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A conversation with an NPC

Tags: #Roleplaying  #sweetroll  #npc  #companion  #byazurabyazurabyazura 
  • June 6, 2017

    A Conversation with an NPC

     

    Skyrim is full of interesting NPCs who are there to interact with your character but these interactions are of course limited by their scripts, which tends to break your immersion when you're trying to roleplay a character that's more than just a killing machine and professional fetch quester.

    But what if these NPCs had more to say? What if you could ask them personalized questions and they could actually answer you? Or maybe give you something to do?

    Well that's what this is for. For both heavy RPers or just casual RPers.

     

    It's not limited to these 8 characters they're just examples of well known characters that probably have more to say.

     

    The idea is simple, you post whatever question you'd like to ask along with the name of the NPC you're directing the question to and VERY basic information about your character and the purpose of the conversation. For example:

     

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    Naeg-Runs-Into-Walls

    (Level 20 Warrior) (Looking for Quest)   

    Excuse me Jarl Balgruuf, you seem troubled. Is there something I could do to help you and the people of Whiterun? Well besides killing dragons.

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    Mr. Stealth Archer #948

    (in reply to Naeg as Balgruuf)     

                                    It's this damned war with Ulfric and his Stormcloaks. I have half of my     men watching the skies for dragons and the other half patroling the roads in case Jarl Ulfric decides he wants my city. I'd be grateful if you could take care of all the bandits hideouts around my city.

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    That's a very basic example of how a conversation could go. It can be either really simple like this or a request to have a real conversation with a character. Like asking Nazeem why he's such a piece of sh- and someone replying as Nazeem. 

     

    Rules:

    I don't really believe rules are necessary since anyone who cares enough about roleplaying won't want to make another roleplayer's life miserable but just in case.

    If you're the Dragonborn: (you dont HAVE to be aware that you're the DB)

    1- Don't ask uber lore heavy questions especially ones you already know the answer to. Keep it simple so that anyone can participate.

    2- While you can totally go for something funny like asking Maven what she'd do if you punched her in the face don't go into troll territory and say something like "Hey Lucan is it true Sven and Faendal take turns spending nights with your sister?"

     

    If you're an NPC: 

    1- You are an NPC! You don't have limitless knowledge of the Elder Scrolls universe. You know what the NPC knows. For example Erik the Slayer knows a bit about what goes on in Whiterun but he doesn't know what happened to the dwarves.

     

    2- You'll only know the Dragonborns class and level. You don't know what quests they've cleared or what kind of person he/she is unless they drop obvious hints in their post. So don't send them to butcher everyone in Riften if they're just looking for something to do to earn some gold.

     

    If you're a third party:

    Respect the conversation the DB and the NPC are having. It's their conversation and if the person taking on the role of Lydia believes all stormcloaks deserve to die then that's what that Lydia thinks. She's their Lydia not yours. You could add something like "I believe in this situation Lydia would lean more towards the side of the Stormcloaks" but honestly what good would that do? It'd just create an Empire vs Stormcloak debate and kill the previous conversation.

     

    Keywords for the sake of simplicty.

    Add these to your posts if you want something specific

    - (Looking for Quest) Anything from take me to fight a dragon to bring me 100 cabbages to 

    - (Personal Question) Just something you'd like to ask a character, like what their weapon of choice is or what they'd like to do with their life.

    - (Opinion on subject) How they feel about certain things like: The war, werewolves, horses that ignore the laws of physics, etc.

    - (Character Depth) Request a little story, like what did Lydia do before being your housecarl. Maybe she was a Whiterun guard or a mercenary? Try to keep it simple so it doesn't really have a huge impact on the dragonborn and his journey. You don't wanna give the DB a really tragic backstory and make him/her butcher everyone in Riften. 

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    Here's an example of a scenario that might happen if this is done correctly

     

     

    In case anyone is wondering where this came from, in reddit people started doing Skyrim AMA using only the characters in game responses like guard dialogue and while it was pretty funny it wasn't really an AMA since you never got any real answers.

     

    One last thing

    If you know nothing about a specific character DO NOT speak for them, only take on the roles of characters you feel like you know.Leave characters you don't know to other who do know them. 

    I've only done the Thieves Guild questline once so you won't see me pretending like I know anything about Brynjolf or any of the other thieves in the Ratway. 

