THE RACONTEUR’S

LEXICON
volume four:
expanded npc options

Enhance your npc-building and role-playing with new distinct features,

personality traits, interests, quirks and flaws, talents, bonds and more!
W
elcome to The Raconteur’s Lexicon Volume
Four. Here is a collection of descriptive options to
help Dungeon Masters, players and homebrew
authors expand the NPC-building options given in
the 5th edition Dungeon Master’s Guide. Let
these words serve as the building blocks for visual and
immersive narration in your stories and sessions.
Volume Four covers the following topics:
A. Physical Appearance – help players to ‘see’ your NPCs
B. Personality Traits – how does your NPC generally behave?
C. Interests – what would your NPC loooove to talk about?
D. Quirks & Flaws – make your NPC more memorable
E. Talents – something special that your NPC can do
F. Bonds – what is especially important to your NPC?
G. Conversation – for when you get tired of saying “said”
H. Expressions & Moods – how your NPCs shows their feelings
In each section, you’ll find options based around a topic. Use
those options to create deeper characters and NPCs for your
story telling. While some of the options are meant to get your
roleplaying juices flowing, others may prompt an unforeseen
sidequest. That is totally up to you!
Volume Four has one major difference from previous volumes
of The Raconteur’s Lexicon – roll tables. This allows DMs to
randomly generate varied NPCs, adding new and unexpected
layers of entertainment and depth to your stories. Whether you
are planning your campaign or you need a spur-of-the-moment
NPC mid-session, give the roll tables a try!
You’ll notice the absence of gender, race and alignment roll
tables. As those aspects of a character tend to be more story
dependent, they have been left up to you.
Enjoy!

A. Physical appearance
Height (d10) Distinct features (d20)
1-6 Average height 1 Wears an eye-patch
7, 8 Short diminutive, little, petite, pint-sized, small, squat 2 Arthritic hands
9, 10 Tall imposing, towering 3 Distinctive jewellery and/or piercings
4 Flamboyant or outlandish clothing
Physical build (d10) 5 Formal, clean clothes
1-4 Average build 6 Ragged, dirty clothes
5, 6 Stout bulky, heavy, plump, portly, pot-bellied, stocky, thick 7 Pronounced scar on face
7, 8 Slender bony, gaunt, lanky, skeletal, skin-and-bones, skinny 8 Missing teeth
9, 10 Muscular athletic, brawny, burly, buff, husky, sturdy 9 Missing one or more fingers
10 Unusual eye color (or two different eye colors)
Age (d10) 11 Tattoos
1, 2 Child infant, kid, lad, lass, youngster 12 Birthmark
3-5 Young adult adolescent 13 Long fingernails
6-8 Adult grown-up 14 Broken nose
9, 10 Elderly aged, greying, long-in-the-tooth, senior 15 Hunched posture
16 Nervous eye twitch
Hair (d10) 17 Burn marks
1 Bald balding
18 Missing one ear
2-5 Short hair well-kept
19 Walks with a cane or crutch
6-8 Medium hair curly, scruffy
20 Wears a cape and/or cowl
9, 10 Long hair braided, curly, flowing, straight
For more information on building NPCs, consult pages 89-91 in
Facial hair (d10) the 5th edition Dungeon Master’s Guide (Wizards of the Coast,
1-3 Clean shaven 2014). Some of the options found throughout Volume Four are
taken from the tables in that section.
4, 5 Moustache
6 Lambchop sideburns If you roll characteristics that contradict each other, feel free to
reroll – or take on the role-playing challenge!
7 Short beard
8 Long beard In the spirit of previous volumes, many of the options are
presented with synonyms to diversify your descriptions of NPCs.
9, 10 Moustache and beard These synonyms are written in italics.

Some traits, interests or quirks affect ability scores and skills as

well!
For section B, first roll a d4 to determine which tables to use. For a result of 1 or 2, use table 1. For a result of 3 or 4, use table 2.
Then roll a d20 to determine a specific Personality Trait. Repeat this process for section C: Interests.

