You can roll up some NPCs easily.

Appearance & Personality

Roll 1d100 three times for a nature, appearance (male or female), and a distinction. Reroll duplicates (some natures and distinctions are mutually exclusive).

1d100	Nature	M Appearance	F Appearance	Distinction
1-2	Loyal	Fat, Mustachioed	Pregnant, Round-faced	Jocular
3-4	Stoic	Portly, Coarse-looking	Robust, Pockmarked	Makes friends easily
5-6	Optimistic	Heavyset, Pockmarked	Skinny, Prominent mole	Is sickly
7-8	Self-sacrificing	Stout, Lazy-eyed	Tiny, Heavy-lidded	Annoying voice
9-10	Merciful	Scrawny, Square-faced	Plump, Button-nosed	Can’t stand weaklings
11-12	Bold	Slim, Bushy-browed	Thin, Red-faced	Was once cursed; hates magic
13-14	Careful	Skinny, Hawk-faced	Wiry, Square-faced	Holds a torch for someone
15-16	Prudent	Wiry, Plain-faced	Slender, Longish-faced	Hot-headed
17-18	Cheerful	Slender, Red-faced	Slim, Pretty	Loud talker
19-20	Generous	Robust, Round-faced	Lean, Button-nosed	Lost a spouse
21-22	Humble	Lean, Broad-faced	Athletic, Shabbily dressed	Terrified of a certain monster
23-24	Big-hearted	Stocky, Sunburned	Well-built, Gap-toothed	Ambitious
25-26	Forgiving	Rugged-build, Mustachioed	Stocky, Pockmarked	Tends to hold a grudge
27	Earnest	Slim, Heavily bearded	Stout, Disheveled from work	Has an identical twin
28	Trusting	Burly, Gap-toothed	Heavyset, Dignified-looking	Unhappily married
29-30	Trustworthy	Strapping, Handsome	Buxom, Delicate Features	Gossipy
31-32	Responsible	Beefy, Very Handsome	Pregnant, Attractive	Carouses regularly
33-34	Thrifty	Brawny, Broken-nosed	Willowy, Beautiful	Gambles regularly
35-36	Kind	Imposing, Whiskered	Petite, Very Beautiful	Snappish
37-38	Vulgar	Lean, Lazy-eyed	Robust, Attractive	Prudish
39-40	Worrisome	Stocky, Coarse-looking	Well-built, Sunburned	Studious
41-42	Pessimistic	Rugged-build, Pockmarked	Stocky, Prominent mole	Dislikes bookish types
43-44	Selfish	Slim, Red-faced	Stout, Heavy-lidded	Asks a lot of questions
45-46	Pompous	Burly, Squarish	Heavyset, Square-faced	Protective of the weak
47-48	Fearless	Strapping, Bushy-browed	Buxom, Red-faced	Believes monsters are a curse from the gods
49	Foolhardy	Beefy, Whiskered	Scrawny, Coarse-looking	Can’t fathom adventuring
50-52	Foolish	Brawny, Plain-faced	Willowy, Pretty	Slow fuse
53-54	Irritable	Imposing, Missing a tooth	Petite, Longish-faced	Cheats on taxes
55	Miserly	Fat, Round-faced	Scrawny, Impish-looking	Led a wastrel youth
56	Vengeful	Portly, Broad-faced	Robust, Plain-looking	Plain and simple
57	Capricious	Heavyset, Gap-toothed	Skinny, Gap-toothed	Served in a war
58	Cold	Stout, Mustachioed	Tiny, Sunburned	Infectious laugh
59-60	Calculating	Scrawny, Heavily bearded	Chubby, Impish-looking	Slow to trust
61-62	Flattering	Slim, Salt-&-pepper-haired	Thin, Dignified-looking	Always a bit drunk
63-64	Mistrustful	Skinny, Haunted eyes	Wiry, Delicate Features	Newly [re?]married
65	Untrustworthy	Wiry, Balding	Slender, Coarse-looking	Tight-lipped
66	Irresponsible	Slender, Broken-nosed	Slim, Beautiful	Abstains from alcohol
67	Careless	Slim, Very Handsome	Lean, Very Beautiful	Hates gambling
68	Mean	Wiry, Hard of hearing	Scrawny, Thinning hair	Has no secrets
69	Dignified	Slender, Poor eyesight	Slim, Poor eyesight	Loves jokes/games
70	Arrogant	Slim, Lame leg	Skinny, Currently a bit drunk	Sonorous voice
71-72	Lecherous	Lean, Crooked teeth	Tiny, Cute	Happily married
73-74	Slovenly	Stocky, Bald	Chubby, Curly-haired	Foppish
75-77	Serious-minded	Rugged-build, Scarred	Thin, Disheveled from work	Considered a black sheep
78-79	Prideful	Slim, Sunburned	Wiry, Well-dressed	Soft talker
80-82	Shy	Burly, Missing a tooth	Slender, Lazy-eyed	Grandiose
83-84	Sarcastic	Strapping, Well-dressed	Slim, White-haired	Eccentric
85-88	Organized	Beefy, Curly-haired	Lean, Finely dressed	Easily distracted
89-90	Forgetful	Brawny, Blond/Redhead	Athletic, Blonde/Redhead	Paranoid
91-94	Forthright	Imposing, Silly hat	Well-built, Hard of hearing	Escaped pirates as a child
95-96	Naïve	Hardy, Handsome	Stout, Salt-&-pepper-haired	Foreigner (spy?)
97-98	Dour	Stocky, Prominent mole	Heavyset, Dusty or Muddy	Overly emotional
99	Easily amused	Rugged-build, Balding	Slim, Buxom, Cute	Burdened by family obligations
100	Bumbling	Slim, Currently a bit drunk	Carrying a baby (own or other’s)	Philosophical

