PC-to-NPC relations!
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 5:41 pm
Hello again CLOKians,
I'm super excited to be here helping out and, specifically, being limited in my scope and responsibilities to only doing the fun stuff - that is, events and PC-to-NPC interactions. My primary plan is to make the towns I'm in charge of really feel alive. These are the places most PCs spend the most time in overall, and where larger groups of people gather. Several characters own homes and live in these towns. I want to try and make the time spent in these towns compete with the time spent out in the wilds and on adventures, as far as being fun and interesting. Will I succeed? That's to be seen, but I'm going to give it my darndest!
Below are a mess of general thoughts on the subject of PC-to-NPC relationships, some of which are suggestion that I think will help said relationships work out optimally.
- If you have communications to relay to an NPC and you plan to send them mail (NPCmail), please just put the communications in the actual letter rather than sending the NPC a letter asking to meet in person. Due to IRL scheduling, GMs and players alike being busy with other things, the logistics of arranging meeting times with players when the GM doesn't know the player's regular schedule and the player doesn't know the GM's regular schedule, etc. etc., it's much harder on the GM to arrange an in-person meeting. NPCmail was designed to alleviate that problem and give players a way to communicate with NPCs (and send items) with no hassles, but it seems like a large majority of NPCmail is simply "I have information/a question/concerns/an item for you, let's meet in person" which defeats the purpose entirely. If you're worried about NPCmailed info being intercepted or read by third parties or stuff like that, consider coming up with codewords, a cool secret cipher to use for encrypted communications, whatever - be creative! Being secretive and mysterious is fun! Ultimately - if you can, but refuse to, communicate actual information to an NPC by mail and will only do so in person, chances are the information is going to get to that NPC late, or even not all.
- Related to the above: Please don't treat NPCmail as an NPC summoning spell.
- Please accept that fact that you won't always get a response to your NPCmail. It's fantastic that you sent that informative letter to the sheriff, and he's likely quite thankful. He's not going to send out thank-you notes in response to every piece of mail he receives, though.
- Don't assume you're "in" with an NPC or on their fast-track list. Yes, some NPCs form close relationships with PCs, and I love that! Just don't let it get to a point where you start to feel entitled, like that NPC should always be around for whatever you might need, or that they should take care of things for you, and stuff like that.
- A complaint I've occasionally gotten is something along the lines of: "This is ridiculous! NPC Joe would never say that/act that way!" Please don't do this. They're our NPCs, and we know how they will and won't act - we made them up in the first place! Sometimes they won't do what you expect. Sometimes there are extraordinary situations and circumstances that cause them to do things they normally wouldn't do. Sometimes they'll do things you don't like. Sometimes they change their minds and stances. Sometimes they forget things. Characters (and players) are free to be unhappy about something not going their way or the way they would expect, but people telling us that we aren't playing our own NPCs correctly is extremely frustrating and discouraging.
- I realize that a lot of people have complained that there's been a lot of emphasis on negative consequences. While I don't plan to let up on negative consequences to actions that warrant them - this isn't a tabletop session where the DM is a personal friend whom lets you handwave bad decisions away and fix the dice in your favor so that you end up being the king of the entire country through ridiculous schemes - I do plan to keep in mind that good things should happen to/for people who deserve them through their efforts. Focusing specifically on events and PC-to-NPC relationships (Man, I really need an acronym or something for that - PTNR?), this should be easier for me to keep track of and put into effect.
So! With that all said, what are some things you, the players at home, think would help the PC-to-NPC relationships in CLOK? Feel free to suggest things I and other GMs can do as well as advice to your fellow players.
I'm super excited to be here helping out and, specifically, being limited in my scope and responsibilities to only doing the fun stuff - that is, events and PC-to-NPC interactions. My primary plan is to make the towns I'm in charge of really feel alive. These are the places most PCs spend the most time in overall, and where larger groups of people gather. Several characters own homes and live in these towns. I want to try and make the time spent in these towns compete with the time spent out in the wilds and on adventures, as far as being fun and interesting. Will I succeed? That's to be seen, but I'm going to give it my darndest!
Below are a mess of general thoughts on the subject of PC-to-NPC relationships, some of which are suggestion that I think will help said relationships work out optimally.
- If you have communications to relay to an NPC and you plan to send them mail (NPCmail), please just put the communications in the actual letter rather than sending the NPC a letter asking to meet in person. Due to IRL scheduling, GMs and players alike being busy with other things, the logistics of arranging meeting times with players when the GM doesn't know the player's regular schedule and the player doesn't know the GM's regular schedule, etc. etc., it's much harder on the GM to arrange an in-person meeting. NPCmail was designed to alleviate that problem and give players a way to communicate with NPCs (and send items) with no hassles, but it seems like a large majority of NPCmail is simply "I have information/a question/concerns/an item for you, let's meet in person" which defeats the purpose entirely. If you're worried about NPCmailed info being intercepted or read by third parties or stuff like that, consider coming up with codewords, a cool secret cipher to use for encrypted communications, whatever - be creative! Being secretive and mysterious is fun! Ultimately - if you can, but refuse to, communicate actual information to an NPC by mail and will only do so in person, chances are the information is going to get to that NPC late, or even not all.
- Related to the above: Please don't treat NPCmail as an NPC summoning spell.
- Please accept that fact that you won't always get a response to your NPCmail. It's fantastic that you sent that informative letter to the sheriff, and he's likely quite thankful. He's not going to send out thank-you notes in response to every piece of mail he receives, though.
- Don't assume you're "in" with an NPC or on their fast-track list. Yes, some NPCs form close relationships with PCs, and I love that! Just don't let it get to a point where you start to feel entitled, like that NPC should always be around for whatever you might need, or that they should take care of things for you, and stuff like that.
- A complaint I've occasionally gotten is something along the lines of: "This is ridiculous! NPC Joe would never say that/act that way!" Please don't do this. They're our NPCs, and we know how they will and won't act - we made them up in the first place! Sometimes they won't do what you expect. Sometimes there are extraordinary situations and circumstances that cause them to do things they normally wouldn't do. Sometimes they'll do things you don't like. Sometimes they change their minds and stances. Sometimes they forget things. Characters (and players) are free to be unhappy about something not going their way or the way they would expect, but people telling us that we aren't playing our own NPCs correctly is extremely frustrating and discouraging.
- I realize that a lot of people have complained that there's been a lot of emphasis on negative consequences. While I don't plan to let up on negative consequences to actions that warrant them - this isn't a tabletop session where the DM is a personal friend whom lets you handwave bad decisions away and fix the dice in your favor so that you end up being the king of the entire country through ridiculous schemes - I do plan to keep in mind that good things should happen to/for people who deserve them through their efforts. Focusing specifically on events and PC-to-NPC relationships (Man, I really need an acronym or something for that - PTNR?), this should be easier for me to keep track of and put into effect.
So! With that all said, what are some things you, the players at home, think would help the PC-to-NPC relationships in CLOK? Feel free to suggest things I and other GMs can do as well as advice to your fellow players.