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@Misadventure It depends on the situation and the NPC. I'm fortunate that the players take a lot of initiative for their RP and handle a lot internally. They may just ask, "So is it okay if we created <NPC X> and do <SOME THING> with them?" Then they'll spoof the NPC in their scenes.

Another time we created a host of NPCs for a slasher plot and players adopted the NPC to play in scenes up until they were killed.

Other times staff might step in and portray the NPC in a scene. Finally, yeah, there are +jobs to handle how some things might be done.

I think if you're playing with the right people, there is no real wrong way to handle it. Your example of using NPCs to represent an obstacle to overcome is fantastic.

The FS3 system is great for all of this because you can include rolls in the +jobs themselves for +job interactions.

@ZombieGenesis Could I ask how the players interact with NPCs? Like is it like scene based rolls, +jobs, working on NPC agendas, getting quests/jobs, swaying the NPCs approach or thinking on topics of contention, dealing with personal or societal politics etc?

EG the simplest model from games is give them items they want, and do a few threshold quests to initiate big changes in the relationship and or resolve an issue they have. Typically there is no negative responses, its all progress but with flavor from PC choices.

An L&L example might be an elder off a family who opposes a marriage, so the PCs can do various actions, scenes, challanges to change the elders mind more one way or another. Frequent NPC portrayal isnt the goal, the NPC embodies setting attitudes, culture, etc. Like negotiatinng with part of a voting block. Do it well enough and you remove or reduce the opposition.

@Misadventure I run a private modern horror game right now with a very small group of people. We make liberal use of NPCs for plots and RP. Ares has a good system for NPC characters(either pcreated or just something people can list in their relationships tab) and we've used it to great effect. I'm a big advocate for NPCs on games.

I find myself curious about NPC relationships. My first thought was of course it would be all about PCs, but the games often make NPC relationships important sources of plots and tasks.

Would be be able to work with building friendships, allyships, romances, etc with NPCs and if so what would be the best forms for this?

@Misadventure I'd like to think this would work. I know several people who would be interested in something like this. For my group, it would come down to the final setting and whether or not it was Ares, but I think, in general, this type of theme could work. So long as there's something for players to do and plots to engage with, I'm sure players would come.

In the last few years there have been several tabletop RPGs created in the cozy genre. If you havent run across that term, it usually features small town settings, a slower pace of life, and the importance and consequences of relationships in such a small area. Usually there is little to no violence. Think Stardew Valley, or look at the extension from Urban Fantasy to Cozy Magical Mystery in fiction.

It reminded me of the basic formulae for a Lords & Ladies type game, towards the more peaceful end.

I wondered if a Cozy Cottagecore game could work as a MU*

There are what you might call L&L RPGs out, where the more popular tropes and activities have focus. Something like the Jane Austen MMO, or Houses of the Blooded, perhaps merged with a more rural and or less socially desperate setup.

Since MU* players tend to not care about actual rules, the question really is about the setting and vibe. Would it be viable?

Gratuitous ETA: example current Kickstarter mixing cottagecore and monster hunting, using spoons: Cottages and Cerberus
Free preview: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1USypiA_-mfOd6MvVizrbRp9_1OvSDcQ7/view

@ShelBeast

I know that there were at least a few WoD games running in the not-too-distant past, but I don't know which ones are still up. There was the Obsidian Reverie Ares game which may-or-may-not still be running. City of Shadows still has a website but I don't know about the game itself. I thiiiiiink that Liberation is still going strong?

There may be other, my brain is a melting puddle due to All the RL.

@Macha said in 2023: Dead Celebs pt 2, Electric Boogaloo.:

@Derp Scroll up, homie. I did mention him.

SO YOU DID.

@Misadventure

I absolutely put that in a discord chat. <.<

@Derp I would have thought the "the one who got closest to but not over 100" thing would have gotten to here.