A vast subject that’s particularly easy to handle in tabletop role-playing, but becomes much more complicated in the specific medium of Second Life role-playing sims. As always, on this blog, the presentation angle will focus on Gorean role-playing sims, but the subject remains general and applicable to all role-playing sims.

And what are we going to talk about? What non-player characters are, why they exist, what they’re used for, how they can be used in role-playing and how to deal with the problems faced by players within a framework of fair play.

1- What’s a non-player character?

A non-player character is an extra, not played by a human, in short. Think of your favorite MMORPG, where when you go into a town, there are citizens walking around, merchants in the stores and marketplaces, guards watching over the main gates. Their main function is to serve as living scenery, accentuating immersion, but they are also there to render simple services: selling equipment, food, repairing your weapons and armor, or preventing a player from killing other players freely and safely within the city walls.

Non-player characters are, in a way, the roles that necessarily exist in a social structure, but have little interest in being played: you might find it amusing to play a fishmonger, but it’s rare that this role will be attractive to a player, whereas in a market there’s bound to be a fishmonger’s stall. The same goes for a city guard: it’s hard to find it appealing to a player when his or her in-game activity is to stand and watch the comings and goings. Yes, there are players who find it interesting, for example by playing this role occasionally. But in general, let’s be honest: it’s boring. So it’s much simpler to have a non-player character play the role.

NPCs in Second Life

NPCs in Second Life are usually simply mannequins, sometimes with simple scripts capable of broadcasting a message, either by walking by or by clicking on them for information. They don’t move, nor are they animated; from a visual and technical point of view, they’re simply mannequins that are there for decoration. Their presence is therefore a very limited, but always welcome, form of immersion.

2- What’s the point?

Okay, so we’ve introduced the non-player characters, but what can we do with them? Let’s take a quick look at their use and purpose here.

Role-playing immersion

First and foremost, non-player characters are there to provide immersion in the setting of a sim, like non-player members of a community. For example, the characters I use in the village of Serendipity are all named. So, although they’re just immobile mannequins set in the background, they can be used in interactions. A market stall with its non-player character vendor is more lively, and can motivate a player to write a text in which he chats with him. He can integrate it into an RP interaction, sometimes even embodying it for the duration of a roleplay scene!

A non-player character can thus become an accessory and an aid to immersion and interaction, becoming a kind of tool that can be used by everyone in a roleplay scene. For example, a non-player character, a maid in an inn, whose name is known, can very easily be integrated into an ongoing discussion between two player characters, thus creating more opportunities for roleplay, or simply making the scene more lively.

In short, non-player characters are there to create roleplay opportunities, and fill interesting and immersive roles, when no player can or wants to play them.

Protection & police

This is the second use for non-player characters, and it’s one that shouldn’t be overlooked. A non-player character is a witness and an actor in the event of an assault in the street or a crime committed in a particular location.

Non-player police and guard characters are there to serve as a clear visual reminder that a place is being watched and secured, and that an illegal action is likely to be witnessed, or even to result in intervention and arrest, even in the absence of players playing the role of guard or policeman. When committing a crime or misdemeanor, you can’t ignore non-player characters, witnesses, guards and policemen, just as you can’t ignore any player character.

This forces, for example, a thief to be discreet, and to describe in text his efforts to commit his misdeed without being seen. For example, kidnapping a person in the middle of the street cannot succeed without witnesses, or even an incident: a guard will surely intervene, and if a non-player character remains a background element, it’s possible that he’ll be found killed or wounded while trying to do his duty and prevent the crime.

3- The limits of non-player characters

It’s pretty obvious, but a non-player character is limited. Even with the best scripts and particularly accomplished animesh, a non-player character is still a dummy. At best, he could move around, and react in a programmed way to pre-set actions, but that doesn’t go far. And well, I’ve very rarely come across anyone who can create and para-meter scripted, animated non-player characters. Most of the time, the non-player character will be an immobile dummy, with a few simple scripts.

So, technically, a non-player character is limited. That leaves text and roleplay interaction. But here too, a non-player character must be limited. My best example is the guard: a guard can threaten, raise the alarm, etc., but cannot be used to injure a player. So, a non-player character could arrest a rogue, if he’s then played by a player, but he couldn’t hurt him, let alone kill him. In my opinion, using a non-player character to physically harm a player – unless the player has clearly agreed to this possibility being accepted – is God Modding.

GodModding: It’s pretty straightforward: basically, it means deciding to ignore the actions of other characters while playing your character, or to impose your actions on others without giving them the opportunity to decide for their character. More broadly, it also means deciding to ignore the simple laws of coherence in a universe, or the laws of physics applicable to that universe, in order to achieve one’s ends, to the detriment of all verisimilitude.

So a non-player character can’t do everything a player would. But it’s still very useful and important to make use of non-player characters, and they shouldn’t be ignored.

4- Why you shouldn’t ignore NPCs

I think this question has an obvious answer, but let’s clarify it. Non-player characters are useful and even necessary for immersion and to avoid certain contentious and abusive actions, such as crimes and misdemeanors. Non-player characters provide a tool to generate roleplay, and give an extra layer of life to a sim.

With non-player characters, a town can have its own small shopkeepers, servants, beggars, guards, etc… They’re there, and they’re useful. But above all, their presence is acknowledged, since you can see them, even if they’re immobile mannequins. To ignore them is to decide to play by your own rules, and not by the rules of the community, since if they’re there, they exist and must be taken into account!

Frankly, ignoring non-player characters means ignoring community rules and fair play: you might as well go play a single-player video game, right? At least nobody’s stopping you from doing what you want.

So, for the sake of credibility and consistency, as well as respect for the gaming community you want to play with, don’t ignore non-player characters.

Example: If a woman travels with a non-player bodyguard, you can’t attack her by deciding for yourself that her bodyguard doesn’t exist, or isn’t going to intervene. Yes, he can’t hurt a player. But he can threaten him, push him away, call for help, give the woman time to escape, or even defend her to the death, thus buying time and probably preventing the attacker from achieving his goal.

You could, for example, describe how you come up behind the bodyguard to assassinate him quickly – that’s valid. All that remains now is to attack the woman, who is bound to be alerted (and if I were her, I’d be running like hell!).

You could also decide to attack the woman with one or two accomplices, putting the guard out of action while you get your way with the woman. But here again, you need to take into account the presence of the guard, and use your imagination. And, of course, to describe everything in text.

In short, a non-player character should not be ignored. Even a simple inn servant who sees a crime will be a witness to that crime, and can therefore later describe what he saw. How do you handle this in-game? Take it into account, write the roleplay text and, if no player is present, create a notecard with the text and send it to one of the sim’s animators or moderators! Incidentally, a criminal action is often refused on a sim without this kind of precaution.

In conclusion, non-player characters can really enrich roleplay and interaction. Use your imagination, don’t hesitate to use them, enjoy yourself, and be fair and consistent