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June 29, 2009
An interesting categorization system
I'm into role playing games. Yes, I know that is somewhat odd for a grown man, but it is fun. I came across this categorization system for non-player characters (NPC) for dramatic purposes.
There are four sorts of non-player character: spear carriers, informants, patrons, and trouble-makers. Spear carriers (called extras in the movies) serve to provide atmosphere, needed skills the players might not have, or cannon fodder (in case a referee wants to show what great danger the players are in by killing someone but does not want to do in one of the players). Informants serve to give the players information, and are ideal for those situations in which the referee needs to give false data, but does not feel like lying to the players outright. Informants may be experts the players consult (such as a university professor or scholar) may be passengers or crew of a starship which the players are on, or may be people that the players casually meet in the course of seeking rumors or employment. A patron is a NPC who has a job offer for one or more of the players. The patron provides some of the information the players will need to carry out the job (rarely will all information be provided; the players must find some things out for themselves), and will offer a reward of some sort. ... Trouble-makers are specifically intended to cause problems for the characters. Trouble-makers include police, customs, tax, and immigration officials, other government red-tapers, thugs, ruffians, hi-jackers, thieves, con-men, and characters who strut around in opera capes and samurai helmets talking like James Earl Jones.
Traveller - Books 0-8: The Classic Books
I like these categories. Though certainly people move between these categories, especially moving from spear carriers, informants, and patrons into trouble-makers. In my own games, spear carriers are the rarest categories and trouble makers are the most common. I see extras as a fifth category distinct from spear carriers. A spear carrier is an extra with lines or a name. A real extra is someone in the background who you never talk to, or interact with physically, verbally, or socially beyond perhaps holding a door open for them, accidentally spilling your coffee on them, or being an anonymous hostage.
Posted by OneEyedMan at June 29, 2009 4:28 PM
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