Whoops, I thought that was a plot hook
As a player, I try to be sensitive to the story that my Game Master is trying to tell. I’m here to participate in that story, after all. But uh… my read isn’t always on point. In the last session of a short campaign that Aron’s running, our characters were playing escort to a trade caravan. They were bound for the same place as we were, but our social character rolled poorly on his check to convince the caravan leader to carry us. As a result, we were expected to earn our keep as escorts and scouts.
Just to give us something to do during what was otherwise going to be a largely segued journey south, Aron gave us some rolls to see a downed ornithopter in the mountains. Cool! We went to investigate, of course, and found the wreckage — along with tracks where the pilot had staggered away.
Interesting. We follow, finding cast-off potions and packs. Finally, we found him. The man was injured and trying to move on only one working leg. He was a scout from the next nation over; not an enemy, exactly, but definitely not a friend.
The whole premise of the campaign was the player characters being sent to keep a border dispute from erupting between our nation and this other guy’s. So naturally, he had some information for us about the commander of his border fort — specifically that he was a hopped up little lord eager to prove his worth.
Great! But now I was convinced that this guy was an important part of the story. After all, he knew something about the plot! So we patched — and tied — the guy up and brought him with us.
With that, he was our NPC companion. Each character quickly developed a unique relationship with him. I particularly enjoyed mine, which was an absolute over-the-top loathing that let Aron and I engage in the most ridiculous, petty fights.
With our new buddy in tow, we continued on. Aron makes very charismatic NPCs (and plays them well), so within a single session, this man went from mistrusted and bound prisoner to an almost-friend who we actively protected from our own people. We bought him armor and tools! If you want to keep an artificer on his back foot, you do not give him tools. But we were sure he was important to the plot, and we liked him so much.
At the end of the session, we all thanked Aron for an awesome time — and for creating such an engaging plot hook!
Except Aron told us that he wasn’t a plot hook. He was just some guy with nothing more than a name and a single tidbit of information. He was just a scout, after all. We were supposed to meet him, get that info, and leave. Maybe leave him for dead or even kill him. But instead, we practically adopted the guy.
Whoops.
So what’s the moral of this story? Nothing, really. It was just fun and funny and I thought I would share.
But if you want a takeaway, then maybe it’s this: Watch out for how likable and interesting you make your NPCs. You might be stuck with them longer than you expect.
