TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

[AlHazred]

I'm considering using TV characters to fill out my NPC pool in my High Fantasy game. Some characters immediately leap out at you, I think.

 

 

• Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (from Bones) could be Brandeis the Mild, an osteomancer (a kind of specialized true necromancer who divines secrets about people from their remains; she doesn't raise the dead, possibly because of moral problems, possibly because she's just too interested in the divination and can't be bothered to learn the conjurations). The other Squints become her assistants/apprentices, Dr. Saroyan is a less-talented-but-more-bureaucratically-gifted colleague, and Agent Booth becomes one of the King's Men.
  
• Patrick Jane (from The Mentalist) becomes the Noble Ioannes, a skilled Bard. He's traumatized by the fact that he used to entertain crowds with stories about his (false) feats of derring-do fighting the Undead, and attracted the attention of the Crimson Jack, a Restless Spirit who possesses people in order to manipulate crowds into death-traps of his devising; Jack slew his wife and child in a brutal manner, leading to his change of heart and his putting his talents as a mountebank and charlatan to the assistance of the authorities. (To be fair, the image of the smartass Jane with his smirk annoying the hell out of my players is what started me on this trend.)
  

Anybody else?

 

(And as a side note, I'd gone with TV characters as opposed to movie characters because they're usually better fleshed-out, which gives me more hooks to use in playing them. But that won't be true of all movie characters, of course.)

[Lord Liaden]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Lieutenant Horatio Cain becomes Horace the Canny, black-robed alchemist and officer in the City Guard, who with his young and ridiculously attractive apprentices uses keen observation and alchemical treatments to find evidence identifying lawbreakers. He then employs his Obsidian Spectacles of Intimidation to compel the criminals to confess.

 

(To be fair' date=' the image of the smartass Jane with his smirk annoying the hell out of my players is what started me on this trend.)[/quote']

 

Along those lines, when their PCs become injured or ill they must be carried to the House of Healing, to be treated by its chief physician, the lame, misanthropic, but brilliant Gregoris, with his Cane of Purging Fire.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Interesting thought. Try this:

 

Adrian Monk becomes Brother Adrian, who became a man of religion after his wife was brutally murdered many years ago. With his female acolyte, at first Sister Sharon and later Sister Natalie, Brother Adrian uses his acute attention for detail and mystic connection with the god Osidi to expose murderers and other criminals.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

The Winchester brothers from the Supernatural series are already monster hunters, so would need little adaptation to work in fantasy. Just modify their weapons as needed (they have a few high-powered magic gimmicks already), and allow them to be more public in their activities, since in fantasy everyone knows that monsters exist.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

chuck becomes CHARLES THE SEER

after looking into a christal globe that turns out to be a stolen christal ball, now only able to remember only bits of the balls knowledge he works with two of the kings agents to protect the kingdom

[Lucius]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

I once did a very long post about a character I made and played that was based on a character from a TV show.

 

I posted the character too.

 

And now I can't find it because the search function has been totally wrecked ever since the change.

 

Are we ever going to have a decent search capability again?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is annoyed

[Susano]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Lucius, what was the character's name?

[Lucius]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Lucius' date=' what was the character's name?[/quote']

 

Let's see, I used two names - Ranger Gord, and Ranger Aragord.

 

He was based on Ranger Gord from the Red Green Show.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary doesn't remember any other characters based on TV

[Susano]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Sorry, I tried and didn't find it either.

[Lucius]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Sorry' date=' I tried and didn't find it either.[/quote']

 

That's because

 

the search function has been totally wrecked ever since the change.

 

Are we ever going to have a decent search capability again?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is annoyed

[Curufea]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

I don't think Google indexes forums, or at least not every thread entry in a forum. The only way to do a comprehensive search would be to harvest (ie download everything) the forums and then search them.

 

As to characters-

Richard Castle - A bard famous throughout the kingdoms for his tales of the exploits of adventurers. His adoring fans all suspect that he has insights into the workings of the minds of adventurer types that none other have.

[AlHazred]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

That's because

Er, you realize you can use Google with site:herogames.com and find stuff, right?

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/43981-I-have-a-Question-How-do-you-come-up-with-a-C?p=1138559#post1138559

[Susano]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Nope. Didn't know that. Will need to try and remember.

[Ragitsu]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Johnny Smith from Dead Zone.

[Lucius]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Er, you realize you can use Google with site:herogames.com and find stuff, right?

