Special NPC Edition!
Since the start of the pandemic, I have played more role-playing games than I ever have before. I thought I'd use my space to introduce you to my characters, and give you a little background about the system they're in, what they're like, and what they're doing.
Luca Tartaglione
Pronouns: He/him
Character Concept: Random mafioso who became a major NPC.
Character Stats: Mafia enforcer and...secretary, oddly enough.
Campaign: Shadows of Yog-Sothoth
System: Call of Cthulhu, 7th Ed.
Campaign Status: Complete!
Two of the player characters in my Call of Cthulhu campaign were a mafia princess and her "uncle" (actually her father's best friend and one of his long time criminal associates). As a result, the game developed two major plot threads: The actual plot of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and what we liked to call the Italian Soap Opera, which featured bootlegging, mafiosi, gang warfare, and toxic relationships.
For a variety of reasons, the players spent a lot of time rubbing shoulders with the mafia princess' father and his "legitimate business associates." They also spent a lot of time calling the mansion to talk to the mafia princess and to see if she was free to go on occult investigations with them.
Luca started out as a joke character whose sole function was to answer the phone whenever the players called. And that was it.
But then the players started interacting with Luca more and more and, as a result, he got a lot more characterization and screentime. By the end of the campaign, he was the most beloved of my stable of NPCs--so much so that the players threatened to riot and quit the game the second they thought I had killed Luca in a firefight.
I leaned into this pretty hard and made Luca completely beloved in-universe as well. While he was recovering in the hospital after surviving that firefight, soldiers from rival mafia families sent him flowers and paid him visits. He was just that nice!
I played Luca as one of those semi-gentle giant characters. He was very nice, good with kids, friendly, and all that, but if his boss told him to break your legs, he would do it. He also came across as a little dim, but the players eventually realized that he had a lot more going on upstairs than anyone had initially guessed. They were a little shocked to realize that Luca knew they were investigating strange stuff, and that he was even able to point out weird little clues that they had missed.
RON: You knew about that?
LUCA: Well, you guys ain't exactly subtle!
I have to say that I liked Luca very, very much. Playing him was a joy, and if I could think of a reason that he could arrive on the scene...well, he arrived on the scene. I miss playing him (and that whole Call of Cthulhu game, if I'm being honest), but I'm glad that he got to survive to the end of the campaign with his sanity and personality intact!
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