So you crafted a beautiful world with fleshed-out characters and emotional backstories and helpful abilities and your players latched onto a throwaway goblin named Wheelbarrow.
We’ve all been there. I made an elf receptionist kind of rude ONE (1) time and the party was all somehow immediately gripped with a need to run back to the desk and bother him after Every Single Task for the rest of the campaign.
Despite my deepest sympathies, I’d like to kick this blog off with some mild victim-blaming: Who gave the goblin a silly name?
Did you do a fun voice? Maybe had him say something wacky because he was “never” showing up again?
… were the NPCs you actually fleshed out a little too (outwardly) perfect?
Let me be clear: you are stuck with Wheelbarrow forever. If you kill him you’re just opening the gate for Wheelbarrow Jr.
I have no way to stop players from falling in love with the nothing characters we make up on the fly. The trick is to make sure the “important” NPCs are scooped up alongside the Wheelbarrows.
If it’s a party you play with often, you may be able to identify what traits will often make them latch onto an NPC. Try to apply those only to the characters you have more than a hastily written bullet point in your notes for.
What I’ve found applies to all tables, though, is that if the NPC doesn’t have a flaw or quirk, there’s less for players to latch onto. I don’t mean the big character flaws - greed, unwavering loyalty to a corrupt empire, an inability to protect the person that mattered most to them - I mean the tiny elements that make them feel like a grounded person. If you Need a party to feel strongly about an NPC, your best bet is making sure your players see that quirk within the first scene. You may have a pretty cool reveal for the NPC down the line, but that first impressions will stick. They need to care about the character right away in order for a death or betrayal to have the kind of impact we’re usually hoping for.
Eight months ago, I ran THERE IS A GOBLIN LOOSE ON ICARUS STATION by MeatCastle GameWare. As this was our first ever foray into Mothership, I gave them a handful of pretty decent marines for protection - I wanted some fodder for the first goblin attack, and it was an easy way to run a little tutorial on how combat works, without making them feel like guns blazing was the approach their own characters had to take.
One issue. I find that PCs tend to have a problem with authority.
I’m sure we’re all absolutely shocked by this statement.
The thing is, guys with guns in uniform, even if they’re hired to follow the PCs orders, still feel like The Authority to an adventurer.
I didn’t need all of these particular soldiers to stick around. But I did need their presence to not be an issue. The very first bit of information the lead officer blankly relayed was met with hostility.
But I had prepared for this.
I didn’t change his tone, I didn’t make him suddenly friendly or overly polite. While responding, I mentioned that he has knuckle tats that read “ROOT BEER”.
Within seconds, in the OOC channel: “We have to keep root beer alive at all costs”
Survive, Solve, or Save, something a little difficult for new players to accept (myself included), immediately became Save Officer Root Beer.
This marine was not at any point the comic relief. He shot his gun. He did his best to keep the party safe. He relayed information that was barely helpful and not really all that interesting. But the tattoo was something for the party to latch onto. No one ever asked him about it. It didn’t derail the situation. It was simply a tiny detail that made them see him as someone to care about.
The details don’t have to be silly. They just have to be a little weird, or a little personal. The NPC has to fuck up at being perfect, for just a second. The mask can go right back on, but now the PCs have something solid to grab. Something to obsess over as they gleefully drag along your NPC.
Your NPC and also Wheelbarrow Jr. (who Will be expected to tearfully avenge her Papa, btw).
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