#welsh guards brooch.

[world-of-wales]

I SPY THE WELSH GUARDS LEEK BROOCH!

[tiaramania]

Welsh Guard's Leek Brooch

The Princess of Wales is wearing one of the Welsh Guard's Leek Brooches for the first time at the St. David's Day Parade with the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards.

There are at least three nearly identical brooches in the family with Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Camilla, and Princess Diana all wearing different ones. The first of the three was given to Queen Elizabeth II by the Welsh Guards in the 1960s and is made of diamonds set in platinum.

The brooch worn by Catherine does not match the one worn by QEII or Camilla but it could be the one worn by Diana. The leaves on both Catherine's and Diana's twist on the left side but it's hard to tell if they are a match because I can't find higher quality pictures of Diana's.

It's also very possible that it's a newly made leek brooch just for the new Princess of Wales since the Welsh Guards seem to be generous with them. This is the second piece of Wales associated jewelry Catherine has worn since becoming Princess of Wales after Queen Alexandra's Prince of Wales Feather Brooch.

[charlotte-of-wales]

Today, during a St David's Day visit to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards at Combermere Barracks in Windsor, the Princess of Wales wore the Welsh Guards brooch, which belong to Queen Elizabeth II. The brooch was a Regimental Gift from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards to the late Queen in the 1960s.

[mrmrswales]

Kate is wearing the Welsh Guards Leek brooch

[goodbyenorthernlights]

It's very, uh, interesting, enough that I wound up looking up articles on the thing just to get an idea of what the intentions were behind it other than "gallons of blood." Here's a fun bit from a Deadline article by Tom Tapp:

The new painting reportedly met with the approval from the queen, who said to Yeo, “Yes, you’ve got him,” according to the BBC. The king’s first reaction was more nuanced. He got an early look at the work in a “half-done state,” said Yeo. “He was initially mildly surprised by the strong color but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly.”

I'm just enjoying the mental image of Camilla looking at this terrifying painting and going "Yeah that's my husband.'

And from a Daily Mail article by Lettice Bromovsky:

However, speaking to MailOnline Professor Geraldine Johnson, Head of the History of Art Department at Oxford University suggested that the inclusion of the insect may be a nod to the 'endangered' future of the monarchy.  'According to Yeo, the butterfly was an offhand suggestion by the King. If that is correct, it may be thanks to Charles's familiarity with half a millennium of British portraiture.  'But it also undoubtedly reflects his lifelong passion for the natural world. One does wonder, however, whether it was the King or Yeo who made the decision to depict a Monarch Butterfly in particular. 'While its name suggests royalty, its endangered status may unintentionally say as much about the King's concerns about the future of the monarchy as about the natural world.' She added that the butterfly 'evokes the portraits of Elizabeth I, which feature insects, plants and animals embroidered on her gowns and crafted into elaborate pendants and brooches'.

From the same article, with regards to the red symbolism:

The uniform of the Welsh Guards is understood to have inspired to red theme, Yeo says on his website that he chose to blur out the uniform and define the face to allow viewers a sense of connection with the Monarch. 'As a portrait artist, you get this unique opportunity to spend time with and get to know a subject, so I wanted to minimise the visual distractions and allow people to connect with the human being underneath.'  Prof Johnson added: 'Red is an eye-catching colour that can't easily be ignored. It is a colour we associate in everyday life with warning or prohibition—think of a stop sign.  'But red also has historic associations with power, including through a long tradition of royal portraiture. 'Napoleon, for example, was depicted on his imperial throne dressed in sumptuous red robes lined with ermine in an iconic portrait by Ingres, while Henry VIII was famously portrayed by Holbein wearing a crimson gown.  'Queen Victoria likewise was often shown in official portraits wearing red velvet.'