B. Personality traits
Table 1 Table 2
1-1 Stubborn headstrong, obstinate, tenacious 2-1 Elegant dignified, fancy
1-2 Proper prim, orderly 2-2 Pretentious arrogant, conceited, pompous, snobby
1-3 Excitable high-strung, restless, skittish 2-3 Boisterous cheerful, enthusiastic, rowdy (+2 Performance)
1-4 Pleasant friendly (+1 CHA, -2 Intimidation) 2-4 People-pleaser
1-5 Generous benevolent, giving, philanthropic 2-5 Stern disciplinarian (+2 Intimidation)
1-6 Hard-working dedicated (+1 CON) 2-6 Quiet shy, sheepish
1-7 Honorable noble, pure, righteous, virtuous 2-7 Humble modest, unpretentious
1-8 Silly childish, goofy, immature 2-8 Deep thinker thoughtful, philosophical (+1 WIS)
1-9 Humorous witty, funny (+1 Performance, +1 Persuasion) 2-9 Eccentric bizarre, peculiar, unconventional
1-10 Pessimist cynical, misanthrope, worrywart 2-10 Honest genuine, sincere, truthful
1-11 Optimist hopeful, idealist 2-11 Brave courageous, daring, heroic
1-12 Determined persevering, strong-willed (+1 CON) 2-12 Aggressive bullish (+2 Intimidation)
1-13 Depressed melancholy, sad 2-13 Cowardly gutless
1-14 Secretive covert, guarded, private 2-14 Greedy petty, selfish
1-15 Suspicious apprehensive, cautious (+2 Insight) 2-15 Rude argumentative, blunt, impolite, vulgar
1-16 Deceitful devious, fishy, untrustworthy (-2 Persuasion) 2-16 Empathetic compassionate
1-17 Ambitious aspiring, goal-oriented 2-17 Know-it-all (+2 INT, -2 CHA)
1-18 Self-sacrificing martyr 2-18 Scatterbrained flighty, forgetful
1-19 Creative free-thinker, innovative, visionary 2-19 Curious questioning, inquisitive
1-20 Lazy sluggish, lethargic (-2 Survival) 2-20 Irritable brash, surly, short-tempered

C. Interests
Table 1 Table 2
1-1 Farming (+1 Animal Handling, +1 Nature) 2-1 Reading (+1 History)
1-2 Gambling 2-2 Wealth
1-3 Cartography 2-3 Gossip
1-4 Wildlife in the area (+1 Animal Handling) 2-4 Food (+1 Nature)
1-5 Children 2-5 Celebrities or well-known NPCs
1-6 Travel (+1 Survival) 2-6 Undead
1-7 Toys 2-7 Music (+1 Performance)
1-8 Boats and sailing (proficiency w/ water vehicles) 2-8 Mercantilism
1-9 Fiends 2-9 Fey
1-10 Religion (+1 Religion) 2-10 Traps (+1 Investigation)
1-11 Physical fitness (+1 Athletics) 2-11 Dungeon crawling (+1 Survival)
1-12 Celestials 2-12 Spellcasting
1-13 Drinking 2-13 Constructs
1-14 Weapons and Armor 2-14 Potions (+1 Medicine)
1-15 Magic (+1 Arcana) 2-15 Politics
1-16 Humanoid creatures/monsters 2-16 Underdark
1-17 Lore/folktales of the area (+1 History) 2-17 Flora (+1 Nature)
1-18 Sleight of hand tricks (+1 Sleight of Hand) 2-18 Fashion
1-19 Monstrosities 2-19 Dragons
1-20 Adventuring (+1 Survival) 2-20 Inventions (+1 INT)
For section D, first roll a d4 to determine which table to use. Then roll a d20 to determine a specific Quirk or Flaw.

D. Quirks and flaws

Table 1 Table 2
1-1 Picks teeth with toothpick 2-1 Believes you are connected – distant relative or past life?
1-2 Wants to have a drink with the PCs 2-2 Lives a double life (double agent, having an affair?)
1-3 Hoarder (+2 History) 2-3 Dreamily sighs about everything
1-4 Susceptible to romance 2-4 Poor joke teller
1-5 Giggles a lot 2-5 Speaks with incorrect idioms
1-6 Indiscriminately flirtatious 2-6 Relaxed. . . maybe too relaxed?
1-7 Allergic to. . . (-2 CON) 2-7 Forgetful absent-minded
1-8 Easily confused (-2 INT, -2 WIS) 2-8 Always correcting the PCs grammar or etiquette
1-9 Frugal prudent, stingy, thrifty 2-9 Gives everybody big hugs
1-10 Jealous covetous, envious, resentful 2-10 Always sniffing the air
1-11 Wheeler-dealer (+2 Persuasion) 2-11 Dotes on the PCs or one in particular uncritical, fond
1-12 Low talker 2-12 Taps the counter, table, any surface fidgets, restless
1-13 Nosy intrusive, meddlesome, snoopy 2-13 Mesmerized by ordinary things
1-14 Compulsively organizing 2-14 Smells amazing
1-15 Disorganized confused, muddled 2-15 Hard of hearing
1-16 Unhygienic sloppy, slovenly 2-16 Wants to know where the PCs are from
1-17 Well-read (+1 History) 2-17 Always squinting
1-18 Macabre grim, morbid 2-18 Slow talker (think. . . Kirk)
1-19 Kleptomaniac (+2 Sleight of Hand) 2-19 Clumsy (-2 DEX)
1-20 Hypochondriac (-1 CON) 2-20 Hates authority

