Fantasy Friday Edition
If the unexpected is where the magic happens, then allies are the ones who help you survive it.
In most fantasy games, we talk a lot about the players, the villains, and the world. But some of the richest, strangest, most meaningful moments don’t come from the final boss or the quest-giver with a shiny reward; they come from the people the characters meet along the way.
The allies. The NPCs. The ones who weren’t supposed to matter, but suddenly do.
I’ve long believed that a good ally is more than just someone who helps in a fight. They’re the soul of a campaign. They give the players a reason to care about the world. A reason to stay. A reason to come back.
Sometimes they start as simple archetypes: the barkeep with a missing eye, the goblin who insists he’s a poet, the witch in the woods who offers help with a price attached. But then something happens. A player makes a connection. They ask a question you weren’t ready for. They offer kindness, or threat, and the relationship takes on a life of its own.
Suddenly, that nameless sage becomes the character’s mentor. The grumpy caravan driver becomes comic relief, and then a trusted friend.
The rival adventuring party becomes something more complex than competition.
In fantasy stories, allies ground us. They remind the characters that they’re not alone. That the world isn’t just monsters and gold and ancient curses, it’s people. Living, flawed, sometimes irritating, and often surprising people.
And yes, sometimes they betray you. Sometimes they turn out to be working for the villain, or hiding a dangerous secret, or just get in over their heads and die in the second act. That’s part of the deal. But the good ones, the ones who stay, those are the ones your players will talk about years later.
I’ve had NPCs who were meant to be one-hit wonders end up starring in entire campaigns. I’ve seen players go to absurd lengths to save them, avenge them, or recruit them. The characters and players even look forward to seeing them. Evelyn, the Princess Escalla, is an excellent example of this. They hated her at first, but when she showed up at the right time, they loved her. Not bad for a little half-pixie girl with a huge sword.
And I think that’s the point.
In the middle of all the darkness and mystery, all the chaos and combat, allies give us something else: hope.
Even if they’re flawed. Even if they’re weird, and Evelyn was weird. Even if they were just a name on a note card five minutes ago.
They remind us that the world is worth saving. Or at least, worth traveling through one more day.
Questions
When. Confident. Rule.
Hmm. When am I confident in a new rule? When I have made a new rule for a game, I am confident it will "sell" well when my playtesters tell me how cool it was.
No comments:
Post a Comment