Having NPCs that appear randomly would add lots more to the game. More quests, more items, more enemies, and maybe more dungeons. Quest giving NPCs could reward you with powerful items and money. Merchant NPCs could sell you good recovery items. Here's a few that I think should be added. - Quest NPCs - Quest NPCs would have you do small quests that reward you with weapons and potions. The harder the quest, the greater the reward. - Go get me an X and you will get X. - Kill 10 X and I will give you X. - Go to X and report back to me. I will give you X. Some rewards could be; a powerful weapon / weapon upgrade, some good potions, and lots of money. - Merchant NPCs - Merchants would sell you rare and powerful items that will aid you in your quests. - Hello, would you like to buy anything? - Recovery Potion - Heals X health. - Attack Boost - Boosts your attack damage for a short amount of time. - Shield - Blocks attacks. - Special Map - Grants access to a secret area. Usually costs lots, but the rewards you get are great. I think this would be a great addition to the game, and it would add a lot more to do, that isn't the story.
This was already in my private list of ideas. I will be adding randomized NPCs soon, although they won't be giving quests or selling anything just yet. NPCs will most likely be the main way to get the potions and tunics.
Aww man, I thought this was a super original idea. Its still cool that you will be adding them though.
Some of the details are things I hadn't thought about. The special map as a reward is a really cool idea. I'll look into that if I have time left over after the core game and storyline since it involves procgen, which has been the most time-consuming part of this project.
Maybe after you make it past most of the game, every once in a while an NPC will spawn somewhere, and it will give you access to a tough dungeon.