MORE NPC's=MORE FUN!!!

R

RuneBrighteyes

Artisan
Hello Board Devotees-

In my long and infamous LARP career there has really only been one constant. The best events that I have played have had the MOST NPC's. I am hoping that consensus an quickly be reached that more NPC's is better than the alternative.

So lets turn our obsessive brains on how to get more NPC's. What have you encountered that has worked? What do you think might work?

Before you jump into it remember that PC's pay which pays for sites which makes games happen. This ends up being a restraint for ideas (many of mine in fact).

Here is one I love for many reasons-
One chapter concurrently runs 3 different campaigns 2 events per campaign per year (6 yearly events). Players can PC 2 campaigns and must NPC the third. Here is why I like it.

2/1+ PC to NPC ratio (because you will ALWAYS have your handful of NPC's who will show up outside of this structure.

Plot Teams will have less to worry about. I.E. 2 plotters will be lead plot writers on one campaign. If you split up that campaigns two events that team will have 6ish months to plan for their event. Imagine how AWESOME that event will be!

You can offer three different campaign styles at one chapter. Maybe elven forest overrun with undead, noble intrigue in the capital, and exploration of a barbarian frontier.

As a subset to the last point there will be more Plot pie to serve up to players. Certain groups of players through hard work and time in the game will inevitably become more connected to the various plots at a chapter (at least in my experience). Now there are 3 pies to go around, one of which PC's can never taste as a PC.

How this also might make it radder to NPC-
It can be hard to find reliable Town NPC's (Duchess's, Guild Heads, Tavern Keeps, etc.). Now you have the ratio to do it, as well as you can pull from your consistent player base to play one in their NPC chapter. Or you can call on an old friend/vet to play someone important (as they only have to commit to 2 events per year).

One reason I do not NPC a chapter I am PCing at is I do not want to miss any story that I am involved in. Now I know I won't.

I also get to NPC with my entire team, who are usually my best friends at the game. I still also get silly o'clock in our cabin as unless these games get SUPER HUGE cause they are just SO GOOD there will probably be a private cabin around instead of NPC camp sleeping (in my experience).



So the ball is in your court obsessives. Before you tell me why the above won't work please tell me what is positive about it. Also PLEASE put out your ideas to get more NPC's at our games. Thanks!

MORE NPC's=MORE FUN!!!
 
Oregon typically runs about 2:1 PC:NPC already, so that may be why I don't see this as super necessary. As a storyteller, 2 events per year doesn't give me enough room to develop an arc. And, requiring players to NPC doesn't work because attendance is never mandatory.
 
Thank you for your response. I wish that more chapters had that ratio, but even then do you find that you wished you had more NPC's? Are there any positives you see to this proposal?

Furthermore what do you think other chapters could do to get that ratio? How many players (total) are most of your games?

Thanks again for diving in. I have always appreciated your critical comments in pursuit of supporting our game.
 
One way to increase the number of NPC at a game is to bring the NPCs onto the staff. Recruit people for your chapter to specifically NPC. Being a designated NPC at a chapter makes people feel more like a member of the team rather than "the guy/girl who volunteered to get beat up this weekend". It's a small thing but could make the difference to some people.

Offer free yearly membership to the people that decide all they want to do at your chapter is NPC.

Offer 1.5x experience gain for an event towards your PC for NPCing. This will get anybody who is trying to power level a new character to get them up to speed with the point in the game they want to play at to want to NPC more.

Some chapters have their NPCs pre-register so that they can see exactly what their ratio is going to be beforehand and plan accordingly.

At this current point in time the only incentives for NPCing over PCing that I have seen are free admission for a game (which is huge to some people and minor to others) and a free magic item pick (which is counterproductive considering the want to reduce magic items). Crossroads offers a $25 gift certificate to their NPCs which is a great idea since it is a completely OOG incentive and the only thing that actually benefits the players who do nothing but NPC.
 
While I love the idea of having more NPCs, I don't think that condensing plot development would lead to a better game. I view this idea as: Less developed plot which has more NPCs.

A tweak on your idea is to have a couple events each year which put the bigger plotlines on a back burner - allowing plot members who don't often get the spotlight to debut new, condensed plotlines (helping them learn how to write a short arc), and allowing the PCs who are involved in the big plotlines to be freed up for NPCing.

Another idea is along the lines of something which happened in Caldaria last year: a team wrote an entire event, and NPCed it. The Phalanx wrote and staffed their own event - which let them have the behind-the-scenes fun, let the plot staff go to an editor/advisory role, and gave the PCs a new plotline to chew on. Encouraging this from the staff end of things is fairly straightforward - letting people know this would be welcomed, giving guidelines/templates for event writing, and rewards (lots of gobbies, etc.)

