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Dragor
2007-06-01, 05:22 PM
Just thought it might be intriguing to hear about everyones favourite NPC's, and not PC's.

It's late at night- I'll answer this one in the morning. :smallcool:

Pauwel
2007-06-01, 05:27 PM
Aldar, the archer who is afraid of everything. Yeah, that was his full title. He was really silly and dumb and from my first campaign ever, but there was just something charming about the character that I can't quite place.
There's not much to say about him. The name really says all there needs to be said.

ufo
2007-06-01, 05:31 PM
An elven merchant I can't remember the name off. He always got beaten up for some reason, as he had a tendency to betray those he worked for. The PC eventually had enough and beated him up comepletely and gave him to the city watch. (He could do that with no explanation, he had been appointed knight).

Yuki Akuma
2007-06-01, 06:00 PM
Alevia, elven underaged druid with a panda fixation.

She was one of the only druids I've ever heard of to use a bow as her main weapon.

Ravyn
2007-06-01, 06:12 PM
I've done so many NPCs I can't even begin to choose a best--and on one game, no less--let me see...

Mortal: Ori, Hope's Apprentice. He and the healer/crafter Hope, to whom he was apprenticed, showed up in both my Exalted campaigns; both times, he was a sandy-haired child, about nine or ten years old, with a knack for getting in trouble ("Find Ori and tell him to stop."), insatiable curiosity (and correspondingly inconvenient timing, as far as the PCs were concerned), and an absolute talent for Go Fish or the local equivalent thereof.

Divine: She is approached by a figure that literally weaves its way through the crowd--vaguely humanlike, in the form of a tangle of threads of all named colors and a few that do not yet have names, always changing, sometimes appearing to have wings, sometimes arms. It stops in front of her, and in a voice that is more vibration than timbre, asks, "Where is your shadow?"
Its name was Lysha, (yes, that's my avatar--I have a full-sized pic somewhere as well), and it was the god of prophecy. Which meant, among other things, that it spoke in riddles and couldn't give a straight answer to save its life--in addition, its ropelike composition led to some of the most fun I've ever had with invented body language. My group warmed up to it immediately, especially the combat monkey who somehow understood the riddles better than anyone. I think if I have to choose a full favorite, it'll always be Lysha.

And then there was Rukan, a walking contradiction in terms. When I ran my first major Exalted game, between my efforts, my assistants', and those of one of my players, canon got twisted in massively interesting directions. Which led to the creation of--and I still get funny looks when I explain her--Creation's most compassionate Infernal. Tall and beautiful, silver-haired, blue-eyed and utterly useless in a fight, she was the social-sib of the BBEG's demon-serving progeny. Whenever the group met her (now, granted, it only happened twice), the first thing she'd do would be to smile and offer them tea. (They usually accepted. It tended to surprise them to discover that the tea wasn't poisoned.) One of my players decided she was the most dangerous and deceptive of the sibs; while he was right about her sheer level of social power, he was wrong about the deception--Rukan's actually one of the most honest NPCs I've ever run.

Ceres
2007-06-01, 06:27 PM
Hmm... For me I think it would have to be Algato. A short, fat, cowardly and quite pathetic wizard. He was a follower of the party, and worked a bit as a comic relief and as help when the players were stuck.

He wasn't a very deep character to begin with, but as the game progressed I decided he had a darker side. He was strong in "earth magic", and once when the players were done adventuring in a place strong in earth-magic, he started talking to himself. "So much power. It is as if I could pluck down the very moon itself!"

Having been used as a comic relief before, the players didn't realise he was serious until the moon started getting bigger. A massive combat ensued, and it was all great fun.

Penguinsushi
2007-06-01, 06:35 PM
No question on this one. My players would back me up too, I'm pretty sure.

The best npc i've ever made would have to be Tessa. Tessa is/was a 7-year-old coure eladrin sorceress with adhd and a taste for sweet wine. She was a companion of Amonodel - the elf bard character my wife was playing. There's really no way to adequately describe the kinds of things Tessa did - but i'm sure the characteristics I mentioned will give you a good idea. She was one of the most amusing npc's to roleplay...

Here's one favorite example though:

The party is in a small boat which is capsized by a dragon turtle. When Tessa sees the turtle go after her friend Amonodel, she screams at it "DON'T YOU HURT MY 'MONODEL!" and casts the highest level offensive spell she knows. Which happens to be lightening bolt. At the dragon turtle. In the water. With the party.

:smallbiggrin:

~PS

Roderick_BR
2007-06-01, 06:46 PM
A halfling rogue/assassin. Imagine Belkar, only female, and actually effective in killing people.
She was scary, the silent type, that would gaze into your eyes before ripping you in half. Once she scared several members of the group, after she escaped the tick chains she was locked in, and beat half the group with them.
I'll have to see if I can find that character sheet again. A pity I can't remember her name.