Anyway I thought this was all quite interesting although I fully agree that the final result does look like it came straight out of a horror game or was a prop in a B-movie.

i cant get over the king charles portrait. they made that thing to age in his place. that painting hangs in the house of a too-friendly family you find in the post apocalyptic wasteland who inexplicably has a ready supply of fresh meat. if mario jumped into that painting he wouldn't find a charming platformer he would be flayed and hanged like a medieval criminal by an unseeable force in a droning red void. that painting is a color blindness test for people who work in IT but believe in the divine right of kings. that painting is going to weep the sequel to blood. after he dies charles is gonna crawl outta that thing like sadako.

[regalfille]

The Prince and Princess of Wales attended the Welsh Guards’ Parade. 

The Princess of Wales looked graceful and elegant in black and red for Welsh guards parade. The Princess of Wales wore an Alexander McQueen coat, UFO dress, Juliette Botterill hat, Asprey London earrings, Queen's Leek brooch, Evica Gloves, Mulberry bag and Gianvito Rossi.

[college-girl199328]

Lots of thought goes into Kate Middleton's outfit choices, and her St. Patrick's Day ensemble for her holiday debut as the new honorary Colonel of the Irish Guards was no exception.

Keeping with a long-running tradition, Kate and Prince William stepped out to visit the Irish Guards at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Aldershot on Friday. The Princess of Wales usually marks the event wearing green, the color most closely associated with the holiday, but she made a surprising decision to wear a teal Catherine Walker & Co. coat dress with matching accessories for the occasion this year.

While the color choice was certainly unexpected, there's a clever reason for it. Princess Kate's ensemble perfectly matched the plumes worn in the bearskin caps by the 1st Battalion Irish Guards. The color of the plume, St. Patrick's blue, was selected because that is the color of the mantle and sash of the Order of St. Patrick.

In June, blue was the color of choice for the royal family as they kicked off Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations with Trooping the Color. Elizabeth stepped onto the Buckingham Palace balcony wearing St. Patrick's blue, a nod to the original symbolic color of Ireland, which can also be representative of sovereignty. Royal women opted for shades of blue to coordinate with the monarch.

Karen Haller, behavioral color psychologist and The Little Book of Color author, previously spoke to MyLondon about the royal family's typical blue outfits, noting it shows that "they are coming together as a family, representing themselves as a cohesive unit."

"When it comes to color psychology, darker blues communicate that you are in a position of authority, trustworthy, reliable, and can be depended on," Haller told the outlet to "have a sense of duty and take that seriously with a committed focus."

For the St. Patrick's Day parade, Princess Kate also chose meaningful accessories in addition to sporting diamond and emerald earrings. Giving her outfit a touch of classic green, she sported a special shamrock brooch featuring a small emerald in the center.

The brooch belongs to the Irish Guards and is loaned to the royal women who are associated with the regiment; according to The Court Jeweller Kate, it was worn by Princess Anne and the Queen Mother.

Kate's coat dress also mirrored the Irish Guards' uniform, with four buttons down the front and a gap before four more buttons.

Both Prince William and Princess Kate gave speeches at the event, highlighting the transition in the royal roles. Charles recently named his daughter-in-law as the new honorary Colonel of the regiment, and she takes over the role from Prince William, who is now the equivalent of the Welsh Guards to go with his Prince of Wales title. The Prince of Wales said, "Whilst I am extremely happy to be here celebrating St. Patrick's Day with you once again, I'm incredibly sad to be giving this speech, as it really does mean my time as your Colonel has come to an end, and it has been one of the great honors of my life to hold that title; I'm proud of everything it stands for — just as I'm immensely proud of every single one of you."

He also poked some fun at himself and the tradition of toasting the holiday with a pint of beer. "This being my 13th and final St. Patrick's Day as Colonel, not only am I saddened that I'll likely fail once again to finish a pint of Guinness… but I am also sad that I won't in the future see more of you, the families, whose unwavering support enables these outstanding men and women to do what they do," Prince William, 40, said.

Kate, whom her husband referred to as "Colonel Catherine" in his speech, said her new role was a "true honor."

