RPGnet Columns
03-09-2003, 04:40 PM
Post originally by Jesse King at 2003-03-09 15:40:19
Converted from Phorums BB System
I'm a looong time table-top (Mostly D&D & Champions) and Live Action RPG (NERO & InterAction) player.
While there are quite a few differences between table-top and live RPGs, the reaction of players to NPC opponents is one of the factors that tends to remain similar whether you're around the table, or standing in the middle of a grassy field being charged by live opponents.
The majority of the LARPs I have played have - by and large - been fairly Hack & Slash oriented experiences. You'd commonly run into groups of fairly stupid goblins, trolls and other low level riff-raff moving to engage groups of characters they KNOW are at least 15+ level characters, played by highly experienced players who would probably chop them to pieces without breaking a sweat even if the statistics were even...
In those games, 'Moral' players will certainly make the occasional effort to ward off such attacks by scaring off much weaker opponents, or by trying to talk them out of it - but inevitably they give up in disgust due to the mindless and suicidal persistence of their opponents. The end result is much as one might expect - the high level players begin savagely eliminating such opponents with ruthless and soulless efficiency, just to be rid of them - whether they are arguably playing villians or paladins is irrelevant. This can be amusing, but really serves no purpose other than getting a little excercise and picking up a few extra silver pieces to spend in the tavern.
Recently however, I had the pleasure of playing a LARP game run in a different style (Cavalier) - it was set in a Fantasy/Three Musketeers hybrid setting, and the vast majority of opponents you'd face were humans, not monsters. Better yet, the NPC's of this game were always briefed to act as 'human' as possible. They could be honorable or devious, they were generally interested in staying alive, and they ALWAYS had some reason for being where they were other than acting as meaningless cannon fodder.
Oh, and there were even laws about killing helpless opponents and dishonorable behavior of that sort.
The difference in behavior was stark. NPC's would surrender if badly outnumbered, they'd run when hurt or outclassed, and unless they were part of some kind of ambush, they'd nearly always engage in some kind of amusing dialog or parley before or during combat. They'd often prefer to capture or spare players, if it suited their purposes or demeanor. If you captured them and threatened them, there was even a pretty good chance they'd spill the beans on their bosses rather than die - this I know, because I ended up playing the town's unofficial interrogator, a role which simply had never had value or existed before in any other LARP I'd played, where the minions were almost universally suicidal.
Surprise of surprises, most of the players responded in kind. We would demand surrender of our opponents. We'd roleplay in an attempt to avoid fights we didn't want. We'd usually spare or even stop to give first aid to opponents we defeated during battle. The overall atmosphere it created in the game was entirely different from any other game I've played. It really helped emphasise roleplaying skills without degrading the importance of combat - an armed threat was always an important factor in your face offs after all, even if it never came to blows.
One important note - the average age of the players in this game was also considerably higher than most of the others I've played, the average age was probably around 25 or so. I'm not certain they would have gotten the effect they were going for with a younger player group in the high teens or low 20's.
Anyway, if you have a table-top group and are looking for a strong mix of roleplaying and combat, I strongly suggest you erase the classical division between your 'roleplaying NPCs' and 'Combat NPCs' - once most or all of your NPC's begin to start behaving like real, self-interested people, you'll probably find that your players begin to respond in kind, and the depth of the roleplaying experience will kick up by a big notch.
Converted from Phorums BB System
I'm a looong time table-top (Mostly D&D & Champions) and Live Action RPG (NERO & InterAction) player.
While there are quite a few differences between table-top and live RPGs, the reaction of players to NPC opponents is one of the factors that tends to remain similar whether you're around the table, or standing in the middle of a grassy field being charged by live opponents.
The majority of the LARPs I have played have - by and large - been fairly Hack & Slash oriented experiences. You'd commonly run into groups of fairly stupid goblins, trolls and other low level riff-raff moving to engage groups of characters they KNOW are at least 15+ level characters, played by highly experienced players who would probably chop them to pieces without breaking a sweat even if the statistics were even...
In those games, 'Moral' players will certainly make the occasional effort to ward off such attacks by scaring off much weaker opponents, or by trying to talk them out of it - but inevitably they give up in disgust due to the mindless and suicidal persistence of their opponents. The end result is much as one might expect - the high level players begin savagely eliminating such opponents with ruthless and soulless efficiency, just to be rid of them - whether they are arguably playing villians or paladins is irrelevant. This can be amusing, but really serves no purpose other than getting a little excercise and picking up a few extra silver pieces to spend in the tavern.
Recently however, I had the pleasure of playing a LARP game run in a different style (Cavalier) - it was set in a Fantasy/Three Musketeers hybrid setting, and the vast majority of opponents you'd face were humans, not monsters. Better yet, the NPC's of this game were always briefed to act as 'human' as possible. They could be honorable or devious, they were generally interested in staying alive, and they ALWAYS had some reason for being where they were other than acting as meaningless cannon fodder.
Oh, and there were even laws about killing helpless opponents and dishonorable behavior of that sort.
The difference in behavior was stark. NPC's would surrender if badly outnumbered, they'd run when hurt or outclassed, and unless they were part of some kind of ambush, they'd nearly always engage in some kind of amusing dialog or parley before or during combat. They'd often prefer to capture or spare players, if it suited their purposes or demeanor. If you captured them and threatened them, there was even a pretty good chance they'd spill the beans on their bosses rather than die - this I know, because I ended up playing the town's unofficial interrogator, a role which simply had never had value or existed before in any other LARP I'd played, where the minions were almost universally suicidal.
Surprise of surprises, most of the players responded in kind. We would demand surrender of our opponents. We'd roleplay in an attempt to avoid fights we didn't want. We'd usually spare or even stop to give first aid to opponents we defeated during battle. The overall atmosphere it created in the game was entirely different from any other game I've played. It really helped emphasise roleplaying skills without degrading the importance of combat - an armed threat was always an important factor in your face offs after all, even if it never came to blows.
One important note - the average age of the players in this game was also considerably higher than most of the others I've played, the average age was probably around 25 or so. I'm not certain they would have gotten the effect they were going for with a younger player group in the high teens or low 20's.
Anyway, if you have a table-top group and are looking for a strong mix of roleplaying and combat, I strongly suggest you erase the classical division between your 'roleplaying NPCs' and 'Combat NPCs' - once most or all of your NPC's begin to start behaving like real, self-interested people, you'll probably find that your players begin to respond in kind, and the depth of the roleplaying experience will kick up by a big notch.