Program V3 Prologue NPCs
As a unique mini game, the Program V3 Prologue had unique mechanics, including the use of handler-controlled non-profiled characters, or NPCs. As no rolls were conducted, these characters mainly served to allow full characters to gain kills, and they had no profiles, gained no kills themselves, and died within ten posts of their first appearance.
Below are listed the NPCs who appeared in the Prologue, in alphabetical order.
Andrés "Drew" Ladd[edit | edit source]
Summary:
Appearances:
Annalise Franklin[edit | edit source]
Summary: A dry-humored loner who found Cole Peters in a small shack in the Western part of town. She dismissed his attempts at trying to find a more peaceful, optimistic alternative to the killing of her peers. On that note she left him to seek a fight elsewhere, but she fell into an unstable gutter and broke open her skull, dying pleading for help that never came.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- I honestly wouldn't have minded seeing more of Annalise. She was full of personality in her conversation with Cole and the kind of 'I'd definitely kill you if I could' attitude isn't one we see too much. Her death is pretty harsh, in a similar vein to Carolyn's, but with enough differences in the execution to not feel samey. Cicada Nights did a great job with Annalise. - Namira'
Anneliese O'Doyle[edit | edit source]
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Appearances:
Bianca Cantrell[edit | edit source]
Summary: A transfer student from Alaska, Bianca had not acclimatised well to her new surroundings, failing to make many friends or close ties in spite of a privileged background. She saw Damien Crossly shortly after awakening and decided that, while she bore him no particular animosity, her own life was worth more than anyone else's, charging him with her assigned kama. Unfortunately for her, Damien was able to evade the majority of her strikes and then brought her to the ground. Despite her attempts to trick him by playing for mercy he slowly throttled her as she died in fear and agony.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Bianca is another character who falls into the starter villain category, but does a pretty good job of it. The fight with Damien is solid enough and serves its purpose of getting him started. She has a couple of repeated phrases that help distinguish her; I think 'the great Bianca Cantrell' was in there a bit too often, but it stuck in the mind for definite. Ultimately she was fine, just makes me wish we got more from the writer. - Namira
Carolyn Senn[edit | edit source]
Summary: Carolyn spent her time in denial of her situation and trying to convince herself that she stood a chance throughout her misfortunes, culminating with falling down a flight of stairs and breaking several bones before slowly and painfully dragging herself to the front door of the house she was in before dying.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- So kind of a neat thing about Carolyn and by extension the NPCs in general is that they gave a lot more scope to enact short-but-sweet ideas. Carolyn's death is brutal, cruel, and like it suggests, kind of a cosmic joke. It's great. - Namira
Carson Collingwood[edit | edit source]
Summary: After laying low for a time, dreading the idea of being horribly killed (and failing to psyche himself up to attempt to kill in turn), Carson approached the Customs Office in order to seek shelter. Entering, he saw Damien Crossly, and then a hovering Bridie Mossberg, throwing off his initial greeting and immediately making him suspicious. The ambush sprung, Bridie charged him, but he shoulderchecked her to the ground. Damien took her place, gouging out Carson's eye with a swing of his kama. Carson, though, continued to fight, managing to get the upper hand and starting to throttle Damien. Unfortunately, the numbers game caught up, and a woozy Bridie tackled Carson, overpowering him his wounded state and strangling him to death.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Carson as a one-scener NPC is fine, it's a good action sequence that is enjoyable to read. The thing with him though, is that he gets thrown in so quickly that he loses the opportunity to develop a character beyond 'he's fighting for his life!'. There's this element, early on, where he has an intriguing thought process about trying to prep to kill, but can't stop thinking about how he is going to die. I don't know, it's hard to wax lyrical in the middle of dying but there could have been something else. But y'know, ultimately solid NPC. - Namira
Casey Tjarks[edit | edit source]
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Clover Dubose[edit | edit source]