     

     

  • June 6, 2017

    I'll start it off to see if it works!

     

    (Level 21 Spellsword) (Depth)

     

    Marcurio huh? Why are you looking for work here in Riften instead of being in The College like the rest of the mages that aren't court wizards? Have you even been to the College? 

     

     

  • Member
    June 6, 2017

    Naeg Runs-Into-Walls said:

    I'll start it off to see if it works!

     

    (Level 21 Spellsword) (Depth)

     

    Marcurio huh? Why are you looking for work here in Riften instead of being in The College like the rest of the mages that aren't court wizards? Have you even been to the College? 

     

     

    I'll bite!

    Pfft, the college. Those pencil pushers might say they're mages, but how do you know what type of mage you are until you've been delving into Ancient Nordic Ruins or faced off against a Dwarven Centurion? I'm out here to see the world, to prove myself, and judging by the sword on your belt I assume you are to.

    This was really fun, now I have to think of something to ask. Was this the type of thing you were looking for?

  • June 6, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

    Naeg Runs-Into-Walls said:

    I'll start it off to see if it works!

     

    (Level 21 Spellsword) (Depth)

    Marcurio huh? Why are you looking for work here in Riften instead of being in The College like the rest of the mages that aren't court wizards? Have you even been to the College? 

     

    I'll bite!

    Pfft, the college. Those pencil pushers might say they're mages, but how do you know what type of mage you are until you've been delving into Ancient Nordic Ruins or faced off against a Dwarven Centurion? I'm out here to see the world, to prove myself, and judging by the sword on your belt I assume you are to.

    This was really fun, now I have to think of something to ask. Was this the type of thing you were looking for?

    Yes! That was extremely NPC-like which is exactly what it's about. A reply like that is enough to get a "That makes perfect sense! You're hired!" and as a player you can just carry on with your questing knowing a little bit more about your companion. I'm sure something so simple may seem trivial to some but from those 3 sentences I already know 4 more things about Marcurio. He dislikes the College, he isn't a member, he definitely has some experience adventuring and he's not a Mage Master Race guy and respects warriors.

     

     

  • Member
    June 6, 2017

    Naeg Runs-Into-Walls said:

    Yes! That was extremely NPC-like which is exactly what it's about. A reply like that is enough to get a "That makes perfect sense! You're hired!" and as a player you can just carry on with your questing knowing a little bit more about your companion. I'm sure something so simple may seem trivial to some but from those 3 sentences I already know 4 more things about Marcurio. He dislikes the College, he isn't a member, he definitely has some experience adventuring and he's not a Mage Master Race guy and respects warriors.

    Cheers mate, thats what I was going for. Now, for mine, I've always thought the Dark Brotherhood could use some expanding and this might do the trick:

     

    (Level 8 Thief) (Looking for Quest)

    Nazir, I want to get in on some of the bigger jobs Festus and Babette have been talking about. Astrid says I'm not ready, but I know I can do it! So who am I gonna kill?

  • June 6, 2017

    Zonnonn said:

     

    (Level 8 Thief) (Looking for Quest)

    Nazir, I want to get in on some of the bigger jobs Festus and Babette have been talking about. Astrid says I'm not ready, but I know I can do it! So who am I gonna kill?

    Ah, still alive aren't you? It seems you're somewhat better than the last new recruits. Those fools got themselves killed on their first missions. To be honest there is a contract we received but Astrid seemed rather unsure as to who could handle it, if someone was to handle it at all. We'll have to keep this one off the books. There's a miserable little town to the west of Whiterun, Rorikstead. Well we recieved a contract to kill some old man called Lemkil, but get this it seemed like the letter was written by a child, again. I believed it was a prank but Astrid seems to believe it's serious. So humor our mistress, go and kill this Lemkil and if you can kill him with a mace like the child asked. You'll get a bigger more elaborate contracts after you prove yourself to Astrid.

  • Member
    June 7, 2017

    Naeg Runs-Into-Walls said:

    Zonnonn said:

     

    (Level 8 Thief) (Looking for Quest)

    Nazir, I want to get in on some of the bigger jobs Festus and Babette have been talking about. Astrid says I'm not ready, but I know I can do it! So who am I gonna kill?

