Workshop: The supporting cast

[Daern]

Well, I thought I'd start another thread:

The Fire Forest of Innendotdar has quite a supporting cast. I think it would be useful to share our ideas about how to play them, in terms of their goals and role in the story and also in their rp presentation (personality).

I am posting my starting sketches for the module below, but I am happy to talk about how I ran the NPCs in "Scouring" as well.

Kazyk the Perfidious: A fat, red skinned guy with a barbed beard. Laughs constantly. Friendly in a totally evil, sociopathic way. Lawful Evil.

Khadral: A cultured ascetic and scholar. Prone to elaborate discourse on arcane subjects, regardless of audience.

Eteranth the Eladrin Ghost Knight: A dedicated ghost protector. Honorable and stiff. Lawful Good.

Tiljaan the Fairy: Neurotic and emotional teenager. Like emotional mercury. Chaotic Good.

Nelle: Sad and beaten old unicorn. Depressed. Like Eeyor. Neutral Good.

Indominability: Majestic and commanding, like a god. Chaotic Neutral

Popuvin, a Fairy: Patriarch of the Seela, tired from singing all the time. Neutral Good

Vul, a Fairy: An apostate, possessed by a dream dragon. Chaotic Evil

Guenevere: Hag, sister of Tristessa. Neutral Evil

Timbre: Mad dryad Chaotic Nuetral

 

[Truename]

Love the sketches. I'd like to see your thoughts on Scouring, as I'm just prepping NPC caricatures now.

 

[Daern]

Scouring, let's see... the best resource aside from the modules themselves is Rangerwicket's fiction. Definitely check that out.

Kathor: Conflicted soldier, stiff and grim. All too aware of his tarnished honor. Has a secret and mysterious bond with a Trillith. Lawful Neutral. (I ran a preview adventure to WOTBS in which a character picked up the Coat of Eyes which has directly connected him to the Trillith as well... this has allowed me to make Kathor have some mysterious "understanding" with the PC, as well as using that PC as the recipient of Chrystin's visions in the Fire Forest.)

Torrent: Honest, reflexively idealistic. Often shocked and appalled. A greek chorus. Lawful Good.

Diogenes: Sarcastic, gossipy college professor. Historical Greek Cynic. Neutral Good.

Rivereye: Wierd little gnome, shell shocked by life in Ragos. The man who knew too much. Chaotic Good.

Larion the Lithe: Arrogant ego maniac eladrin aristocrat. Doesn't take the spy business seriously. Kind of an idiot. Vainglorious even in defeat. Neutral Evil.

Shealis: Caught in between a political tug of war. Loyal to the crown but really wants to make it work in her new position as a visiting lecturer at the school. All this behind a veneer of sophisticated sensuality, like a Catherine Zeta-Jones character. Neutral.

Whew... any others? These are sort of my versions, what I used and remember. You kind of need a list of all these NPCs to refer to. Making them pop really makes the adventure work. I think demonstrating how well developed these characters are right off the bat will encourage players to interact with them rather than kill them right away.

 

[Truename]

Good stuff. I've put together an index of NPCs because there's so many of them, and I definitely intend to put a lot of focus on them.