NPCs in the Playground

[Tormsskull]

Hi everyone,

Not sure if anyone has tried something like this before, but I think it would be cool to compile a list of NPCs for use by GMs. Often times NPCs can lead to interesting plot hooks, stories, or rumors that can interest the party in one way or another.

If you want to submit an NPC try to follow the template so they are all somewhat uniformed. If there is enough interest in this I'll update this post with a list of the submissions and their submitter.

Template
NPC Name
Race: The NPC's race.
Profession: What profession, role, class is the NPC?
Physical Description: What does the NPC look like?
History: Events that the NPC has participated in, what they have accomplished in their life up to this point, etc.
Motivations: What motivates the NPC? What are its goals?
Plot Hooks: How can DMs plug this NPC into their game?
Notes: Anything else the DM should know.

If you want to include a stat block (using whatever system the NPC was created in) you can do that too, but you don't have to.

Here's one:

Lord Adam Ahmstar
Race: 1/2 Elf.
Profession: Lord, adventurer.
Physical Description: Adam stands at 5'10 and weight in just under 200 pounds. He is dressed in the finest clothes of the area, and always wears a rapier at his side. Adam wears a golden necklace around his neck, and when not adventuring he dresses for comfort.
History: Adam's father, Grebel, was a powerful lord before Adam was born, having a large estate and being a very vocal member of the ruling party. When Grebel's wife was killed by a rival noble, Grebel lost it and had a full-scale war against that noble. During that time he met a beautiful elven woman and ended up marrying her. A couple of years later Adam was born.

Adam was given the best teachers, the most recent books, and left in the care of a team of nannys while Grebel and his wife explored the world. As such, Adam grew up detached from his parents and somewhat of a loner. As he neared his early teen years he discovered he had a natural psychic ability, and tried to foster it as much as possible. As a young man he developed those powers and used them to enhance his favored fighting style, lightly armored and equipped with a rapier.

Bored and rich, he was eventually sought out by a group of adventurers to finance one of their missions. He thought the group had a lot of merit, and so he offered to finance the mission as long as they'd take him along. They agreed and he was soon exploring the world and learning much about it.
Motivations: Adam is motivated by things of beauty, art, music, writings, and uses his wealth to secure such things. Shortly after he tends to get bored and then try to find the next exciting thing around. Such a life tends to be very expensive, and he supplements the money he makes from his estate with the treasures he secures from his adventures.
Plot Hooks:
1.) As a purveyor of collectibles, Adam could employ the PCs to track down an item of artistic beauty, or if any of the PCs are skilled in making artwork, he could comission one of them to craft him something.
2.) The PCs could run into Adam on the site of an ancient ruin or city, looking for artifacts and collectibles.
3.) The PCs could be the victims of theft if they carry any type of artwork, and if they track down the thief they see that he was employed by someone that Adam employed to find artifacts. If he is shown proof of such activities he apologizes to the group and fires that associate of his.
Notes: Adam Ahmstar was created in 2ed AD&D rules. He was a fighter/some type of psionic guy that was heavily house-ruled.


Submissions:

Lord Adam Ahmstar - Tormsskull
Theirn Rocklehoff - TheGrimace
Ardjuna - AKA Bait
Jack Reidbord - AKA Bait
Bringle - dragonprime
Champagne Delray - Tormsskull
Martin Pale - psychoticbarber
Suram Nar - Logic
Firiol Kiirtaanen - Logic
Slaar Razorspine - Tormsskull
Thug One, Two, Three - Bisected8
Melinkular Gniyonna - ufo
Peter Sunheart - Maryring

[TheGrimace]

Theirn Rocklehoff
Gnome Male
Defense Expert (Rogue 2 illusionist 3)

Theirn is a mountain of a gnome, standing at 3'9" and weighing in at just over 50lbs. His short deck red hair and beard give him a rather intimidating look, but he is a gnome through and through, and would rather laugh at a problem than deal with it. He is always seen well dressed, well fed, and generally well off.

Theirn makes his fortune installing traps, locks, and other defense mechanisms into homes, and is known to be the best around at it. He recently invented the glass golem trap (see below), which has become a huge hit among shop owners. He travels with an entourage of Human and Halfling Rogues, which "test" his defenses, to make sure they are impassable.

