NPC's... the nameless throng, Or are they? |
NPC's... the nameless throng, Or are they? |
Jul 19 2009, 12:53 AM
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#1
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,894 Joined: 11-May 09 Member No.: 17,166 |
The parallel thread on "hack and slash players" got me thinking about just how we treat and view Non Player Characters in our games. As a GM, I know I have three kinds of NPCs when I run: truly nameless cardboard cutouts, relatively organic and developed minor named NPCs, and the fully developed and real major (and hopefully recurring) NPCs.
From that perspective, I always hope that the players will appreciate the work that goes into any non-disposable NPC, and take the time to actually interact with them. It's at times like that which I feel fulfilled by seeing the players gain a deeper immersion in the world by playing off against these creations; It's not just an elaborate multi-person choose-your-own-adventure. Then there are those fully developed characters... the ones that even the worst of them are characters I love to hate. I might despise them as individuals, but I never fail to remember that they're people. Having said that, I realize that in a way, I'm letting my people down, because EVERY character, PC, NPC, or barely discernable face in the crowd is a full person. That's a goal that's unattainable in any sort of reality, and the best we can hope for is that we play our characters like THEY remember those faces have hopes, dreams, needs and fears. They have loved ones, people they hate, sometimes pets, favorite foods, anxieties and keys to spaces they hope to call their own. But with any game, it's entirely too easy to wind up forgetting all that, and only worry about the major NPCs, and even there seem them as plot levers, tools to move things along. What sorts of ways do you have to remind your players that NPCs are (meta)human too? (Ok, this is the part where I admit to thinking about the silly little cut scenes in Austin Powers where it shows the wives of the nameless badguys he kills with total disregard getting the Bad News; Where a security guard for EVIL Inc. is confiding to another guard before the preceding sceen that he is days away from retiring happily. It's campy and stupid, but it's not without a lesson to erstwhile heroes: badguys aren't usually "Evil" in the DnD sense; They're people trying to make a living that just happen to be in opposition to the PCs) |
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Jul 19 2009, 01:33 AM
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#2
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The back-up plan Group: Retired Admins Posts: 8,423 Joined: 15-January 03 From: San Diego Member No.: 3,910 |
Some methods I've used or seen GMs use:
-Have the NPC do something unique or include a small detail. (The PCs have broken in to a biotech firm to steal some data, most of the guards are taking cover and returning fire. One of the guards' uniform isn't quite as clean and he has a burn scar on his neck. They hear him say, "not again, this time I win," then he reloads with his "special circumstances" clip, takes aim and fires Ex-Ex straight at the mage throwing combat (fire) spells. He knocked the mage down, doing 8 boxes. He then was summarily killed by the rest of the team.) -If the PCs take commlinks or hack the personnel system, include information about family members. This can be used both as leverage for players who want to make a more social encounter--kidnapping a family member to get security access--or make the runners realize that when they kill Joe Guard, his daughter is going to be told that "daddy's not coming home." -Use names for the NPCs. When they finish killing someone, or if they have wounded people pinned down (guards prone behind cover unwilling to run because of injuries), have the other NPCs talk. "They killed Ricky." "Sergeant Garcia is pinned down." This technique can also be used after a job is over if runners follow the newsbites. |
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Jul 19 2009, 05:02 AM
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#3
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,542 Joined: 30-September 08 From: D/FW Megaplex Member No.: 16,387 |
Have the NPCs pleade, cringe away, or wimper. You'd be surprised how effective that is.
As the PCs are walking up, have them overhear some of them asking about "family life," "how's little 'Bekka doin'?", or "So what level did you get to in Miracle Shooter?" Every now and then have an AR popup from some person's comm profile show up. Somehow they've found a way to code it so it slips through the normal filters. That should show them that there are real people out there. When they show up early for a meet, have someone (or multiples) in the bar hit on one or more of the PCs. In fact, in my group, the human sniper got plastered on Hurlg in a troll/ork stripclub, and when he was barely coherent the elven shaman payed the troll stripper "Yvonne" to take him home for the night. A couple runs later the sniper's house was destroyed, so he moved in with her. 5 RL months (of 1 game a week) later, he's about to break up with her finally, and the player is just a little sad about it. |
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Jul 19 2009, 06:00 AM
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#4
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 7,116 Joined: 26-February 02 Member No.: 1,449 |
One thing to watch out for as a GM is playing NPCs like little counters with hit points on them. If your NPCs simply keep coming, plinking away with their guns, as they get mowed down, then the players aren't going to think of them as being that "real" to them. Have the mooks react to things like a huge minotaur roaring and charging them, or their buddy next to them getting blown up.
