Barf Forth Apocalyptica
barf forth apocalyptica => Apocalypse World => Topic started by: Louis on July 09, 2011, 05:02:46 PM
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I'm relatively new to Apocalypse World and this forum, so maybe this has already been done, but I've written a random NPC generator for Apocalypse World:
http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm (http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm)
Feel free to use it, make your own versions, post suggestions, and so forth!
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Nice!
At least some should sport the attractive genders concealed and/or ambiguous.
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Good point. Do you think it would be better to have ambiguous, trans, etc. listed under "sex" or "look?"
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Good point. Do you think it would be better to have ambiguous, trans, etc. listed under "sex" or "look?"
"Sex" shouldn't even be an option, it should *only* be look... we've had full transvetite characters in game that were only revealed to be the opposite sex in play... their look was "woman".
It should only be about what you "see".
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It should only be about what you "see".
The NPC generator is meant to be a tool for MCs. If the PCs walk into a bar and the MC needs to quickly populate it with 6 NPCs, the generator provides a starting point. As the MC you decide how much of the information the generator provides is true: if it says Winkle is a man, but you want Winkle to be a woman, you just change it on the fly and maybe make a note to remind yourself. Also, as the MC you decide when the PCs learn specific information: no reason you can't say Winkle looks like a woman even if you (as the MC) have decided Winkle is in fact a transvestite that may or may not be reveled later. This generator isn't intended to produce every bit of detail for every single NPC, just some basic info for the NPCs that fill the MC's world but who the MC hasn't already developed.
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I agree it should only be about what the players see.
I think you're misunderstanding the difference between gender and sex. AW is unusual in that it encourages people who have a limited view of gender to actively create Trans characters, and having everyone just me "male or female unless the MC wants otherwise" would result in that encouragement being nullified.
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Neat!
I'd replace the word sex with gender and include the other options if you want to keep it in a distinct column. Otherwise, it's probably better moved into the look column. Something else about the look column that would be neat is to mix up the order of the elements. It would sort of indicate which attributes that character leads with, if you know what I mean.
I'd take the word experience off after combat and replace the three options with something punchier, maybe: rookie, vet and bad-ass or something. And then add another column just like it but with the header maelstrom instead of combat.
And it would be cooler if I could customize the output a bit. I'd like to set the age range and maybe include a name list; that kind of thing.
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Thanks for the good feedback, I'm going to start working on a revised version!
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I've posted an updated NPC generator (same location as the previous version):
http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm (http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm)
The update is based in part on the suggestions and comments made here, but some suggestions will require more work. I intend to make further improvements, so please keep the suggestions coming!
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This is actually pretty sweet.
Thanks.
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Yes, this is quite good.
If I may make one small criticism, however, I think the ages in general are too high. Too many people over 30, not enough 15-25 year-olds. Life is hard and cheap in Apocalypse World. Just like in the third world, probably half of all people everywhere are under 20. Unless you are going for a Children of Men vibe, in which case, I can't actually complain!
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Too many people over 30, not enough 15-25 year-olds.
Yeah, good point. I think I might replace the numbers in age with vaguer text ("teenager," "mid-twenties," "early thirties," etc.), and move it into the "Name / Look" field.
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Also, why no kids?
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Hey, I used this in my con game tonight and it was very helpful, printed a set of them and kept at the table. Really gave some npc's an instant personality or memorable quirk.
Couple comments:
Way too many missing limbs, seems like more than half were missing an arm or leg.
Needs a bigger selection of weapons and clothing. Maybe we can give you entries for your lists somehow?
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Way too many missing limbs, seems like more than half were missing an arm or leg...
Cool, I'm glad it was useful! Good feedback too! I agree some of the details (like missing limbs) need to be less common, and I need to increase the number of unique details (cloths, weapons, quirks, etc.).
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Maybe we can give you entries for your lists somehow?
That would be great! Feel free to post list additions as replies to this topic!
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Based on the code it looks like just under 1/4 of the characters should be missing a body part.
The easiest way to reduce that number without having to come up with more options would be to simply copy all the other options into the same list again. That'll cut the amputee occurrence by about half.
I thought of some additional entries for the lists and fixed a few entries, then added them to the code. Here a new copy of it that you can post if you like the additions.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5x2g5f7kj53jqed/AW_NPC_v2.htm (http://www.mediafire.com/file/5x2g5f7kj53jqed/AW_NPC_v2.htm)
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I just registered to tell you this:
I changed the generator a bit further, adding approximate age into description, instead of years.
http://csomalin.elte.hu/~roland/AW_NPC_v3.htm
Hope you'll like it.
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Nice idea Roland!
I was thinking that it might save space in my printout if, instead of having the description be two sentences with the name twice, it could be in this format:
Foster is a plain mid-forties male with a face tattoo who has bald patches and whistles loudly.
The grammar isn't perfect, but it's certainly good enough for my MC notes.
