NPC's - one free in every box

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Tulio – lost and confused

 

I honestly don’t see the appeal of this NPC, but for some odd reason the group latched on to him. Lowlife and all around scumbag, Tulio would gladly sell out anyone for enough money to cover his next fix – and he often did. First encounter with Tulio was less than pleasant for the PC’s as he was the one who had sold them out to a bunch of lunatic murderous cultist – after he had been hired by the PC’s as a guide through the seedier parts of town. The Pc’s manage to defeat the cultists, escape, and do a little digging on their own, learning some info that leads them back to Tulio. Bent on vengeance, they seek him out, corner him, and then LISTEN to his pathetic sob story. Yup, they not only let him live, but pretty much drafted him into their fold, reasoning that he has good street skills and useful contacts. Tulio was only too eager and agreed to help (after all, they didn’t make good on their threats to kill him) and became their street level informant and guide. Off course, Tulio certainly did not reform, and sold out his “friends” on several more occasions. Some of it was pretty obvious, but no one did anything about it. And to make it worse (or IMO, humorous) Tulio would often ask for and receive payment from the same PC’s he betrayed on a regular basis for his “leads” and “bailing them out” of trouble. He couldn’t keep any of the gold or silver he bilked the Pc’s out of, spending all of his cash on drugs and women. And when Tulio was wasted, he often slipped up and talked freely of his misdeeds at the PC’s expense. His street skills and contacts were non-existent. He had a reputation as a snitch and sellout and that is what led to all the PC’s troubles.

Bad Guy “Hey, Tulio is it? I hear ya hang with a one-eyed dwarf and his friends. Arrange for them to be at the Dusky Duck Inn by the riverfront at sunset and this purse of silver is yours.”

Tulio “Sure, man. No problem”

And from here Tulio would make up a story, telling the PC’s what they wanted to hear.

Rinse and repeat.

He would meet an unfortunate end at the hands of a crime lord (his disads finally caught up to him). This NPC really had no redeeming qualities and was supposed to be a throwaway for a one shot, but because of the players, he stayed around far longer than he should have. Give a GM enough rope, he’s gonna use it.

[Pavanne]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

I'm so glad I subscribed to this thread. At some point, I will need to copy all of these ideas to a word processor document.

 

For research purposes, of course.

[Kristopher]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Tulio – lost and confused

 

I honestly don’t see the appeal of this NPC, but for some odd reason the group latched on to him. Lowlife and all around scumbag, Tulio would gladly sell out anyone for enough money to cover his next fix – and he often did. First encounter with Tulio was less than pleasant for the PC’s as he was the one who had sold them out to a bunch of lunatic murderous cultist – after he had been hired by the PC’s as a guide through the seedier parts of town. The Pc’s manage to defeat the cultists, escape, and do a little digging on their own, learning some info that leads them back to Tulio. Bent on vengeance, they seek him out, corner him, and then LISTEN to his pathetic sob story. Yup, they not only let him live, but pretty much drafted him into their fold, reasoning that he has good street skills and useful contacts. Tulio was only too eager and agreed to help (after all, they didn’t make good on their threats to kill him) and became their street level informant and guide. Off course, Tulio certainly did not reform, and sold out his “friends” on several more occasions. Some of it was pretty obvious, but no one did anything about it. And to make it worse (or IMO, humorous) Tulio would often ask for and receive payment from the same PC’s he betrayed on a regular basis for his “leads” and “bailing them out” of trouble. He couldn’t keep any of the gold or silver he bilked the Pc’s out of, spending all of his cash on drugs and women. And when Tulio was wasted, he often slipped up and talked freely of his misdeeds at the PC’s expense. His street skills and contacts were non-existent. He had a reputation as a snitch and sellout and that is what led to all the PC’s troubles.

Bad Guy “Hey, Tulio is it? I hear ya hang with a one-eyed dwarf and his friends. Arrange for them to be at the Dusky Duck Inn by the riverfront at sunset and this purse of silver is yours.”

Tulio “Sure, man. No problem”

And from here Tulio would make up a story, telling the PC’s what they wanted to hear.

Rinse and repeat.

He would meet an unfortunate end at the hands of a crime lord (his disads finally caught up to him). This NPC really had no redeeming qualities and was supposed to be a throwaway for a one shot, but because of the players, he stayed around far longer than he should have. Give a GM enough rope, he’s gonna use it.

