Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #101

Roleplaying & GMing Servant NPCs, Part I

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SENT BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY With Compliments

From: Johnn Four, http://www.roleplayingtips.com
mailto:feedback@roleplayingtips.com

CONTENTS:
--> A Brief Word From Johnn

--> This Week's Tips Summarized:

1. Somethin' On The Side: Situation & Motivation
2. Make The Servant An Expert
3. Avoid Cliche
4. Keep Minor NPCs Minor
5. 50 Example Servant Occupations

--> Readers' Tips Of The Week:

1. Use Sock Puppets For NPCs
2. Read The Three Musketeers For Servant
Roleplaying Tips
3. Message Board RPG Tips
4. Let The PCs Learn A Lot About The Villain!
5. Comments & Tips On #100: Nitty-Gritty Villains
6. How To Save Time By Using Your Web Cam

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A BRIEF WORD FROM JOHNN

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As you know, Roleplaying Tips is not one of those zines with
more ads than content. In fact, I only allow two ads
maximum, and many issues just have one or even zero ads in
them.

However, I'm very pleased to host a new ad for Skotos.net in

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Where Do You Get Your RPG News?

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I was wondering if and where you read your RPG news online?
I'm looking for some web sites that post RPG related news to
send brief, weekly updates to about each week's Roleplaying
Tips newsletter.

If you know of any news sites, please drop me a note. Thanks!

New Articles Posted At The Site

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The following items were posted this past week. If you have
time, drop by the site to check them out:

* "Fear in RPGs" by Delphine Lynx

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/fear_in_rpgs.php

* "Bright Lights, Big City" by Jeff Ibach

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/bright_lights_big_city.php

* "Romance In RPGs" by Delphine Lynx

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* "Choosing a Setting" by Delphine Lynx

http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/choosing_a_setting.php

Warm regards,

Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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MORE ROLEPLAYING ARTICLES & REVIEWS AT MY OTHER SITE

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New This Week:

* Top 6 Must-Have Roleplaying Games

http://roleplaygames.about.com/library/toppicks/aatp-musthaverpgs.htm

* Top 7 D&D Expansions And Supplements For Dungeon Masters

http://roleplaygames.about.com/library/toppicks/aatp-dandsupplements.htm

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ROLEPLAYING & GMing SERVANT NPCS, PART I

1. Somethin' On The Side: Situation & Motivation

================================================
This tip was inspired by an email from Alex J.

A great way to add a little depth to servant NPCs is to put

their fingers into a side-business that gives them a
little more of what they need. For example, turn that
previously insignificant wealthy merchant's wife's
handmaiden into a spy. That servant is definitely a more
exciting NPC now.
A fast way to decide if a servant is a candidate for this
type of role is to consider their situation and motivation:

Situation
---------
* Who is their employer?
- Is the employer important, rich, or powerful?
- Is the employer important to the story or adventure?
- Does the employer have valuable relationships with
important, rich or powerful people?
- Is the employer linked or of value to the villain in
any way?
- Employer ideas:
+ Noble, politician or ambassador
+ Successful merchant or business person
+ Spouse of an important person
+ Has important job (i.e. bank manager, captain of
the watch)
+ Has important role (i.e. guild council member)
+ Famous (i.e. musician, ex-adventurer)

* What are their duties?

- What (privileged) information does the servant have
access to during the normal course of performing their
daily routine?
+ Keys and locks
+ Security codes
+ Gossip, rumours, news, blackmail
+ Employer's future plans
+ Weaknesses of employer or employer's guests/friends

- What important, private, or interesting places does the

servant normally have access to?
+ Secret passages, private routes, servant areas
+ Gets close to important people
+ The kitchen (i.e. poison or drug food and drinks)
+ Has private moments with employer
+ Storage or equipment areas

* What can they get away with?

- Outside of their normal duties and privileges, what could
the servant get away with if they tried?
+ Sneak into restricted areas
+ Overhear important conversations
+ Influence the decisions of employer
+ Influence the decisions of those who influence the
decisions of important people
+ Enlist or coerce help from other servants

As you can see, there's plenty of possibilities for story or

side-plot development just by considering servants and how
their situations could be valuable to the right people.

Motivation
----------
Once you figure out how a servant could be valuable because
of what they know, who they serve, or what they could do,
the next part is to establish a motive. In most stories,
servants are happy with the status-quo. They don't want to
stick their neck out for fear of losing their job or being
punished. So, why would they take the risk?