Have them use suppressive fire, shoot from behind cover, try to flank intruders, or retreat if they are getting dominated. At the same time, don't play them with OOC knowledge, and have them act with less than optimal tactics. Have them run away screaming, or attack in a blind fury, or have one of them run out into withering fire to get his wounded buddy. Whatever you do, don't have them keep mindlessly trundling forward to get blown away by the PCs. One note on little vidnotes from their families on the commlink, and that sort of thing - used too often, it can be seen as blatant GM guilt-tripping, and will get players rolling their eyes instead of getting emotionally involved. And mix it up a bit. They may have lives of their own, but they don't always have to be nice people. Have them find a tridmail from an ex-wife pleading for child support, or BDSM porn, or something. |
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Jul 19 2009, 09:52 AM
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#5
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,849 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Melbourne, Australia Member No.: 872 |
I second the begging thing. That works.
I also like having past circumstances come back to revisit them - The mob boss they geeked is survived by his eldest son, who takes over the family business and his sole motivation is to avenge his father. The families of all the cops they've killed pool their money to get a bounty going on the PCs. This also works in positive way - such as an NPCs becoming more loyal, give them tip offs or news when someone is tracking them down, etc. Another pet favorite technique I use, is cut scenes. I don't use them a lot but used sparingly it often makes players think very carefully about their character's next action. - J. |
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Jul 19 2009, 10:32 AM
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#6
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The ShadowComedian Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,538 Joined: 3-October 07 From: Hamburg, AGS Member No.: 13,525 |
Make them funny.
Who wants to kill someone who makes other people laugh? Well, aside from clowns, everybody wants to kill clowns. |
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Jul 19 2009, 11:48 AM
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#7
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 992 Joined: 2-August 06 Member No.: 9,006 |
"Do not be a Nameless Minion. That shortens your life expectancy a hundred fold. Do something unique and special that distinguishes you from the rest. Me? I wear a squid on my head."
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Jul 19 2009, 11:49 AM
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#8
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Dragon Group: Members Posts: 4,328 Joined: 28-November 05 From: Zuerich Member No.: 8,014 |
One thing to watch out for as a GM is playing NPCs like little counters with hit points on them. If your NPCs simply keep coming, plinking away with their guns, as they get mowed down, then the players aren't going to think of them as being that "real" to them. Have the mooks react to things like a huge minotaur roaring and charging them, or their buddy next to them getting blown up. Have them use suppressive fire, shoot from behind cover, try to flank intruders, or retreat if they are getting dominated. At the same time, don't play them with OOC knowledge, and have them act with less than optimal tactics. Have them run away screaming, or attack in a blind fury, or have one of them run out into withering fire to get his wounded buddy. Whatever you do, don't have them keep mindlessly trundling forward to get blown away by the PCs. Unless of course they are mindless zombies, or the crazed "Drums" (the pirates modelled after Serenity's Reavers which prowl Hong Kong's seas). |
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Jul 19 2009, 02:39 PM
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#9
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,894 Joined: 11-May 09 Member No.: 17,166 |
Make them funny. Who wants to kill someone who makes other people laugh? Well, aside from clowns, everybody wants to kill clowns. I was HOPING you'd put in an appearance, Stahl. I have to admit, I was expecting something about mimes... but then, they're just "Silent Movie" clowns, right? |
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Jul 19 2009, 02:49 PM
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#10
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The ShadowComedian Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,538 Joined: 3-October 07 From: Hamburg, AGS Member No.: 13,525 |
Yeah. ^^
Mimes get killed all sneaky like *snicker* Seriously, in my old group, there was one NPC who annoyed and bothered us like nothing else in the whole frigging game . . and we dealt with a lot of crap back when . . but we simply could not bring ourselves to kill him for good . . because he was funny ^^ Kinda like Leo from Lethal weapon. i think he must have been some kind of natural chameleon . . OTHER NPC:*holds hand from dwarf to troll size* he's about this tall, he has green-brown-grey-blue eyes, short to longish light black hair . . *much groaning* and:"YOU KNOW SERGIO!" |
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Jul 19 2009, 02:54 PM
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#11
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 317 Joined: 7-June 09 From: Scotland Member No.: 17,249 |
One of the things I did when I was GMing was after every run I would do a short right up about it. You know the type, News Reports, Internal Corporate Investigations.