Many people fear that Theirn is a cabal leader of a thieves guild. Since he employs so many people who specialize in breaking into houses, it is found hard to believe by most that he doesn't do some shady work in his spare time.

Glass golem Trap Cr 1/2
touch mechanism
Attack roll +5 melee touch
damage: 1d6 (+1 splash damage)

a 5 pound glass figure (which is usually shaped oddly similar to a lawn gnome) is placed in a banister above the target square, when someone touches the trigger, a mage hand spell knocks it off, and it plummets toward it's target.

plot hooks
Theirn just got hired to build defenses for a dungeon that a local noble has just purchased. When he got there, however, he found that many monsters from the nearby woods had moved in and made nests. He would love fore someone to go clear it out for him. (typical dungeon encounter)

or...

Theirn finally snapped. After rigging the mayors mansion with defenses, he and his cronies simply decided not to leave. Now this house is filled with traps, rogues, and one angry illusionist. The PC's could be heroes if they could bring his hide to justice, with minimal collateral damage.

[Matthew]

Great idea to start another of these, it's been a while. I will have to think of something to contribute.

[Tormsskull]

Great idea to start another of these, it's been a while. I will have to think of something to contribute.

Cool, I look forward to adding it to the list.

[AKA_Bait]

Ardjuna
Race: Orc
Profession: Fighter/Aristocrat
Physical Description: Ardjuna is a mostly average looking Orc with light green skin and overlong front fangs. He wears well maintained robes of red and gold.
History: Ardjuna's orc village was raided by adventurers as a child. Rather than embittering him toward them, the death of his abusive parents at their hands made him look up toward adventurers instead. Spared by the adventurers, he followed them around for a while. They refused to train him, but didn't have the heart to chase him off or kill him either, so as time passed he picked up a few things watching their combats and occasionally even assisting them.
When the band retired a few years later he decided to return to his own people and see how he could apply what he had learned. Finding a tiny orc village he moved in and quickly rose to a position of authority through the marital prowess he had learned on his travels.

Motivations: Ardjuna simply wants his orc tribe to live in peace with the surrounding community as well as to have some decent land upon which to farm. He knows that raiding other settlements is likley to bring the wrath of adventurers and having seen what some can do, wants no part of that. However, his tribe must keep moving closer and closer to human lands to avoid being assaulted by other orcs who have no such philosophy.

Plot Hooks:
A. The PC's hear rumors of a band of orcs that have been seen passing not far from the village. Smoke has been seen around 2 days march off through the plains.
B. A local druid asks the PC to clear up an infestation of orcs that has sprung up dangerously close to the wood in which he keeps the grove. He will not approach the orcs himself for fear that they will kill him.
C. The PCs recieve a message asking for help. They are requested to meet someone outside of a nearby town. Ardjuna is the one who sent the message and is requesting the PCs aide in stemming the attacks on his village being made as a result of a reward posted by the local lord to clear all the orcs out of the kingdom.

[AKA_Bait]

Ok, here's another. This is fun!

JName: Jack Reidbord
Race: Human Male
Profession: Sorc 1 OR Sorc 1 / Expert 5
Physical Description: A human boy looking to be in his early teens with dirty black hair and bedraggled clothing. He is the son of the local dry goods shopkeep named Dale Reidbord and not dirty so much because of extreme poverty but because he's just that kind of kid.

OR:

A middle aged man with short cropped black hair and a thin beard. He wears typical workmans clothes, clean but not sparklingly so. He seems to squint a bit. Although his clothing is not perfectly maintained, the dry Goods store he stands behind the counter of has been kept immaculate, as if by magic.

History: He is just beginning to discover his sorcereous powers and doesn't really know what to do with them. At this point he is just a teenager reluctant to accept the responsiblity of his father's store and consquentially getting into little bits of harmless mischief here and there.

OR:

His life has not been particularly eventful. As a teen he realized that he was granted a aptitude for magic but with no teacher to help him harness his potential he eventually just took over running his fathers store. His little bits of magic, such a prestidigtation, keep the shelves sparkling clean and the merchandise looking fresh. His three greatest moments of excitement weere his wedding day, the birth of his child Dale, and three years ago when he helped fight off an attack upon the town by a small raiding party of goblins. The last one was the first time he had used his magic for more than dusting or flavoring Dale's milk like chocolate in years and was exhilirating.