Summary: Left in shock by her selection, Clover found her bag snagged atop a barbed wire fence, but successfully retrieved it. She was soon spooked by her friend, Faye Xandora, but was unable to trust her, putting a hand into her bag to locate her weapon. Believing she had a gun, she warned Faye off of trying anything and the tension swiftly rose, culminating in the two girls drawing on and shooting one another. Clover took a crossbow bolt to the chest and collapsed, but seeing Faye go down, died laughing, never realising that her weapon was a nerf gun.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- I really like Clover's scene. It's like a classic Battle Royale moment of two friends exchanging superficial pleasantries but being fundamentally unable to trust each other, and the for-keeps games being what they are, we don't normally see this result. Points for the cruel irony in her death, too. - Namira
Conner Raimes[edit | edit source]
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Elias Mills[edit | edit source]
Summary: Described as a large and muscular African-American boy. Upon awakening Elias thought about his family and mentally committed to playing and 'fighting for his country'. He also considered his tactics, such as the need to avoid people with guns, as he had a melee weapon. He encountered Theodora Smalls in the dump, and wasted little time in attacking her, though he was apologetic about doing so as he harboured a crush on her. Theodora was faster and managed to disarm him, and, after confirming that she would have liked him too if he'd told her, she reassured Elias of her pride that he was dying for his country before she beat him to death with his own baseball bat.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Elias kinda gets punked right out of the gate; Theodora clowns on him pretty badly for someone smaller and weaker. There's a slightly odd vibe to his crush on her, though it's a decent justification for his little bit of hesitation. It does feel like he folds a little easily, but with NPCs you're working on a limited word count, so not all of them can manage drag out brawls as deaths. Elias is aright. - Namira
Grant Moore[edit | edit source]
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Helena Christensen[edit | edit source]
Summary: A photographer assigned an apple pie as her weapon, Helena remained in her starting location, a small house in the western dwellings, the entire time she was in The Program. Helena barely spoke or did anything while in the house, spending her time slowly eating the entire pie, napping, and only occasionally speaking aloud. She spent the time thinking about her life and her family. When she finished the pie, Helena locked herself in a room, made a final speech to the cameras, and hanged herself from the ceiling.
Appearances:
- A Beginning...
- The Life and Death of Helena Christensen, as Told in Eight Slices of Pie: Pt. 1
- The Life and Death of Helena Christensen, as Told in Eight Slices of Pie: Pt. 2
- The Life and Death of Helena Christensen, as Told in Eight Slices of Pie: Pt. 3
Howard Fong[edit | edit source]
Summary: A bullied and discriminated against Chinese-American boy who harbored a lot of resentment towards the government in secret. Howie happened upon Leo Menendez in the lower wharf as Leo threw up, and he offered assistance just before Henry Axford appeared and shot Howie, once in the chest and again in the head to finish him off.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Okay first of all, Howard's A Beginning post is a hidden gem that made me smile just now rereading it. In terms of his Program stint, Howard isn't around for long, but his death is so huge for setting the tone for Leo that he can't be ignored. Honestly, as one of the earlier deaths he's a great tone-setter for the brutality of PV3P as a whole. - Namira
Iago Croxley[edit | edit source]
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Jacqueline Hastert[edit | edit source]
Summary: A stoic but kind and matronly girl, with military family. She found her friend Danielle Baumgartner in a northern home and tried to comfort her, but ultimately Danielle attacked and Jacqueline could not defend herself, being choked to death on her own scarf.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Wham. Jacqueline is great. Her personality comes out so strongly just from her very first couple of lines in A Beginning and continues to shine in her game thread. Her death is saddening and well worked on the whole for both her and Dani. Bite-sized, but excellent. - Namira
Joe Kempf[edit | edit source]