    Ah, still alive aren't you? It seems you're somewhat better than the last new recruits. Those fools got themselves killed on their first missions. To be honest there is a contract we received but Astrid seemed rather unsure as to who could handle it, if someone was to handle it at all. We'll have to keep this one off the books. There's a miserable little town to the west of Whiterun, Rorikstead. Well we recieved a contract to kill some old man called Lemkil, but get this it seemed like the letter was written by a child, again. I believed it was a prank but Astrid seems to believe it's serious. So humor our mistress, go and kill this Lemkil and if you can kill him with a mace like the child asked. You'll get a bigger more elaborate contracts after you prove yourself to Astrid.

    Awesome! Love the little details like the fact that its a child. Nazir's opinion is believable and I can definitely still see Astrid honouring it. And of course we all know who that child might be, great bit of detail on an often forgotten part of the game that only some people will get, which makes it even better.

  • Member
    June 7, 2017

    (Level 20 Khajiit Thief) (Depth)

     

    "Say, Ysolda. This one wishes to ask: How do you know the Khajiiti caravans? How did you meet them?  Not many Nords speak to us, after all..."

  • June 7, 2017

    Tenebrous said:

    (Level 20 Khajiit Thief) (Depth)

     

    "Say, Ysolda. This one wishes to ask: How do you know the Khajiiti caravans? How did you meet them?  Not many Nords speak to us, after all..."

     

    Oh um, well I promised my ma and da before they passed I'd someday become the best trader in Skyrim... but I had no idea where to even begin. Then I thought that a good place to start would be to begin stocking up. Other adventurers like yourself won't take me seriously because I don't have a store so I was stuck. But one day walking around Whiterun I met Ma'dran and his caravan and he invited me to browse his wares, he told me all about Elswyr and how the caravaans do business in Skyrim. I truly admire that old cat, they're succesful merchants even without being allowed inside the cities, they don't even have a home and here I was complaining. I spoke to him about my problem and he gave me some very valuable advice! I asked if I could join them so he could teach me more but he said he'd rather have a friend inside the city, better for business. It was then that he told me about the Mammoth's Tusk. Apparently some woman in Riften who runs a bunk house offered to pay him a very large amount of gold if he could acquire one for her. I asked Ma'dran what could a bunkhouse owner want with a Mammoth's Tusk but he just laughed. Anyways he told me that if I figured out a way to get my hands on it and gave it to him I would've proven that I can make it as a mechant so he'd teach me more and give me most of the profit so I could invest it into getting started for real. I can't speak for all nords but as an aspiring merchant I can't afford to be close minded, if someone does right by me I'll do right by them. No matter who they are or where they come from.

     

     

  • Member
    June 7, 2017

    Naeg Runs-Into-Walls said:

     

    Oh um, well I promised my ma and da before they passed I'd someday become the best trader in Skyrim... but I had no idea where to even begin. Then I thought that a good place to start would be to begin stocking up. Other adventurers like yourself won't take me seriously because I don't have a store so I was stuck. But one day walking around Whiterun I met Ma'dran and his caravan and he invited me to browse his wares, he told me all about Elswyr and how the caravaans do business in Skyrim. I truly admire that old cat, they're succesful merchants even without being allowed inside the cities, they don't even have a home and here I was complaining. I spoke to him about my problem and he gave me some very valuable advice! I asked if I could join them so he could teach me more but he said he'd rather have a friend inside the city, better for business. It was then that he told me about the Mammoth's Tusk. Apparently some woman in Riften who runs a bunk house offered to pay him a very large amount of gold if he could acquire one for her. I asked Ma'dran what could a bunkhouse owner want with a Mammoth's Tusk but he just laughed. Anyways he told me that if I figured out a way to get my hands on it and gave it to him I would've proven that I can make it as a mechant so he'd teach me more and give me most of the profit so I could invest it into getting started for real. I can't speak for all nords but as an aspiring merchant I can't afford to be close minded, if someone does right by me I'll do right by them. No matter who they are or where they come from.

     

    Thats a helluva good response, Naeg, I like that there's mention of other people in different cities as well, makes Skyrim feel less isolated.

    Can I do a response as well? I can't imagine I'd do one better than yours, and  Iwouldn't want to overwhelm the thread with a response to one question, but I'm really enjoying this!