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<blockquote data-quote="chaochou" data-source="post: 5408227" data-attributes="member: 99817">Okay, general ponderings, and a lot of questions for people, about running NPCs.When you are roleplaying an NPC, does that NPC tend to make optimal or rational decisions?I ask, because one of the facets of the world is that lots of people - even very competent ones - are capable of highly sub-optimal, irrational and stupid decisions. Do you trust yourself to do the same with NPCs, or see it as a necessary or interesting facet in a sandbox game?I'll give an example: We have a devil trying to outwit a king. As GM you could decide that the devil succeeds. You could decide the devil fails. You could do this: Roll d20 - King: (1-3) Blind idiotic rage&nbsp; (4-7) Listens to wise counsellor (8-19) Makes best decision (20) Makes best decision with unforeseen additional benefits.Devil: (1-20) Cold, ruthless, uncompromisingly rationalIn time the devil will most likely gain the upper hand when the king gets angry and does something stupid. That's how devils are. They have limitless time and an otherworldly singlemindedness. The devil could also try to influence the wise counsellor. How wise is this wise counsellor anyway?So some questions: When you 'simulate' an NPC, do you have a method to that simulation? Do you simulate fallibility or irrationality, and if so, how? If your notes say someone is 'calculating' are they always so? Are 'stupid' NPCs allowed moments of clarity, wisdom or far-sightedness?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="chaochou, post: 5408227, member: 99817"] Okay, general ponderings, and a lot of questions for people, about running NPCs. When you are roleplaying an NPC, does that NPC tend to make optimal or rational decisions? I ask, because one of the facets of the world is that lots of people - even very competent ones - are capable of highly sub-optimal, irrational and stupid decisions. Do you trust yourself to do the same with NPCs, or see it as a necessary or interesting facet in a sandbox game? I'll give an example: We have a devil trying to outwit a king. As GM you could decide that the devil succeeds. You could decide the devil fails. You could do this: Roll d20 - King: (1-3) Blind idiotic rage (4-7) Listens to wise counsellor (8-19) Makes best decision (20) Makes best decision with unforeseen additional benefits. Devil: (1-20) Cold, ruthless, uncompromisingly rational In time the devil will most likely gain the upper hand when the king gets angry and does something stupid. That's how devils are. They have limitless time and an otherworldly singlemindedness. The devil could also try to influence the wise counsellor. How wise is this wise counsellor anyway? So some questions: When you 'simulate' an NPC, do you have a method to that simulation? Do you simulate fallibility or irrationality, and if so, how? If your notes say someone is 'calculating' are they always so? Are 'stupid' NPCs allowed moments of clarity, wisdom or far-sightedness? [/QUOTE]

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