Trouble

Giving NPCs needs and worries is often helpful for social encounters. It can kick off side-quests and whole new adventures. Not every NPC needs to be troubled; a little goes a long way. And you shouldn’t treat each NPC’s problem as an offer to pay the heroes to solve it; a lot of problems can just be complaints that point the heroes toward some greater issue they can solve or opportunity they can seize.

1d12	Commoner	Official	Noble
1	Loved one is missing	Loved one is missing	Loved one is missing
2	Has a sickly loved one	Has a sickly loved one	Sister is betrothed to a villain
3	Loved one has been kidnapped	Wants an heirloom a relative has	Yearns for lost family heirloom
4	Relative has joined a cult	Brother is in thrall to a villain by magic	Brother is in thrall to a villain by magic
5	Has lost some crafting/farm tools	Is being blackmailed for minor wrong	Needs certain letters returned to avoid scandal
6	Bullied by ruffian for money	Fears for life from a witch/assassin	Fears for life from a witch/assassin
7	Bullied by tyrant for labor	Needs official documents recovered	Lost some lands to a villain
8	Knows something important that officials ignore	Needs official documents recovered	Needs a rebellion stopped
9	Being cheated by another commoner (merchant/miller)	Dispute with higher official over privileges	Dispute with king over land or privileges
10	Fears for life from a monster	Needs higher permission for a project	Dispute with other noble over land
11	Fears for life from a monster	Needs a monster body part	Needs a ruin on family lands cleared
12	Needs money	Needs a monster slain	Needs a monster slain

Names

You can get a wide array of names from my Perchance name generator.

Human

Roll 1d20 and decide if you want a name that is somewhat familiar-sounding, or more epic-sounding, more foreign-sounding, or downright weird. You might decide that humans have “familiar” names while elves have “epic” first names and “fae” last names.

