tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post4983305838156163223..comments2024-01-26T11:56:46.170+10:30Comments on ST Wild: On Roleplaying: Wrath of the Righteous - Solo Pathfinder GameShannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00456068019298922261noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post-83723403189334709102015-01-19T10:42:59.042+10:302015-01-19T10:42:59.042+10:30Hey David, I might actually be playing that campai...Hey David, I might actually be playing that campaign (rather than running it!) so I'm going to have to avoid it for now. If that ever changes, I shall read up on it.<br /><br />I think the reason why most modern games don't include NPCs is because it's too easy to do GMPCs and do them badly. In a game with four players at the table, the limelight is split so solidly that you really need to ensure that every NPC (or GMPC if you must have one) is reflecting that light back on the player every time. <br /><br />Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great example of how to do that - players choose where the loot goes, players choose where they go, NPCs may disapprove but unless something terrible happens they won't just leave....<br /><br />The trouble is that too many GMs use railroads anyhow and use the tagalong NPCs to help with that railroad, or because they've pre-plotted the adventure they think up that epic combat manoeuvre the NPC can do, or most likely they're just not very good at RPing allied tagalong NPC on top of everything else so that NPC drops into the background.<br /><br />Heck, I have a Very Young Umbral Dragon tagalong NPC and while she whines about having no loot, I've built in reasons why she doesn't just steal stuff from the PCs. i.e. She has very particular tastes in goods, and hasn't come across any of them. She wants the city to succeed so that she can take over it in her own way. At present, she sees the brass dragon wyrmlings that they liberated as "loot" and wants to train them into being a fleet of rogues she can find change shape amulets for so that she has what appears to be toddler rogues once they become small.<br /><br />In other words, her urge for loot has led to humour for my player - who keeps warning her not to lay on the brass dragon wyrmlings as they're not a treasure pile. I could play it seriously, but only in terms of how it services the plot and the players.<br /><br />In other words, every NPC action needs to be measured out to make it work and it all depends on the players' needs and the GM's interests / capabilities, so I think that's why it's no longer a core assumption.<br /><br />Of course, if you can do it and do it well, I think it's brilliant! I tend to adopt NPCs when I'm a player, anyhow, if my husband is running them as he does very good complex psychologies for them that I find fascinating. Some of the other GMs? Run. Run hard.Shannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00456068019298922261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post-56626590157774480132015-01-19T10:13:11.299+10:302015-01-19T10:13:11.299+10:30I just picked up the first book to this path. I a...I just picked up the first book to this path. I am glad you are running it, and I am looking forward to your game reports. A tiefling heading towards a place that is at war with demons...<br /><br />I did not know that it's not the modern thing to not have hirelings and henchmen accompany the party. I think it's a good option when there are not a lot of players in the group. Dragon Age makes the npc henchmen (and henchwomen) fun as they have their own motivations. Even when there is a full crew of PCs, I am not sure why people don't consider it an option.<br /><br />Our group is currently running a Rise of the Runelords game. We have hired a pack bearer to help carry stuff. There's no sense in anyone being encumbered! We also have a torch bearer to provide the light for the group as no one has any sort of enhanced vision. We have managed to keep them from harm so far, as there has not even been an attack against them.<br /><br />Our last mission has taken us out of the town of Sandpoint to scout and possibly engage a goblin tribe. The party took horses and a pack mule for the trek. To relieve us of animal care duties, we hired a horse handler from the stables to take care of them, and an archer to guard and assist him. If it was a longer journey I would have hired a cook too.<br /><br />Since our npcs have now been with us multiple session, they are starting to take on personalities of their own.<br /><br />Our game (if you're interested)<br />http://thedalewardens.blogspot.com/search/label/Pathfinder%20RPG<br /><br />Our party (4 pcs) in the dungeon with 4 npcs: packbearer, linkboy (torch carrier), and an archer and a fighter from the Sandpoint town watch.<br />http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GmxRNBSX3Y8/VH4O3M9TY-I/AAAAAAAAByM/M26qy80uMaQ/s1600/IMG_2602.jpg<br /><br />It might look a bit crowded, but it's a dangerous world.<br /><br />David S.<br />Minnesota, USA<br />The Dale Wardenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12864432866927396245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post-1785973050921638912014-12-01T00:56:33.401+10:302014-12-01T00:56:33.401+10:30Sounds like fun! I am so behind on your posts rig...Sounds like fun! I am so behind on your posts right now...<br />Y'know, it occurs to me, given the amount of solo stuff you run, I'd be interested in your take on <a href="http://librarians-and-leviathans.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-cord-of-one-strand-is-not-easily.html" rel="nofollow">my party-splitting hack</a>? Harder to do in D&D, but I think it's doable... You could have a pool of tokens equal to party size, which can be tapped for various boosts. I do think in D&D actions would be the key thing though. Tokens that let you modify any d20 roll (yours or enemies') by 1d6? I'd need to think on it more.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post-26270965580468889612014-11-12T10:48:42.711+10:302014-11-12T10:48:42.711+10:30So true, so true. Jealous you're too far away...So true, so true. Jealous you're too far away to play? :PShannonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00456068019298922261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2858586393857050613.post-46938560172899583242014-11-11T14:02:43.372+10:302014-11-11T14:02:43.372+10:30Sounds like a great game. Knowing your husband, yo...Sounds like a great game. Knowing your husband, you should have got him to make 2-3 character and roleplay all of them at once. It is always fun to watch him argue with himself :-)Timhttp://www.kittens.com/noreply@blogger.com