D&D General Who are the iconic NPCs in each D&D campaign setting?

[TiQuinn]

People know the names, but how many of the famous Greyhawk wizards are well known as characters? Mordenkainen for sure, due to multiple 5e appearances, but any others?

If I had to pick two from GH, it’s Mordenkainen and Vecna.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

If I had to pick two from GH, it’s Mordenkainen and Vecna.

True, but I do know a lot of parties that talk about Leomund before getting their long rest every night!

Leomund must be all like, "C'mon. I did a lot of stuff. And this ... this is what you remember be for. I swear, the hut wasn't tiny. I was known for a big hut. That's the spell! Leo's Big Hut. Mordenkainen is SUCH A LIAR!"

 

[pemerton]

Ah, OK. Other than those classic 1e modules and the 2014 PHB cover, has he made any other appearances?

Not that I know of.

 

[TiQuinn]

True, but I do know a lot of parties that talk about Leomund before getting their long rest every night!

Leomund must be all like, "C'mon. I did a lot of stuff. And this ... this is what you remember be for. I swear, the hut wasn't tiny. I was known for a big hut. That's the spell! Leo's Big Hut. Mordenkainen is SUCH A LIAR!"

Mordenkainen needed to one up Leo with his magnificent mansion.

Little known fact: they weren’t really wizards, they were realtors.

 

[pemerton]

I dunno. I'd say Dalamar is still pretty obscure. He's not in the Chronicles trilogy, for one thing.

That being said, he is in the 5e DragonLance adventure, so maybe that makes him a bit more iconic for the 5e era?

Isn't he in the follow-up trilogy> (Legends? The time travel one.)

And he's in the Dragonlance Adventures hardback.

 

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

I dunno. I'd say Dalamar is still pretty obscure. He's not in the Chronicles trilogy, for one thing.

That being said, he is in the 5e DragonLance adventure, so maybe that makes him a bit more iconic for the 5e era?

Isn't he in the follow-up trilogy> (Legends? The time travel one.)

And he's in the Dragonlance Adventures hardback.

Yup. Legends. And he had his own novel, as well as a few appearances in others. Like I said, I largely remember him from Ed Greenwood's Dragon Magazine articles. Plus he had a mini (finally).

I'm wondering it Krynn would be better recognized by classes/archetypes than specific PCs: Solmanic Dragon-Riders, Highlords, Conclave wizards.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Had Azalin appeared in Greyhawk before he appeared in Ravenloft stuff? I like Azalin, but I thought he was a Ravenloft original (simply having his story origins in Greyhawk).

Ravenloft original. He actually shows up as a Mordentshire local in I10 The House on Gryphon Hill, then gets some judicious retconning when the Ravenloft campaign setting is created, and doesn't acquire his Oeridian background until the December 1992 release of RQ3 From the Shadows.

Though many of Ravenloft's darklords were given backgrounds in other settings, the only pre-existing characters the setting included (beyond some cast members from I6/I10 or their descendants) were Gondegal and Soth in the original box, and Vecna and Kas in Domains of Dread. Kalid-Ma of Kalidnay is iffy, as I don't know enough about Dark Sun or the behind-the-scenes works to know if that was Dark Sun first, then Ravenloft, or parallel creation.

 

[pemerton]

Had Azalin appeared in Greyhawk before he appeared in Ravenloft stuff? I like Azalin, but I thought he was a Ravenloft original (simply having his story origins in Greyhawk).

I10 is "Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill"... so isn't that still Ravenloft, not Greyhawk? Again, I like him, I'd just say he's a Ravenloft icon if anything.

I don't know much about Azalin. But I don't think he's really a GH character - I've read and played a lot of GH, and Azalin hasn't turned up. I've only ever heard of him in the context of Ravenloft.

Sorry, don't mean to denigrate Snurre!

Denigrate away! I agree with you remarks about his relative unimportance despite being a cover personality.

 

[JEB]

OK, so far we've had input for Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Mystara, Ravenloft, Planescape, and Birthright. (And more input is welcome!)

But does anyone have any ideas about iconic NPCs from Spelljammer, Dark Sun, Eberron, or Nentir Vale? Or any of the smaller settings or sub-settings (like Kara-Tur or Al-Qadim)?

 

[pukunui]

A big part of Eberron is that the PCs are the movers and shakers. Not even the heads of the Dragonmarked houses really stand out.

Lady Vol and the Lord of Blades are probably the closest thing the setting has to iconic villains.