Along the same lines: in Caldaria, I PCed an event which contained an RP module where the PCs NPCed the mod. Each PC entered into an alternate world, alone, and the PCs who were waiting for their turn to enter were the NPCs for the one who had. Does that make sense? We entertained each other for four hours, and had a blast. It's still one of my all-time favorite modules, even though I spent probably 3.5 of those 4 hours NPCing. It was a great change of pace!

Bringing new folks to the game ALWAYS boosts NPC numbers, though for a short period of time. I love watching newbies get their larp feet under them via NPC camp, finding what they really like to play before becoming PCs. It's like a survey course in larping, and the game benefits from it. For each new player, you can get about a year of NPCing, so it's not a permanent solution, but it helps.


As for not-new ideas which could use some emphasis:
- Be kind to your NPCs: make sure they are well fed, well watered, and well sheltered. Provide a customer-friendly environment in NPC camp.

- Encourage PCs not already on plot to contribute fishbowls/modules to the game. Fresh, fun mini-plot can keep NPC camp from getting stale.

- Supplies, supplies, supplies: a well-stocked NPC camp, complete with costuming, pouches, belts, and armor can make all the difference. NPC camps where NPCs have to bring bags of their own costuming don't help encourage folks to NPC. If I have to bring all my gear to be sure there will be a role-appropriate costume, why aren't I just bringing all my PC gear?

- Write diverse plot to account for diverse NPCs: some folks don't NPC because they cannot do heavy combat all the time. Writing some RP-heavy plot supports the prospective NPC who doesn't do combat, who excels at RP, or just to give your fighting NPCs a break. For the folks who don't RP, but who love combat, have some crunchies written into the weekend which are planned out (i.e. monsters from a particular plotline), so it's easy to provide them with roles. One thing I loved out at Crossroads was an NPC who came in to gamble with the PCs - he entertained us for HOURS.

ETA: I can't figure out why this is coming out bolded... and no amount of editing seems to change it...
 
"Another idea is along the lines of something which happened in Caldaria last year: a team wrote an entire event, and NPCed it. The Phalanx wrote and staffed their own event - which let them have the behind-the-scenes fun, let the plot staff go to an editor/advisory role, and gave the PCs a new plotline to chew on. Encouraging this from the staff end of things is fairly straightforward - letting people know this would be welcomed, giving guidelines/templates for event writing, and rewards (lots of gobbies, etc.)"

As Ray remembers, the concept of team-written stories is how "Nero" began and was immensely successful. Teams will be invested in their plotlines. One and two events will have many more Npcs. Running a weekend is a lot of work but there are plenty of larp junkies who would be willing. It costs staff nothing but a little creativity and garners more npcs and less stress for staff in the long run. Also, the old idea of having a yearly event, run by one team kept the game going for a long time. It was fun; it is interesting and it keeps everyone involved in many more stories than they otherwise would be (as creators and as players). This involvement is good for the game as a whole. It always has been.

Why not continue it post-post split. There is no argument that allows for more fun by adding more npcs, and player involvement with their game. As this is a community driven game; staff should let their players work hard and reward them for doing so. Players pay to play; "nero" is cheap entertainment. The moment it becomes more of a hassle or that the cost outweighs the fun; well there are many other larps and plenty of other entertainments to enjoy for a 20-40something crowd. I say let those who are that motivated and interested in their game contribute extra to it. Everyone wins; just make sure staff heavily rewards those that work that hard. Creative work for moving numbers around on a sheet is a good way to gain free labor anyhow. Everyone should use it profusely.

Another more temporary solution is to gurantee mods in exchange for Npc'ing other mods. It works; and everyone loves to beat up their friends (naturally with guidance from staff members). Special care must be given to the make up races naturally since they will not take their makeup off and reapply just to do a mod. Makeup is a pain as it is.
 
I'll be honest, the only thing that keeps me from NPCing more is the 4-6 hour drive to any bloody chapter from here. If it was just a matter of rolling an hour or so out of town after work, it would happen much more often.
 
been in a game with 6 staff 2 NPC's 35 PC's, not so fun and i was one of the 2 NPC's, the PCs let us rest and the staff spaced the combat but f- was it a as- wooping


but i have also been at games with 45+ PC's 6 or so NPCs 6 or so staff and had a blast,

and yes the evens with 60+ PCs and 20 + npcs and staffon top of that have been the best events i have been to... but

i have also been to events all day events where it was say 11 PC's vs 8 NPC's and the game sucked... admittedly the weather that day was a bit lame raining all the way all day... talk about spell packet death.... but more over the wile the mods where fun there was just a bit of disorganization to it
 
My take (of an NPC at Oregon chapter & PC at Washington): appx 5 hr between chapters.

