I totally agree with this idea. I'm really used to running table top games for one player only, as such I am really used to having lots of NPCs who are just supporting characters in the game and don't have to be 'overcome' in anyway. I think like the setting, you should just be able to play a card to say who else is there! Then I can have a character that shares info/interacts with the players and isn't a plot point exactly.

Rathern than including them as an obstacle, can we perhaps make a way to have a pop-up link to their NPC card in the story text? Some sort of link like that might make it easier to remind people who is shom without cluttering the elements that are "gamified" for the scene.

Example syntax:
[The NPC's Name](npc://NPC_full_name_here "He's going to get you")

That would be a very helpful tool to have.

This could be very helpful; being able to put up which NPCs are present is a good visual reminder. And, then a challenge could be "Win Mabel's Trust" so you could have Mabel there, and possibly being helpful, and choose whether or not to engage the obstacle. In other words, she is not an obstacle, but there may be obstacles to overcome to change how she sees or deals with the party.

Since a player can only play one character, currently, and because many characters are likely to not have a large enough role to demand a player, it seems like the narrator is the best choice to play minor roles and would be nice to allow a formal way to slip into character and then back to narrator. In several of the stories I've started reading so far it seems to have been mostly role play back and forth with the narrator assuming supporting cast roles. I think if there was distinct NPC characters and the narrator it would help delineate those roles to make it easier for readers but also to encourage the more traditional narration that may not include direct interaction with players by NPCs but more environment and event building.

It's not necessary (many things aren't); but, it will often be desirable for some.

I think this would also be appealing when the narrator resumes a scene. Currently each move has the associated character's image, but whether or not a single NPC is most responsible for the action, the narrator's scene addition has no image. If a supporting cast function is added, there can simply be a radio button (.) or preferrably a checkbox list [x] to select the appropriate characters to display in association with that segment.

Here may be a better example:

Right now, players' avatars appear by their moves. In some games and in some scenes, it makes sense to have an NPC avatar instead of no avatar from the narrator.

Obviously not every NPC merits a photo in every game, but it's a nice option for those narrators that do want to showcase an important character.

While it's nice to see a card for each individual NPC, I can also see cards only being for things that need players to assign cards to them. In a case where a player needs to talk to the three explorers, the narrator can create an "Explorer Team" card, mentioning that there are three of them and the player(s) will need to negotiate with each of them. The details of the negotiation are left to be played out in the story.

By reducing the Challenge to 0 means that the first person who takes it gets an uncertain outcome.

I know you can mention them in the narration, but I'd still like to be able to include an NPC card so that the players can see their face and card background, so they get more of a feel for the character.

*This could be as simple as giving the narrator the ability to reduce the Challenge Points to zero.* That'd basically cover it, I think.

It's nice to have the visual reminder of the cards to know who's present and important. Named characters versus background extras.

I am not sure that it neccesary to include a card for NPCs in a scene, just use them by name in the narrative. The card indicates that a specific NPC has something that is needed to move the encounter forward.