I think, as a GM, it is really useful to have someone who is interested in, and willing to take on, bit-parts and do them well. This gives a lot of flexibility, and if you have someone you can trust to do it well, you can then commit to more important/interesting bit parts, too.
Ok, I've only GMed one LARP-like game, but I did have someone who didn't want to play any of the main roles, but just be there for "helper" roles, and it was really helpful and awesome having this person around. (It was a White Wolf game called Long Live the King. )
The long-running boffer LARP I'm in (over 20 years of a continuous world- I just retired a PC I had been playing for 15 years!) has that kind of richness and depth and complexity... and they have a self-selected "noncombatant" category that both PCs and NPCs can use. It's a really good idea to have something like that; it increases the diversity of players and the flexibility of writing and roleplaying.
It doesn't always mean that non-combatant PCs get stuck as healers. Rather the opposite... my aforementioned PC was one of the main (magical) healers in the game, but he was also a former member of the church militant and pretty combat effective. Weird, really. ;-)
Glad you're having fun! I can just see you with the sheet over your head...
I don't know about most players but, often enough, players of RPGs want to be the heroes, the centers of attention, main cast. After all, if you're playing a game, why play a sidekick when you can be the star of the show? Finding players who like or even prefer being supporting cast and playing bit parts can be difficult so your volunteering to stand around with a sheet over your head is a godsend to the GMs.
It's not like I'm the only cast member - there are usually at least a dozen or two of us. :) And most of the rest are a lot more versatile; they're willing to do combat and learn rules. I'm just... lucky, I guess.
As a Theater Style LARPer who more or less inherited a boffer LARP chapter having NPC to do purely non-combat roles is a joy and a delight. Heck i'd pay for a few really good ones just to keep raising the roleplaying bar for my PCs.
So huzzah and may more folks help boost things. I envy that game for having you.
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Ok, I've only GMed one LARP-like game, but I did have someone who didn't want to play any of the main roles, but just be there for "helper" roles, and it was really helpful and awesome having this person around. (It was a White Wolf game called Long Live the King. )
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It doesn't always mean that non-combatant PCs get stuck as healers. Rather the opposite... my aforementioned PC was one of the main (magical) healers in the game, but he was also a former member of the church militant and pretty combat effective. Weird, really. ;-)
Glad you're having fun! I can just see you with the sheet over your head...
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Maybe you're bringing your theater-style LARP experience to the game, making the NPCs you play better than they have been.
Maybe the more versatile cast members do more, but you do this one thing better.
Maybe they're giving you more and shinier parts because you're making the parts work.
Maybe your standard for unreasonable demands is different from theirs.
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So huzzah and may more folks help boost things. I envy that game for having you.
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