This post originally appeared on the now-defunct Arcane Game Lore blog.

I’m a bit late getting to this wrap-up article as I’ve been busy getting Issue 5 of the Frontier Explorer magazine ready to go.  It should be out next week.  But enough of that, back to the issue at hand.

This month’s Blog Carnival topic was favorite NPC’s whether you encountered them as a player or played them as a game master.  We had a dozen entries, including mine from the original post plus my final one that I forgot to link to in the comments.  Here are the links to all the submissions:

• The Highwayman (from the original announcement post here on Arcane Game Lore) – dagorym
• Vert – Greyhawk @ Greyhawk Grognard
• Michael Canar – Alexander Osias @ Armchair Gamer
• Alex & Doyl Levett – Craig @ LunarShadow.net
• Balthazar – Wes @ Perceive Things
• Crazy inkeepers and gnomish messengers – Fritz @ Game Night Reviews
• Mephits & Tieflings – Edward Lockhart @ Violent Media
• The Gullwing Bandit – neoproxy @ Arcane Game Lore
• Mellisa Lermondon – yosimoshe @ The Bleeding Scroll
• Homie the Puppet – neoproxy @ Arcane Game Lore
• Jimmy – jedion357 @ Arcane Game Lore
• The Military Aide – dagorym @ Arcane Game Lore

There were many reasons why the NPC’s listed were favorites.  However, the two main reasons that stood out seemed to be comic relief and player consternation, whether the NPCs were ones the writers interacted with as players or ran as GMs.  The NPC’s that stood out seemed to either inject humor into the campaign or cause an endless stream of problems for the characters.  Or both.

So read over the various NPCs and get all the details.  Maybe it will provide you with ideas for NPCs of your own in games you are running or may run in the future.  And be sure to check out the July RPG Blog Carnival  on Summer Gaming over at the Dice Monkey Blog.