Non-Player Characters
Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
(From Writing Your Own Adventures:) Nonplayer characters – whether played by the GM or the Adversary – are vital to an adventure. The GM can even plan an entire adventure around a few interesting NPCs and what happens when the PCs become involved with them!
Design the most important NPCs before you work out the encounters and other details of the adventure. Their abilities, personalities, motivations, and backgrounds set the tone for the whole adventure, and give you ideas for encounters and lesser NPCs. Build important NPCs just like PCs, complete with full-scale character sheets and brief character stories, so you can roleplay them well.
Create less-important NPCs – spear-carriers, cannon fodder, shopkeepers, and the like – after you plan the first encounters. You do not need complete character sheets for these characters; all you need are notes on their important statistics. Some trivial characters require no planning at all! If you suddenly need to know (for instance) a skill for one of them, just roll 3d and use the result.
Finally, work out a few "generic" NPCs to use, as needed, in improvised or random encounters. For instance, in an adventure set in a fantasy city, you could prepare a few city guards, a couple of storekeepers, a couple of thieves, and maybe a strolling minstrel or wandering drunk. If you need them, you have them...and if you don't need them now, you'll have them for next time. Guards, like taverns, can be recycled over and over again!
You can claim to know just about anyone – and maybe you really do! Your life history should include at least some details about your relationships – good, neutral, or bad – with other people in the game world.
It costs points to have associates you can rely on for assistance during an adventure. Likewise, individuals who complicate your life or actively seek to thwart you, personally, are worth points as disadvantages. Note that these NPCs need not be peoplethey might be spirits, animal sidekicks, or robots.
Associated NPCs
Some friends and foes physically enter play when they appear. These "Associated NPCs" have personalities, life histories, and character sheets, just like PCs. In each case, the GM will interview you regarding the attitude, character story, and general abilities of the NPC, and then use this information to create a character sheet.
Character sheets for Associated NPCs – like those of all NPCs – are for the GM's eyes only. You will not have access to them! When these NPCs become involved in the game, the GM plays their roles and control their actions. Thus, even your closest associates are never 100% predictable.
Buy advantageous Associated NPCs as Allies or Patrons. Disadvantageous ones include Dependents and Enemies. The GM's word is final in all cases. The GM is free to forbid an Associated NPC that he feels would be disruptive, unbalanced, or inappropriate. He might even choose to forbid entire classes of NPCs – Dependents, Enemies, Patrons, etc. – if he feels they would unduly disrupt the flow of the game.
Contacts
You may also have associates who provide useful information or very minor favors, but who do not become physically involved in dangerous adventures. They appear only for long enough to help out, and then quickly depart. The GM will roleplay them and give them personalities, but since they are no more likely than any other friendly NPC to get involved in the action, they do not require full character sheets. Purchase such NPCs as Contacts or Contact Groups.
Playing the NPCs
A "nonplayer character" (NPC) is anyone played by the GM. The GM gets to play dozens of characters throughout an adventure – from chance-met travelers to powerful patrons and villains.
As the GM, you may create your NPCs in any way you like. You should design important NPCs just like player characters, but you can give "cannon fodder" and "bit players" logical abilities by using templates (see Character Templates) or by assigning appropriate traits on the spur of the moment without regard to point value.
Once you create an NPC – major or minor – play the role! Your NPCs will try to earn money, look important and admirable, protect their skins, and achieve their goals – just like anybody else! The more skilled you become at roleplaying, the better a GM you will be and the more fun you (and your players) will have.
Some of your NPCs will automatically be friendly to the PCs; others will be "natural enemies." These reactions will be preset when you work out the scenario. But many NPCs have no "automatic" response to the PCs. Instead, you will use the Reaction Table to see how they respond.
Playing the Adversary
When the GM plays an NPC who is an enemy of the PCs, he should try to limit his knowledge to those things that the NPC would really be aware of. The GM knows all about the party's strengths and weaknesses – but their enemies don't. One good way to solve this problem is to have another person play the adversary characters.
