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Heroic Knight
 
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Should refs play major NPCs at events?
Discuss the pro's and cons.
Dont listen to me, I don't larp any more.
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I do talk a good fight
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Major NPCs? No.
Pros -- they already know the plot. Also, as ref, you get to have a good time, because it essentially becomes your event with loads of monsters that revolve around you, plus a whole crowd of spectators (formerly known as players) to gawp at your awesomenss.
Cons -- they will rapidly come to dominate the plot, so that the game revolves around them rather than the players, leading to the players going off and making their own entertainment. At its worst this means you get Quest Shittiii, in which we had a great time kicking a woman to death in a carpet, Mongol style, but in which the plot all revolved around the Big Good Guy NPC fighting the Big Bad Guy NPC in a manner that we were powerless to affect (hence why we made our own entertainment). Unfortunately, even at marginally better events with considerably better refs, the tendency to dominate the plot is almost inevitable.
http://www.hyboriantales.com
PD: Ghostdance ("The most irritating curse I've ever encountered" -- NPC played by H.)
Riftworld: Rossar Kuug ("Clearly mad, because he thinks he's a Com-Trow Skirmisher" - Aela)
Hyborian Tales: Crew, cook, dogsbody, general labourer, toilet cleaner ("Dangerously overoptimistic ref" -- Tom Nowell)
Otherwise usually crew ("Quite spry & fit, & willing to wear a big costume & run around a lot" -- various event organisers)
"My other oversized foam weapon is THE LORD" -- Questionable Content
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Wag
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| Pros - You can be in with the players. This gives you a better perspective on what they are up to which can be useful in making major decisions about how to respond to it. Also, there are sometimes situations where the politics behind a character can be too complex to explain fully to someone and so it is easier to just play it yourself. Also, some roles involve 'secret plot info' which is fine for a referee or permanent crew member (who never intends to play at all) but can be awkward for a player who occasionally crews to help out. Cons - There should be equitable treatment of all crew regardless of situation. So what if one crew member is the game organisers, chief referee and owner of the minibus that all the crew travelled in. That should automatically give them more right to play the cool roles than the bloke who hitch hiked his way to the event and volunteered to help out. To my mind, assignment of roles should be based more on ability to perform said role than status within a group. And all crew should be given at least one juicy role to play in the course of the event.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
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Champion
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If Victoriana had got off the ground, the idea was to have the Ref’s playing the part of the Butlers. Always Calm. Never getting involved, always having the answers, unobtrusive not affecting the plot or the actions of the characters. In such a setting I believe it would have worked well. I’m not sure about other games.
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PD: Mister Cry, Philosopher of Stone.
LT: Whimsy, Archer's Guild Fae Butler.
SOS: Kethren Fable, The Queen's Killer.
Vikings: Plot writing Mikey (with eagle eye action)
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Wag
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Yes, a ref playing an unimportant and unobtrusive role can also help. It means that there is a character that everyone can talk to without arousing suspicion and discuss OOC stuff with - asking questions about what they know about the plot, doing skill stuff and so on.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
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Wag
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| Depends on your system and player base, what the behaviour expectation is and whether you are actually prepared to kick cheats out of the system be they player or staff or ref. (Which lets face it rarely happens) I've seen PC refs work very well. Ive seen NPC refs work very well. Ive seen refs who just ref work very well. Ive seen all the above behave like nob-ends. Horses for Courses really so its a dead end question. What you mean to ask is 'should Refs be NPC's in relation to a specific system'.
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Wag
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| Flannel's right, it depends on the system, also the ref, the players....
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Champion
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| Pros: What everyone else has already said. Cons: What everyone else has already said, plus: The biggest problem I've encountered when you've got refs playing major NPCs is when all the major NPCs are doing important plot stuff and you, having made your own entertainment, need a ref call right now but can't get one because they're all busy.
Ascendancy LRP: Redvers Fenn-Cooper Crimson Requiem: Crew Real Life: Doug McKerracher Quis custodiet ipsos custard?
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