Transcript
Speaker: The second that I purchase a new book, when I start to read a new book, I immediately crack the spine, like violently, aggressively. Snap. It's like taking it to a chiropractor.
Speaker: Yeah, correct. I will... Hello, friends. Welcome to Tabletop Tangents, a podcast about running tabletop RPGs, writing stories, and the sometimes meandering paths we take in pursuit of creativity and inspiration.
Speaker: Tangent number 15, giving a sheet about NPCs.
Speaker: Should we just talk about the sheet part of this right now and just that the way? Yes, have explain this silly joke. Yeah.
Speaker: The fact that we were just complaining about the title and then as Tracy read it, I laughed. Well, you know, you got to do the performance. You got to you got to put your all into it. Oh, yes. It's an effective title.
Speaker: So first, first, we have decided to talk about um NPCs creation. um and interaction and implementation and implementation um about how much do you prep them as as a game designer slash adventure designer how much ah what is your experiences interacting with them as players as gms as what their purposes are all this kind of stuff we're just going to freewheel it we've got a very minimal outline here but
Speaker: One of our early episode topics was called the Fitted Sheet. and what this is about, and maybe maybe our you know listeners have already intuited this just by the title there, but um the ah this is about those things that you either cannot be bothered with that everyone else seems to care about,
Speaker: or um things that you care about that everyone else seems to not bother with.
Speaker: And we thought that this was very good in relation to the NPC discussion. And the fitted sheet is, ah so I'm famously...
Speaker: against folding the fitted sheet because it's just, it's too complicated, it's too much work and even when I was shown how by multiple people, I just don't care.
Speaker: So I wadded up and a Stick it in the in the lemon closet. You just go full ball with that. okay not Not only full ball on the fitted sheet, I just take all the sheets, all the pillowcases. Wait, even the top sheet in pillowcases? Yeah. All of it. I crumple them all up and I stuff them in the closet right behind the door there.
Speaker: That's what I do. And we replace those every two weeks. So, you know. Okay. anddish is this Is this as bad or not as bad as the reaction to how I read books?
Speaker: I mean, I don't know. You you tell me. yeah This is what I do to shoot. But we need to talk about the book thing because we didn't do that on air. Okay, we can talk about that too. How you handle books is is an affront. It's an abomination. it is is's It's a literal war crime. um and and i mean i can accept the fact that even Well, okay, i will I will begrudgingly accept the fact that Tracy doesn't fold square pieces of material.
Speaker: um Although that the reasoning for that escapes me. Fitted sheets, I'm right there with you. I will make the effort to fold a fitted sheet. it and But it always turns out poorly. And and i don't I don't care.
Speaker: It resembles, it's more rhombus probably when it's by the time it's finally folded. um But I will always fold the top sheet. I will always fold the pillowcases. So that is offensive. But it is nothing compared to the way Dot handles her books. And...
Speaker: um maybe Maybe when the episode is released in the Discord, you'll have to post a few pics of how yeah your demonstration of how you do this so that suddenly you can lose all of your gaming friends. Yes, so so that they can truly understand. Like, I will post what I do to the sheets yeah if you will post what you do to these poor, poor books.
Speaker: Okay. Um, I have a picture of how I fold up my sheets. I have a picture and I've had it saved waiting for this episode so that I can post it with the episode release. And just for you, i will also take a picture of how I ah but abuse my books. Um,
Speaker: It almost needs a video. it' one Okay. all All right. Fine, fine, fine. Yes, yes, yes. I will. i'll I'll make it cinematic. it's ah It's a horror movie. I get it. Okay. It is. um But yeah, i
Speaker: There are many things that I can't be bothered with, but folding a fitted sheet is not one. um i I have to because for me, like I have open shelving and all of my linens are either in like an open shelf in a closet, which that's, that's where towels and stuff are, but all of my other like sheets and linens are on just wire shelving racks. So if I just shoved a wadded up ball of fabric up there, it's just going to fall off or it's just going to look a mess the entire time. And that's going to drive me nuts. It needs to be neat and tidy. Okay.
