Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Tortoise" data-source="post: 1303742" data-attributes="member: 146">I once created an NPC in with the idea of giving the PC's an information source and useful contact. They players took to this NPC immediately. In the course of the session I had intended for them to encounter and battle a very tough opponent, hopefully in his lair. When they shied away from the lair I immediately decided how I might encourage the encounter without it coming off as railroading, and fortunately it worked out very well. I had the villain impersonate the NPC and added subtle differences to the way I portrayed him so that they might notice something was different. They took the bait and rushed to try and find their new acquaintence only to discover the friend mauled to death and the Rakshasa still masquerading as the NPC. The battle that followed lead to a temple burning down and a PC and his familiar going MIA (the player was moving away and we were looking for a dramatic, but open ended departure for his character).You can always create a dramitcally appropriate moment to kill off an NPC, and I have when it moved the story along, even to the detriment of other possible story lines.However ... I try to play by the following thought:Death doesn't wait for drama, death IS drama.If the dice dictate an untimely death there isn't a much more tragic and dramatic element you could have asked for.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tortoise, post: 1303742, member: 146"] I once created an NPC in with the idea of giving the PC's an information source and useful contact. They players took to this NPC immediately. In the course of the session I had intended for them to encounter and battle a very tough opponent, hopefully in his lair. When they shied away from the lair I immediately decided how I might encourage the encounter without it coming off as railroading, and fortunately it worked out very well. I had the villain impersonate the NPC and added subtle differences to the way I portrayed him so that they might notice something was different. They took the bait and rushed to try and find their new acquaintence only to discover the friend mauled to death and the Rakshasa still masquerading as the NPC. The battle that followed lead to a temple burning down and a PC and his familiar going MIA (the player was moving away and we were looking for a dramatic, but open ended departure for his character). You can always create a dramitcally appropriate moment to kill off an NPC, and I have when it moved the story along, even to the detriment of other possible story lines. However ... I try to play by the following thought: Death doesn't wait for drama, death IS drama. If the dice dictate an untimely death there isn't a much more tragic and dramatic element you could have asked for. [/QUOTE]

Verification