How do you make NPCs talk and do actions?

[Romy]

I didn't know where else to put this, sorry.

I've finally met another player I think, and somehow they were making npcs talk and do emotes. Somehow they were making them talk to me.

How do you do this, and I'm sure there are rules for when you do this, so can someone enlighten me? I've been reading the rules as I go along to play an hour or so a day, but there's seriously a plethora of information to digest.

Thanks.

[Cutthroat]

Some characters, such as characters in leadership positions, have the ability to order NPCs to do things. Generally these NPCs are bodyguards or servants. They can order things like emoting, talking, and other commands that interact with people and items. A few PCs are noted for how well they have "played" NPCs in this manner, but many PCs with the ability occasionally do this for flavor. As I understand it, there are few rules: so long as the PC isn't ordering the NPC to say something it wouldn't say or is ordering it to do emotes that aren't OK (such as power emoting), everything should be fine.

[Delstro]

Well, sometimes you can 'order npc guard templar'
Then sometimes you can 'ask npc guard merchant'
And then there is always the 'talk npc topics'
But then you could ' emote runs up and kicks ~npc in the newly created facial cavity of Drov-love.'
If all else fails, pull out a 'say That npc dude right there did it!'

[Romy]

Oy, thanks.

Somehow they made a barkeep talk. Maybe that barkeep is in their clan or somesuch.

Eh, so much to soak in.

[Akaramu]

Are you sure they were NPCs? Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference.  

Some characters in leadership roles tend to have guard (or other kinds) NPCs with them. Due to their leadership rank within their clan, they can give orders to those NPCs - but they don't have control over all NPC's, just some which are considered their subordinates.

And sometimes staff animates NPCs and lets them interact with player characters, but players are not 'in charge' if this happens. As soon as the staff member is done possessing the NPC, they will be quiet and passive again.

Some players include NPCs in their emotes, and make it appear as if they were doing something, but they don't control them. It is better to do this with VNPCs (virtual NPCs) because they don't already have a personality and background. It could be unrealistic to make a barkeeper smile at you with one of your emotes if you don't know if that barkeeper has a background of being so grumpy that he never smiles at anyone.

[Cutthroat]

Aha.

In that case the player used the 'discuss' command. Such as 'discuss barkeep hi', 'discuss barkeep name', 'discuss barkeep topics', etc. Some NPCs have this nifty feature, usually to explain their services. You can try it on landlords of apartments to get descriptions of rooms in some places.

[Romy]

When you 'discuss barkeep topics' they also emote and address you by name, or include you in their emotes?

I'll have to practice with this, thanks a bunch.

When you 'discuss barkeep topics' they give you a list of things to talk about I imagine, like rumors or other current events?

[Romy]

I'm guessing not all bartenders have this feature. I tried it without luck. I could be getting the damned inputs wrong, but I'll try different things.

Thanks again for responses.

[Cutthroat]

Right, not all NPCs have this feature. It may be that a player managed to order the bartender, or staff animated the bartender. This is possible with many other PCs.

[Barzalene]

One of two things. Either imm animation of

em ~bartender glances at @ and serves him a drink taking the coin from the pile in front of him.

If he's talking, it's more likely to be an imm.

[Lizzie]

Just as a note of interest:

Players can't do this:
em ~bartender does something to @.

or

emote ~cactus snapping outward, @ backs off quickly.

You can't target something -other- than yourself with those emote symbols on the first word of the emote. You can start emotes with other things besides yourself but those other things can't be targetted with symbols. So..while the above can't be done..this can:

em The cactus snapping outward, @ backs off quickly.
or
emote Helpfully, ~bartender does something to @.

[Irulan]

There is also the possibility that an Immortal was animating the NPC.  It doesn't necessarily happen often, but it does happen.

- Irulan

[Aaron Goulet]

Also, the discuss command is very sensitive, and only responds to certain strings.  Common ones for barkeeps are:

Code Select Expand


> discuss <keyword> name
> discuss <keyword> rumors


These work on almost every barkeep in almost every major city.