Tengu
2007-06-01, 06:48 PM
The people in my sig who are not PCs are the best bunch of NPCs I ever created, though I'd have a very hard time picking the best one out of them. More info about them later.

Yes, I do realize you cannot telepathically discover which ones of them are PCs and which ones NPCs.

Ar-Sakal
2007-06-01, 06:52 PM
In my Tolkien campaign (I am a LOTR purist, so when not playing MERP, I use D&D 3.5 with little magic - mostly enchantment, no evocation or clerics, elves over 6 feet tall and no gnomes), I created a Human (Dunadan) lawful good Ranger named Imracar to help a party of new players I was DMing for the 1st time.

Little did I know these guys liked to play chaotic (I would not be surprised if Belkar and Elan were inspired by watching some of these players). Instead of using Imracar as asistance and help, they completely and totally made him his enemy. The silly thing is that although I like good campaigns and the players completely ruined my game, I was contemplating the idea of an evil-alignment campaign, which started soon after with this group. Imracar suddenly became the main oponent and enemy, and even became a sort of "transdimensional" foe, no matter what setting the players did (be it Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Werewolf or SW), Imracar would always be their main opponent.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2007-06-01, 06:56 PM
Vedin the Grey, a male human Wizard/Demonologist. He loved demons as much as he hated them, though the rest of everything else he felt only contempt for. He lived alone, except for his near brainless bodyguard and a quasit in a black tower in a desert in the Abyss. He was a psychotic, charming genius and a pivotal componant in the plan of converting all the multiverse into more layers of the Abyss but was killed by a Molydeus. See a pic of him by clicking the black skull in my sig.

EvilElitest
2007-06-01, 07:25 PM
OH gods, Burt Muggens. Every single champain. He was a level five figher who specalized in archy and he was always a best friend of one of the characters when the game started. And he would always die in some sick way, often in an grusome manner. He has died 187 times so far, each in a different way. He often appeared multiple times in the same game, only to die again. he would always have hte muggens bow, a +2 holy bow that one of the characters would take, when they lost/sold it, he would reppar and die again. The funny thing is, i don't cheat to make him die, he just does. Unlucky as hell
from,
EE

Kjata
2007-06-01, 07:47 PM
Sateir, a Neutral Evil twin weapon fighting Ranger that was, strangely, one of the Protaginists. He killed who the party thought was the BBEG, although the campaign was far from over. He was evil because of how he did things, the BBEGhad been captured and stopped, and the paladin (Sateir wasnt part of the party, he was like six levels higher than them the whole game) didnt want him killed in cold blood, which grossly violated the law. Sateir killed him when he insisted Arven(the evil guy) be spared, and Arven was killed as well.the oter four pcs, and the new character, were pissed andchased down Sateir, and awoke a beast called the Dragon(homebrewed beastly creature, there wee no actual dragons) to kill Sateir, but it was destructive and evil. They discovered only the sacrifice of those who awoke it can cause it to sleep. They decided that after killing Sateir, they would save the land from the Dragon. Sateir sacrificed them to save the world, and the new campaign started, 220 years in the future. Sateir and the party stopped a cult from awakening the Dragon, and Sateir died heoically in the final battle.

Closet_Skeleton
2007-06-01, 07:48 PM
Imagine Belkar, only female, and actually effective in killing people.

...

Have you been reading the same strip as me?

My NPCs tend to suck. Though everyone wants to kill my villains. It's hard telling four people that they can't all have a one on one duel with them.

RamrodTheWizard
2007-06-01, 08:20 PM
Gorthek, the brilliant half-orc barkeep of The Seizing Ogre.

He was a shrewd buisnessman who the competition usually underestimated because he was a half-orc and they assumed he wasnt too bright. Well with his 16 INT and his signiture drink that was more akin to a potion then a tankard of ale, he ran a sucessful bar. The PC's loved him becuase he was very loud and enjoyed parties, and of course his stories were legendary. I had the most fun playing him, he may not sound like alot but it was great.

Kjata
2007-06-01, 11:05 PM
Oh yeah, and Ronero, Sateir's Great-Great-Great...Grandson. A bard who was basically comic relief for 2/3 the game, and became best friends with one of the characters. I just had to do something evil to him. He leraned Sateir was his ancestor, and what he had done, and that his actions where the fire for the dragon(sorry, there was so much background on Sateir I cant go over it all in one post). He left the party, and his friend(the fighter) went after him and had a nice solo campaign.

Our games tend to have NPCs that play big parts and have campaigns revolve around them. 'Tis fun.

Stevenson
2007-06-01, 11:28 PM
Definitley, definitley.....

H'am-an-swss. The psionic sandwich. 20th level psion. And a sandwich. It talked. Primary quest-giver in one of my campaigns.

