GM FoNs on the Other Side

Burning Empires General Questions
1

I’ve finished World Burning for my first BE game as GM; our first maneuver is coming up next session. And something’s come up that should have been obvious but I hadn’t thought much about before: the GM is playing the Vaylen, per default, but one of the Human Figures of Note didn’t get claimed by a player. This introduces a few odd wrinkles.

Rules-wise, does the Human GM FoN contribute to the same Circles reserve as the Vaylen FoNs? Or does it go into a separate reserve?

Logistically and at the play-advice level, how do people handle this situation? Do GMs tend to take full advantage of this FoN’s scene allotment, increasing the proportion of GM scenes to PC scenes? (I could see letting her fade into the background much of the time, but that’ll get harder in her featured phase!) What about conflict scenes–a Firefight or Duel of Wits, Human GM FoN vs. Vaylen GM FoN? Do you roll Infection versus tests against yourself? I’m thinking I’d give temporary control of the character over to one of the players in these situations, but I’m curious how others have handled it.

2

I’ve run games with NPC Human FoNs. They worked best when the NPC was a fulcrum of power so the players were trying to win them over or protect them, while I was trying to hull them. In games when the NPC was favorable to the players and unthreatened, the NPC simply acts as helping dice. I find it a rather boring option.

3

If the character is not interesting enough to grab someone’s attention as playworthy, maybe they shouldn’t be a FoN?