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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6093733" data-attributes="member: 42582">If there was a thread on this already, apologies - I missed it!In <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dmxp/20130221" target="_blank">a recent DM Experience column</a>, Perkins advised GMs:to make the majority of the non-hostile NPCs in your world good at what they do and well disposed toward the adventurers. . . Have an NPC show some initiative. . . Have an NPC throw the party a bone. . . Have an NPC solve a problem.And he gives various examples of friendly, helpful NPCs.Opinions?I generally agree except with respct to having an NPC solve a problem - I think that has to be handled sparingly so as to avoid stealing the players' thunder or making them feel like goofs.But the stuff about having the priest, the king, the guards etc treat PCs with respect rather than like dirt I think is spot on. Especially for D&D, where the standard trajectory of the game has the PCs, in reasonably short order, becoming some of the most capable, divinely and magically blessed people around.And I also agree with Perkins that the opposite approach - in which the GM uses every NPC as an opportunity to force adversity upon the players - is a good recipe for a troubled game.And with that said, I'm always surprised at the number of published modules which rely on the "allied NPC turns out to betray the party" trope. I seem to come across that in every second module, yet both as a GM and having experienced it as a player, it seems such a sure way to destabilise the player-GM relationship.Which is not to say I'm against treachery per se, but I think it works best when the players are in on the joke. At the moment, I'm running a version of P2 Demon Queen's Enclave, and the players are making their plans on the basis that the drow are unreliable, deceitful and treacherous. That's fun, and gives the dealings with drow a distinctive flavour. But I think it would be pretty toxic if it generalised to the whole campaign world.</blockquote>

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