Motivations: Jack's motivations and goals are no diffrent from most teenagers in that the motivations range from self amusement to romantic interest and the goals are practically non-existant. Jack doesn't know what he wants to do with his future but he knows that running a dry goods shop is BOR-ING. Sometimes he dreams of being a gallant knight other times a famous bard with all the ladies swooning. Each time the PC's ask, he will have a diffrent dream.

OR:

His motivations are fairly simple and commonplace. He wants a safe and happy village for his family to live in and his son to grow up in. Ultimatley, he wants more for his son than he has. Dry Goods keeps the family fed and pays the royal taxes but in the end it is still BOR-ING.


Plot Hooks:

1) As the party is walking through town the paladin's armor suddenly turns orange with purple polkadots. The party can hear a small group of boys sniggering under the shadowy overhang of a dry goods store on the far side of the street.

2) Passing through a small town the local fruitseller stops the party and asks if they can help with a vegetable plague he's been having. He can't explain it, but every so often his produce will change color for a while, move itself around, and he will hear odd sounds eminating from his stand. He thinks a ghost might be tormenting him for something.

3) Outside a dry goods shop is a teenage boy and around a dozen girls all smiling and laughing at jokes he tells. Across the street sits a sullen boy who asks the party to give him romantic advice, since they are big heros and would know that kind of thing. Jack is the popular boy, having Charmed most of the girls in town that are his age.

OR:

4) The party recieves a message from a small village. A shopkeeper there is requesting help in finding out why the shipments of flour and salt to his village have dried up. Nothing has come into town in over a month. If you use both stages of life for Jack then he requests them by name.


Notes:

The idea with this NPC is to give the PCs a snippet of what life might have been like for their character under diffrent circumstances. Ideally, you would use BOTH stages of life for Jack. If the party consists of long lived races, Elves, Dwarves, Half-Elves and the like, at low levels they can pass through the town and deal with the little 'teenager pulling pranks' plot hooks and probably give the kid a stern lecture. Years later, when they are passing through the town again, or get a message from a dry goods merchant they hardly remember, they should become aware that this is the same person they remember as a teenager now grown into a man, leading an ordinary life.

Spells Jack Knows:
0: Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Acid Splash
1: Charm Person, Magic Missile

Spells per day:
0: 5
1: 4

He has a familiar, an unnamed cat. He isn't even aware that the familiar is in fact a familiar. At the early stage of life if asked about it he will say the cat just showed up one day and started following him around. He's keeping it but it's not allowed to sleep inside according to his father. At the later stage of life he will seem surprised that the PC's ask about the cat. He doesn't really think about it, although it's been around for years. "Huh, I guess it is pretty old for a cat... still seems spry enough though."

[DraPrime]

Bringle
Race: Halfling
Profession: Warmage 6
Physical Description: Bringle has short black hair. He has a fair amount of scars, and a tattoo on his wrist that looks like this:
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb22/dragonprime/KrastorianGuard.jpg
This tattoo is a symbol of his membership in the Krastorian Guard, an organization that is trying to destroy slavery in the dwarven Kravak Empire.
History: Bringle was captured in a slave raid by dwarves. For some years he served as a simple cleaning slave, but during an orc attack Bringle escaped. He found the Krastorian Guard who took him in. There he learned his battle magic. Bringle is currently fighting in a guerilla war
Motivations: Bringle is determined to bring down the Kravak Empire. His time as a slave made him vengeful and bitter.
Plot Hooks: If some sort of freedom fighter is needed than feel free to use this little guy.
Notes: None

[Tormsskull]

Champagne Delray
Race: Human
Profession: By day, Champagne (real name Alanna) works for a small tailoring shop, fitting noble women for dresses and other attire. By night she is an assassin, stalking the streets for her targets and ending their lives with incredible precision.
Physical Description: Champagne stands at 5'6" and weighs about 105 pounds. She has light brown hair and emerald green eyes. During the day she dresses very modestly, appearing as a simple seamstress. During the night she wears a black ninja garb that covers her body and conceals her features. Complete with a cloth hood that covers her face, her identity and even gender are obscured.
History: Champagne is a very accomplished assassin, having taken out over one-hundred targets in her career. She has been an assassin since she was trained by a renegade nina named Valence at the age of 15. Now, at the age of 27, she has attained significant wealth (hidden around in various places and investments), magnificent equipment (Razor-edged ninja blades and several rare gadgets), and a cadre of loyal friends.