 

Our group here would have killed him the first or second time. Well, not always the group, but inevitably there's one character who would kill him when the others weren't looking. At any rate, he'd never have survived.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Our group here would have killed him the first or second time. Well' date=' not always the group, but inevitably there's one character who would kill him when the others weren't looking. At any rate, he'd never have survived.[/quote']

 

Well, that's what a sane bunch of players will do. Obviously, mine did not fall into this category.

 

GMing that group had to be one of the most surreal gaming experiences I've ever had. The cool or helpful NPCs that were put in place to help the group were either killed or driven off by the players. They had a strange way of reasoning things out.

 

"Hey! This character seems like he actually wants to help. Must be a spy or agent - KILL HIM!"

 

"Hey, this character is a bottom feeder with no redeeming qualities. The GM must be hiding something useful with him. Better keep him alive!":drink:

 

Really, I didn't have to do whole lot. Just introduce a bare plot, an interesting NPC, and let the players run wild with it. All I did was play along:sneaky:

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Spittlefang, the filth assassin - hunted

Spittlefang was the collaboration of myself and the player who had him as his hunted. He was a skaven (ratman) assassin who had been sent out to murder one of his own, the PC Slashtooth, a skaven assassin who was fascinated by the man-things and their world above the skaven Under Empire and trying to fit in to this “new” world. Clad in tattered and dirty rags over which he wore a billowing and ragged cloak, Spittlefang was a grotesque creature with matted brown fur and broken yellow fangs bared in a perpetual sneer. He was vile and evil to the extreme, killing randomly to spread fear and terror wherever he went. He had numerous blades hidden about himself and many were poisoned. His favorite weapon was a short sword he had taken off a mighty hero he had slain some years before and this was his only possession that was kept immaculate. It was not enough for Spittlefang to just kill his target. He had to let his victims know who was coming after them and that death would be slow and painful. It was important for him to taunt and instill fear before he attacked. Something as simple as a visit in the dead of night and a softly spoken “I smell your fear” was enough to get the message across. His favorite trick was to kill and eat a human child and leave the corpse where the group could find it – an omen that he was about to strike. He was fully capable of taking on the entire group, but only did so once to illustrate the point that there was little they could do to stop him. He carved them up pretty bad using hit and run tactics, leaving all but Slashtooth a bloody mess in dire need of a cure for the poison running through their veins. This left Slashtooth with the fun choice of fighting Spittlefang or letting his nemesis go so he could get help for his friends. There were numerous fights between the two ratman and all were awesome to play and watch. The drama and hatred between these two characters was enjoyable for the whole group. Most of the fights had both Slashtooth and Spittlefang beaten to a bloody pulp, with Spittlefang holding the advantage. Usually the timely arrival of the rest of the party saved Slashtooth’s life. The two combats that did go heavily in favor of Slashtooth, Spittlefang managed to escape with the use of magic, creating a cloud of smoke to facilitate his getaway. The facial expressions on the players’ faces were priceless when they knew Slashtooth was involved in a scenario. Eyes would pop out of skulls, jaws would drop, and sweat would bead up on their foreheads as they furiously planned on how to deal with him. I must be sadistic, cuz I loved seeing them like that. Most of the time, he never made a direct appearance, only leaving a token of his presence to remind them that he was always nearby. Usually these tokens were a mutilated animal left in the path, one of his numerous poisoned daggers stuck in a tree, or a whisper in the night – “I own the dark”. Spittlefang however, was finally slain by Slashtooth in one of the most exciting one-on-one fights I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The fight raged back and forth as the two traded blows, pulling out all the stops. Both made maximum use of their surroundings, employing furniture, tapestries, and mundane pieces of equipment as impromptu distractions and weapons. Broken and bloody, Slashtooth was finally knocked to the ground and disarmed by his hated foe. Sensing victory, Spittlefang wound up for a haymaker to cleave Slashtooth’s head from his shoulders. Here the player pulled his final trick, using his tail to draw a sword he never used but kept hidden under his cloak and strapped to his back. With one blow, Spittlefang was dropped, his severed head still cackling with mad laughter at the anticipation of a blow that would never land.

[Blue Jogger]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Beautiful. I would like to hear more about him' date=' if possible.[/quote']

 

I'll assume you meant Datorium. About the only thing I didn't mention was that he trained in a place called Labyrinthine which was a very old tradition of mages. They were only three remaining mages at Labyrinthine (not counting Datorium). The eldest two were over hundred and barely mobile but far from senile and they were among the scarest ones. Rumor had it that their longevity was based on experimenting with either vampire or demonic blood. The youngest was nicknamed Junior and was in his 70s. The Labyithine had a leakly roof and the building had shifted over the years, giving it and even more bent and twisted appearance. (I had a one point planned to have the adventures adventure in Labyithine as a dungeon crawl all of its own).