* Servant-to-servant politics. The head servant often enjoys

the most privileges. So, a self-motivated schemer could
take it upon herself to sabotage the next servant in the
pecking order in order to improve her own situation.

* Greed. Bribes work!

* Love or romance. When people become emotional, they can

become less-inhibited, be more easily manipulated, or become
irrational. Whether the suitor is sincere or not, romance
can be a powerful lever.

* Blackmail. Servants can be blackmailed too. They have

families, secrets, status, or something to protect. How
about blackmailing a servant into blackmailing their
employer--a neat twist perhaps?

* Loyalty. Enslaved servants, expatriates, prisoners, guild

or club members, or family members are just a few examples
of how a servant's top loyalty might not be to their
employer, but to something or somebody else.

* Insanity. Temporary insanity or not, servants could be

influenced through religious or cultist influences,
prophecy, paranoia, hate, or from a number of psychological
factors.

Example Scenarios
-----------------
* A wealthy merchant bribes the stable boy of his competitor
to supply him with a weekly list of visitors. The merchant
can use this information to anticipate business alliances,
sabotage relationships, and figure out his rival's future
plans. The stable boy, not understanding the ways of
business, is simply grateful for the extra five coppers
every tenday.

* A techno-peasant bodyguard is responsible for guarding the

son of an important foreign politician. However, he is
convinced by the boy's private teacher to give the
instructor access to the boy's computer, perhaps to check up
on his student's homework or to sweep for viruses. The
instructor uses the terminal to access the LAN and grab top
secret information from the politician's files.

* The innkeeper of a high-class establishment is given a

small supply of medicine for his ill mother who lives
upstairs every time he reports to the villain's chief flunky
an important bit of news, information, or gossip overheard
while serving his powerful patrons. Unfortunately, the
villain has also bribed the cook to continuously administer
small doses of poison to the mother's food...

* Here's a classic: the Queen's handmaiden is in love with

the Prince, who schemes against his mother. The infatuated
girl lets the Prince into his mother's quarters for regular
snooping, and she also diligently reports on the Queen's
comings and goings.

* The Chief Eunuch gets a private room, eats the best food,
and does the least amount of work. Plus, he's got a nasty
temperament and loves to be a bully. All the other servants
despise the creature and one in particular is actively
plotting against him.

Sub Eunuch #2 is quietly being paid to pass on valuable

security information to an assassin who has been hired to
kill the Sheik. And Sub Eunuch #2 is spending some of his
new-found wealth on getting forged documents that will frame
the Chief Eunuch for the security breach. He has also paid
the assassin to "accidentally" kill Sub Eunuch #1 during the
Sheik's assassination, and the forger as well to cover his
tracks. Sub Eunuch #2 plans on being Chief Eunuch very soon!

2. Make The Servant An Expert

=============================
Pick a random skill from your rule book, and let your next
servant NPC be an expert with that ability. One of two
interesting possibilities will emerge from this situation
that could help you add personality and depth to the NPC.

1) The skill complements the servant's work. That means the

servant is extremely competent at her job. How could that
affect her personality?
* Confident
* Arrogant
* Takes initiative
* Has ambition
* Unsatisfied at being under-employed
* Performs all actions in an "over the top" manner, such as
a bartender who serves drinks while juggling bottles

2) The skill has no bearing on the servant's work. This could

make the servant:
* Interesting to talk with and learn from
* Unhappy, sullen
* Contemptuous of his peers
* Ambitious and looking for a change
* Inept at his job
* Three dimensional as the servant has passion about a subject
different than his work

This technique can be an extremely fast way to create a

servant on-the-fly as well. As soon as you match a highly-
developed skill with an NPC, your brain will almost
instantly come up with all kinds of roleplaying ideas.

Try these combos and see what happens:

* Bartender who is a highly-skilled wood carver
* Stewardess who is a world-class opera singer
* Butler who can tie complex and beautiful knots
3. Avoid Cliche
===============
From: Brian W.

The best suggestion I can come up with is to avoid cliche.

Not giving the butler a English accent jumps first to mind.
Bartenders are usually portrayed as either gruff or quiet.
Shoot for talkative and friendly. They are bartenders. Their
trade is people and being friendly is part and parcel of the
deal.

So, the rule always breaks down to this: think about what
every other NPC of that type has been presented as then do
it differently...

