bring it to life

Sometimes the hardest thing for a GM to do is true player engagement. They could have fun playing the game, but are they really invested? Do your players care about their characters and the NPCs around them? Are they concerned about the war that broke out in the neighboring kingdom? Or, are they just looking forward to “winning” the game?

One of the best ways I have found to truly get your players involved in the world you have created is to work their backstories. Do not just know it, but make it relevant to current events. Bring in their family, love interests, or even enemies to interact with the party, giving life to the names you are given in their backstories. If you are unsure how to do this, ask the player some simple questions.

• What is your relationship with this person?
• What draws you into/away from this person?
• What do you believe this person is doing right now?

Some players will want to be heavily involved in developing those NPCs, while others will let you run with your own ideas. Either way, it is fun to incorporate what has been developed into the game and watch how the player characters interact with these NPCs. Work through what these characters' lives are like and what they do between interactions with the players’ characters, and have it affect the events laid out.

Ideally, these will not be one-and-done NPCs, nor will they be the random shop keeper. These characters will have individual personalities, goals, and possibly enemies of their own. Perhaps the players will want to aid in achieving their goals, or protect them from an enemy not yet their own. However you, as the GM, decide to incorporate these NPCs, be assured that once you do the world will become alive to your players.