Community

Sep 14, 2011 -- 1:18AM, Madfox11 wrote:

One thing though, advicing DMs to use background NPC connections as victims in a struggle with Daask always need a warning: use with care, especially if you are an inexperienced DM, overusing it will make players fear making connections with NPCs and will ultimately hurt your campaign (the exception being NPCs specifically mentioned by the player as having issues with criminal organizations).

While I see your point, to take the side of the Traveler, saying "Hey! The innkeeper who runs the Broken Anvil Inn in Callestan was your company cook during the Last War - he recognizes you and begs for help, reminding you of those times you huddled around a fire eating his gruel while the Karrnath undead clattered below the walls" is a different sort of thing than saying "Your sister has been shipped to Droaam". In the case of the sister, it's taking an NPC who was presumably predefined by the player and putting her into a situation that the player presumably didn't expect (though certainly, if the sister is established as being part of the Boramar clan, that's different).

In the case of the cook, my point is that the NPC may never have existed before the adventure. The point is that the players have established that they fought for Breland in the war... and it's logical to assume that they made many friends and connections in that time. Having the company cook as an innkeeper makes it personal, even though none of the players have ever established a connection with him. Now, because they don't know anything about him, they may choose to say "Tough. We don't care about this guy. He probably burned all the biscuits anyway." But it's an opportunity to build on the background if they want, instead of using a complete stranger.

Looking to Firefly, I'd consider the episode "The Message". We've never seen or heard of Private Tracey before. We'll never see him again after this episode. But Mal & Zoe's war experience is a defining part of who they are. By introducing an old war buddy, you add depth to their background - even though it turns out they aren't such great friends with Tracey after all.

So it's true - if every defined NPC becomes a hindrance, people won't define NPCs. My point is that if people have any sort of background, NPCs should exist in that continuum whether defined or not. If the rogue was a Sharn pickpocket, then what about the girl who helped him with a scam that one hot summer? If he's a dragonmarked heir, what about his cousin... oh, it's been a while since you crossed paths, but Dasei is always getting into trouble. Neither of these examples absolutely compel the PC to do the job, but they make it more interesting than using a stranger, at least IMO.