PC and NPC Secrets - Looking for Suggestions

[Olaf the Stout]

To try and add a bit more depth to my next campaign I am encouraging my players to come up with secrets for their PC’s. I was thinking of things that you wouldn't share in general conversation, but that will likely come out at some point in the campaign.

I’ve had a bit of a search around on the internet and couldn’t really find much, so I was wondering if EN World might be able to help me come up with some suggestions.

Some examples I thought of are:

Close relative or friend was a notorious villain
Accidentally killed a sibling when they were a child
Hates a sub-type of their own race (e.g. a Wood Elf who hates Grey Elves)

What other secrets have you used in a campaign or can you think of? I’m also trying to think of secrets to use for my NPC’s as well as the PC’s, so any suggestions for them are also appreciated.

Olaf the Stout

 

[fba827]

* made a deal with the devil. Mind you it need not be a literal devil, but they made some promise, to someone, in exchange for a favor (possibly a favor to help others if not themselves). And they have to do something unpleasant as a return favor (or the return favor was just listed as "i'll let you know when i need a return favor' sort of thing depending on how desperate the person was in the first place.

* my familiar here is really my own brother. i cursed him... by accident. but i feel shame about it and don't want to tell anyone. yet, i will take a few unnecessary risks to find a cure for him but i don't want to actually explain to people why i am taking such risks

* i have latent psionic powers (or sorcerer powers or warlock powers - whatever the PC can 'dabble' in that might otherwise have a social stigma attached to it for the general society if he displays it in public

* i was once a woman but a girdle of gender changing has made me the man i am today

* my abilities are not actually the result of training but rather the result of an experiment that went wrong.... and there are two others like me out there ....

* i once worshiped bane/tiamat/evil-deity of choice before converting

 

[Quickleaf]

* I was exiled from my clan/tribe as an omen of bad luck (or perhaps I fled because they needed a blood sacrifice and I was on the menu).

* I am an elf with many siblings. I even have a half-sister who happens to be half-drow. We get along ok, but I seriously don't like her drow side of the family. If only dad didn't sleep around so much.

* I am a dwarf recovering from residuum addiction, a rare sickness that befalls those exposed to large quantities of residuum (such as noble dwarves warlock houses). I'm trying to get clean but a tempting quantity of residuum could send me into a tailspin.

* When I was young I trapped a bully in a well, and to who him who was boss left him there overnight. That night there was a rainstorm, the well flooded, and the bully died. Only my closest friends/family would know this (maybe not even them). This is the event which drove me to lead a life of devotion and atonement.

* Every year I play a boardgame with a spooky old man. At first it was harmless, but gradually it dawned on me he was some kind of shapechanger devil, eager to provide me with answers...for a price. In a dire situation I may suggest going to visit a "wise old man" without revealing more.

 

[Dioltach]

* I write trashy and sensationalist accounts of my/the party's adventures and publish them under a nom de plume.

 

[steeldragons]

* I'm a deadbeat dad/mom who abandoned my "beloved" before they were born...Unbeknowst to the PC, the child is now being reared by their arch-enemy into a killing machine.

* I was a sword-for-hire (assassin) who "did some things" that I'm not proud of...(killed another PC's parents or siblings or razed their hometown or something)

* I have a "business partner" in X city. Always have a sack of gold waiting for me from our "ventures"...but no idea what/where it comes from (blood money? Extortion? The business partner is really a devil in mortal guise?)

* I'm uber rich and/or nobility but don't like to brag/want to be treated differently.

* I'm on the lamb/a fugitive/broke out of prison before I was hanged from Y-town. It wasn't my fault though, I swear! (side quest to clear the PCs name/reputation at some point when it does come out). I don't know WHY these mercenaries/bounty hunters/soldiers of the Duke keep following/harassing us?!

* My father was a dragon and all I got was this stupid tee-shirt.

--SD

 

[Richards]

I once agreed to let a player run a falcon hengeyokai PC in a non-Kara-Tur game. All of the other PCs thought he was a human ranger - this went on for several levels (and many months of gaming), until he finally had to reveal himself to save the party. (As I recall, they were all tied up, and by shapechanging into his falcon form he was able to slip out of the ropes and untie the others.)

Johnathan

 

[Saint Mac]

I dig these things too.

Recently, I had an NPC actually be a relative of a PC that the PC was not aware of. Little by little, dropped clues.

or maybe something like....

*PC's famly farm is now owned by another. They wanted it back. PC stole cash to make deal go through, but an inquistor (or the like) is hot on their trail.

*As a young and nieve lad, the wife of a noble bedded him. Lately, the noble finds out about the trist. (I would call this "Run Bast*rd, Run" lol)

*That magical ring just found in a loot was only a ring with a magic aura. Sold it as a ring of power to an unsupecting barkeep. The barkeep actualy a rougue in disquise and knows it to be worthless, but why did he buy it and why hasn't he said anything?

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Nice suggestions all. I particularly like the ones that are "bad" for the PC, but based on the secret itself, you don't know just how bad.

For example, the bedded wife of the noble, it could go a few different ways:

a. Really bad - The wife got pregnant as a result and the noble has declared the PC an outlaw and put a dead or alive bounty on his head. Many people will now
b. In between - No pregnancy, but the PC has been banished. He will be arrested if he is caught setting foot in the noble's dutchy ever again. Unsurprisingly, at some point in the campaign some quest will require him to return to that dutchy, or even meet with the noble.
c. Not so bad - The noble didn't actually want to marry his wife in the first place. It was an arranged marriage that he had no say in and the affair gave him a way to divorce her and gain the people's support at the same time. Of course, the PC doesn't know this and publically the noble will still have to be seen to be hard on the PC. But this secret could possibly even turn out to be quite beneficial to the PC.

Even better is that you don't have to decide right away which scenario is what actually happened. You can see how the campaign goes and then just decide which one fits best later on.

Keep the suggestions coming people!

Olaf the Stout

 

[kitsune9]

One of my players from an old campaign found out that his character was actually a clone from a powerful noble.

Of course, the noble didn't tell the player that eventually the memories and experiences of his character would eventually surface and that the clone would then become the same noble.

In the second campaign that immediately followed, that character became an NPC and I dropped several hints, but my players just had deer-in-headlights looks on their faces.

I usually ask my players to write a short background about their character and then I introduce new elements into their background, but nothing that would detract from what they wrote.

An example is that one player wrote of coming from a good family and had good relationships. I introduced a cousin whom they raised, but his petty crimes caused the family a loss of reputation for a while.

 

[Is_907]

Flashing Blades, a 1984 historical RPG set in 1600s France, has some cool secrets...

Sworn Vengeance -obvious

Duelist -never backs down from an honourable challenge, easily offended

Blackmailed -GM picks an NPC or group that are holding something over the PC's head

Compulsive Gambler -obvious

Secret Loyalty -lots of fun if working for monarchy/government/organization as primary story

Code of Honour -lawful stupid, within reason

Secret Identity -yup, I AM Batman

Religious Fanatic -obvious

Don Juan -one of my favourites... be lover-boy (or girl)