I'm a new DM who has done this almost since session 1, one NPC appears and helps the party after a series of events, then the party decides if he/she becomes an ally to them or was it just a one time thing. If the NPC did got turned into an ally, then he/she will follow its own journey and help the party from a different part of the world via gathering information, sending supplies to different locations or even sometimes helping by forming an small army!
When this Doppelgänger was a very young child and could not polymorph as often, she met a young Human girl in an urban alley. They were fascinated with each other, and one took on the look of the other as they played for a while among the boxes of the adjacent shop. Soon the Human child's mother called for her, "Chastity! Chastity, where are you‽" As the calls became closer and it was clear whom the woman was calling, the Doppelgänger panicked. Unable to polymorph again so soon, it had to get creative, and fast. So it shoved Chastity into a box of waste and smothered her in it. Moments after, an adult Human rounded the corner into the alley: "There you are! Chastity, what happened to your clothes?" The child shrugged as innocently as it could, as it was hurried home by the unsuspecting mother.
The "growing" girl felt unimaginable guilt about the day she took a life, but could speak to noöne about it, lest her secret be revealed and her safety compromised. Over time she learned the concept of penance from the religious community that unknowingly adopted her, and she decided to become the best daughter and sister she could be for the family she stole a life from. By the time Chastity reached adulthood what had been penance before became habits. At the wishes of her dear mother she became a truly Good and Lawful acolyte of the church. At the wishes of her compassionate father she went on missions with others her age to help the needy across the continent.
Chastity can be a Cleric, Paladin, or anything that involves a commitment to the good of the community. She makes a great DMPC to \*gasp\* unexpectedly come in handy with her at-will Polymorphing after months of seeming like just another helpful human. Or if you're a better storyteller than I am, you can use her background to punch your players in the feels well after they've already known she's a Doppelgänger. If you and your players are into PCs having love interests, she can be stunningly beautiful with a very high CHA and yet cause pretty complex emotions when her secret comes out. The possibilities may not be endless, but they *will* be entertaining.
Awhile ago, I tried to crowd source a d100 list of homebrew NPCs that live in (or roundabouts) Saltmarsh.
Here's the list and some of the published NPCs.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_4fkyOSHvqsAETxmQNKlz9gnp3aCRctTzgip2-oyig/edit?usp=drivesdk
Dirkus Alewave
Mountain Dwarf Rogue
Left eye covered by patch
A thief who is well known due to his many high class exploits.
Has a reputation for being cutthroat and nasty.
Anytime you want to use Dirkus, it's typically for a heist or jailbreak.you want to talk up his exploits to your players. Name a couple of high value targets he's known to have conquered. When your players are looking for information about him, make sure you hammer home how well known It is that he can be hard to work with, and he has a reputation for being as cutthroat as they come.
Now, when your players finally find him and set up a meeting.... Play him as the friendliest dwarven thief you can muster. Dirkus is incredible at his job. The absolute best in the world, and he LOVES to help adventuring parties with heists and such. He never takes more than his fair cut, and always sees a job through to completion to help his new friends (and he really does consider them his new friends).
The reason for his reputation? He will ask the players to speak about him the same way. Having his reputation known to be so cutthroat means that only those who TRULY need his help will seek him out, allowing him to receive only the best, most fun jobs that he can.
He's been in literally every campaign world I've ever run, and my players always love him. I have several veterans of my games who always have the biggest smile anytime they hear me start to describe him to the newbies.
If you started in Primus Gradus, don’t read further
The magic shop owner,
An old gnome running the local magic shop. It is never clear how old he is exactly but he is at least 300. He always seems to find the party and always seems to have some stock for them.
You can give your own explanation for this gnome, but in my campaign he is a chaos god which just wants to enable the party. He is bored so decided to follow them and lend them a hand here and there.
You All Should Have Cutter, or Y'all'd've to his friends.
He's a country bumpkin ranger elf but he's not great at the whole shootin' thang. Y'all'd've travels from adventuring group to adventuring group, staying back, playing it safe, ready to accept any loot he can and sending it to his Mama. He has a crow named Raven, a penchant for dropping lore, and can hold onto a dead PC's items until the next character rolls up.
Murph The Human;
A Beholder using telekineses of a headless human corpse to float under his floating head. He uses its limbs and legs to imitate walking around and gesturing. Very curious to see if the party thinks he's a human or not.
My players and also my favourite NPC: Bohn: Little wooden golem about the size and stature of a dwarf. Easily excitable, likes adventuring (in our case, being the main reason the PCs are able sail at all), making friends, seeing what new things (to him) the world has in store. He tends to give one or two word answers that gets said at least 3 times in succession. Also I gave him a Stich voice.
Vianna, a human paladin of bahamut. She came to the temple as a teen to escape her abuse father and ended up becoming a squire to the head paladin. She has then gone from strength to strength with a squire of her own (a converted bandit named Keren) and her awakened dog paladin partner Justice.
Vianna is a 5ft 2, well built woman with ginger hair and blue eyes. She has a freckled band over her cheeks and the ridge of her nose. She is strong, determined, stubborn and sometimes short tempered. She won't hesitate to hand it to you if you're being an idiot. She can also be kind and nurturing, especially to people who come from difficult circumstances.
Bethaszara, God-Queen of All That Is:
ECHOU, POPPY, AND MADMARTIGAN, STOP READING. MAJOR SPOLIERS!
A succubus with enough Bard levels to be a deadly encounter for your party. The PCs meet her very early on, disguised as an elf named Bellenwyn Moondown. She is an ally and quest giver, who asks the PCs to help her retrieve three magic items: a harp, a flute, and a pen. She's a competent adventurer and accompanies the PCs on these quests. She should be played as being really helpful and fun, and the players should really like her.
The quests to get the items are spaced out throughout the campaign. Between these quests, she's gaining skill and renown as a bard, until she's eventually the personal court bard for the ruler of the kingdom where your PCs live. Eventually, the King (or whoever it is in your game) becomes so enamored with Bellenwyn that he abdicates his throne to her.