 

So this is the background, the guys pulling Datorium's strings are older than dirt mages that can't leave the building. The PCs are all young upstarts mages which are incredible lucky and gifted (of course, they're the PCs) and the bestest of friends. Datorium is the gothic outsider NPC.

 

Important unusual behavior.

1) Every midnight (those that manage to track him) notice that he seems to be casting some sort of communication spell right at Midnight (when his powers are at their peak). This is how he talks to the old guys who can't leave Labyrinthine.

 

2) Datorium loves to sleep in the hours where his magic is the weakest. However, since the PCs kept bothering him during that time, he learned to sleep any chance that he got, and learned to sleep sitting up. Rumors had it that he slept during his shift, but no one has managed to catch him doing that.

 

3) When something happens, always give both a reason why Datorium could do something and why he probably didn't. This adds to the paranoia greatly.

"Sure, Datorium has a spell that would allow him to do that. But that's during the time that he normally sleeps." "Datorium was the only one awake at that time, but that would make him the obvious suspect."

 

4) Datorium always get mysterious wounds that need healing. Datorium would claim that he was just an accident. (Occasionally, he'd forget his place and accidently argue with the old mages.)

 

At the end, most of the PCs turned on each other (when the game ended and most of the players moved) Three mages of the original group surrived and that became the basis of the sequel.

[Enforcer84]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

The Heroes of Borean

 

This was a group of "Rival" adventurers for some early PC's. They were adventurers who were so raw and fresh from their home town that the PC's had to rescue them upon each of their early meetings. They were the "Heroes of Borean" in truth, during their first "adventure" they managed to find a forgotten treasure left behind by a group of bandits who had terrorized local villages before Borean even existed. That treasure helped the town recover from a serious drought. It also bought the young "Heroes" their ticket to the big city where they hired themselves out as adventurers. Eventually, the "sidekick" team novelty wore off and they began to grow. They and the PC's got along well; they're existance culminated in their destruction. The Heroes had been summoned home to Borean due to some emergency, that turned out to be a Dragon taking up residence. They contacted the PC's, feeling a little out of their element. The PC's arrived only to find that the Dragon had hired assassins to destroy the Heroes the town boasted of.

It was a sad adventure to be sure, but the PC's were quite "amped" at killing the assassins and the dragon.

 

Thormere - Warrior

Ashua - Rogue

Thelm - Mage

Priss - Archer

Brother Walthus - Cleric

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Bartamus – enchanter of the 4th circle

 

Bartamus was introduced as an “info dump”, an NPC with knowledge about certain people and events that could prove beneficial to the group. The NPC itself was rather useless as far as skills go. He was an enchanter, but a weak one. His specialty however, did put him in a position of relative power. His job was to repair and keep the golems that guarded the Wizard’s Isle in working order, particularly the iron golems. As these were hollow, Bartamus would work his magic on the inside of the magical machines so as to better preserve and protect the arcane inscriptions that made these beings possible. He had the fortune/misfortune of being inside model Obsidian 16 when the Archmage Kalifirius assassinated the wizard’s council and proceeded to purge the islands of those who had not sworn themselves to him and his cause. Staying inside the golem and desperately clutching the “owners manual” Bartamus made good his escape from the island.

Bartamus had spent most of his life on the island, working on his charges, so had little experience or contact with the outside world. He was very short, often mistaken for a gnome, bespectacled, and bald save for a wispy ring of white hair and a short beard. He was always very cheerful, polite, and just a little bit intimidated by others. Whenever he saw someone whom he recognized and had shown him some kindness (all you had to do was talk to him) he would frantically wave and jump up and down until he got their attention. He would then walk up, shake hands, say “HI!” and walk away about his business.

One would think that walking around inside a huge iron golem with arms that terminated in massive maces would make him formidable in a fight. Not so. Bartamus couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, and on those rare occasions where a blow did land (only two or three times), he would flip open the golem’s faceplate, poke his head out, and apologize profusely and once even went so far as to try to render first aid to the dark elf he had just pulverized – while everyone around him was fighting for their life.

He was one of the NPCs who happened to be the target of the affections of Pagan Oldcastle, and when he returned to the PCs he was nothing but bruises and smiles. Hey, he was an 80-year-old virgin until then.

