A Semi-Secondary Character/NPC System

Age : 29 Posts : 3145

I know this has been a topic in the past on multiple occasions, but I would like to bring it up again.

Now personally I'm against having secondary characters. I think there comes a point where you either lose interest in one of them or you overwork yourself, resulting in losing not only the two characters, but the member him/herself. But I've seen a curious system on a Heroes site (Heroes - the show, remember it? It was pretty awesome!) where you had to make a character without powers, a citizen, before you could have a super powered character - a shinobi, in this instance.

Before you go ape-poop, I'm not saying we should replicate that system, yet I'm quite fond of the idea of having Civilian or NPC characters. At the moment, eval moderators are the only ones who get to play around with NPCs and whilst I'm not saying we should stop them from doing so, I think it would be awesome if the members could do so too.

As some of the higher tier NPCs available, you could have Village Councillors, the Daiymo, other Kages/Village leader, ANBU characters.

As some of the simpler chars, you could have Show Owners, Minor Criminals, Sources of Information, Barkeeps, Country Officials, Village guards... etc.

This would allow a huge amount of variety in terms of RPing since we're always rping with other Shinobi. It would bring some life to currently generic and faceless villages.

Thoughts?

Age : 35 Posts : 1113

I would absolutely love to play as a village barkeep. I'm not sold on the higher tier NPC's Chris mentioned, but a system for minor second characters could work. Worth considering, lovely staffies.

Age : 32 Posts : 750

I would not mind having some of these NPC's in place, say like Village Councilors and what not. Maybe even higher than that (Diamyo, etc...) Such things would definitely be lovely and could certainly add to the flavor of our RPing. This could offer new missions as well. Definitely something to at least be considered IMHO.

Age : 31 Posts : 716

I like this idea. It seems simple enough, and will allow more diverse NPC/Civilian roleplay for those who are involved in topics that require one or more of them. +1 from me. <3

Age : 28 Posts : 266

I like this idea both as a member and a staff member. On a previous Naruto site I had been on, people were only allowed 1 shinobi but could also play a civilian. My only concern is - would be grow bored of it? Playing someone who is physically limited and plays a minor role in a society where shinobi are esteemed can get tiring and rather fast.

Age : 32 Posts : 750

Setsugekka wrote:: I like this idea both as a member and a staff member. On a previous Naruto site I had been on, people were only allowed 1 shinobi but could also play a civilian. My only concern is - would be grow bored of it? Playing someone who is physically limited and plays a minor role in a society where shinobi are esteemed can get tiring and rather fast.

Tis why I say that we allow higher tier NPC's to start off with. Someone who has a little bit of power in doing something. You won't get as bored and like I said, with the higher tier NPC's it creates a lot more with the actual roleplaying done by the shinobi characters.

Age : 29 Posts : 3145

It's all optional. You create an NPC and someone is free to go, 'hey I would like a topic where my char goes to buy vegetables', and PMs you. Obviously that kind of topic is unlikely, but you get the picture. You might never get to RP as that NPC nor do people have to RP with it. It's just having the choice and option to do so at any given moment.

Age : 29 Posts : 1797

Erm.. You understand that regular members are fully allowed to make any NPC they want and RP with someone using that NPC if they want. There's nothing stopping you from creating or using an NPC, Staff members aren't the only ones that use them. I like the current system, where a member can simply opt to NPC for someone else, instead of having to apply for a specific type of NPC and only use that one NPC. I can imagine certain NPCs will be in higher demand than others, so naturally there will be more people picking similar NPC's, thus resulting in people making NPCs only for those in high demand, and ignoring the NPCs that may be incredibly low in demand. Basic economics really. I don't personally see a need for there to be a system dictating an NPC to a specific person. NPC's are Non-Playable Characters. You shouldn't be having character development with an NPC, that defies the purpose of it being an NPC.

Age : 35 Posts : 1113

I think what is needed, perhaps, are some parameters. For example: I wouldn't feel comfortable applying for higher-tier NPC (ex. Daimyo) without knowing what I could/couldn't do with such a character. Obviously the mission NPC template exists, but it's not really appropriate for what we're suggesting here.

Moreover, while it is great that we are allowed to create and roleplay with such NPCs, quite a few people here seem to be unaware that this was permitted. Which begs the question; for something that doesn't really need an entire system devoted to it, where - if at all - should the staff intervene to raise awareness and set parameters?

I hope that makes sense. It does in my head.

Last edited by ~Fox~ on Mon 18 Feb 2013, 2:25 am; edited 1 time in total

Age : 31 Posts : 471

I like side characters <3 Being able to NPC is good for a bit of a break from sliding into the same skin over and over. That being said, NPCing is a small topic, and I think could be addressed adequately with a note in the section of the rules that says players may only have one character. E.g: All members are allowed to NPC minor characters, however as EXP is earned for your character's interactions, rewards for purely NPC roles will be paid in Available Funds only." Which is my understanding of how it works now \o/ I don't think awarding EXP, possibly in reduced amounts (maybe half, rounded to the nearest whole number), would be unreasonable for NPC roles that directly relate to the development of your character though. For example, if I were to NPC a member of my character's family interacting with someone in an event that directly affects my character's story progression, like revealing something important to a team mate or setting something in motion that sets the stage for a future topic.

Age : 30 Posts : 1688

I like Chris's idea.
I like both the upper level and lower level NPCs that he listed out.
I think it'd be fun as hell to be able to have other roles that could be played by others every now and again!