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It wasn't my idea. It was on the previous page. As well as that there should be kids, so there are now. I did what you (Philomorph) suggested, name is now not doubled:
http://csomalin.elte.hu/~roland/AW_NPC_v31.htm
However, i have problem with the kids. "Balls is a plain kid female..." just sounds kind of strange to me, but i couldn't make it better. Maybe someone who is a natural speaker of English could figure out a way to fix this.
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I'm updated the NPC generator based on the feedback, should have a new version posted soon!
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However, i have problem with the kids. "Balls is a plain kid female..." just sounds kind of strange to me, but i couldn't make it better. Maybe someone who is a natural speaker of English could figure out a way to fix this.
Well, there are a number of ways to make the scripting more robust, but it would require an increase in the level of complexity. probably the easiest way to fix this would be to change the word "kid" to "young".
I sort of have a problem with kids being included though, because many of the adjectives in the lists aren't ones you'd normally apply to children.
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Here is the updated NPC generator, incorporating feedback:
http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.html (http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.html)
Thanks for the feedback and please keep the comments and suggestions coming!
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That thing is hot.
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... had to update the link:
http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm (http://www.easpegasus.net/AW_NPC.htm)
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The above link has been dead for a while.
I am running Philomorph's version of the script here if you want to use it:
http://asifproductions.com/aw_npc_gen.html
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Version 1.3 is up: Now With Body Parts!?
http://asifproductions.com/aw_npc_gen.html
Some of the body parts suggestions were made by Andrea Parducci (https://plus.google.com/101076298485951808085). Here are her interpretations of the body part meanings:- Hands, greed.
- Eyes, knowledge.
- Mouth, search good taste.
- Lungs, air, freedom.
- Spine, slavey type.
- Ass, weird love.
- Feet, always wandering.
Here are mine, with some added ones:- Arms - likes flexing, fighting, gettin shit done
- Ass - likes sitting around, being lazy, talkin shit
- Brain - motivated by information, luxe tech
- Chest - likes to boast, tell tales, egotist
- Eyes - motivated by beauty, nature, vision
- Feet - comes in and out, hurries from spot to spot
- Genitals - motivated by sex
- Hands - likes to own or manipulate objects; hoarder, hacker, klepto
- Heart - seeks truth, love, dignity, romance, passionate
- Legs - likes the road, wanders from town to town
- Lungs - motivated by freedom, open space; opinionated
- Mouth - likes to talk, smoke, oral fixation
- Nose - motivated by smells, mysteries, new people & things
- Spine - likes being tested, taking command
- Stomach - motivated by food
Note: I assume that "Genitals" and "Stomach" are the most frequent, so each has a chance of 20%. All other body parts have a chance of 5%.
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I am fine with the body parts, wish the header was reworded .... I kept trying to figure out what you meant.
I would love to see last names. I am known for frequently call people Mr. ....
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The header "BodyParts" is a reference to the rules' quote about NPCs: "What they do in life is follow their parts around". :-)
I don't think I'll be adding last names, since (a) it would need a lot more variety (or else you'll get implied families all the time) and (b) I think it's an AW truism that most characters don't even have last names, unless they're older. But here are some generators that can give you a bunch of em:
http://www.apocwords.net/systems/names.html
http://chaoticshiny.com/modernnamegen.php
http://donjon.bin.sh/weird/name/#cthulhu
http://www.rpginspiration.com/tables/ModernAllNames.ipt
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Version 2.0 is now up. Completely rewritten in PHP, the results now make a lot more sense:
http://asifproductions.com/aw_npc_gen.php
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Ok this is not part of the generator - maybe it will be after I get some feedback - but it's a 2d6 table for rolling a generic prompt for a plot/story/complication. The idea is to complicate NPCs lives by giving them one of these problems (and detailing it, of course).
2 Disaster/Emergency, natural or otherwise OR savagely attacked by someone
3 Psychological/Physical abuse, brainwashing, coersion, codependency OR lying sociopath
4 Being extorted/vandalized/threatened/blackmailed by someone, OR playing for sympathy
5 Personal/family/friend's addiction/illness OR lying about who's really addicted/sick
6 Owes someone/lost a gamble/took a loan and can't pay it OR throwing good money after bad
7 Being extorted by someone with local authority but they're innocent OR so the story goes
8 The problem isn't personal, but a person they love has a problem OR they see it that way
9 Bitter rival, monopolist, once-friend-now-enemy, family feud OR yes but we started it
10 Someone they know is robbing/sabotaging them OR they are robbing/sabotaging someone
11 Their selfish acts are being exposed OR they are exposing someone's selfish acts
12 Something, something, something, Maelstrom…
ETA: You might consider this an MC Move: Add a complication to an existing NPC could be an example of Activate their stuff's downside.
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Complications have now been added to the NPC Generator. To generate them along with your NPCs, hit the URL this way:
http://asifproductions.com/aw_npc_gen.php?complication=1