[Curufea]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Does anyone want the NPCs from my Western Shores campaign? Otherwise I'll just lurk and read

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Does anyone want the NPCs from my Western Shores campaign? Otherwise I'll just lurk and read

 

Yes. Yes I do. I've already seen a couple ideas in here that I would have never thought of on my own. It would be cool to see what other people have done.

 

Side Note - Is that your Western Shore campaign in the Hero-Wiki? I really dig the Norse angle.

[Curufea]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Yes. Yes I do. I've already seen a couple ideas in here that I would have never thought of on my own. It would be cool to see what other people have done.

 

Side Note - Is that your Western Shore campaign in the Hero-Wiki? I really dig the Norse angle.

Yes, it's had about 3 homes now - my website as html, the rpg.net wiki, and now back on the Hero wiki on my website.

Most of this campaign - while the Gods are Norse - has been set in a germanic nation (Holy Roman Empire/Italian city states). Anyhow, I'll get my notes and post. I like things that haven't been tried before.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Tarkan the butcher

 

A fun NPC who was made out to be more than he really was. According to the history that the players had, Tarkan Dar’Arvudius was a dark elf noble whose propensity for cruelty and evil knew no bounds. He led the Dark Elves to war on the Flatlanders over 500 years ago, laying waste to entire towns and populations. He was fickle, sparing one town because of the majestic beauty of the red banners flying over the buildings and slaughtering every man, woman, child, and beast in another and burning it to the ground because it blocked his view of a sunset. He was unpredictable, at best. He earned the title “The Butcher of Green Fields” after his army thoroughly defeated a host twice the size of his own. Disappointed at such a lopsided victory, he ordered the execution of every third man in his own army – including his eldest son and youngest daughter – and left those corpses to rot on the fields alongside the enemy. This proved to be the undoing of the historical Tarkan, as the dwarves had heard of his vile deeds and amassed an army of their own to meet him. Tarkan’s army was crushed and the general himself captured.

Enter the PCs 500 years later as travelers and guest of the dwarven north kingdom. They had been led to believe that in his conquest of the northlands centuries ago, Tarkan had captured a relic of the Dead Gods and secreted it away before his own capture. Their intent was to negotiate with the dwarven king for some time to talk with Tarkan in the dungeons in an effort to learn his secret. Things did not go as planned, as the PC’s soon found themselves embroiled in a murder mystery that involved a number of dwarves going insane. A major blunder by a PC ended up getting the poor character tossed in the dungeons, in the same cell as Tarkan – now himself nothing more than crazy nutjob from centuries of isolation. The rest of the PCs manage to rescue their comrade and escape with Tarkan in tow.

Only it wasn’t Tarkan. He had been dead for over 200 years and the poor sap they were dragging along with them was a crazy mage who was locked up in the cell next to the “original”. This guy was so far gone that he honestly believed he was Tarkan the Butcher, and did weird and crazy things to prove it. During the escape from the dwarven dungeons, he stopped long enough to attempt to eat an unconscious dwarf. (He was stopped). The PC’s learned very quickly that “Tarkan” needed to be restrained, as on more than one occasion he had tried to stab someone with a knife he had stolen or would go “Hannibal Lectre” on them. IIRC, a PC lost an ear to this. He would often ramble about his glorious past and grand conquests, saying the most bizarre and cryptic things I could imagine, and the players would sit there, scribbling notes furiously, hoping not to miss any clues. Somehow they managed to find the artifact (giving credit to their clever interpretation of the imposter’s clues). It was at this point that someone finally noticed that the Tarkan they had been dragging along for days wasn’t the real thing – he wasn’t even an elf, but a human. The poor lunatic was killed in the night by a PC assassin and the body buried. What followed was one of those “Huh?” moments. For some reason, the PC panicked and tried to cover his deed – by stealing a plow from a nearby farm (they were in a village) and plowing the ground where he hid the corpse. Hearing the noise, some of the other PCs woke up and went to investigate. I couldn’t have planned for what happened next, only roll with it. The assassin then cooks up some story about this area being an ancient battlefield and that the bodies had been left here, still clad in their armor and valuables and he was using the plow in an attempt to turn up bodies so he could find any magical items or weapons that had been left. They bought it. Now I had a bunch of PCs going around the village, waking up farmers and giving them gold to borrow their horses and plows. The ENTIRE party was now plowing the area looking for treasure. Hell, I might as well go with it. The farmers were only too happy to let the PCs plow the fields, providing they didn’t damage any already existing crops. This craziness went on for two weeks. I had some pity on them (or maybe I threw a few more logs on the fire) and let them find a handful of minor valuables, but nothing magical. Hey, they so wanted an ancient battlefield; I finally caved and played along.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Headley Bumbleweed – the wizard that wasn’t

