Abundance of NPCs

[halfpintgamer1976]

There are a lot of NPCs in this campaign. A book containing all of them would be really helpful when preparing. Reading through, it seems lucky and convenient that certain npcs arrive at certain times. I'd like to throw certain npcs in early so not to make it seem so convenient . Also would like to eliminate ones that aren't as important. In a party of 6 players having 3 or 4 other npcs with them becomes a hassle.

 

[RangerWickett]

Could you give me an example of what you mean? It was my intention that each adventure would have one NPC who the GM could use as a source of exposition and in-flavor team mate, if needed, without being too heavy handed. I thought having NPC allies would add depth to the setting and give the players opportunities for roleplaying. Plus, they can be a source of cohorts if you use Leadership.

Adventure 1 has Torrent to guide the group through Gate Pass.

Adventure 2 has Tiljann to explain the oddities of the Seela.

Adventure 3 has Katrina (mentioned as early as adventure 1) to give the PCs an 'in' with the heads of Seaquen.

Adventure 4 has Balam in case the players are hack and slashers who want an NPC to handle the diplomacy.

Adventure 5 has Three Weeping Ravens (first seen in adventure 3) as a guide to the monastery of two winds (and to provide foreshadowing for adventure 7).

Adventure 6 has the gnomish clan, to give a different twist to the dungeon crawl, and because gnomes are awesome.

Adventure 7 has Fayne, who can guide the heroes through what might be an overwhelmingly large forest, and makes it hard to easily get along with the Shahalesti.

Adventure 8? Well, it has someone who's been in the background for a long while.


Have you played Kingdom Hearts? One of the cool things about it was that whenever you went to a new stage, you got to add a new party member temporarily. Really, for optimal fun, I'd let one of the players play the allied PC, at least in combat.

I'm curious what has you concerned about them.

 

[halfpintgamer1976]

Could you give me an example of what you mean? It was my intention that each adventure would have one NPC who the GM could use as a source of exposition and in-flavor team mate, if needed, without being too heavy handed. I thought having NPC allies would add depth to the setting and give the players opportunities for roleplaying. Plus, they can be a source of cohorts if you use Leadership.

Adventure 1 has Torrent to guide the group through Gate Pass.

Adventure 2 has Tiljann to explain the oddities of the Seela.

Adventure 3 has Katrina (mentioned as early as adventure 1) to give the PCs an 'in' with the heads of Seaquen.

Adventure 4 has Balam in case the players are hack and slashers who want an NPC to handle the diplomacy.

Adventure 5 has Three Weeping Ravens (first seen in adventure 3) as a guide to the monastery of two winds (and to provide foreshadowing for adventure 7).

Adventure 6 has the gnomish clan, to give a different twist to the dungeon crawl, and because gnomes are awesome.

Adventure 7 has Fayne, who can guide the heroes through what might be an overwhelmingly large forest, and makes it hard to easily get along with the Shahalesti.

Adventure 8? Well, it has someone who's been in the background for a long while.


Have you played Kingdom Hearts? One of the cool things about it was that whenever you went to a new stage, you got to add a new party member temporarily. Really, for optimal fun, I'd let one of the players play the allied PC, at least in combat.

I'm curious what has you concerned about them.

It seems that by the time the party gets to Seaquen, they have crystlin, torrent and katrina with them. Then they pick up balam in the next adventure. In some cases they seem unneccessary or as obvious walking plot devices that my party will easily pick up on if used in that function. For instance, Crystlin happens on the party and is there to spit out clues of indomitable. Katrina provides extra fire power for a lopsided fight. In order to cloud them I was hoping that list of them would be printed with a brief description once the whole series is released, this way it will allow me to integrate some of the npcs in either nonfunctioning rolls or earlier in the plot.

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, there's the list. I forgot Crystin and Haddin, and I suppose theoretically anyone they run across in Seaquen might join up with them if the party asks nicely.

However, the assumption is that these NPCs don't stick with the PCs forever. Torrent has her own stuff to do when she gets to Seaquen. She'll only stick around if the PCs want her.

 

[halfpintgamer1976]

Well, there's the list. I forgot Crystin and Haddin, and I suppose theoretically anyone they run across in Seaquen might join up with them if the party asks nicely.

However, the assumption is that these NPCs don't stick with the PCs forever. Torrent has her own stuff to do when she gets to Seaquen. She'll only stick around if the PCs want her.

Thank you.

 

[maggot]

I know when I ran the adventure (which barely got into the Fire Forest) the abundance of NPCs was quite a problem. Perhaps it is a style thing, but the party was close to being out numbered by NPCs: Torrent, Crystin, Haddin, burned dude they try to rescue from the forest. And those were just the NPCs set in place by the authors, not those brought along by the party.

I'd say if WotBS has a weak spot, this is it.

 

[RangerWickett]

I understand the complaint, but I'd rather hoped having difficult NPCs along for the ride added a unique element to the adventure. Of those NPCs, only Torrent is really capable of contributing to combat. The rest are there to

a) show that the PCs aren't the only people fleeing the Ragesians

b) let the PCs feel better knowing they're doing something heroic; just running away from the bad guys isn't cool, but it's easy to stomach if there are others you need to get to safety

c) provide roleplaying opportunities in an adventure that for its first half is confined to wilderness encounters; the adventure has a moral component, so the author wanted to make sure there were NPCs present who could argue in favor of different courses of action.

Of course, you can completely do without the NPCs, or have them just take back stage since they're not combatants. And honestly, I figured almost no one would actually try to save the poor bastard who's on fire.

 

[amethal]

And honestly, I figured almost no one would actually try to save the poor bastard who's on fire.

Our party "saved" him with a crossbow bolt to the head.

The other NPCs fade in and out of the background as needed, much like the PCs do when the player can't make it to the session. Doesn't seem to be a problem for my players, and once we reach Seaquen Haddin and Cristin will no doubt leave the party.

I'm actually looking forward to the challenge of running Katrina, as how her relationship with the party develops will make a big difference later on.

 

[codyknotts]

NPCS and more

Our group complained about NPCS but they left and actually died in Seaquen. They too saved Darvul the Sorcerer in the fire.

More interesting is the fact that they managed to fail to save Seaquen from the Hurricane and watched most of the residents die. Some escaped with Wayfarers, others were killed. The party scrounged the city afterwards and the survivors hide from them out of fear till they later learned they were just failures, not traitors. The Lyre of building was used to rebulid and the city is now much smaller and weaker.

Torrent, The Seela, Crystin, Haddin all died in the disaster. Darvul left the party in Bresk. We have a large group of players (10).