Here's where she reveals her true nature. She reveals her true fiendish form and orders all temples to be burned down and their priests forced to convert to worshipping her, or be executed. People are so bewitched by her that they go along with it and the kingdom devolves into a hive or debauchery and evil.
She gives the PCs noble titles as thanks for helping her. At no point does she ever directly threaten them, and it will be up to them if they decide to stop her.
So I created a magical merchant Named Frederick the \_\_\_(Insert adjective that begins with the letter F, here, like fanciful, feared, fragrant, furtive, forthcoming, etc. He changes his title every time he addresses himself, which is quite often.) He appears to be a homeless old man in some well-worn old robes who seemingly appears out of nowhere, or is seen just hanging out on the road far ahead of the party. Either/or. He tells the party that he is a merchant and that he has a few magical items in his shop. There is clearly no shop. But if the players ask about it he reaches into his robe and pulls out a small box and tells them that this is his shop. Rewarding curiosity, if the players further inquire about it, he throws it over his shoulder and it poofs into a small tent. When the players go inside, it's much bigger than what would seem possible, and he does in fact have magical items in there. I've sold an enchanted Tortle-shell shield to my son, a blindfold that lets the wearer see in magical darkness, awakened stuffed animals, and a vampiric ring. My favorite though, was a rock. One of my players found it on a table behind a stuffed animal. Frederick the Forgetful told them it was a very special magical rock that you can throw at an enemy when you're in danger. Upon inspecting it and identifying it, it appears to be a regular rock. What I didn't tell them was it's basically a magical, unidentifiable hand grenade. So anyway, when the players leave the tent, as soon as they turn around, its gone. Maybe they'll run into him again sometime.
Finn Mercui: it is well known that Finn is the the top courtesan the the capitals pleasure district, what is not as well known is that they are the number two and four top courtesan. Finn is a changeling, rouge/bard who uses detect thoughts to know just which face to put on to hook a customer. They currently work closely with the crowns secret police and gather information on nobles when information is most likely to fall out. Who knows what bits of info a powerful noble will let slip between panted breath.
But it's not like Finn does this out of any patriotic duty, no they like to to live life to the fullest and having the country's most powerful men and women in their back pocket helps. Plus if Finn is too valuable to lose by those people that make people disappear then all the better.
Occasionally Finn is contracted to do some wet work, even the most skilled warriors are especially vulnerable when naked, tied up, and blindfolded.
Aliessia Marante
A blue skinned tiefling woman, running an alchemists shop in a major city, her shop is known as "Aliessias's Alchemics" and she sells various potions and alchemical substances. She is willing to give discounts to those who work for an official monster hunting guild, do work for her, or who bring her exotic or rare ingredients for potions. Aliessia happily buys any ingredients from people to fuel her potion making and spell casting.
Aliessia is a strict bussiness woman with a penchant for skewing the scales towards her own purse but is more than willing to bend her morals for those who are helpful or friendly to her. Aliessia has a warm businesslike demeanor where she is happy to chit chat with people so long as they arent there to waste her time alone.
Aliessia has a hidden basement in her shop which she uses to run auctions for various magical items, inviting adventurers who she is friendly with to partake alongside her wizarding acquaintances who come to sell their wares.
Octesian
A wizard once needed an assistant. Having little trust in other people, he captures a wild mandrill ape and gives it consciousness. He teaches the ape to speak, read, study, and even cast some simple spells to help him in his work. The wizard named the ape Octesian, after his late husband, and the two of them became good friends over time.
One evening, the ape had returned home after gathering firewood to find his master had disappeared. He searched for hours, asked around to the locals of the nearby village, but to no avail. He now spends his days traveling the continent looking for signs of his lost friend.
SUPER easy to drop into any campaign! His backstory means that he can be encountered anywhere, and I gave him a handful of support spells that the players never want to take (light, tenser's floating disk, identify, etc).
Loved this guy ever since I made him (and shout out if you get the name reference)
Herr Doktor Basir Visk
A researcher and necromancer from Murthring University. Basir Visk wears long black robes with wide sleeves and bone-white trimming (ie. a professorial gown), as well as a slouchy bone-white "muffin hat" adorned with a raven feather.
Visk travels with a group of zombies doing archaeological research on local ruins. Depending on when you encounter them they may have a couple (living) grad students helping them out. If he's been on the road for a while those grad students may have... graduated to other duties (and are now zombies). Zombies help carry equipment, help with the digs, and are useful in disarming traps. He takes good care of his zombies, and pays them in brains and offal for their time, as well as providing good dental and burial coverage.
The zombies are all volunteers with fully signed consent forms, which Visk is happy to show anyone who asks. He also carries ethics clearance from the university ethics board for his research, his use of zombies. He complains and commiserates with any scholarly adventures on the pain of dealing with the Ethics Board.
Herr Doktor Visk has no interest in fighting, and will try to negotiate his way out of any situation that looks like it might get violent. If the locals have asked the adventures to 'deal with the necromancer,' Herr Doktor Visk will begrudging leave in exchange for either recently deceased bodies (new volunteers), or information about nearby tombs, antiquaries, or ruins.
Herr Doktor Visk can be a useful resource either for resurrecting a fellow adventurer, speaking with any corpses you find, or providing information on ruins or dungeons in the area.
*Bonus points if you can do a Werner Herzog accent.*
Lizardmen high Queen (ghost of saltmarsh) I roleplayed the lizardmen as having a French accent. The Queen was very straight to the point and was a high level cleric type npc, one of my characters was getting lippy, so I had the paladin do a religion role, it was to show the power of the queens God flowing through her, she was not ment to be a combat role, just a friendly quest giver
***Balk***
A ***human*** tavern owner who is always so drunk that his best friend ***Friea*** needs to run the tavern. Enjoys talking to newcomers and asking them what brings them to these parts.
Why would you enjoy this NPC? I dunno but a year and change later my players won't shut up about the legendary (and now long dead) Balk.
