NPC Helper 2 is a SMAPI mod for Stardew Valley 1.6 that adds custom NPCs to the game. An NPC is described in readable TOML text files plus a few PNG images, and NPC Helper 2 puts everything into the game when it starts: the character, gift tastes, dialogue, daily schedule, sprites, portraits, and optional marriage content, heart events, festival lines, and translations. Writing an NPC mod needs no programming.
“HP” stands for “Helper.” NPC Helper 2 is just the beginning of the HP series—maybe House Helper will be next, lol.
Where to start#
- Playing with NPC mods? Go to Install NPC Helper 2, then Install NPC mods and translations.
- Making an NPC mod? Follow Create your first NPC, then the pages under Create an NPC in the sidebar.
- Writing C#? Read the C# SDK, the command-line tool, and the Mod API.
Reference#
- TOML syntax — what the file format allows.
- Game options — every value the game fixes: personality, regions, item categories, and schedule keys.
- Release notes — what changed in each version, including the 2.0.0 breaking changes.
What an NPC mod can contain#
| Feature | Where to read |
|---|---|
| Name, personality, birthday, home | NPC definition |
| Gift tastes and gift reactions | Gift tastes |
| Dialogue that depends on day, weather, hearts, and place | Dialogue |
| Daily routines by weekday, season, date, weather, and hearts | Schedules |
| The walking character, wedding frames and a sleeping pose | Sprites |
| The face shown in dialogue, and the wedding portrait | Portraits |
| Images that change with location, season and festival | Image variants |
| Engagement, spouse dialogue and schedule, wedding vows, sleeping in the bed | Marriage |
| Cutscenes at heart levels | Heart events |
| Taking part in festivals | Festivals |
| Another game language | Localization, Translate your own NPC, Make a translation pack |
Upgrading from 1.x#
NPC files are now grouped into tables such as [Personality] and [Home], schedules are lists of stops, marriage content is one Marriage.toml, and files are found by name instead of by configured paths. Invalid values now reject the NPC instead of crashing the game's data load. The game reports each old key it finds and where it lives now. The 2.0.0 entry in the release notes lists every breaking change.
External references#
- SMAPI — the mod loader NPC Helper 2 runs on.
- Stardew Valley dialogue format — dialogue keys and special text.
- Stardew Valley item IDs — item identifiers for gift tastes.
- NPC Helper 2 on Nexus Mods.