Speaker: I can make my fitted sheet and my top sheet the exact same size, the exact same like shape, and then the pillowcases get folded neatly and placed on top.
Speaker: oh I'm sure you can. have photographic evidence. I'm going to get sickened by this picture is what's going to happen. I'm going to be like, ugh. It's saccharine in my mouth is what it is. It's so easy. You just tuck the corners into each other and then the last two corners go into each other. And then you just it there's a process. Oh, I know.
Speaker: i know. But I can't even be bothered with the flat sheet dust. I know. you' If I'm an abomination for my books, you're an abomination for laundry.
Speaker: Yes, I really am. I really am. and And there was a time, i mean, I've been married to Boo for many years. And there was a time when we were, we we've gone through our paces here. Boo was really bad when when I first met her. She had piles of laundry that she would not do for a month.
Speaker: And then do it all at once in like, I don't know, 10, 12 loads, right? Yeah, i I'm one to talk. like i'm I'm over here you know on my somewhat raised pony. and meanwhile, there are many a time where I have two laundry baskets full of clean, folded clothes that I simply cannot put away because... The idea of having to then go back through the clothes all over again to put them away is entirely overwhelming and daunting. And I don't want to.
Speaker: yeah But if I just did it in the moment, then yeah, it would be done. But I also don't want to do it then either. Yeah. i know Now we do weekly, which is way easier. Now, and I've got a designated time on Sundays when I fold, blah, blah, blah. It's a much smaller project. But Booth, she wouldn't even, would just, whites, colors,
Speaker: Whatever. no. We'd go now all in the same machine. Also same. i don't I don't separate my laundry. It all gets thrown in regardless. So it's all just a dingy mess.
Speaker: No, like, hey, now. Towels will go separate. You know, bedding will go separate. But like clothes, that all just gets thrown into any one load. But I don't like overfill.
Speaker: We've spent a lot of time talking about laundry and I'm just now realizing it. Oh, we we we have a very large washing machine and dryer, so we can fill quite bit. Yes. i I was really bummed when we moved into this place that the washing machine that came with it has like the little center spindle thing, which like, i get it The agitator, is that what that's called? Yes. Yeah.
Speaker: I get why it's there, but if if the tumbler of the washer spins anyways, that's just taking up room. i agree. We have one without one of those things. i i It's huge. it I miss those days. we my i used to have this really nice Whirlpool washer and dryer set um that the dryer looked like a bread maker, like those electric bread makers. So we call... like I'm really big on personifying um appliances. And we referred to the washer and dryer as the dough boys.
Speaker: And I actually sold them a couple of years ago. But yeah, I miss that washer and dryer. It was good stuff. Good stuff. So that's the fitted sheet.
Speaker: um Okay. Should we get to our like, you know, the n the conversation? Sure. Why not? Talk about slice of life shit. There you go. Yeah. Here we are.
Speaker: You know, I'm just trying to get through the day. got Yep. As are all of us. As are all of us so NPCs. NPCs. And as as as as a... I'm curious from from Chris's perspective here. right. I've played in some of your games, but not any of your campaigns though.
Speaker: Okay, true. That's going to happen. That will happen at some point. um what is do you have do you Are you a variety type where you prep and don't prep? Or are you like a, let's see what happens, give an outline type or you or what?
Speaker: Yes. So I definitely, i think on the ah NPC spectrum, if you will, um There are certainly NPCs that I will have planned out ah details of and probably more information maybe about them than the the players may find out. um Yeah.
Speaker: Then... Internally, i will always have there i always have a few go-to personalities for NPCs that I will draw from should they crop up out of nowhere. If a player wants to go down a street that's to the left and I don't have any notes for the streets to the left, then you know that's where I may draw from from that pool.
Speaker: and Then I think there's also some minimal notes in PCs, you know, that I may only have just a couple of words about, you know, this person is a merchant.