Champagne rescued Prince Owen Trevor from the grips of a blue dragon named Blitz, securing the heir to the throne of Belaran, and increasing her fame and resources significantly. She also is the reigning champion of the secret Celestial Arena south-east of the town of Pordo, having been bestowed the title by the resident angels when she slew a massive dinosaur with 1 bolt.
Motivations: Champagne is motivated by her desire to increase her wealth and her fame, and by little else. She is not particularly good-hearted, but nor is she evil. She helps her friends when it does not inconvenience herself too much to do so, and she has a penchant for appearing out of no where in the nick of time to save the day (or end it). Her martial prowess and incredible skill in acrobatics has earned her the title "Death from Above" from the primitive peoples of the north.
Plot Hooks: Champagne can bring intrigue, deception, stealth, trickery, and other nefarious activities thickly into any campaign that she is introduced. If the PCs are powerful enough to warrant someone of her reputation being hired to target them, she might be used as an assassin to divide and conquer the PCs. She could also be hired simply as a spy to report back on the PCs activities.
Notes: Champagne was created in 3rd edition D&D as a rogue/homebrewed ninja PrC class. She is around 10th level, but could be altered to suit a campaign, and focused much of her skills/money on being able to avoid any entanglements. If the PCs meet her at night or when she is working (and thus dressed in her ninja garb), don't describe her as a female, as her equipment doesn't reveal the curves of her body or her face.

I used her once in a mystery plot, where the PCs see her assassinate someone and try to track her down, but she avoids them. After, they are commissioned by the lord of the land to do a bit of detective work trying to track down the mysterious assassin. In my experience, the PCs completely overlooked the possibility the the seamstress could be a trained killer.

[psychoticbarber]

Martin Pale
Lawful Evil Human Wizard, in his current incarnation he's a bastard of an enchanter.

Character
He's always a little different, but the main points are always the same: He is the brilliant nemesis. If you're familiar with Sherlock Holmes, he's Moriarty; If you're familiar with Doctor Who, he's the Master: Always intelligent, usually one step ahead of the heroes, and extremely difficult to finish off.

I've run him as an NPC three times, each time a little bit differently. The one player of mine who has played in all three campaigns said, "The first time I heard the name Martin Pale, I thought nothing of it. The second time, I was cautious. The third time, I feared for my characters life before we even met him."

I really like the character because he's so reusable. Well, and it's fun to put in a random NPC named "Martin Pale", like a peasant, and watch my players freak out. :smallbiggrin:

[Logic]

NOTE: Classes and levels withheld so they may batter fit any campaign.

Suram Nar
Race: Human Male
Profession: Cartographer, Adventurer, Herbalist, Former Slave
Physical Description: Standing a mere 5'2" tall, and weighing just over 100 lbs, Suram Nar is small when compared to most males, even so for his ethnicity, which are known for being smaller. He had dark olive skin, a shaved head, and his body is decorated in tattoos. The one one his back appears to be a royal seal of some sort. (Knowledge Nobility and Royalty DC 20 to identify it as "noble mark of property", 25 to identify who the owner is.)
History: Once a slave, Suram was freed from captivity when a group of bandits or adventurers1 raided a keep while the owner was away. Suram was permitted to go with them, and found that they were in possesion of a ship. He bagan to study maps, and eventually became the second mate. When the ship began to turn to piracy, Suram left the ship to pursue exploring so he could produce more accurate maps of the area surrounding Lancaster.
Motivations: Suram will not tolerate any ideas of banditry nor piracy in his presence. He also will do anything short of harming others to avoid going back to his former master. He prizes his maps as his most valued possesions, and is quite fond of his herbs. He has many copies of each map, hoping to be able to sell them. He would be interested in obtaining more maps to explore more areas, especially ones showing significant oddieties such as a dragon's lair, or old temple.
Plot Hooks: Suram could have a valuable map the PCs need, know how to administer a special antidote to a specific poison, or have knowledge of a group of bandits in the region.
Notes: Suram is a former slave of a Vampire.