Why I NPC:
1: the Plot team - try to make all the NPCs have roles for the weekend. This can be from Monster Camp Master, villager roles, the main bad guy or a main henchman. Making everyone field like they are part of a team & a key component for the weekend.

2: the Players - thanking the NPCs (for dying repeatedly) helps keep spirits up, willingness to help new players (Pages, PCs & NPCs) make them feel welcome, and role-playing with any number of odd mobs makes for funny situations.

3: Grub - bring some treats for Monster Camp...
 
that's one of the nice things i have seen in SF chapter, the NPCs if new gets training, the PCs always thank them and make them feel welcome, the staff provides lots of grub to them even some of the PCs bake home made cookies and stuff for the NPC's, PCs call safety holds if say an NPC is going to back up over a stump or something, and it seems like every NPC had a on going in town roll or 2 they get to play if there meal time or a free moment. i know are chapter treats there NPC's really nice its just hard to find more people willing to NPC.... that don't already PC or something.
 
SkollWolfrun said:
My take (of an NPC at Oregon chapter & PC at Washington): appx 5 hr between chapters.
Why I NPC:
1: the Plot team - try to make all the NPCs have roles for the weekend. This can be from Monster Camp Master, villager roles, the main bad guy or a main henchman. Making everyone field like they are part of a team & a key component for the weekend.
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I concur with my esteemed colleague and would add:
2: Make the NPC's feel that it is equally important that they have a good time and are not just there as packet catchers and boffer targets.

3: Provide good costuming and props for your NPC's. Lets face it, the basic tabbard and face paint is great when you're running 12 lair cards back to back, but everyone wants to feel cool and good costuming and props goes a long way towards that.

4: NPC Guild. Make your NPC's invested in NPC'ing by rewarding your dedicated NPC's and giving them additional responsibilities.

5: Keep them busy, but understand that they are only human (and occasionally elementals, and goblins, and minotaurs). Dead time and bored NPC's are killers.
 
I agree completely with the Author of this thread. As a newer player I sometimes feel that it is harder to get as involved with a plot line as I might like to be, or there are plot lines that have been going on for a while that still aren't resolved so the introduction on new lines become harder.

With what this is proposed to do there will be at least one section of the season where you know something different will be happening, and if you aren't invested into something or were looking for something to get invested into, this opens a great opportunity for you to do just that.
 
There are certain small things like giving better rewards for NPCing (more gobbies, modules for teams that NPC a weekend, gift cards for food) that are being done that I have personally witnessed impact the NPC ratio.

I really think it is bizarre that in a group of people who come together as a community of friends we even have to say that we should treat each other well, but yeah, treating NPCs like the valuable resource they are would probably also go a long way.

Eliminating the combative attitude that so frequently crops up between players on both sides of the fence would also be a pretty huge deal. If combat and rp interactions were more about collaborative storytelling than live action stuff questing (or even plot questing), then being an NPC would have an intrinsic reward all its own. I've seen really excellent players, really excellent RPers go from participating in a story to quest mode simply with the introduction of an NPC (not to throw stones in a glass house, I know I've been guilty of this too). The NPC comes into town with the whole scene mapped out in his/her head only to find that the PCs they are interacting with don't want the interaction, they just want to cut to the chase and get the thing/info they need to solve the ________.

That's my take anyway.
 
RuneBrighteyes said:
Thank you for your response. I wish that more chapters had that ratio, but even then do you find that you wished you had more NPC's? Are there any positives you see to this proposal?
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Sort of yes, sort of no. I don't see the need to have a single chapter run 3 separate campaigns. Why not have three separate, but proximally-located chapters? In that situation, you already get sort of what it seems you're looking for - people that NPC one PC the other, and vice versa. You have three distinct plot teams, reducing burnout, etc.

I'm generally a fan of the "fewer events", but I think 2 per year is too few. 5 per year is pushing the upper limit, so four events plus supplemental faire days seems about ideal. I could see doing fewer events if the events we ran were longer - five or nine day ordeals, but real-world activities preclude that from happening.

Furthermore what do you think other chapters could do to get that ratio? How many players (total) are most of your games?
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We've had good success with how we work with our NPCs. In a 30 PC/15 NPC event, about 8 or so NPCs are members of our Guild. We meet with them prior to the event to give them a run-down on what is coming up at the next event: overall story, expected event flow, scheduled mods, etc. The Guildees have dedicated town NPC personas with on-going stories, and we empower them to take the lead in working with new NPCs and/or running small one-encounter mods ("lair cards"). We also make a special point to try and give our Guild NPCs some of the more key "bad guy" roles as well as a special "white hat" character that they can play. We try and keep a constant dialogue between the guildees and plot so that we have more ears on the ground, as it were. I guess the short form would be "make them important and make sure they feel important".