Speaker: Yeah. um or this person is an older merchant or something along those lines. But having said all of that, I have a problem when it comes to NPCs. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: In that... As as a designer? ah Yes. Well, as e know as a as a game master. As a game master. Yeah, yeah. um In that, because of the verisimilitude.
Speaker: Nice. um My desire to make every single NPC that the characters encounter as real as possible at times has become detrimental to the game that I'm running.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. And that I will make up details about the character's history on the fly. I remember specifically running Young and Holt for um when we when we first started running it. And it was it was a shopping episode, if I remember correctly. And they had they were they were getting some shirts from...
Speaker: um this this guy, from this merchant, this trader, whatever. I can't remember exactly what his profession was, but he was selling the shirts. And as as we're doing it, I'm like creating a history for this guy in my head and where these shirts came from, what he did, what some of his problems in life are, all of these things. And we just start having this conversation in character And they just wanted to buy shirts.
Speaker: They just wanted to get a couple shirts. But I just couldn't help myself. I just couldn't help myself. I remember this episode. Yeah. Okay. So you know what I'm talking about. Yes, I do.
Speaker: And i i i gave him, i exaggerated my own Minnesotan accent a little bit more with him. And so that then led into some of his history where he came from.
Speaker: but I just, I feel that, ah feel very strongly that the NPCs who you should own, that your characters only meant to have minial minimal contact with, I don't like, I like to buck that trend. I don't have any problem with game masters who do that. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: and i think it's ah i think it's a you know And I think it's a good thing for expediency's sake. And I certainly have had to learn to temper that behavior of mine when it comes to running one shots. I've had to really learn how to temper that. But and when players latch on to certain NPCs, i had there was another game that I had ran previous prior to this for actually Brad and Brett, the same two players. He was supposed to just be a simple quest giver NPC.
Speaker: And one detail that I gave and he was, he was this, he was, it was a fantasy campaign and not to get into a gaming story, but I'm going to get into a brief gaming story.
Speaker: um He was, ah he lived in, of course, he lived in a very stereotypical small tower. He was an elderly gentleman and they were just really supposed to meet him to learn something about that. But I,
Speaker: made an offhanded mention that he had a garden outside of his tower and inside and in his garden, he was growing onions and they latched onto that. and my brain just like exploded and just lit on fire. And then he ended up becoming a central figure in the campaign.
Speaker: And he was never meant to be that way. We, the, the story became, and then like I had, I had to actually go and do a very long detailed history um about blakenship was his name and i had to go into all this other stuff and this connections to other places that they were going and he ended up dying but it was something to move the campaign forward and like they were genuinely sad about it um and i was genuinely sad about it because they really liked him but it but it you know i should have just left it alone, but they latched onto this one thing about the onions and then it just you know took off. and and i yeah That's when I began to realize i have a real problem when it came to this. you know I'm not sure it's a problem.
Speaker: i well it's it I don't know if it would be if considered a feature. Yeah. I mean, maybe detrimental to finishing your one shot on time. but oh Well, certainly. Yes. That. And again, that goes back to the whole tempering that behavior thing. So that's that is an extremely long winded answer to where do I fall okay on that? OK, well, let me let me let me see. i mean, I do both.
Speaker: Um, it doesn't sound like it because the way I, uh, run games and the way i design games, I really, really, really, really like people.
Speaker: And this is, this is the personality of me. i am a people liker. And so when I take pictures in the world, i don't like to take pictures of mountains or trees or nature or blah, blah, blah. I like pictures of people because i don't know, they're just more interesting.
Speaker: So I'm the same way with games, right? And so for better or worse, and this is my own problem, is i and everybody knows that I tend to create pretty deep NPCs.
Speaker: And i don't know if that bugs people or if it, if it if I don't know. I don't know. But but it's it there certainly is a type that I go for too, but I try to vary it, you know.
