writte~
" I will pick up the hook.
You mi0 see .&mething neul.
Two things. And I call them
Thing One and Thing Ttiio.
These Things udl not bite you.
They ulant to hazle f m . "
Then out of the box
Came Thing TILWand Thing One.
- Dr. Suess, The Cat in the Hat
aving heen a gamer for almost two clccacks, I've seen
w undreds of characters created for dozens of game
systems, with both good and had rcsults. And ci7en in
those cases where a charactcr looked well-made at the outset,
I have watched how those characters fail to develop, grow,
and integrate thcmsel\~esinto the rest of the GM's campaign.
Heck, I'IT even seen it happen to NPCs that were c r c m d hy
the GM!
While I don't claim to know the secret to creating an
effective, and real feeling charactcr, 1 havc come up with one
trick that can help. Whcn crcating characters (from any
genre), create an NPC of roughly equal importance that is
linked to her in some way.
two f o r the ~ r * b = e
o f ome
GURPS Mixed Doubles is a collection of NPC supers
(heroes, villains and others) in which each charactcr is paired
with (or against) anothcr. There are mentor-stuclcnt pairs,
hero-hero, hero-villain, villain-villain, granclhther-gfi1ncIso11,
and other combinations, with the key hcing that every single
NPC has at least one strong tie to another super (hesicks a11
his dependents, acquaintances and the like). The paired
nature of the charactcrs means that they havc morc built-in
plot hooks than charactcrs created solo, which makes thcm
much morc useful to a GM adding thcm to her campaign.
As an example, there's Profiteer - an always-cool
mercenary hcro with a numhcr of secrets he hides hehind :in
obnoxious personality - who's paired against Liquidator - an
open and cheerful hcro who carries a grudge against Profiteer
for a long-past snuh. Now, either charactcr would make a
volume vii number iv
useful a n ~ linteresting addition to a campaign on their own,
but whcn you get the two of them togethcr, sparks fly and the
mild-mannered Liquidator hccomes uncl~aracteristically
belligerent, blowing up in a way which might make Profiteer
lose his cool. T~vocharactcrs who could easily havc been
summed up in one-climensional terms like "mild-manncrecY
;ind "cool" if consickred alone, act more like real people whcn
hrought together. And if you're planning to use such :I pair, it
is often best to introduce thcm to the campaign separately, so
that the players can see how thcy act u n ~ l c r normal
circumstances.
Even when thcsc NPC is away from the PC, just the
existence of the second charactcr makes the first more solid.
It gives each of thcm a past, while providing ohi~ious
mc~tivations;the GM knows in aclwnce how they'll react. In
literary terminology, thcy serve as dramatic foils for each
othcr. The contrasts and connections hetween thcm tcll you
things you couldn't know hy seeing cithcr in isolation.
Now, I'm not talking ahout thosc ever-present hpcnclents
needing to he rcscuecl, and the valuahlc Allies/Siclckicks who
help GMs do it. Usually, thcsc are adclitional characters
crc;itccI strictly for the cxtra points thcy bring the PC, or for
the extra firepower thcy pro\& in a fight. While getting
cxtra points or power are othcr reasons for creating a
subsidiary NPC, it's importmt that a character relates to the
NPCs around him in ways that hring out his personality. The
most significant interactions will be between PCs and othcr
charactcrs of- ecluivalent pouler-lezd or importance to the
campaign.
Whcn 1 was starting my own GURPS Su/)ers campaign, 1
wanted the same connection between the PCs and NPCs
that eventuillly crystallizccl in Mixed Doubles. Although
those links hetween charactcrs would have happened
naturally over a numhcr of play sessions, I was impatient. I
didn't want to go through the slow process of having the
players create PCs and thcn havc them play through thcir
origins ;inJ first few adventures, and thcn eventually their
first "rematch" with a villain; I wantccl thosc connections
now!
And fortunately, one of my players was kind enough to

ohligc 1ne. When creating his female martial artist called
Nightcycle, the pliiycr had chosen to give her a 10-point
I)is;d~;intage - she'J h;d a nunlher of run-ins with ;I
Victna~ncse street gang. While some players might feel
comt;mahlc at that Ic\.cl of detail, Nightcycle wasn't. He
went on to come up with thcir name, a description of their
"gang colors", notes on how they were run, how thcy operate,
and what illegal things they're likely to he doing to get
Nightcycle involvc~l.This was great! I'J wanted to come up
with villains with prc-existing tics to the PCs, ancl here he
had already created the villains for me. Half my work was
already done for me, and all the player got out of it was iI
t w o ~ J w sowe
Who says the players have to he equal? How about making
a supporting cast me~nbcra PC?Take turns from campaign to
campaign with a different pair and a different level of
association. Ratguy and Pigeon made an excellent Juo, and
who would ever argue that they were equals!
Players rc;illy intercstccl in a challenge coulcl try being the
vil1;tins iiS well ;is the heroes for ;I change. Make a villain PC
;11d then 11;nre another player makc the hero PC nemesis.
Whcn the two arc in the room, the players can actually take
scmc of the action into their own 11;111cls t;,r a change. Groups
should experirncnt and see how things work for them.
t w o for the price of one
~neasly 10 points ... points that he would havc received
anyway by just writing Enemies: Street Gang on his
character sheet!
Rut don't be fooled into thinking that the only thing that
Nightcycle's creator did was provide me with some ready-
made villains. He also got a better idea of how Nightcycle fit
into the world of heroes ancl criminals she had to interact
with, there were possihilities opened up for interesting
relationships between her and individual ~netnhersof the
gang, both in public and secret identities, and I was given a
tool that I knew could be used to tnanipulatc Nightcycle into
adventures with ease; all I had to do was mention the gang's
possible involvement in a crime, and she would he forced to
investigate.
So, how do you entice the players to make these well-
rounded characters and do somc of your own hackground
work for you? It's easy when the players volunteer to step in
the trap on their own; you just encourage them once you see
them doing it: Hey, that gmg's got some great possibilities, htat
exactly what uwkf their membership bc likc, and uhat uiould their
"colors" he, ulhat ulould make their leader specid?
If they say that thcy want to put that sort of detail into
their character, but that they don't have the i~naginationto
comc up with mother entire chm-acter on thcir own, you can
reward them for their good intentions hy having them select
an NPC (whether ally, rival, mentor, or enemy) from ;I hook
of such things (and while Mixed 1)ouhles comes to mind, you
might also want to take a look at simila- hooks from other
game systems.) If you particularly like the ch;m~ctcrsin somc
NPC book, you can even make it a rule in your campaign that
allies, enemies, i i d the likc have to he chosen from such a
hook to he worth their points.
And for those who refuse to do anything without some
sort of tangible benefit, you can hang the carrot of a few
bonus points in front of them: O h ? , you took a I@-point
"Enemies" Disad~~antage. YOUcan select him from one of these
books for free, or I'll gizv yola another 5 points if ?ou create ?our
own enemy, and another 5 if you wine 141) uith (1 comj~let~
description of him, including details of uh? he's ,qot (1 sj~ecial
interest in you. Even in game with a complex character
creation system likc GURPS Stapcrs or Champions, you'll he
surprised at how ~ n u c hextra effort you can squccx out of
your players if you offer them honus points for it. While you
may havc qualms ahout giving away points, the increased
familiarity the players will havc with their PCs, the amount
of detail they'll create in their NPC i~dvcsariesfor you, and
the irnprovd calibre of role-playing it will prcducc, will
make it all worth while.
With or without outsi~lcsource materials, making it the
rule that every PC must havc at least one important NPC
link will quickly give a fledgling campaign depth of
characterization, PC/NPC interaction, and general
hackgrouncl to rival a campaign in action for years.
Oi
a & ~ w t the a w t h ~ r
Spike Y. Jones always wanted to he a world-famous artist.
He only viewed his writing as a vehicle to sell his art. The art
accompanying this article isn't his. In fact, in 1 1 years in this
industry he's only had one illustration puhlishcd and he
wasn't even crcclitccl for that. *sigh*
SHADIS fifty-three