Summary: Taking up residence in the western dwellings, Joe shared a joint with Casey Tjarks. He speculated that the soldiers must have had more pressing concerns than frisking him for drugs. Having made a tacit agreement with Casey to commit suicide, Joe didn't press her when she decided she couldn't go through with it. Polishing off his blunt, Joe played Russian Roulette solo until he eventually shot himself.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- What there is of Joe is well written and his deathpost ties off pretty neatly what he looked to have been going for in the first instance. Unfortunately there just isn't a whole lot there, which is really too bad, because he has a number of neat touches to whet the appetite. - Namira
Joel "JB" Blackwell[edit | edit source]
Summary: JB was known as a friendly class clown, and upon arriving on the peninsula, he tried to distract himself from the dire situation by fooling around with his parachute knife. This lack of focus was costly: he was ambushed by Nellie Fitzpatrick, who caught him by surprise and stabbed him through the eye before he could react.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Another shorty-but-goody, Pippin once again made JB larger than life in double quick time. It's kind of incredible to think that JB only had three posts for how big a personality he has. Being an NPC can sometimes suggest a character's not really a part of the cast and that's very much not true in JB's case. - Namira
Juan Garza[edit | edit source]
Summary: Juan was a baseball player and artist, said not to be a fighter. His sister, Elisa, was also present at Announcement Day, and he was terrified that she would be selected for the Program, not least because he had already reassured her it wouldn't happen. Shortly after waking up in the customs office, Juan was lured into letting his guard down by his teammate Scott Whitman, who stabbed him in the back and then stole his gun to finish him off.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Juan was a character we mostly only glimpsed, but his fears (and tears) were relatable and established him pretty well. He also, and I wouldn't say this if the writer wasn't shared, did a great job of being sympathetic enough that Scott looked extra scummy in comparison for killing him the way he did, kicking off Scott's story with real verve. - Namira
Larry Rosenberg[edit | edit source]
Summary: Known as a brash loudmouth, Larry responded to his selection for the Program by whooping and declaring he'd see his classmates out there. In the game, he swiftly encountered Kate Sanderson, who was contemplating killing herself. Disgusted by her 'cowardice', Larry insulted and then attacked her, mocking her all the while. He taunted that he would sexually assault her, telling himself that it would prove to the General that he'd do whatever it took, but was so distracted by dreams of sponsorships and prestige that Kate was able to stab and kill him with the scimitar she'd retrieved from her bag.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- I've got to admit, I didn't like Larry very much at all. He hits some nasty buttons in a seeming effort to be as contemptible as possible, as quickly as possible in order to maximise his impact, but that just makes him deeply unpleasant to read. Using sexual violence as a shorthand for villainy is dodgy territory, and he was already a scumbag; that element was unnecessary and kind of gratuitous, and it overshadows any other opinions I might have on him. - Namira
Leonard Roycewood[edit | edit source]
Summary: The son of an NCO, Leonard was utterly appalled that he could possibly be selected for the Program, repeatedly stating there had been some kind of mistake for him to be included. He kicked up enough of a fuss that he was knocked out by the escort soldiers and brought onto the bus unconscious. On the peninsula, he picked up more or less exactly where he left off, continued to stew over how this was clearly a mistake and how the military would collect him when they realised. Deciding that to do so he would need to better defend himself, he followed William Apgar into a house, witnessing him carrying along the insensate Kate Sanderson. He set his sights on William's shotgun, attempting to persuade him to hand it over, but was unsurprisingly rejected. Soon enough diplomacy broke down as William grew offended by Leonard's callous disregard for Kate (and repeated insults), and Leonard attacked with his ruler. Though he met with surprising success, Leonard panicked when William went for the shotgun, and the two started to grapple over it. A single tug of the trigger blasted a hole in Leonard's chest, and spluttering with indignant rage, he expired.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Leonard is a jackass, pure and simple, and I can't get enough of that. He's not an exceedingly fleshed out character, but he's petty and egotistical with the narrative fully aware of that, conveying just how ridiculous the guy is. Flat doesn't necessarily mean bad, and Leonard comes in and accomplishes his goal of being a douche and then getting blown away. I honestly think my favourite part about him is that he goes on and on about how his important dad will get him out of this... and his dad's a sergeant. - Namira
