Non-Player Characters
Non-player characters (NPC’s) play many roles in the stories that transpire in an RPG world. From the background crowd member to the nefarious villain rallying armies against a group of adventurers, NPC’s are found at all levels of plots and we here at Atharen encourage their use toward creative ends. To avoid abuse and to provide clear avenues of development and implementation, the following are the rules set in place concerning NPC’s across the website.
If at any point in time there is a matter in need of clarification, contact your local staff member, reach out to the Q&A forum or consult with the Help Desk.
Concepts
Non-Player Characters and Skills
While it's not uncommon for NPCs to display some level of skill in RP, not all NPCs display the same level of skill or have specified skill structures. PC owned NPCs, both Personal and Companion, are created with a fixed set of skills. In the case of Companion NPCs, these skills can be advanced through roleplaying with that character. Other, non-Companion NPCs don't need to have clear sets of skills, and their implementation in narratives are more based on players' understanding of the NPC itself. There is an exception to this; partial skill displays can appear in Story NPCs if the moderators consider such an information relevant. For example, magic in the Daravinic Entente.
Non-Player Characters and Lores
NPCs do not have 'lores'; it can be assumed that they are sufficiently knowledgeable for their skill level (PC owned) or skillset given the NPC's characteristics. The information they hold is, essentially, whatever makes sense for someone in their station. Players are not to overplay the knowledge level of NPCs to acquire hidden information, and this can result in intervention by moderators.
NPC Categories
Below are the various types of Non-Player Characters to be found across Atharen.
Core NPC
Core NPCs are typically high-ranking, powerful NPCs that do things like lead armies or rule countries. Players may request plot involvement with Core NPCs via a plot request submission to the Support Forum. If they wish to have the Core NPC directly interact with their character, this will involve requesting a modded thread with a Staff member to ensure the tone of the Core NPC remains consistent across different plot threads.
Local NPC
Local NPCs are akin to ‘world NPCs’ - they do not belong to anyone, but are endemic to a specific location, and anyone within that location may interact with them. A local NPC is an NPC who has been submitted and approved as a part of a specific function in a city or area, such as a baker, or a blacksmith, or a guard. They can be picked up and played by anyone, but to limited effect. These NPCs will often be submitted in a city forum and placed into a sort of roster or compendium for players there to read and utilize. In the case a PC develops a rather close relationship with a Local NPC, they may request staff permission to get higher influence levels over that character.
Local NPCs are submitted for approval in the city application thread, depending on where they are meant to be posted. There are exceptions: faction NPCs who are also local are approved in their faction request, and are then posted to the city roster without a necessary, additional approval. NPCs who are not specifically tied to one city can instead be posted in the Support Forum, and some development projects can create local NPCs in multiple different areas with singular approval. Such cases are to be handled by the moderators managing them.
Minor NPC
Minor NPCs effectively serve as one-off or throw-away NPCs; they are meant to be utilized in day-to-day interactions, minor plotlines and other goings on by the PC that are not very impactful. What makes minor NPCs unique is that they do not need to be submitted or approved; they can be named, given a role in a plot, killed off or otherwise managed without necessary restriction. However, minor NPCs are generally not extremely skilled and do not carry positions of power; they cannot shield a PC from plot consequences. If a minor NPC becomes a major or recurring role in a PC’s plot arc, it is asked that they be submitted for approval.
Plot NPC
Plot NPCs are, effectively, a sub-type of NPC allowed in specific cases. They are approved by moderators in the Support Forum, though not all details about them or their plot objective must be public. Players have the right to discuss plot impact or NPC secrets with the approving mod, but must do so before they are approved – the details of the plot need not be public if the player wishes to avoid spoilers, but the plot has to be agreed upon beforehand by the player and the approving member of stafft. During the approval process it must be clear what the purpose of the NPC is in a specific plot; outside of interactions within that specific plot, they are considered a Core NPC who cannot be played or influenced by the player submitting the plot request or by anyone else. The character is only allowed to do with them whatever they are broadly approved for within that plot guideline. Once the NPC's purpose in that plot has been fulfilled, or once the plot has ended, the player is no longer allowed to play the NPC unless they apply for and receive permission afterwards. Given that many of these NPCs tend to be quite powerful, they are likely to be confined to specific plots or interactions.
Player Character Owned NPCs
Personal or Companion NPC
A personal NPC is an NPC that a PC is related to or knows well enough to have frequent, personal interactions with. Examples could include a family member, close friend, member of a noble retinue, employee, boss, or so on. A personal NPC is distinct from a minor NPC because of their importance to a PC’s or PCs’ plotlines: if a minor NPC keeps recurring it is requested that they have an NPC template formally created and approved and become a personal NPC for a PC or PCs. For a PC to have a Personal NPC that is influential, well-connected, skilled, or powerful, the player should expect to submit a Support Forum request for a plot that will include gaining the desired NPC as a Personal NPC. A Companion NPC takes the Personal relationship one step further: This is an NPC that is often created in tandem with a PC during Character Creation. They usually work, travel, or live together. A Companion NPC’s meta-narrative purpose may be to provide the Player someone for their PC to talk to or adventure with. The Player who created the Companion NPC has a great deal of control over the NPC, including if they live or die.
Companion NPC Starting Package
Adult Companion NPCs are assumed to have established their own lives. To that end, the Starting Package for Companion NPCs is much larger than that of a player-character just beginning their journey. They are provided the following starting equipment.