EvilElitest
2007-06-02, 12:21 AM
Bob, the level 15 Warrior, with a natrual 18 in all states. Basiclly he stands guard outside the west gate of the nation's capitcal and using his really sharp wit to annoy everybody who comes by. The second guard who is with him always dies in some manner though
from,
EE

JackMage666
2007-06-02, 01:03 AM
Well, the campaign is on standby until I can get some competent players, but...

Nonhumanoid - Graktoo Veltmir - Half-Fiend Advanced Choker (Medium-size) - Inhabits a far off jungle ruin, where he preys upon people using his extended reach and improved grab abilities. Basically, serves as the scariest horror movie villian I could think of.

Humanoid - Tutu, the Insane Cookie - 12th level human wizard and completely insane, but not malicious. Encounted the PCs by first attacking them with non-harmful spells - Charm, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Sleep, Suggestion. Eventually, convinced the PCs to dance for multiple hours, with a sack of dead kittens he had recently slain. The town they were in protected him, as he killed the stray cats, dogs, rats, ect.. Turns out, he was also highly intelligent, and mastered Mirror Travel (considering the campaign was heavily featuring the Nerra, this was a good thing for the PCs.) However, the PCs were captured, and Tutu wold visit them daily to give them food. The PCs never turned their logic off long enough for them to convince him to help them escape (They kept saying, "Let us out!", instead of something like "Let's go bowling".)

Knight_Of_Twilight
2007-06-02, 10:21 AM
The Man In Purple Robes: His real name was Aldernon, but I don't think the players ever figured it out. He was a Transmuter, and his beloved was an Abjurer. They had been searching for the same Treasure as the PC's were, and the PC's understandably mistook them for Henchmen of the BBEG. ( They refused to talk to them, and they intial reaction was hostile. ) Well, on a lucky blow, one of the PC's killed the Abjurer, and the MIPR freaked out and ran off with her body. Distraught, an Evil priest told him that if he sprinkled the blood of her killers over her body, he would be able to bring her back to life.

Well, the MIPR chased the PC's all over the planet, and he always showed up at the worst possible moments. My personal favourite moment was the 3rd or 4th time he appeared after that, when he made a Ogre they were fighting more formidable with his magic.

PC One: J*sus, why does this Purple-Robed A@@hole hate us so much!?

PC Two: Maybe he was like, doing that chick you offed?

PC One: Holy Sh*t, I forgot about that...

XD

Poor Guy eventually died, when the PC's decided to take the fight to him. His last moments were spent dragging his bloody body towards a corpse preserved in glass....

Genome
2007-06-02, 10:47 AM
*snip*
Poor Guy eventually died, when the PC's decided to take the fight to him. His last moments were spent dragging his bloody body towards a corpse preserved in glass....

Man, that's tragic.

Lolzords
2007-06-02, 02:15 PM
Oompah the exploding ogre, a npc I made for a stand-in campaign when the current DM was ill. A green skinned 10ft ogre who had the intresting ability to explode into many pieces at will... only to appear later unscathed.

They found Oompah drinking from the keg in the back room of a bar. These guys were two eleven-year olds so of course, they attacked on sight. Oompah put on an unhappy look and said "ME WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND" The players put their weapons away as they saw Oompah wasn't any harm:smallwink: . Unfortunatly for them Oompah decided that moment was the best time to scream "GROUP HUG" and embrace them. Then he exploded.

They woke up later in the care of a cleric.

Dragor
2007-06-02, 02:19 PM
Yes, a days rest. Well, it just so happens that the best NPC I ever made.... wasn't at all good when it came to being a villain.

The kidnapping, bugbear mutating Puppetmaster- a 12 year old possessed by a mask containing the negative emotions of a long-dead Wizard. This boy was obsessed with mutating all sorts of humanoids to make them half machine- his own face was mutilated into a half tragic, half over-joyed outlook (like one of those mask thingies for drama). He was insane, and the young boy could only take control for periods of time.

So, the PC's meet him. The Ranger (for he had no actual name) had a few bad-ass words with him. The Ranger then rolls extremely luckily and knocks him out in one blow.

All the stuff I would have hoped to happen had dissapeared. And the PC's had not had an easier quest in a long time.

Damn.

JackMage666
2007-06-03, 12:58 AM
Poor Guy eventually died, when the PC's decided to take the fight to him. His last moments were spent dragging his bloody body towards a corpse preserved in glass....

But did the PCs ever figrue out they were in the wrong?

If I did this to my players, they would cry for like an hour.

Ranis
2007-06-03, 08:10 AM
Gelstan Furrowbrow, aide and essentially secretary to the absent-minded epic-level wizard who ran the town.

He does paperwork for the wizard for a living. He was extremely comical, and my PC's still pay him a visit from time to time to get some laughs.

Every day, he hates paper just a little more.....