the PCs... I keep on using people that I have worked with. I work in a reasonably large organization, so there are plenty of co-workers to use for inspiration. I typically think "When was there a project that I was part of, and one person regularly made it difficult for the project to succeed". And then that is the NPC that is making the PCs life difficult.

Do others typically do this, or do you just make things up from scratch?

[terodil]

I think every one of us uses their real-life experiences to flesh out their game worlds, even if we might not realise it; this affects NPCs at least as much as the situations they find themselves in or the environment.

So I'm not sure where exactly the question is; it's more of a floating point number than an integer. If the subtext question is 'Is this good practice?', I'd advise caution if you share these aquaintances with players at your table, for obvious reasons. I'd rather suggest to use such ideas, throw them all into a huge blender, and pull out <NPC with really fun and realistic properties> rather than <NPC that is a carbon copy of Nina at work that I absolutely cannot stand because of her obnoxious voice when she picks up the phone> [1].

[1] Refer to Office Space for more details. No link because 10 posts.

[Mr Beer]

My throwaway NPCs tend to be cardboard stereotypes e.g. Rich Idiot, Awed Yokel, Absurd Accent Man, Belligerent And Soon To Be Dead Bandits etc.

[Darth Ultron]

Sure, all the time.

Though 'real person' or 'fictional person' does not really matter much.

[Geddy2112]

All the time. Not just NPC's, but a fair amount of my PC's are based on real people. Frequently they are celebrities, and in that case I might incorporate their stage persona or a prominent role they have played into their real character.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I made a bad guy NPC based off my erstwhile boss: he was an apparently friendly, if slightly slimily ingratiating, guy - but his fragile ego made him lash out at people who questioned him, claim any successes as his own, and constantly undermine those around him. He made quite a good nuanced bad guy.

Thankfully, he lives and works in a different region to where I now live. No-one in my gaming group has ever met him, nor are they likely to. And I've never promoted the NPC in any forum where anyone has the slightest chance of knowing who he is - through my own anonymity online, and by never naming him or any other identifiable characteristics. (He'd not recognise himself from my description of his behaviour there, he lacks the self-awareness.)

So, as a tool, it's been a real help to me to help me keep a character consistent - I'd only say that you need to be careful making identifiable NPCs if there's any chance of that person finding out about it, and not being impressed.

[Delta]

For many NPCs, I like to turn to other fictional characters for inspiration on how to portray them. For an underworld boss in a fantasy setting I tried my best to imitate Wilson Fisk from the Daredevil series, and I must've been so convincing that the whole party was scared beyond belief by him.

You just need to be careful not to make it too obvious who you're ripping off and not do it all the time, otherwise it's easy to break any suspension of disbelief.

[Aliquid]

So I'm not sure where exactly the question is;

Just something that I realize I do, and I was wondering if it is common practice or not. If there are others that deliberately do it as I do... then the discussion can get a bit more nuanced. If I am alone... then there isn't much to talk about.

I'd rather suggest to use such ideas, throw them all into a huge blender, and pull out <NPC with really fun and realistic properties> rather than <NPC that is a carbon copy of Nina at work that I absolutely cannot stand because of her obnoxious voice when she picks up the phone> [1].

I disagree. I find that basing an NPC on someone you know quite well is very effective (as long as others don't also know the person... I don't typically game with co-workers anyway)

Having that reference of "how would __ respond in this scenario", makes for a much more believable character with depth.

I made a bad guy NPC based off my erstwhile boss: he was an apparently friendly, if slightly slimily ingratiating, guy - but his fragile ego made him lash out at people who questioned him, claim any successes as his own, and constantly undermine those around him. He made quite a good nuanced bad guy.

Yes, this is what I'm talking about, and there is a certain level of vicarious pleasure you get when the PCs thwart this specific NPC...

I was running a game for some kids a while ago, and they spent the majority of their time adventuring in and around a large town. So I figured I needed to have some interesting NPCs to make the place feel real, rather than just a backdrop. I was trying to think of some characters that would cause agitation, but not be "evil", and not be something they can just kill. I then remembered a co-worker that had a bad habit of taking credit of other people's work.

So... the PCs are fighting these monsters that are coming out of an abandoned building. Eventually the town guard shows up, and right near the end a couple other famous adventurers show up too. At the end a crowd comes out from hiding and cheers... and the late coming adventurers take all the credit, and make patronising comments about how the lowly PCs "did their best too".

Holy crap that got the players riled up. And it made for some very amusing storylines in the future where the famous adventurer NPCs needed to be rescued.

[Xania]

All the time, an over the top version of a real person, that includes myself.
Have to mix them with my own imagination, because it doesn't work only with my impressions.