i'm running the adventure An Eye for an Eye ( spoilers follow). i want to keep the focus on the players and not bog down combat by rolling dice and actions for allied NPCs.

i was inspired by valvorik's idea for NPC cards that are kind of like a location card. (see thread) javascript:void(0);/*1309903625364*/

the last session concluded with the defeat of the cultists on the rooftop and the beastmen storming the grounds of the lodge. depending on where the players choose to intercede in the battle they will be fighting along side various NPCs. to utilise the NPCs they will need to narrate their involvement.

below are the NPC cards i have created. any thoughts or improvements are welcome.

New Zombie said:

Fantastic idea! Did you use Strange Eons to build these, or some other program?

strange eons, using location cards in the liber fanatica plug in.

This is so good it should be fattening

I will now steal this idea, patent it and make millions of...owait...I'm still taking it though.

thanks for the positive feedback. hopefully valvorik can chime in with his experiences using this kind of thing. i haven't used it myself yet. i am concerned that there is no direct way that the NPCs are attacked, they are only nailed through chaos stars and the like.

i don't know if i should represent the NPC on the table top or keep them completely abstract, my gut says not to use a mini to maintain freedom of player narration.

Very handy! I wish you'd been around with this before I ran that bit.

I really like this idea and the follow-through is top notch. I see too many of these adding up and being problematic on the table. While the varying abilities are interesting, you might streamline them to just one effect each on double boon or double bane. The triggering player would get to choose which NPC's ability gets activated.

They look great, and in principle I think they're a really fun way to handle NPCs. I think there's a lot of potential for this sort of thing to be much more extensively used.

My concern is that by turning several allies into what amounts to only a few bonus dice for the PCs, you're doing to be depriving the PCs of much-needed help.

i.e. 1 PC plus 1 NPC guard are rolling X dice each round and inflicting Y amount of damage.

1 PC with a bonus die or two is not rolling as many dice as both were separately, and so is unlikely to cause as much damage, and might find themselves fighting 2 baddies rather than 1 (as there is now no NPC to tie up the second baddie). In effect, you're turning the PCs and their allies into a 'goodie' version of the 'henchman horde': the combined scores of the group are less than the scores of the individuals.

So, you might want to make the effects more significant (i.e. bigger dice bonuses) or more dramatic (every success rolled by the NPC card kills one gor or two ungor).

I think I would go for abstract representation of the people and attackers involved as it's less book keeping and gives you more flexibility. And reduces the problem of baddies bypassing NPC allies that don't get their 'own' attacks to pick on the PCs.

Amehdaus said:

That's a good point. However, if you simplified the mechanics, so that each NPC rolled a single die to determine the outcome of his/her action then it would be pretty easy. Particularly if you have each NPC card to a different (or the physically closest) player.

As a player, I think I'd prefer to see the influence of each (named) NPC each round (if they were in line of sight to one of the PCs anyway). In any case, rolling one die for an NPC is much simpler and faster than working out a whole dice pool.

Amehdaus said:

i hear your concern.

the way i anticipate the structure of the session is that the players start on top of the manor house. they can see (to a degree) and hear that the lodge grounds are under attack. the coach house is being set on fire. beastmen are fighting separate groups of house guards and olver gand and his hounds. they left aschaffenberg and hendrick in his quarters. they also see beastmen entering the ground floor of the lodge.

there are several disparate encounters going on and not one massive scrum. even if the players split up, they will only ever have 1 NPC card in play for an encounter (with the exception of the lord and his manservant). because there will only be a single NPC card in play i can be creative with the dice pool results without fear of adding too much complexity.

i'm happy with the multiple results per card, considering by introducing a NPC card i'm able to remove from play Soldier, Noble, Townsfolk creature cards, a modified Soldier card for Captain Blucher, creature action cards, ACE pools, initiative for NPCs, full wound tracking, manoeuvres, miniatures and recharge tokens.

if an NPC card makes a fight too easy but generates are great story i'll be chuffed. i can always throw in an extra beasty into the mix partway through an encounter if need be.

Angelic Despot said:

Cool, I like what you've done.

I typically just write down the NPC stuff on a coloured index card but this is very pretty and I like adding visual richness to the table etc.

Mad Lady Agnetha (who is along with PC's for a trip) may have to get a Strange Eons treatment not just be an Index Card (though I don't have access to a colour printer very often).

New Zombie said:

Sounds good. I guess there's nothing to stop you just narratively saying that 1 beastman is fighting the NPC (but not rolling any dice) and the other beastman is fighting you (and roll the dice).

Please let us know how it goes once you've done this. I think this is a fantastic way forward. You could build up a nice set of NPC cards - some specific and some generic (to replace the current generic NPC cards).

Angelic Despot said:

Great work. You should join us on the Liber Fanatica staff for issue #9. Clean them up a little and I'll get them in the next issue..and they won't be lost in the stacks of posts here

www.liberfanatica.net/phpBB3/index.php

Jay H

Emirikol said:

i've gotten rid of a few typo errors. i decided not to add a wound mechanic to allies as i want to stick to the design goal of minimal book keeping.

these NPCs are one offs for the E4aE adventure, the model is not for a recurring NPC that travels with the party, for that i'd do something like what doc_cthulhu has done where they can be socketed into the party or character sheet and i would consider having a wound tracking mechanic of some kind.

as much as i'd like to be involved in LF9 i'm realistic about my spare time so will decline the invitation. what i can do is email you the .eon files i've created for my E4aE adventure. i'll send you a friend request (is that the right term?) via these FFG forums. you can take these files and run with them.

That sounds great. I'll put you as the credit and I'll work with Doc on perfecting the mechanic for general use.

Brilliant idea again btw!

jh

Emirikol said:

the idea was valvorik's. if you haven't read his various session reports you should. they are peppered liberally with excellent GM tips for improving the game, which would fall right into the theme of LF9. his enhancement of the interlude rules are great as is his rumour card deck to help disseminate setting and adventure fluff.

How do you get the "Specials" for the Charakters? I am pretty sure I have not read anything like that in "eye for an eye" or are these Infos in other supplements?

New Zombie said:

Thanks for kind comments, I think Jay [Emirikol] does read my play reports. I read his stuff as well.

Metatron said:

if by specials you mean things like 'Blue Blood', 'Noble Indignation' etc, i made them up. if you mean the entire cards i also made them using a tool called 'Strange Eons'

sorry if i caused confusion by having this in the GM section and not the House Rule section. i chose GM section due to the chance of spoilers for the Eye for an Eye adventure.

@New Zombie

I think it is perfect here :-). I ment the "True Blood" Special Abilities also I downloaded "Strange Eon" wich is a pretty cool Tool and the WHFRPG plugin is just awesome. Thanks for sharing the Inspiration :-)