Speaker: So anyway, for example, Hayley Preston in Han Cluster is obviously a very... deeply fleshed out character. Right. And she is a bit of a quest giver, but there's more to it than that. But, but what i what I do that is not ah like others, I think, is,
Speaker: is that I don't write a history of Haley. I don't write a background and say this is where she... Well, I do have that, but it took years to develop. It was like, it was part of it was like, oh yeah, she has a history. It's a pretty amazing one. I don't expect anybody to find this out, but for my benefit, it's what this is.
Speaker: But I generally express who she is or express any NPC that i pre-write through their dialogue. So it's it's less about ah this is what you see and this is their environment and this is this is the kind of things that they're they're doing. it's It's more about what I've...
Speaker: expressed for them, what I've written for them. And so for Haley, there's a big long a bottle episode in Transcendence where you really get to know her. And it's because of what she says, the story she tells, how she says it, you know, all that. And so there's, you get the sense of who she is because of how she interacts with you.
Speaker: And that's how I tend to do it, I think. But then there are the there are the less developed ones that become things and just, just okay,
Speaker: Trinity in Trinity's Mustang, for example, is not fleshed out at all. She's ah got a personality. She's got a thing. its you just you just met her in Hancluster. But she's not – there's no deep exploration of her like there is with Haley. And Esmeralda is the same. Like there's an explanation – There's a thing for her so that you can build on it. But their interaction with the PCs is very much dependent on the player's interaction with them.
Speaker: So if they make them big, then they can become big. If they don't, then they don't. um Figgin is the same way, kind of, but he's got some bottled dialogue that I use so that you can see who Figgin is, like so that you can...
Speaker: Like get your teeth into that. And so you know what you're going to get. And i don't know. i don't know. So I, but, but I do both. I do both, but I definitely like characters and I don't use them just to, to, for, um, a gaming purpose. Like they're not all just quest givers.
Speaker: They're not all just, I don't know, whatever. They usually are there as... It could be there as part of an emotional backdrop to the game. They could be there as an... um What's the best way to say it? like the To represent the flaws in the NPCs in a way, or in of the PCs in a way.
Speaker: it's It's to say, you know here, you have to interact with this person. as you and because you're you, you're going to react in a certain way. And that that that explores your your your hindrances, it explores your heroics, it explores who you are through this NPC. That's a lot of the time how I use NPCs.
Speaker: for better or worse. in In a way, that's my own problem. So, Dot, as as a GM and a player, um what are your thoughts on all that and your experience?
Speaker: Well, as a GM, I think that's easier to answer first because slim pickings, but um which would be a really great NPC name and holler, just so you know.
Speaker: Yeah, but kind of like obvious. okay fine but still funny sure we'll give it to you um i i really like well thought out npcs i get that there are gonna be instances that like a quote throw away npc is sometimes necessary just to like do the thing but in all of my gaming experience whatever that's worth i have had more fun engaging with npcs as like a group than probably any other part of the game like you know there's obviously the big wins of combat and everything and you get hyped and that that's fun in its own right but
Speaker: When you have a deep, thorough conversation with the GM in character and you make certain discoveries and you dive fully into your character and how they present themselves in that world...
Speaker: That level of immersion, I think I've only felt that when actually working with NPCs on a consistent basis, like having that that one NPC that is the that does follow the party um or, you know, few or what have you.
Speaker: Uh, I'll always fall for the roleplay trap. I just will. Um, but also ah kids, uh, if you throw a kid NPC at me, it's game over, man. Uh, I've got thoughts on that, but we'll get to that later.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm going to make sure... have questions for a couple things you said, but keep going. Keep going. The kid NPC, even if it's just like, you know, little street urchin or if it's just...
Speaker: um a lost kit i mean tracy you already you already did that to me once in han cluster and my entire focus was like whoa wait hold on we've we've derailed i now have this child that i am responsible for so nothing else matters um but yeah and then before i mentioned my funny what were the things that you wanted to say Well, I don't want to get, but if I mention that, I want to get too far off topic, but you said two things that um I'm very, very curious on. So one, you like well-rounded NPCs.