1 (It depends on who you hear the story from, Suram, or the Keep owner)

Firiol Kiirtaanen
Race: High Elf Male
Profession: Cook, Healer, occasional Adventurer.
Physical Description: Standing 5'9" tall, and weighing over 200 lbs, Firiol is quite possibly the fattest Elf ever to walk the face of creation. Other than his girth, he has all of the features you would expect from a typical elf, the clothing, the ears, the rich skin color, the well kept hair.
History: Firiol discovered cooking at a very young age. Despite all of his other fascinations, cooking remained his passion, and has contributed to his wieght. Firiol lives a mostly sedentary lifestyle, and after a few years of adventuring, married a petetite human woman, and bought a home above a restaraunt, eventually becoming the main chef, and eventually owning the restauraunt itself.
Motivations: Firiol will try any food once, and if he likes it, attempt to recreate it himself. He prefers to keep a low profile, since the usual tavern dwellers would not appreciate the food he prepares. He has minor talent at the divine arts, so he can often cast "purify food and drink" allowing him to use older recipie components when supplies begin to dwindle.
Plot Hooks: Firiol could replace your standard inkeeper or barkeep when the PCs have money to blow. He could be under suspiscion for food poisoning, and the PCs have to rescue him from an angry mob.
Notes: Firiol keeps a stash of assorted expensive spices (500 GP, 10 lbs) in his kitchen.

[Tormsskull]

Slaar Razorspine
Race: Lizardfolk
Profession: Warrior-Chieftain
Physical Description: Slaar Razorspine stands at seven feet tall, has bulging muscles, and has a sunken-in face that looks more human than lizard. He has everal scars that line his body, evidence of has hard life. His eyes are an errie shade of blue, and his teeth are brownish.
History: Slaar began life as a commoner in his tribe that made their homes in the north-east, in the swamp lands. Life was hard there, and the terrain, predators, and other lizardfolk clans constantly challenged his daily life. As he grew older he became very strong, and decided that the life of a warrior was what he wanted. When he was fully an adult he decided to set off on his own and explore the world.

Eventually he discovered a group of humans, and after their initial trepidation, one of the members of the group spoke Draconic to him, which he of course understood. The group, short one of their members due to a recent death, decided to take him as an adventuring companion. He continually impressed the group with his great strength and skill with his long spear.

After learning much and aquiring some magical equipment, the group broke apart, as the humans wanted to spend their vast wealth to live the life of luxury. Slaar still had the adventurer's spirit within him, and sought out another group to join. After sometime and no luck, he traveled back to his village and discovered that much had changed.

A weakling had somehow taken up the mantle of chieftain of the village, and was aided by one of the shamans of the tribe. Slaar challenged this chieftain to a fight for leadership of the tribe, and even though the shaman supported the chieftain, Slaar slew him. When the chieftain died, Slaar slew the shaman as well, depositing both of their bodies into the great river to the north east.

As chieftain of the tribe, Slaar expanded the tribe's territory and resources in several skirmishes with the surrounding humanoids. His tribe was visited by a group of adventurers who were seeking out knowledge of the surrounding area. Out of curiosity, Slaar abdicated his position as chieftain and left to explore with the adventurers.

Through several years of adventuring with this group, Slaar discovered that he and his people were descendant of an ancient type of dragons. His exposure to a powerful stationary artifact caused his body to change, shrinking in his face a bit, causing his body to grow wings, and bestowing upon him a source of energy that ran through his veins.

Learning more about the energy he was able to channel it through his spear and shoot solid beams of energy at his enemies, and eventually learned how to assume the form of his ancestors (a dragon form).
Motivations: Slaar is motivated by his desire to seek vengance upon Sandro the Silver Saint. Sandro was one of the members of his later adventuring group, and while they at first became good friends, it was Sandro's hand that slew Slaar's son. The child, thought to become a powerful force for evil, died during a ceremony in which Sandro tried to cleanse his soul, but Slaar never forgave him for it. Slaar is also motivated about learning as much as he can about his ancestors.

