“Monstrous” NPCs

[jian]

That is a really weird hang-up, honestly. Just taking D&D, you have a whole manual of non-humanoid NPCs, only some of whom want to eat you. Sure, you’d be unwise to trust everything an aboleth tells you (especially about this lovely new moisturiser they’ve found), but anything who can think and talk is a person, and a person can tell you useful information or otherwise interact with you.

In our last D&D games, the PCs traded with neogi (not for slaves, of course), played cards with an umber hulk, were forced to beat the hell out of an angelic assassin and a marilith pirate, and worked for a sphinx judge. People are people.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

I feel that a character would have to be very confident or very silly, to play cards against an umber hulk. The hulk's confusing stare gives them an unfair advantage.

 

[jian]

I feel that a character would have to be very confident or very silly, to play cards against an umber hulk. The hulk's confusing stare gives them an unfair advantage.

On the other hand he kept dropping all his cards. Also, he promised not to use the stare. Unless he only had a pair of twos.

 

[uzirath]

They believed only the “standard” ancestries should be NPCs. In other words if the player characters are getting rumors, quests, or advice it’s going to be a human, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling or similar.

This is bizarre. There have been examples of monstrous companions, quest givers, or advisors as far back as I can think of: Glabbagool in Out of the Abyss, Meepo in The Sunless Citadel, the lizardfolk in Danger at Dunwater, the Phanaton or Rakasta on the Isle of Dread (even the Aranea)... off the top of my head.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This is hilarious, definitely the funniest thing I've read (or heard) all year. I almost choked on my Heineken laughing.

Not disappointing, pathetic is the word I'd use. But you are right people are weird. If someone takes the game that seriously and flip out over something that petty, they got more serious problems. I've had people rage quit on me before, "IM NEVER PLAYING HERE AGAIN!!", You'll be missed...View attachment 392224

Sometimes, when a player quits over something small like that, it can be a blessing; if they were mad about that, I suspect that there would be other problems from them further down the line.

 

[Starfox]

[...] They believed only the “standard” ancestries should be NPCs. In other words if the player characters are getting rumors, quests, or advice it’s going to be a human, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling or similar. [...]

I use a variant of this. My setting is human dominating, and most contacts, patrons, and general NPCs are human. This is an informal advantage to playing a human; you have an easier time fitting in. Of course, when appropriate, I can use anything as an NPC, especially at higher levels when dragons and outsiders become common patrons. But in most cases, humans are the norm.

 

[R_J_K75]

Sometimes, when a player quits over something small like that, it can be a blessing; if they were mad about that, I suspect that there would be other problems from them further down the line.

Exactly, and you can usually see it coming more often than not. Fortunately, I can say I've only seen this happen a few times. 2 or 3 at most. and no one missed them at all.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

This is bizarre. There have been examples of monstrous companions, quest givers, or advisors as far back as I can think of: Glabbagool in Out of the Abyss, Meepo in The Sunless Citadel, the lizardfolk in Danger at Dunwater, the Phanaton or Rakasta on the Isle of Dread (even the Aranea)... off the top of my head.

My group loved Glabbagool!

Exactly, and you can usually see it coming more often than not. Fortunately, I can say I've only seen this happen a few times. 2 or 3 at most. and no one missed them at all.

Most groups will recover from losing a problem player in no time. It's easier than ever to find prospective players - it kinda amazes me that when a player is on thin ice, they don't realize this. But again, small problems are oftentimes symptomatic of larger issues.

 

[R_J_K75]

Most groups will recover from losing a problem player in no time. It's easier than ever to find prospective players - it kinda amazes me that when a player is on thin ice, they don't realize this. But again, small problems are oftentimes symptomatic of larger issues.

I'm to a point that if the group I'm playing with stopped playing for whatever reason, I don't think I'd bother to actively seek out another. Thats no to say I wouldn't play if I ran into some people I used to play with by happenstance, it does happen, but I wouldn't go on social media or troll LGS's looking for a group of people I don't know. I gotta go brush off my car and drive to go get one of our players for our game in a few hours, and I'd much rather just stay home and sleep.

 

[Necropolitan]

Anyone and anything can be a quest-giver as long as they're able to communicate.