Speaker: Yes. um Which 100% agreement. i'm On the player side, love it, obviously. And then we just talked about my dysfunction on the GM side. but But so when it comes to that and then taking into account what Tracy just said, since you and I are in the Han cluster game in Tracy mentioned um a couple of the NPCs that don't necessarily have didn't have a lot of backstory. Cheryl doesn't either.
Speaker: So, okay. So my question is, can you tell the difference when one, I mean, ah I know that sometimes there's an obvious, yeah obvious difference, but okay. So the first of all, kudos, because like, I can't, like you mentioned, there's really not that much about Fagin.
Speaker: I thought there was. mean, there's a lot of dialogue. You mentioned there's, well, a lot of dialogue, but that's not necessarily backstory. And you mentioned that there's a lot about, that there's not that much about Trinity. I thought there was. There's no dialogue with Trinity. Trinity is all what she wants.
Speaker: It's all what she wants. So, but even even if it's not a throw an obvious throwaway, you can tell the difference. Yes. Okay. Excellent. Yes. all right And I think it comes from how the GM portrays the character too, because like, uh, not to be too spoilery, but in, in the session that we just had last week with Trinity,
Speaker: i I knew going into that conversation with her that this was simply going to be she's going to ask us for what she wants and we're going to be left with the task of doing it. There's not really going to be any further development of that other than us doing the thing for her.
Speaker: But it's a completely different kind of interaction with someone like Haley because she has deeper investment into the world at a greater scope.
Speaker: Trinity's asking for us to do this one thing. Haley's asking for us to help her basically save the world. You know, like there's there's a difference in scale in how those conversations happen. and the way that they've been portrayed, even by Tracy, has been different.
Speaker: if it if Chris, the the best way that I can put this is the difference in you giving context of Captain Meneltz versus the warrior.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. Sure. Like, I know now that... He has more backstory because we wrote it together. Right. yeah there's There's more detail to him.
Speaker: But in the first adventure, he was just, I'm flying you to this place. And there you go. But the warrior, she's got a, oh, I almost said the F. You did. Very close. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, okay. Well, we got... I caught it! Minutes to go We've been a whole half an episode. Okay. I'm trying. um But yeah, the warrior, whole other whole other jam. Like, she's got way more going on.
Speaker: And it's how you portray them. Captain Reynolds is kind of just freewheeling. He does what he wants. He's just... You know, he just wants to get paid.
Speaker: Whereas the warrior has this much deeper, like meaningful implication on what will happen to the players when they interact with her.
Speaker: Right. Right. It's different. They're they're different. They are different. That's true. That's true. um So second thing. Yeah. You were talking about, you when you talk specifically about getting in, having those in-depth conversations with between player and GM, in character. yeah Okay.
Speaker: To that point, yeah the the scene that we just had in the last session of Han Cluster, when we caught up with Haley, And she was asking, she's going around the table, asking all the characters how they're doing. What are they doing?
Speaker: How's things been? What's going on? What's shaking bacon? um One of my favorite scenes so far, the entire campaign. Just because i'm I'm right there with you. Being in those types of scenes where we're just in character, we're not even talking about anything too serious. I mean, there was stuff that came up in there.
Speaker: But...
Speaker: Everybody was just, everybody was in character and we stayed in character. We had conversations in character and it was great. Yeah. Absolutely great. Cause, cause with you. Those types of scenes are wonderful things to chew on and it they feel very immersive.
Speaker: And um I'm not going to say that it's my favorite because I don't think that that's I don't think that that has happened yet. um But certainly so far, one of one of my favorites. And just because I liked the feeling of the realness of it all.
Speaker: This is someone we've interacted with before. We've done some stuff. We have a little bit of history and here we are. We're just sort of catching up. Yeah. You know, that's a real thing people do. i love that.