"I really couldn't be prouder to stand in front of you here today. It really is a true honor to be your colonel. I am here to listen to you, to support you, and to champion you in all you do – this is a responsibility I do not take lightly," she said.

"I look forward to spending more time with you and your families and seeing your commitment to duty and service in all you do. To close, however, I want to thank Colonel William. He has always talked about his fierce pride for this regiment and knows he will continue to support us all in the work we do," Princess Kate, 41, continued, "and I would like to wish you all a very happy St. Patrick's Day."

Kate took part in the traditional distribution of shamrock sprigs, which the guards pin to their tunics. Also getting a sprig of the Irish bloom was the regimental mascot, Irish wolfhound Turlough Mor, who is known as Seamus.

The parade ended with Princess Kate receiving a royal salute as the troops marched past.

Following an inspection of the troops, Prince William and Kate sat for official Officers' and Sergeants' Mess photographs before they headed to the dining hall, where they joined the Irish Guards in raising a toast with a glass of Guinness.

[royalwatcher7190]

Welsh Guards Diamond Leek Brooch

[europesroyalsjewels]

Leek Badge of the Welsh Guards ♕ Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Charles, Currently worn by Camilla, The Princess of Wales

[royalpain16]

The Brigade of Guards brooch

Her Royal Majesty has worn this brooch at Trooping the Colour for years, and there's a special reason that she continually pulls it out. According to Marie Claire, the accessory combines the badges of the five regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies—Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, and Welsh Guards—who each rotate in trooping their colours during the annual parade. In the oval that encloses the five badges, the latin phrase “Quinque Juncta In Uno” (translated to “five joined as one”) is included, and the top of the accessory is adorned with a sparkly crown.

Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Brigade of Guards brooch throughout the years.

[world-of-wales]

CATHERINE'S STYLE FILES - 2023

1 MARCH 2023 || The Princess of Wales along with Prince William visted the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards at Combermere Barracks for the St David’s Day Parade in Windsor.

Catherine was in -

↬ Double-Breasted Slim-Fit Wool Coat by Alexander McQueen

↬ Long Red Skirt

↬ Bow & Arrow Hat in Black from Juliette Botterill

↬ Daisy Heritage Diamond Earrings by Asprey London

↬ Welsh Guards Leek Brooch (possibly Princess Diana's)

↬ Black Gloves from Evica Gloves by Evica Milovanov-Penezic

↬ Amberley Croc-Effect Small Crossbody Bag from Mulberry

↬ Bespoke Black Suede Boots by Gianvito Rossi

[tiaramania]

Jewelry of the Princess of Wales

There are quite a few pieces of jewelry associated with the Princess of Wales that belong to the British Royal Family.  They all feature either the Prince of Wales’ Feathers or the leek.  The Prince of Wales’ Feathers are three ostrich feathers with a coronet and the Prince of Wales’ motto, Ich Dien/I Serve.  A leek is a plant in allium family (onions, garlic, etc.) that has been the symbol of Wales since the 7th century when Welsh soldiers wore them on their helmets when fighting against the Saxons.  The BRF will sometimes wear actual leeks not bejeweled ones on engagements in Wales or with the Welsh Guards.

In 1863, when Princess Alexandra of Denmark married the then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, the women of Wales collected money to gift their new princess jewelry. There hadn’t been a Princess of Wales is over 40 years and I guess they were a little excited because the gifts were plentiful.  They are split into those from North Wales and South Wales and they are all made from emeralds and diamonds which are the colors of the Welsh flag.  The set from the ladies of North Wales includes two brooches and a pair of earrings all made by Garrard.  It was a little hard to get a picture of the earrings but there is a diamond stud at the top that you can’t see here.

