These are the last two questions. Although, I guarantee that I’ll have many more after the first session, as questions come up in play.
Second question: Should recurring NPCs be created like a character, or would you recommend simply making them named threats?
Third question: When the PCs are engaged in a furious melee or firefight, do I simply use “mix it up”? Or, do the players “mix it up” while the Threats inflict Harm?
Give them a name and a description, but don’t worry about stats and the rest of the character stuff. If you’re thinking of them as a Threat you might make them a Threat clock and think about things like weapons and armour, but most NPC’s are not Threats like they are in Apocalypse World.
The players mix it up and that usually involves the opposition doing harm, but it’s all part of the move. You can also inflict harm as an MC move if fictionally appropriate, but I very seldom do that. Mix it up can be pretty unforgiving anyway.
Thank you, sir! I assume that I won’t even have them roll against the PCs, and just keep the narrative going with how they interfere, or interact with them.
This game is exciting me more with each reread of the rules.
Cool. I was thinking that was how “mix it up” worked, but I wanted to be sure. Narrative elegance.
The Sprawl – like other PbtA games – is almost completely asymmetric.
As such, NPCs are not built as PCs, and the MC should not be applying PC moves – yours are the moves listed in Chapter 9… both the basic ones like “put someone in a spot” or “inflict harm”, and the more specialised corporate and threat moves like “throw money at a problem” or “make an offer with strings attached”.
They never involve rolling dice – if you decide that the PCs are walking into an ambush, you can just declare that someone takes a few bullets… there’s no roll to hit them, though they might be able to roll one of their own moves to mitigate it. Of course, it might be a bit harsh to “inflict harm” without any warning whatsoever – it’s usually better as a followup to some foreshadowing with softer moves – but it’s entirely legitimate to do so if you think the fiction justifies being shot out without warning (the game puts a lot of weight on GM judgement in that respect).
For a recurring NPC, it would depend on what they represented. If they’re an agent of one of the corps, then they don’t really exist as a mechanical thing at all – they’re just the face of the Corporation. Otherwise, they’re a Threat – probably a Loner, or the face of some Group. Either way, they’re going to be using the appropriate MC moves…
Simon Geard Great clarification, thank you!
I was thinking that was the way it played, but I wanted to make sure before I spent prep time on NPCs that I could simply be narrated in the fiction.
Now, it’s time to put my ideas on paper. I’ll let everyone know how our first session went on Saturday or Sunday.