Editing Basics of Module Creation (section)

==== NPCs ====
The 'new' setup for an NPC is much simpler. Give them an ID, then they appear in your game with a randomly generated (?) portrait and nothing else. You'll want to give them a name, at the very least, and maybe edit their portrait. If you give them a mech then you'll get dropped into the NPC mech creation screen, which is beyond the scope of this tutorial. You'll need to learn how to use that screen to make combat maps anyway, so a combat map tutorial should have you covered there.

The game does distinguish between module NPC (with mech) and module NPC (without mech) but I don't know why or exactly how. The basic thing you need to know is that if you want a module NPC to show up in combat and shoot either at or alongside the player, they'll need a mech added here. If they aren't a combatant, they don't need a mech.

The 'is NHP' checkbox changes the appearance of the NPC and gives you some different options when you go into the edit portrait screen. If you know a character is going to be an NHP, make them an NHP first then go edit their portrait.