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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elf Witch" data-source="post: 4145167" data-attributes="member: 9037">Talk about extremes being discussed here.It seems either NPCs should be played as helpful and polite all the time to PCs and if they don't then they are jerks . Or if one NPCs is a jerk then that means all the DMs NPCs are jerks.I wanted to take this from a role playing aspect so from here on everything I say is based on that. Beer and pretzels are games is different and a lot of this is not an issue in those kind of games.In a RP game you try and play your PC with some kind of consistency so if you are a paladin you try and play a paladin all the time not a blackguard when it is convient. Part of RP a paladin is trying to stick to your code. You try and give your character motivations on why they do things.NPCs should be played the same way they have motivations that make them behave in a certain way. For example in my game a high level cleric of St Cutbert does not like non humans. He is curt with them which some could take as rudness. Now according to some people here I should not play him that way once my non human PCs get a certain level because that would make him a jerk and the PCs should be able to kill for being that way with no consquences.The world should be filed just like ours with all kinds of people some helpful, some indifferent and some are just jerks. How you respond to them is called role playing. Now if you are playing a paladin and some NPCs is rude to you calls you a name if you play your paaldin as lawful good I doubt you will pull your weapon and slay him. You might grab him and tell him off, you might backhand and tell him to shut his face or just might prove that you are better than him and ignore him.The CE wizard might handle it differently he might do something nasty to the NPC. Both are valid role playing choices.Actions in role playing games have consquences which is what makes the game fun because you influence the world by your actions.Now the by standers watching the paladin handle the man who insulted him by using no violence might find the town opening up to him and trusting him. The wizard may find himself on the wrong side of the law or have the entire town quivering at his feet.  I think the issues comes up when in a RP game DMs play all the NPCs the same. I hate playing in a game where every NPC I meet hates me and his rude and unhelpful. It frustrates me because it does not make any sense.  When a DM does this I can see why the players just want to kill and maim every NPC they meet.There should be a reason why NPCs treat the PCs as they do. In my game my PCs are committed to helping others so they have a repuation of being good people. In the one town they were in the NPCs bent over backwards to treat them good. They gave then free room and food. They even lied to protect these PCs. They are treated like this because of the way the players play their PCs. They are polite, they help with asking to be paid and they don't advantage of the people they are helping.But in the bigger city where they are not known the spellscale and drow have met with some bigotry. They have been refused service at some taverns. "We don't want that kind here" There is a reason for the ingame bigotry all the players knew it when some of them made non human characters as a matter of fact that was part of the motivation for them.Now how they handle this bigtory will decide  what happens next with it. So far the non humans have stoically accepted it. The humans in the party are the ones getting upset and telling people off. If things go as hoped this band of heroes will save the day in a big way as they get higher level and I doubt people will be refusing them service then.All the interactions are based on character motivations not because I am being a jerk to my players.    The other issue is how players play their PC if they play them as special snowflakes who think that because they are PCs they are special and can treat the NPCs badly without amy consquences the game suffers. The DM plays the NPCs motivations as becoming more hostile based on the PCs actions and the PCs get more and more violent with the NPCs.As a player you have to ask yourself would you character kill a man just because he looked at me funny and I can get away with it because he is only a NPC.If you want to play a character who gets that kind of rep that is cool after awhile no NPC will look at you funny but on the other hand no NPC is going to be really helpful either. it is a trade off. You can't expect to play a PC like that and still have an easy time getting help from NPCs. If you are role playing you should not bring metagaming nased on levels into the game. Sure at 15 level you can take on all the city guard and maybe wipe out the King but what possible role playing motive would you have for doing so.  Why would you choose to derail the game that way.You also have to look at what a defination of hero is. Just because you go and slay the trolls that have been attacking caverns does not make you a hero. If you do it and are paid handsomley for the task and then come back to town and take what you want and mistreat the townfolk they won't look at you as a hero they will look at you an necessary evil and be thankful when you leave and hope that they don't need you again.If you expect your PC to be treated with repect then you need to behave in  a way to get it.  The same goes for NPCs as well.That cleric of St Cuthbert I mentioned from my game was like an older brother to the cleric in my game. It is being role played out how much respect the cleric has lost ofr this NPC. It has caused some painful conversations between the two. As for the argument that if you have evil PCs having good NPCs go after them is not being fair. I have to say bull. Part of being evil means the good guys come after you. The same way the evil guys go after good PCs.It should be done fairly though. The encounter should be the right level of the PCs party. The same as you would do if your PCs were good going after evil.</blockquote>

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