+++ showonlyimage = false draft = false image = "/img/articles/rpg-npc_blocking.gif" date = "2007-01-02" title = "RPG Concepts: NPCS" tags = ['RPG Concepts', 'Knights of the Old Republic', 'Oblivion', 'Wizardry8', 'Wizardry7', 'Arcanum'] weight = 0 +++ Watch the NPC Reaction video tests! >> An NPC is basically a character not controlled by the player, who can be of great importance during the many main or side quests. NPCs vary in importance and placement: they can either be annoying and usesless or interesting and useful. Many Roleplaying games only give the most important NPCs something useful to say or do. Talking to other characters makes no sense since they only answer with one of the standard sentences: "oh, you're the princess!" or "good weather, isn't it?". This concept destroys the whole roleplaying experience since it transforms roleplaying into trying to find the right character to chat with, without any interest to other local inhabitants. Everyone probably already encountered a couple of NPCs just standing there, doing nothing. When you talk to them, they respond with "hiya stranger". When you talk to them again, they repeat that exact same sentence. After the tenth time of "hiya stranger" you begin to wonder whether the person was on drugs or not. What is the purpose of this NPC? Exactly: a useless object to fill the otherwise void space. Players can enjoy a "guess who holds the quest" puzzle. Things get even worse when each NPC is called "stranger x" or "villager y". This does not give them any personality and give you even less reasons to replay the game since the living world feels artificial and dead. There's a difficult balance to be kept within a city full of NPCs: do you want extreme activity but soulless beings or a less crowded area, where everyone has their own personality and interesting story? Labelling NPCs in a RPG can also be quite challenging. In Sacred for instance, people actually bearing a quest (defined useful) have an exclamation mark floating above their head. "Good, no more randomly clicking on stupid inhabitants, right!"? Yes and no. If this system was to be implemented in non-hack & slash games, everyone would ignore all other NPCs. And what is the purpose of a less imporant NPC anyway? Especially on console RPGs, it can get very frustrating to wander around town, talking to everyone to try and finish your quest. Baten Kaitos includes a subquest where you must find all relatives of a family, in order to bring them together before the grandfather dies. Members are gathered by putting their signature on a family tree so you'll need to find them, and talk to them. If you want to finish the quest, you are forced to chat with every single NPC in the game since family members cannot be separated from other non-interesting NPCs by clothes. Auch. This quest system can also reward you for talking to all NPCs if you intend to do so anyway. Some "Star Constellation Magnus" in the game can be traded for rare items otherwise not found. These constellations can be found by looking in every container and box you see. This works exactly the same: it gives you a reason to check containers, otherwise 50% empty or full with useless junk.
Arcanum bar test in Tarant. Throwing a molotov results in splash damage within the bar. Every NPC had their own reaction:
Notice the bartender doesn't completely react the way it should be. At first, he dislikes it I attack his customers and his faction rating drops from 68 to 0 (hatred). If this rating drops below zero he'll attack me or flee. After the massacre, he simply offers me a drink. Ha!
{{< youtube "eAuAu4BBCKw" >}} #### Elder Scrolls IV: OblivionDuring a NPC conference meeting, someone tries to interrupt the peace. Notice the cheering music in the background, which does not change at all while attacking key characters. They even stand up back again - instead of going to sit in the chair or running like mad. This is definatly not the best way NPCs should react.
{{< youtube "6KN7cKO8-P0" >}} #### Wizardry 8Sir-Tech's [Wizardry 8](/tags/wizardry8) includes like VII a beautiful NPC interaction system which allows the user to talk about anything, including obscure words (and you'll get appropriate reactions! Wait for vid#2 to see that) Here, I ask Marten, one of the main plot characters, about the dark savant, the higardi, "die", "f*ck" and some more stuff. I forgot to wear the helmet so all members went insane... Whoops.
{{< youtube "n9RgBmP5qpU" >}}He'Li kicks my butt as I attempt to intimidate her with my impressive vocal skills. Vi teams up, shoving a boot through my rib cage. Amazing stuff, Sir-Tech. I love the voice acting. (Fully voiced, EVERY NPC).
{{< youtube "HV7P5bCNUZI" >}}After chatting with Trynton's Chief, I decide to attack him with Madras (a trynnie) in my party. That was *not* a good idea. Glad to see he reacts properly to my actions in the game.
{{< youtube "q52EROdDuCU" >}}