NPC Creation
See current NPCs here.
Welcome to RoS’ NPC (non-player character) creation guide! This page goes over all of RoS’ rules and requirements for new NPCs. If you have any questions that are not addressed by the information on this page, please make use of the #questions channel in our discord server to get any clarification.
The group has a wide cast of background characters, and we’re always happy to add more to it. Does your character have a friend, teacher or family member that plays an important role in their story? Making them into an official NPC will allow you to earn extra Bits and EXP for including that background character in artwork and writing!
The group has a wide cast of background characters, and we’re always happy to add more to it. Does your character have a friend, teacher or family member that plays an important role in their story? Making them into an official NPC will allow you to earn extra Bits and EXP for including that background character in artwork and writing!
Table of Contents
- RoS is rated roughly PG-13 with some darker themes. NPC artwork and bios should match that rating, and not contain NSFW imagery.
- If dealing with potentially upsetting subjects, you should provide a content warning in the applicable sections.
- Once NPCs are approved, they are uploaded to the RoS masterlist account. If you do not want that to happen, you will be unable to participate in the group.
- All images and text used should be your own or used with permission/proper credits. Plagiarism is strictly against group rules.
- You may use bases--be they the official ones or ones you’ve purchased for yourself—as long as their creator allows for them to be re-uploaded!
- Realm of Serpents is a “closed setting” and its dragons and familiars are “closed species”. To make one, you must complete the NPC creation process. You cannot copy a familiar or RoS dragon design for personal use without getting them approved.
- You may transfer RoS NPCs (that you own) into non-RoS settings, just make sure that you aren’t copying any elements of RoS’ story/lore that are unique to its setting! (And that, if they are a dragon or familiar, you make their design distinct from the RoS species.)
This section goes over common questions/areas of confusion regarding NPC creation. See a general characters FAQ on the Character Creation page.
How many NPCs can I create?
There is no upper limit on the number of NPCs you can make—if you’ve got ideas, go ham!
Will my NPC feature in quests/events?
Potentially, yes! If we feel like your NPC is suitable for involvement in an event, we may contact you with a vague proposal for getting them involved and some questions on how they might react to certain situations.
May I retire/remove an NPC?
Yes, but please note when submitting an NPC that they will become tied to the group. You may request to have them removed at a later point, but pre-existing works of them (stories, character backstories, art) will not be edited or asked to be taken down.
May I play an NPC in RPs?
Provided it’s an NPC you created, or you have permission from their writer, yes!
Can I use NPCs in events?
As of right now, provided it makes sense for them to be involved, yes. Once Story Mode is released, however, you will not be able to use NPCs for quests/mini-quests/etc.
Note that NPCs cannot earn EXP or badges. “Buying” an NPC you made from the group to use in Story Mode will reset their level back to 1.
Note that NPCs cannot earn EXP or badges. “Buying” an NPC you made from the group to use in Story Mode will reset their level back to 1.
Do NPCs require slots/items?
NPCs do not require slots or items.
Do NPCs count towards unlocking new items from the store?
They do not, only PC characters count for this.
Can I turn my PC into an NPC?
You can, yes! Read about the process of NPCing an existing character here.
Can I turn my NPC into a PC?
Yes, you may “purchase” an NPC (that you made) from the group for 50 Bits + any store slots they need if you get attached enough to the character to want to.
We ask that you do not make characters you plan to do this to later as NPCs though; if you make it a habit to turn all NPCs you submit into full characters we may disallow you to create them in the future.
An exception to this rule is NPCs in positions of authority in the world; faction leaders, high-ranking nobility, etc, that hold ranks and titles PCs cannot will not be allowed to be purchased from the group.
We ask that you do not make characters you plan to do this to later as NPCs though; if you make it a habit to turn all NPCs you submit into full characters we may disallow you to create them in the future.
An exception to this rule is NPCs in positions of authority in the world; faction leaders, high-ranking nobility, etc, that hold ranks and titles PCs cannot will not be allowed to be purchased from the group.
How high-ranking can my NPC be?
We do allow player-made NPCs to hold slightly higher ranks in factions in RoS’ setting than player characters. However, we do still ask that you don’t make anyone in positions of absolute leadership over official factions, or try to use an NPC you have made to give yourself an unfair amount of influence over the group’s story or the stories of other players’ characters.
Feel free to ask what the rank caps are for specific factions in the discord’s #questions channel.
Feel free to ask what the rank caps are for specific factions in the discord’s #questions channel.
NPCs submitted in RoS require, at minimum, a visual reference and a filled-out bio template. Keep reading this section for more information on the specific requirements for each!