 

A strange NPC that grew out of absolutely nothing into something, well, not much really. Somewhere along the line, a couple of PCs ending up getting tossed in jail/dungeon overnight for a minor infraction. Not content with letting it go, the group dwelt on the incarcerated pair and I had to ad-lib. I threw some nobody in the cell with them, also for a minor offense. Tall, gangly, with long hair held back by a headband and a patch of scrubby stubble on the chin in a poor attempt to grow a proper beard, Headly Bumbleweed was introduced to the game. Inept does not describe this guy well enough. He had zilch for skills and I ran him as a brain dead stoner, even went so far as to actually make him one. Poor Headley Bumbleweed was a wizard, or I should say, an Illusionist, but with a slight problem. He was addicted to his spell ingredients.

When the duo was released, so was Headley, and they invited him to tag along because they could “always use another powerful spellcaster”. Hoo boy. The misadventures with this schmuck were numerous. He poisoned the entire group one night when they let him tend the cooking pot. Always in an experimental mood, Headley dropped some ‘shrooms into the stew. “But, they were like, such a groovy purple, man.” Every time something important (or even unimportant) came up, Headley would chime in with his own such experience. “Like, Wow man. This reminds me of the time I had to fight some midget orcs over at Sword’s Point. Man, that was sooooo bogus. I turned ‘em into flying pigs, though. That was totally groovy, man”. His magic was completely unreliable, but potent if he hadn’t already consumed the needed spell components.

“Like you know, man, I could so totally own that dragon right now. I’ve got a groovy spell that can kick his blue and yellow butt.”

“Headley, he’s red. And it’s not a dragon. It’s a salamander.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah man! I can so totally own his furry butt!”

“Headley, its – by the gods! You’re wasted! Um, what about a spell right now?”

“Sorry man. I smoked it last night.”

Typical exchange with Headley when a fight was about to go down. Totally useless, but rather entertaining, for me at least.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Narglok the Black, Orc Warlord

 

A fun villain NPC for as long as he lasted. Narglok the Black was a captain of the Dead God Bonecrusher, charged with eliminating the meddlesome PC’s. Big, strong, and with an intelligence on par with many great generals, Narglok was a force to be reckoned with. It’s amazing what you can do with a basic orc write-up just by adding a little bit to intelligence, a decent tactics roll and loyal followers. He was the first major villain they encountered, leading the assault on a city in the first adventure of the campaign. Tired of watching countless orcs die in frontal assaults that lasted for over a day, he casually killed the army general and took command. Within hours the walls were breached and the orcs were taking the city. His own orders were to retrieve an artifact, and so he led his personal bodyguard through the city with singular determination, bent on his goal, which he achieved. His exit from the city was somewhat hampered by the PC’s, and he lost an eye. The PCs would later make a risky and daring raid and steal this artifact from the orcs, and so would begin the pursuit of Narglok. With only a dozen warriors at his side, this was one bad orc. His second was a wiry orc warrior with a few martial arts and his advisor was a shaman, the rest were plain old as-is orcs. The first fight with Narglok and his war band scared the PC’s senseless. Coordinating the orcs in his command, Narglok stomped the group into the ground with brutal efficiency, leaving one of the PC’s dead, two NPCs dead, and the rest either unconscious or so beat up they couldn’t fight any more, at the cost of only two of his orcs. Narglok took back the item stolen from him, stopping long enough to sneer over the bloody PC’s. “Heroes? The halfling I had for lunch yesterday put up a better fight than this. You are not worthy of a sword arm.” CHOP! And off comes a characters hand.

They would tangle again, and most of those fights would end as draws that would cost the PCs horses, gear, and other things. It was a small war of attrition, Naglok wearing them down and costing them both valuable time and equipment, always lamenting the fact that he was charged with dealing with a bunch of second-rate wannabe heroes, when he could be engaged in glorious warfare, burning cities and slaughtering hundreds of the soft manlings. The table was turned on Naglok, one night however, when one of his ambushes went horribly wrong and the party was able to capitalize on the orc warlord’s misfortune. Another PC was slain as was another NPC, but most of the orcs were cut down. With his back against the wall and his two lieutenants dead, Narglok issued a challenge to the paladin. Both sides backed off as the two squared off. The dice were not kind to the paladin and very hot for the orc, and though both were beat up pretty bad, the PC was soon on the ground, bleeding profusely from numerous wounds. Raising his mace to deliver the deathblow, Narglok jerked and looked down to see a sword point sticking out of his chest. The character that had lost a hand earlier had buried his sword in the orc warlord’s back. Cursing them roundly for their lack of honor by interfering in a duel, Narglok perished.

