My Favorite NPC

Growing up, I didn't give too much thought into my NPCs. I rolled them up, used them, forgot about them. That changed as I got older. Nowadays, it's hard to imagine running a game without them. 

It wasn't until recently that I started logging my campaigns, so many of my NPCs from earlier games are long forgotten. Unlike my wife @verycutegm, I cannot keep track of so many NPCs, each with their own stats, history, and personality. However, over the past decade, I've created and got to know several of my NPCs. 

Did you ever have an NPC that you found particularly memorable? Were they one of those NPCs that adventure with the party? Or more of a rare thing, like when the party returns to the city and meet their favorite shopkeep? (Think: Gilmore from Critical Role, season 1)

My favorite NPC of all time has to be from my first long term Rifts campaign: Mr. Jack Wrisley. 

At first, Mr. Wrisley, a high-level Gunslinger, was just gonna be a dirty card player at a saloon somewhere in the New West. I had plans for that character; I rolled up his stats, but not much beyond that. He was going to get the players to go on a quest or something, I forget.  

The initial encounter didn't go as I thought it would (surprise, surprise). Here's an excerpt from the adventure log for that session:

 Later that night, the party returned to the saloon and make small talk with the bartender and Sean Kelley. Suddenly, a man with a black trench coat walked in, intimidating most people in the saloon. Jack Wrisley was his name, and he sat down near the players. He glared at the psi-stalker and demanded that she pull back her hood. When she refused, he drew his pistol. Eventually, she drew back her hood. Disgusted with how she looked, he insisted that she put the hood back on. She gave Mr. Wrisley an attitude.

So begins the bar fight. But before Mr. Wrisley could deliver what would be a vaporizing shot to the psi-stalker (who was not wearing MD armor- it’s being repaired at the armor smith), the rogue scientist performed a miraculous body flip of the gunslinger. Ultimately, Jack Wrisley decided this fight was not worth it.

Mr. Wrisley would pop up throughout the New West. Occasionally, Mr. Wrisley would conveniently bump into the PCs and give them grief. 

I liked Mr. Wrisley because I gave him a fun personality. He's a classic gunslinger. He's a dick. He's out for himself. I even gave him one of those cowboy drawls as an accent. I loved it, and so did the players. 

But there wasn't much to him. He was just an ass that bugged the players sometimes. 

The party was about to leave New West and take a rift to Russia. Because of reasons. Anyway, that means no more Mr. Wrisley. So as the players are getting ready to enter the Rift, guess who shows up? Mr. Wrisley! 

I needed a reason for him to end up in Russia with the players. So I came up with a side-story for Mr. Wrisley:

“I used to work with a band of … let’s all them followers… as a team, we could pull off some of the most amazing heists. Well, one day we came across this pathetic excuse for a gunman laying out in the middle of the desert. Didn’t look like was from around these parts. Didn’t sound like it either- couldn’t speak a word of American. Sounded like some Euro shit or something. Well, I’ll be honest, I felt a little sorry for him. Besides, and I typically have no respect for cyborg shit, but this guy… had some fine cyborg shit. So I decided to take him in.”

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“I got to know him a bit… turns out he’s the kid of some warlord dude. I guess they’re pretty important over there or something. Well, turns out the kid got killed during one of the heists. Body was nearly vaporized. I did manage to save one thing though… a ring he wore on his hand- the biological hand that is. Some sort of family heirloom shit. Told myself I’d try to return it to his family someday. And, if they’re lucky enough, maybe I’d even give them his share of the loot from the heist, seeing how I’m all charitable and stuff.”

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“So seeings how you’re headed that way…. Figure I may as well give you hand. You’re gonna need it.”

Towards the end of their time in Russia, just as they were above to go back to North America (via a Fadetown), the party was faced with a dilemma. They had an opportunity to leave Mr. Wrisley behind to be executed and be rid of him forever - but they chose to rescue him instead. I was proud of them. :-)

Yeah, that was Mr. Wrisley. 

(The gunslinger picture attached to this post is from Rifts World Book 14: New West.)