| From: | shadowrn@*********.com (shadowrn@*********.com) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Killing Players, Killing Villians |
| Date: | Thu Nov 29 00:15:01 2001 |
too-damn-hard line to walk, and so I think that in the future I'll most
likely pull no punches, and let the players run the risks and count on each
other (teamwork, people!!) to pull the fat out of the fire, or piss to put
the fire out, or jump over the candlestick, or whatever the hell. I'm not
out to get anyone; I'm out to help tell a good story, determine the acts of
an uncaring universe, play NPCs as intelligent as they are (sometimes even
smarter than you, O PC), and make you use the Hooper-Nielsen rule at least
once.
As for the NPCs -- play them as smart as you'd play your own PC. 'Prepare
for the fight at the end' means, to me, that the NPC sets up his defenses as
swiftly and completely as he can. Full-auto shotgun? The shells would slam
into the ballistic barrier surrounding the Villian, if the Villian had access
to casting Ballistic Barrier. What the hell is this about 'first
initiative'? If they were going to go into a place, I'd make them roll
initiative when they stepped in the door, used that as the initiative of the
first round, and STILL -- because their opponent was ready and waiting for
them, and thus 'have the drop' -- I'd give the Villian first action simply
because he's got it set up.
Remember, your NPCs may be all and only yours, but they're still PCs. ;)
Play 'em as smart as they can be.
The Wyrm Ouroboros
'Half Russian mathemetician,
half Silicon Valley code freak.'