Shooting in Downtown Seattle - Three Killed! - LIVE FEED! - Click Here For More! Always tried to play up that the faceless chaps that just got geeked had lifes. Sometimes it would be the revelation that the Security Cop was actually under investigation for Solicitating a Minor, or I would right up a news report from a few weeks later hinting that the recent racially motivated Ork killings seemed to of stopped after the group took out a random with a car bomb. Little things that would remind my players that they arent the only characters in the story. |
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Jul 19 2009, 03:53 PM
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#12
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Immortal Elf Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 14,358 Joined: 2-December 07 From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Member No.: 14,465 |
My group once had to get info out of a Guard they had severely beaten before. They went into his apartment building, broke into his apartment, and found a bowling-ball sized hole next to his bed, obviously having come from the other apartment.
So, they look in, and see a sobbing woman. She's neigh on histerical. They go to the neighbouring door, and find it NAILED shut. After opening it the hard and unsubtle way, and the Doctor gets to checking her out. The drunken husband comes home to find a bunch of strange people in his broken-in home, and demands they leave, now! After a few broken bones, they have the Doctor take the now Ex-Wife to a Clinic that deals with spouse abuse, repair the door as best they can, and go back in hiding for the security guard. Who comes in drunk off his dukus. So drunk, he can't even recogise the guy that put a sword into him a few weeks ago. He shares his cheap Synthvodka and, after a long bit of wandering around subjects (Such as his demotion), he finally gives the information they need. Gave them a sight of how dark things are (Even though there are women like that today. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/frown.gif) ), some moral situations, and a view that their actions do have an effect on NPCs. And also how adventageous having Health Insurance can be! |
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Jul 19 2009, 05:06 PM
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#13
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Immortal Elf Group: Members Posts: 10,289 Joined: 2-October 08 Member No.: 16,392 |
NPCs are the nameless throng. Especially when I'm driving my van pel mel through a shopping mall to escape a Lone Star helicopter with a Really Big Gun.
I only killed 50 of them, honest! We even attended the funeral (and haunted it). |
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Jul 19 2009, 08:13 PM
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#14
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 191 Joined: 11-May 09 Member No.: 17,162 |
Simple one here, but...
Reuse your NPCs. Rather than having a new guy show up every time one of your PCs goes to try to get information from local squatters, have them start running into people they've met before. Also, don't be afraid to reuse the same NPC in different roles, so long as they're compatible. The elf stripper they bribed to distract the guards 3 runs ago could be the strung-out chiphead they run into this session - and starts to take on new dimensions by doing so. That said, avoid going too far with this tactic. If the PCs only ever meet one taxi driver in the whole city, there's a problem, and if the beat cop they ran into is also the gang leader they talk to a week later, the abused girlfriend they end up rescuing, the covert-ops specialist who nabbed the McGuffin out from under them last month, and the stripper they hired to distract the guards while they were sneaking in for the current run... well, there had better be an amazing explanation. |
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Jul 19 2009, 08:36 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 317 Joined: 7-June 09 From: Scotland Member No.: 17,249 |
and if the beat cop they ran into is also the gang leader they talk to a week later, the abused girlfriend they end up rescuing, the covert-ops specialist who nabbed the McGuffin out from under them last month, and the stripper they hired to distract the guards while they were sneaking in for the current run... well, there had better be an amazing explanation. Lets see. She is an undercover CIA officer working in LoneStar because of a suspected infiltration by terrorists. She poses as a dirty cop, pretending to lead a local thrill gang who has a thing for stripping. To keep her cover up she agrees to the payoff the runners give her to distract the guards. As a CIA officer she became aware that the terrorists wanted the McGuffin, and so she went all ninja, snuck in using CIA skills and stole it herself. And the abused girlfriend bit? Well, everyone has there problems. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif) |
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Jul 20 2009, 05:16 AM
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#16
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 5,542 Joined: 30-September 08 From: D/FW Megaplex Member No.: 16,387 |
Lets see. She is an undercover CIA officer working in LoneStar because of a suspected infiltration by terrorists. She poses as a dirty cop, pretending to lead a local thrill gang who has a thing for stripping. To keep her cover up she agrees to the payoff the runners give her to distract the guards. As a CIA officer she became aware that the terrorists wanted the McGuffin, and so she went all ninja, snuck in using CIA skills and stole it herself. And the abused girlfriend bit? Well, everyone has there problems. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif) See, now that's an amazing explanation. |
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Jul 20 2009, 12:43 PM
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#17
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Runner Group: Members Posts: 3,009 Joined: 25-September 06 From: Paris, France Member No.: 9,466 |
I try to make no difference between major and minor NPC since there's no telling when I introduce a NPC if he's going to be major or minor. Some NPC I came up with on the fly in my campaign became regular NPCs. From experience, the crazier or stranger the NPC, the more likely the PC will like - or at least remember - him/her.
Other than the begging, another interesting thing is the family of the victim appearing on the Trid after the run. |
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