{"id":12945,"date":"2020-06-03T17:39:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T21:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12945"},"modified":"2024-03-19T15:05:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T19:05:44","slug":"npcs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12945","title":{"rendered":"NPCs"},"content":{"rendered":"

NPCs<\/a><\/em> (2014) Drew Hayes<\/a> (Spells, Swords, & Stealth)<\/p>\n

\"NPCs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What happens when the haggling is done and the shops are closed? When the quest has been given, the steeds saddled, and the adventurers are off to their next encounter? They keep the world running, the food cooked, and the horses shoed, yet what adventurer has ever spared a thought or concern for the Non-Player Characters?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story was an utter delight. Which I should have expected, seeing as how much I love Fred, the Vampire Accountant.<\/p>\n

Thistle, Eric, and Gabrielle are relaxing at Grumph’s tavern when four adventurers come in, and the collapse at a table. The four locals soon discover the adventurers are dead, and that if no one shows up Solium in response to the king’s summons, it’s likely the Mad King will decide the town interfered with the summoned adventurers, and wipe out the entire town.<\/p>\n

So the four decide to take the place of the adventurers and head to Solium themselves.<\/p>\n

“All right then. Everyone sleep tonight, and say your goodbyes tomorrow. Grumph and I will move the corpses, then tend to our own farewells. Meet back here at this same time tomorrow night,” Thistle told them. “We’ll loot the bodies and be on our way.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story is SO FUN.<\/p>\n

Eric, are you better with a sword, or a bow?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSword,\u201d Grumph grunted. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s right,\u201d Eric admitted. \u201cSword. When I was trying to learn the bow, I broke three of the windows on Grumph\u2019s tavern.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition to both celebrating and poking fun at gamers, it also has some rather astute commentary on the world in general.<\/p>\n

With a sweep of his purple cape, King Liadon slid back into the shadows of the castle corridors, leaving a large group of adventurers wondering why a guard couldn\u2019t have just told them all that hours ago.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The characters were (unsurprisingly) wonderful, and (of course) turned normal D&D style adventuring on it’s side, with the half-Orc being one of the more insightful characters.<\/p>\n

\u201cA broken barrel cannot be fixed unless mead is emptied. I don\u2019t know how to empty a person of Anger,\u201d Grumph admitted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the gnome being the wisest character.<\/p>\n

“Just try to understand that sometimes it is better to see a thing destroyed, rather than ruined.\u201d Thistle hopped lightly along the path in hope of keeping up with his larger companions. It was a difficult proposition, but one he had managed for many years now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I adore the way Drew Hayes takes what you expect from a fantasy story and turns it sideways, giving you something delightful.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Thunder Pear Publishing
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NPCs (2014) Drew Hayes (Spells, Swords, & Stealth) What happens when the haggling is done and the shops are closed? When the quest has been given, the steeds saddled, and the adventurers are off to their next encounter? They keep the world running, the food cooked, and the horses shoed, yet what adventurer has ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,2,39],"tags":[259],"class_list":["post-12945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-fantasy","category-sword-sorcery","tag-drew-hayes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/siQkW-npcs","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13487,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13487","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":0},"title":"The Case of the Damaged Detective","author":"Michelle","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Case of the Damaged Detective (2020) Drew Hayes (5-Minute Sherlock) The man was found naked, dancing, in a warehouse full of corpses. The government has him, but there are other people who very badly want to get their hands on his brain. So to move him across the country,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Case-of-the-Damaged-Detective.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24314,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24314","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":1},"title":"The Fangs of Freelance, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"February 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Fangs of Freelance, Audiobook (2017) Drew Hayes narrated by Kirby Heyborne (Fred The Vampire #4) Characters: Fredrick Frankford Fletcher, Krystal Jenkins, Neil, Albert, Bubba Emerson, Amy Wells, Richard Alderson, Gideon, Lillian, Arch Davenport, Charlotte Manor, Sally Alderson, September Windbrook, Roderick Knox, Josiah Fenmoore, Lonnie, Grand Mage Cyndi Gussoff, Quinn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Fangs of Freelance","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/The-Fangs-of-Freelance.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12598,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12598","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":2},"title":"Lady Mechanika Volume 2: Tablet of Destinies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Mechanika Volume 2: Tablet of Destinies (2016) Joe Benitez, Marcia Chen, Martin Montiel I am very much enjoying these books. Lady Mechanika has mechanical appendages, but has no memories of how she got them, or of her life before that time. So she lives as best she can, often\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lady Mechanika Vol 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Lady-Mechanika-Vol-2-666x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17534,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17534","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":3},"title":"Bloody Acquisitions","author":"Michelle","date":"June 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bloody Acquisitions (2016) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant) Despite what film and television might have led to you believe, joining the undead does not inherently make one suave, cool, or even particularly more socially competent. Apparently, I need to become a vampire. While in life my reaction speed was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bloody Acquisitions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Bloody-Acquisitions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22198,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22198","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":4},"title":"The Bookshop and the Barbarian","author":"Michelle","date":"September 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bookshop and the Barbarian (2023) Morgan Stang This was a delight. I kept stopping and reading bits aloud to Michael. \u201cWell, perhaps you know them better as adventurers? Swords-for-hire? Mercenaries? Sellswords? You see, a murder-hobo is a man or woman who travels all about the land. They have no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Bookshop and the Barbarian","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-Bookshop-and-the-Barbarian.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-Bookshop-and-the-Barbarian.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/The-Bookshop-and-the-Barbarian.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23892,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23892","url_meta":{"origin":12945,"position":5},"title":"Bloody Acquisitions","author":"Michelle","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Bloody Acquisitions (2016) Drew Hayes (Fred, the Vampire Accountant #3) Power is useful, Fred, never doubt that, but far more useful is the perception of power. You went to all this trouble, just to avoid running.\u201d \u201cIt wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t want to run,\u201d I told her. \u201cI just didn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bloody Acquisitions","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Bloody-Acquisitions.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}