And he would return as a wraith, his spirit bent on vengeance. They were terrified of this guy alive, I just had to see how they would react if I brought him back as the undead.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Grub and Stinky – peas in a pod

 

Probably the most loved - and comical - NPCs from this campaign. The game was getting dark and depressing, so I interjected these two clowns to lighten the mood. They were a pair of goblins who were the best of friends. They were so inseparable that when one rose to power, the other only naturally followed suit. Their names pretty much were their defining features. Grub was always digging under rocks or pulling a worm out of his “yum-yum” pouch and Stinky, well, you had to make some rolls to stay in his presence for longer than 5 minutes, he was that ripe. Both of them always carried a sack of “Magic Sleeping Powder” (salt). Mentally, the two of them combined had the IQ of a gnat, and a dead one at that. I just ran them with an innocent and childlike mentality with a very dangerous bit of cunning thrown in.

The first encounter with the dastardly duo was at the ruins of an old and abandoned fortress, the last remnants of a ruined city from ages past. The PCs were following some leads and believed the ruins to hold a vast amount of treasure buried deep within its vaults, full of magical weapons, armor, and various other weapons. A nasty storm hurried the group on their way, and they were soon sheltering in the ruined gatehouse. Enter the “Greatest Mostest Sneakum Goblin Scout Bashiest Warrior Guys”, Grub and Stinky. Turning themselves invisible by covering their eyes with their hands, the two crept up to the party; counting aloud how many steps it would take to reach them. “One, eleventeen, six, rook to b-4, seven! ‘Kay Stinky, I’m gonna chop of pointy man’s head! Um, scuse me, can I have that?” Grub is pointing at the sword in the warrior’s hand. Needless to say, their plan did not work. They were further disappointed when the PCs would not let them stay and eat, er, guard the horses. Throwing salt on the pack animals while singing "Go to sleep, horsey, go to sleep" didn't help their argument much. The two soon had the bright idea of introducing the group to King Grobbo, Lord of the Refuse. The PCs began the dangerous quest into the bowels of the ruins to retrieve the great treasure and slay a mighty monster the goblins called “The Evil Snuffawhump”, with Grub and Stinky being their guides, as these two are obviously the greatest scouts and warriors in all of goblinkind. The two little buggers led continual chants of “Chief Grobbo Great! Chief Grobbo Great!” every five minutes, making stealth impossible.

The fight with the Snuffawhump was an embarrassment to the PCs and they left the ruined fortress vowing revenge. It did not take long. A few weeks after this debacle they met up with a young dragon, Puck, who was searching for a hoard of his own. The sly PCs gave Puck directions to the lair of the goblins, planning to return and slay Puck after he had killed all the goblins and amassed the treasure in a central location. Grub and Stinky greeted Puck, and the duo immediately saw an opportunity. Flattering Puck as the “Great Dragon Sky God”, they led him to their king, chanting “Chief Grobbo Tastes Great! Chief Grobbo Tastes Great!” And so began their meteoric rise to power, backed by a juvenile dragon. Yup, I'm an a$$.

The final encounter with these two was at the Last Battle. The Dead Gods had besieged the last refuge of good, and taken the outer defenses. As they were preparing for their final assault, a vast army crested the ridge. Thousands upon thousands of goblins had shown up under the banner of Chief Grub and Magic Guy Stinky, all now worshippers of the Great Dragon Sky God, Puck. With the aid of their “god”, the goblin host was able to fight its way to the dwarven fortress. With more pressing matters at hand, the dwarves set aside their age-old grudge. Besides, the goblin army was armed with magical weapons, armor, and devices from the hoard of their dragon-god, not to mention numbered in the thousands. Armed now with the Flying Chopping Thingy, Grub was a minor force to be reckoned with. The sword was animate and intelligent, whizzing about the battlefield separating heads from their shoulders, with a poor goblin clutching the hilt for dear life and screaming like a little girl. Armed with the powerful Boom Stick, Stinky was chucking lightning bolts left and right, cackling like a little kid with a bucket of high explosives. He had been denied the opportunity to make the gates bigger with his Boom Stick, so this was make-up fun for him. Grub would fall in battle, and his death so enraged Puck that the dragon slew one of the Dead Gods before he himself fell. Through tears and sobs, Stinky leveled the Dead God Limbhacker’s entire army. With his bestest friend and god gone, Stinky led the Goblin host away as quickly as they has come, marching over the corpses of the army they had just slaughtered.