Speaker: Yeah. And there's there's more to come of that. More to come. Sweet. Just, and that's that's by design, right? that Yeah. The the transcendence is is very intense that way in the sense of I designed it to build, you're building a coalition. You're building,
Speaker: a network of people who can help you do this. And it's not just Haley. And so, I mean, that's, it's for better or worse. Right. And my comment about the kids thing, I heard there was, this was, this was really, it was interesting, but it was also like,
Speaker: huh, to me, where I went to a con and we were talking, it was a GM's conference or whatever, and it was this kind of freewheeling discussion. and we have somebody who creates questions every year that that they ask and and the group talks about and stuff. And I forget what prompted it, but there was some person where I was talking about NPCs. I was talking about characters, how characters really important to me as ah as a game master and and adventure designer and all that.
Speaker: And somebody, this was a mixed group. So it wasn't like Savage Worlds. It was just all kinds of people um playing all kinds of games. But somebody was like, yeah, I really don't like it when game masters introduce kids.
Speaker: Because when they do that, I feel really manipulated.
Speaker: Right. I feel really like stuck that I have to help them. And I'm like, I get it. I understand. but at the same time, like, that's a pretty cynical way to look at things.
Speaker: and And I just, that's not my intention at all. Yeah, it's it's kind of the Oliver Twist effect, right? Like you you feel obligated as the grown up try and help this kid, even though their problems have nothing to do with your problems.
Speaker: And it's just go ahead it's just that sense of obligation. Yeah, I get it. I do. Yeah. But I never looked at it that way until until somebody was like, yeah I hate that. I hate don't yeah don introducedu introduce kids. I hate it.
Speaker: I'm like, wow. OK, I don't don't play in my games. And I'll give my Mary story after Chris says his point. Yeah. But yet, though. That's really, in a lot of ways, an NPC's job, regardless of their age, background, makeup, whatever species, they are there to provide a certain level of manipulation um towards the characters. they they They need to push certain buttons. Right.
Speaker: You know, ah whether it's pushing buttons of the player or pushing buttons of the character. um Brother Bartholomew absolutely pushed Yursa's buttons in so many different ways. You hated him in principle. Every different way.
Speaker: And you hated him in principle because of what he was. Yes. But then when he wasn't being offensive... He was trying to assimilate into a Nordic society and was ah like didn't respect our pagan gods. that First of all, that is categorically untrue. because it went Hold on. hold on and let me tell Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why that that that that that that that's false. But I love the fact that you have that impression because...
Speaker: Your character's biases saw that. But yeah he he was specifically designed, and I approached this, I wanted to have a missionary, a monotheistic missionary,
Speaker: missionary in your guys' polytheistic society who wasn't actively trying to convert everybody. He was present, and he would talk about his God when asked, and he would demonstrate things for his God, but he was not...
Speaker: um aggressively overt. I wanted to, and I did that on purpose because I wanted that difference as opposed to history, how that played out. I wanted something where, where they genuinely took the message.
Speaker: the The message was similar. But he wasn't he wasn't overt about it. um But then also talking about pushing the buttons of the players, Tracy, in the Sprawl Runners game that we did play GameHulkCon a couple years ago, the the Mr. Johnson and his mustache stroking, as soon as I realized how much that bothered you, I couldn't stop doing it. I know.
Speaker: It was a great. the heck in Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm pretty sure brother Bart absolutely was going around to different huts and houses asking if we had heard about his Lord and Savior Ahutra.
Speaker: I'm like 93% sure. All right. so there was a chance of doubt. And that that only percentage of doubt was because we got him on the whale oil for the sails, or sail oil for from the whales. Yes. yes Yes.
Speaker: And that's that that comes back to that idea that Daryl and I have about NPCs being a a representation in a way of the PC's hindrances, troubles, interests. Like this is the purpose of them in when they're not being quest givers or when they're not selling you shit or whatever. The purpose is to interact with them in that way. And Dodd is doing this again.
