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Lord British Postulate: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"If it exists as a living creature in an [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]], someone, somewhere, will try to kill it."''|'''Mike Schramm''', ''[http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/03/28/wow-moviewatch-adal-downed/ WoW Insider]''}}
In short, if you as a game designer want an [[Invulnerable Civilians|invulnerable]] [[NPC]], make sure that it actually ''is''.
The '''Lord British Postulate''' was coined in [https://web.archive.org/web/20140311035832/http://wow.joystiq.com/2007/03/28/wow-moviewatch-adal-downed/ this] ''WoW Insider'' post, and is the cornerstone of the creativity and ingenuity of the more cunning player. In short, if a [[NPC]] cannot be killed through normal means, then there ''must'' be some ''abnormal'' way to do the job. Quite often, if a character's weapons fail to do the duty, then the task falls upon other NPCs, world objects, or the environment itself to assassinate the relevant target, with some prodding from the player characters. The Lord British Postulate is not restricted to [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s, but can be applied elsewhere: C[[RPG]]s, [[FPS]]es, even [[Tabletop RPG]]s.
That said, the '''Lord British Postulate''' has less grounding in reality than one would assume. A great deal of NPCs are free to walk around unmolested, safe in their invulnerability. However, the more important the NPC is, the more likely it will be the target of a creative assassination attempt. A king is a bigger target than the common baker, and much more satisfying to dispatch.
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