Non-player characters (NPCs) is a term used to represent all of the other people, monsters, or entities that player characters interact with when playing a tabletop RPG. Gamemasters generally shoulder the responsibility to run NPCs when they enter combat, are spoken to socially, or when they are otherwise engaged with the world around them. Within Alchemy, an NPC's character sheet can be easily managed directly in the platform to help gamemasters manage them easily as they are introduced within the games they run.

Article Information

Category	Gameplay, Universe
Targeted Profiles	Creators & Gamemasters
Requires Alchemy Unlimited	No, but Alchemy Unlimited enables importing an NPC from a JSON file.

What are NPCs?

NPC is a broad term used to explain every creature the players interact with that are not themselves. There are many types of creatures that can be considered NPCs.

A goblin that fights the players as they enter a cavern.
A pirate captain the players are allied with as they set sea for new treasures.
A squirrel running up a tall tree.
An evil wizard plotting to destroy the world that is the central focus of the campaign.

When an NPC is created within Alchemy, gamemasters are able to quickly reference their statistics, present their image to the players, and run them in a combat encounter directly in the platform when playing a game.

Creating NPCs

NPCs are able to be created in one of two ways.

When in a game, navigate to the NPCs panel and click the plus icon to either select a premade NPCs from an enabled universe or create a new NPC by clicking the 'Create Character' button.
When editing a universe, navigate to the NPCs tab and click the 'Create NPC' button.

Creating an NPC

When building an NPC, creators will be presented with a modal that looks something like this.

NPC Character Stats

Varying Modal Fields & Descriptions

Within this article, pictures of an NPC being created in a custom game or custom universe are presented. Depending on the system the NPC is created in, different tabs or fields of information may be presented that appear different than those directly spoken to in this article. Regardless, the tabs and fields seen when creating an NPC will always make sense in the context of the system the NPC is being created for.

Field	Description
NAME	Input a name for this new NPC. This is how they will be identified in any lists or panels in game.
PORTRAIT	Clicking the pencil icon on the portrait's border enables uploading an image to use as reference for this NPC and their encounter token.
CONCEPT/TYPE	Input an archetype for the creature to represent its biology, ancestry, or class.
TOKEN SIZE	Input the size of the NPC's token as it would appear on a grid during an encounter.
ATTRIBUTES	Input the core attributes of the NPC central to running them in the system.
SKILLS	Input more specific proficiencies that could modify the NPC's dice rolls.
FEATURES	Input the different abilities and mechanics the NPC can use in a game.
NOTES	Input additional notes related to a NPC such as their social status, rank, or appearance. For additional formatting, this field does accept markdown
TAGS	Input tags to help when searching for a specific NPC using the search bar in the universe's NPCs tab or when adding an NPC in a game.

NPC Trackers

Custom trackers can be added to NPCs to track different values in a game such as their Hit Points (HP) or experience (XP). Creating and viewing trackers for an NPC is identical to how trackers are managed for players. The Primary Tracker represents the bar showing to the left of the NPC's portrait and the Secondary Tracker represents the bar to the right (when playing as them).

Field	Description
LABEL	Input a name for this new tracker to give context regarding what resource is being tracked.
FILL COLOR	Input the color that should be used to represent how full the tracker bar is at any given moment.
CURRENT POINT VALUE	Input the live value of the tracker.
MAXIMUM VALUE	Input the maximum value of the tracker.

NPCs can also have additional trackers added to their Tracker Panel by selecting the 'Add Tracker' button at the bottom of the modal. The fields that appear are the same as above with exception to the Tracker Type. This field enables the creator to select whether this tracker will display as a bar (for higher quantities) or as pips (for lower quantities) in the Tracker Panel.

NPC Actions

Actions can be created in the NPC's Actions tab. The actions created within this tab can be accessed and used using the NPC's Actions Panel in a game.

NPC Equipment

An NPC can be granted items and other equipment they have access to in a game. In some systems, specific currency values can be specified in this tab as well to track an NPC's wealth.

NPC Description

A description can be typed out for the NPC. This can be information that is public to the players (such as appearance and aspects of their history) or private information (such as their secret motivations and confidants). This description field accepts markdown formatting for advanced formatting.

When a description is complete, the creator of the NPC can toggle the 'Public Description' slider to indicate whether this NPC's description should be revealed to players. If this field is revealed, players can view this description by clicking on the NPC in the NPCs Panel in a game, selecting the 'View' button that appears, and navigating to the NPC's Description tab within the modal.

Importing/Exporting NPCs

NPCs can be imported and exported within Alchemy to quickly move their information between universes.

Exporting

To export an NPC from Alchemy, click on a NPC to open their information modal and unlock their character sheet to edit. Next to the edit toggle, select the overflow menu and the subsequent 'Export JSON' option to export code representing the NPC to your local device.

Export Location

When exporting an NPC using Alchemy in a web browser, you will be prompted on where to save this data on your local device. When exporting using the Alchemy native app, this information will be automatically stored in your local device's downloads folder.

Importing

An NPC's information can be imported into a universe by navigating to the NPCs tab in the universe, clicking the arrow next to the 'Create NPC' button, and selecting the 'Import JSON' selection from the menu. This will prompt you to select the NPC from your local device to import into the universe (specifically the selected module). Once the import is complete, the new NPC will appear in the NPC list within the tab.

While some fields of information can transfer over, we generally do not recommend importing NPCs created in different systems.

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