NPC's with SA's?

[Roger Eberhart]

Just curious, how many Seneschals give their NPC's SA's? How about monsters? Animals? Or is it better to leave SA's to the player characters?

[Todd Bogenrief]

If it is a major NPC that will be hanging out with the group I generally do them up fully like a character, otherwise I might give them one or two SA's that define their role as an NPC and assign it a few points depending on how strongly they should react.  

For example, the King of Western Stahl has Passion: Loyalty to Stahl at 5, so that he can get some bonus dice when dealing with the traitors to Stahl.(In my game Stahl is in the midst of a civil war).

[Ashren Va'Hale]

actually for a great confrontation its fun to give villains SA's, this way the player can still toss his SA's into the conflict but he cant just rely on the sheer number of dice to win, he still has to thing and use some degree of strategy.
My senschal did this to me in a game and it became one of the most memorable fights for my character.... The first fight ended in a draw as they were evenly matched but the second fight I used some strategy and decapitated the SOB on the third exchange. I had to really think and choose my maneuvers well in order to win that fight and I couldnt have done it without the SA's so it was really memorable.
I recommed that fights against a characters "six fingered man" so to speak should involve sa's for the bad guy to make things dangerous and exciting.

[Brian Leybourne]

Possibly, although of course just because person A is person B's "six fingered man" and thus B has lots of SA's he can use against A, A isn't necessarily going to have any SA's that would be useful against B and giving him some just so he'll make the battle last longer smacks of interferrance just for the sake of it to me.

As an example, lets look at Inigo and the six fingered man. Would Count Rugen realistically have any SA's that would even remotely involve Inigo? Nope, but Inigo clearly had several involving him (he survives some brutal wounding and keeps fighting on, eventually killing count Rugan easily-ish).

Finally, what you propose seems kind of like cheating your players. SA's give you a mighty bonus when you're playing true to your characters passions, drives and motivations. Giving specific NPC's SA's just to counter players SA's defeats the whole purpose for the players in having built them up in the first place. Let them have their big victory, they'll talk about it for months.

Just my 2c

Brian.

[Bankuei]

Well, I can't say that the SA's should be used to counter the player's ones, but some awesome games have come down based on two different folks who have the same True Love, or Destiny: Become the King.  The major difference is that NPC's don't get all the screentime, so they can't advance their SA's as fast as PC's.

I'm all for giving NPCs SA's especially if it fits their characters.  As Clinton's game turned out for us, minor characters ended up becoming major ones as the focus shifted and they found their callings, either to aid or hinder us.

Chris

[Ashren Va'Hale]

the sa's teh villain had were things like "drive: remake world in his own image" and generic things like luck and maybe a passion for the same girl as the chracter.
Its not cheating... its making things a little more interesting. Heros are made in a great part by their drives and passions and what is a villain but a hero whose drives and passions are oriented the wrong way.....

[Lyrax]

I think that major villains should have some SAs.  It's no fun to have the hero close in on his hero, toss a hundred dice into the attack, and let the battle be over in one swing.  If such a thing happened to my character, he'd burn a luck point and either run away or fight back.

Giving Count Rugen SAs that would help him, other than perhaps Luck, wouldn't be right, because it isn't part of his character.  However, many characters do have "six-fingered men" who hate the character in return.  Thus, it is logical for these to be given SAs to fit the character.  If the character is a traitor to, say, the Xanarian Empire, then the Emperor himself (or at least one of his lieutenants) will possibly hate the character on a personal level (who hates him would depend on the magnitude of treachery...)

[spunky]

It makes perfect sense to extend SAs to major antagonists in a campaign, but SAs, in a more limited form, also give definition and purpose to animals, monsters and other "faceless" opponents heros may face.

For example, a Mother Bear could have the SA Passion "Protect Cubs" at 4.  If you run into her on her own, her CP is 10; but if you come anywhere near her offspring, her CP just cranked up to a more formidable 14.  A simple gaurdsman with the SA Passion "Proud" might fight a little better if the heros have not just attacked him, but insulted him.

These might not really fit the strict definitions given for SAs; more like situational bonuses or magical affinities.  Wolves might increase their CP by 2 when attacking in groups of 3 or more, reflecting their affinity for group tactics; or a Water-Fey who gain 3 dice to any situation when standing in running water.

These are things that can keep your players guessing, and make "standard" fights (if such a thing exists in TROS) more colorful.

Philip

[Brian Leybourne]

Wolves might increase their CP by 2 when attacking in groups of 3 or more, reflecting their affinity for group tactics

Oh, don't worry. Wolves using pack tactics are already pretty scary, as you'll see when OBAM comes out :-)

But yes, I agree with what you've said. The Mother Bear's SA for her cubs idea is especially good.

Brian.

[Sneaky Git]

It makes perfect sense to extend SAs to major antagonists in a campaign, but SAs, in a more limited form, also give definition and purpose to animals, monsters and other "faceless" opponents heros may face.

Good point.  Although I have found SAs to be a crucial element in truly bringing NPCs to life for my players, I had not yet taken the step to adding them to animals.  Interesting.

Anyway, back to my first comment.  I've gotten in the habit of rating NPC threats/allies in terms of SAs...a "1 or 2 SA" NPC would be your slightly above average NPC, while a "5 or 6 SA" NPC is getting to be a major threat.  I have taken steps to ensure that they are more limited in scope than those of the characters, but these NPCs certainly have things they are willing to kill/die for.

Keeps my players honest.

[Jaif]

Heck, I give NPCs SAs that I would never let a PC take.

[Warboss Grock]

I think that major villains should have some SAs.  It's no fun to have the hero close in on his hero, toss a hundred dice into the attack, and let the battle be over in one swing.  If such a thing happened to my character, he'd burn a luck point and either run away or fight back.

Giving Count Rugen SAs that would help him, other than perhaps Luck, wouldn't be right, because it isn't part of his character.  However, many characters do have "six-fingered men" who hate the character in return.  Thus, it is logical for these to be given SAs to fit the character.  If the character is a traitor to, say, the Xanarian Empire, then the Emperor himself (or at least one of his lieutenants) will possibly hate the character on a personal level (who hates him would depend on the magnitude of treachery...)

I Would have to disagree on this one. Wheras they may not necessaraly come to bear, there are definately some spritual attributes that would come to play. for Example,  Passion: Masochisim. Count rugan enjoyed his work as a Torturer, and was diong the "Difinitive work" on Pain. 2

On the other hand, Indigo had  Destiny: Kill the six fingered man, Drive: Kill the six fingered man, Passion: Vengance for father, and Passion: Love for father to pull into play..... However he had all but used them up in the exchange with the three guards.

Every character is complex, and has motivations. Apply spiritual attributes when those motivations clash.