Why You Do/Don't NPC

I found that I became very attached to NPCing at first when I was a little fed up with my first character and I realized that he wasn't going to be at a build level I was happy with any time soon. A year later, I found myself having a lot of fun running and writing mods and I wound up joining the plot team.

Something that I really love about NPCing is the creativity and the ability to practice. I never would have improved as much as a player on the PC side of the fence and I really enjoy being decent at running a game since my tabletop skills were never quite as prominent (I like to think that at least). I also like the NPC culture and the feeling that I'm really helping out behind the scenes, whereas I don't get as much of an OOG feeling of assistance when I PC a game.

I also find that as a PC, I don't really immerse myself in the plot of things very much. I get really burned out trying to go for goals constantly as a PC, so I tend to only have one fairly minor goal that I try to go for at any point in time. I still have a good time PCing, but I feel like NPCing is just better suited to what I do as a player and how I feel OOG afterwards. I sometimes miss being able to PC with a lot of the players in SoMN, but I like NPCing better for now.
 
I almost exclusively NPCed for... probably something like 7 or 8 years, mostly due to financial restrictions. I had fun, and I still love the roleplay aspect when it's available to me, but spending that long only PCing once every few years took a lot out of me, and I ended up feeling pretty burnt out. I come back and NPC at HQ once or twice a year, and I'm Head of Food for Nine Towers so I NPC there permanently as well, but for me the roleplay is really the thing I crave. My PCs can usually keep themselves relatively entertained just sitting around the tavern if there's other people there, and if plot wants to kick me in the feelings (or have someone else do the same) I'm absolutely thrilled. Combat, though, I don't have as much fun with anymore, and I have less NPCing than I do PCing. Since there always tends to be vastly more combat than RP when I'm NPCing, it's a bit of a foregone conclusion for me.
 
There is also the aspect of NPCing where allot of people tell you after the fact what you should have done as though you are wrong and somehow cheating because you did not play it the way they thought you should have. PCing does not get that so much.

Joe S.
Resident Jerk
 
The main reasons I do not NPC, and haven't for the past 5 years: I'm a sore loser, and I'm bad at improvisation (probably acting in general). It seems like these are the basic roles NPCs: either get beat up as monsters, or play a variety of sentient characters for whom the details are kind of vague, and they don't get a lot of down time in-between. I can see how it would be fun for a more generous, outgoing person with a higher level of creativity, but that's never really been my schtick. (At least I admit it?) I got into LARP in general because my boyfriend at the time roped me into it. I'd never done any RP before, and during the few years I went to drama camp, I'm pretty sure the only reason I was cast as anything was because my parents were paying for it. LARP for me was a step up from the camping I did a lot as a kid. I got to feed my sewing hobby, stay outside in the woods for days, and hang out with some new friends in the process. My PC is essentially myself in a ghawazee coat, and I like the downtime as a PC as much as I like running around on mods.

SoMN's move from generously wooded scout camps to the barren, allergy-infested wasteland that is our permanent site has forced me out of my comfort zone enough that I sometimes don't enjoy PCing as much as I used to, though, so I have considered trying to NPC, just for something different - but I'm not totally sold on the idea.
 
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The main draw to NPCing for me is the inherent camaraderie experienced in that camp. If you come into a game, like I did, without previous/OOG connections to an established organization... it can be intimidating, and it's easy to feel uncomfortable and even a little left out unless you're a charismatic outgoing type. As an NPC, though, as soon as you come in you're basically immediately put on a team and thrown out into the world.

A side bonus is the lack of worry for your character's life, thereby reducing any stress you might otherwise feel. You can be free to focus on whatever makes the game fun for you, be that engaging roleplay through plot hooks and fishbowls, or (like me) combat via going out as crunchies, or even populating mods. The only level of dissatisfaction you might have as an NPC is if you're generally a sore loser. If you can't have fun losing most or even all of the time, despite that loss being consequence-free, I can see how NPCing wouldn't be appealing.

Costuming a character can be expensive, and moreso for people like me who are of above-average (ok, let's say it like it is, circus freak) stature. As an NPC, most costuming is essentially provided, and while I rarely fit into any NPC garb, it's not really an issue. Even better is the fact that NPCing is free, comes with perks (like xp for your character, gobbies, free food, depending on chapter etc) and usually also comes with the thanks of the PCs.

I actually look forward to NPCing again, and when my character perms, I'll likely go back into NPCing full time. The only reason I don't now is because I've established him enough in the game world that I want to continue developing him.
 
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I have only been to one alliance event so far but I have larped for almost three years. I try to invest both in my apperance and mannerisms wheen playing a PC I find it very hard to NPC because I want to take the same time and effort but in the middle of game going out as Gnoll 23 that not a option. I have have been called upon to do it and managed but it not enjoyable to myself.
 
As a new player (1 event as NPC, 1 event as PC so far) and a new LARPer I lean heavily to the PC side right now for a few reasons:
1. As an NPC, I feel like my lack of knowledge is severely detrimental to my ability to provide a "good" experience for the range of PCs I would be interacting with. Rules knowledge, combat ability I can scale up/down, general IG knowledge, etc. It's important for me to "do it right."
2. I am a terrible RPer. So even while learning the parts from #1, my ability to apply that knowledge in a flexible, interactive manner is lacking and I feel would not provide the level of service for the PCs that I would expect from myself.
3. When NPCing, the guilt while taking a break was pretty bad. NPC camp works their tails off, and I'm not too interested in having that feeling hang over me during my weekend fun.

So really it all comes back to my service-oriented personality. The PCs might be happy with what I would provide, but I wouldn't be happy. All that said, I imagine it is something I will come back around to once I am more comfortable with everything. Especially if I choose/need to start a new PC. Being low level is always a p.i.t.a. ;)
 
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