Interactions with NPCs are some of the most enjoyable and memorable scenes in any role playing game. As many other games have described it, social interaction is one of the three pillars of roleplaying (along with Exploration and Combat). Characters who are connected to the world setting through NPCs are more alive, and therefore more enjoyable to play.
This holds true in some of the world's most famous RPGs. Not only do we like meeting some of our movie heroes in games like Star Wars or Firefly, but we also enjoy meeting new and interesting characters, which is why Bioware games like Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect have been such a huge success. From tabletop, we can definitely pick out adventures and campaigns where we met and interacted with incredible characters, such as Meepo from the Sunless Citadel.
There's been a few successful ways of tying characters into the world through NPCs.
Shadowrun takes the approach of specific connections which have a certain loyalty and usefulness ratings. These NPCs are fun because they "belong" to you, but are also not for certain going to be the answer you need at any given time. However, these NPCs are rarely fleshed out or much more than couple numbers on a piece of paper, so GM-Player interaction with them is limited at best.
The Burning Wheel, GURPs, and Mistborn are systems that have options for family members, close friends, or other NPCs built into your backstory. If explored, they can be very rewarding. But, this type of approach forces the GM to shoe-horn in NPCs where they might not otherwise belong. It also hogs the spotlight for certain characters whenever those NPCs are in the scene, meaning the GM has to balance everyone's NPCs.
Instead of these types of what I'd call "hard-coded" connections to the world, I want to take a more "loosely-coupled" approach. One of the neatest things about Bioware's video games is the different dialog options that appear based on your character's past choices, their public image, or even just what they're wearing. Playing off of this, I'd like to explore the possibility of giving players "personas", giving them 2-5 "persona points" at character creation:
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Personas
Personas are your character’s different faces to the world. Donning a persona can give you otherwise unavailable opportunities to interact with NPCs. These interactions can lead to special information or access to goods/services. Each persona has a “fame” level (1 persona point per fame upgrade) and a “defining feature”. This feature could be a gang tattoo, corprate signet ring, some secret gesture or phrase, or an article of clothing; anything obviously recognizable will do.
Level 1 Persona: Can be verified as belonging to the group.
Level 2 Persona: Commonly known as part of the group.
Level 3 Persona: Commonly known by those who have relations with the group.
Level 4 Persona: Commonly known in the region as associated with the group.
Level 5 Persona: Commonly known worldwide as associated with the group.
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I can see players taking on Personas of different corporate, gang, or political organizations. This type of thing would allow a player to play a movie-star or famous author without sacrificing any combat or other general 'usefulness' features. Really, it might just be that the shopkeeper is a big fan of your books, so he shows you his secret stash, or the club you need to infiltrate lets you in right away because of your street cred.
There are plenty of opportunities here, where players can inject their personas into the world at the time they see fit, and the GM can respond and create interactions accordingly, without having to plan ahead of time. What do you think? Any serious issues? Think you'd have fun with it?
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