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DMs - do you use session summaries and I would like NPC help
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<blockquote data-quote="BSF" data-source="post: 2794526" data-attributes="member: 13098"><p>I design NPCs with goals. Everybody has a goal in life. It might be to have a healthy family, it might be to get rich, it might be to gain personal power, overthrow the king, reclaim a heritage, destroy a person/place/thing, cheat death, or whatever. NPCs have goals. Next figure out how motivated any given NPC is to attain that goal. Perhaps it is a hobby, perhaps it is a lifelong passion, perhaps a loved one will die if the goal is not reached. The point is, how hard will the NPC work to reach that goal? How likely is the NPC to give up? Now figure out what plan the NPC will put in place to reach that goal. While you are at it, toss in some personality traits. Is the NPC vicious and aggressive? Quiet and cunning? Add personality that seems to be in line with motivation and goals. </p><p></p><p>Now you have an NPC with a goal, a plan to reach that goal and you know how motivated the NPC is to attain that goal. If nothing interferes with the plan, then the NPC will attain the goal in x time. </p><p></p><p>This is where the PCs finally come in. Figure out a way for the PCs to interfere with this plan. Intentional or not, they will provide tension. These are what I call tension points. As the PCs apply tension, the plan will have to be adjusted. The NPC will adjust the plan based on motivation and personality. A highly motivated, aggressive NPC might personally confront the PCs. A lightly motivated, aggressive NPC might accost the PCs and berate them for interfering, then drop the goal. </p><p></p><p>Sometimes the PC's interference will be slight and not immediately attract attention. </p><p></p><p><em>So one shipment of slaves didn't arrive. That is going to set the demon summoning project back by a week, but kidnapping slaves is risky and sometimes it doesn't work out right. Time to find a new source.</em></p><p></p><p>Sometimes the PC's interference will be major and attract immediate attention.</p><p></p><p><em>The holy relic we stole from the Church of Pter was, in turn, stolen from us. Spies indicate the relic was snuck back into the Church a week ago. The people responsible appear to be the same ones that have stopped three of our kidnapping excursions in the last season. Hmm, these guys are starting to get annoying. Let's do something about them.</em></p><p></p><p>As the PCs apply tension to these plans, the NPC will adjust to still reach her goal. Sometimes the tension will break the plan. The most notable event is when the PCs track down the NPC and kill him! </p><p></p><p>Now, please note that this works for all manner of NPCs. Villians as well as potential allies. It is even possible that the PCs will interfere with the plans of a potential ally and instead create an adversary. Perhaps a good organization has spent months infiltrating a slave trading organization. The PCs lose a couple of family members to a slave raid and decide to 'fix' the problem. They track down the slavers and kill them all in a massive battle. After the fact, the good organization accosts the PCs because they killed an undercover agent. Now the leads to the mastermind of hte slave trading organization are all gone. The PCs have applied tension to the plans of both the good organization as well as the slave traders. </p><p></p><p>This is one of the ways that I make my world feel 'real'. There are NPCs of all sorts that have motivations and goals and the PCs interact with those NPCs. They help some, harm others, and decide to completely ignore the rest. Actions and consequences become the norm and my players expect to figure out how they can build alliances and identify enemies. Sometimes it is very easy to figure out who they are dealing with, other times, it is not easy. </p><p></p><p>Is this the sort of advice you are looking for?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BSF, post: 2794526, member: 13098"] I design NPCs with goals. Everybody has a goal in life. It might be to have a healthy family, it might be to get rich, it might be to gain personal power, overthrow the king, reclaim a heritage, destroy a person/place/thing, cheat death, or whatever. NPCs have goals. Next figure out how motivated any given NPC is to attain that goal. Perhaps it is a hobby, perhaps it is a lifelong passion, perhaps a loved one will die if the goal is not reached. The point is, how hard will the NPC work to reach that goal? How likely is the NPC to give up? Now figure out what plan the NPC will put in place to reach that goal. While you are at it, toss in some personality traits. Is the NPC vicious and aggressive? Quiet and cunning? Add personality that seems to be in line with motivation and goals. Now you have an NPC with a goal, a plan to reach that goal and you know how motivated the NPC is to attain that goal. If nothing interferes with the plan, then the NPC will attain the goal in x time. This is where the PCs finally come in. Figure out a way for the PCs to interfere with this plan. Intentional or not, they will provide tension. These are what I call tension points. As the PCs apply tension, the plan will have to be adjusted. The NPC will adjust the plan based on motivation and personality. A highly motivated, aggressive NPC might personally confront the PCs. A lightly motivated, aggressive NPC might accost the PCs and berate them for interfering, then drop the goal. Sometimes the PC's interference will be slight and not immediately attract attention. [i]So one shipment of slaves didn't arrive. That is going to set the demon summoning project back by a week, but kidnapping slaves is risky and sometimes it doesn't work out right. Time to find a new source.[/i] Sometimes the PC's interference will be major and attract immediate attention. [i]The holy relic we stole from the Church of Pter was, in turn, stolen from us. Spies indicate the relic was snuck back into the Church a week ago. The people responsible appear to be the same ones that have stopped three of our kidnapping excursions in the last season. Hmm, these guys are starting to get annoying. Let's do something about them.[/i] As the PCs apply tension to these plans, the NPC will adjust to still reach her goal. Sometimes the tension will break the plan. The most notable event is when the PCs track down the NPC and kill him! Now, please note that this works for all manner of NPCs. Villians as well as potential allies. It is even possible that the PCs will interfere with the plans of a potential ally and instead create an adversary. Perhaps a good organization has spent months infiltrating a slave trading organization. The PCs lose a couple of family members to a slave raid and decide to 'fix' the problem. They track down the slavers and kill them all in a massive battle. After the fact, the good organization accosts the PCs because they killed an undercover agent. Now the leads to the mastermind of hte slave trading organization are all gone. The PCs have applied tension to the plans of both the good organization as well as the slave traders. This is one of the ways that I make my world feel 'real'. There are NPCs of all sorts that have motivations and goals and the PCs interact with those NPCs. They help some, harm others, and decide to completely ignore the rest. Actions and consequences become the norm and my players expect to figure out how they can build alliances and identify enemies. Sometimes it is very easy to figure out who they are dealing with, other times, it is not easy. Is this the sort of advice you are looking for? [/QUOTE]
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