Plot Hooks: A young Slaar could be used as a guide through a swamp that the PCs need to traverse, or could be encountered when the PCs try to travel through the swamp and challenge one of the fighter-types to a fight. An older Slaar would have his hands in much more important things, such as securing powerful magic items in lost tombs, or flying overhead (usually in dragon form) and scouting for opportunities.
Notes: Slaar was created in 2nd edition AD&D with Player's Options line of books. He started off as a stright fighter that specialized in the spear, and eventually became a homebrew special class that earned him his other powers.

[BisectedBrioche]

I've never DM's a game before but I've got these lying around. Three lovable (but ultimately useless and unnamed) semi-heroic thugs;

Thug One
Race: Orc
Profession: Commoner 3/Barbarian 2. Along with number's three and two he travels looking for various work.
Physical Description: Fairly lightly built for a Half-Orc (though not detrimentally so) speaks both common and orc in a voice which seems unusually deep and low, even for his race. Aged 24, 5' 6", 157lb.
History: Thug One was born in a small town (called Waterstone) to a human mother and an unknown orc father (most likely from a nearby orc village). The townsfolk (who were unusually tolerant of orcs because of frequent trading with said nearby village) were largely supportive of the single mother however there was a minority who (for various reasons) hated orcs. Some were simply intolerant, some were simple troublemakers but none had any bad experiences of orcs outside of the occasional bad deal. At the age of 15 (the night of his birthday) One was kidnapped and sold to a passing slave trader. Although the culprits were widely suspected nothing was proven until One returned to the village along with Two and Three some years later.

Thug Two
Race: Human
Profession: Expert 2/Wizard 3. Along with number's three and One he travels looking for various work.
Physical Description: Two is possible the least memorable person alive. He has short light brown hair, a plain face and stands at 5'8" weighing 124lb. He is aged 26. He speaks common and (very broken) Elven.
History: As far as two was concerned he was the best guard in the town of Woodstone. While this wouldn't be unlikely (there were, after all, only 5 guards in the entire settlement) it was far from the truth. While he was approachable enough to the town's residents Two was a notoriously poor investigator (a popular local legend in Woodstone held that he once had his own uniform stolen, only to buy it back from the local tailor as a pillow case and to this day is still none the wiser). When a series of easily solvable thefts struck the town he identified the thief within a week and took it upon himself to bring him to justice. To this end he began studying magic to aid his enquiries (although some say he simply believed that being a wizard would automatically make him more intelligent).

Thug Three
Race: Halfling
Profession: Commoner 3/Rogue 2. Along with number's Two and One he travels looking for various work.
Physical Description: A heavily built Halfling with dark hair and a clumsy disposition.
History: Three was born into a family of experienced thieves in the small village of Woodstone. Unfortunately his clumsiness and large build (meaning he was much more suitable for a fighter) coupled with his low intelligence (he wore a brightly coloured jacket at all times, even "on the job") to make the worst thief possible (ranking somewhere in between a glow in the dark orc and a local tailor who attempted to sell a police officer his own uniform). Luckily the local law enforcement considered him "not worth the effort". However one fateful day Three left his jacket at a crime scene, a clue not even the village's head watchman could ignore through pity. As a result the worst officer was put on the case and after a week long game of cat and mouse Three was finally captured and put in the cells, to the disappointment of the entire village who had been quite enjoying the "chase". The unfortunate Halfling became the third person in the villages entire history to be held in the cells of woodstone jail.

Characters' History
One day in the village of Woodstone a slave trader entered. He was promptly arrested after boasting about his complacency in a kidnapping after a few drinks in the local tavern. After a brief interrogation he admitted Thomas, his half-Orc captive (who had just become the first slave to be freed in the village), was from the nearby village of Waterstone. Realising that they had an opportunity for some peace and quiet (and realising even he couldn't fail) they set Richard "Pillowcase" Dullglass (Officer 0002) the task of escorting the displaced young man home. As the town's jail had reached its limit (only having enough room for two prisoners at any time) the jailer released the thief Harry Softfoot into Dullglass' custody (his parents bribed him in the hope that Harry would become more competent if he experienced more of the world, as parents often do).

