by Zoe
An inquiry into the best and worst tactics for briefing NPCs, especially concerning complicated plot.
The scene: in the middle of an event, when you're dehydrated, fatigued, and overworked, you set off to lead a combat mod, hook an encounter group, or get involved in some intense RP. You know your stats. You've received a quick briefing from a harried staff member. You're sporting costume and make-up. You have your props and weapons. You hit the field, mod building, or tavern.
Everything's going just fine. Then... the unexpected happens. A PC asks you a question you can't answer (but probably should be able to). Or the players, rather than cutting down your crunchy corpse, decide to RP the stats right out of you. Players take you hostage for questioning. Or you're handed an item, which you should understand, that leaves you baffled.
We've all been there.
Despite our best intentions and the dedication of staff members, in every LARP, there eventually comes a time when the NPC, especially the non-staff NPC, is just not prepared for an encounter. In games that have been going on for years and years, this is especially true: PCs often know the world like the backs of their hands, while casual NPCs may have never read anything other than the core rules. Especially for those interested in RP, this can be problematic. It feels terrible to go out as an NPC, only to realize you don't have the information needed to fully interact with the PCs. And PCs can sense it: if an NPC goes out poorly prepared one time (I can think of a particularly unfortunate incident when an NPC hook didn't have name), they're going to have a hard time gaining player trust in later events.
Irregardless of the quality of the NPC in question, most of the burden of prepping the NPC happens in the pre-module briefing. A well-briefed NPC, even if they're new to larping of the system, is going to be infinitely better than even the most experienced, yet poorly briefed, NPC.
As a compulsive NPC, who likes heavy RP and combat roles, I've seen some of the best and worst ways to brief an NPC. I offer my advice on how to successfully brief people, and encourage other players, especially staff members, to join in the conversation.
An inquiry into the best and worst tactics for briefing NPCs, especially concerning complicated plot.
The scene: in the middle of an event, when you're dehydrated, fatigued, and overworked, you set off to lead a combat mod, hook an encounter group, or get involved in some intense RP. You know your stats. You've received a quick briefing from a harried staff member. You're sporting costume and make-up. You have your props and weapons. You hit the field, mod building, or tavern.
Everything's going just fine. Then... the unexpected happens. A PC asks you a question you can't answer (but probably should be able to). Or the players, rather than cutting down your crunchy corpse, decide to RP the stats right out of you. Players take you hostage for questioning. Or you're handed an item, which you should understand, that leaves you baffled.
We've all been there.
Despite our best intentions and the dedication of staff members, in every LARP, there eventually comes a time when the NPC, especially the non-staff NPC, is just not prepared for an encounter. In games that have been going on for years and years, this is especially true: PCs often know the world like the backs of their hands, while casual NPCs may have never read anything other than the core rules. Especially for those interested in RP, this can be problematic. It feels terrible to go out as an NPC, only to realize you don't have the information needed to fully interact with the PCs. And PCs can sense it: if an NPC goes out poorly prepared one time (I can think of a particularly unfortunate incident when an NPC hook didn't have name), they're going to have a hard time gaining player trust in later events.
Irregardless of the quality of the NPC in question, most of the burden of prepping the NPC happens in the pre-module briefing. A well-briefed NPC, even if they're new to larping of the system, is going to be infinitely better than even the most experienced, yet poorly briefed, NPC.
As a compulsive NPC, who likes heavy RP and combat roles, I've seen some of the best and worst ways to brief an NPC. I offer my advice on how to successfully brief people, and encourage other players, especially staff members, to join in the conversation.