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/43981-I-have-a-Question-How-do-you-come-up-with-a-C?p=1138559#post1138559

 

No, I have no idea how to do that. But thanks for finding what I was looking for!

 

 

 

It started when the group decided we wanted to do Fantasy Hero. We kicked around some of the character types we could play, and I floated one that got shot down as too outlandish, and the other was "well, how about a ranger?" Partly because it fit in with some of the other characters people wanted to play (like a druid.)

 

Then the specific inspiration came from, believe it or not, TV.

 

When I do watch television, it is almost always something Brianca has downloaded to the computer from the internet. One of her favorite shows is a really weird Canadian program, "The Red Green Show."

 

If you've seen the show, you probably know what's coming.

 

Red Green runs Possom Lodge, an all-male retreat set on Possum Lake frequented by an assortment of - characters. A habitual felon, an animal control officer who's terrified of animals, the guy who runs the septic sewage sucking service and is eerily fond of his work, a Native American obssessed with explosives who wants to solve any and all problems by blowing something up - and Red Green himself, who has a regular segment showing how NOT to do a variety of handyman projects (some of which should never be attempted by sane people) in which he abuses everything from duct tape to fire axes to blowtorches and usually destroys furniture, appliances, vehicles, or whatever else he sets out to build or improve. And Red Green is the sane and sensible member of Possom Lodge.

 

Occasionally, Red Green visits the firetower in the woods to see Ranger Gord. Ranger Gord looks like he is ready to pose for a recruiting poster (Smokey the Bear Wants You!) in an immaculate uniform, clean shaven, etc. He looks a lot more clean cut than most of the scruffy crew at Possom Lodge. But he is definitely not normal. Not even by Possom Lodge standards. He has been out in the woods and up in the firetower, keeping watch over the forest, for a long time. He doesn't get out much.

 

A conversation can start out normal, and then take a sudden left turn that leaves you with the feeling he's not living in the same reality as everyone around him.

 

My favorite scene: he's lying on his back, saying he never gets bored all alone in the woods; he can always play the childhood game of finding shapes in the clouds. He points out some of the things he sees. Then the camera draws back and pans up. The sky is clear and blue. As Red Green says, Ranger Gord doesn't have his head in the clouds, he has clouds in his head.

 

So - I want a fantasy ranger based on Ranger Gord. But in fantasy, I can give him a talent like magesight - so that maybe when he sees something no one else does, it's really there after all. I can give him Animal Friendship, and knowledge skills of "nature sprites, faeries, and all uncanny things of the woods" and a reputation "That crazy guy who talks to animals more than to people. And sometimes talks to his invisible friends, if you know what I mean."

 

I wanted him to have some magical talent, but explain why he was never apprenticed to a mage or druid. So I borrowed an idea from GURPS, and gave him a disad - Dyslexic. Unable to read, write, or master spellcasting.

 

And maybe the other players aren't always sure what's real and what's just a strange and lonely man's imagination talking to him - maybe sometimes I'M not sure, and that could be fun.

 

I was limited to 50 pts + 50 disads, so after the disads, skills, characteristics, and talents I felt he absolutely HAD to have to fit the concepts I had, there wasn't much left. Right now I have 3 pts unspent (I dropped Navigation: among other things dyslexia is associated with confusing ones left and right, and the idea of a ranger that can get lost in the woods - but won't care, because he's perfectly at home in the woods wherever he is - struck me as the kind of comic relief I was going for anyway.)

 

Now I'm just trying to fit it all on one page.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Sometimes, I take advice from a palindromedary. Which brings me to...

 

 

Ranger Gord/ Aragord

 

Player: Lucius Alexander

 

Val Char Cost

15 STR 5

14 DEX 12

13 CON 6

9 BODY -2

13 INT 3

11 EGO 2

13 PRE 3

14 COM 2

 

4 PD 1

4 ED 1

3 SPD 6

6 REC 0

24 END -1

24 STUN 0

 

5" RUN -2

1" SWIM -1

1 1/2" LEAP -1

Characteristics Cost: 34

 

 

 

Cost Skill

3 Climbing 12-

3 Concealment 12-

2 Navigation (Land) 12-

3 Paramedics 12-

3 Riding 12-

3 Stealth 12-

2 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical) 12-

3 Tracking 12-

3 PS: Ranger 12-

4 WF: Common Missile Weapons, Blades, Staves

1 Breakfall 8-

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: Edible, Medicinal, & Poisonous plants & their uses (3 Active Points) 12-