Speaker: in hon cluster with frankie frankie's got some serious issues against edenic which is understandable and i kind of love it and so far they keep sort of like uh uh kind of starting to win her over and then yeah suddenly it it pulls back again yeah it's there there is that kind of rubber band effect that's happening because will things will go her way a little bit and she's like okay maybe these people aren't knuck and futz and then we have one interaction that's off the beaten path and she's like nope I'm done get me out of here yeah this is this is the worst I wanna go go
Speaker: You hated them so much. Flames. Flames. Flames. Coming out of my face. um So, so yeah and and and And there's more to that. There's going to be more. Great. I'm just like, it's uncomfortable for me as a nine, an Enneagram nine who who wants all to be harmonized and all that stuff. But at the same time, I'm like, this is the drama. This is the good stuff. Right.
Speaker: Knowing that about you, that's why when Frankie has a negative reaction, like my go-to is like, I will immediately message Tracy to be like, Hey, I'm good. Don's fine. Tracy, Frankie is just in character. Like that. This is how Frankie would act. And I just have to believe her. I just have to believe yeah Because my instinct is to soften and to bring her back right away. But I'm like, no, no, no, no. There's she's a bigger payoff later.
Speaker: There's just something else later. I mean, she hasn't even been to her home planet yet and seen what's going on there. Poor Frankie. Right? so And so I'm like, let's see. Let's see what happens. Right? As long as Dot is okay. Right?
Speaker: And we don't have huge bleed going on, which is something that I've been concerned about and I always am concerned about. If we don't have that, then yeah, we can go do whatever we want. But that's that's what how I use NPCs. Figgin does this. Figgin drives people nuts.
Speaker: Yeah. If I remember correctly, I was kind of like, who the hell is this Yahoo? And yet some people just love him, right? Collins, you'll tell Lieutenant Collins will drive some people insane and some people will just love him.
Speaker: And because he's so big in his personality, right? And I tried to be that way with ah Captain Lang, too. I'm like... I've got to make her uncomfortable for you. Yeah.
Speaker: So that you can, so that, so that there's an arc, there's something that can happen there. And that did, that did come across to that uncomfortableness. Absolutely. Right. And I mean, I don't know what the reactions are, but I, I, she, you know, there's, there's, there's an arc there and I have to be, I have to go for the discomfort in order to get there.
Speaker: Crack and Frankie had a pretty quick reaction. Yeah.
Speaker: What'd you just say? But that that's how I use NPCs. And sometimes it's dangerous to do that. Sometimes it is because it's like, well, I mean, I get away with it pretty good.
Speaker: Um, because I'm a nine and because I can see this stuff coming, um and I can soften when I need to. Um, but, and I'm brave about it because I've been, have had a lot of success, both campaign wise and in one shots where people have just been, wow. I mean, you know, like,
Speaker: Whether it's Curious Death of Violet Evans, which which has really impacted players, or Teen Crush, which i've but I've had monster reactions to what happens in that game. And this is all just a one-shot.
Speaker: But I can't help myself. And at some point, like like Chris says, it's ah it's a problem because I also feel bad. Like this is my one-note challenge.
Speaker: You know, song. this is This is how I do things. And when I break out of that, it's hard work for me and I try, but I don't always completely succeed, you know.
Speaker: But we all are like that. We all have our preferences and biases, but that's that's that's what I do. What else about this to to To encourage discussion in the Discord. Yes, yes. Let's encourage discussion. I do have a ah question I want to put out to the masses. Those who... Actually, and I think this can work from both sides of the screen.
Speaker: I'm very curious as from GMs what... When it comes to designing an NPC... what are what are the what are the What are the approaches? What are the things that they put down?
Speaker: is it ah Is it just physical description? is it one or two keyword personality traits? Is it several sentences? How do you approach building that? What level of information do you provide ah yourself in doing this so that you can convey?
Speaker: um On the player's side, It's kind of the same thing. What are you looking for and when encountering NPCs? is it Is it about ah their appearance? Is it about personality quirks? is it What is it that you're looking forward to? Not necessarily, but maybe Yeah.
Speaker: um to latch onto? is there Is there quirks? Is there personality aspects that you are looking for on the player's side? Because i think that as you as you develop NPCs, there's always ways to sort of either shorthand or improve their presentation.
