Open Discussion: Conversations with NPCs

It doesn’t matter if your games are at a tabletop or one in the digital realms of consoles and PCs, at some point in your role playing adventures you'll wind up interacting with a Non-Player Character. Unless you’ve a really weird game going on, you’re probably dealing with multiple NPCs regularly.  Non-Player Characters are the denizens of our imaginary worlds that bring them to bustling life. Even the most mundane outline of a person rounds out the settings we create in ways we don’t often consider. As the blog has discussed before, a lot of storytelling can come from the environment, but we shouldn’t neglect the people that dwell within the places we present and play in. Non-Player Characters are our vendors, our adversaries, our allies, our victims and our quest givers. At times they may just be part of the background, but without them our roleplaying games simply wouldn’t work. Interactions with NPCs can range anywhere from a brief visual description to a full-out member of your group, but usually falls somewhere in between. When that happens, you’re going to need a conversation.

In tabletop games, conversations with NPCs could go literally anywhere. This is part of the improvisational roleplaying nature of these games, although it's understandable when some people prefer to stay on the tactical side. Digital games help solve this issue by having a limited number of pre-set conversation pieces, including actions and reactions. Having a limited dialogue tree (and really there isn’t any other way in a digital game) can be frustrating, and doesn’t always provide the options you want or prefer to say. However, the dialog tree does its best to provide a range of answers that take the game in different directions... at least in well-made games. If you aren’t a fan of improvisation, having a list of prepared responses to player interactions can seem like a daunting task. However, you can get into the heads of just a few of your general imaginary townsfolk or ship crews and jot down a few select phrases and opinions. This can help if you struggle with improv, but still want to provide a level of interaction. The importance of this interaction (and the time you dedicate to it), though, will certainly depend on the style of game you're running.

One thing we may neglect are the conversations held between the NPCs themselves, as often occur within the worlds of digital RPGs. In these games, this is can easily be taken care through a cut scene or set dialogue for the players to read through, or even skip if they don’t care about the details (no judgment, you play games how you like.) Accomplishing something such as a dialogue tree with predetermined choices isn’t nearly as easy in a tabletop game. If you’re taking this approach, your first course of action is to plan out a conversation between NPCs that you intend for the players to hear. There may be additional details you need to improvise based on player actions, but at the very least this will give you a framework to build from when the time comes. If you don’t expect to need to improvise at all, you can take it a step or two further: if you have pre-written dialogue that won't change at all, you could record it in advance and play it when the time comes, with the addition of any sound effects, music or whatever else you might need. You could also potentially enlist the help of another individual to record it for (or with) you. This is probably not something you could accomplish every game, but could be a useful tool to make the occasional session extra memorable. If you do plan to improvise an NPC-to-NPC conversation, or even if you're writing out out ahead of time, remember to keep it brief. The game is about the players, not you. Also, don’t forget to be prepared for follow-up questions - the players are bound to have them.

Outside of player interaction, it might also be smart to consider conversations that go on when the PCs aren’t around. What rumors are being spread? Are songs being sung of the party’s adventures? Are the townsfolk working to earn a coin to toss to the Witcher? It's easy to say that the bad guy in your games comes across your players' plans, but how did they do it? Did they hire spies? Have the players just been too free in their conversations with NPCs? Even just the general conversation from a barhand to a vendor might spark an idea that allows you to expand the stories in your games. Considering this as a player, it might give you extra insight on local politics or how to accomplish your goals. It's strange to think how important the conversations that aren’t actually happening can be.

No matter how you include NPC conversations, whether it's with or between them, please make sure you include them. NPCs can add a lot to a game, even if they’re only serfs talking amongst themselves in the background as an addition to the environment of the game.  A roleplaying game session just isn’t the same without these conversations. Even when the game is more tactically-focused, you can include those tactics within NPC conversations. Planning ahead for these talks can be useful, even if you like to improvise your discussions on the spur of the moment, as opposed to having a pre-written speech. Most of all, just enjoy your time with these characters, even if some of them only appear as brief background cameos. You never know when you’ll come across a new favorite. Until next time, have fun at your tabletops! 

- A

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