Just what the subject says. I can trade with wandering NPCs I run into but not the one that spawns with me. It seems reasonable that if others are open to trading supplies they would as well. This COULD be a balance issue (a lot of the times the NPC spawns as a doctor or medic class and has a ton of meds) but there isn’t usually much stopping you from killing them or letting a horde do it for you anyway.
Once I convince them to join me on their random quest they always trade with me just fine.
I’m suggesting that they should be able to trade even if they aren’t following you around, logically they would still have a need for supplies even if they aren’t in your party.
With the static NPCs it is a balance issue, having effectively a shopkeeper standing right next to you at game start is a bit much.
One question: Why can’t we trade with NPC that give a quest?
Uh, you can, when they’re programmed for it. Folks in the refugee center have at least one combo quest-giver and merchie.
If you’re talking about the NPCs that immediately push their quest on you (mom/jabberwock), that’s both because Kevin’s reason and because they’re pushing a quest, not looking for customers!
I mean if you really wanted their items you could lure some zombies over to take care of them. Not a big issue just sort of a head scratcher
Well how about making the initial NPC have less stuff? 
He should be in roughly the same boat as the player but with different skills. Could we use the professions we have to define what the NPCs are to some degree?
I concur with less stuff for the starting NPC. Especially the doctor type (imho) carries a shitton of useful stuff, that one may get easily if the doctor doesn’t have a gun.
I believe one could just create a new NPC category “starter”, and use that one for all the starting NPCs instead of a randomly selected one of the arsonist, doctor, etc. (If that is not how it works, please tell me.)
So it’s only a matter of json.
some NPC quests disable the ability to trade, as the dialogue loops in the “have you done it?” and I say no, and then there is no other option.