Lisa Brighton[edit | edit source]
Summary: An intimidating and stubborn wrestler who started in the seawater pool area, and ultimately died there. She stood her ground against Scott Whitman, defiantly throwing her bag into the water rather than surrender her supplies to him. She charged at him with her pitchfork, but he simply shot her with his gun, disabling her legs. Lisa continued to hurl insults, now hoping only to provoke Scott into killing her cleanly, but suffered an agonising death as he repeatedly stabbed her with the pitchfork.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Yeesh. Lisa's death really is a nasty one. Her scene with Scott Whitman is a good snapshot and she comes across really well as a person. It's a great standalone moment and really makes you sympathise for Lisa and dislike Whitman that bit more, which I think accomplishes exactly what it was intended for. - Namira
Mack Robson[edit | edit source]
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Maribel Bay[edit | edit source]
Summary:
Appearances:
Matthew Davis[edit | edit source]
Summary: Matthew was a quiet African-American boy who mostly kept to himself. While he attempted to act like a model patriot, he deeply resented that it was what he had to do to live while minimising discrimination. Upon his awakening in the arena, he discarded his supplies and walked to the ocean's edge, and then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Matt was only with us for a short time, but Aloha did an outstanding job of crafting a pretty bleak picture of what it might mean to be a minority in Program's setting. His solo/death thread is a real gut punch that packs a lot of emotional weight in relatively few words. A really well executed and realised arc in miniature, and you can totally understand why Matt would be so crushed as to end it immediately. - Namira
Miguel Iguarez[edit | edit source]
Summary: Miguel was a theatre student from a hard-working family who had done a lot to secure his future, probably against the disadvantage of their racial background. Miguel first appeared having already been attempting to escape for the better part of the day, perhaps studying the barricades for weaknesses. He was forced to reluctantly conclude that the only way he was going to survive was by playing the game. He was approached by Nathan Kirchhoff, and their mutual distrust quickly turned into a paranoid showdown, as Miguel was reluctant to show his deerhorn knives. When Miguel finally revealed them, his manner was threatening enough to provoke Nathan into attacking. A brief melee ensued, and in spite of inflicting some cuts, Miguel was stunned by a hit of Nathan's guitar, then before he could recover, had his skull bashed in with a rock.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Miguel was a decent read, though he links back into Bianca that I would have liked to see MaskedMountain do more; if they came back under a username change I'd love to know! Perhaps a mountain walks among us. Handler musings aside, I had no issues with Miguel, and getting smashed upside the head with a guitar is always good for entertainment value. Though I'm probably extracting a lot of meaning from few words, I'm fairly curious as to what Miguel's actual home situation was like, as there's this final implication as he dies that his family wouldn't have accepted him had he escaped. Internalised racism from them? We may never know. - Namira
Morgan Matthew[edit | edit source]
Summary: Morgan woke up on a bed right next to his ex-girlfriend, Morgan Light, and instinctively fell back into their old patterns of talking and greeting one another. They mutually agreed there was no hard feelings between the two of them, but their strategy planning was interrupted when Zeke Brant and Laurie Moran entered the same house. They both attempted to hide, but after accidentally making noise, Morgan decided to greet the new arrivals, successfully putting a diplomatic end to the tense situation. Upset that Morgan had walked right out into the open, Light criticised him, and the two started to argue. The disagreement became ugly in a hurry as Light queried what their former relationship meant for them in the game, and Morgan brushed off her concerns. Infuriated, she drew her weapon and demanded he leave, but Morgan couldn't stop himself sling one final insult at Light. This proved lethal: her temper broke and she stabbed him from behind with her rapier. Appalled at what she had done, Light let go of the blade, and with the last of his strength, Morgan turned around and charged her, fatally wounding her with the weapon impaling him. Collapsing, but having ensured he wouldn't die alone, Morgan succumbed to the injury.
