A discussion on the merits of an ID function for NPC's

[viresanimi]

So I've had this idea running around in my head for a while now and wasn't sure if it was worth posting in the suggestion box for Moon Wizard. So I thought I would hear what others think of this idea.

So in 3.2.0 (and I can't for the life of me currently remember if it was implemented before that), which is currently being tested, images now have a ID function, just like items. At first I was like: "Why would you ever do this?" and asked my players, whom very fast told me why this was a stroke of brilliance. For instance. You might share an image of an NPC when you see the person, but would the players know the name of that person? Maybe not. And the ID function let me easily put in something that is not the name. So that is great.

That got me thinking. (uh oh)

I am the kind of DM that likes to tinker with NPC's and make variations of them. Some might be slightly stronger, weaker, wield a magical item, use a different weapon etc. But to keep track of the variations I have to name them accordingly or I would forget what I've done with them. That presents a problem when it comes to the combat tracker then. Because instead of having 7 listings of "orc", I would have 7 different orcs with annotations which showed too much to the players, if I wasn't careful.

So would it be an idea to have an ID function for NPC's as well as images and items?

What I am thinking is that the name displayed on the combat tracker would be its true name if identified or the alias if not, leaving the "true" name to be descriptive for the dm based on modifications or other reasons I can't really think of now.

Now. D&D is certainly not my primary game by any stretch, so I don't know how common it is for DM's to change, modify, create own npc's. And what about named NPC's as the above example? So what I am curious about here, is what other 5E / D&D DM's and players think of this idea.


Vires Animi

[Andraax]

When you drag and drop your "customized" NPC into an encounter, change the name there. Then, when those NPCs are added to the CT, they are added with the new name. The GM still sees the original name if he brings up the NPC record.

[darrenan]

And then when they get identified, you have to go through the combat tracker and change all the names, yuck. I like viresanimi's idea.

[viresanimi]

I never said that I couldn't rename things prior to combat. But that seems like a hazzle that could be avoided.

Vires Animi

[Andraax]

And then when they get identified, you have to go through the combat tracker and change all the names, yuck. I like viresanimi's idea.

Just because the players have "identified" the creature, doesn't mean they're right. I feel no need to confirm that information to my players - especially during a combat. They won't know for sure unless they perform a ritual to talk to a god, or find a library with an accurate information source, or look up the info in some scroll or book they happen to have with them (none of which will happen in any "normal" combat).

[Andraax]

I never said that I couldn't rename things prior to combat. But that seems like a hazzle that could be avoided.

You just have to do it once, when you create the encounter record. The system does the rest. And you can do it differently for each encounter, to further confuse the players about exactly what creature they're up against.

Recently, my players were going up against a nest of wererats, some in rat form, some in human form. Different encounters listed them differently. The ones where they were encountering the wererats in rat form, they were described as giant rats (and I usually threw in a few "real" giant rats to further confuse them). In human form, in some encounters they were "human bandits" or "human guards" or "common humans" or whatever. It varied based on encounter. I also mixed in some human accomplices with the human form wererats and used the same descriptions, so the players continued to be confused.

It's not my job to make life easier for my players...

[viresanimi]

It's not my job to make life easier for my players...

I think you missed the point. This has nothing to do with making things easier for players. It is about making things easier for me as a DM and showing the players, what I want them to see, while being able to categorize my own stuff, without mixing things together.


Vires Animi

[LordEntrails]

I like the idea. I think all objects in the database should have a short description (unidentified name) and a true name (object identifier). Maps/images, NPC, items, story entries, etc.

And, from a database point of view, you might even want to have a unique identifier. We do that with business data (product data management systems). That way you could even control the reference source that it comes from (i.e. is that a "kobold" from the SRD, MM, or some other source?)

[Andraax]

I think you missed the point. This has nothing to do with making things easier for players. It is about making things easier for me as a DM and showing the players, what I want them to see, while being able to categorize my own stuff, without mixing things together.

Which is why I like being able to set those on an encounter by encounter basis. If you create a new orc, and give it the name "ugly brute" for non-id'd purposes in the NPC record, then pretty quickly the players will know that "ugly brute" means a special orc. You're just changing one name for another ("A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet,"). If you have to change that description in the NPC record every time you want it to show up differently in the CT, then it's no less work to rename it in the encounter record.

I mean, right now, I drop the NPC onto the encounter, rename it for that encounter, set the quantity, then place the tokens on the map. Next encounter, I drop the NPC, rename it for the new encounter, set the quantity, place tokens.

Your method: edit the NPC record to set "alias", drag and drop onto encounter, set the quantity, place tokens. For the next encounter, I have to edit the NPC record again, drag and drop the NPC, set the quantity, place tokens. And if what shows on the CT is the alias from the NPC record (and not one stored with the encounter), then I can't even do this (the alias will change every time I edit the NPC record, so every encounter will be forced to use the same alias).

With the ability to rename creatures in the encounter record, you *already* have the ability to use an alias for NPCs. It's just that the alias is set per *encounter*, not per *NPC*.

Oh, yeah, BTW, with the current method, you have the ability to use *different* aliases for the same NPC type in one encounter (drop the NPC, rename, drop the NPC again, rename new copy, etc). I'm not sure your method would allow this flexibility.

[JohnD]

The Rolemaster ruleset has this implemented already. I think it's a great thing to add into every ruleset if possible.