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Old 01-07-2018, 06:16 PM   #1
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

So, I was wondering how many people use demigod(dess) level NPCs (defined in this case as being 1600+ point characters) in campaigns where the PCs are less than 400 points? Do you use them as allies, enemies, patrons, etc? Do you use them as deus ex machina to save the PCs or do they just tag along and make snarky comments? Or are they mysterious figures that are the focus of entire campaigns?
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Old 01-07-2018, 08:52 PM   #2
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

my friend and i were collaborating a bit on my Dragon Ball homebrew. he was looking at an RPG-gamefinder type site just to see what was available, and he found one that was a GURPS campaign. it was a crime noir setting. he started joking that i should volunteer for it and introduce my homebrew to the guy - and ask i if i could play Goku. we reasoned it could be like the Green Hornet and that asian guy who was his bodyguard. we just thought it was funny to imagine Goku in a serious gritty detective story type thing. Goku just loves food and fighting, and Chi Chi probably does all the work when it comes to making babies because Goku couldn't even tell men from women in Dragon Ball and later on he still shows no interest in women. basically he's the ultimate man-child. so that was relevant to your thread because Goku is pretty much a demigod ... mmm... and it was a funny story or so i thought.
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Old 01-07-2018, 08:59 PM   #3
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

If an NPC is so far removed from the PCs I am unlikely to need character sheets for them.
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Old 01-07-2018, 09:33 PM   #4
mr beer
 
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

I set most of my campaigns in Greyhawk. Iuz is canonically a Demigod. There are probably a few other beings on that power scale, such as very high end archmages, ancient highly intelligent dragons etc., though Iuz is the single most powerful being on Oerth in my game. He is literally a (half) god walking around, not confined to the Outer Planes like every other divinity. That makes him a Big Deal.

Iuz is actually the secret BBEG for a long running campaign that I have on hold for the moment. I have not statted him out because the party is some way from discovering his involvement. I'm probably not going to have them fight him directly anyway. They're around 300 to 350 points and unless they get some powerful assistance, they are not a physical threat to Iuz.

Something at the demigod level, I'm going to spend a lot of time figuring out exactly how their divinity manifests itself in GURPS terms, beyond the more mundane combat level stuff. I don't usually add up the points for NPCs anyway, I'm less likely to do it for something with a massive grab bag of abilities. I'm certainly not going to build with a points budget in mind.

Last edited by mr beer; 01-07-2018 at 09:38 PM.
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Old 01-07-2018, 10:02 PM   #5
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

It would be like introducing Superman into any other group of superheroes. It can work, but would be difficult to keep the demigod from making the PCs utterly extraneous.
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Old 01-07-2018, 10:15 PM   #6
Dalin
 
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
So, I was wondering how many people use demigod(dess) level NPCs (defined in this case as being 1600+ point characters) in campaigns where the PCs are less than 400 points? Do you use them as allies, enemies, patrons, etc? Do you use them as deus ex machina to save the PCs or do they just tag along and make snarky comments? Or are they mysterious figures that are the focus of entire campaigns?
I've never tried to integrate a Demigod-level NPC into the adventuring party, but the characters in my long-running fantasy/Arabian Nights campaign certainly knew of and occasionally interacted with such figures. Sometimes asking for a favor. Sometimes negotiating about something. Sometimes trying to stay off their radar while engaged in some subterfuge. I like a campaign world with a lot going on behind the scenes. Powerful beings popping in and out of the story, engaged in their own pursuits, hints at the depth of the milieu (even if much of the depth is ultimately an illusion).
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Old 01-07-2018, 10:21 PM   #7
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

When I do it, I usually have the demigoddess take the guise of an attractive but normal female human NPC and have her travel with the PCs because they entertain her. I never reveal the nature of the NPC unless the PCs screw up enough that they need a deus ex machina to save them, though they will gain rewards if the demigoddess approves of their activities and receive punishments if the demigoddess disapproves of their activities. I usually model that ability as Serendipity 10 (Cosmic, +50%; No Signature, +20%; Reliable+10, +50%; Wishing, +100%) [480], allowing her to use her ability ten times per game session to benefit the PCs (in the case of rewards) or to benefit their opponents (in the case of punishments) without revealing her presence or her nature.
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Old 01-07-2018, 10:23 PM   #8
sir_pudding
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

Demigods do definitely appear in my games. In Desolation Road the ultimate antagonist was more of a demiurge, but the PCs were never intended to oppose him in any direct way and giving the devil a character sheet seems about as useful as making one for God.
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Old 01-07-2018, 11:22 PM   #9
whswhs
 
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

I think the highest end version of this I've done was not in GURPS, but in DC Realtime, a DC Heroes campaign I ran many years ago. At one point the PCs' actions resulted in their meeting two of the Endless, Dream and Delirium. I didn't even attempt to come up with character sheets for them; I just had them do the things I thought were in character.

My GURPS Supers campaign, started not long after my version was published, culminated in the PCs and the Enemy of one of the PCs going to Mount Olympus and doing battle with Ares and Athena. Both deities had character sheets, but they weren't impossibly more powerful than the PCs, who were fairly high-end superheroes, initially built on 1600 points, I think.
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Old 01-07-2018, 11:34 PM   #10
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Default Re: Demigod(dess) NPCs and Normal PCs

The key to making more powerful NPCs work is to give them restrictions on their actions (Code of Honour or harsher things like Divine Curse). It's the same like in much of the fantasy literature: There are powerful forces, but they can't always directly intervene, other the world would look vastly different.

If there are none of these restrictions (like Superman and other superheroes), at least the focus on the campaign should be somewhere where the demigod's powers don't help much (like a campaign focused on social interaction in where Superman has some clout, but won't immediately overcome any opposition).

You have to tread carefully even in these cases. Making the players feel like their characters are outclassed all the time is a good way to demotivate them permanently and send your campaign to the rubbish heap.
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