If there's one thing that a CK can't get enough of, it's interesting NPC characters to bounce off of their player characters. Hirelings, locals in town, villains, allies, there's all sorts of potential here. So I thought that it might be a good idea to share some potential NPC characters for people to plug into their modules/campaigns, etc, etc. I also thought it might be a fun creative challenge to do so more or less on the fly, using random dice rolls to determine some of the details.
1.) Determine stats. Roll for Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis and Cha in that order. Use 4d6, drop the lowest for 'heroic' characters and 3d6 for 'ordinary' characters. I'll create one of each.
2.) Determine race. I'm going to use a d12 for this. 1-6 will give me a human, 7 will give me a half-elf, 8 will give me a half-orc, 9 will give me an elf, 10 a dwarf, 11 a halfling and 12 a gnome.
3.) Determine gender (1d4, 1-2 male, 3-4 female) and alignment (1d10, 1 is lawful good, 9 is chaotic evil and 10 means you choose). Determine level by rolling a 1d10. If you get a 10, reroll for class using a d20. For a 'non-heroic' NPC, determine HD by rolling a d6, with 1-4 equalling 1 HD, 5 meaning 2 HD and 3 meaning 3 HD.
4.) Choose class and primes. Non-Heroic NPCs do not get classes. (You can use NPC classes if you desire)
5.) Come up with a name, and a short paragraph about personality and motivations and another brief one about their occupation/role/etc.
Heroic NPC:
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 13 for stats. The race will be human, so no adjustment needed. 1, so it's a boy! 7, which means Lawful Evil. A bad boy, then. And I rolled a 10 on the level dice, so I'm rolling again with the d20 and I got an ... 18. Well, damn. A dangerous bad boy. A fairly major villain, most likely.
I'm going to make him a class-and-a-half character. He is an Level 18 Assassin/Level 9 Cleric. His Primes are going to be Dexterity, Wisdom and Charisma. I'm going to name him Vantas.
Vantas (LE Human)
Level 18/9 Assassin/Cleric
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 15, Cha 13
Primes: Dexterity, Wisdom, Charisma
Personality/Motivations: Vantas is a charming individual, who can fairly adeptly mask his ill-intentions with pleasant talk. He's not exactly the most intelligent individual, but he makes up for it with solid intuition and good people skills. He is ruthless when it comes to his objectives, and will stop at nothing to destroy any enemies he may make.
Occupation/Role: Vantas is the leader of a cult of Assassins surrounding a powerful lawful evil god, who serve him by slaying the enemies of their god. The party has unintentionally stepped into the path of the deadly assassin, and he and his minions have marked them for death ...
'Ordinary NPC':
Str 13, Dex 7, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 6, Cha 17 (Wow!) This person will also be a human, female and will have ... Chaotic Evil as an alignment, and 1 HD. As a human, she gets three primes. Strength, Intelligence and Charisma. Her name will be Rose.
Rose (CE Human)
Str 13, Dex 7, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 6, Cha 17
Primes: Strength, Intelligence, Charisma
Personality/Motivations: Rose is an incredibly beautiful woman, and people are drawn to her instinctively. Unfortunately for them, Rose is a serial killer who has already killed five men. She is rather vain, and tends to be single-minded when she's fixated on her targets. She will fly into a murderous rage if anyone says anything about her severely malformed right leg.
Occupation/Role: The low-level adventurers arrive in a town terrorized by a mysterious killer- whom the locals are sure is actually some sort of demon. Little do they know that the attractive barmaid at the King's Crown tavern is actually the killer- while she may limp along on a stumpy limb, she's quite deadly with a knife ...
And there we go! Two NPCs that you can feel free to rip off of!
Let's Create Some NPCs
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KaiserKris
- Red Cap
- Posts: 300
- Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:53 am
- Location: Manitoba, Canada
Re: Let's Create Some NPCs
Pedigree (NE Human)
Level: 2/4 Paladin-Ranger
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 6, Cha 14
Primes: Strength, Constitution, Charisma
Personality/Motivations: Pedigree was a champion, destined for greatness and in the prime of his life. He gave it up... for love. When he learned that his daughter had been captured, taken by a deviant cult of goblin-worshipers, he felt a burning rage that became overwhelming. He hunted them, using all contacts he had made through the years and when he found them... he massacred them. But he was too late. The sight of what had been done to his child, the agony he could not prevent, made his core unwind and he broke all ties to the life he knew becoming a hermit deep in the trenches at the Root of the Mountain. He now takes pleasure in the murder and mutilation of his hated foe and their "deity," delighting in their wallowing throes. He has abandoned the goodly things, those which he admired and were admired in him by others. Around young females, he is both overprotective and moody. His low Wisdom score is a product of divine retribution, a double curse for his blasphemy to his own god and the dying words of an enemy -- Pedigree would like to be restored but he does not know how, or if, it is possible.
Occupation/Role: An expert tracker, Pedigree shows interest only in keeping the encroachment of evil humanoids at bay. He does not adventure, but he does know the locations of numerous encampments and will help rid the world of them... if only he had the means.
Level: 2/4 Paladin-Ranger
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 11, Wis 6, Cha 14
Primes: Strength, Constitution, Charisma
Personality/Motivations: Pedigree was a champion, destined for greatness and in the prime of his life. He gave it up... for love. When he learned that his daughter had been captured, taken by a deviant cult of goblin-worshipers, he felt a burning rage that became overwhelming. He hunted them, using all contacts he had made through the years and when he found them... he massacred them. But he was too late. The sight of what had been done to his child, the agony he could not prevent, made his core unwind and he broke all ties to the life he knew becoming a hermit deep in the trenches at the Root of the Mountain. He now takes pleasure in the murder and mutilation of his hated foe and their "deity," delighting in their wallowing throes. He has abandoned the goodly things, those which he admired and were admired in him by others. Around young females, he is both overprotective and moody. His low Wisdom score is a product of divine retribution, a double curse for his blasphemy to his own god and the dying words of an enemy -- Pedigree would like to be restored but he does not know how, or if, it is possible.
Occupation/Role: An expert tracker, Pedigree shows interest only in keeping the encroachment of evil humanoids at bay. He does not adventure, but he does know the locations of numerous encampments and will help rid the world of them... if only he had the means.