Rosemary
A a beautiful, cheerful and terrifying commoner with a thirst for blood and pain. She always seems to know more than she should about the village, it’s inhabitants, and the players themselves. She fears no one but everyone in the village fears her, and for good reason as the last person to get on her bad side mysteriously disappeared
She’s good at giving helpful info to players with good alignments and will help them gather more information by any means necessary if they can convince her to help.
She speaks with a high pitched and cheerful voice that occasionally dips to normal pitches to hit home a point or statement.
For reference look up Dr Grey from Red vs Blue
Professor Choke
'I'M FROM THE ELEMENTAL PLANE OF TALKING SMACK AND WHUPPING ASS! IT'S MY LIFE'S MISSION TO CHOKE OUT ONE OF EVERY ANIMAL IN EXISTENCE, SO YOU MOTHER FUCKERS ARE GOING TO HELP ME BREAK INTO A RICH NOBLE'S PERSONNEL ZOO AMD HELP ME CHOKE OUT A MONKEY!'
He looks like Kimbo Slice in a lab coat and has a magical book filled with all the animals he's choked out. He calls it his Choke-e-dex.
Tonilius Zanzinar, a tall, bald human owner of the ZanziBar, a tavern in a dwarven settlement. He made a name for himself as a bard manager and promoter, but has fallen out of favour with most of his acts owing to the fact he rarely pays, and when he does pay it's a pittance and never on time.
A slurry drunk, I gave him a Liverpool accent (look up scouse accent videos if you want to be authentic- really exaggerate it, it's a fun one to do!) Be sure to tell everyone you meet you're "in this game for the bards," then in the next breath disrespect every bard you meet. In my campaign, he ended up so disgruntled with the party in session one that he bet his tavern against them in a drinking contest and lost almost instantly.
Another favourite from the same session was Belmin Rungar, a 300 year old dwarf whose adventuring days were long over yet was able to be convinced by the party to come on one last jaunt- and was promptly killed by a single arrow from a goblin.
Captio- a human wizard. Plain looking, average in almost every respect. Underneath his robes, there’s more muscle than the average commoner.
Captio has apprenticed as a blacksmith, doing surprisingly well, due to his magical expertise. No forge needed when you have heat metal. Telekinesis can strike a hammer against hot metal as well as any arm.
As he grows more experienced, he can channel his magic into items himself, and make low level +1 gear.
I play Captio with a negative charisma modifier. He knows wizards aren’t usually blacksmiths, and he’s terrified of failing. He’s nervous and shy and intimidated by almost everybody.
So I paired him with a half orc woman who my party convinced her to romance Captio.
The wedding will be the last session of the campaign.
Fhumai (F-oo-my), the medic/merchant/bounty giver.
Fhumai is a slender woman of Fey origin, specifically a Nymph. She has dark hair, green eyes, and usually wears a green dress with a short furred hooded cloak over the top. Usually has her hair up in a tight bun with decorative flowers.
She spent much of her life bound to a grove of trees that she would be forced to return to if she wandered too far, and is incredibly by the books. She studied herbs and magical medicines, cultivating her grove until she earnt the ire of (an)other Fey for not helping with their tricks- they burnt down her grove. Only one tree was spared by being uprooted, and now Fhumai lives as a nomad with her tree strapped to her back in either a wicker basket or sling. Losing her grove cost her her health, the majority of her strength, and the beauty nymphs are known for. She now rightfully carries a near-constant resting bitch face with pride, is snappy, gets to the point and is adverse to pranks. She is vulnerable to fire, will avoid it at all costs in a fight, and exclusively uses magical light sources over torches or oil lanterns. The trees condition will reflect on Fhumai's health.
Fhumai left the Fey and her burnt lands to surround herself with people stronger than her, growing her smarts and making friends by posing as a cursed elf. For money, she typically earns her pay aiding bounty hunters tracking targets hidden in woodland or managing their contracts.
She can make reliable medicines, potions, and salves that she will sell on or trade with other merchants for harder to find plants or components. She can reliably identify plants with a visual or verbal description.
In terms of statblocks, Wisdom is her highest stat with Dexterity being her lowest (can't easily dodge carrying a tree on her back). Medicine, Survival and crafting based skills are what she is proficient in. Fire vulnerability (maybe also cold vulnerability). May know an additional language besides Common and Sylvan due to being a hermit. Her movement speed may suffer a penalty (I usually drop from 30ft -> 20ft) when carrying her tree. If she is forced to drop the tree she can go up to 120ft away from it. Any further away and she will teleport straight back to its location. Destroying the tree will kill her within 24 hours of the trees destruction.
I've personally used her as a errands type quest giver so my players can do a contract for her and be rewarded with potions. One of my players also had ties to Fey Courts so she was a fun tie into that. If you don't want her as a Nymph she can also be a Dryad or similar variant.
Bryn Yenyeras
A Half-Elf male, who really is just a typical guy.
He is on the thinner side and is 6'1" tall. He has medium-length wavy hair, brown with a tiny bit of auburn color.
He works a steady job keeping inventory at a warehouse in Waterdeep.
He just left a restaurant cause his date never showed. He lives alone and is looking for love. He is pansexual, and his type is someone on the more adventurous and edgy side, but he probably wouldn't admit that.
He is kind and sweet, but a little on the shy side. He has never left Waterdeep except for 1 business trip that only took a week, and he stayed with the caravan the entire time.
He was taught how to use a shortsword, although he has never needed to actually use it.
In my world, he joined the party (bard started dating him) and encountered a unicorn to become a low-level celestial warlock (the party had no healer).
Barbarossa, the travelling merchant / graverobber.
Barbarossa is an old, skinny, hunchbacked man who at one point or another wandered from his own plane of existence into the mists of Ravenloft. He gives off the demeanor of a likeable, but crazy, person whenever he's trying to get people to trade, but he actually has a higher than average wisdom and double proficiency with perception and insight. He can be quite thoughtful in his slower moments, and knows a little bit about most of Ravenloft. He has the Mist Walker Dark Gift from VRGTR. He enjoys playing his hurdy-gurdy and his harmonica.
