Children NPCs, yay or nay?
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But that rarely seems to how child NPCs are used by players. It usually seems to be some sort of house-RP wish-fulfilment fantasy and I really don’t like being a part of that
Interesting. That does all sound pretty annoying, but that hasn’t been my personal experience. I wonder if it just comes down to the types of games or specific players or something. When I’ve seen child NPCs used, it’s usually been for a specific plot point. When I’ve done it, either been for that or just because my character happened to be a parent. Almost all of the times were after I myself was already a parent, so there definitely wasn’t any wish-fulfillment going on. It was just exploring an aspect of the character that seemed interesting to me at the time.
I remember one amusing scene where @Roadspike’s Viper pilot was getting grilled by my character’s NPC kid. That would certainly become tiresome if it happened all the time (for me to play as well as for everyone else to deal with), but the kid was largely off-camera with his grandparents. As occasional flavor, I think he brought a bit of levity to scenes, while also highlighting who the PCs were fighting for. It also added depth to that character, who was struggling to balance being a single mother in a war.
YMMV of course but that’s just my experience.
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Child npcs, like pet npcs, are annoying when done badly and fine when done well. I find that when they are the focus of the rp I’m usually bored unless something unusual and interesting is happening, but on the other hand sometimes really cute shit happens.
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This convo is going to end up settling on “This kind of RP is only good when it’s actually good, and not bad”.
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@Yam
Such is always the way.Mostly I’d find the idea of a game where someone declares ‘no children NPCs exist’ an overreach that’d makes the world feel less real. Humans, especially if they aren’t all 22 years old, end up with children. I barely see them, anyway, it tends not to be part of the RP fantasy for most players, so to me it’d feel like a solution in search of a problem. I’ve played characters with kids before and it’s generally added an interesting dimension to that RP, though I usually contrive reasons for them to be off-screen a lot of the time.
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i had a kid NPC i greatly enjoyed on Arx and it definitely wasn’t wish fulfillment lmao. i don’t want kids at all. but he was specifically a weirdo kid i’d just bring along now and then (if it was the right season for him) to be weird. and tbh he was specifically curious about other characters and would ask them questions about themselves, which is usually a good route for RP fun.
anyways yeah what sao said. when done well it’s fun, when not it’s annoying. and tbf there’s a lot of mileage may vary. some people hate it no matter what. i tended to ask first if people were interested/okay with it.
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This convo is going to end up settling on “This kind of RP is only good when it’s actually good, and not bad”.
Amusingly, that is my exact feeling.
I don’t mind child or pet NPCs as a general thing, but a lot of players do not have a sense of moderation nor do they understand that other people do not have the same attachment to their NPC follower as they obviously do. So, it’s unfortunately likely for a scene with a kid/pet NPC to become “LOOK AT MY NPC AREN’T THEY CUTE/NAUGHTY? LET’S RP ABOUT THEM.”But when people don’t do that, it’s fine.
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One of my take-aways (personal regrets) from being on Concordia is that the thread’s question of children NPCs also applies to pets.
Because I was a menace about my cat, and looking back I think it was pretty clear I more often than not failed to add much of substance to a scene with him involved.
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Hard nay. I don’t want them in scenes. I don’t want them on the game, period. No good comes from them.
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I generally agree with @third-eye in that I think, depending on the general setting, it enriches my immersion. People having families, children, parents… I like it the same way I like when there’s a broad age range, where you have PCs that are grandpa age, down to early 20s and everything in between. It’s a nice splash of diversity.
Even if you have a full PC cast of sexy 20-somethings, there can at least be a setting that feels a little more real.
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I like children in games. I don’t want EVERYTHING to be about them, but I like them. I even PCed a kid or two that was once an NPC when they came of age.
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For me, it’s safer to just avoid using Children as NPCs / PCs in a MU because it seems to always attract really crusty people before too long, and it’s just better to avoid that. Mentioning them in passing without them being present in a scene is fine, but them actively being a part of the ongoing scene / storyline is not (for me). Generic Example: A character has a photo of his kids from their first marriage on their desk, but doesn’t ever interact with them because the ex got full custody with no visitation in the divorce. The character might mention missing his kids in passing in conversation, but at no point do the children appear in the narrative.
Proud Member of the Pro-Mummy Alliance
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Mentioning them in passing without them being present in a scene is fine, but them actively being a part of the ongoing scene / storyline is not (for me).
to me, a child NPC being part of a scene is very different from them being part of an ongoing storyline. the latter implies an actual plot. the former can be a passing accessory or flavor to the scene.
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I think children npc really depends on genre of a game as well… in WoD, most situations you do not want kids anywhere near and be safer just to have them in the care of a trusted npc off screen. Don’t bring your infant to a Garou caern or around a mage chantry. There’s always a chance some spirit or rage or other magic accident might happen.
In pern games (especially games in 4:1 or 3:1 time), children existing and being fostered is pretty common for them to not always be around. Lords and ladies i haven’t really played but assume securing a heir is important but also a chore and so the actual kid doesn’t need to be present to be plotted about/around?
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@Roz There’s also the idea of a setting that focuses on children as the main character. That can be acceptable as long as the content isn’t horrible. Examples would be things like Kids on Bikes or Tales from the Loop. Both focus on kids as PCs, but in both cases they’re very Goonies / Stranger Things adjacent, so the worst thing that happens to the kids is minor injuries or getting chased by a robot bent on rewriting history.
Proud Member of the Pro-Mummy Alliance
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@Roz There’s also the idea of a setting that focuses on children as the main character. That can be acceptable as long as the content isn’t horrible. Examples would be things like Kids on Bikes or Tales from the Loop. Both focus on kids as PCs, but in both cases they’re very Goonies / Stranger Things adjacent, so the worst thing that happens to the kids is minor injuries or getting chased by a robot bent on rewriting history.
There is something very offputting to me about adults whose escapist fantasies revolve around teenage/childhood glory days, so personally this is actually the scenario I would be least comfortable with on this thread so far.
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@Roz There’s also the idea of a setting that focuses on children as the main character. That can be acceptable as long as the content isn’t horrible. Examples would be things like Kids on Bikes or Tales from the Loop. Both focus on kids as PCs, but in both cases they’re very Goonies / Stranger Things adjacent, so the worst thing that happens to the kids is minor injuries or getting chased by a robot bent on rewriting history.
i’d say that’s a whole different topic. that’s children as PCs, not children as NPCs.
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Can’t think of a time that I’ve been thrilled someone brought along their virtual wish fulfilment pet I mean child.
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@Juniper FLARED unless you mean the base is covered in stickers and decorations
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It’s like a pun or something
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I think that child NPCs are like salt in food. The right amount of it makes everything richer and deeper, too little of it can be bland, and too much of it is disgusting–and of course, everyone has a different definition of “the right amount,” “too little,” and “too much.”
I’ve had great scenes with kid NPCs (the one with @Faraday’s character’s daughter definitely counts), and I’ve had scenes where it was definitely wish fulfilment with the perfect kid who we were all supposed to coo over.
I think that in most games with physical stakes (whether it’s a game set in wartime, court intrigue, post-apocalyptic, whatever, not just slice-of-life play), they need to be used very rarely, because there are definitely folks (myself included) who don’t want to see kids seriously hurt in their RP. But they can make great “why we fight” scenes if played sparingly and well.
I like having them as off-screen motivation until there’s the time when you get a break from the constant action and a cameo by a kid NPC can be used as a reminder to all of these hardened badasses that a) not everyone is like them, and b) the people behind the lines are (hopefully) worth fighting for.
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