NPC Knowledge

Likewise,
the
GM
and
the
Adversary should not use knowledge
that their characters could not logical-
ly possess. This is the main reason for
having an Adversary in the first place
. . . so the GM can’t use his total knowl-
edge of the PCs against them. The
warnings under PC Knowledge apply
equally to NPCs, but there are some
additional things to watch out for:
Objectives of the party. The GM
knows the players’ true objectives; the
Adversary may know. But when he
plays “ignorant” characters, he must
roleplay his ignorance. This might
mean that an NPC acts hostile when
he “should” be friendly, or vice versa.
It also means that when the party
sneaks into the castle, the guards can’t
all rush to protect the treasure room.
They don’t know for sure where the
PCs are going!
Abilities of the party. All NPCs –
especially
adversary characters –
should react according to the apparent
strength of the party. A simple exam-
ple: if the PCs are exploring a dungeon
populated by roving bands of orcs,
each new band should find out the
hard way that the party’s wizard uses
the Explosive Fireball spell – until
some orc escapes to spread the word.
Special weaknesses of the party. If
(for instance) two members of the
party are deathly afraid of snakes, the
adversary characters shouldn’t know
this unless there is a way they could
have found out. In fact, the GM
shouldn’t tell the Adversary things like
this in the first place. Let him find out
for himself! But even after he finds
out, he can’t use this sort of fact unless
he is playing a foe who should know.