Non-Player Characters

Played by the Referee, the NPCs are all those characters in the Omniverse that aren’t being played by the other players at this time. Since that is quite a lot of characters we provide some quick and fast rules for Refs to get by with.

A referee with a lot of time on his hands could create a new Character sheet for every NPC in the game, from that street urchin to the feudal lord who has just hired a team of rocket-belt assassins, each detailed down to the individual proficiencies, but who has that much time to spend on roleplaying? Instead, we recommend that only the most important characters are actually detailed (in this case the Feudal Lord – and maybe the head of the Assassins), as for the rest…

Archetype NPCs serve quite well, they are a simplified NPC, they don’t have differing Facets (all Facets have the same Boon). Archetype NPCs do not have I-Chings or Geometries, but do have a Core, a Personality and a few choice Handicaps. Think of the Archetypes as clichéd characters, most of the Assassins would probably fall into this NPC type.

Some Refs (and players) prefer a lighter character sheet with less details and fewer things to worry about. You can use Lite Characters for this.

Extras, most background characters do not even rate an Archetype NPC, they are covered with Extras. A good Ref can turn an Extra into an encounter that will be remembered for years, even though they are little more than a single Annex, with perhaps a hat.

NPC Characters

The simplest to define, but the longest to create. An NPC character is built exactly like any PC Character (although the Plot can spend Yarn on the NPC to make them more powerful or whatever).

Archetype NPCs

These NPCs are cheap and cheerful, quite quick and simple to create. If you are using the same Archetype character over and over it would probably be worth migrating to a True NPC, but every City Guard can be largely the same… Generally they are purchased by looking at the Yarn available.

When picking how to build an Archetype note that you should consider the PCs in comparison, sometimes the numbers will vary greatly between methods. One small note, the Conflict is usually used to define NPCs. This is done from the Plot Demon’s Conflict Boon and what we call the Value-Half Boon.
The Value-Half Boon is found by taking the Value of the Conflict Boon and Halving it (losing any fractions), then Reduce that Value to create a Boon. E.g. If the Conflict Boon is 26 (Value 203) Value Half= 101 =Boon 17

Facets: Archetypes use all the same Boon for every Facet.

Handicaps: As Facets. Up to the highest number in the party normally.

Personality Boon: Either calculate from Values, or equal to the Conflict Boon
Number of Skills / Talents: Conflict Boon Reduced or calculate.
Number of Powers: Conflict Boon Double Reduced
Proficiencies: See this table instead

Extras

Extras are those bit players that are wandering around in the background. They may have a trick or two, and during a battle for example the Extras may even be dangerous, but they are largely faceless. In T13 there are 3 types of Extra that vary in power level. They all use rules similar to Archetype NPCs for Proficiencies. While standard Draw/play are noted you should also note that

1. Nuisances: You know the sort of person that just seems to clutter up a place, they get in the heroes way, get grabbed by bad guys and are – you know, a bit rubbish. They never seem to really do a lot, but en-masse they can be quite intimidating. They might be a bunch of small animals that bite and nip, perhaps a large creepy crawly, but they are generally not dangerous.A Nuisance has a single Skill that defines it, and generally this Skill has a Boon about equal to a Player Character’s (often lowest) Skill. Example: 1d10(5) [2/1] Nuisances cost 1 Yarn for 1.
2. Chorus: Chorus are all those bit-parts and Extras that can generally be found massing to attack a Vampires castle with torches and pitchforks. They are the common people, who might in some cases be battle hardened veterans, but are generally just Joe Bloggs, well maybe Corporal Joe Bloggs.The Chorus is generally defined by a single Talent, about equivalent to one of the PCs. Example: 3d4(7) [2/2] / 2d8 (9) [3/2] Chorus cost 2 Yarn for 1.
3. Force of Nature: The most powerful of the Extras, the Force of Nature can be literally a storm or earthquake, but more often in T13 it is used to model rioting mobs, battle formations and similar such things. A Force of Nature is built as though it were a Power or Super-Skill and should be at least equal to the highest PC Power, Personality Boon or Super-Skill in size. Example: 3d10 (16) [5/3] F.O.Ns cost 4 Yarn for 1.

