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A Thread For Random RPG Musings


tkdguy

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11 hours ago, Steve said:

I don’t know why the random, spur of the moment NPCs seem to attract more player attention than the painstakingly created ones do. It’s like an RPG trope.

 

 

 

Because as a GM, you fell back on simple differentiation in your haste to make this throw-away character "a real boy" for just a moment, and instaed of a personality or making him a forgettable jerk, you dropped a quirk in in him as the only "personality" he would need for ten seconds of screen time.

 

And the players went "ooh!  This guy's quirky!  He could be fun to pal around with for a while!"

 

While your actual contact / patron / harbinger of doom tends to be presented as one of two to four "standard models" of that sort of encounter.

 

Took me years to get to the bottom of this problem.  My "I have had enough" moment revolved around having to rewrite a year-long campaign on the fly to turn an irate Chinese tattoo artist into a critical part of the plot because the players would _NOT_ do anything or go anywhere without consulting or even dragging this guy along with them.

 

Ugh.

 

So I learned: do not _ever_ make a plot-relevant NPC a "type," or at least dont make him look like one.  Make all throw-away characters generic "types" or complete jerks.

 

 

Edited by Duke Bushido
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5 hours ago, tkdguy said:

You know you're giving me ideas to mess with the players, Duke! :eg: 

Excellent!

 

You'ee the GM; you should enjoy the game, too.  As long as it is not to the detriment of the game, of course.

 

Here's how I messed with mine earlier this evening:

 

As you may be aware, I just started a Yraveller game with the majority of,the your GM group (and remembered why I usually,put Psionics off limits.  Ugh.)

 

I not only,fot,my,Scout, but managed to get two scouts!

 

Aa hoped, one of them rolled 'Scout' on the mustering out tables.  He also rollwd a low passage, while another player rolled two more low passages.  As you remember, this means they are granted use of a scout ship, periodic fuelings and a couple of other things that boil down to interstellar transportation without constantly hustling freight or passengers.  Yes, there is some od that, but the pressure is really off now.

 

The gane begins right durinf the mustering out ceremony.   "...has been granted permission to use a Scout ship in perpetuity, with the standard restrictions and requirements,"  hands a set of file cards to the recipient.  "These are the kasr known xoorsinqtes odbthe ship and dossiers of her AWOL crew, who we believed have stolen her.  Find her, take possession, and use her as you will...."

 

The asventure begins!

 

 

 

 

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Having said that, after some unfortunate scenarios over the decades, I would probably want to play an Army character who has Air/Raft skill (Grav Vehicle, if you insist) and can maybe lift the ship off the ground, and hopefully fly it into orbit.

Then the characters who can't shoot can hopefully deal with it.

Thinking back, in classic Traveller, a Marine might have a better chance of getting Air/Raft, but they've got that stupid Cutlass skill.

 

Then again, if you're in a dive on planet Woop Woop*, maybe a Cutlass might make sense.
---

 

* Woop Woop: Australian equivalent of Podunk, or a general backwater. The "oo" is pronounced like that in look, rather than loop. That will make no sense if they are pronounced the same way in your accent. Meh.

Edited by assault
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