1) Whatever your character is doing right now, 100 other ambient characters are doing as well.
2) If less than 100 ambient characters can do it, it's not something your character can achieve.
This isn't a thing that's official or may even be accurate, and there are plenty of exceptions, but it's how I've learned to explain ambpop.
Some examples:
- You're drinking, conversing, and being a baka at a bar. 100 other people are drinking, conversing, and being a baka in that same bar.
- You're a high-ranking official in your faction. Assume 100 other people are as well.
- There are 12 PC bartenders, entertainers, and bouncers. Assume 1,200 ambient characters are as well.
- You run an underground paper. There are 100 other underground papers vying for attention.
- There are 25 PC dippers in Red Sector. Assume there's an additional 2,500 active dips in Red Sector.
- You're the sole character in a specific job role. Assume that there are likely up to 100 other characters doing the same thing for other companies.
- 100 gangers total roaming the streets among PCs and NPCs means you should assume 10,000 gangers total are roaming the streets.
- Jiminy CEO of Megamart Corp and the gang leader King Snail are positions that only 1 person can fill. It's incredibly unlikely a PC would ever fill that position. You're, at best, capable of being a second-in-command or executive director to a vice president, etc.
- You're trying to start up a small-time gang. There are likely hundreds of ambient people trying to do that as well. Go ahead and give it a shot.
- You want to start a new business. There are hundreds of new businesses all the time. Go for it!
Does this sound about right? Am I way off? Let me know, thanks!
