Why are some NPCs so amazingly irritating? (e.g. Khelben Blackstaff)

[Neil Bishop]

* bing! bing! * We have a winner! Ages ago, before I became thoroughly convinced that the RPGA and Forgotten Realms are both a horrible waste of time and money, I played a FR RPGA event at a con. We 2nd-4th levels PCs are hired to provide security for a fancy dress ball attended by Waterdeep's ruling elites. When trouble erupted, all those 10th-15th NPCs stood around and waited for us to handle things. Utterly stupid.

Of course it was utterly stupid. Read anything that the RPGA did with FR. It wasn't the fault of the setting: it was the 12 year olds in the RPGA who ruined things. I mean, this is the same group who named a cleric of Sune after a p0rn actress. It's that sort of infantile/puerile attitude that will ruin anything.

FR's game products are quite good, if not very good, once you get past the short period during 2E period when the FR logo was slapped on anything in a desperate grab for cash. Unfortunately, the setting is driven by the more profitable novels so it does suffer as a game world because the novels tackle themes and events that can ruin FR as a game world (and highlight NPCs that perhaps should not be highlighted in a non-novel world).

 

[hamishspence]

Flawless. Doesn't look that way to me

Storm can be touchy and judgemental, (avatar series) Khelben is ruthless and paranoid (silverfall by ed, and several other books) Drizzt makes the same mistake several times running (starless night, hunters blades series, why he keeps assuming he has to do his job on his own) and Elminster has misbehaved numerous times.

Sometimes the best aspects of the character are showcased, but in my opinion the books that work best are the ones based around less powerful but better rounded characters:
Arilyn Moonblade, Danilo Thann, Erevis Cale, Liriel Baenre, etc.

I'd generally keep the big characters at a distance from the party at first: like Elrond in the LOTR books: a planner more than an actor.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

The level of annoyance of a an NPC is expressed by the following:

Annoyance = Npc.Power * 1 / NPC.AbilityOfPlayersToKill * Npc.NumberOfAppearances;

Blatantly Powerful NPC's who keep showing up that cannot be killed by the Players and tell them what to do generally are not thought of fondly.

Khelben, Elminster, and the rest are generally used as default Powerful NPC Wizards who tell the players to go off and do something. If the players at least have the option to try to kill the NPC, it is a bit less annoying.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Note that NPC power doesn't have to equal resistance to being killed by PCs.

Elminster's perceived power (as read in novels and seen in a few bad adventures) is far greater than his ability to resist being killed (his stats aren't at all optimized), although I guess I should say "defeated" since Mystra and/or his Eliminster's Evasion spell means he effectively can't die.

Elminster is perceived as far more powerful than other non-Chosen wizards of roughly equal level, even if you ignore the Chosen template.

At least he'll lose that now that Mystra's kicked the bucket.