On arriving in the town they found from the local guard that the individuals responsible for One's abrupt trip had heard of his return (Dullglass' failed attempt at making Tom invisible hardly helped) and fled almost immediately. Annoyed by their failure the trio vowed to track them down. After briefly saying his hellos and goodbyes to the residents One departed with two and three to exact his revenge.

Plot Hooks

In their search for the kidnapper the Thugs will take whatever work they need, either to further their investigation or simply to earn enough to cover their expenses. Example encounters include;


Hired by the PCs antagonist
Trapped in a dungeon while searching for loot
Asking around a town looking for leads
Doing casual labour for commoners and the like

[ufo]

Template
Melinkular Gniyonna

... is an unspcrupolous elven merchant. He denies the elven cliché of good-willed tree loving elves. He's shorter than elves normally, and tends to dress in fancy purple clothing to display his richdom. His ears are a tad longer than normal for elves. He has blonde, half-long hair and green eyes.

Melinkular was a trader for some time in a small village, when it was discovered by an adventurer that he helped another nations war efforts against the current nation by smuggling weapons. He was forced to flee when the adventurer couldn't catch him. A bounty was put on him. (Not a dead or alive bounty. An alive bounty).

Later, the same adventurer found him supporting the rival nations war efforts again, and this time he was caught and beaten senseless. The adventurer let him go after taking his money. Ever since, Melinkular always looked over his shoulder, to see if anyone was following him. He doesn't work well physically with his left arm anymore, which isn't much of a problem as he rarely works physically anyways.

While Melinkular is extraordinarily unfortunate, with accidents happening to him often, his goal generally is to become rich. He will often support illegal activities, as long as they pay out. He owns businesses and general stores.

Plot Hooks: If Melinkular is in the area of a conflict, he's most likely un-officially supporting one side. Both sides, if it's proffitable.

Notes: Melinkular is unlikely to carry weapons, but very likely to have at least one bodyguard with him at all times, due to his unfortunate experiences.

[DracoDei]

Ok, here's another. This is fun!

JName: Jack Reidbord
Race: Human Male
Profession: Sorc 1 OR Sorc 1 / Expert 5


I absolutely LOVE the everydayness of this... touches like this add depth to the world. It bends some of the rules about familiar summoning, but that is OK.

[Maryring]

This is an interesting NPC, or at least he is in my opinion. Mostly because he breaks the angelic stereotype.

Name: Peter Sunheart.
Race: Advanced Musteval Guardinal Rogue (Neutral Good exemplar outsider)
Profession: Spy, Hero, Friend
Physical description: Peter looks similar to a regular Musteval. Short and covered in white fur. He is stouter, and a bit taller than a regular Musteval too. He is usually clothed in a dull black cloak, brown pants and a brown vest. He wears a belt in which he carries his tools. He has a scar going from his left shoulder, reaching to his chest from his battles against followers of evil.
History: Peter has lived a long time, and has thus been involved in many adventures. His most recent adventure was the infiltration of a cult worshipping a powerful creature of unknown nature. Since then he has been mostly calm, looking out for some of the people he has saved the last decade.
Motivation: Peter adventures because he enjoys helping people. He likes it when people are grateful towards him, as it gives him a sense of purpose. He cares little for wealth or power, and shows a lot of concern for all individuals he meet.
Plot Hooks: Peter could be looking for someone to adventure with, or he could have found a problem on his own, but needs help fixing it. He is not afraid of asking a fellow adventurer for help. He could also be in need of rescuing, seeing as he constantly pokes his nose into danger.
Notes: Peter is an advanced musteval. Meaning that he has 6 HD, instead of the regular 2. He also has at least 1 level of Rogue. He is still Tiny in size though. Personalitywise, he is very down to earth, with a speech pattern more resembling a common mortal rogue than a paragon of virtue. Though he rarely swears, he can be sarcastic and cynical when facing stuck ups, regardless of their actual alignment. He does not have much patience for idiocy either, though he understands that there are people who just don't have the same mental capacity as he do.