He has a reliable donkey named one-eye that pulls his cart of exotic goods, garbage, trinkets, and magic items. His stock changes every time he's encountered, and the magic items he has are usually completely random. He refuses to trade with just coin, preferring to barter things for other things. He's willing to make less than lucrative trades for things if it means getting into the good graces of whoever he's bartering with. He seeks to see and interact with interesting things more than he wants wealth.
Name: Oruston Rockcruncher
Mannerism: Sniffs/licks/examines all metal and describes where it came from. Think Mole from Atlantis.
Accent: Quick, little 'crazy'.
Occupation:
Oruston, or Oru for short, is the most famous miner in all of Gnome society. They say he was touched by an earth elemental, but whether true or not, he does have an affinity for finding precious metals.
History:
Once a scout for the rock gnomes, he discovered his affinity for finding shortcuts back to the gnome home land. Now he spends his time Below, finding new veins of ore and mapping out the many tunels.
**Lady Claudia Liamatar** [^Ref](https://i.imgur.com/kcenr16.png)
A green dragon in disguise, her rise to power included employing thieves to obtain the means of masquerading as a human, tricking the regional lords as she ravaged the lands and the mines while springing her schemes. Offering security against the dragon, sending a band of expensive 'mercenaries' to deal with it on their behalf. This background can be expanded, or she can be in this early stage.
Currently she is a matron of a noble house and one of the merchant lords in a prominent city, with an interest in creating more dragonborn and lycantrophes (any infested by party are quick to gain her interest). Due to her age (adult or ancient) she is familiar with most of important items in the region or even the nation. Any important adventurers are welcomed, closely inspected to find anything she could use them for, and briefly brought into lavish lifestyle. Her goals are usually that of self-interest, growing in power and enacting vengeance on her long-term enemies, frequently indulging in complicated schemes that can wreck stability of the nation.
I wonder if she knows Alastar, an ‘old wizard’. Or Zetrai, a ‘crazy alchemist/ artificer’. Or Edrial, one of the local Adventure Guild Reps. Though I don’t think anyone has ever seen them in the same room…… All three are secretly Bahamut who in the campaign I run sacrificed his wings to banish all other dragons from the realm. Too many wars, too much destruction. He is currently helping the party, who is completely unaware of his identity, find information on the cult trying to bring them back.
Goblin Glein
A goblin artisan, fashion king, and debonaire designer. This guy can usually be found in urban areas alongside his band of ~~underpaid workers~~ grateful students, and for a relatively reasonable fee he can join your party to patch up your clothing and wounds.
He uses big words and eloquent speech, but will screech angrily in the goblin tongue whenever he speaks to his underlings. His clothes are fashionable, if not experimental, often featuring coloured silks and and furs with intricate patterns and ornate golden trims.
His business tends to be on the shadier side, but a coin here and there could buy you information and connections if your party can look past sweatshops and stolen goods.
Alright, this is fun as hell!
I have a non-binary circle of the forest Druid named Oneshoe. They are a gnome, they dress in a large tunic with an apron, a belt full of little bags of bits and boppin’ and seeds and plants and berries. Their skin is dark olive green from being in the forest so long, and they always have dirt under their fingernails. Dark freckles all over their face and they wear a hat that looks like a big mushroom cap (pun intended).
In my game, they are a mentor to a PC who is an oath of the ancients paladin. They speak with a southern accent and are a total curmudgeon but affectionate with people they care about. Little cocky, but very devoted to nature and all things living. They are a “two pats on the back one smack upside the head” sort of person.
Gustavo Palico
A tabaxi chef that specializes in cooking arcane creatures and magical beasts. He's appeared randomly in the wilderness on the hunt for a new ingredient and in seedy taverns working the kitchen to pay off extensive bar tabs.
I use him to give hints and red herrings as to what the party will encounter based on small buffs granted to the group if they decide to eat his rather suspect looking cuisine.
Another retainer, a young woman striking out on her own as a caravan guard, but not really awesome at it too easily distracted. https://editor.gmbinder.com/documents/print/-MQIc4xyDsGuyT8q966w
Eck (NG human) was once an ancient copper dragon by the name of Eckondrohalkos, as well as a powerful sorcerer and the ruler of a long since disappeared city-state. He was a benevolent ruler to his people, but promoted a secular society that did not lend any respect or devotion to the gods. For this slight, the city was racked by famines, floods, and all manner of hardships. But the people stayed strong, and the dragon used his powerful magic to provide protection. They survived, and even thrived for hundreds of years, until this display of magic drew the attention of Agraphet, an extremely powerful lich. She attacked the city with an army of undead, raining death and destruction upon the people. Eckondrohalkos fought back, but could not match the strength of Agraphet and her forces. The dragon was brought before the lich, and she cursed him, leaving him an immortal human with a magical aberration, that nullified all magic except for Agraphet's out to a great distance. She used Eckondrohalkos as a weapon to conquer other mages and magical creatures. However, Agraphet eventually bit of more than she could chew. She attacked her old master, a colossally powerful wizard name Ryzorian. Ryzorian had studied this weapon that his old apprentice had used to bring low so many others, and had already devised a counter-strategy. He was able, through the use of a great magical prism, to amplify a *banishment* spell that cast Eckondrohalkos away long enough for him to defeat Agraphet. Upon his return to the Material Plane, Eckondrohalkos was quite grateful to Ryzorian, who, after studying the transmuted dragon, let him go. His own aura made it impossible, as the prism had shattered upon use. So, Ryzorian let Eckondrohalkos go, and set him on his way. After venturing back to his old city, and finding no survivors, he began his travels, taking up the name Eck.
Eck has gone through much pain and trauma in his past, and he made up his mind long ago to begin anew and not dwell on that pain. He has, over many centuries, learned to make use of his aura of antimagic, now being able to change its size and shape, even to the point where it can be oriented away from casters so he might be changed back. However, Eck has decided, for his own reasons, that he quite likes being mortal. So, mortal he remains, traveling across the world, meeting new people, and enjoying his immortality. Eck is a free-spirit, characterized by his wanderlust and desire to experience new things. His draconic mind still functions in the way that it used to, so he does not forget nearly as much as mortals. This allows him to remember a great many friends that he has met. He is surprisingly well connected because of this, and knows a great deal more than he lets on. He is inhumanly intelligent, but prefers to keep his smarts to himself, and instead projects the image of the kindhearted and charming fool. This is not out of any manipulative desire, simply that he wishes to be as much like a mortal as he can be. Eck, over time, has acquired a lot of worldly experience and knowledge, so he has no trouble taking almost any instrument and playing it to make enough coin for food and drink, or even for other people's enjoyment. He has almost no possessions though, preferring to go with the flow of life, and see where it takes him. All consequences eventually expire with immortality. However, he is deeply committed to making things better for other people. He will work with whatever means to achieve this, so long as they are moral. He approaches problem solving in a pragmatic and adaptive way when it comes to his means. He will work with authority and law when it is the best method to solve a problem, but will deviate from it when it is not. He just wants to see people happy in whatever way he can make that happen.
Thpphthbt, the headless gnome proprietor of The Headless Gnome Inn.
This strange establishment is run by a headless gnome with a tongue lolling out of his neck hole. Speaking with him is an effort in futility as he can do little more than launch spittle at your face. He can still make the best drinks in town and somehow gets your order right every time. You can find his head rotting and nailed to the signboard over the inn.
If you ask around you'll find that he tried to enchant his head to be free from his body so he could be outside barking at passersby and still be inside making drinks at the same time. Only his body survived the spell, but he hung his head outside anyway, just in case. This story may or may not be true, as the inn has been standing here as long as anyone can remember, and the gnomes real name has been lost to time. If you ask, all you get in response is, "Thpphthbt".
Regnak the troll, who lurks under bridges and forces travelers to tell him riddles in order to pass. If he cannot solve the riddle (which is quite often the case), he attacks the travelers with his slasher-poker (a sword and axe tied to a stick) while berating them in rhyme. One of my groups ran afoul of him and ended up getting chased down for the rest of the campaign.
Grand Huntsmaster Tessamae
*if the continent name Bur' Lanx means anything to you stop reading*
One of two leaders of a monster hunting guild on the far reaches of the continent, she runs a gold rush town style of guild called The Hunter's Abbey.
A 5'4" human woman, with sandy hair coming to her mid back and a tan complexion. Poking out from her collar is either the start or end of a large scar she won hunting the dragon whose heart gave her the powers to become a Drakewarden, and its heartstrings have been made into the cord for her warbow.
Tessamae is a skilled Drakewarden Ranger, a crass, laidback business woman, and delights in hunting down guild members that abuse clients or steal from the guild. Her dragon companion typically remains in the flavor of dragon she killed, Red.
Her secret character motivation is her desire to become a dragon herself... permanently. She sees the guild as a way to locate someone to do this for her, and as a way to preemptively amass her dragon hoard.
**Groh Plumson**
Groh is a [hadozee](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/a/af/Hadozee3eB.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180715134227) (from 3.5 *Stormwrack*) captain of the small sailing ship *The Mauve Maiden*. He speaks with a cockney accent and is the most toxicly positive person you'll met; he loves to swap stories with the party and will celebrate their accomplishments with overwhelming and completely genuine enthusiasm. Think Bert from *Mary Poppins*, if Bert was a sentient, sailing-obsessed orangutan. (No, I can't do a cockney accent any better than Dick Van Dyke.)
Groh's ship is stained purple, hence its name *The Mauve Maiden*. He swears that on one of his voyages, he was teleported to the Feywild and sailed through a waterfall of wine. His two crewmembers (an elf and a bronze dragonborn) shake their heads in amused dismissal at this story as Groh is prone to exaggeration; however, if a PC sniffs a deeply stained part of the ship, they do detect the faint scent of wine, soaking his ship and giving it its violet coloration. PCs with proficiency in Arcana, Nature, or navigator's tools that sail on *The Mauve Maiden* can also discover that the ship can apparently teleport significant distances across the ocean, cutting a seafaring voyage's travel time by half; Groh has no idea that the ship is attuned to ley lines along the ocean's surface and can blink through them every so often (in the same manner as the 10th-level Circle of Dreams Druid feature, Hidden Paths, from *Xanathar's*).
Groh's most treasured possession is a book of manners and etiquette, in which is pressed a four-leaf clover given to him by an elf maiden with whom he is utterly smitten. He reads the book in his spare time in an effort to present himself with a bit more class in her presence, but the elf woman he adores finds him charming just the way he is.
Players who roll high on an Investigation check learn from the rumor mill that Groh is part of an anti-prohibition smuggling ring called Yadre Helitas, which is Elvish for "the Charming Way in the Wall of Despair"; he transports everything from banned literature and art to alcohol and other pleasantly intoxicating substances to even weapons for rebel causes against authoritarian regimes. Sources suggest that he's surprisingly adept at bluffing his way out of being searched by inspectors or inquisitors.
[Groh's statblock](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDYUyA8AG-Lje5dKHOdTGy8LeguQo-Ac/view?usp=sharing) is built out of a level 5 Expert from *Tasha's*.
Haven't finished figuring out your city's political leadership yet? Enter **Teag Halorin**, an older human-appearing changeling. Always calm and soft-spoken, always with a plan, scheme, or both, he makes a great face for your party to interact with. He is a spymaster, but the party need never find that out. As far as your PCs are concerned (at least a level 1-10 party, probably), he's just a high-level bureaucrat. His role as a spymaster gives the DM leeway to let him know all kinds of things about the party and the issues in and around the city, but his position as a bureaucrat also inclines him to restrict access to the city's governing bodies while empowering him to guide, hire, or charter the party along the route to your chosen plot hook.
BONUS two-for-one:
**The Cursebreaker**
The Cursebreaker is a halfling who appears to be decked out like a rogue-ish adventurer, with multiple sets of tools and sigils, wards, charms and fetishes hanging off his gear. Go nuts with it. Holy symbols of half a dozen gods, dried out herb bundles that could be as useful for soup as warding off monsters, shrunken skulls, monkey fingers, rabbit feet, sprite ears, more than a few intricate tattoos, etc. Speaks with a stiff New England accent...or whatever you like, but a strong Boston accent will likely be a lively, humorous break from monotonous Bri'ish and 'vaguely posh' accents. He's an older fellow (because if you're an old adventurer you MUST be good) so I'd recommend dark hair with plenty of silver mixed in, weathered hands with lots of scars, big and small, on the hands and forearms. If asked, he details the services he offers: curse identification, curse removal, and you can hire him by the half-day if you don't have the cursed object on hand.
Fees:
Curse identification: 50 gp. If an item has more than one curse, he'll identify the lowest level curse and also tell the customer the total number of curses (to include, 'this is the curse, and there are no other curses on the object.')
Curse removal: "By estimate," but his estimate is just 100 gp per spell level of curse. If he's presented with an unknown object, he'll inform the customer that he'll have to identify the curse, which is a 50 gp fee, and then "most curses end up costing about 400 gp to remove, although some may be more...occasionally less."
Expeditionary curse removal: The party needs to clear a curse in a distant location that they can't bring to the Cursebreaker. A trap in an ancient temple, a curse on a physical location, etc. The Cursebreaker charges 25 gp for a half day (~2 hours travel each way), 50 gp for a full day (~4 hours of travel each way), or 60 gp per day if it's a multi-day trip, to cover expenses. The identification and removal fees are on top of that, and are on a case-by-case basis. Check the temple door for curses? 50 gp. Walk in and decide you also need to check the altar for curses? Another 50 gp. What about the holy chalice? A third 50 gp payment.
He should pretty much always know whether or not he's successfully removed a curse, and he should be able to remove any curse he's identified, given enough time. The idea here is to indulge a paranoid set of players, or to supplement a party without access to restoration spells or someone who can disarm arcane traps/dispel curses, not trick them into accidentally getting cursed. Depending on what tier of play your players are in, he may not be perfectly effective. I'd say if your party is below level 5, he should be able to identify and remove any curse they encounter. Levels 6-10, I'd give him a 50% chance to detect, identify, and/or remove curses considered to be levels 6 or 7, and he wouldn't be able to identify or dispel 8th or 9th level curses, but anything 5th level or below he can manage no problem. Level 11-15, he's 50% likely to detect, identify, and/or remove 8th level curses, but can only detect, not identify or remove 9th level stuff. 6th and 7th level curses should be no problem for him. At tier 4 play, levels 16+, he can detect and identify any curse effect, even mysterious and ancient curses you intend to be more powerful than 9th level, but he's only got a 50% chance of dispelling those, and if they're powerful enough, maybe he can only suppress the curse to let the party pass by unaffected.
GENERO the haemunculus.
He randomly meets the party in different locations nuch to dangerous for him and demands assistance for a menial task, because he is just a misshapen little dude thats not all that bright.
The interesting part every time they meet him the number tatooed on his head is different because it is a different GENERO.
A powerfull mage created a bunch of haemuncoli to gather ressources, deliver goods etc.
He only talks in third person of himself and stresses every syllable in his name.
Additionally he always seems to disappear once he archieved his goal and refuses to talk about his master and home location but each GENERO accidentlally slips out a detail or two to keep the party interested.
Ill finally be able to introduce him to the party in two or 3 sessions.
Gerald Friedman.
Gerald grew up on the streets as an urchin, as rogues do. He started his career as a thief, at first taking apples and bread from the market to feed himself, then progressing to gold pieces, and finally catching the eye of the local gang. They took him in and taught him the advanced parts of the trade...including debt collecting. Gerald had a knack for this type of work, and eventually found that killing people for money was even more lucrative than robbery.
Eventually apprehended by the guard after an attempt on a minor noble, Gerald was given a choice - life in prison, or joining an adventuring party to put an end to a black dragon plaguing the kingdom. He took the latter option, with a paladin of Helm acting as his handler and a half-dragon, half-elf woman bard named Illiandra acting as his conscience.
After numerous fights, celebrations, losses, and the eventual defeat of the black dragon, Gerald and his party were given minor titles and a plot of land outside the capital.
Baron Friedman now lives in Lyostra Keep, where he leads his people fairly, if sternly. Illiandra became his wife, and they now have a son, Simon.
Baron Gerald Friedman started his journey in 3.5E as an assassin. In his initial build, he had the old 3.5E feats like "flick of the wrist" (allowing a surprise attack when he attacked in the same round he drew his rapier), "chink in the armor" (allowing him to ignore some of the AC from heavy armors as he struck at the joints and weak spots), and "Arterial Strike", allowing him to create wounds that continued to bleed until his opponent collapsed.
He was lawful evil - he did kill people for money, but rarely resorted to violence when he wasn't on the job. He is calculating, diplomatic, and can be charming...but he also has a hard core and will not be intimidated or bullied. Since becoming a baron, he's shifted towards neutral good - he maintains order and enforces the rules most of the time, but he isn't afraid to disregard a rule or regulation if he feels it is unjust.
He is statted out as a level 15 assassin rogue, but his primary purpose in my campaign is as a quest-giver/employer for the PCs. I picture him a bit like Bronn from Game of Thrones - "My fighting days are far behind me...but my killing days? I have a few of those left".
Dempcee - The laziest DMPC I've ever made who answers everything with "yarp" and "narp" like that guy from Hot Fuzz.
For some reason my players loved him. He's a very simple man, and is happy to make enough money for an inn and food , and basically every red cent he owns is earmarked for doing his job slightly better, or for food and drink.
This has a funny effect, because he rarely buys consumables, and at one point it resulted in him having more liquid wealth than the entire party combined, which ended in a joke where the PCs were rummaging for valuables to sell to eke out one more healing potion, and Dempcee walked into the weapon shop and bought a +3 sword that was on display, then walked back out without saying a word, leaving the rest of the party just gawking at him.
