Anatomy of a guide NPC
We’ve written about the importance of NPCs in role-playing games a lot. They serve as a barometer for the players, they can provide a safety net so you don’t lose your story to a party wipe, and they can be a guide when the player group is lost.
In the Mage: the Ascension game that we recently finished, the main barrier to enjoying an otherwise really cool story was the lack of a guide. We chased down what leads we had, but didn’t have anyone or anything to help us find the ones we missed or help us connect the dots so we could understand our story. We wrapped up the game, and we saved the day… But we never got half the story.
A good guide can solve that. I call it map-dragon-treasure. You need a goal (the treasure) and something to challenge the players (the dragon), but you also really need a map to navigate it all. The PCs don’t get to the goal until the end of the game, and the antagonist only appears to challenge the PCs, so the map needs to be there right from the beginning to show them the way.
There are lots of ways to put a map in your game, from a series of clues to a physical map to a guiding NPC. It’s this last one we’re going to dive into here.
It does need to be said that the guide doesn’t have to order the party around or always have the answer. The game is about player characters solving problems, not just doing what an NPC tells them. But when they doubt, when they’re confused, or if you just need someone to make some exposition so that your group can put the story in context, then having an NPC gently nudge them in the right direction makes all the difference.
So what makes a good guide?
Let’s start with the assumption that the guide, the metaphorical map, is an NPC as opposed to a literal map or cryptic dreams.
The NPC needs to be capable
A guide NPC is usually fairly powerful. A higher-ranked soldier, a more advanced wizard, or a wise spirit. The NPC needs to be competent enough that the PCs will respect and listen to them. If the party won’t follow suggestions to consider this or that, then the NPC won’t be much of a map.
Your guide needs to have some knowledge and wisdom that the PCs lack, so they can make discreet suggestions when they get lost or confused, or help them digest and make sense of the things that they learn during the campaign.
The NPC needs the player characters
Let’s say that you have an NPC who’s a powerful sorcerer, so they have the authority to gather and unite the party. They have the wisdom — or at least the library access — to help them understand the backstory and interpret the plot arc as it unfolds. Let’s use my favorite example, Hazbin the wizard.
Hazbin’s an old sorcerer, bitter from long-past mistakes, and a bit of a drunk. The end result is that Hazbin is often funny, sarcastic — but always in moderation to the PCs, since I want him to stay on the players’ good side — and just a little wounded. The player characters like Hazbin, they laugh at his crude jokes, and they hope to find out what caused the old wizard to fall so low. They’re already interested in helping him to get sober and restore his former glory.
But if Hazbin is a powerful wizard, then why does he need a party of adventurers? Why not just magic his way through the miles of the journey, the traps and the battles, and finish off the villain himself? If he didn’t require the PCs, then there wouldn’t be a game — so there has to be a need.
With Hazbin, it’s pretty obvious and his concept offers up a ready-made reason. He’s old and drunk, a shadow of his former power. He just isn’t what he used to be… So Hazbin needs new, younger adventurers. Heroes who are still idealistic enough to do the impossible instead of giving up like he did.
You might also use politics to make sure that your NPC has a reason not to just do everything themselves. Maybe they have to keep their hands clean, directing the PCs from secret and using them as deniable assets. Only the PCs can do the hard work of the plot arc because the NPC would lose all their power if they acted openly.
They might have other jobs to do. The NPC might be using their vast mental power to hide the PCs while they work to defeat the villain. Maybe they are seneschal to the king and queen, unable to leave the castle as they advise the monarchy through this war-torn time. There might be multiple threats and while the NPC single-handedly deals with one danger over here, it’s up to the PCs to handle the next challenge in the story.
The NPC could even be incapable of helping. A spirit that speaks to the PCs in visions, or an imprisoned goddess that might guide the characters, acting as the story’s map, but be absolutely dependent upon the PCs to perform whatever heroics must be done.
The NPC needs to be likable
In the name of getting your PCs to actually listen to their guide, they need to be likable. If your NPC is a jerk, the PCs will avoid scenes with them or hurry to get out of their presence. They won’t want to listen to the NPC’s advice, so even when they need help and your guide tries to give it, they won’t want to follow it.
In the Mage game above, the closest we had to a guide was an agent of the Technocracy, who for simplicity’s sake are one of the usual Big Bads in that setting. This particular agent was fighting against a different antagonist, so she was an enemy of our enemy.
But we never got to forget that she was an enemy. We argued over philosophy, we argued over tactics, and in the end, when we had to back her plan to stop the main villain, she was sacrificing innocent people. We were cornered into backing her murders, which did not go down well. When she tried to steer us toward the ending our Storyteller had planned, we dug our heels in.
So, a guide who’s on the same side as the PCs is a good place to start, though if you stack the deck just right, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make a frenemy work just as well. Be funny if you can, because people react well to humor and it’s a good way to make sure the PCs enjoy your guide. But if you make the NPC a total buffoon, you lose the competence — your PCs probably won’t follow someone who’s all slapstick and no intelligence.
The NPC needs to like the PCs in return
Above all, the NPC should like the PCs. If they like the player characters, then the players will probably like them back. Find something within each character to have the NPC relate to, attach to or admire, and that support starts building a bond.
Respect for the PCs goes with that, and by respect, I mean common respect for them as people, but also respect for their abilities. When Hazbin recruits a warrior for his quest, it should be because he sees in them the potential to be the best sword-fighter in this age. When he takes on a rogue, it should be because Hazbin asked around for the best thief and this character’s name kept coming up. The wizard in the party should be a haunting echo of Hazbin’s own youth and glory, or a reminder of the apprentice he once loved like a child — but tragically lost.
This respect raises the party up, gives them confidence and makes them feel good about themselves. We all like to feel powerful and competent in a role-playing game, and your guide NPC can help with that. They don’t just rely on the PCs because they’re busy, but because the player characters are the best people for this job.
And the PCs are the heroes of the story, so it never hurts to remind them of that. The more the guide believes in the party, the more the party will feel valued, even loved — and love the guide in return.
It doesn’t take much to make an NPC that your players can have faith in. And if they believe in their guide and are willing to follow them, then they will never be lost.
