What's a word that means "NPC or Monster"

[Worrgrendel]

Mostly bags of water.

 

[Longspeak]

Featured.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'm blanking -- I need a single word with refer to all the NPCs and monsters in a game. I'm using "Extras" for random unnamed guards, farmers, etc., but I need a term to use in the text to refer to all the notable allies, villains, monsters, aliens, etc. It's important it doesn't say "monster" or "villain" as many are neither of those things. It needs to say "allies AND enemies".

In Star Wars terms --

Extra -- stormtroopers, moisture farmers, Cantina musicians

Hero - the players; Luke, Han, Leia

??? - the rest: Yoda, Vader, the Rancor Monster, Tarkin, Mace Windu

In my WIP game, they’re just all NPCs.

 

[Morrus]

Edit, add - not sure why we need to reinvent NPC though. It already means NPC or monster. MOB is the next closest (IMO), but it’s generally a video game term.

Just the wrong tone for the casual action comedy game I’m writing. It’s just an aesthetics thing.

 

[Fenris-77]

'Players' would also work in that it is used to describe groups of actors, but you run the risk of it being confused with the, you know, actual players. Maybe if the players are capped something other than player... IDK

 

[jasper]

Guest Stars. Guest Characters. Guests.

 

[monsmord]

Company? Chorus? In keeping with theatre notion of "extras..."

 

[aco175]

I'd go with notables. It says that they are not the stars, but also not the extras.

 

[Li Shenron]

Expendables? Nonplayables? Bystanders? "Else"?

 

[Big Bucky]

Technically anything that is not a PC is a NPC. We tend to think of NPCs as the ones we talk to or give us quests and Monsters are the ones we kill. But that’s often not the case so there’s no real reason we have to continue using that terminology.