Non Player Character

Chapter 6 - Weldon's Wares

"Why are there only humans in this village?" I asked Val as I searched for a vendor among the scattering of ramshackle wooden buildings. Her avatar walked next to me.

"Because only humans live here," Val said.

"Why are they here if they don't interact with the Players? What's the point?"

"The people here may go months without seeing a Kurskin or a Dalari, but eventually, a Player will come upon this village in search of a quest or a place to stay the night. Maybe they simply enjoy killing innocents and slaughter everyone here. Either way, the NPCs are serving a purpose."

"Do Quest Givers just wait around until a Player comes to help?

"No," Val said.

"Why?" I prompted her for more information. She liked to answer my questions without much explanation, and it was starting to annoy me.

"Although the NPCs' memories are false, their current lives are very much real. They will form relationships. They will have families, and they will grow old. As an NPC goes about its life, circumstances may arise which qualify as a quest. The quest may be available for minutes, weeks, or even years. The system can turn a variety of natural occurrences into a legitimate quest. These are known as dynamic quests. Of course, there are also narrative-based quests where more...controlled NPC's follow a preset narrative."

"Do you know the potential outcomes of all the quests?"

"I can guess at the outcomes of pre-built narratives, however, the end result is largely determined by the Player's actions."

"I see. So, is Tara dynamic or prebuilt?" I couldn't imagine an ailing Tara sitting in the same tavern night after night, hoping for an escort. That would just be cruel.

"Her's is a dynamic quest."

"Makes sense," I said, letting the topic drop.

I spotted a sign on a building not far ahead. It said, "Weldon's Wares." That must be my vendor.

As I walked to it, I thought more about what Val had been saying. For all intents and purposes, these people were just as real as I was. Hell, they may be more real than me now that I was a Player. I was the one playing pretend.

I had one last question for Val before we entered the store. "Do the NPCs have free will?"

"The majority of the NPCs have free will. Some of the humans were dramatically altered during the creation event for story purposes. As I said earlier, the questing system is mostly fluid and organic, but there are some overarching storylines, which the system uses to bring interesting narratives into the world."

"What kind of storylines?"

"Your king is a good example."

"Go on." King Constance had been ruling Vedra my entire life. He was an old man now but still mostly beloved by his people. However, his recent alliance with the Kurskins had caused dissatisfaction among some of the populace. No one liked war, even if it was to vanquish a common foe.

"When the game began, and the NPCs were brought online, the transition was seamless," Val said. "All the NPCs appeared in the world with new memories, relationships, jobs, and motivations. The same was true for your king. One day, he was a regular man, and then the next, he was King of Vedra and all its inhabitants."

Val's avatar gracefully navigated the wooden steps of the shop entrance before turning around. "He is an important person, the king. His alliance with the Kurskins was a reward for completing a preset quest. The king's storyline will continue to play out, and he will provide more quests along the way to his new Kurskin compatriots. He does not have what you would call free will. His personality, desires, temperament, and even some of his thoughts are carefully controlled by the system."