Mediocre Characters: Why NPCs Aren’t PCs
There’s a difference between players and dungeon masters. Players want to build the most awesome character possible in order to win. Dungeon masters—and here is our big secret—also want the players to win. Maybe if you’re playing Nethack style or Tomb of Horrors, the GM is definitively trying to win. Because the DM calls all the shots, however, this is far too easy.
As a dungeon master, your goal is to make sure the players have a good time. Herein lies the difference between PCs and NPCs. While player characters must be optimally built, NPCs can afford to be mediocre. Traditionally subpar feats like Combat Casting and Toughness are valid choices. Poor multiclass combinations are feasible. Not everyone is an adventurer or a hero.
Now, this isn’t to say all your villains have to be pushovers. Danger, as I’ve said before, is exciting, and a villain who can push your players until all that can save them is teamwork and luck is something to aim for. Just don’t feel constrained to munchkin every NPC. In my opinion, it makes your villain more interesting if he’s a one-eyed wizard with levels in aristocrat, than if he’s simply an all-eighteens archmage with Spell Focus in Instantly Killing Everything.
October 8th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Just wanted to add here that it is interesting to have powerful NPC’s involved in the background and your players to learn about what is happening with them. One guy I know has a problem with making it so his Powerful NPC’s are leading the party around like sheep. This gets boring to the players so try and avoid letting your NPC Super Hero save the party from dying or doing all the work for the party.
Make it so your party characters are rarely physically involved with powerful NPC’s Players that witness powerful NPC’s doing something good or bad make for a good story, but don’t keep them around the group very long. Or you will end up like the guy I spoke of in the above paragraph
October 9th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Better yet, don’t have the powerful NPCs interact with the party directly. Or have them do it as little as possible and when they do, make it from across a desk.
But keep the stories about the NPC alive. Let the PCs get an intimidation bonus by name dropping him/her.
I’d like to also suggest the use of non-villain bad guys. You know the type. The ones that are obviously scum but keep their noses clean just enough that the PCs can’t reasonably attack them. You can really start to use these types when they give gifts or information about a more obviously evil group to the PCs. Corruption is a another good angle to play at. An official who abuses his powers just enough to obviously not be good but not enough to put him on the hit list for the gods of law.