2 2) KS: Nature Sprites, Unicorns, Faerie Folk and their dwellings & doings; all uncanny things of wild places (3 Active Points) 12-

2 3) KS: Fauna (3 Active Points) 12-

5 +1 PS: Ranger, Navigation, Survival, Tracking, Sylvan Lore, Herblore, Wildlife; Stealth, Concealment, Climbing, if and only if in an outdoor/wilderness situation

Skills Cost: 44

 

 

Cost Talent

4 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED) (6 Active Points); Conditional Power (Does not "Stack" - not if wearing armor or otherwise has access to resistant defenses; -1/2)

5 Magesight

13 Animal Friendship (20 Active Points); Requires A Background Skill Roll (PS: Ranger; -1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4)

Talents Cost: 22

 

Total Character Cost: 100

 

Pts. Disadvantage

5 Dependent NPC: Variable DNPC: Animal Companions. Horse, Wolf, Owl, etc. 14- (As powerful as the PC; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills)

0 Normal Characteristic Maxima

5 Age: 40+

5 Hunted: Druidic Heirarchy 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Watching)

10 Psychological Limitation: Likes & respects animals; protective of them (Common, Moderate)

5 Reputation: That weird guy who talks to animals more than to people, 8-

5 Social Limitation: Spends too much time in the Woods (Frequently, Minor, Not Limiting In Some Cultures) [Notes: Ranger Gord spends a lot of time alone in the forest; sometimes he forgets how to talk and act around "normal" people, and his behavior seems "odd" or "off" to them. Druids and other Rangers don't notice it so much.]

5 Distinctive Features: Attractive to look at, but talks/acts funny. (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

5 Distinctive Features: Beardless Human Male (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable In Uncommon Situation (If you're around him a couple days, or notice he's clean shaven even after a week in the woods)) [Notes: Possibly the result of some Elf ancestry, way back.]

5 Psychological Limitation: Fastidious (Tries to be clean and neat in appearance even when alone in the woods) (Uncommon, Moderate)

Disadvantage Points: 50

Base Points: 50

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

Background/History: Ranger Arragord has been living in the woods for a long time. He doesn't get into town much.

Personality/Motivation: Arragord is a hermit who prefers the company of wild animals and woodland sprites to his own kind. Sometimes he forgets that most people aren't comfortable with, say, bears, and vice versa; and he doesn't understand why people think it strange for him to converse with Pixies or other creatures that are only visible to him.

Quote: "People have often said I was wedded to the forest. I finally decided to make it official."

Powers/Tactics: Arragord is familiar with the staff, sword, bow, and dagger (thrown and hand to hand.) Ironically, he is magically gifted (which is why he knows so much about woodland denizens most people never see) but also handicapped; unless his dyslexia is somehow dealt with, he will never be a true mage, although he has more than once in the past proven able to utilize magickal artifacts. He always eventually passes them on to Druids or Elves.

Appearance: Despite being such a hermit, Ranger Arragord usually presents a very clean and neat, even fastidious, appearance. One would almost think invisible faeries are taking care of his clothes

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary thought some people might want to see the character.

[AlHazred]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Nope. Didn't know that. Will need to try and remember.

If you remember way back several years when we went years without a search function, I learned then that the Goog indexes forums. Use " site:herogames.com" and you're golden. Saved my butt a few times, let me tell you!

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Allow me to present....

 

"Captain" Reginald Malcolm. He has played many roles in his life; warrior, bandit, paladin, father confessor. Currently leads an itinerant band of rapscallions, malcontents, and all around upstanding citizens styling themselves the Tranquility Trading Company. Includes Hoban the Unwashed, the wisecracking teamster; Hoban's wife, Zenobia, also the Captain's right-hand woman, and excellent, if ruthless, swordswoman; the Lady Inara, a high class courtesan; Father Libros, himself an itinerant priest with a mysterious past; Brooke, a "touched" young woman with unreliable and strange magical powers; her brother Simeon, a physician and healer; Ceilidh, a strapping farm girl who happens to be an amazing artisan; and Giane, a hulking ogre of a man, sword for hire.

[Susano]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

And his greatsword -- Vera.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Of course.