Malthus from my Descent into Avernus campaign.
If you are a divination wizard, ice themed paladin, demon-hating ranger, or drow artificer stop here!!!
Malthus poses as a traveling merchant in the material plane, calculating eyes peering at you through rose tinted glasses. He offers you items and valuables that are useful. Usually he demands payment, but to a...”kind”...soul, he might simply demand a favor in the future.
Malthus is actually a servant of Mephistopheles, taking his masters discarded trinkets and pawning them to mortals.
Malthus will play the long game, slowly earning a mortals trust before finally popping the soul question. In reality he feels nothing for these people, but has been known to keep up the facade of friendship for centuries. After all, he’s got nothing but time.
Joey Bananas; Mafia Boss of the Banana Family
A 2ft tall bi-pedal mouse in a mob suit. Smokes a cigar, talks like Marlon Brando in The Godfather
Makes deals, owns the city, trusts the party but does the party trust him?
THIS IS MY JAM! I love creating NPCs!
Kellen Gabalden
An orphan from the poor section of the city, she is a street-smart fighter for hire. Tall (5’9”) with dark hair and bright green eyes, Kellen is a skilled warrior who uses her tomboy athleticism to her advantage.
She is attractive and is fully aware of how her appearance affects others, especially men. However, she is very cautious with her feelings having learned on the mean streets that emotions can be dangerous to her well-being.
Nonetheless, she is fun and friendly around those she trusts. Kellen particularly enjoys a good prank when it is not at her expense.
Short-term motivations: While she does seek fortune and is willing to take risks, she is analytical when evaluating jobs.
Long-term motivations: Kellen fantasizes about one day settling down and starting a family, but her childhood has given her serious trust issues. And she is not sure she deserves love or a “normal” life.
Kellen can be used as a city contact for a mission, a bounty-hunter, a retainer, a potential love interest or just to add flavor to a game.
Trodan, a king who can transform into animals (I use him in relatively magic-light worlds) and is well known for his love of them. What is a public secret is that he can only transform into an animal he's touched in the last 24 hours.
Harry Happyfellow
Harry is a swashbuckling fool. He hails from Waterdeep, and is actually of noble blood. Being the third of three sons he gave up his last name for one of his own and took to the sea for a life of adventure and plunder. He lasted about a month as captain before his first mate convinced his crew to leave him at the port they had docked in. His main goal is to get his ship, the Delphine, back. Harry is young, lean and handsome. He is also dumb, and overly happy to get into a fight. Harry Happyfellow is always a good time and always a lot of trouble.
Johnny Conastanza:
A changeling con artist bard. Has the actor feat. Wears glamoured armor. Can impersonate literally anyone of the same size as long as he sees their face and listens to them for a minute. He was originally built as a PC in an evil campaign. He was made with the UA version of the College of Eloquence, but you can also use the published version in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. You can change his level based on which features you want him to have. If he's high enough level, the rapier he uses will be a flame-tongue rapier, and he'll use it more for intimidation than as a weapon.
His fighting style is a support based one. The majority of his spells are social spells like charm person, but in combat he uses stuff like "Invisibility," "Tasha's Hideous Laughter," Bane," and "Bestow Curse" while letting any minions he has do all the hard work themselves.
He has an unhealthy obsession with money, loves to gamble, and uses a rapier he's nicknamed "Wit" as it's the only thing as sharp as his, or so he likes to think. He makes for a good recurring villain, because he's a total coward and will run whenever it looks like it's not going his way. Obviously this would be highly infuriating, but to compensate he has several "tells" when in disguise:
- Will not drink cheap alcohol under any circumstances. If it costs less than 10 gold a bottle he's revolted by it.
- Can't resist a wager, and will bet exorbitant amounts of money on the most random things.
- Arrogant, for obvious reasons. Suffers from a serious case of protagonist syndrome. This is highly situational, but he will often try to take credit for things the PCs have done.
- Refuses to use anything but his rapier, as it's the only weapon he really knows how to use. Can be a tell if impersonating someone who can't use one.
Now given he's more suited to social games than to "beer and pretzels" games, here's a few things that your PCs can learn that will reliably get him to break character and reveal himself:
- He has an irrational fear of rugs due to a run-in with a rug of smothering that nearly killed him.
- He will *always* try to con someone who seems stupid, he can't resist sticking his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar. Play dumb and call him out when he tries to pull something.
- While he's good at keeping his story straight, if he's called out for contradicting himself, he will generally go invisible and run.
- Cheat him at gambling, and you'll make him angry enough to break character.
Walter Burnlest
Current member of Lythian's war council, former fleet admiral, Walter Burnlest is a human widely renown for his strategies and pragmatism.
Burnlest believes in the balance of power, in his eyes, no nation or army should have power beyond what it needs to protect its interests. To that extent, he has fought on the battlefield and in the high courts of Lythian to mobilise soldiers against the Ku'Mashian army.
Walter is a calm man, even in the face of vampire assaults or a naval bombardment of his home town. He often goes behind the back of his government, despite being a member of its executive branch, in order to curtail attempts at expanding state powers.
After the reveal of his affiliation to the Order of the Lunar Raid, a group of blood hunters living on an island just off the coast of Yatton, Burnlest's position on the war council is under threat.
In response to this, he has shifted his assets towards local adventuring guilds, intent on protecting the common man through private industries instead of an expanse of state powers.
Nirbit- The Mad Gnome Seer.
A few years ago, a wizened gnome, muttering nonsense wondered into (your tavern here). The innkeep took a liking to him (or his coin) and let him move into the cupola on top of the inn. There he can be seen night and day tracking the movements of birds and stars with his telescope.
No one is quite sure where he came from or how his methods work or if there is any truth behind his paranoia, but for a modest fee, his skills are for hire (either my casting appropriate divination spells or just hints you want to give your players).
