[Of Legends and Legacies... OlaL] Narrating NPCs?

[dmkdesigns]

I've been thinking about stakes and conflicts for OLaL and I like the idea of the Players narrating the success and failures of their characters, Legends. However, the NPCs still feel like they should be handled primarily by the GM. Maybe this is old gamer thoughts getting in the way. What  games out there successfully deal with Players narrating NPC actions from a challenge situation and still have a GM in the game?

I'm perfectly comfortable with a Player spending a Legend Point to narrate a minor NPC but not so much if the NPC is a major antagonist. I'd like to see if there is a new perspective I can learn that might change my mind on this.

For now I'm going to assume the game has a GM to help frame scenes, guide with rules questions, handle much of the protocol at the table to keep the game going or stop it when needed.

-David-

[flossy]

In some traditional games I've played/run, if a friend has turned up the GM has given the friend an important NPC to play and given them some guidance over what they should be trying to do without giving the entire history to the friend. Each time it has worked out without a problem. I guess the question for using part of the existing gaming group is getting the balance right for giving out enough information to portray the NPC without spilling the beans, so to speak.

[dmkdesigns]

In some traditional games I've played/run, if a friend has turned up the GM has given the friend an important NPC to play and given them some guidance over what they should be trying to do without giving the entire history to the friend. Each time it has worked out without a problem. I guess the question for using part of the existing gaming group is getting the balance right for giving out enough information to portray the NPC without spilling the beans, so to speak.

     Very true. I like the idea of giving the same NPC to the same Player to run, however, I know that it's not feasible to have everyone show up at every session these days. I think I will just have to experiment and see what happens. And I mistyped above. I usually give Players points or something if they play NPCs since they are doing some of the work for me. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

-David-