[Curufea]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

The Seer

 

Possibly the most hated character in my campaign. Specifically introduced to the players because one of them hates prophecies. The NPC existed independant of this particular campaign though, and is part of the setting.

The Seer and the Sorceress were twins born hundreds of years ago on the Western Shores. They are humans with a unique connection to the ubiquitous magic fields. Namely - The Seer is "outside magic" and the Sorceress is "inside magic". All magic and magical effects are ignored by the Seer. The Sorceress is capable of all magic and magical effects. Both the brother and the sister can perceive magic, the warp and weave, the ebb and flow of all ley lines and magic use.

At one stage the Sorceress decided to become a God and began absorbing all the Ley Lines. The current Gods made an appeal to the Seer to talk to his sister and convince her not to. Since that time, the Sorceress has resided in The Sorcerer's Spire - the only location on the Western Shores that is devoid of magic (a previous tennant had a very bad experimental accident). The Seer has since become the best friend of all the Gods.

This is due mainly to the nature of the Gods in the Western Shores - who are elevated magic users that "put on a face" and act the parts of the gods. The more magic you have - the more belief influences you. In the presence of the Seer, the gods can be themselves again.

What distinguishes the Seer from other prophets? He is never ambiguous in his prophecies and is always direct. He uses plain language and is basically just "one of the guys". He is unremarkable in appearance and looks just like the regular bloke you see down the pub.

He is, however, immortal. Not only is he immune to magic, but mundane weapons have a habit of hitting a badge he decided to put on a week ago - or he bent over at just the right moment, or his attacker trips on a stone he had placed there last month. Failing that - the Gods themselves tend to protect their only confidant.

 

The Seers motivations are always personal. He makes friends with NPCs and tries to protect them. He doesn't care about major events, invasions or plagues. He cares about the guy he had a 2 week bender with 20 years ago, and makes sure the invasion/plague misses him. He leaves the change of major events up to the gods - but will occasionally help them out by talking to the PCs. On a side note - he generally knows everything about everything, including secrets. He will quite happily reveal PC secrets to other PCs.

The Seer has an annoying habit of being around just when the PCs need to talk to him - usually eating, drinking or socialising.

 

On a side note - he was educated at a remote monastery that usually educates the new Gods when they take over from the old Gods (every few thousand years there is a trial process and the gods change). That monastery has since been destroyed by the evil God candidate who didn't manage to get the job.

 

No one knows the name of the Seer, or the Sorceress. The Sorceress is famous and often the bad guy in horror stories told by parents, or preached about in church. No one, other than the odd PC or God, has heard of the Seer. He may occasionally motivate large events - but only peripherally.

[Manic Typist]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Semona's tears.... so much rep to give!!!!!

[Enforcer84]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Bartamus – enchanter of the 4th circle

 

Bartamus was introduced as an “info dump”, an NPC with knowledge about certain people and events that could prove beneficial to the group. ...

 

Snipped for brevity...

 

... He was one of the NPCs who happened to be the target of the affections of Pagan Oldcastle, and when he returned to the PCs he was nothing but bruises and smiles. Hey, he was an 80-year-old virgin until then.

Awesome.

[Enforcer84]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Lady Archanta Goldweir

 

Lady Archanta had two...er, well, four things going for her. She was an absolute beauty. Look up hawt in the dictionary and there she was. She also was so pure and naive that nothing ever got her down.

She was a priestess of the goddess of love and beauty. She turned undead with the best of them and cured the sickly.

She generally worked as a patron to the party, asking them to gather something or help some one. She was the highest ranking cleric in the area.

She was also the half sister of the Goddess herself. And not so naive as she would have you believe.

For a long time she was something of a light hearted sex symbol, someone the PC's made bawdy jokes about and too but she never seemed to notice or get them. Finally, things went badly on an adventure and fallen hero turned instrument of evil followed the PC's back to their base town...the PC's were trying to warn their friends and allies, and the civilians in this town where they had been building their keep.