The first brooch is a Prince of Wales’ Feathers surrounded by diamonds with a cabochon emerald drop.  The ribbon at the bottom of the feathers says ‘Ich Dein/I Serve.’  The Queen Mother gave this brooch to Princess Diana when she got engaged to Prince Charles in 1981 and it was the only piece of Wales gifted jewelry that she passed along.  Diana wore it primarily as a pendant on the diamond line necklace from the Saudi Arabian sapphire set both with and without the emerald drop.  In the picture of the Duchess of Cornwall wearing the brooch below she is also wearing the earrings from the North Wales gift.

The second brooch features an emerald leek surround by a diamond border saying ‘I’n Tywysoges Ni/To Our Princess’ and also has a cabochon emerald drop.  It’s the only one of the gifts that we have a photograph of Queen Alexandra wearing and the Queen Mother famously wore it for her grandson’s investiture as the Prince of Wales in 1969.  All Queen Alexandra’s North Wales jewelry is currently worn by the Duchess of Cornwall who is the Princess of Wales even though she doesn’t use the title.

Not to be outdone the women of South Wales also presented jewelry but theirs were made by Hunt & Roskell.  The bracelet is made of emeralds, pearls, and diamonds set in gold.  There’s a big emerald in the center with a ribbon saying ‘Duw Cadwo Ein Tywysoges Ni/God Keep Our Princess’ intertwined with leeks on either side.  Then there is what I can only assume is a massive brooch made from enamel, emeralds, pearls, and diamonds.  It features a leek in the center topped with a floral design of trefoil, oak, wheat, and mistletoe to symbolize the four seasons and an enamel ribbon with ‘O Ddeheudir Cymru Iddeu Tywysoges/From South Wales To Our Princess’ in diamonds.  On the bottom are three pendants.  The left is a red Welsh dragon, the center is St. David, and the right is the arms of Wales.

I can’t find any pictures of the brooch being worn but the Queen Mother used to wear the bracelet.

Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, also gave Prince of Wales’ Feathers jewelry to the new bride.  The gold, blue enamel, and diamond bracelet was made by Garrard with the buckle section dating from around 1830 and then later mounted on a bracelet before being given to Alexandra.

In 1903, the then Prince of Wales, later King George V, gave his wife, Mary, a gold and diamond Prince of Wales’ Feathers brooch and then a year later he added a gold bracelet with the Prince of Wales’ Feathers intertwined with the letter ‘G’ and set with unidentified pink gemstones.  

In 1981, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths gave Princess Diana, the first Princess of Wales in 70 years, a necklace and earrings that feature the Prince of Wales’ Feathers.  They were made by Lexi Dick using cabochon sapphires set in white and yellow gold.  The set has never been worn publicly.  In 2007, it was loaned to the Kazanjian Foundation's Jewels for Charity tour and the press release said that it had been sold by Diana prior to her death but there are no other sources for that so take it with a grain of salt.  The only reason it makes sense to me for Diana to have sold any of her jewelry would be if it was to raise money for charity but there’s no evidence of that happening.

In the late 90s, Prince Charles gave the Duchess of Cornwall a Prince of Wales’ Feathers brooch with a gray pearl.  The most important outing of this brooch was on their wedding day in 2005.

And finally these diamond leek brooches from the Welsh Guards that were given to the Queen, Princess Diana, and the Duchess of Cornwall.  According to From Her Majesty’s Jewel Vault, there are three separate brooches and I am going to take her word for it.  There have to be at least two because the Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall have worn theirs to the same event.

There are some older pieces associated with the Prince of Wales but this is what I would consider the wearable jewelry, although knowing the BRF there’s probably a few more pieces in a vault somewhere that have never been seen publicly.  Right now the jewelry is kind of here, there, and everywhere and I would love to see it all brought together as a collection that is passed from Princess of Wales to Princess of Wales.  I wouldn’t expect the Duchess of Cornwall to pass on her brooch when she becomes queen since it was a personal gift from before she was a royal but it would be nice if she left it to future Princesses of Wales and whoever is the Queen would be able to keep one of the Welsh Guard brooches since there are three.  Queen Elizabeth II also has a daffodil brooch that could potentially be added to this group but the Queen would still need some Wales associated jewelry.  The Welsh government website calls the daffodil an “interloper” from the 19th century which makes me smile but you sometimes see the BRF wear it instead of the leek.  In the future I wouldn’t mind seeing some daffodil or maybe even red dragon jewelry added to the collection for the Princess of Wales but I’m probably dreaming on the latter. 

