Npc's

[meryllyn]

Okay,

So, I know that NPC means Non-Playable Character. But what exactly do they do? I
don't think I've ever actually seen one but I see the word pop around here pretty
often, so I finally decided to ask. Can anyone give me an example? What use are
they?

[LimeSkzzXx]

Well, they're just people that aren't actually of major significance.

If Player A and Player B are having Character A and Character B interact in a restaurant, there's other people around. The waiter is an NPC, that both players can control. If the characters make some kind of scene, the people giving them weird looks are NPCs. Character A's mom comes into the scene and makes a ruckus -- She's more important than the other, but she's an NPC because Player A doesn't really focus on her like she does her own character. They move the action along, add to the scenery or whatever, but the plot isn't about them.

[meryllyn]

They aren't like a register character or anything? They're just noise in the background? Interesting. >.<

[LimeSkzzXx]

Mhmm! I mean, imagine if you only wanted to play a certain person, like a family member, for one scene. Could you imagine having to write an application on that person? Ay!

Sometimes they're just part of the setting, just to make things flow, or to make things funny. Like the waiter at the restaurant -- the food isn't going to magically appear. Or they could use the waiter to have someone to drag into a scene.

Other times, they're relevant to the plot, like family members, however their purpose is only to act as a catalyst or obstacle in the plot of a main character. Meaning, you wouldn't play the NPC alone, with their own story and friends, etc.

Edit: BTW, I DIG YOUR AVATAR. Seriously. :DDD

This post has been edited by LimeSkzzXx on Jul 29 2009, 11:12 PM

[Luke]

I actually had an NPC in a thread with my character and a friend's character.

He was an old man. We actually interacted with the NPC and watched him pass away in a hospital. it was sad.

[Hera]

LimeSkzzXx puts it well. At my board, NPCs actually are very popular. Those who appear frequently as supporting characters are encouraged to have a short bio written up for them if the player wishes to do so. We have an NPC character section set aside for it because it was so popular, lol.

Several NPCs at my board are actually crucial to the main plot, appearing often in threads, interacting with a large number of characters.

And you KNOW you're obsessed with your rp when you and another player spend an inordinate amount of time discussing your NPCs and setting them up romantically. :p

[December, Esq]

I had two NPCs in a thread just recently. Til the DM (dungeon master) sliced one of their heads off. Whoops. :p

The NPCs are just sort of secondary characters. Depending on the NPC, either everyone can control them or only a certain person. The latter would be if someone has a specific NPC related to their character in some fashion.

For example, the two NPCs previously mentioned were random civilians the squads picked up along the way. They're kind of disposable. :p Anyhow, technically anyone in the thread can control them.

But one of my characters has an NPC dog. No one but me can control that character. It isn't a full-fledged character with its own account, but it is pretty significant.

[lilyoftheshadow]

So just a question--the OP mentioned that "NPC" meant "Non-Playable Character", but I always heard it used a "Non-Player Character". Is there a right or wrong, or is it one of those "Meh, they both work." kind of things?

[ShadowedSin]

NPCs are there to flesh out the world where the player needs something to interact with. Basically in RP boards they serve similar purposes as they do in RPGs.

[lilyoftheshadow]

Well I know their purpose, I was just questioning the terminology.

[Luke]

I've not heard of Non-player character. Mostly because in Video games (I play a lot of 'em), they are called Non Playable characters.

But uh.. They sound like they mean the same thing, so I think both terms work.

[Freesong]

I think, just from a linguistic perspective, that the term "NPC" translates on our RPs (as opposed to console RPGs) as "Non Player Character", just because it strikes me as more appropriate. Non Playable suggests nobody can play them, which is accurate for console games but not for writing where members do play them.

If that makes sense... and it is just my opinion, but that's how I think of it. xD

[meryllyn]

Yay for learning so much! >.< lol. And Lily, I never really thought of it, I've always heard Non-Playable Character, but Non Player-Character makes more sense in a forum role play.

[LimeSkzzXx]

And yet! Non-Player makes as little sense as Non-Playable, because they are played, and thus they have a player or players, so neither work!

Maybe they should be called Non-Permanent Characters, or Non-Pivotal Characters...

But that's off topic at this point. :p

[lilyoftheshadow]

Yeah, that makes sense.

I've never done console RPGs, so I don't have that background.

I think "Player" refers to a specific player in the context of "Non-Player Character", because it's not one player, it's many players.

Non-Playable Character would be what your character is to everyone else--you can't play them at all. But we digress. :lol: