Penwick

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Global NPCs are shared non-player characters who exist in Penwick’s wider world. This includes shopkeepers, some school staff, healers, townspeople, ghosts, officials, and other recurring characters who are not owned by one player.

You may use global NPCs in your threads, but they are shared assets among the whole community. That means that no one is able to permanently alter aspects of the NPC, including deep friendships, injuries, personality traits, etc.

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Each NPC has their own biography thread. Before using a global NPC, read their bio first. Their bio tells you how they should generally be written, where they are usually found, and what kinds of interactions make sense for them.

Some NPCs have more detail than others, but most bios include two main parts:

1. About the NPC
2. Roleplaying with the NPC


What You’ll Find in an NPC Bio

Backstory
The backstory explains who the NPC is, where they came from, and what shaped them.

Your character will not automatically know everything written in the backstory unless it would reasonably be public knowledge or learned in-character.

For example, if a professor’s bio says they once worked in magical archives, your character might know that if it came up in class or school gossip. But if a bio mentions a private fear, family detail, or personal struggle, your character should not know that unless the NPC reveals it in the thread.

Appearance
The appearance section tells you what the NPC looks like, how they dress, and what impression they give.

Use this freely when setting a scene. You can describe the NPC’s clothing, posture, expression, voice, mannerisms, or general visual presence as long as you stay consistent with the bio.

You can write:
Professor Malik looked up from his notes, his scarf still wrapped around him despite the warm classroom.

You should not write:
Professor Malik arrived in bright pink robes and tap-danced onto his desk.

Personality
The personality section tells you how the NPC speaks, reacts, teaches, helps, avoids conflict, handles students, or causes problems. When using a global NPC, keep their personality recognizable.

A grumpy professor should not suddenly become bubbly. A warm shopkeeper should not become cruel without reason. A chaotic ghost can be chaotic, but should still be chaotic in the way their bio describes.


Where to Find Them
NPC bios include a “Where to find” section. This tells you which locations the NPC commonly appears in.

Use this when deciding whether it makes sense for your character to run into them. If a professor is usually in their classroom, faculty lounge, or a specific part of town, those are safe locations. If a bio says they avoid a place, do not casually place them there unless you have a good reason.

This section also helps you avoid forcing encounters. If an NPC is listed as “very common” in one location, it is usually fine to have your character find them there. If you want them somewhere unusual, keep the reason simple and believable.

NPCs also have places, situations, or environments they avoid.

Treat this as a boundary for normal use. You can mention the avoidance, joke around it, or use it to shape a scene.

Teaching Style
Professor characters include a teaching style section.

Use this for classroom threads, homework threads, tutoring scenes, study help, detentions, and student interactions. This section tells you what kind of teacher they are: strict, warm, dense, theatrical, hands-on, discussion-heavy, patient, harsh, or something else.

For example, a student can ask a professor for help after class. A professor can give feedback, assign extra reading, give detentions, or make a pointed comment.

Abilities
Some NPCs have listed abilities or magical traits.

If a ghost can temporarily alter hair, that does not mean they can permanently curse someone’s appearance. If a professor is skilled in divination, that does not mean they can reveal staff plot information or give your character guaranteed future knowledge.

RP Hooks
RP hooks are suggested ways your character can interact with the NPC. They exist to make it easier to include the NPC in your thread without needing to invent a reason from scratch.

You can use an RP hook directly, adapt it, or build a small scene around it.

If a bio says an NPC may pay students to help around a shop, your character can do a small job. It does not mean your character now owns part of the shop, has unrestricted access to the back room, or becomes the NPC’s favourite student forever.


Sample Dialogue
Sample dialogue shows how the NPC sounds. Use it as a tone guide. You do not need to copy the exact lines. Instead, look at the rhythm, attitude, vocabulary, and emotional tone, and write their dialogue in that style.

Good use:
Professor Malik’s sample dialogue is blunt, precise, and dry. So you could write him correcting a student’s vague answer with a short, cutting remark.

Bad use:
Every time Professor Malik appears, he repeats the same sample quote from his bio like a catchphrase.

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You can use global NPCs for ordinary, low-impact interactions. Examples include:

• A shopkeeper gives your character a small discount on their birthday
• A professor answers a question after class
• A ghost interrupts your character in the hallway
• A nurse treats an injury.
• A professor gives a warning, a small detention, or extra homework
• A shopkeeper remembers your character’s usual order

The key phrase is low-impact. The NPC can affect the scene, but they should not permanently reshape your character’s story or the wider world.

You cannot use a global NPC to give your character unfair advantages, secret information, rare items, major consequences, or special importance. Examples of what is not allowed include:

• A professor secretly teaches your character advanced magic
• A shopkeeper gives your character a powerful enchanted item for free
• A professor makes your character their personal apprentice.
• A shopkeeper adopts your character, names them heir to the business, or gives them unlimited access to restricted areas.
• Your character injures, curses, kidnaps, kills, blackmails, or permanently changes a global NPC.
• A global NPC closes their shop, leaves school, changes jobs, gets arrested, dies, or becomes famous because of your thread.

If the result would affect other players, site lore, a public location, a school rule, or the NPC’s future use, it is not allowed.

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Don't Metagame
You may know everything in an NPC’s bio. Your character does not.

Your character can know things that are public, obvious, or learned in-character. They can know a professor’s subject, a shopkeeper’s name, a ghost’s reputation, or where someone usually works.

They do not automatically know private fears, hidden motives, personal grief, family problems, or backstory details unless there is a clear in-character reason.

This is especially important with professors. A player reading a professor’s bio is not the same thing as a student knowing that professor’s private life.


Things to consider before posting

• Does this match the NPC’s bio?
• Would another player recognize this NPC?
• Does my character have a reason to know this information?
• Does this avoid giving my character an advantage?
• Does this only affect my character and my writing partners?

Remember, Global NPCs are here to be used! If ever you have a doubt, contact a staff member.