[mercurygray]

Upon Her Head A Crown

The Cartier Valkyrie tiara came across my dash this morning, and since I love me a mythology reference - and I love me a good tiara - this happened!

"You're wearing it wrong, Harry, it's tipped too far back." Joan appeared in the doorway, watching the proceedings with a bemused look on her face. "Here, you - clearly none of your mothers owned a tiara."

"What, and yours - never mind, why am I even asking."

They had found a dragon’s hoard.

There were all sorts of things hidden in the Austrian mountains - down the road at Altausee, a salt mine contained what seemed to be half the museum treasures of Europe, including the ceremonial regalia of the Hapsburg Kings, and the remains of Frederick the Great of Prussia - a whole empire, boxed and ready to be shipped.

This, however, had been slightly smaller, and found right here in the Eagle’s Nest, hidden behind a wall, and, if the truth were told, a great deal more shiny - what looked to be a great deal of the former Miss Braun’s good jewelry, including one outrageous diamond tiara that Joan, with a woman’s eye for these things, pronounced to have been made by Cartier. 

The same tiara that was now sitting on Harry Welsh’s curly-haired, un-aristocratic, Irish American head.

"No," Joan said, adjusting the circlet on the top of Harry's head so the wings pointed up, the diamonds flashing in the sunlight from the large picture windows. "My mother did not  own a tiara - but she wanted to. She did, however, have several very handsome brooches she could wear in her hair if she wanted, and there was one very nice diamond necklace for state occasions with my grandfather. Made of Wyoming gold, of course - though the diamonds were from Colorado. Very patriotic. There, you'll do." She stepped back and admired her work. "Needs a necklace - or a bracelet. No earrings, it would ruin the effect."

"Where the hell do you wear one of those?" Ron asked, as Harry walked, very carefully, over to a mirror so he could observe the effect.

"The opera, Ron, don't be an uncultured swine."

"Well, forgive me for living, Miss Society Pages, we don't much go for that out in my part of Boston," Ron huffed.

"Here, you try it on," Harry said. "Probably look better with your cheekbones than it does with mine."

Joan rolled her eyes, but gently took the circlet from Harry's hands, fluffing her hair a little and setting it atop her head, making a few minute adjustments in the mirror.

"Here, Dick, what do you think of Valkyrie here?" Ron asked.

Dick, passing through with his mind on his paperwork, turned and stopped as Joan turned away from the mirror, the tiara with its glittering wings perched perfectly atop her head, her hand catching up the rest of her hair to give the effect of an updo. A cloud moved, and sunlight streamed through the windows, and for one, brief, shining moment, she wasn't a woman in a t-shirt and a fancy headdress, but a goddess, crowned with light and stars, about to ask for some terrible quest to be undertaken.

And for that moment, Dick seemed to have no words, momentarily taken aback, his usually guarded face slack, lips ever so slightly parted, sharing one very long look with Joan. No one spoke. “Very striking," he said, finally, when the cloud had finally moved and his powers of speech had returned to him. "I hope we've logged that, I'm sure the MFAA folks will want to do something with it."

"Of course," Joan replied, the sunlight and the moment gone, letting her hair back down and carefully removing the circlet from her head. "Here, Harry, where's the case?"

“Think we all know what Dick’s going to be dreaming about today,” Ron remarked quietly to Harry, as Joan busied herself packing the jewelry away. Harry only snorted.