Appearances:
Otis Lenz[edit | edit source]
Summary: Otis spent some time wandering around the arena, bemoaning the fact his weapon was a useless barbecue rack, eventually coming onto a gift shop where he dropped his bags and decided to rest. Unbeknownst to him, Diane Morales was hiding there, and he heard her make a noise in the darkness. The two spoke out at one another in the gloom, and Diane warned him to back off: Otis recognised her voice as belonging to his rival. Refusing to back down or back away at her repeated warnings, instead setting himself for a fight. Indeed, the two came to blows, and in dodging an attack, Otis tripped, allowing Diane to gain the advantage, and though he struggled, she smashed him the head with her staff, killing him.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Otis's scene was actually a whole lot of fun. There's this great bit of tension between him and Diane as they both know someone's there in the darkness and they just don't know who. Really effective staging. I found myself warming to Otis with the character pieces sprinkled in there 'A fight is a better choice from backing down' tells you a heck of lot. Wouldn't have minded the supposed rivalry with Diane getting some more playtime as the detail's mentioned but not really elaborated. Decent short read, mostly it's too bad Diane went off the radar afterwards, as I think that would have given Otis more play in death. - Namira
Paxton Dombrowski[edit | edit source]
Summary: A member of the football team, Paxton woke up in a basement and then emerged to find the broken body of Carolyn Senn, causing him to flee in panic. Searching for a place to catch his breath, he entered the cannery and walked straight into James Bagstad and Mary Wieczorek. Still shaken over Carolyn, he couldn't bring himself to trust even his teammate James, continuing to point his shotgun at the pair. When James attempted to reveal his harmless weapon (a paper fan), Paxton took it as an aggressive action and tried to fire, but found he had forgotten to load the gun. James charged in an attempt to disarm Paxton, and the tackle caused Paxton's head to smash into a door frame, resulting in his death.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Paxton's not bad and I enjoy how he saw something traumatic and reacted realistically; it's totally believable how he would lose any faith or trust in others after seeing a mangled body. The impact feels maybe a little less because of how the staging is very similar to Clover Dubose's death, but it's important to put into context that these scenes were happening at a very similar time IRL. Simultaneous and parallel ideation, I think. If I had read the scenes the other way around my feelings would be reversed! Anyway, Paxton was a solid NPC. - Namira
Scott Osbourne[edit | edit source]
Summary: Scott was a star football player and sprinter and a self-describe 'ace' at graphic design. He'd hurt others in the past with his abrasive personality and harsh criticisms, and showed signs of regretting his behaviour after it completely isolated him from his peers. He started the game by running around like a madman, trying to clear his mind, but as he ran laps around the saltwater pool, he slipped on algae. He mortally injured himself on his assigned caltrops in the fall and was unable to treat his wounds, slowly bleeding out and then slipping into the waters below.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- So this is unsubstantiated but I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if Pippin liked what Scott had so much she brought it into Garren Mortimer. Scottie O is a very very impressive example of an NPC painting their background and history very vividly without the benefit of a profile, Pippin did a brilliant job. His stint in the game itself is almost physically painful to read, making you wince in sympathy, especially as he finally attempts to save himself only to find it was pointless from the beginning. - Namira
Scott Wallace[edit | edit source]
Summary: A patriotic zealot who was enthused to kill in his country's name and honor. He found one of his schoolyard enemies, Marion Williams, tied up to the graveyard gazebo, and he took the opportunity to mock and torture her with his cattle prod. He underestimated her at the price of his life; she was able to kick him over the gazebo railing, causing him to break his neck.
Appearances:
- A Beginning...
