DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 43D: Escapades of the Ogre
Agnarr called Seeaeti off the ogre so that it could successfully regenerate. They wanted to question it.
But when it woke up, it was the one asking the questions. “Who are you?”
They naturally refused to answer. But although they tried to question it, threaten it, intimidate it, and scare it, the ogre just kept on asking questions. “Who sent you? What do you want?” And so forth.
But they resolutely refused to answer.
“Ah,” the ogre said at last. “I see I will learn nothing here.”
And it turned to gas… and then the gas itself vanished.
I think there can be a tendency for NPCs to be passive and reactive in conversations.
There are any number of reasons for this: The PCs are, obviously, positioned as protagonists. As GMs we’re juggling a lot of different elements, and it can be easier to juggle everything if it’s relatively stable (and, therefore, possessed of a certain passivity). Plus, at least for me, GMing is often reaction — the PCs do something and then we play to find out what happens. It can be easy for a conversation to slip into the same pattern, with the PCs setting the (only) agenda and the NPCs simply reacting to their efforts.
Unfortunately, a one-sided conversation is pretty boring. This inclination can also lead is into some bad habits, with NPCs who are either pushovers or complete intransigents who just senselessly say, “No!” to everything the PCs suggest.
Sometimes, of course, we key specific information to an NPC and their function is to deliver that information to the PCs: “Yes, I saw Sally down by the lake last night.” That has the advantage of giving the conversation some narrative substance, but it’s ultimately still pretty passive and placid.
To truly bring an NPC conversation to life, you need to ask one simple question:
What does this NPC want?
What is this NPC’s goal? What is the thing they’re trying to achieve? Why?
And perhaps most importantly:
How is this conversation going to help them get it?
What do they need the PCs do? What information do they want from the PCs? What do they need the PCs to believe? What do they need to hear the PCs say? What do they need to hide from the PCs?
This is the NPC’s agenda. You want to keep it simple, short, and actionable. And then you want to play it hard, with the NPC employing all kinds of tactics and conversational gambits to get what they want.
In this session, we see a particularly strong example of this with an ogre whose overwhelming motivation is figuring out who the PCs are, where they come from, and what their interest in the Banewarrens is. He also wants to make sure that the PCs don’t find out anything about his own organization or their intentions.
Since the PCs want the exact opposite, this puts them into a strong antithesis and the entire scene can boil out from there.
Importantly, however, this kind of open antithesis isn’t necessary to generate an interesting thing. The NPC just needs to want something different than the PCs, even if it’s only subtly different.
It’s also important to remember that, when antithesis does exist, that doesn’t mean it should never be surmountable. Yes, it’s dramatic when the Jedi Council refuses Qui-Gon Jinn’s request to train Anakin Skywalker. But it’s also a classic moment when Robin Hood convinces Friar Tuck to join his Merry Men.
In other cases the solution will be for the PCs to figure out how both their interests and the NPCs’ interests can be mutually achieved. That’s a puzzle for the players to ponder!
And, of course, achieving any of this will require first figuring out what the NPC actually wants! Some characters will politely (or not so politely) announce the intentions of course, but others will be quite sly about it.
Sometimes the conversation won’t be about overcoming or fulfilling the NPCs’ agenda at all! Nevertheless, the presence of the agenda — and the NPCs’ desire to fulfill it — will fill the scene with life.
In summary, for each meaningful NPC in a conversation, think about what the NPC’s conversational agenda is. Ideally, you should be able to state this in one clear sentence.
And then pursue it with all the strength you can muster!
Campaign Journal: Session 43E – Running the Campaign: Prepping Porphyry House
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index
This is something that Hot Springs Island did well – every NPC was given a list of “Wants” and “Does Not Want.” The GM could enter the conversation knowing what the NPC was aiming for, and push it in that direction.
These are great. I struggle with dialog, with the same issues you mention, either boring or a Wall of Unchanging Attitude. In my games leaned too hard in film noir completely by accident, so most NPCs have deep motives the PCs don’t understand. I think my players were used to the boring style, “Find me ten kobold teeth and I’ll pay you handsomely.” Or the even more generic NPC, “Welcome to Corneria!”
Need to practice the conversational agenda and save the film noir NPCs for settings like Eberron.