It also helps that we don't charge our NPCs for attendance. They don't get fed for free, but we have an NPC meal plan that they can buy in to for ten bucks for five meals.

Would I like to have more NPCs? Mostly yes. The "no" side of that has to do with how most of our campsites deal with rental - they charge us per person attending the event, whether they're PCs or NPCs (or staff, for that matter), so while covering NPC costs is built into the event fee, the closer we get to 1:1 or more, the more it cuts into our budget. There are certain things that more NPCs would help solve, but I think we need to improve those numbers by growing the chapter rather than further dividing up the ones we have.
 
jpariury said:
RuneBrighteyes said:
Thank you for your response. I wish that more chapters had that ratio, but even then do you find that you wished you had more NPC's? Are there any positives you see to this proposal?
Click to expand...
Sort of yes, sort of no. I don't see the need to have a single chapter run 3 separate campaigns. Why not have three separate, but proximally-located chapters? In that situation, you already get sort of what it seems you're looking for - people that NPC one PC the other, and vice versa. You have three distinct plot teams, reducing burnout, etc.
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Chapters aren't cheap, and the number of people with the spare cash to fund running one as well as the free time to wrangle cats well enough to make a game happen is very, very limited. You're involved in the back-end logistics of running a game yourself, JP, I'm sure you have a good idea how much cash really goes into putting on a game.
 
I think the key thing that everybody is bringing up here is making the NPCs feel more important.

Also, not every chapter has a shortage of NPCs so depending on where you play, views on this problem can be different. JP's 30 PC to 15 NPC event that he had mentioned is a pretty good ratio. If you get too many NPCs, if there isn't a wave battle going on, they get bored from sitting around. I've been at events where the PCs were burnt out and the NPCs were all ready to go. So, there is a delicate balance to maintain which is why bringing a specific number of players onto the "NPC staff" is a good thing.

Not charging people to NPC is probably the best thing you can do to get more NPCs. OOG incentives work very well for pulling in players that want to do nothing but NPC. There are many rewards for NPCing that your PC character can benefit from, but if you never PC, they mean nothing to you. Make these people who want to NPC every event a part of the story. I know for damn sure that I wouldn't want to constantly NPC if all I was every time was some 8 body creature swinging 2s. Give these guys a chance to be named NPCs with recurring roles. Allow them to become their own character and they can get the same feel out of the game that a PC would. To take it one step further, let them create this character from scratch. Give them the guidelines and let them pull it together and make it their own.
 
If gas wasn't creeping up on $4 a gallon, I'd love to be on perma-NPC duty for a chapter. It'd be fun. The 500 mile round trip to the nearest chapters makes that a bit impractical for me just now, though.
 
There we go. The solution to more NPCs is People need to open more chapters local to others. :)
 
Wraith said:
Chapters aren't cheap, and the number of people with the spare cash to fund running one as well as the free time to wrangle cats well enough to make a game happen is very, very limited. You're involved in the back-end logistics of running a game yourself, JP, I'm sure you have a good idea how much cash really goes into putting on a game.
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I think most of the heavy costs are in the start-up, tbh - licensing, chartering under BSA or as a distinct org, insurance, etc. getting your first Monster Camp put together. If we were running a chapter in a relative void, I'd agree, running three campaigns under one license might be optimal. Like, in San Fran, that sounds like maybe a good plan. But even in the PNW where there are two chapters, there's no distinct financial "need" to have either chapter split off into two campaigns. Logistically, it'd be a bit of a pain, between Oregon and Seattle, we try to space out our events at least three weeks apart from each, and our game days more or less two weeks from an event, and there's at least one other larp that we try and not schedule over the top of, largely because we have a lot of cross-population. I believe that having more densely-situated events in areas east of us works because there exists a larger game overall.

Another consideration is that having only one license means only one vote in the symposium. Not sure which way I feel about that, though, tbh. :)

Which kind of brings me back to my original statement - we need to grow our game before we think about dinking around with how we are organized. Again, I'm not against it, but overall if the goal is to improve the NPC:pC ratio, I don't think splitting up a chapter into three distinct campaigns is necessarily the way to go.
 
Some of the sites in New England charge $1K-2k per weekend to rent. It can get mighty costly to run a chapter unless you have a super low-cost site, or can invest in a permanent site up-front.
 
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