 

The Duchy of Hazzard -- The adventures of two lovable rogues, cousins, named Beauregard and Lucas, and their horse, a charger named General. They live with their uncle Josiah, a smuggler (himself a lovable rogue), and another cousin, Daisy, who works as a serving maid at an inn owned by the nefarious Duke Porcinius of Hazzard. Every week they work to thwart the schemes of the Duke and his henchman, Sheriff Coltrane.

 

The Night Rider -- Sir Michael, one of the King's Men, is brutally attacked, disfigured and left for dead. He is rescued by a mysterious benefactor, who magically grants him a new face. He also gains a new mount: Kit, a jet black, armored warhorse with magically enhanced strength, intelligence, speed, senses, and leaping ability, as well as the ability to speak, with his magical black barding and a visor under which one red eye glows balefully. They ride throughout the countryside helping the downtrodden, accompanied by Devon, their benefactor's manservent, and Pamela, a witch who was responsible for Kit's enhancements, and knows him better than anyone.

[Curufea]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Wouldn't it be better to have Knight rather than Night?

Also, I'd make KIT a clockwork horse, or steel golem. He just appears to look like an armoured horse.

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

Re: Night... I just liked the way it looked this way. Re: Kit... I'd rather not use clockwork where magic will do.

 

First Commando -- A team of the King's First Commando were sent on a suicide mission. Against all odds, they returned, with evidence against the Duke who sent them. He had them clapped in irons and thrown in the dungeons. They escaped to the Angelus City underground. Still hunted by the Duke and his men, they work as soldiers of fortune. If no one else can help, and if you can find them, you can hire....

 

First Commando.

 

• John the Smith Human, he was and still is the group's commander. Favors a repeating crossbow and shortsword.
  
• Templeton Elf, lovable rogue, ladies' man. Primarily a fencer. Always well dressed with a ready quip.
  
• Baracus Orc, heavy weapons specialist. Favors weapons that are shiny and curved with lots of points and sharp edges. Carries two heavy crossbows.
  
• Murdoch the Mad Human wizard. Specializes in air magic. Mad as a hatter. Keeps a sleep spell handy for Baracus, who hates to leave the ground.
  

 

This is fun!

[AlHazred]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

The Night Rider -- Sir Michael' date=' one of the King's Men, is brutally attacked, disfigured and left for dead. He is rescued by a mysterious benefactor, who magically grants him a new face. He also gains a new mount: Kit, a jet black, armored warhorse with magically enhanced strength, intelligence, speed, senses, and leaping ability, as well as the ability to speak, with his magical black barding and a visor under which one red eye glows balefully. They ride throughout the countryside helping the downtrodden, accompanied by Devon, their benefactor's manservent, and Pamela, a witch who was responsible for Kit's enhancements, and knows him better than anyone.[/quote']The only problem I have with this (and nobody else will ) is that this is basically the Iron Horse from the Hero System Vehicle Sourcebook, and I want to save that for Dilvish the Damned. Although, I might be able to square that by making Black a Demon Horse. Hmmm...

[Chris Goodwin]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

The only problem I have with this (and nobody else will ) is that this is basically the Iron Horse from the Hero System Vehicle Sourcebook' date=' and I want to save that for Dilvish the Damned. Although, I might be able to square that by making Black a Demon Horse. Hmmm...[/quote']

 

Wow... I don't have that book. Great minds think alike.

[lapsedgamer]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

From The Wire (the greatest TV show that was ever broadcast).

 

Omar The Hunter. A brigand who preys on other brigands. So feared by other cutthroats, that the mere mention of his name is often enough to set them scattering. A thin, but wiry, man from the Southern continent, with a distinctive scar on his face. He goes into the night armed with a repeating crossbow, a brace of knives, and a sword. He is equally lethal with all of them. A cunning tactician, he often sets up his opponents, so that he can attack from ambush, waiting until they have robbed others and stealing from them in turn. Since he frequently takes on groups of trained fighters by himself, so he knows the advantages that surprise can offer. He sometimes allies himself with others to pull off larger capers, but his legend really comes from his tendency to suddenly appear and casually take out several opponents, all while whistling a jaunty hunting song. His fighting abilities seem at times to be almost superhuman, and he appears to literally have nine lives.

 

Hell, I might write this up my damn self.

[Susano]

Re: TV Characters to Fantasy Hero NPCs

 

If you do, send it to me! 'll add it to the TV Characters page.