There will be plenty who are on their side or simply don't care. More in the don't care category. Of the major NPC's only one is an outspoken racist. So my figure is more like..... 5% really.
Right, but the problem is that it's not just a numbers game. It doesn't matter how many are wildly racist against them, it matters who they are, right? You started this thread saying that "a number" of NPCs will be really ugly racists against orks and trolls, and you were specifically talking about a major NPC that just won't deal with trolls at all. That's great that you've fleshed out an NPC and put some thought into them, but what happens if that NPC's playing Mr. Johnson or Fixer tonight? You said she won't deal with them at all, end of statement...so is that player just not allowed to play?
"Thanks for coming, here's a slice of pizza, now go home, we'll see you next week?"
I mean, kudos for taking the meta-setting seriously. Racism's a thing in the game world, and representing it in-game is sometimes important, it can sometimes add a layer of realism to the game (inasmuch as racism against orks and stuff is 'realism'), it can add a level of dystopia to it, hit home the magical nature of the place, yadda yadda yadda. Sure.
But never, ever, forget that this is a game, and games are fun. When you lovingly craft a major NPC that will just never do anything, ever, at all, ever, for one of your players, you're basically fucking that player over, big time. Do you similarly have a major NPC that's got major Ork Underground ties that will never deal with all the humans, elves, and dwarves in your group? If so, what happens to them the night that your adventure is based around that contact?
I don't believe I have. Quite simply, this game is meant to be a higher level game, I want to see players using their contact to look for jobs in their downtime. That while they are introduced to a world of higher level contacts than what they initially had, they have their own networks to rely on and use. If they're desperately chasing a job, more gear, they can use the network they bring to the game to get it.
Sure, if they want to work for this NPC in question, she will definitely prefer a non-troll point of contact. If the group doesn't want to deal with her at all, it's going to be their choice. If they want to keep her happy, they will have to work out something that will do so. This is the price for having access to her resources, assets and network. Will it be entirely nice for the troll character? Probably not, though knowing him the way I do and the attitude he takes towards role playing, it will challenge him, something he has seemed to enjoy.
Though I do want to clarify, she will only ever be their fixer if they choose her to be. She's a secondary character to the story, due to a favour she owes to the primary fixer, one of her clubs is their first meeting point. There are a number of NPC's on the list, some of which are racists, of those not all are racist towards orcs and trolls. They still are racist. It's the nature of the part of the world they are in, who they may end up dealing with. I will choose which NPC they end up dealing with by how they play. I full expect my cast of twenty, twenty five odd, to get reduced down to five, six, by the way the campaign flows, works. Ideally one major contact for each player, of which they can choose to do favours for each other by using that contact. How they pay the price, that's up to them.
In short, if they want to go into the Orc underground, yeap, they can. They need to speak to one of, four odd NPC's. Two of those think lowly of humans or elves and I don't blame them for it. I wrote them after all.
I think you're a little too caught up on how racist this particular contact is, rather than than the whole image. Though, that might be just as much on me as it is on you. I have asked some very specific questions.
