For instance, if i were listing all the residents of a dungeon i was making
old elven hermit
wounded human adventurer
minotaur zombie
hobgoblin
gelatinous cube
ochre jelly
rat
lost cat
Would 'NPC List' be an intuitive heading? Are monsters and animals or monsters with 0 int considered to be npc's? Or, as a GM, would you be thrown off by the monsters in an encounter showing up under the NPC list and not a separate bestiary section?
Nah. Only if they're "characters", i.e., they've got a personality and motivations and such, and only if they're not players (of course). A cat wouldn't be an NPC unless it was the familiar of a Witch I'd put there for the players to encounter, and it showed some sort of awareness of the PC's. (like stealing a spell component belonging to a PC Wizard, and hightailing it back to the Witch).
It's just a term.
Please, tell me more about your gelatinous cube NPC lol ;)
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I've always used the term for anything that wasn't a PC.
Though I did get in the habit of calling them "mobs" from playing MMOs.
NPC means "Non-player character". So anything that's a character and not controlled by the players is an NPC.
The difference being between hostile "enemies" NPCs, friendly or indifferent "flavor/scenery" NPCs, and miscellaneous.
Well, the term "NPC" is pretty generic, and refers to any GM-run character in the game. Usually, it refers to someone who has a personality, goals, and (usually) character levels, with whom the PCs can interact.
"Monsters" on the other hand, don't really have much of a personality, and generally only interact with the PCs via combat.
Basically, if it has a personality and will interact with the PCs in any way other than trying to eat them, it's an "NPC"... otherwise, it's just a "monster."
It gets a bit blurry when you're talking about a bunch of generic henchmen ("mooks") of an NPC villain (i.e. the guys who do the seizing when the villain says, "Guards, seize them!") They end up acting more like "monsters" because they don't generally interact with the PCs other than fighting.
Likewise, monsters with well-developed personalities and/or character levels tend to act more like NPCs... especially if they parley with the PCs. Examples would be a copper dragon, a vampire, or a succubus. Technically "monsters," the GM plays them like a character, so they're effectively NPCs.
Please, tell me more about your gelatinous cube NPC lol ;)
Ask the David* - he's got one for ya!
Also, while I tend to agree with Fleshgrinder and Orthos personally (as in, "here's what I do"), on a more functional level, you might want to use Haladir's, if you're planning on making something for someone else.
This would turn your sample list into something more like what follows:
- (is missing a pet cat, see OTHER, below; is the original creator of the minotaur zombie, see MONSTERS, below)
- (was wounded by and has run away from the minotaur zombie, and is allies with the hobgoblin, see below)
- (ally of the human adventurer, but separated, see below)
MONSTERS
- (originally created by the elven hermit to ensure privacy; was recently damaged in battle against a human and hobgoblin, see NPCs, above)
- (originally brought in by the elven hermit to keep the surrounding caves clean and mitigate the smell of the zombie guardian)
- (an unexpected entrant to the local environment
OTHER
- (a rat, currently chased by a lost cat)
- (belongs to the old elven hermit, see NPCs, above)
NPCs
Anyway, obviously, your story will vary, but that's how I'd parse it and list it. Even if the hobgoblin, human adventurer, and/or elven hermit were enemies of the PCs, that's how I'd list it for others to peruse.
EDIT: oooooooookay, that was a weird double-post thing. I think I fixed it, however.
EDIT:
* well that took waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too long to find!
Right now they're all listed under a heading of NPCs/Monsters. I was trying to find a term that was shorter that would cover both.
Thanks for the input.
Right now they're all listed under a heading of NPCs/Monsters. I was trying to find a term that was shorter that would cover both.
Thanks for the input.
If you're looking for a single, short catch-all term, what about "Creatures". That satisfies most of what you're looking for, I think.
The table itself could still be codified according to your own sensibilities (i.e. place them in the list based off the distance they are physically from one another, their mind or lack of it, alphabetically, or some other form of categorization), but still be all under the heading "Creatures".
Alternatively "Denizens" works well, too.