Speaker: You know, I mean, i will like I'll do it sometimes in a very physical way with gestures, affectations and habits, you know, that are that that are physical. But then yeah I've run game on games online and my camera's not on So i can't do that. So now i have to either describe those better or um sometimes have speech patterns.
Speaker: um that's That's a big one that I dive into is speech patterns a lot. And there's definitely there's definitely a well that i that i that I dip into way too often when it comes to certain types of speech patterns. Drives me crazy.
Speaker: um But i'm just i'm I'm very curious as to what do other ah GMs do to make their NPCs come alive?
Speaker: And what do players look for to attach legitimacy? to those, to those, to those NPCs. Because I think from our, from our discussion earlier, when Don, I was asking if you could tell the difference between them, I'm was realizing as you were offering your explanation, I'm sitting here when we're encountering Fagin and when we're encountering Trinity, I'm imprinting,
Speaker: a backstory and personality things that may or may not exist about these people. I'm making up details about Figgin in my head. Like, where where does he go? i knew exactly where he went, actually, at night when his day was done. In his dingy apartment, his lonely place that he lived, and he's eating his food on a TV tray,
Speaker: you know, and he has like a closet with a couple of, yeah. And he's got, he's got a closet with a couple of just, you know, go-to outfits that he has. um But ultimately he was a very, very lonely individual.
Speaker: Well, yeah. And none of that information was given. None of that was. there are hints. Like there's a hint between about, about the history of him and Vina and how if, reading between the lines, you can see that they're,
Speaker: They used to be a thing and now they're not. And you can imagine because Figgin is the way he is, why that is.
Speaker: Right. But I, that's there, but it's only a it's a line. It's a hint. It's, it's in the dialogue. It shows, but I didn't write about it.
Speaker: I mean, you know, and Cheryl, the same way, Cheryl's just like, well, okay, she's interested. It's like, are we doing this or not? And now it's now she's a, she's a bigger thing. Right. Are we, are we dating or are we not dating?
Speaker: which i think is super interesting right he's especially he's a very confused young man sure he doesn't he doesn't know he doesn't know but it's fun it's fun to play with and uh yeah yeah should we go into the book thing more or have we covered the book thing if we need to add a little, last little nugget about the book thing, I, for my own defense, I know this about myself enough to protect other people's things. So am not a book borrower because know that I am a book abuser and I get it. It's, I know,
Speaker: All of you in the Discord are going to come for me, and I'm prepared to to just take it. but Well, we had a whole discussion about this. where where We did. Chris and Chris and Tracy. Yeah, both of them just absolutely went When you you it it's you open it and it it it the the curve of the page remains a curve and and and you you know you're gentle with it you're careful like i especially game books because game books are expensive they have high quality art in them usually they're nice pages you just i just i feel like I need to take care of them Dot has a different point of view
Speaker: I do. The second that I purchase a new book, when I start to read a new book, I immediately crack the spine, like violently, aggressively. Snap. And then I will go to various parts in book. It's like taking to a chiropractor. Yeah, correct. I will go to various parts in the book and like just randomly crack the spine more just so that it opens up more because I also fold the cover over the back and dog your pages. You should see Chris right now, everybody. Suffering.
Speaker: but the pihead yeah The part that really bothered both of them is that I do the same thing with gaming books. So like my Conan book is worn in because i would flip the whole, because there's not enough room at the table to have all of your stuff.
Speaker: So I'd have to flip open to the page that I needed. And then I would have to bend my book in half and then have my notebook on top of my book with my character sheet on top of that.
Speaker: just to take up the tiniest little corner of the table because there's 17 other people nearby. Wrong.
Speaker: Thanks for hanging out with us. Whether you're behind the screen at the table or lost in your own story, we'll hope you found a little inspiration. If you enjoy our tangents, be sure to connect with us on discord and follow us on socials to keep the conversation going until next time.
Speaker: one of my favorite NPC series ah is actually from ah RGF. In the entirety of that show, we've had no less than eight Jerry's.
