non-player character
- noun
- /nɒnˈpleɪər ˈkɑːrɪktər/
- Jargon
:
personaje no jugador
- In the latest fantasy RPG, players can engage in quests alongside non-player characters who provide helpful information.
And then, you know, basically she would sleep with the, the other non player characters and stuff like that.
- And then, you know, basically she would sleep with the, the other non player characters and stuff like that.
- And they would interact with monsters and non player characters through the game master, the dungeon master and D&D;.
Examples
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In fact, a good majority of narrative-focused games will let you interact with non-player characters (or NPCs).
Blog text (27) -
Although much public focus on game AI is on improving the strength of opponents and the realism of non-player characters, there were many other uses for AI in games and game development discussed in the workshop.
Academic text (2017) -
And then, you know, basically she would sleep with the, the other non player characters and stuff like that.
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And they would interact with monsters and non player characters through the game master, the dungeon master and D&D.
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No destroyed ship points will be awarded for attacking non-player characters (NPCs) or inactive players.
Blog text (9) -
As the story progressed, the non-player characters enriched the game's narrative with their unique backstories.
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To complete the mission, players must collaborate with various non-player characters throughout the virtual world.
How Autonomous
- Specialized
1
7.8
- Jargon
Surface Forms
Morphology
non-player + character
The phrase is partly compositional: 'non-player' = not a player and 'character' = a role/person, so a learner can derive the literal idea of a character not controlled by a player. However, the common derogatory sense (a real person who behaves like a predictable, scripted video‑game NPC) depends on knowledge of gaming jargon and cultural metaphor, which a B1 learner who only knows the constituents may not infer, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The term non-player character comes from early video and role-playing games: it named a character that was not a player but was run by the game's rules. So, it now means 'a character controlled by the game rather than a human player'.