How to play a cleric of adventuring and risks?

[zyzzyr]

Hello,

I've recently introduced a new NPC to my group without being fully prepared to handle the repercussions. He is a cleric of Norebo, the god of Gambling, Luck, and Risks. I've intended to introduce him as someone who will push my very conservative players to take a few more chances.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite sure how to play "smart risks". I don't want him to be stupid risky - he wouldn't think taking on a nest of red dragons single-handedly is a good idea unless there was a fair shot that he would win. Also, he's not above stealing (it's exciting), but he only steals from those who can spare. Lastly, he doesn't really enjoy the evil side of things - yes, it's risky to make a pact with the devil, but this fellow is more about good times and such.

This NPC is designed to enjoy the thrill of the risk, the thrill of adventuring. You know the type IRL - will play chicken, go skydiving - a real thrillseeker. He also likes bringing elements of risk into other people's lives.

So what I'm looking for are some rather risky things for him to do, or encourage, but not stupid risky. What I have so far: "Sure, we're not fully healed up, and the BBEG is on the other side of the door - but that's half the fun!" "Like my armor? Got it from a friend of a friend of a friend ... I mean I stole it." "You want us to take an illegal shipment of gems through this city? Sure!" But I'm kind of at a loss other than that.

Added on edit: I forgot to mention that he has been introduced as seemingly half-mad. He was a prisoner of a group that tortured him for months, and his response to that is "it was fun for the first week". His prayers are also quite loud and informal, as if he was talking to a buddy instead of his god. He will regularly curse his god, and then apologize, and then accuse the god of playing tricks with him, and so on. When the PCs asked what he was good for, he replied "I cast spells. Ooga-booga ooga!" with the appropriate hand-wavings. Think the Irish bloke from Braveheart.

Any suggestions?

 

[hong]

This sounds like potentially the most annoying NPC I've heard of. It's like a kender but medium instead of small-sized.

If you want your players to adopt a more swashbuckling attitude, talk to them outside the game. Dropping "hints" via NPCs as you intend is not going to work. At best they'll go along grudgingly and then yell at him the first time they get their butts kicked as a result. At worst they'll kill him and take his stuff.

 

[zyzzyr]

Well, the keyword there is "potentially".

I do *not* want to make him kender-like. He's a thrillseeker, not an idiot. He's actually quite intelligent.

I've talked to the PCs - I'm not trying to "hint" - but the problem is that only 1 of the 6 players has ever played an RPG before. They're terrified of everything. So the only way to show them that they don't need to be so conservative is to pull in an NPC that is a risk-taker. He'll take a beating, and keep on ticking. They see that they don't need to be so cautious, that it's ok if you get beaten badly every now and then.

So basically my question I suppose is "how do I do this *without* making him annoying?" And so far, nobody's found him annoying -- actually they think he's quite funny.

 

[bekkilyn_rpg]

I played a cleric of Tymora, goddess of luck in the Forgotten Realms setting, and it was fun. One of the things I did at times to make things interesting or introduce more chance was introduce a coin into my dice bag and on certain occasions based on whim, I'd flip the coin to decide what her decision would be if it was a choice of two things. Also, sometimes I would have her randomly pick a spell to use in battle or pick at least one spell a session which would be fun to use even if it wasn't always the most optimized for that encounter.

Something neat my DM did was give her a mace which had connections to Tymora (can't remember offhand what it was called) but on a successful hit, I would roll the dice to see what effect it would do. It had a lot of different effects. Some related to damage and others which would do things like turn my character purple. I was hoping to get that one at least once, but alas, I never did get that one. It was fun finding out what would happen though.

And of course on other occasions, she would take what she would think would be the wisest course, so *every* decision doesn't have to be luck or chance. If such were the case, then it would be predictable and that wouldn't be any fun at all!

 

[clark411]

What I have so far: "Sure, we're not fully healed up, and the BBEG is on the other side of the door - but that's half the fun!"

He's a thrillseeker, not an idiot. He's actually quite intelligent.

One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just isn't the same...

 

[Kesh]

Make him a derring-do swashbuckler type personality. "What 10 of them and four of us? Rather unfair, don't you think? We won't even work up a sweat!"

Bravado, gallantry, and a winning smile would be his way. Think Duncan MacCleod from Highlander... always sticking his neck out for his friends, tossing out witty one-liners, helping those in need and always running off into danger. Not afraid to take from those who don't deserve their rewards, but generous to those who need it.

 

[Conaill]

I would play this mostly as a matter of attitude, not as a matter of actions.

I.e. he'll be just as cautious about getting into a dangerous situation as anyone else... but he'll actually be looking forward to it!

A thrillseeker is somebody who enjoys skydiving. But somebody who thinks it would be even more enjoyable if he didn't check his parachute first is just a bloody idiot...

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Making him a swashbuckler in attitude is a good bit of advice. Trust your luck! Go for glory! Have him jump on tables and recklessly fight overwhelming odds!

(Hint: Make sure the odds only LOOK overwhelming when giving him these challenges)