Can you make use of a systemless NPC book filled with colorful characters?

[Ghostwind]

One of the projects I am toying around with is a book of characters that aren't your average NPCs. Instead they would be individuals with colorful personalities and natures. They would would test boundaries of what a society may deem normal. For example, you may have a noble lady who is thought of quite highly due to her philanthropic charities yet there is an air of mystery because no one has ever actually seen her. Rumors abound that she is a prisoner in her own house or that she doesn't even exist at all.

At this point, I am leaning towards making the book systemless - no game stats at all, only descriptive and flavorful text about each individual.

Is this something that you could make use of? If so, what else would you like to see included?

 

[Stormonu]

Systemless? No, I don't think so. While I appreciate storied NPCs, for me the main selling point in an RPG product of NPCs is that they have associated stats for in-game use. For example, while the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Characters-Star-Wars/dp/0345449002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276056928&sr=8-1"]Star Wars Essential Guide to Characters[/ame] has good info about Star War's personalities, I'd take [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Threats-Galaxy-Star-Wars-Roleplaying/dp/0786947810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276056986&sr=1-1"]Threats of the Galaxy[/ame] over it any day for an RPG.

Story hooks would be a great boon; an NPC without context doesn't often get used - one that can be at the heart of a whole adventure is much more likely to get used. I tend to be thick-headed enough that pointing out the story hooks/plots as a separate entry from their personality/history would grab my attention quicker than hinting at possible adventures in other sections.

 

[S'mon]

I would be most interested in a book of statless plug & play NPC personalities, mostly average/generic but with one or two personality quirks to make them stand out from the crowd. Eg several innkeepers, stablehands, mercenaries, city guards - the kinds of NPCs the PCs interact with routinely and frequently. I don't want super-quirky adventure-hook NPCs as such, I can do those myself. What I'd appreciate is help in making 'normal innkeeper A' stand out from 'normal innkeeper B'.

 

[Starfox]

I prefer such characters to have stats, even if it is not for a system I'm using. Its easier to convert than it is to invent.

 

[Gilladian]

Don't make them too quirky. Too much character and they're too hard to adapt to a specific campaign setting...

Also, if you did go systemless, make sure you at LEAST describe their power ratings in several important facets against the "average" person of their world. In other words, if they're a wizard, are they apprentice-level, journeyman, or master? And etc...

I'd prefer stats. Stats for my game, of course, but any stats are better than none at all.

 

[Wolf1066]

Even if the stats were presented in terms of "Average" and varying degrees of "better than" or "worse than" average it would be of help - providing the GM knows their own system and what the "normal", "low" and "high" levels are for their stats, it should not be any difficulty to convert. Coming up with convincing/plausible stats to fit storied NPCs designed by someone else might become problematic.

 

[IronWolf]

I would be most interested in a book of statless plug & play NPC personalities, mostly average/generic but with one or two personality quirks to make them stand out from the crowd. Eg several innkeepers, stablehands, mercenaries, city guards - the kinds of NPCs the PCs interact with routinely and frequently. I don't want super-quirky adventure-hook NPCs as such, I can do those myself. What I'd appreciate is help in making 'normal innkeeper A' stand out from 'normal innkeeper B'.

This is closest to what I would find useful. Being able to fill out an NPC with something from a book like this would be helpful. If you get too crazy or quirky they do become a little harder to just drop into a setting. Maybe just a chapter for NPCs that are a little more on the quirky side.

As for stats, I would lean towards statless. They are NPCs, it is the more unique case that the party is actually going to interact with them to the level that requires mechanics. If they do decide to interact with them I can pretty easily approximate their stats as needed on the fly or using tables from the rule system of choice's rule book.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Is this something that you could make use of? If so, what else would you like to see included?

Yes, with pictures--even simple black and white ink drawings.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I would appreciate a book like this. The stats don't really matter to me all that much unless the NPCs are clearly antagonists that the PCs will likely end up fighting.

Depending on how you plan to format the book, I would recommend for each NPC description leaving space for people to include stats if they want to write them up, and for listing where the PCs encountered the NPC for later reference.

 

[SKyOdin]

I would have no use at all for a book like this, for a couple of related reasons. First of all, it is very unlikely that I would be able to make any direct use out of any of these NPCs, since they weren't designed with my campaign and setting in mind. At best, they could only be designed with the most generic of fantasy RPG settings in mind, which would require me to adapt them heavily in order to make use out of them for a specific campaign. The fact that they wouldn't have stats would mean that I would have to come up with stats on my own.

In the end, all I can really do is merely draw inspiration from the characters in such a book. However, literature and popular media are already full of all kinds of quirky and interesting characters to draw inspiration from. In order for this book to have any value, the characters have to be more interesting than any that exist elsewhere in literature and popular culture, and that includes going up against the likes of Shakespeare (which is a pretty tall order).

Quirky character concepts are easy to make. 90% of the work in making an NPC ready to use is creating stats (depending on the game system) and adapting the idea to fit a specific campaign and setting. I would much sooner buy a product that did that work for me (such as "100 NPCs of Eberron for 4E").