- 1 Set of Clothing (Cloak or Coat and footwear included)
- 1 Waterskin
- 1 Backpack which contains:
- 1 Set of Toiletries
- 10 days of rations
- 1 Set of Eating Utensils (i.e. tin plate, cup, fork, spoon, knife)
- Flint & Steel
For Combatant Companions they are allowed to add the following:
Melee Combatant
- 1 Shield (Optional)
- 2 Small Melee Weapons
...or…
- 1 Medium Melee Weapon
Ranged Combatant
- 2 Tiny Ranged Weapons
...or…
- 1 Crossbow, Hand
- 20 Crossbow Bolts (Hand)
...or…
- 1 Medium Ranged Weapon
- Crossbow includes (20) crossbow bolts
- Bow includes (20) arrows
Money
It is assumed that Companion NPCs have set aside the lives they lived prior to joining the player-character and travel with the player. Companion NPC's do not apply for jobs and do not earn seasonal wages. However, adult companion NPC's do not incur any additional expense to the player as they operate under the assumption that when not with the player, they are taking care of themselves. The only exception to this would be circumstances that render them unable to take care of themselves.
Housing
Companion NPCs share housing with the player-character.
Skills
Companion NPCs are provided a larger pool of starting skills in order to account for the fact that they are or were established individuals prior to joining the player-character. Companion NPC's begin play with a pool of 250 XP.
- Companion NPCs can begin with (3) Journeyman Skills
- Companion NPCs are only allowed to have (3) Magics at start.
- All other Starting XP rules apply as normal.
Lore
Companion NPCs do not accumulate Lore. It is assumed they are knowledgeable of their skills appropriate to their level of mastery. At no point in time is a Companion NPC allowed to have secret knowledge of any given subject without permission from the Help Desk.
Progressing Companion NPCs
Companion NPCs may gain an additional 50 XP per season, per NPC. Each thread they are relevant within or important to, the player can request 5 XP for them and allocate that XP as they wish. Companion NPCs can never have more than three master and five expert skills, and cannot become Ascendant mages or Draedan. A companion NPC cannot master more than one magic, and cannot have more than two additional expert magics on top of that. They are also limited to five magics in total. This total number includes World Magics and Personal Magics.
Pets (Pet NPCs)
Really a sub-type of Companion NPCs, a Pet NPC is an NPC for a Player Character that is a non-sapient NPC. This can be an animal that would be considered a pet on our world like a dog, or something like a Hollow or Golem as applicable. Because the Pet NPC literally exists to serve the PC, the PC has a great deal of influence over the Pet NPC, greater even than the other types of Personal or Companion NPCs.
The degree of control the NPC has over their Pet NPC and the overall usefulness and power of the Pet NPC is regulated by the relevant skill: Animal Handling for all Fauna, Artificing for Golems or Hollows.
Players can get different fauna species as pets through several means; usually, the easiest way is obtaining one in a pet shop or a similar business, like breeders, farms… though it depends on the character’s history. The tier system is strictly tied to pet NPC management. Pets from tiers 1-3 can be obtained in normal threads, specifying the adoption in the Loot area of review and linking a short file for the pet NPC so it can be approved. Submitting the NPC file first is also a possibility and ensures that part is cleared, though the following thread must justify adoption. However, tiers 4 and 5 require modded threads for acquisition: and the plot must be at least reviewed and approved by a member of Staff before proceeding. At Staff’s discretion, they can also mandate that the modded thread be carried out by and/or reviewed by members of Staff.
Pets from tiers 3 to 5 also have a special feature; Pet Abilities. Unlocked via the player’s level of Animal Handling skill, these abilities are designed by the NPC creators, must be coherent with the species’ limitations and have to be submitted within the NPC sheet for approval. The higher the tier the pet belongs to, the more abilities it can learn; tier 3 pets get 2 abilities, tier 4 pets get 3, and tier 5 pets get 4 abilities. Abilities are meant to be fairly simple, and represent how pets learn to use their natural potential (being ridden, shooting elemental blasts, attacking in a certain way, assisting at work…). This table shows the unlocking process:
| Animal Handling | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
Note: X means that no ability is unlocked
Guidelines
The Guidelines are the nuances of this system, in order to enable a realistic approach to managing NPCs and to provide characters with a means to utilize NPCs they may normally be unable to. The goal of the NPC system is not to restrict, but to operate based on trust and familiarity with an NPC and their plots, and so we have provided methods of variation to allow PCs greater usage of NPCs.
Standards
- Where it concerns deep, pivotal backstory information for an NPC, the information must be listed on the NPCs character sheet before it is explored IRP unless the NPC is an 'owned' NPC, such as a Personal, Companion or Pet NPC. As an example, a PC cannot have a local NPC tell them that they were born in Atinaw and were orphaned as a child unless it says that on their sheet, though they can make such determinations for their owned NPCs without this information being in their sheet. There are, of course, exceptions within factions and these exceptions are generally determined by a PCs rank.
- Any NPC has to be submitted and approved before using it IRP, except for Minor NPCs
- NPCs can't be killed without the owner's consent, except for Minor NPCs. PC owned NPCs require permission from their owners, and the rest need staff permission.
Staff Oversight
As with PCs, NPCs are subject to Atharen Staff oversight and approval. Staff reserves the right to audit and suggest improvements or changes to NPCs, up to and including resubmission of an NPC.
