This is the third short story and the most fun to write (so far - I haven't finished the fourth one, but it is looking a bit darker). It is actually the one I wrote first of the four. It follows Psycho, Draya, and Snowy as they go on an adventure. I won’t say more than that because the first chapter details the setup quite well, and no need to be redundant.

Instead, I wanted to touch on the autonomy of NPC players in the game. I’ve briefly mentioned these topics before but haven’t gone into detail. When a player logs off in his stronghold, assuming it is a MIM or private area in the game, he can freeze time or allow time to progress normally. Since you can “Rest until Dawn,” the time of your stronghold and global time are not always the same. Since people can’t enter or leave your stronghold without your permission, there are no continuity errors.

When Jace met with Psycho at the top of his sniper tower, Psycho said that the second player who “freed” him kept him frozen when he logged out. Jace doesn’t do that. He lets his characters live their lives while he is gone, and they definitely do.

NPCs are restricted on how they can travel. They can use travel nodes to visit places they have been to before with a player or places they are specifically invited to. There are many public areas, like Ironfel, Safe Haven, or Neverspring, that are naturally on every player’s map. An NPC’s map is empty to start, and it is only filled when they travel. Jace made the mistake of thinking Esther could go to Safe Haven on her own in the first book, but she couldn’t and was forced to return to Portsmith to have another player (Sylvester) invite her.

When they travel, they do not earn experience. Even when they are joined with a player, they do not earn experience, but they do split it with the player. Since encounters are adjusted to the level of the party, having an NPC with you probably means you will face twice as many enemies, so splitting the experience doesn’t hurt. An NPC cannot initiate a module on their own, and if they are ever in a module unchaperoned, they will be kicked out.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I think I know what happens to an NPC when they die, but because I haven’t done it enough, I’m not entirely sure. I’ve run through a few scenarios, and I think I have those nailed down. If an NPC dies with a player, the NPC’s body exists for a while in the module or location where they died while the current combat round continues. Once it ends, the player can go to the body, take any necessary items or equipment, and dismiss the body into a state of limbo. If they were in a module, the NPC stays in limbo until the player resolves the entire module. If they were in a public location, the NPC would wake up in their bed or respawn point and could return to that location through travel nodes to rejoin the party.

If they were in a module, and the player dies, the NPC is no longer in limbo and is reset. The reset rules for each NPC are different. Most will return to their original module, allowing someone else to complete it. Others, like Psycho, have an established stronghold and will go there.

As covered in Book 2, if an NPC dies in someone else’s stronghold, they go into limbo, and the owner of the stronghold decides what happens.

What happens to their equipment? Good question. I think all the equipment they have on them or in their inventory disappears with them, and they have it when they respawn. However, an enemy could loot the body before it disappears, and they wouldn’t get that equipment back.

So, adventuring on their own while the Player is logged off can be dangerous, and they can lose equipment. They could be invited into another player’s stronghold, killed, and held for ransom.

Anyway, I think I met the minimum word requirement for a chapter a while ago. I just wanted to walk through different scenarios. Enjoy the story.