[mrmrswales]

btw there are a handful of other PoW/Wales-esque jewelry that Kate might wear in the future

there’s (3) Leek Brooches! (HM’s, Diana’s and Camilla’s).. HM’s is the Welsh Guards one which Kate might get if/when William is given the regiment

there’s this bad boy.. the Ladies of North Wales Leek Brooch

and brand new to me, there is this! which was given to Diana.. according to @tiaramania​ it was on display and they claim Diana sold it for charity but nothing official has ever been found

there are other bobs and pieces.. smaller brooches and even some bracelets baring the PoW feathers

@tiaramania​ post on PoW jewelry is really great btw https://tiaramania.tumblr.com/post/676277062756089856/jewelry-of-the-princess-of-wales

[origami-goblin]

Remember the Name - Tips for NPC Creation

Back in high school, one of my history teachers had us write several DBQs – Document-Based Questions. The premise was to use several documents from a specific time in history and use them in conjunction with your own knowledge to generate a supported answer to a given question. For example, there might be a question about the Industrial Revolution and one of the documents might be a labor log listing out employees at a French textile mill. You could then draw conclusions about the period by using data from the document (i.e. average age of the workers, number of hours worked per day, etc).

My teacher stressed the importance of determining a person’s Frame of Reference (FOR) to see how that shaped their Point of View (POV). Using the same example, the log would have likely been created by the mill owner. Their frame of reference, as a business owner, would involve the desire to generate the highest amount of profit. From their point of view, employing children or having employees work long hours was an engine for wealth. Furthermore, there weren’t any strict labor laws regarding work conditions, so there wasn’t much reason, other than common sense, to leave money out on the table.

The point is, that people are, to some extent, the results of their histories. This translates directly to tabletop gaming as well; regional folk tales, growing up in a barracks, associating with ‘low-lifes’ – these things get incorporated into a character and helps us catch a glimpse into their motivations and desires. It gives us a lens through which we can understand a character. 

Our players tend to glob onto NPCs when we least expect it. What determines whether an NPC will exhibit that ‘star-status’ and become beloved by the party? Sometimes it’s as simple as the voice, or maybe the NPC stands out from the crowd in some way. There’s always SOMETHING, and as a GM you can give your NPCs one unique characteristic that invites the players to welcome them with open arms. 

Here are a couple tools that you can use to flesh out your NPCs more: 

Cast Away 

One of the best ways to get your players to mentally connect with your NPCs is to cast them as an actress/actor. Bonus points if your players recognize the name! Oftentimes, I’ll say who the actor is and then whatever show or movie that they’re from. The caveat with this is that your players will often have some predisposed attitudes or feelings towards this character if they’ve already seen the flick. Lucky you! Feed those biases and create some red herrings!

My Entire Life Story 

You don’t have to go overboard with an extensive lineage through five generations, and you certainly don’t have to write a novel detailing childhood to the present. If you’re a player creating a new character, that’s most acceptable. These are NPCs that your players might embrace into the story or maybe the only interaction will be a brief conversation in passing. Putting too much effort into this stage runs the risk of being wasted; that’s not much fun for the GM. Even if you wanted to reuse the backstory elsewhere, you’ll always remember who it originally belonged to. Nostalgia. 

When developing a backstory for an NPC, the most important thing to determine is to establish how their individual history influenced their current FOR/POV. What circumstances led them to hold specific beliefs or feel a certain way about the government, a nearby town, or a close neighbor? How did they come to be in their profession? Do they have a family? Have they always lived here? Are they active in the community? Where do they spend most of their time? 

Typically, I would recommend this kind of depth for an NPC that is guaranteed to play a role in the campaign, because this sort of information will usually only come up as a result of dedicated conversation. If the PCs visit the baker to buy a sweetroll to bribe a guard, the baker isn’t going to hand them the pastry while mentioning the time they were bullied as a child which is why they dedicated their time building an insane amount of muscle. There must be context for this backstory to come out.

