Saturday, May 11, 2024

NPC Malleability Compass

For me, determining NPC reactions in pivotal moments is one of the hardest things about running an RPG.  Putting me on the spot like this feels like my players’ favourite thing to do. One minute, they're asking an NPC to jump into a mysterious pool, the next they're hugging an opponent in an attempt to end a battle. I guess this is essentially what RPGs are about, trying to prod and poke the world rather than ride along as a passive observer.

As I often have to work out NPC responses spontaneously, I worry about these feeling inconsistent or inauthentic. But an equal concern is laziness in resorting to a generic caricature of an NPC, which gets inserted into every scenario regardless of context. Seeking a method to anchor these decisions in something more systematic, I came across this Late Night Zen blog post on the Big Five Personality Traits.

The Big Five Personality Traits are a psychological framework that offers quantifiable metrics for predicting behaviour. Of the five traits, 'Openness to Experience' and 'Agreeableness' particularly stood out to me. These seem especially useful in providing clear and actionable insights into how NPCs might respond under specific circumstances. In this blog post, I'll delve into how leveraging these two traits can guide GMs in crafting more consistent and strategically engaging NPC interactions.

Overview of the Big Five Personality Traits

The Big Five Personality Traits is a psychological model that provides a framework for understanding individual differences in behaviour. These traits are:
  • Openness to Experience - Characterised by imagination, curiosity, and a broad range of interests
  • Conscientiousness - Defined by thoughtfulness, good impulse control, and goal-directed behaviours.
  • Extraversion - Marked by excitability, sociability, and emotional expressiveness.
  • Agreeableness - Characterised by trust, altruism, and kindness.
  • Neuroticism - Involves emotional instability, anxiety, and moodiness. 
Why the Big Five Traits Clicked for Me

In my experience, players want to be agents of change, meaning they regularly break with the norms of a setting when engaging with NPCs. The Big Five model resonated with me because it primarily addresses how individuals engage with the world around them, which directly aligns with how NPCs might respond to novel scenarios. This stands in contrast to abstract traits such as "greedy" or "aggressive," which function more as rigid rules for how a character reacts in any scenario, limiting the dynamic nature of NPC behaviour.

For example, consider a scenario where the PCs are trying to convince a tribe of goblins to ally with a tribe of kobolds. In the adventure The Fall of Whitecliff, the members of a bandit faction are all described as “greedy”. If this trait was applied to the goblins, it suggests they would agree to the alliance if it personally profits them. But what if the suggested plan is a radical departure from the status quo, due to generations of animosity between the tribes? This is where the Big Five traits offer more nuanced insights.

Applying Openness to Experience and Agreeableness in Gameplay

Of the two traits, "Openness to Experience" and "Agreeableness," the former is more straightforward to apply in gameplay. An NPC with a high score in Openness is generally more open to unconventional ideas and might be easier to convince of a hair-brained scheme (the type my players favour). Conversely, an NPC with a low score in Openness would be the type of stalwart recruit you’d want as a retainer. To persuade such a character, it seems best to invoke existing rules or traditions.

"Agreeableness," on the other hand, is more of a double-edged sword. An NPC with high Agreeableness might want to please the PCs by going along with their ideas, but they are unlikely to pursue a plan that contradicts the majority opinion or established norms. Conversely, an NPC with low Agreeableness might be critical of new suggestions from the PCs but is more likely to be persuaded by well-argued evidence. They might even support a radical idea if they see its rationality, even if it deviates from the norms.

The other 3 traits in the Big Five model are also relevant for RPGs, but this is more after an NPC has been won over to the PC’s cause. They are particularly significant for determining how reliably an NPC will carry out an agreed action. For example, a conscientious NPC would be more reliable in following through without mistakes. An extroverted NPC would be better at persuading other NPCs to join in with the action.

Big Five Traits as Material Conditions in RPG

As always in this blog, I try to look at things through a materialist/Marxist lens. From this perspective, the Big Five Traits can be seen as an integral part of the material conditions that shape the game world. This contrasts with an idealist worldview, where events and outcomes are seen as originating from the exceptional qualities of individuals, often viewed as separate from the material world. In an idealist RPG campaign, events are driven by powerful individuals with exceptional psychological traits, such as a villain being exceptionally selfish or cruel, while the hero is exceptionally brave or resourceful.

In contrast, the Big Five Personality Traits align more closely with a Marxist perspective, where these traits are seen as part of the material conditions, much like the physical terrain characters must navigate. In any reasonably sized group, there will be individuals who score highly in some of these traits, indicating how they might react to material conditions rather than driving changes through distinct mental characteristics.

Applying the Big Five Traits in a Micro and Macro Context

For me, the implications of the Big Five traits changes depending on whether they are used on a micro or macro scale. On a micro level, such as in a one-shot adventure or isolated encounter, using these traits might add an element of randomness, where luck partly determines how readily NPCs respond to the PCs' influence. This is similar to applying a difficulty rating to crossing a slippery log.

However, the true potential of the Big Five traits lies in their application in a longer campaign, where PCs become more immersed in a faction or community. In this context, the PCs get to know prominent NPCs and their tendencies, such as whether they are open-minded or dogmatic. They can also understand the NPCs' worldviews, anticipating what counts as "the norm" for them and whether the PC's suggestion would be seen as a radical departure.

Using the Big Five Traits in a Faction or Community Setting

In my current campaign, the PCs are involved in a mine-based setting, where worker unrest has arisen due to unsafe working conditions, exacerbated by an infestation of monsters. The players want to persuade various NPCs to join a strike. Some NPCs start off against the idea of a union, perhaps due to propaganda or faith in the authorities to solve problems. The Big Five traits indicate how easily the PCs might change this position, and whether the NPCs would respond to well-constructed arguments or simply go with the flow when others are persuaded.

Amongst mine workers, there are a multitude of factions who respond to the unsafe work conditions in different ways. Significantly though, they all share the same motivation – to make their day-to-day work less dangerous. A trait related to motivation, such as “greedy”, would be meaningless in differentiating factions, because their shared motivation is treated as a given in the face of such dire conditions. The Big 5 traits though prove crucial in determining factional splits. The idea of the union is a new one in the setting, meaning those with a low openness score will naturally resist the idea and support more traditional avenues.

Summary

Late Night Zen’s blog post was a real game changer for me, and even includes a handy generator for assigning 1-10 trait ratings. I find all 5 stats a bit much to juggle in your head, so generally focus on openness and agreeableness in any new scenario. Isolating just 2 traits enables you to plot NPCs onto a graph, exactly the way you would with the standard political compass, replacing the existing authoritarian and left/right wing axes. Potentially, every NPC’s position could be shown on a single chart, if this kind of visual representation works for you.



Full disclosure, I used ChatGPT for the first time to aid in drafting this post (including the chart).  It required some heavy editing and I rewrote some paragraphs.  I was impressed by how much it sped up my writing process (this post took 2-3 days rather than 2-3 weeks).  It has changed my writing style a bit, but I feel is pretty much getting the message across I want.  I'd be interested in feedback.  

2 comments:

  1. I like this - you could also take inverse Neuroticism in place of Openness - whether they expect trouble or not being potentially key in getting them to go your way.

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  2. I agree. I talk about Openness and Agreeable as concerned with NPC reactions and the other 3 traits with how successfully actions are followed through. But Neuroticism feels a bit in the middle, partly concerned immediate reactions as well

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