Running first session of a new #ApocalypseWorld campaign today, I introduced an NPC named Glider, a dealer of drugs and herbs, spices, perfumes, and such.The PC Hocus chose a “how could I get (new NPC) to join the cult” result from Read A Person. I couldn’t think of what would motivate this character, so I called a quick break and reread the Leap forward with named, human NPCs section in the book.
“Choose a body part — their stomach, gut, dick or clit, their nose, time-ticking womb, their fearful cowardly heart — and have them just follow it around wherever it goes.” I read that and thought, nose? How would someone follow their nose? And then I realized I already had the answer and it was the perfect motivator for this character. He sells perfumes. He lives in a hold and works in a marketplace where he’s surrounded by people with lousy hygiene. He wants to live in an environment where people care about how things smell. And secondarily other aesthetic concerns, how his environment looks, and sounds, sure, but first and foremost Glider cares about smells. So I described how Glider’s booth is set up, with a lot more attention to environment than the other market stalls, and how Glider actually cares about this stuff, and maybe if you wanted him to help make your cult members stink prettier…
That passage gave me exactly the hint I needed to make Glider real.
