A Cool GM's trick: Quip Cards

A little trick I use to spice up the roll playing aspects and to make my NPC's cooler is to have Quip Cards.

To make these get a a bunch of index cards (I use 3" by 5") and write a a name of an NPC (or just a a title say Orc Leader) a circumstance (i.e in combat, when retreating) and a line of description.

For Example

Line #1 Orc Leader

Line #2 His Forces are aligned

Line #3 As the forces align the Orc growls (in a thick accent) "Come and Die, Humans!"

Having a small pile of these, pre-maid can increase roleplaying fun. save a lot of stress and make it seem like you can improvise anything even if you can't.

Also if you don't feel like splurging on index cards (they run about a $1 US for a pack) you can of course print up a bunch on the computer and cut them up.

This has the advantage of being less time consuming, heck you can even cut and paste quotes and such from the net however they are less tactile a personal.

Either way though, having quotes ready is quick, easy and will improve your game.

Give it a try and see.