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

[Arnie_Wan_Kenobi]

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.

Huh. This kinda goes along with something I've been thinking since I chimed in on this thread: It almost feels like "if they've had a mini made in the WotC era, they might be an 'iconic'."

Lady Vol and Lord of Blades both have minis (admittedly, I know just about nothing about Eberron. Not a dis: looks cool; don't have mental space right now.)

Just thinking Dragonlance: Soth, Raistlin, Mina, Draconians, Dalamar & Takhisis (in the 2023 set), and Tanis (kinda). I could see most or all of those faces featuring on a sourcebook cover.

I wonder how well this checks out across the major settings.

 

[pemerton]

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)?

From Kara-Tur, I remember two NPCs from OA7 - the Peachling Girl, with her Momoben Forest tigers; and Za-Jikku, who is trying to change the elemental composition of the air so that he can gain immortality. The PCs in my game befriended the Peaching Girl and opposed Za-Jikku.

 

[JEB]

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.

So there are no iconic heroic NPCs in Eberron? None that also featured in novels or video games or anything? Interesting.

 

[JEB]

From Kara-Tur, I remember two NPCs from OA7 - the Peachling Girl, with her Momoben Forest tigers; and Za-Jikku, who is trying to change the elemental composition of the air so that he can gain immortality. The PCs in my game befriended the Peaching Girl and opposed Za-Jikku.

Were those recurring NPCs, or just in the one module?

 

[Demetrios1453]

So there are no iconic heroic NPCs in Eberron? None that also featured in novels or video games or anything? Interesting.

Vi, an artificer gnome is. She's front and center on the chapter head illustration on page 212 of the new PHB.

 

[pemerton]

Were those recurring NPCs, or just in the one module?

Just in the one module. I don't think OA/Kara-Tur had enough stuff published to have recurring NPCs, did it?

There were a couple of Kara-Tur characters in a FR NPC collection (I can't remember what it was called, but I would guess it was published around 1990?). But I don't believe they were particularly memorable, or ever got any traction. Unlike some of those key NPCs from OA7, who have genuine character and appeal.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

So there are no iconic heroic NPCs in Eberron? None that also featured in novels or video games or anything? Interesting.

There were protagonists in the various novels, but those are explicitly non-canon possible futures. The idea was your groups characters are the future heroes of legend, not NPCs you stand in the shadow of.

The few powerful good guy NPCs were limited in what they could do. Jaela Duran's level drops outside of Flamekeep, and Oalian is literally rooted in the Eldeen Reaches.

 

[pukunui]

So there are no iconic heroic NPCs in Eberron? None that also featured in novels or video games or anything? Interesting.

Nope! And that’s a deliberate choice. There are novels, but they are supposed to be non-canonical, so they don’t really count.

Vi, an artificer gnome is. She's front and center on the chapter head illustration on page 212 of the new PHB.

FWIW Vi is Jeremy Crawford’s Acquisitions Inc PC.

 

[JEB]

Just in the one module. I don't think OA/Kara-Tur had enough stuff published to have recurring NPCs, did it?

I see there was a Kara-Tur boxed set back in the 1e days, but not sure about anything else, no. Not my area of expertise, obviously...

 

[JEB]

FWIW Vi is Jeremy Crawford’s personal PC.

If Vi is being used as an NPC in adventure modules and such, I wouldn't see that as a deal-breaker. Certainly many of Greyhawk's icons started off as PCs, and Elminster is basically Ed Greenwood's avatar...