Characters Needed: Brainstorming Viking NPCs

[roguerouge]

My player out!

My player's going to the arctic north to meet with the Vikings when they gather at the beginning of spring. This meeting, the Viking Thing, is used to resolve differences between clans, plan the upcoming warm season, men and women of different clans meeting to promote genetic diversity, and to deal with the outside world. The PC desires the Vikings to go on raids against slavers and the devil-worshipping nation they supply. The devil-worshipping nation is there to prevent this and even to get the Vikings to raid the PC's home islands. They sent a disguised Erinyes as their ambassador, with a fake ambassador as window-dressing.

So, I'm going to need your help creating interesting NPCs for her to meet and create allies out of. (More on plot and setting below.) What I need:

• An experienced guide for their various missions.
• Merchants or someone who sells to outlanders.
• Petty Chieftains to persuade.
• A chieftain charmed by the Erinyes.
• Some shamans.
• 1-3 very important persons.
• Extra bonus points: ideas for tests for people who wish to become a shaman, a war band leader or a chieftain.

The emphasis should be on a memorable RP quirk, a problem to be resolved, a complication, and a reason why they might vote to go raiding for either side. The PC will not likely fight any of these people, so it's edition-neutral.

Additional elements to play with: mammoths, white dragons, and skalds

[DrunkonDuty]

My first thought was a bunch of Vikings sitting around trying to come up with new ways to market themselves. 'We're in the Dark Ages now people, we need to keep ourselves relevent.'

anyway. Here's a bunch of NPCs from a campaign of mine. (most of them are Frost Giants in my game, but let's face it the only difference here is one of scale.)

Njal inn Halti (the Lame) A petty chieftain with modest holdings and a big family. He has 7 sons, all in their early teens and up. He hasn't enough land to split so he needs his sons to go raiding and find their fortune. He doesn't care who they raid just so long as they get to raid somewhere before they end up killing one another. (Kin Slaying carries terrible curses for the whole line.)

Sven Skinfaxi (Fairhair). A huge, blonde, handsome, charming fellow. He is bluff, open handed, easy going and friendly. An important chief, partly due to his battle prowess, partly due to his wealth and popularity. His wife is Blum Iceflower, a diminuative Frost Giantess, although at 8 feet tall she still over tops he husband by a foot! Sven is a decent fellow, for a viking, and would dislike Devils on principle. Sven and Blum had triplets just over a year ago. The children are fat and healthy and happy and pale blue (that's Frost Giant blood for you.) With everything well at home Sven is feeling the urge to rove for a while, he's not really cut out for farming.

Skali (Bald-Pate); Sjona (Seeress) and Skalpr (Gossip). These three ancient ladies (some would say hags) are the wise women of the Thing. Their advice is frequently uncomfortable but usually given great consideration by the rest of the Thing. They are not the nicest people: they are given to malicious gossip and particularly dislike pretty young women. They are rumoured to be witches. Of course they're bloody witches. But they're not all bad, they genuinely care for their people, just not necessarily all the people.

Gilling Jarnrazi (Iron Arse). A senior chief. An old man who spends most of his time talking about his youth and the battles he fought in and women he bedded. Nowadays all he really wants is a quiet life drinking with his carls. He has two sons, Olvadi by his first wife and Baugi by his second wife, Jarnsaxa (Iron Sword). Jarnsaxa constantly tries to undermine Olvadi's standing in the family so as to make her son the more favoured. Olvadi is a young trouble maker, constantly getting in fights. He is keen to get away from his doddering father and go a-viking. In truth he is not so different from his father at the same age. Baugi is a right bastard. Sneaky, greedy, manipulative. Would even try to get a likely PC to murder his older brother if he thinks he can get away with it.

Mundalfari; Ogeafu (Unlucky) Frodi; 'Knock-Kneed' Hermod (once called 'the Fleet') and Hvalbitr (Whale Biter). All house carls of Gilling Jarnrazi. All quite old. Much like their chief they have their own litters of ungrateful children. These children are friends of either Olvadi or Baugi.

Fenja Knarrarbringr (Ship-Bosom. That is to imply, er, large chested.) An important chieftain who took over the clan holdings after her husband died some years ago. She has been a much better chieftain than ever her husband was. No-nonsense, direct and blunt. She dislikes raiding, seeing it as a waste of young men's lives. She has two sons, Thiazi and Gundir both of whom are keen to go a-viking. They love their mother but, at 17 and 18, feel they are far too old to be tied by apron strings. They would be easily swayed by a clever and beautiful ambassador.

Hrolf Mjoksilglandi (Much Travelling/Sailing) A very experienced and successful raider. He is keen to raid someone this season. He would carefully judge risk vs. benefit before making his decision. His dragon ship is called Land Waster.

Gunnlodd Skinfaxi (Fairhair) No relation to Sven, Skinfaxi is a descriptive name, not a family name. She is famed for beauty and her coldness. She is a fearless and pitiless warrior. (she's actually a Black Guard in my game and chief carl of the Frost Giant King.) She goes a-viking not so much for the pillage as for the murder. She would go for the easier target, not because she is cowardly but because she enjoys sheering sheep.

Kolbrunrskald (Dark Browed Skald) As a skald he has free right to travel where he will and frequently works as a herald. He is quick witted and canny. He has also seen a great deal of life in his 30 odd years. A great deal of life here in the north anyway. He wouldn't mind travelling further and is always keen to meet people and hear tales and songs from distant lands. As a skald he is given a great deal of respect. Disrespectful types are subjected to his merciless sarcasm or maybe even made fun of in a song. Would make a good guide: knows everyone, knows all the gossip.

Merchants/Trades People
Ulfgar Torrunsen, Builder
Karli Erikssen, Brewer
Fjarli Ressen, Blacksmith
Knurli Kursdottar, Shoemaker
Donner Blitssen, Reindeer herder
Trall Iniksdottar, Merchant
Riek Fjarlssen, Tanner
Hildegard Helmsdottar, Inn Keeper
Kuluk Makarsdottar, Shipwrite
Thror Thorinssen, Weaponsmith

hope you like them. They've all been a bit of fun in my game.

[roguerouge]

Awesome! That's great. XP for you tomorrow!

[DrunkonDuty]

Your welcome.

[roguerouge]

Any other suggestions?

[cattoy]

Perhaps one of the shamans could have curiously tanned skin, dark hair and eyes. Assuming your vikings made it to the new world (assuming again that this is an analogue of the real world) then perhaps one of them found an orphan (or caused the child to become one) and took them back when they returned...

[samursus]

From an old BECM campaign I ran, we had a drunken skald(bard) from the Northern Reaches who composed epic sagas about the PCs... usually pointing out the humourous and less than noble highlights... if your rhyming skills are up to the challenge, it would be cool for the PC's to hear a stanza about themselves every now and then... keep it short, but as funny and perhaps not entirely truthful as you can.

[Ed_Laprade]

So, you're sending a party to ask Vikings to bust up a bunch of slave traders? Only if they get to keep the slaves themselves!

And XP for Drunkonduty! Excellent!!!

[roguerouge]

Yeah, yeah, yeah... I'm aware of the historical weirdness. Actually, it's weirder than that. Vikings will be injected into a situation in which slavers raid the islands while pirates raid shipping for both sides and the PC is a privateer who keeps the peace.

And why is there such a demand for slaves? Revolutionary democracy. On the mainland, there was a revolution by the working classes leading to a civil war with the devil-worshipping aristocracy. The result is that the aristocracy not only needs labor to do the work once done by the peasants, but also to fulfill "contractual obligations" to the devils and for the war effort. So, the civil war for human freedom tripled the demand for slaves.