Rules to NPC By

Rules to NPC By
 by Travis "Elwin" Wilcox

Good day everyone! With such an influx of new players and their generosity in donating their time as NPCs, I thought it would be a good idea to write up a little list of guidelines to follow when you are playing a crunchie NPC for another event holder. This is by far not a comprehensive list, but it will get a lot of the bad habits out of the way and allow for a good time to be had by all.

1.      Remember we are doing this to make sure the players are having fun. That doesn't mean you can't have fun as well, but chances are you got a reduced cost to get into the event and you are helping the game as a whole by playing an NPC.

2.      You should never backstab players to kill them. No one likes to just die without having a chance to defend themselves. Sure, a leg shot here and there is fine to remind them to keep their head on a swivel, but it is unsportsmanlike to just drum roll someone’s back.

3.      Remember to always fight as your monster. If they are a goblin, they shouldn't be a super soldier fighting above all other players out there even if you as a player a physically capable of doing so. Tone it down, you have a ton of lives the players have very limited.

4.      In that same vein, you shouldn't machine gun as a crunchie. Take the shot and pull back. If you slip inside that shield man's guard don't just go crazy in there. Give them a chance to correct their guard and keep fighting. One missed block shouldn't equal death on a fully armored fighter.

5.      As important as it is on a quest for the players to take their hits, it is infinitely more important for an NPC to do so. Like above, you have a ton of lives where the players have few. It hurts nothing for you to over call and take a death on accident then to miss a shot and end up killing a player.

6.      You are the interactive piece to the world that the characters see. If you are a goblin act like a goblin, if you are a troll act like a troll. It is important to get into that character as much as you can to bring the world to life for the other players.

7.      Pace yourself. Depending on how many NPCs are in your group you may have a hard day's work ahead of you. There are times when you need to be constantly fighting on the field for an hour or more. Make sure you take care of yourself and drink plenty of water. Grab a snack to keep your energy up and remember, it is okay to slow down a little bit if you are getting tired. Mistakes happen when you are fatigued, and no one wants anyone else to get hurt.

8.      Make sure you ask your Event Holder or Head NPC how the special calls work on you and how you should respond to them. Things like Enfeeble Being, Fighter's Intuition, and Ritual of Banishment, make a world of difference to the players casting them and it feels bad for them if they just get a “No Effect” or a shrug from the NPC.

9.      Finally, I would like to stress that many of these can be overruled by an event holder so that they can try and better tell their story. Unless they are asking you to break a safety rule, it is their decision if they want you to fight at full ability or backstab without warning. Just make sure they are the ones giving you that call, and you are not taking that liberty upon yourself.

 These are just general rules to follow when you are playing a basic crunchie NPC. Things change quite a bit when you are given a lead role or a more powerful monster to play. They usually have special calls as well as special defenses and unique ways of playing them. The biggest thing out of all of these to remember is Rule 1. We are all doing this to have fun. If you are ruining your player's fun by how you are acting, you are not doing your job as an NPC. That doesn't mean don't challenge them but also make sure they are not overwhelmed.