The GM should tell the Adversary as much as possible about the characters he is to play. But the Adversary should know no more than is "realistic" about the overall situation. In particular, he should know very little about the PCs and their abilities – especially at the beginning of an adventure! For total realism, you might even want two Adversary players – one for knowledgeable enemies who are familiar with the party, and one for stupid cannon fodder.
The Adversary is like an "assistant GM." His job is to roleplay the foes as well as possible. He should not play them as mindless killing machines (unless they really are). If the "appropriate" thing for those particular enemies to do is to attack, they should attack. But they might also throw rocks from ambush, shout insults, or even run away immediately!
In any disagreement between the Adversary and the GM, the GM's word is law. But a good GM gives the Adversary as much leeway as possible, and takes any disagreement into another room to avoid distracting the players. Playing the Adversary is a good way to build up experience if you would like to be a GM someday.
Hirelings
A "hireling" is any NPC in the adventurers' employ. The GM controls hirelings; the players can give any orders they like, but the GM decides how they are followed!
A hireling provides an excellent way to add muscle or special talents to a party without introducing more PCs. A party may have any number of hirelings, but the GM should keep the number of important "personality" hirelings down to two or three at a time. The GM can manage any number of generic swordsmen – but keeping up with an important hireling, whose personality and character sheet are as detailed as any PC's, is challenging.
Creating Hirelings
The GM sets the hireling's abilities. If there is an occupational template (see Character Templates) for the hireling's profession, the GM can save time by copying statistics from that template. (If the template is for heroic PCs as opposed to average members of a profession, apply a -1 or -2 to all attributes and skills.)
The GM keeps the hireling's record sheet; the players may not see it. Unimportant hirelings need only a card or a note; important hirelings require a full character sheet.
Finding a Hireling
The PCs can't pull a hireling out of thin air. When they need to employ someone, they must search for a suitable person – just as in real life. They might not always get what they want.
The recruiter may attempt an IQ roll once per week to find a hireling of the desired type. The GM may permit him to substitute an appropriate skill for IQ: Administration (for formal, corporate-style hiring), Current Affairs (if seeking prominent "world experts"), Propaganda (for aggressive recruiting), Streetwise (if seeking criminals), etc. The party may attempt only one roll per hireling per week. Modify this roll as follows:
City Size: The bigger the town or city, the better the odds:
| Population | Modifier |
|---|---|
| Less than 100 | -3 |
| 100-999 | -2 |
| 1,000-4,999 | -1 |
| 5,000-9,999 | 0 |
| 10,000-49,999 | +1 |
| 50,000-99,999 | +2 |
| 100,000 or more | +3 |
Advertising: +1 if the advertising budget is 50% the monthly pay of the job, +2 if 500%, +3 if 5,000%, and so on. This money covers the expense of business lunches, handbills, newspaper ads, "recruiting parties," etc.
Money Offered: +1 if the pay is 20% higher than normal for the job, +2 if 50% higher, and +3 if 100% higher or more.
Risk: -2 to find a hireling for a job that involves obvious risk of combat, unless seeking a guard, mercenary, or other "combatant" hireling. The GM decides which potential hirelings are "combatant."
Legality: -5 to find a hireling for an illegal job – and any critical failure on the roll results in legal complications. The GM may waive this -5 when the employer uses Streetwise skill for the search, but the critical failure result is the same!
On a success, the PCs find a candidate. The GM describes the potential hireling to the players, and can even take his part for an "interview." The players must then decide whether they actually want to hire that person. If they decide not to, they must start their search over again.
A failure might mean that a hireling simply is not available – especially in a small town. It is up to the GM whether to allow repeated attempts.
Of course, the GM is free to "load" the roll, if he feels the PCs absolutely should have (or should not have) a hireling of a specific type! For instance, if an adventure calls for a particular hireling, the GM can ensure that the hireling will appear. He may do this overtly (the NPC approaches the party in a bar and asks for a job) or covertly (the players say that they are looking for hirelings; the GM pretends to roll, but gives them a preplanned NPC).
