Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Unique NPCs

Would you like to see Unique NPCs teated like PCs?


  • Total voters
    15
PC= Player Character

NPC= Non/Not Player Character

Before I begin, this post will probably be pretty incoherent as it's just some ramblings I've had. Also know this is meant with no malice, just to improve the board.

Now, before I delve into the problem with Unique NPCs, I'd like to say that all variants of NPCs below Unique are treated perfect right now. I think that, for the most part, the current NPC system is fantastic and very efficient, I can go and bash the brains out of any almost any non-unique NPC with relative ease, and I want to keep it that way. If every single NPC was treated like a Unique, it would be...Chaos ;)

The Problem:
But, there's a big difference between my army grunts and my long time companion Qaeth Idos (I'll be using him as an example). The problem I have with Unique NPCs is that they're not treated like PCs and the staff outright endorses this rule. I think that first, the term NPC shouldn't be applied to Unique ''NPCs.'' Having a unique NPC means that my level of involvement with that ''NPC'' is drastically increased, I write their stories and I use them frequently.

I write Qaeth into a lot of my stories but he's still considered a ''Non/Not Player Character.''This is obviously a contradiction since I ''player'' write him.

A NPC is someone I drop into a warzone and let other PCs write them killing, a Unique NPC is someone I personally write and reserve for special occasions. When it comes to RP, we should treat Unqiue NPCs like companions.

Is Ke'Cholo the main character? Yes, but that doesn't diminish Qaeth's role/skill. I wouldn't write a problem and not give a solution so here's mine.

The Solution:
If Unique NPCs were treated like PC this would raise the problem of people swarming threads with one hundred gazillion Unique NPCs that all attack at once and have to be countered separately. The solution is to limit the number of UNIQUE COMBAT NPCS per thread. What do I consider a Unique Combat NPC? Any Unique NPC that attacks (regardless if the attack is effective) in a thread. So if I have an Unique NPC that's a banker or politician, and he shoots at an enemy, that NPC is considered a combat unit as soon as he uses his weapons. So, every PC is allowed to bring two unique ''NPCs'' to any public/private/invasion/dominion/ect and those NPCs are treated as PCs. Outside of combat you can use as many of them for whatever you deem necessary. I also think we need a separate Codex area named ''Companions'' specifically for Unique NPCs.

I probably could've said this more eloquently, feel free to respectfully agree or disagree.
 

Rusty

Purveyor of Fine Weaponry
I tend to treat my submitted NPCs as characters that I just don't have time to write full time. They've lives and backstories of their own, and when they're in the thread, I treat them like my proper characters.
 
I feel where you are coming from. I have a number of NPC's that I write and they aren't just like Stormtrooper #7586 and Imperial Pilot #78. Virgil for instance, has a lot to do with Ardgal's story, and she is the only one that I have officially subbed--there's Homer, Prometheus, Hermes, (Yeah they all have Greek names for a reason :p ), Ordo, and the list goes on for me. Each has their own backstory, the point of their existence isn't for Ardgal 2 b teh best, its for good story telling.

You have a nice idea here, and I don't wanna come by and crap on it. But I feel that regulating it would somewhat remove the story telling possibility. I feel that more regulation is only going to hamper real story telling, sadly, and that is why we are seeing a lot of chaos deregulating (to borrow a term from American politics). I say just keep on writing good NPCs, and if they are unique, they are protected under your writerhood. No one can kill them without your permission, especially if they are Unique.

So just write well, and keep on writing, and if you want, bud your NPCs in to PCs of your own or someone else's devices. Cheers.

[member="KeCholo"]
 
[member="KeCholo"]

The Obvious

1. Unique Combat NPCs would have to be tracked in PvP. Yet another number, yet another thing, yet another argument for players to have between each other. I had a whole blog post about "how many things we waste our time on", I believe this would join that.

2. The definition of Unique Combat NPCs would become blurry next to NPCs. I'm guessing the Codex would track that, but would players really have to? I'm assuming the community of those who gave a crap about NPCs would segregate into "those who want to do it that way, and those who don't". This might force the Codex and/or Staff to throw the book at it because some annoying PvP situations begin to become commonplace.

3. "Treat Unique NPCs as PCs" is just something that respectfully doesn't make sense to me. It's apples and oranges. The differences are self-evident, we don't need further defining. NPCs aren't people. They're plot points. They're accessories. But if they were to be treated as PCs, when does it stop? Invasion aid rules? Subsidiaries? Major Faction head counts? You would see such abuse that it would block out the sun, all for something that the community doesn't have a need for.

I'm only stopping at three because while we could start getting into more descriptive issues, I don't need to see any further past the systematic broad issues this suggestion brings with it to say no. But I also wanted to comply so you don't think any Staff member, such as myself, dismisses these things in passing without much thought.

In your head, you likely just see an acceptance from other writers in your suggestion's future. In my head, I foresee a future of headaches that result in more arguments and problems than benefits as we would attempt to define it.

I weigh suggestions in a very simple cost vs benefit equation, and then I consider the requirement for it that the community may have. How much people would want it. For this suggestion, and my considerations, it's just not there for me.
 

sabrina

Well-Known Member
For purposes of combat all npc should be felt with some sense they are trained combatants, and not just ignored, unless one side is power playing them.
 
I want to say my point, because, well, I have one, so why not?

First, yeah I see the point. I had a problem a while back with a writer which resulted in an NPC I controlled one hit. Now, yes the character actually knew what was what, and could potentially do that. But it felt to me almost like an auto hit against my PC. This is a single being I control. To allow it too be single hit destroyed, because it is not a PC, it felt wrong. It infuriated me.

On the other end, I also do see the issues for admin to actually readily control the fix. I, being a past admin for a site, between just myself and two others, can say acting as controlling faces is difficult without all the baubles and shinies provided on chaos. (We didn't even treat NPCs as NPCs, they weren't even really fluff)

That being said, Tef putting a foot on the neck of said idea? He doesn't want it. There is little more to it, me thinks, than that. I have seen him try to push for things that was known would have a possible backlash, because he had the idea to do and was going to drive for it. This isn't going to work, because he said so.

That being said, an obvious though not normally thought of solvent, is to simply hit up the writers you think will be involved with the NPC before hand, let them know. Tell em, hey this is a character I have a decent backing with, treat it as such. A lot of the time people are forgiving. They will handle it well.

Or simply make it a PC. This too is a fix. The rules state that out of character padding is bad, and ic padding in a PvP situation will likely never be appreciated. But as a fluff character, being officially a PC, it would be treated as a PC so long as it was handled simply like a formal PC-NPC style ordeal.
 
I would agree with [member="Vokun"] 's point on messaging. If they respect that he or she has backstory and that they can't just kill them off all willy nillly, then great. If not, just write that said NPC is off to the side during combat, doing everyday stuff like going to buy some beer or just heading off too the toilet.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom