For a long time, I have wanted to code up an NPC generator for the inthelabyrinth.org website. The goal is to have one specifically for The Fantasy Trip. I had planned to have one ready by today, but unfortunately, I have failed.
Sometimes you don’t choose the thug life, sometimes the thug life chooses you…
Complexity is a Bitch
What killed me was trying to get too many features in the thing, too fast. Way back in the day, I created a program on my dad’s Commodore 128 in BASIC to generate TFT stats (yeah, baby!) In my mind, it was that easy. Well, that ain’t so.
What I rediscovered is that with any software development project, you have to specify requirements and actually plan things out. I know this from my day job, but in my excitement to just do something, I forgot that.
What I realized is that if I am going to generate anything beyond simple ST, DX and IQ, I need to plan out what information I want to generate, how I plan to present it, and how I plan to make everything work behind the scenes and let the magic look easy. Right. As I started adding more features in, the business rules jacked the complexity way up–which means more time was needed.
What Features Do We Really Need For TFT?
Great question. Important question. I looked at some other NPC generators on the Interwebs today, and frankly came away with more questions than answers. More than anything, the biggest question that needs to be answered is that of scope.
My original thought was to generate a number of NPCs who fit the need for bad guys–thugs. Just like in adventures like Death Test or Death Test II, they were simple fighters or wizards with basic attributes, primary and secondary weapons, and armor. Simple, neat and easy.
My trouble came when I started expanding concept that to other kinds of NPCs–thieves, merchants, scholars, woodsmen, courtesans, farmers… A whole range of NPCs. Each with different requirements and features. Each with different feels and descriptions. Each with different coding needs. And that is where I had a meltdown.
No way I could code that in a few days on the fly. Some of you might be able to do that, but not this dude. So…
What I Will Do Now…
Well, a few things. I am going to try to scratch my original itch and have the system generate a number of thugs–generic fighters to be used as bandits, thieves, etc. I am pretty confident I can get that coded up and out to everyone by next Friday.
The other thing I want to do is just ask all of you dear readers what you would want to see. This is not just an exercise for me–I want you to have a tool you can use in your gaming as well. So either email me or write up a comment with what you want to see in an NPC Generator. I will try to get it included and make this something we can all use.
And maybe I can leave the Thug Life…
Marko ∞
(Originally published on inthelabyrinth.org, on 3/9/2018.)
