Introducing a Lore heavy NPC

[DEFCON 1]

Me lecturing them for hours was never going to work regardless but I dislike the idea of coming up with so much information (which was very fun for me not a chore) and never using it...

And that's EXACTLY why Perkins said in his posts to not become too attached to your NPCs. Because you'll handle them differently because they are "important" to you... when in truth, are far as the party is concerned... they are no different than any other riff-raff they meet. And if you insist to your players that "No, no! This guy's a big deal!"... you're rarely going to get the reaction from them that you're hoping for.

Let the NPCs that become big deals do so out of the organic play. The players will let you know who they think is or isn't important. And once they've been hooked into one that way... THEN you can use him to start feeding more of the larger picture.

 

[Ryujin]

In absolute broadest strokes I would introduce him in three basic steps:

1) He just appears - The NPC shows up and relays some important information, that the PCs need. Even better if the information seems like something he really shouldn't know, but somehow does.

2) They hear rumours about him - Less important, random NPCs hear that they've had interactions with your major NPC and either relate their general distrust of him, or dire and specific predictions about what he'll do to them.

3) They get it from the horse's mouth - Your important NPC sits down and has a talk with the PCs revealing his world view, motives, and usefulness to them.

 

[Omegaxicor]

It's a shame ENworld doesn't have the Xp system they used to because there are some really good ideas.

I will have a think through the ideas given and either use one (and I would credit you but without the Xp system I can't) or use a hybrid of them (or come up with my own but given the experience you all have I doubt I will need to)

Thanks

 

[Aenghus]

The most gentle way to introduce an NPC with a deep history, given the luxury of time, is to foreshadow them in multiple previous sessions *before* they turn up. This allows mixed opinions about the NPC to arrive naturally - refugees from a destroyed village consider him a mass murderer, whereas a prophet may consider him the only chance for survival in the end times etc etc.

An NPC appearing out of the blue, especially if they could be a bad guy, has a decent chance of being killed by the party before any exposition or monologue, in my experience (or TPKing the party, but that is almost always a sign of terrible DMing). Nowadays, I typically decide NPCs are important only *after* they have survived their first encounter with the PCs, especially if they inspired strong emotions of any sort amongst the players and/or PCs.

Re any apocalyptic storyline, remember one or more players may not believe in the end of the world scenario, in which case the NPC will appear to be just be another murderous nutcase. Clear objective evidence of such plot points can be very hard to provide, and forcing such plot points on unwilling players becomes very obvious.

I say this because I personally tend not to like extreme end of the world scenarios that distort all morality, and one roleplaying approach is just not to believe them IC, and fight nihilism every single step of the way - this may not be your situation, but I mention it because mismatches of basic philosophy or taste can derail a game from the very start.

 

[pemerton]

Me lecturing them for hours was never going to work regardless but I dislike the idea of coming up with so much information (which was very fun for me not a chore) and never using it

I think [MENTION=7006]DEFCON 1[/MENTION] is right to an extent - you can't unilaterally force this sort of thing.

But that being said, I would nevertheless say: don't despair! Just think about how you can introduce the info in play.

Another example of that, to add to some of the other good ones in this thread: in my game there was a brief episode where the PCs travelled 100 years back in time and helped resuce a wizard's apprentice who had been caught up in a historic crisis. The PCs said their farewells to her, and then returned to their own time. Several sessions later, when the PCs were going to have dinner with a baron, I wanted to bring the rescued apprentice back into the game. So I told the players that, when they sat down in the baron's dining hall, they noticed, in his series of family portraits, two that caught their eye: an old portrait depciting a middle-aged woman who otherwise greatly resembled the young apprentice whom they had rescued; and a recent portrait depicting a young woman who was the spitting image of the rescued apprentice.

Some conversation over dinner revealed that the young woman in the recent portrait was the baron's niece; and that the middle aged woman in the old portrait was the baron's grandmother - which fit the timeline for the rescued apprentice. Further adventures revealed that the niece was in fact a Vecna-ite necromancer; and also that Kas had been trapped by, and was now seeking vengeance against, the apprentice/grandmother - who had obviously grown into a powerful wizard, probably also a necromancer. The PCs swore an oath to Kas to track her down, but haven't done so yet - they've had other, more pressing, business - but have since learned that a powerful dragon, whom they ended up killing, also had some sort of grudge againt the apprentice/grandmother. (The dragon tried to negotiate during the fight that led to its death.)

So quite a detailed backstory has not been wasted. It's just that it comes out in fits and starts, as suits the adventures and the players' interests, rather than as an all-at-once download. And as the GM I can amp the whole thing ump anytime I want to by having the mysterious apprentice/grandmother suddeny turn up! Or dropping another clue to her whereabouts, or to her activities in the 100 years between the PCs rescue of her, and their present day.

It's a shame ENworld doesn't have the Xp system they used to because there are some really good ideas.

You can still give XP via the green star button at the bottom of a post.

 

[Herobizkit]

Making more information than the players will ever need is what I like to call "DM Porn". It's best enjoyed alone, behind closed doors, and you are (generally) the only receipent of the pleasure.

Creating for the sake of creating is fun, to be sure, but it's a virtual guarantee that your players don't care as much as you do about the massive wall of text that is your NPC back story.

From my perspective, any character that is willing to do "anything" to survive a coming doom is generally Chaotic Neutral or possibly Neutral Evil. Not very big on the Evil Ping-o-meter (TM/PP). If I were one of your players, I wouldn't give a whit what his alignment is; if he's concerned with his own survival, chances are he'll be more helpful than harmful to the group, and I would carry on as such.

 

[Omegaxicor]

[MENTION=2656]Aenghus[/MENTION] I am OK with one/some/all of my players not believing the end is near, if they start by believing the NPC is pure Evil because he has slaughtered a whole village, I am OK with that too...
[MENTION=36150]Herobizkit[/MENTION] Yea, I agree with you on both points, he started out Lawful Neutral but has ended up Chaotic Neutral, it doesn't change anything but it shows me how far the NPC has developed
[MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] those are really good examples and I might use them for other adventures, I worry that breaking the wall of text into more manageable chunks might mean the NPC becomes an almost constant occurance, I will just have to try to ensure that doesn't happen

and the "Green Star" for me is black, I never even noticed it until now so thanks