NPC Generator
A person with a name, a want, a pressure, and one thing they are not saying.
RPG tools for bolder games
Turn ideas into encounters.
Build tonight’s session in minutes with original NPCs, encounters, taverns and story sparks made for busy Game Masters.
- Free, and no account
- Fits any fantasy system
- Every table written from scratch
Stuck for an opening?
One spark is usually enough.
A single strange, specific thing happening somewhere your players already care about. Pull a few until one of them makes you want to know what happens next.
Every spark is original and belongs to no particular setting, so it will fit whatever world is already on your table.
Tonight’s spark
The village blacksmith has taken to sleeping in the forge, and the fire has not gone out in nine days.
One original spark, ready to steal. Pull another until one catches.
Free tools
Small tools. Epic stories.
Three generators, each built to answer one question fast. Every result is yours to keep, change and use at your table.
Encounter Generator
A scene with an objective, a complication, and a way through that is not a fight.
Tavern Generator
An inn worth stopping at, with a problem, a rumour, and something under the floor.
How it works
Three steps, about a minute.
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Choose a tool
NPCs, encounters or taverns. No account, no setup, no waiting for a page to think about it.
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Shape the result
Lock what you like and reroll the rest. Keep the name, change the secret, try three taverns in twenty seconds.
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Bring it to the table
Copy it as plain text or Markdown into your notes, or print the page and put paper in front of you.
Adventure packs
Made slowly, for the nights that matter.
Deeper material than a generator can give you: full kits, adventures and reference packs, each written, edited and laid out by hand.
On the workbench
The Emergency Session Kit
For the week the prep never happened
A print-and-play kit for running a whole evening from a standing start. Encounters with objectives already attached, a cast who each want something, locations that drop onto any road, and the tracking sheets that keep it all straight while you improvise.
A$14.95 planned price
Coming soonNot on sale yet. The launch list is the only way to be told when it is.
On the workbench
100 NPC Secrets
Turn a shopkeeper into a storyline
One hundred original secrets, each written to give a forgettable NPC a reason to matter. Every entry carries the pressure that created it and a suggestion for how the truth finally surfaces at the table.
A$7.95 planned price
Coming soonNot on sale yet. The launch list is the only way to be told when it is.
Planned
The Bell Beneath Wickhollow
An original dark-fairytale one-shot
A village with no church, and a bell that rings under it anyway. A single evening of play with a mapped location, a cast who all want something from the party, a clue trail that survives being solved out of order, and three endings that each cost something.
A$11.95 planned price
Coming soonNot on sale yet. The launch list is the only way to be told when it is.
Smith+ · coming later
A deeper workshop, when it is ready.
Smith+ is the planned subscription tier. It does not exist yet, nothing below is built, and there is nothing on this page to buy.
- Deeper generator tables, with regional and tonal variants
- Saved ideas, organised by campaign
- Printable exports built for a screen you can stand up
- Monthly content drops
- Campaign organisation that survives a six-month gap
Every line above is planned, not built. No price has been set, and nothing here can be purchased.
Join the founding list
One email when there is something real to look at. Nothing else.
The list is not open yet. No email provider is connected to this site, so nothing can be collected and nothing would be sent. Until it is, write to hello@encountersmith.com and you will be added by hand.
Free resource
25 session-saving plot hooks.
A hand-picked set of story hooks, free to read and copy right now. No email required, no download gate, no form standing between you and the list.
Hear when the next thing lands
New free tools, new resources, and the first adventure packs.
The list is not open yet. No email provider is connected to this site, so nothing can be collected and nothing would be sent. Until it is, write to hello@encountersmith.com and you will be added by hand.
Questions
The things Game Masters ask first.
Are the generators free?
Yes. All three run in your browser with no account, no sign-up and no limit on how many results you pull. Nothing you generate is sent anywhere.
Which roleplaying systems do they support?
All of them, and none in particular. The tables describe people, places and situations rather than statistics, so nothing needs converting. Drop a result into whichever game is already on your table and assign numbers the way you normally would.
Can I use what I generate in my home campaign?
Please do. That is exactly what it is for. Take a result, change half of it, forget where it came from. No credit required.
Can I publish generated material?
Sharing a result with your table, your group chat or your play-by-post thread is fine and always will be. Republishing the tables themselves, or packaging generated output as a product of your own, is not covered yet.
Can I commercially reuse generated material?
Not yet, and we would rather say so plainly than leave it vague. A proper licence covering commercial reuse is being prepared. Until it is published here, treat generated results as free for home-game use. If you have a specific project in mind, write to us and we will tell you where the licence has got to.
Is EncounterSmith affiliated with Wizards of the Coast?
No. EncounterSmith is independent, with no affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement from Wizards of the Coast or any other publisher. Every table is written from scratch, and nothing draws on another publisher’s settings, characters or trademarks.
When will Smith+ launch?
There is no date. Smith+ is a planned subscription with deeper tables, saved results and printable exports, and none of it is built yet. The founding list is how you hear when there is something real to look at. Joining costs nothing and commits you to nothing.