A well-built village encounter lives or dies on the NPCs — and not just the ones holding swords. You need locals with personality, guards who look like they've been on the job too long, and the odd shady figure lurking at the edge of the market. These five picks from our NPCs and Villagers collection cover that full range, from a commanding settlement figure right through to the person most likely to know everyone's secrets.
Hut Owner Miniature
Every village needs a figure of local authority — someone the players can't quite read as friend or threat. The Hut Owner from Epic Miniatures fills that role brilliantly, with a sturdy, self-assured presence that works equally well as a quest-giver, a stubborn landowner blocking the party's path, or the surprisingly well-connected contact who knows more than he lets on. He arrives in plain grey resin ready to prime and paint, so whatever role you cast him in, you can make that read clear with your colour choices.
Street Gang Bandit Bundle
Not every threat in a settlement comes from outside the walls. Tytan Troll's Street Gang Bandit Bundle gives you a genuinely varied crew of urban ne'er-do-wells — the kind of mixed group that makes a back-alley ambush feel chaotic and real rather than rehearsed. Having a whole bundle means you can scale the encounter up or down depending on the party's level, and each figure arrives in grey resin ready for the table as soon as you've primed and painted them.
Town Folk Set 3 Miniature
Background population matters more than most GMs give it credit for — a market square with actual people in it lands completely differently to an empty backdrop. This Town Folk set from Tytan Troll gives you a solid spread of ordinary villagers, which is brilliant for dressing a scene or for hiding a key NPC in plain sight among the crowd. Each figure ships in grey resin with supports already removed, so you can get straight to painting without any fuss.
Town Guard Miniature Set
Guards are one of those encounter staples that genuinely benefit from having consistent, purpose-built models rather than repurposed fighters. Tytan Troll's Town Guard set gives you a cohesive unit that reads immediately as official muscle — useful whether you're running a tense checkpoint scene, a city watch pursuit, or a corrupt garrison the players need to talk their way past. Having a matching set also makes it easy to signal faction allegiance once you've painted them up.
Bartender Miniature
The tavern is where half of all D&D campaigns actually begin, and yet the person behind the bar is usually represented by a token or a rough proxy. The Bartender from my3dprintforge fixes that — a solid, characterful figure that anchors your tavern as a real place the moment you put it on the table. He's a brilliant information broker, a reluctant quest-giver, or just the familiar face that makes the players feel like they have somewhere to call home base, and he arrives in grey resin ready to paint up however fits your setting.
That's our five for this week — a decent spread from local authority to street-level trouble, with the social hub of the tavern anchoring it all. We'd genuinely love to hear how you used any of these at your table, so drop us a message or share a photo of your painted minis if you get the chance.