NPC SHIFT

Before your NPC shift

  1. Make sure you know when and where to go. You choose your NPC shifts when you check in and that might be a good bit of time before game. You can always look at the database or your printed character sheet for your scheduled time slots. You’ll also need to know where to go for your shift.

  2. Come up with an in character reason why you’ll be missing for a few hours at a time. These can also be explanations after the fact. Some you might hear at game include but are not limited to:

    1. Doing your civic duty

    2. A very long bathroom break

    3. Getting extremely lost in the woods

  3. Take care of your character needs. Turn in any of your crafting or gathering jobs. Make sure your CvC timer isn’t active. Run those last few errands that may have slipped your mind.

  4. Take care of your player needs. Have a snack and some water. Change your inner layers that may have gotten gross from normal player activity. This is a good opportunity to do the things you’ve been putting off to stay in the play space: new contacts, new socks, etc.

  5. Dump your PC gear in your bunk and change into your NPC clothes. NPC Ops includes everything we use to gear up NPCs, from little critters to normal townsfolk to horrible abominations. Your PC gear takes up space and will blend in and we want to avoid extra clutter and accidentally stealing your stuff. NPC clothes can be anything neutral colored, unbranded, and non-specific to your PCs.

  6. Report to your shift early. Nothing too severe, 5-10 minutes ideally. The overlap between shift changes prevents awkward pauses in the action. Mods take no time to end, but some time to set up and send out. We try to minimize “dead air” where we can.

During your NPC shift

  1. Guides. You will have at least 2 Guides to run your shift. A Field Guide and an Ops Guide. The Field Guide accompanies you on mods to make sure players are being safe, they’re having fun, and the mod accomplishes what it needs to. If there’s funky rules things, they’ll decide how they’ll shake out in the moment. They aren’t necessarily accurate to the books, the priority is to make it make sense to keep things moving along. Anything wrong can be fixed after the fact. Ops Guides decide what mods go out during their shift. They will relay NPC stats and plot details for each mod. While mods are out in the world, they’ll prepare for the next one.

  2. Introductions. At the start of your shift, you’ll introduce yourself. Name and if you’re comfortable, preferred pronouns. Not everyone knows each other and you’ll be interacting for the next couple hours at least. It’s important to learn some basic information about each other.

  3. The mods themselves. There’s 2 major flavors of mods, social and combat, and they’re not mutually exclusive. You might go out as a group of threat trying to eat the townspeople or some locals to chit chat with them. Or something in between or involving both. You’ll get a lot of information for each mod and it’s okay if you don’t perfectly remember every stat block or character backstory. Focus on the key points and don’t be afraid to ask the Field Guide for reminders.

  4. Know your limits. Don’t push yourself too hard. Whether physically or emotionally, your safety comes first and we’d prefer you take regular breaks.

  5. Between mods. It’s not nonstop action. After you beat up PCs, you’ll return to Ops and disinfect your gear. You’ll want your NPC gear to be clean in case it’s used again soon.

GUIDES

Your guides are there to help you navigate the world on an OOG (or Out of Game) level, and often on an IG (or In Game) level as well. They run the post office, where you will see a lot of the logistical parts of game, as well as the NPC shifts. When out of game, your guides will be seen wearing green headbands.

The Guides who will be assisting you with your NPC shift are as follows:

  • Ops Guide. Your Ops Guide is the person who organizes the NPC shift. They will decide what modules will go out and what the stats of each NPC are. They will explain everything to you prior to sending you out into the field, and help you pick your costuming and weapons.

  • Rules Guide. Your Rules Guide is, as the title suggests, the person who oversees the mod once it enters the play space to assist with rules calls on the field. More often than not, they will assist the Ops Guide with explaining stats and skills as well as with weapons. Should a question arise while you are playing an NPC and have left the ops building, your Rules Guide is your go-to person.

We ask that you come to your NPC shift wearing dark clothing with no logos. Further genre costuming will be provided, as will any weapons and makeup.

While the game is often very physically active, we also try to be understanding of medical issues. Player safety is more important than any other aspect of game, and we are willing to work with you to figure out how to make the game enjoyable and safe.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us prior to game!