NPCs


Here are just a few of Sweetwater's smiling faces!

Hey, neighbor. Be sure your radio's tuned to the right frequency this afternoon, there's a test announcement coming on later.

Richard "Dick" Clark is the Civil Defense officer for the town of Sweetwater, and he's responsible for keeping everyone safe from the nuclear threat. He is also the town's police chief. 40something, married, a genuine family man. He fought in WWII, and is hard of hearing (HOH) because of it, moreso in one ear than the other. Player characters will need to speak up if they're talking to him in a busy, loud setting, and he sometimes unconsciously cants his head slightly to bring his right ear closer to the source of sound he's trying to hear. His seven-year-old son, Bobby, is confined to an iron lung due to neck-down paralysis from poliomyelitis, and the family keeps it in the living room so that he can be a part of what's going on. He seems to have a level of awareness and cognizance that the Stepford-esque townies lack, a spark of intelligence and humanity to his eyes where only doll-like brightness is found in others', but he conforms just as much as everyone else—and actively enforces conformity.

Hey there. A little birdy told me you're looking for a job at the hospital. If you have the right credentials we maybe could talk. But if you need medical help, it's one of my girls you want. ...and if it's about how your kids are doing in school, that's my husband, Leland. My baby is enough for me.

Ruby Jones is the head nurse at the Sweetwater General Hospital, Miss Ruby to those characters in ‘child’ roles. If a character wants to be a nurse, she’s who they’ll be answering to. While she does perform duties typical to an RN, it’s not likely that she’ll be the one tending to your character if they’re hurt or sick. She isn’t overly strict, but her style of leadership isn’t lassez-faire, either. She takes her job and the reputation of nurses on the whole very seriously, and will stick up for “her” nurses if the doctors’ sexism passes into the realm of “playful” sexual harassment. She knows that it's an uphill battle to be taken seriously as a female medical professional, and she stands her ground. She expects her nurses to dress and act professionally, and if they’re caught engaging in adultery, she will absolutely fire them, but she knows that goofing off and having fun are important for morale, too - and is more likely to pretend she didn't see something if she finds it amusing.

Good morning! Have you already signed up for the potluck? Be sure to do so soon so we don't have another party with five different Jell-O casseroles again! And maybe tell your husband to give the yard another trim if you don't mind. We don't want it getting too long.

Marjorie Taylor is the head of the deceptively powerful Homeowners’ Association, and it’s her job to make sure that the perfect little neighborhood of Sweetwater stays in good repair… and conformist. She takes offenses very seriously, even if it’s something as simple as a lawn an inch too tall, but outwardly, she’s friendly and congenial, with a warmth and charisma that makes every conversation feel like an exciting secret shared just between the two of you. Just don’t get on her bad side, and she’ll remain a friendly face.

You’re awake. Good morning. You seem to have lost sight of what makes Sweetwater so special, so we’re going to watch some videos, get your head on straight. We can’t have this kind of subversive behavior when the country’s already under attack, Sweetheart.

Norman Pollock is the town private practice doctor, and runs a clinic in the main square beside the drugstore/ice cream shop. Patients looking for a more personalized touch or outpatient procedure will be directed to him. If your character is found engaging in subversive behavior and fights back during re-education, Norman is the one injecting them with haloperidol, though the townspeople show no signs of knowing this and will brush it off as silly, funny, even, if characters try to tell them. Otherwise, he’s a decent doctor, though he’s as chauvinistic as any of the other men in town and tends to take women’s complaints less seriously or dismiss them prematurely as psychosomatic in nature. It's rumored he graduated from Yale.

Good morning! Have you voted for senior superlatives yet?

Candace Baker is the 17-year-old class president of Sweetwater Senior High's graduating class and is a candystriper volunteer at the hospital in her free time. She was __________________ ____ ___________ ___________________ ______________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . < isopods >