Hey!I have a question about NPCs in Urban Shadows.I think it’s kinda hard not to pre-think about the plot that involve basic NPCs.Let’s say our group goes to a bar, they meet a barwoman and she is like whatever they want her to be like…but!Maybe i want to spice things up and let her take a more interesting part in the campaign, if i am not prepared to tell them the reason she is important, if i stuck at the critical moment, the moment it’s needed, the moment will be gone for good… i guess not all things in this game are created in real time.What do you guys usually do?Prepeare some parts of the story just for backup?Or let it roll and see what happens?
Hey!I have a question about NPCs in Urban Shadows.I think it’s kinda hard not to pre-think about the plot that…
Hey!I have a question about NPCs in Urban Shadows.I think it’s kinda hard not to pre-think about the plot that…
If you have cool ideas, note them. Maybe you’ll never need them, maybe you’ll tweak them later, maybe you’ll use them for another game, but note them.
I usually have a hard time to go beyond what my players are doing right now (maybe they’ll confront some great villain way too early in the game, so I will need another major antagonist) but I can always recycle ideas.
A stack of index cards, or the equivalent digital equivalent, is an essential GM tool.
What the rules say not to do, by my reading of them, is to plan out a little arc, i.e. the bartender is going to be in trouble and ask one of the PC’s for help, and then if they refuse she will get killed and show up again as a ghost to make him feel guilty, and, and, and….
If you want to have a bartender with an agenda, go for it, but accept that the PCs may or may not respond to that agenda. That’s part of making the world feel real. You can also use NPC’s like this bartender to make Moves that fit the context, liking offering an opportunity with a cost, or revealing the city’s gritty magical underworld. To the players, this will look like them running into a bartender with an agenda, but you’ll know you’re following your MC Agenda. Just don’t say the name of your Move, and respond fluidly to whatever the characters do.