- Really Should Have Thought This Through... (Content Warning)
Your Thoughts
- There's not much to say about Scott Wallace. He's there to be a starter villain for Marion, which he succeeds at, but his in-game stint isn't even from his own perspective, so it's tough to have much of an opinion on him. I think if he wasn't an NPC I'd have beef with Scott, but he is and he's one-and-done; I can't rag on him too hard, there's just yeah, not much there. It'd be nice if he was a more fleshed out type of villainous. - Namira
Scotty Ward[edit | edit source]
Summary: A hot-headed and foul-mouthed student with a complicated relationship with his mother. Scotty started the game and first met Ambrose Lexington, sharing a charged conversation with him then fleeing him in fear of being stabbed. Shortly after that he came to the defense of Laurie Moran, being held at gunpoint by Mick Sexsmith. Though he was able to get the upper hand at first, and get Laurie to run—promising they'd meet up later—he wound up second-guessing himself when Mick revealed he wasn't planning on shooting Laurie at all. This hesitation gave Mick the opening to recover and shoot him.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Scotty is a supporting character in the truest sense of the term, but that's not necessarily a bad thing! NPCs, if they're not doing something experimental, are there to boost the arcs of other characters. Scotty helped Mick, Laurie and to a lesser extent Ambrose all get rolling, and in that he served his narrative role just fine. - Namira
Travis Dyne[edit | edit source]
Summary: Travis encountered Charlie Cade Jr., whom he remembered better than she him, in the southern district and they talked for a while. Travis revealed that he had been given a useless weapon, but his evasiveness and Charlie's paranoia caught up with them, and after a short and vicious fight in which he disarmed her, Charlie ended up strangling Travis to death.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- It's a touch difficult for me to detach my thoughts of Travis from Charlie, since their scene together is so interlinked. Naft did a great job of making his end of the fight visceral and deeply unpleasant, and it was very fun to start the fight to the death in media res and then work backwards from there to reveal bit by bit how it broke out. Personally I think Travis holds up pretty well, though you have to read a bit past his chronological death to get all the context. - Namira
Truslow Irons[edit | edit source]
Summary: Truslow set up in a home in the Northern Dwellings area, planning to use his sniper rifle to set up a killzone. After some time searching for targets, he fired on Clay Bronson and Cybil Price in the distance, but missed, and as they fled, all Truslow could do was watch. He took a break to eat, which was interrupted by the presence of Scott Pierce, hiding in a nearby home. Truslow fired at him, but once again his shot was wild. He didn't realize Scott was also armed, and he froze up as Scott revealed his own gun and opened fire, hitting him in the throat. Maddened by the pain, Truslow struggled to breathe, to do anything at all, but ultimately could only tip himself off his rooftop perch and crash to the ground, where he expired.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- It was my idea first, dangit! In seriousness, Truslow is okay. I think the main barrier with him is that the majority of what we get is very surface level. He does X, he does Y, he does Z, there isn't a whole lot about his thoughts. Though, what is done well is that there's a few elements of nerves and reluctance that show through, hinting that Truslow maybe doesn't have the conviction to actually close the deal. I liked that side of him for sure. - Namira
Vanessa Carson[edit | edit source]
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Victoria Bellamy[edit | edit source]
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Zachary Cruise[edit | edit source]
Summary: Zachary was a metalhead, with long dyed black hair and dark clothing, who was bucked against pressures put onto him by his father. He tried to stake out a home in the Northern Dwellings area, intent on avoiding the action for a while. He was found by Michael Baird, who attacked him quickly but then seemingly froze up. Deciding to take the opportunity to leave, Zach walked past Michael, but was promptly assaulted with brass knuckles. After a short brawl, Michael got the upper hand, and once Zach failed to turn it around with his shotgun, Michael claimed the weapon for his own and shot Zach in the chest.
Appearances:
Your Thoughts
- Zach's essentially fine, being a one-shot NPC killed immediately by another of his handler's characters. That's not an issue in of itself, by the by; as I've stated elsewhere on this very page, NPCs are facilitators and killing your own NPC isn't the same as killing your own PC. However, Zach's one-and-done and starts in media res, which gives even less time than normal to get to grips with who he is. Fenrir does a decent job making him come off as a person and not entirely disposable, but it was always going to be an uphill battle. Still, he did what he came here to do. - Namira