Favorite NPC

[quozaxx]

I have been a GM on Hero Central for over 4 years now. In that time, I have one NPC which I like more than any other NPC that I have role played.

 

Her name is Cindy Cartell.

 

First a little background on where Cindy came from: During one of the very first games I GM’ed. One of my player’s characters needed to change into his hero ID. It was a busy place and he needed a distraction. He asked another player’s character (a female brick named Steele) to cause this distraction. She (a shameless flirt) is a famous author and decided to kiss a red-headed female fan. The distraction worked very well.

 

Later he (the player of Steele) E-mailed me and told me that I could use this female as a recurring NPC that gives her trouble. (I often wonder if he ever regretted that decision.) So, I decided to give her a name, short history, and personality.

 

Cindy is the daughter of business man (and suspected mobster) Izzy Cartell. Her mother died while giving birth to Cindy, and Izzy was overprotective , but never ever showed affection. So Cindy craves it in any form. He grandfather Protoff told her that one day she would be kissed, and her soul would interlock with another person. Cindy took that to extremes after Steele kissed her.

 

The next time you see Cindy; Steele is in an ice cream shop dating another guy (she is a shameless flirt after all) Cindy tries to break it off saying she is Steele’s only “true” love. Steele brushes her off. Cindy leaves broken hearted.

 

That very next day Blowtorch is torching the ice cream shop (and the apartment complex next to it). Most of the team rescues the apartment complex. Miss Mystique (MM for short - another player’s character) knocks out Blowtorch while Steele breaks down a wall to get out the trapped people.

 

One of the women (in a blond wig) literally jumps on Steele and hugs and kisses her. MM has to literally pull her off. The wig falls off and it’s - you guessed it - Cindy. It turns out that Cindy hired Blowtorch. In her mind, if Steele would rescue her, she would fall helplessly in love with Cindy. Cindy put herself in danger just so Steele would rescue her. Steele shuns her once again. Poor crazy Cindy blamed MM for pulling her off of Steele.

 

Cindy is sent to a mental institute quickly thanks to her connections.

 

That mental institute is three stories tall. The ground floor is offices. The next floor is for non-super powered inmates, and top floor is for super powered inmates. Cindy has no super powers so she is on the middle floor.

 

The heroes do other things. Meanwhile, Cindy has pictures of Steele sent to her, along with lots of perfume. The transactions is approved. But the perfume is really a chemical agent designed to make people susceptible to suggestion. Cindy uses it to get whatever she wants in the building, and eventually takes over the ENTIRE institute.

 

Steele and Wraith (yet another player’s character) are both writers. Steele has her editor Dameon as a hunted because he is always causing her trouble. While Wraith has him as a DNPC. (It was easier to just have one character cover both). So, when Dameon saw all of the pictures ordered at the same time. He saw this as Steele’s favorite fan, and inquired who she was. By now, Cindy has appointed herself as director of the mental institute, and invited Dameon over to discuss Steele.

 

Cindy captures and imprisons Dameon. Dameon calls Steele for help. The heroes go to the institute and have to battle crazy inmates, while Steele knocks out Cindy and gets Dameon free. Steele makes it very, very clear to Cindy that she does NOT love her. That she was ONLY using her. The heroes take the mental institute back over to the rightful staff. Cindy is moved to the maximum security top floor.

 

Well, you’d think that would be the end of Cindy???? No way! Lots of other things happen. Including a demonic type entity known as “The Dark”. The Dark infest people with anger and hatred, and can be in several people at the same time. One part of The Dark was inside a new inmate of the mental institute. “He” liked Cindy’s pure hatred over Steele.

 

The Dark continued to grow in power, and followers while the player’s characters were doing other things. One day The Dark ripped off the top floor of the mental institute and took it into another dimension along with Steele’s current boyfriend (an alien named Taka).

 

The players are once again facing Cindy. She is “connected” to Taka. So any harm to her is 10 times the harm to Taka.

 

What makes Cindy so fun to play (besides being a psychotic female dog) is the fact that she is basically a “normal” person. Yes, she has connection and has used them to get what she wants. And, yes, she is using The Dark’s power to keep the teams mentalist from affecting her. But, all in all, she is a normal human being. She’d be out like a light in once punch.

 

Who is your favorite NPC?