Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Can the same NPC be both an Ally and Enemy to a PC?

Anaraxes · 11-10-2018, 05:44 AM

You can certainly build it that way.

If the Phantom Thief is an Enemy, then there's some reason he has it in for the superhero, personally, and devotes some significant portion of his time and energy toward trying to "get" the superhero. (The meaning of "get" depends on what sort of Enemy he is -- probably Rival.) The Thief won't just ignore the super when they're not in direct conflict; he'll be actively working against him and causing him actual trouble or harm.

There will be stories (games) in which they're directly opposed. If the super wins, he may well be jailing his Ally and thus losing him. If he decides to let him go, there's a possible character conflict and perhaps development arc, as the super finds out he's not really as lawful and pure as everyone thought.

Then there's the case where both the Ally and Enemy appearance rolls come up at the same time. (Even if you don't roll, it's a possibility.) This could be a story where the Thief is setting up the super, or perhaps he decides (maybe as a mistake, or a moment of weakness) that this alien invasion is too good an opportunity to finally get superdude out of his hair, and so betrays his Ally. These games will be the trickiest to pull off.

There's a line in RAW about not having opposing traits, but if you think through them in advance to know how they interact, I think they can be interesting combinations.

11-10-2018, 05:44 AM	#3
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Can the same NPC be both an Ally and Enemy to a PC? You can certainly build it that way. If the Phantom Thief is an Enemy, then there's some reason he has it in for the superhero, personally, and devotes some significant portion of his time and energy toward trying to "get" the superhero. (The meaning of "get" depends on what sort of Enemy he is -- probably Rival.) The Thief won't just ignore the super when they're not in direct conflict; he'll be actively working against him and causing him actual trouble or harm. There will be stories (games) in which they're directly opposed. If the super wins, he may well be jailing his Ally and thus losing him. If he decides to let him go, there's a possible character conflict and perhaps development arc, as the super finds out he's not really as lawful and pure as everyone thought. Then there's the case where both the Ally and Enemy appearance rolls come up at the same time. (Even if you don't roll, it's a possibility.) This could be a story where the Thief is setting up the super, or perhaps he decides (maybe as a mistake, or a moment of weakness) that this alien invasion is too good an opportunity to finally get superdude out of his hair, and so betrays his Ally. These games will be the trickiest to pull off. There's a line in RAW about not having opposing traits, but if you think through them in advance to know how they interact, I think they can be interesting combinations.