Loyalty of Hirelings
A hireling might not always act in his employer's best interests. The GM should use the hireling's "loyalty rating" as a guide. Unless this is preset for a reason, generate it by making a reaction roll (see Reaction Rolls) for "loyalty" when the PCs first encounter the hireling. The GM can even use this during the initial meeting or interview, to see whether the hireling lies about himself. Note that a very loyal potential hireling might exaggerate his abilities out of desire to join the party!
Slaves
In a game world where slavery is legal, the PCs may buy slaves as either workers or an investment – or they might be enslaved themselves! Anywhere slavery is legal, slaves make up a large part of the job market, and there is a 50% chance that any hireling found is actually a slave.
The price of a slave is generally equal to the amount the slave could earn in five years, if free and working at the typical pay rate for the best job he qualifies for. The GM may adjust this price for any number of reasons: extra skills, good or bad attitude toward slavery, physical appearance, health, etc. Slave traders rarely give a real bargain!
Loyalty of Slaves
Determine a slave's loyalty per Loyalty of Hirelings. However, slaves are less predictable than hirelings. After determining the slave' s initial loyalty, roll 2d on the following table to determine a loyalty modifier:
2-7 – No modifier.
8 – He was enslaved for some crime, and resents it: -1 to loyalty.
9 – As above, but -2 to loyalty.
10 – His previous master was very cruel. If he is treated with kindness during the first week, apply +2 to loyalty; otherwise, no change.
11 – He has a fanatic hatred of slavery. If treated well, he may like his masters as people, but will still escape as soon as possible. If treated badly (or even "average" for a slave), his loyalty drops to 6.
12 – He has the Slave Mentality disadvantage and considers himself truly the property of his owner. His loyalty is automatically 20. You need never check loyalty; he will not demur, even if given orders that condemn him to death.
Make loyalty checks for slaves as for any other hirelings. Modify loyalty by +1 or +2 if they are in a situation where they have nowhere to run!
Legal Complications
When slave-holding PCs enter an area where slavery is illegal, they must either dispose of their slaves or pass them off as free servants. Possible anti-slavery attitudes include: legal to own slaves, but not to buy or sell them locally; legal for non-citizens to own slaves while passing through, but illegal for permanent residents to own them; or illegal to own slaves at all.
A creative GM may impose other laws and customs regarding slavery. For instance, it might be legal to enslave members of some social groups or races, but not others. There might be ways for a slave to earn his freedom – some societies might even permit slaves to own property and buy their freedom.
NPC Knowledge
(See also PC Knowledge.) Likewise, the GM and the Adversary should not use knowledge that their characters could not logically possess. This is the main reason for having an Adversary in the first place...so the GM can't use his total knowledge of the PCs against them. The warnings under PC Knowledge apply equally to NPCs, but there are some additional things to watch out for:
Objectives of the party. The GM knows the players' true objectives; the Adversary may know. But when he plays "ignorant" characters, he must roleplay his ignorance. This might mean that an NPC acts hostile when he "should" be friendly, or vice versa. It also means that when the party sneaks into the castle, the guards can't all rush to protect the treasure room. They don't know for sure where the PCs are going!
Abilities of the party. All NPCs – especially adversary characters – should react according to the apparent strength of the party. A simple example: if the PCs are exploring a dungeon populated by roving bands of orcs, each new band should find out the hard way that the party's wizard uses the Explosive Fireball spell – until some orc escapes to spread the word.
Special weaknesses of the party. If (for instance) two members of the party are deathly afraid of snakes, the adversary characters shouldn't know this unless there is a way they could have found out. In fact, the GM shouldn't tell the Adversary things like this in the first place. Let him find out for himself! But even after he finds out, he can't use this sort of fact unless he is playing a foe who should know.