[Johnn: great tip Brian. And, what about the reverse? Use
cliches to trick players into making a set of false
assumptions and lull them into overlooking the NPC, then
surprise them with a twist.

For example, make the prim and proper butler with the
English accent a polymorphed intelligent monster who is the
mastermind behind a recent series of robberies.]

4. Keep Minor NPCs Minor

========================
From: Dwayne T.

Keep minor NPCs minor in some way. In my first campaign,

every NPC the players spoke with had the wisdom of Gandalf,
and every fighter they encountered (friend or foe) was a
great tactician. Since then I've toned them down a lot.
Minor NPCs can be strong fighters or wise folk, but most
will not.

[Johnn: good point. If we start letting every minor NPC

steal the show or become an incredible roleplaying
encounter, then that would lead to an unbalanced campaign. I
love cookies, but after about the 23rd one, I usually don't
want to see another Oreo for a long while. :)

So, consider making a rule of thumb for your campaign:

every fourth or fifth minor NPC encountered should be made
interesting and stick out a bit, unless the story, game
session, or PCs need more.]

5. 50 Example Servant Occupations

=================================
Sometimes coming up with interesting servants merely
requires expanding the numbers and types of servants in your
campaign. For example, thinking back on my games, I can only
identify about six different types that I've used recently.
It's time to branch out a little, methinks. Maybe you should
too...

Agent
Apprentice
Attendant
Bank Messenger
Bar Keeper
Basket Maker
Boarding Master
Brakeman
Brick bearer
Bricklayer
Carriage Driver
Cashier
Clerk
Construction Worker
Cook
Courier
Day Labourer
Drayman
Driver
Factory Hand
Farm Hand
Forge hand
Furnace Hand
Gardener
Gaslighter
Gatekeeper
Gelder
Governess
Grubber
Guard
House Servant
Housekeeper
Instructor
Land Lady
Landlord
Livery Stable Keeper
Maid
Mechanic
Night Watch
Nurseryman
Overseer
Porter
Seamstress
Sergeant
Shoe shiner
Stage Driver
Steward
Waiter
Washer and Ironer
Washerwoman

Another way to come up with different servant types is to

take any profession and add the word "assistant" beside the
name. For example, tailor's assistant, accountant's
assistant.

Here's a link to many more occupation types plus their

archaic names: http://www.cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html

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READERS' TIPS OF THE WEEK

1. Use Sock Puppets For NPCs

============================
Peter G. told me how he used sock puppets for a recent
audition to represent different characters and parts. I bet
that would be an excellent technique for NPCs too! Has
anyone tried this before?

Here are some of the ideas that came to mind:

* Shy GMs might be more comfortable using a puppet to
roleplay NPCs with.

* Shy players might be more comfortable roleplaying with a

talking sock (I'm serious!)

* Puppets could be used just to make certain NPCs special,

like villains.

* They'd be easy to make.

2. Read The Three Musketeers For Servant Roleplaying Tips

From: Ro
=========================================================
Read the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. If you're only
familiar with the movies then you're probably only familiar
with Planchet, who was D'Artagnan's manservant. But, all
the main characters have servants and all relate to them
differently.

The most interesting is Athos' servant. Athos is not a man

of many words and so his servant has learned to react to the
smallest of his gestures and sounds, sometimes getting it
right and sometimes not.

This also gives insight into the treatment of servants. At

one point a couple of the servants are given the task of
delivering M'lady DeWinter to the headsman. When she attempts
to bribe them the Musketeers stop them and carry out the
task themselves, reasoning they've been tainted now and can
no longer be trusted because they are not "gentlemen".

If a character has a servant then the servant's reactions

will be based in part on how the servant feels about being a
servant and how the character treats him.

3. Message Board RPG Tips

From: Christopher Y.
=========================
A couple of things that I've learned as a DM on a Message
Board site (roleplayinggames.net) have helped me to better
my campaign and make it more enjoyable for the players.

1) Give them a number of opportunities to roll the dice! If

your Message Board site has a built-in dice roller, then you
know what I'm talking about! As with tabletop sessions, I
find that players and D's alike usually love to "roll dem
bones".

2) Present as many situations as possible where the PCs can

use their various skills/feats/special abilities. Not only
does this "spotlight" various characters, it also validates
the tedious process of rolling up a character. What's the
use in having all of those wonderful powers if you can't use
them!