Unique Voice 

Something as simple as giving your NPCs a unique voice is enough to draw the players into the narrative. Now, if you’re not a professional voice actor (at least 99% of us), don’t get stressed out with trying to reinvent the wheel. In fact, every person if your campaign likely won’t have their own voice: most people native to a specific region are going to share some of the same affectations, inflections, and dialects, so use this as a baseline for your characters in a specific location. For example, everyone in a village might speak with a Welsh accent, but the blacksmith might be a bit gruffer thanks to years of breathing in thick forge smoke. 

Keep in mind that different regions will have unique names for the same thing. I’ll use ‘Shamble-Men” from the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss as an example. In the novels, the ‘Shamble-Men’ are monsters who are formed out of the discarded remnants of the harvest and slowly march towards the villages at night. They are a folk tale, however, and only a ‘backwater’ village would believe such tales. Having your NPCs hold superstitious beliefs, like wearing a phial of salt around their neck or keeping a copy of every holy symbol nearby, can help define a region and give some flavor to their persona. I’m looking at you, Beni:

Trinkets & Quirks 

A quick and easy method of setting your NPC apart is to give them physical attributes or possessions that are exclusive to them. Whether it be a purple mohawk, a pet ferret, or an ugly brooch, NPCs are bound to have something that nobody else has. Give them a purpose within society, be it an actual occupation, hobby, “calling”, or odd-job. Then, think of what that might mean for their belongings and how they might handle themselves. Take this a step further, and give them the OPPOSITE disposition of what the norm might be. For example, a butcher might be stereotypically described as being a well-fed man with an abrasive personality. What if the butcher in this scenario is a shy woman with quick temper who prefers a foreign blade over the Empire’s steel meat cleaver? 

Jewelry, family heirlooms, pets, weapons, hairstyles, clothing, artifacts, relics, family, occupation, tattoos, piercings, allergies, taste preferences, affinity for ale, specific pronunciations, language barriers – there are numerous possibilities that you can have fun with here. 

Gimme the ‘Block, stat! 

You can never guess the reception that your NPCs will get from your players. Conversations run amok far too often, and civilities give way to violence and rolling for initiative. It doesn’t hurt to keep several basic statblocks on-hand to reference in case it starts to go down. For your average NPC, these statblocks are going to be nondescript and more barebones than a chilly skeleton on All Hallow’s Eve. Keep some mundane weapon stats nearby so you have the damage ready, and maybe swap out a feat or two depending on who your character might be. I’m going to plug it again, but Hero Lab by Lone Wolf Development is a fantastic tool in this regard, as you can save your premade portfolios and have the numbers calculate automatically while you quickly make adjustments mid-session. 

Donjon is an excellent resource for generating NPCs on the fly. In the provided link below, a list of NPCs will be created with race, brief physical description, possible weapons/armor, and a sentence of flavor. Sifting through a bunch of these lists can give you some great ideas to start with! This is only the tip of the donjon iceberg – there are map-making tools, name generators, weather, shop inventory, loot drops…it really is an incredible wealth of information. I highly recommend that you give it a look and poke around to see what jumps out at you. 

Link to Donjon Resources

This is not a complete list, by any means, and it’s certainly not the final word on NPC creation. You will develop your own style over time and find something that works well with your campaign preparation. Just like there are no two NPCs alike, there isn’t an incorrect method to prepping for your games. If you are creating an NPC that is going to be a prominent, vital link to the story as a whole, then you’ll probably want to combine a couple of these methods that you can use for easy descriptions and help your players connect with your setting. Plus, as you start fleshing out these characters, you will undoubtedly have a better handle on HOW you are going to portray them and get a feel for who they truly are. After all, the GM gets to walk in the shoes of every character!

[crownedlegend]

Her Majesty is wearing The brooch Brigade of Guards Brooch or the Guards' Badge. It’smade out of natural diamonds, combines the badges of the five regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies—Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, and Welsh Guards—that take turns each year trooping their colours for the Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II attends this year’s Trooping The Colour celebrations in London. | June 8, 2019