NPCs

[1970]

How detailed do you make your settlements? I create prominent NPCs before play, but my players, when I had them, seemed to latch onto the most obscure and common ones, like the bar wench that one PC started a relationship with. Or the blacksmith that another PC seduced. Or the homeless guy that they hired to throw tomatoes at an other PC. I'm sure there are others. I remember spending whole sessions centered around buying supplies. How do you create these NPCs on the fly? It would be easiest to make them all PHs, which makes all the other mutants more special but gets kind of boring, but rolling stuff on the fly kind of disrupts the flow of the game and could create some unexplained questions, like why does the guy with Vampiric Field make his living selling fried rats on a stick?

Your opinions would be much appreciated.

[gentleman john]

I sympathise with you. I too have had players take an interest in the most obscure characters for reasons that are entirely incomprehensible to me. What? You want to know about the background of the potboy? Really?

So - how detailed do I make my settlements? In any game system, I really only concentrate on developing the major NPCs. After all, they are the ones that most of the action is going to be concentrating on. However, I have learned my lesson, and I always have a list of "random" NPCs handy. The list just consists of a number of names and interesting traits. That's it. If the players ask after a random NPC, I just give them a name off the list and a trait for them to interact with.

There is another part to this - remembering what happened! When players come back to the same location, they do go after their "pet" NPCs. So, I make a habit of noting down my random NPCs in my little black book campaign logs.

Maybe, after time, I develop these NPCs, but only if the circumstances demand it. After all, not every kitchen hand wants to be an adventurer.

Addressing your specific point about MF - don't bother giving the NPCs any special powers unless it is part of their species. Really. If you've got a family of badders running the local octochicken franchise, then they have standard badder abilities. If you just have a load of random mutants, then they look like mutants but their powers aren't really all that good. Maybe they can levitate a pound of metal, or they have spines. Maybe they have their face in their stomach. Maybe they're just plain deformed. It makes the PCs and the major NPCs that bit more special, but doesn't detract from the setting.

I must admit, my views on this are influenced by mutants in Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog. Yes, some mutants do have interesting abilities, but these are the ones the adventure centres around. The rest are just "eye candy", so to speak.

Of course, YMMV.

[DavetheLost]

Of course every now and then it is a good thing to have the guy selling rats on a stick have Vampiric Field maybe he has some reason for not having a better life, or maybe he just likes selling rats on a stick. Either way it is a great surprise when one of the PCs decides to mess with him and he pops off a Vampiric Field.

Most of the time though my mutant NPCs will have mutations that have very limited if any real game effect. Two hands on each arm, grasshopper legs instead of human ones, or blue skin don't really change anything. I have had two headed NPCs who talked and argued with themselves.

[greyarea]

However, I have learned my lesson, and I always have a list of "random" NPCs handy. The list just consists of a number of names and interesting traits. That's it. If the players ask after a random NPC, I just give them a name off the list and a trait for them to interact with.

There is another part to this - remembering what happened! When players come back to the same location, they do go after their "pet" NPCs. So, I make a habit of noting down my random NPCs in my little black book campaign logs.

Ditto. And players are forgiving when I am somewhat inconsistent. Usually.

[1970]

Thanks for your replies.

I'd never really considered having pure strain mutant "breeds" before. I'll have to work with that one.

Keeping a list of random NPCs seems like a good idea. I'd heard it before from other systems (Over the Edge comes to mind) but I never really remember to do that. Probably comes from modeling my adventures after published modules. I like things pretty bare boned, but with a game with so many variables like MF (as opposed to a LL-style game) I needed a little reminder. I have read too many books to remember who said what when .

Back in the day I was pretty good about remembering the soap opera that my campaign had become. Of course, I was young then and my memory was still intact. These days I'd probably need to write a novella to keep track of it all.

Fortunately, I've never really had a problem with PCs messing with my NPCs. They were much more interested in deciding what material to get their dresses made from. I guess not every PC wants to be an adventurer either.

[Malcadon]

I usually make a list of stock NPCs with stats (including mutations) on index cards, but with no names or personalities, along with a list of names with their appearance and personality on another set of index cards. For the most part, I only need the appearance and personality form the named cards, and the mutations on the stat cards. I would have have some noteworthy NPCs fully listed on their own cards

The cards are generated by random charts and tables from various sources. I use the tables from the old AD&D DMG for random appearance and personality. I use The Metamorhica (see below) for random mutations. I use the Carcosan Ethnology form The Carcosan Grimoire on entire communities. It notes random customs, architecture styles, clothing styles and body modifications (if any). and I use and old comical Dragon Magazine article with lots of table to roll-up weirdos and oddballs to spice-up a few of the bland NRCs.

The Metamorhica is a great, system-neutral book with a huge list of powers and mutations, along with several useful table for this and that, and different methods for rolling different types of mutants, demons, superheroes, aliens, etc. The file is free and the booklet is cheap. It is worth checking out!

The Carcosan Grimoire is a free netbook supplement for the controversial RPG Carcosa -- a strange setting design around AD&D, Gamma World and the Cthulhu Mythos. The game is not for everyone, but I find a lot of useful things in strange and interesting places.

As for the Dragon Magazine article, I do not have it at hand to know which one it is. But OMG, it is SOO %$#&ing funny!!!

[1970]

I used to use oversized index cards to make stock NPCs for CyberPunk 2020. Of course, corporate solos were considerably less labor intensive than mutants. I don't know why I never ported the idea over to other games.

I have a copy of the Carcosan Grimoire, and found that the name/title section was my favorite part. It reminded me of the Abyssals from Exalted.

I remember an old Dragon that had a whole lot of random tables for Gamma World. I think it was the first or second issue I ever got.

[gentleman john]

I'd never really considered having pure strain mutant "breeds" before. I'll have to work with that one.

I have to admit I nicked that idea from the Alternity version of Gamma World. They allowed you to play "breed mutants" (to coin a phrase). Ordinary NPCs from a breed had all the requisite powers; PC breed mutants had half the powers of the breed and another half rolled for randomly.

It's come in handy at times.