1d20	Familiar Male	Familiar Female	Epic Male	Epic Female	Foreign Male	Foreign Female	Weird
1	Alred	Alia	Aravern	Astia	Azavial	Anzina	Angrivaxis
2	Boderick	Benta	Balinor	Beliah	Bintar	Beska	Bugnoffal
3	Cerric	Canna	Colveron	Cesti	Chanzor	Cazial	Chalgotha
4	Danion	Devorah	Darnesin	Dirinda	Dankar	Devnis	Dracnicor
5	Ethwin	Enwis	Elivar	Elivota	Eznial	Eklida	Ezinexis
6	Forriter	Fiora	Felomir	Felnesta	Feklos	Felizina	Frogata
7	Grandon	Gallia	Garaman	Gastia	Gozial	Gineza	Gygaxeg
8	Haniel	Hemma	Helmir	Helestin	Hadravak	Havakula	Huximilos
9	Jarval	Ita	Indrinor	Istera	Yaruzal	Inkessa	Izriaxal
10	Kennis	Jennisa	Kelivar	Jelista	Krazul	Kavidra	Moldovay
11	Lenior	Kaverine	Ladramir	Kaseni	Levikar	Lipezia	Ludmagot
12	Mentser	Launa	Medivon	Malivia	Mitkask	Milvaska	Malnexin
13	Neval	Miniva	Norumar	Nilva	Nektul	Nezina	Nogridmus
14	Osric	Opia	Onmar	Ovestia	Oznivian	Ongava	Ovuliax
15	Pirst	Pentia	Pelivarn	Pallantina	Pektar	Peskari	Pugrimilla
16	Rodiver	Rovie	Rodanin	Raelwin	Zebcuk	Remaskis	Rorinarvis
17	Simton	Salenda	Sentival	Siritara	Sevistikal	Senzanis	Slathiron
18	Topiah	Tressa	Tantomir	Talesti	Tankor	Tavinka	Toximreal
19	Ulion	Uva	Ulias	Velestis	Veknil	Viviska	Uglista
20	Wiston	Vinian	Vanmar	Ianalia	Zakaver	Zamira	Zinzinabro

Demi-human

The first of these names could be used for elven surnames, fairies, or perhaps gnomes.

1d20	Fae Prefix	Fae Suffix	Dwarf M/F	Dwarf Clan	Halfling M	Halfling F
1	Spring-	-Marsh	Bolto/Bolta	Ironshield	Aldo	Anda
2	Summer-	-Dale	Balast/Balassi	Stonehammer	Banko	Belda
3	Autumn-	-River	Grim/Grima	Brokenax	Corval	Canta
4	Winter-	-Haven	Dunko/Dunki	Goldhelm	Dagby	Dintoril
5	Water-	-Walker	Figrid/Figra	Strongate	Elmun	Enta
6	Star-	-Weather	Garldon/Garla	Warchest	Fippit	Falla
7	Snow-	-Glade	Grimbo/Grima	Trollbane	Glober	Gemwise
8	Wood-	-Glen	Hengal/-galla	Icemountain	Humber	Hometta
9	Pleasant-	-Hollow	Holgar/Holgari	Everstone	Igby	Jemma
10	High-	-Bridge	Kambrol/Kambi	Graybeard	Kelbo	Kinti
11	Glimmer-	-Wind	Margol/-golli	Everhearth	Libiodoc	Loveral
12	Fairy-	-Whistle	Mollo/Molli	Silverthrone	Mundo	Mistalbra
13	Merry-	-Water	Nargo/-gimma	Thunderclap	Nedrin	Nevera
14	Elf-	-Mist	Norvo/Norva	Highpeak	Opin	Omnissa
15	Fay-	-Shire	Porgust/-usta	Grimforge	Peveril	Permilia
16	Fair-	-Run	Rognar/-nissa	Bronzehold	Remuel	Roma
17	Day-	-Path	Throbo/Throba	Deephoard	Semmit	Shemma
18	Night-	-Meadow	Tumbert/-beri	Givenkeep	Taggit	Thuna
19	Sunny-	-Wend	Wolbor/-bora	Hiddenward	Welby	Winda
20	Moon-	-Trace	Warburin/-bura	Delverhall	Yobbin	Yulissa