Star Trek

Highlander

Rules: NPCs

Created by Captain Tim Williams on Sat May 25th, 2013 @ 3:38pm

NPCs (Non-Player Characters, or Non-Primary Characters) aboard the Highlander can be very useful tools to our storytelling, and can greatly enrich the environment in which we write our characters living. However, in order to allow for consistency, a small number of rules have been established on the sim in regards to the creation and use of NPCs. For the purposes of these rules, there are three different types of NPCs;

As-Needed NPCs

As their name suggests, these NPCs are created on an as-needed basis for the purposes of a post. Details on them are generally scarce, rarely extending past their rank, name, species and function. Often we will never see or hear of these NPCs again, and as such these NPCs are not entered into the site's personnel manifest.

Generic NPCs

Generic NPCs are those members of the ship's crew who make repeating appearances in our stories, but are not seen with the regularity to be considered part of a 'recurring cast'. Such characters may be a shuttle pilot seen every now and then, or a semi-regular nurse in sickbay; characters where it is helpful to have a name and some brief details in order to keep the appearances of that character consistent.

Generic NPCs can be written for by any member of the crew that needs to make use of them, but players should be careful in making sure that they keep the character's portrayal similar to any other posts that the NPC has been included in. An NPC shouldn't be the cute and cuddly Ensign one minute, and then a snarling angry fear-fest the next time they are used.

Whenever one of these NPCs has a relatively significant role in a post (beyond just name-dropping or the most basic of appearances) they should be added to the post along with the authors. By doing this, it ensures that anyone else wanting to write for that NPC can merely check the link off the character's bio page to see the other posts that the NPC has been used in, and see how the character was portrayed.

Beyond name, rank, race, gender and position aboard the ship, there are no rules regarding the amount of information required in the creation of generic NPCs.

Generic NPCs are usually created by players to portray other characters within their own department, or are created by members of the command staff to flesh out the manifests for departments.

Owned NPCs (PNPCs)

An owned NPC - or PNPC for Player's NPC - is an NPC that has been created specifically by a player on the sim in order for them to write for in a more regular and detailed manner than is usually done for generic NPCs. A PNPC can be added to a player's account in order for them to be able to post directly from that NPC (so that they don't have to include their primary character in the post if they are not actually part of it) and is for the exclusive use of that player.

PNPCs should have basic details completed on their biography, such as a physical description, and a brief personality profile. Anything further than that can be added as desired by the NPC creator, though the hope is that the more the character is developed, the more the biography will be developed as well.

PNPCs should not be utilised without the permission or inclusion of the player who owns the NPC, who will be noted in the character's 'Suffix' field of their biography in the format [Williams] or [Ra-Xialii]. PNPCs do not carry any minimum posting requirements, but it is expected that players make use of these characters regularly in order to justify their existence on the manifest.

Players who wish to create PNPCs can do so in any department they wish, though they should seek the permission of the player whose character runs that department first. They may also have to ask that player or one of the command staff to create the character in the manifest, if they don't have the access levels required for it themselves. After creation of a PNPC, the player should PM the Commanding Officer or the First Officer in order to have the character linked to their account.

NPC Ranks

Nova will usually restrict you from creating an NPC within your department that has a rank higher than your own - the logic being that most if not all departmental staff members should rank equal to or below their department head. Those with higher privileges on the site are able to create NPCs in any department and of any rank, and so the following rules are to be a guideline for setting the ranks of NPCs;

  • Except for rare and specific NPCs, the maximum rank limit of an NPC should be that of Lieutenant.
  • NPCs with a rank of Cadet should be used very sparingly, and only for PNPCs. Any cadet with a rank below that of a senior (4-pip) should have a strong reason for their presence aboard the ship, since it will not be to complete their final year.
  • NPCs with a rank of Warrant Officer (especially the higher grades) should be used sparingly. These officers will be rare aboard the ship, and will be highly experienced individuals who rose from the NCO ratings.
  • Though the site does contain provisional rank sets (as seen on Star Trek: Voyager), these should be used very sparingly; they are intended for when a field commission is granted to an individual by the ship's commanding officer, where it cannot or has not been confirmed by Starfleet. For those progressing normally through Starfleet's rank ladder (such as the majority of individuals), they would receive a regular rank. Only special cases, such as Voyager's Maquis crew members will receive a provisional rank plate.


    • Categories: Sim Rules