Monsters

Monsters are a special type of Character that is an embodiment of the Conflict of the Plot. Some Monsters look like people, but others are more Mythic or Fantastical in nature. How your Monsters appear will depend upon the genre and Tone of your game.

Monsters are usually a detailed Character or an Archetype NPC, but they can just be a slightly modified Extra.

A Monster must always have at least one Handicap (often a Harmful Vulnerability and often Demonic) that may be exploited to defeat the Monster (Archetype NPCs automatically have at least one).

Monsters are usually based on one Facet (the Facet of the Conflict they are embodying usually) that defines the Monster’s type, and may grant a special rule (you can choose to include more Monster types if you want to include one of those rules). The Monster Facet can be included in calculating the Character’s Personality Annex just like a Personality, Core, or Handicap (and yes it is possible for a PC to be a Monster if you as Ref want to embody them that way). Monster Facets may be added to the Facet Boon Reduced Annexes (adding both an Umbral and a Nimbed as well as the Facet Value).

A Monster will usually have a base roll (at least one skill), and may have one or more Talents and even a Power or Super-Skill.

Basically at minimum a Monster is a small collection of Annexes with at least one Handicap.

Monsters can store their largest Handicap Reduced of each Wound Type before they stack. Monsters are never easily killed, they need to have Maxed Mortal or Carnage wounds to really be considered dead – and even then…

Monsters allow a Plot Dæmon to spend Twists, even if the Monster itself cannot.

Making a Character (or a Descendant) into a Monster adds 1 Yarn for each Monster Type added (for example a Chorus Vampire would normally cost 3 Yarn (2 for the Chorus and 1 to add the Fury Monster).

Running NPC Extras in Combat

Generally combat can get pretty tricky to run without some extra rules to streamline the Ref’s game. For this reason the Ref can worry about NPCs in Combat as either Mooks or Monsters.

Solitary Mook

The Solitary Mook is effectively an Extra and has a single die e.g. 3d4 (7- draw 2)

They use this Annex for all rolls (it is their Skills, Talents and Powers). Treat normal rolls as Skills, Talents draw an extra card (e.g 3). Powers draw Twice the number of cards(4). Play as normal (Talent plays 2, Power plays 3) with normal GRT costs. You can detail the Skills, Talents and Powers separately for each one, but really why bother. Instead add a Pip bonus to each card to balance the combat (Talent: add Half Scale, Power: add Scale, Super-Skill: add Scale x3 as a rough example rule – or add Nimbeds instead).

Mooks are generally defeated by any Crippling Wound or higher, and can hold up to Boon Reduced (in this case 7) wounds max with Double Reduced (2) of any one level.

Mook Mobs

When NPCs gather in large numbers they become a slightly different kettle of fish.

They are a Dominion Incarna Group and so you can treat them as a single roll /draw (you can add values to find out how many to draw so 5 3d4 Mooks working together 5×244=Boon 71 3d8 (13) [4] so it can draw 4, as a group.

However  a group can play as many cards as their number of members (5) or 2-3 per PC. They may draw double (Talents) or triple (Powers) this number, but GRT restricts the Group to drawing and playing only one card per PC until the GRT is payed.

Groups store wounds like Mooks, but group wounds don’t stack by level. Groups can be killed as a group with a single Carnage Wound, but one or two individual Mooks will usually survive.

Monsters

Monsters are usually played as a PC in combat. It’s cards are kept separated from any Extras that may be banding together (Dominion Horde Monsters are the exception, as they may use the Mook Mob rules (although the Horde Monster may play an Extra card per PC). Monsters typically have a selection of Skills Talents and Powers to use as appropriate.

It is worth noting that Monsters may add additional Umbrals and Nimbeds to Annexes (increasing Value and Boon as Umbrals normally do).

Monsters that are built from Extras blend the two styles quite simply. They normally Draw and play as their Type (so a Monster Chorus can Draw and Play 2) but when using Talents may Draw and Play an additional card for each Monster Facet, and when using Powers may Multiply the Number of cards they can Draw and Play by their number of Monster facets plus one. For the usual GRT costs.

This can make Force Of Nature Monsters very powerful, as they effectively get to use a Power or Super-Skill as though it was a Skill during combat, with extra Ordeal cards and extra Nimbeds. Refs be wary of how easily they can get out of control.