GM Chyro |
Hello all.
I probably used the wrong combinations in the search bar to miss tips, so i'll have to ask in this thread.
What can i do to make a party attached to NPC's, who've been a regular social talk or even temporary story related supportive?
I have planned to have some of the supportive be recurring characters, others are NPC important to the city itself.
I'd like to get the PCs attached or like them to the degree that, if hearing rumors of something bad having happened to the NPC, they'd go 'we should investigate'.
AKA: 'Nice NPC was murdered', they go VENGEANCE, instead of 'that is sad news'.
It wouldn't be important to the overall story, but it'd be immersive fun if they'd undertake a risky mission to save the NPC without having to be driven there.
Trekkie90909 |
Write backstories for your NPCs. They don't have to be long, but they should give you an idea of their mindset, wealth, power, status, and physical features. This will help you get in character.
Then just play the NPCs; the players will respond to ones they like and take offense at those they do not.
GM Chyro |
Oh that i had done from the start for the ones so far.
Even statted some out for combat.
For example, the diplomats (one of the ruling families), are skilled fencers and aritocrats, and do the major social dealings.
A supportive was a compulsive mathematical genius who stutters.
Writing, statting & playing them is just a part of it.
I'd like them to actually care about the fate of the NPCs.
DominusMegadeus |
Pure luck, honestly. You can flesh them out and make them as sympathetic and adorable/badass as you want, but the party will only rarely latch onto an NPC, and it will usually be entirely unexpected.
Depending on their background in these kinds of games, they may be used to people they show any concern for being strung up in front of them to force plot movement. It's all very hard to predict, and it varies from group to group and to each player within each group.
Cyrad RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
Chengar Qordath |
Make them useful. Make them have quirky personalities that make roleplaying with them fun. Then if something happens to them, suddenly the party loses a useful, fun NPC.
Yeah, I think usefulness is really the best way to do it. I know most of the random NPCs my part got really attached to were things like the level 1 farmer who tagged along with them one mission and got a lucky crit. I should mention that the farmer was swinging a scythe, and rolled max damage. The entire party instantly fell in love with "Farmer Joe" and insisted that he get an equal share of the XP and loot for the rest of the encounter.
Cyrad RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16 |
The usefulness can be something simple, too. It could be someone that will buy their loot or help them find specific magic items on the market. Maybe it's the general store owner that gets them a sweet deal. This is why you should never just hand wave these kind of interactions.
Cyrad wrote:Make them useful. Make them have quirky personalities that make roleplaying with them fun. Then if something happens to them, suddenly the party loses a useful, fun NPC.Yeah, I think usefulness is really the best way to do it. I know most of the random NPCs my part got really attached to were things like the level 1 farmer who tagged along with them one mission and got a lucky crit. I should mention that the farmer was swinging a scythe, and rolled max damage. The entire party instantly fell in love with "Farmer Joe" and insisted that he get an equal share of the XP and loot for the rest of the encounter.
Awesome. My party has a mimic as an ally. Mimics in my campaign are lovecraftian horrors that disguise themselves as everyday objects. The party saved a mimic with a posh British accent named Mr. Charles (he uses this name since some men have gone mad trying to pronounce his real one) from a house full of animated objects. After helping them track down an enemy, the mimic stayed with the party since. He's now first mate of the gunslinger's galleon.
Scythia |
If you want players to feel attachment to NPCs, one important thing is to not kill them off to trigger plot.
Once is okay, but the more often it happens the more players will see NPCs as future plot points. DMs killing off friends and relatives of players just to propel plot is why there are so many orphan loner characters.
Alexander S. Modeus |
I think useful is definite;y the way to go. For example, I ran a campaign that started off with Master of the Fallen Fortress. A character they rescued there happened to become a recurring character, acting as a source of information for the characters and providing boons as time went on. Needless to say when he was killed by the BBEG after reading a trapped note meant for the PCs, they were NOT amused.
Mind you, death isn't the only way to get them to act. Even something as simple as kidnapping an NPC they like while leaving them unharmed, or having a threat made against them would likely do it.
But again, make the NPC likable, someone who isn't an attention hog, but most of all, USEFUL to the party. PCs like people who help them unconditionally.
Markov Spiked Chain |
The best way to form bonds with other people is to share experiences with them. PCs, NPCs, or IRL.
This overlaps some with usefulness, but usefulness can sometimes take the spotlight away from the PCs. Just having them along, in danger or risking something, with the PCs during something memorable will usually do it. Just make sure they pipe in a little, in character, during the events the players already care about. Gaston asking what the warning signal is while he's guarding the cave mouth, or mentioning that he used to explore these caves as a kid, or whatever. Just lodge it in the players minds that the NPC was with them, and is something of an independent person.
Quatar |
The PCs in my game were very close to a young cleric acolyte of Callistria who traveled with them. And they really hate the nobleman, even threatening to leave him marooned on the island they're on right now.
When the acolyte died (it was totally unplanned, an unlucky crit in combat, as she was trying to heal the barbarian, who'd been dropped into negatives), it nearly broke one of the PCs.
There are a few more NPCs around, but they don't seem to have really strong feelings towards any of those.
So yes, you can't really plan for something like that. It just happens.
Though I guess there are a few points you can watch out for, to increase the chance:
- create a personality that you know will appeal to at least one of the PCs.
- make the NPC somewhat helpless/clumsy and in need of the PCs, at least when they first meet. Might either trigger a protector instinct or a maternal one
- avoid outright jerk personalities.
Those can help, but there's really no sure-fire way to do it
thorin001 |
If you want players to feel attachment to NPCs, one important thing is to not kill them off to trigger plot.
Once is okay, but the more often it happens the more players will see NPCs as future plot points. DMs killing off friends and relatives of players just to propel plot is why there are so many orphan loner characters.
Killing them is usually bad. Kidnapping them occasional has great potential.
Lincoln Hills |
There are a few quick emotional levers to help give NPCs 'value' in the eyes of a player. Use qualities that appeal to your particular players - but here are some good generic ones:
1. Kids
2. A pet
3. Poor language skills and/or an accent
4. Generosity
5. Bad luck
6. Courage or cowardice, whichever is less expected