Badass Warrior/Mage/Evil Guy moves quickly with his team of assassins, the fight ensues, PC's are getting battered about when, they feel the familiar warmth of Archanta's healing magic. Then they see her, gone is the goody goody, and standing in golden "hot" plate worn over her white robes, with a look that could pierce stone, she calls out her former lover.

Badass WMEG gets worried look on his face and hesitates. Archanta's challenge describes how he left her and how she watched him become evil, always praying to the Goddess of Love to help her reach him.

It was a very "Thor saves Frogman" for a moment, as the PC's realized that they had been flirting with a "Big Gun" all this time.

But I was not to let the PC's get off that easy. One of BAWMEG's assassins struck from surpise and staggered her. This angered the players no end and it proved the turning point. Archanta was wounded but she quickly healed herself, she stood behind the PC's as they pressed forward towards her ex-boyfriend and when his henchmen began to fall he retreated.

After this revelation two of the PC's began courting her. That was worth it's weight in gold.

[Enforcer84]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Lord Archibald Twostars

 

"Archie", as the players called him was a fop. He was also the object lesson that "Badass" doesn't always win. A few of my players had a habit of mouthing off to authority figures, especially when they felt the figure in question couldn't defeat them in combat. Archibald was the eldest son of a Duke who had a good relationship with the adventurers. Archie, however, did not like them. He found them to be uncouth commoners. During a celebration of one sort one of the PC's a rough neck former soldier, called out and humilated Archie. While everyone thought it was pretty funny (including the Duke), Archie was incensed and destroying the commoner who humiliated him became his obsession.

Archie trained in combat and a few months later challenged the warrior to a duel and was soundly defeated. This snapped his sanity While the PC's adventured in nearby towns, cities, and dungeons, Archie began hiring brigands, mercenaries, assassins, and even monsters. He worked slowly and cautiously. His forced himself to be patient, and his plan required more capital than he had so he murdered his father and became Duke himself. He had the PC's framed for crimes and ordered their execution, he hounded them with assassins when they escaped to another region.

Every once in a while, as long as the campaign ran, I had some minor or sometimes major, impediment for the PC's that could directly be linked to Archie. The Character in question never lived it down, his player was overjoyed for him to be such a cog in the campaign. So it worked out okay.

[Curufea]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Now here-

http://www.curufea.com/hero/doku.php?id=resources:npc_s

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Hey Enforcer 84!

 

Those are two awesome characters. Once I get my game up and running, I am sooooo stealing the "innocent" hottie. she won't exaxtly fit in my game world as is, but I can work her in - if you're kewl with it, of course.

 

Archie rawks too. Isn't it odd how players dig the focus and attention, even if it is someone out to get them?

 

Thanx for the contributions.

[War Cry]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Now here-

http://www.curufea.com/hero/doku.php?id=resources:npc_s

 

Wow. I have your wiki bookmarked. Kinda weird seeing some of my stuff there now.

 

I am truly flattered that you think its worthy.

 

OT, I really like the work on the runes. It has been a very big help in getting my campaign and magic fleshed out. I stole, er, borrowed, the entire document unchanged as a possible player handout for runic magic - it was exactly what I was looking for.

Hope thats ok. If not, let me know.

[Curufea]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

If the wiki was meant to be at all exclusive - it wouldn't properly be a wiki and hardly collaborative. The only reason I put other people's stuff there is to show how easily it can be done in the hope that they will add things directly to the wiki. I would like it to be a valuable resource for all Hero gamers.

If there are enough contributers, I can then just take a back seat and only moderate the wiki (tidying layout, grammar, spelling and dealing with spammers). Which is my goal.

If there is enough use of it, I'll give it its own domain name so people won't have the wrong impression that is is Curufea's wiki. I would like it actually to be hosted here at Herogames one day. I must email folk here about that again.

 

Any how - the short reply is: Please register or let me make you a member, then you can edit/create on it as easily as here (but in a more easily organised manner).

[Enforcer84]

Re: NPC's - one free in every box

 

Hey Enforcer 84!

 

Those are two awesome characters. Once I get my game up and running, I am sooooo stealing the "innocent" hottie. she won't exaxtly fit in my game world as is, but I can work her in - if you're kewl with it, of course.

 

Archie rawks too. Isn't it odd how players dig the focus and attention, even if it is someone out to get them?

 

Thanx for the contributions.

Nah, go ahead, I don't even have the character sheets anymore and "Intellectual Property" is soooo not me.