Table 3 Table 4
3-1 Can’t seem to find the right word 4-1 Smokes pipe constantly coughing (-1 CON)
3-2 Brutally honest 4-2 Refers to everyone as “l’il fella” or “dumpling”
3-3 Always cold 4-3 Strokes chin
3-4 Never wears shoes 4-4 Germaphobe
3-5 Short-sighted (-2 Perception) 4-5 Always talking about the good old days
3-6 Monotone speaker 4-6 Yawns a lot
3-7 Always singing, humming or rhyming 4-7 Itchy
3-8 Makes poor financial choices 4-8 Repeats what PCs say and adds “eh?”
3-9 Prankster mischievous 4-9 Bad at performing magic tricks, but keeps trying
3-10 Easily frightened 4-10 Apologetic
3-11 Distracted 4-11 Winces and grimaces
3-12 Compulsive gambler 4-12 Out of breath
3-13 Shunned by their family 4-13 Spaces out mid-conversation
3-14 Shunned by hometown community 4-14 Believes magic and magic users are evil
3-15 Gullible (-2 Insight) 4-15 Easily impressed
3-16 Compulsive liar (+2 Deception) 4-16 Staunch pacifist, hates violence
3-17 Believes they are cursed 4-17 Oversensitive
3-18 Believes they are blessed 4-18 Celebrating the birth of child/grandchild/sibling
3-19 Always trying to finish others’ sentences 4-19 Sweaty
3-20 Won’t stop talking about their cat 4-20 Complains about their sore gut
E. Talents F. Bonds
d20 d20
1 Great with plants and trees 1 Dedicated to their job/work
2 Community organizer 2 Concerned primarily about personal safety
3 Expert alchemist 3 Protective of family
4 Expert blacksmith 4 Protective of property or a possession
5 Expert locksmith 5 Loyal to a benefactor, patron or employer
6 Gifted writer 6 Craves adventure
7 Gifted stone carver 7 Seeking wealth – honestly or not
8 Gifted orator 8 Seeking fame or notoriety
9 Creative toy maker 9 Pursuit of knowledge
10 Experienced dungeoneer 10 Here for a good time
11 Experienced traveller 11 Drawn to a special place
12 Gifted glassblower 12 Concerned primarily about law and order
13 Gifted brew master 13 Concerned about personal freedoms
14 Gifted storyteller 14 Desires to serve local community
15 Master pickpocket 15 Searching for parents
16 Master negotiator 16 Searching for a child
17 Skilled acrobat/tumbler 17 Searching for a sibling
18 Skilled animal trapper 18 Searching for friendship/love
19 Skilled tinkerer 19 Searching for a lost item
20 Skilled seamstress/tailor 20 Out for revenge

G. Conversation
acknowledge beg concede disagree grunt parley quip speak
admit bellow concur dispute hint pant reply squabble
advise bicker confirm drawl imply persuade respond squeak
agree blurt contend exclaim infer plead say suggest
announce brag converse explain inform prattle scream tell
argue challenge cry feud inquire proclaim shout threaten
assert chat curse gibber interrogate pronounce sigh utter
assure chatter declare gossip mumble quarrel snarl whisper
babble claim deny growl murmur question sneer yell
bawl

H. Expressions and moods

aggravated beaming distracted frenetic happy pensive smiling surprised
aghast cheerful eager frowning hesitant perspiring smirking teary-eyed
agitated chipper embarrassed frustrated interested pouting snarling terrified
aloof clenched fists enamoured fuming keen puzzled sneering tense
amazed clenched teeth exasperated furious melancholy queasy sobbing tight-lipped
angry commanding exhausted furrowed menacing relaxed solemn uncomfortable
annoyed concerned fading glaring morose relieved somber uneasy
antsy confident fearful glowering mouth agape reluctant squinting upset
aroused confused flushed grave nervous scowling startled wide-eyed
appalled cowering focused grief-stricken on-edge shocked stressed withdrawn
awestruck disappointed forlorn grimacing outraged sickened sulking worried
bashful disgusted frantic haggard pained skittish

The Raconteur’s Lexicon Volume Four published July 2020

Authors: Joel Kleine and Ezra Kleine
Cover art “Young Peasant Girl” by Ivan Tvorozhnikov (Wikimedia Commons)