3) Reward them for not only posting, but for posting well.
Not only does this encourage frequent posting, it allows the
PCs a fair opportunity to advance in level. In tabletop
scenarios, the party usually gets to divvy up treasure and
experience either on the fly, or at the end of the session.
It takes forever to raise levels on Message Boards unless
you award XP for posting or play/DM a predominantly hack and
slash campaign.

4. Let The PCs Learn A Lot About The Villain!

From: Elle
=============================================
Hi Johnn,

Just a comment on this week's issue:

> * The villain knows the importance of gathering

> intelligence and creates extremely detailed dossiers on
> each PC for future use, while remaining an unseen and
> unknown enigma to the PCs.

Oh no. No, no, no, this is so incredibly frustrating from

a player point of view. It gets very uninspiring (and breaks
game world believability, IMO) when the villain knows
everything about you and your friends, but somehow evades
the same scrutiny himself. It feels very contrived; it
throws plausibility out the window.

What's much more fun is to make the bad guy subject to the
same attention as the good guys. If the good guys *try*,
they *can* compile a dossier on Mr Evil... they can find
where he went to high school, they can discover the truth
about his lost love that turned him into a raving psychopath
at age sixteen, etc. They might have to spend a lot of time
doing it, or pay through the nose for someone else to do it
(that's what Mr Evil has minions for), but it should be
theoretically possible.

This can actually push a campaign forwards; it gives the

characters the capacity to understand the bad guy - maybe
they can extrapolate his motivations or his goal, perhaps
it'll help them work out how to stop him, or redeem him.
Maybe they'll even sympathise with him.

Of course, that does rather change the flavour of a bad guy;

it makes him an ordinary evil person instead of some extra-
ordinary evil force. Sometimes that's not appropriate; it
depends what the GM wants for their game and that NPC in
particular. But it's a good way of pepping up bad guys when
they start getting a bit tired or unexciting.

5. Comments & Tips On #100: Nitty-Gritty Villains

From: Aki H.
=================================================
> 1. In The Villain's Mind, There Is No Good Or Evil

Those who can't tell the difference between good and evil
are known as sociopaths. I'd argue that many villains have a
pretty clear view of good and evil, but it is different from
that of the regular John Doe. Rationalization is one way
they can do what they please and still live with themselves.
Another way is a code of ethics that simply differs from
what we are accustomed to... and then there are those who see
themselves as evil and lovin' it.

A fine villain makes a great story, and an investment in

understanding villain ethics is seldom misplaced.

> 4. Work The Villain Into As Many Things As Possible, Make

> Him Well-Known

Mmm. Not all of this notoriety needs to be grounded on

facts, of course. It is easy for every cutthroat in the area
to let Mork the Black take the credit for everything from
robbery and murder to burned down buildings to failed crops
and bovine miscarriages.

> 5. The Villain Is Probably Capable Of Killing The Party

> Members, But Doesn't Want To

Alternative explanations for why does he not simply wipe out

the party:
* Doing so would create more fuss than it would solve;
* The party is expected to bungle clues into oblivion (the
'Mulder' solution);
* The villain is so much stronger than the party that the
party is not a threat;
* The villain's assets are unsuitable to a direct conflict;
* The villain's personality is unsuited to a direct conflict
> 6. The Villain Returns Again And Again

*snicker* Aye. And the villain might come back as much

nastier than she ever was before. Undead form is an
obvious solution. Another is a last laugh scheme.. just
to spite the party, the villain has made preparations
against whoever defeats her. These smart even more, as
the party faces these schemes without any chance of
retaliating, as they have already killed the villain. Or -
the villain returns through being a part of an organization.
Take down the baron, face the duke; take down the duke,
face the king.

6. How To Save Time By Using Your Web Cam

From: JR
=========================================
Here is an idea that I've found useful. Hopefully this will
be of aide to your gaming if you play table top. Recently,
while designing my own DM screen, I discovered that you can
use your web cam to take captures of the following:

* Maps
* Charts
* Artwork

You name it, if its on paper all you need is a web cam and a
good color printer. I have found this useful in various
ways, like taking snapshots of the artwork of monsters in
the monster manual and handing them to players during an
encounter. This works well if you have new players--giving
a visual experience while you're busily describing the
creature to them.

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That's it for this week's issue.

Have more fun at every game!

Johnn Four
mailto:johnn@roleplayingtips.com

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