Did any of you all print out the pics of the NPCs and hold them up while talking in that character? I was thinking it might be a good idea for SWW as there are so many NPCs involved. I do need to find a bunch more for other NPCs that I have created for the crew.
Did any of you all print out the pics of the NPCs and hold them up while talking in that character?
I printed out the NPC pics (leaving some room at the top) then folded over the top part so the pictures could hang easily from the top of my DM screen.
I would then point to the pic whenever desired (i.e. when talking in character or otherwise referring to the NPC).
I did this with other pictures too (items, monsters, locations, etc.), but it definitely helped the most for NPC's.
Since 70% of players are more visual than verbal, referring to a face rather than a name will result in greater immersion and memorization.
I'm running The Savage tide from a Laptop/Tablet PC using a scan I made of my Dungeon mags and Microsoft One Note. Having the Web Enhancements for most of the issues helps as well, because I can just cut and paste pictures of the NPCs from it, and include those in as well.
It's my first time running more than a single session from a laptop, and it's not working out too badly. It made sens to do so though, because I'm running using The pathfinder Beta rules.
Sorry to get long-winded. Yes! The images help out alot. I had more than one instance of a player saying, "Oh! that's what X looks like. I was envisioning something different."
I'm a very big fan of the use of props to help people get more involved in the game. NPC faces are always nice to have on hand as it gives the players something to identify a name with.
Two bits of information instead of only one keeps those names in their heads better.
I have made counters of all the NPCs and use them in combat. During play on the Sea Wyvern I spread out the poster map of the Sea Wyvern and put the NPC counters at the right locations on the ship. Not only was it clear to my players who everyone was, but also where everyone was. When they wanted to talk to an NPC they put their own PC counter or miniature next to the NPC counter.
Mark Peyton
Jorv40
Morgen