The general requirements for RoS NPCs are as follows:
- NPCs require a visual reference and a filled-out bio template (see headings below for specific requirements).
- Make sure that you don't have anything included in your NPC’s information that is directly contrary to RoS’ lore!
- For example; mentioning the presence of cars outside of Ironbrook, or the existence of magical people capable of shapeshifting.
- To avoid this, read over their dragon species/human nation’s lore carefully. If you have any questions, please make use of the channel in our discord server; our admins are always happy to talk about lore and discuss your ideas with you!
- NPCs do not require any store slots.
- Once your NPC has been approved, it will be uploaded to the Lady-of-the-Spire account for safekeeping.
- Make sure your NPC isn’t all-powerful! It’s fine for them to have special abilities or skills, but keep them to things that are a) consistent with RoS’ lore and b) not so overpoweringly strong that PCs would be obliterated by them with no contest.
- NPCs should not also heavily rewrite or alter lore, such as adding additional countries or replacing world leaders.
NPCs in RoS are required to have a visual reference. This must be, at minimum, a coloured, fullbody image of them. It can be fully lined/rendered, but you can also just submit a (clean) sketch, as long as the image is readable.
This image can be drawn traditionally or digitally. You may also use a base, so long as their creator allows them to be re-uploaded onto other DA accounts. (See official bases here). If you’re working traditionally, be sure to scan or take a decent photo of your work, please.
Other guidelines are as follows:
Character art examples: see examples of approved characters & their artwork here!
This image can be drawn traditionally or digitally. You may also use a base, so long as their creator allows them to be re-uploaded onto other DA accounts. (See official bases here). If you’re working traditionally, be sure to scan or take a decent photo of your work, please.
Other guidelines are as follows:
- Please include their image as a sta.sh file or image attachment so that we can download it.
- Other image hosts are fine as long as we can safely download it.
- Do not embed the image into google docs—we cannot download it from there and you will need to send us another copy of the file!
- You may commission reference art from other artists, but please get their permission for it to be uploaded here.
- RoS does not have a system of genetics and markings like some other ARPGs, but please make sure that your NPCs follows the basic descriptions outlined on their human culture/dragon species’ appearance page.
Character art examples: see examples of approved characters & their artwork here!
We require NPCs have a written biography accompanying their artwork when submitting them for approval. See the list below for information on what’s required for that.
- The completed bio template should be hosted in google docs.
- NPCs should have at least one positive, neutral and negative character traits. You may format this however you like as long as the traits are clear.
- If you need help coming up with them, we have a personality trait generator here!
- For NPC histories, there are no minimum requirements; what was their childhood like? What experiences shaped who they are? This doesn’t have to be super in-depth, since they’re an NPC.
- An important note: please do not alter the bio template’s formatting! It is styled in a manner that makes it (relatively) easy to copy over to DA when we upload your NPC to the masterlist. We cannot copy over tables, coloured text, and images, so please do not include these.
- You may also add/remove sections in the “EXTRAS” category of their bio.
Completed NPC bio examples:
Dragon NPC: Taurus
Human NPC: Ramona the Radiant
Familiar NPC: Lanthechilde (cw for spiders)
Once you’re finished with making your NPC, all that’s left to do is to submit them for review by the admin team to ensure that they fit in with RoS’ lore and that everything was done right!
Before submitting them, we recommend making one final check that:
Once you’re ready to go, please submit the following form to the #character-approval channel for review:
Before submitting them, we recommend making one final check that:
- No sections have been left blank (outside of EXTRAS).
- The math on your NPC’s Date of Birth is correct.
- That the link sharing settings on their google doc is set to “Anyone with the link can view”.
- That they have one each of positive, neutral and negative character traits (for a total of at least three traits).
- Your NPC’s art hasn’t been shrunk/eaten by DeviantArt’s very functional sta.sh system/wherever you’re hosting the file.
Once you’re ready to go, please submit the following form to the #character-approval channel for review:
**Character type**: NPC
**Character name**:
**Link to art**:
**Link to profile**:
**NPC location**: (where in the Realm do they live?)
After you’ve submitted an NPC for approval, an admin will look over their design and bio to make sure that everything works with RoS’ rules and lore. This could take anywhere between a day to over a week--we’ve all got other commitments so the wait varies depending on that, but we’ll get to it as quickly as possible!
If you get asked to make edits, don’t stress! We’ll create a thread to discuss what might need changing—if you need any clarification, use that. All you need to do after that is make edits and ping the admin who critiqued your design. You do not need to re-submit them to the approval que!