Non Player-character (NPC)

From LarpWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

A character in a larp who is not played by a player. NPCs typically providing supporting or adversarial roles in a larp.

The role of NPCs varies hugely depending on the style of game. Many theatre-style larps include no NPCs at all. Others include them as minor roles there to fulfil a specific narrative purpose (for example, to be the victim of a murder, or to push plotlines to their conclusion). In live-combat larps NPCs can be used to provide motivation or information to spark plotlines (for example, a merchant asking for help against local bandits, or a scholar revealing that an enemy can be defeated with a certain magic ritual), as well as the adversaries for those plotlines (bandits, zombies, and other "monsters"). In campaign games NPCs can be recurring allies or adversaries (a shopkeeper, mentor or enemy). In some cases NPCs may not be played at all, but exist only offstage, present only in background briefings, correspondence, or other people's conversation.

As with Player-character (PC)s, NPCs may be either player or GM created, depending on the style of larp. Larps with player-created characters often include NPCs created by the players via their backstory.

See also