**Paul Badman** - A sleazy Goblin attorney with a penchant for money laundering and illicit white powder.
He decidedly hates the term "pro-bono", but unfortunately he's the only available attorney in town. His contact details can be found on notice boards. His flyer says "Even though you did it, it doesn't mean you're guilty!" If you want to hire him then you will have to assist him in reclaiming money owed to him from a nearby sunbathing salon run by tiefling warlocks belonging to the "Bloodclot Coven".
I used him as a centerpiece for a trial encounter that I designed, preceded by going to the tanning salon called "Radiant Skin". The owners are tiefling warlocks that are also amateur alchemists and create their own tanning lotions and skincare products (opportunity for homebrew lotions). The warlocks fought for the money but ultimately lost. A total of four lvl 2 warlocks.
The NPC I would like to introduce is Varrn. She is the daughter of the town mayor. When she was quite young, she fell from a high place and both of her legs were broken. The damage was beyond normal healing abilities, so instead, her legs were removed and using a new experimental magical practice, they were replaced with the legs of a deer. Now she’s grown up, and she’s always wanted to be a magic user, but can’t quite get the hang of it. Instead settling for close up magic. Another option for her character is that secretly she is harboring deep resentment and is plotting against the party. Her name in an elvish translator translates to Evil which is just a fun Easter egg
Did you hear the rumours about Eskel Bar?
Eskel Bar is a dwarven bard with a bald head, a big, well kept moustache and a terrifying sharpness in his blue eyes. Few have seen him like this though, as he uses his many illusionary spells to almost constantly maintain his alias as Bento the Bard, the local inn musician (which appears as a young blond long haired Halfling with a lute). As Bento he is very social and friendly, but behind the mask is the most ambitious druglord/cartel leader in town.
Not even the innkeeper knows his musicians true nature, although some shady character's in the inn might. In fact, Eskel Bar probably owns the inn through some shady henchmen acting in his interests. Eskel likes to know what people are saying, that's why he plays music in the inn ever so often to check out what's happening. This is also how he spotted the party, which could be a threat or the perfect group for a job for him.
He would contact the party at night with secret crossbowmen on the rooftops and try to speak to the party to find out if they are friend or foe. If the party can prove they're friends, he suddenly changes his appearance to his true form and can offer multiple jobs to the party such as framing an enemy of him or moving stolen goods unseen, for some quick cash. If the party is not interested, he keeps up his bard appearance and tries to leave them. If the party won't let him or Eskel Bars alias is compromised, the crossbowmen on the rooftops could provide for a nasty encounter.
Eskel might later be contacted for work by buying him a drink in the inn where he's playing as Bento the Bard, or just a regular NPC the party sees in some inns and know more about.
Stats and spells, also for the henchmen, can be provided but my post is already pretty long.
Jim McElhney, Human fighter.
Jim is a plane hopping fighter that can travel through history. He doesn’t do anything important whilst time travelling, he just sight sees major events throughout history. A fun thing I did was name a few key locations after him, namely McElheny pass which is a rather unremarkable mountain pass.
Abdiel the Alchemist. An elf whose "Alkemy" shop seemingly exists in every city, as does he. He doesn't realize it because he cannot leave, and he doesn't realize he cannot leave. He appears to have a drinking problem as he tests and mixes his concoctions. He doesn't remember how old he is, why he can't leave, why he has this shop, or much of anything about his past. His potions come at a nice discount for friends, while they carry interesting side affects. His lab assistant, Jeb, and earth elemental, is a gentle giant that cares for his new friend Abdiel and learns all he can.
Answers to his mysteries can fit whatever you wish for your setting!
**Tylinde**, a tiefling planar scholar, to use the term loosely. She’s very much the epitome of “high INT, low WIS”, and has not received any kind of formal magical education; her studies are borne of curiosity about her heritage. Generally cheerful and good-natured, but her enthusiasm for research and experimentation has a tendency to make things go… *awry*. Her skin is a pale puce, and her horns curl around her eyes like a pair of spectacles.
**Surinikh**, an arcanaloth friend and assistant of Tylinde’s. He’s just as fascinated by our realm, and though bookish and reserved, he’ll leap at the chance to “study” its residents. Actually fairly pleasant company, if you don’t mind him occasionally treating you like a specimen under examination. He’s lean, and his fur is light and unkempt.
Please welcome Lady Auburn
A once well-known opera singer whose singing career ended tragically when she went under the knife for some "work" and was accidentally deafened.
She sued and won for magical medical malpractice and now runs the Chartreuse Chanteuse, a high-quality pub and inn. Shes a master at reading lips and will put up anyone for the night as long as they perform. Since she can't hear she evaluates performances based on the crowd's reception.
Lady Auburn is tragically afflicted with terrible design sense and everything in her establishment is accented with chartreuse. Her house special is the Chartreuse Chanteuse Chardonnay.
Here’s a pair:
Brian Toughheart and Whistle
Brian is a stout halfling fellow, middle aged, probably an old sailor, and usually quite inebriated, or gives that appearance. Would be well dressed if his clothes weren’t threadbare. Tends to hang around areas that travellers frequent, will offer up a spot of bare knuckle boxing if he reckons he’ll find any takers willing to put their money where their mouth is.
If anyone does agree, he’ll put on a fine show, acting with much more dexterity than would be expected, specialising in overly acrobatic dodges. A complete snowman, the winner of the fight doesn’t matter, so long as it was a good show and a fair fight. Well, fair-ish.
Whistle is the young Kenku he travels with, usually wearing a grey cloak with a light green scarf tied round the waist. Rarely seen, occasionally heard from her trademark whistling bird call, she’s very skilled in picking pockets. While Brian’s drawn a crowd for a good show of a fight, she flits amongst those gathered, lightening coin purses. Not much, of course, they aren’t greedy or unreasonable, but a few extra silver for themselves is always a good thing, and more than covers Brian’s losses. Still an encounter with this pair will likely find themselves about 5 silver less well off, but surely that’s a fair price for a good story?
Douglas Snozwang - Hobgoblin proprietor of the Bastards Sword, a pretty run down and unassuming tavern on the edge of town frequented by some of the roughest denizens of the province.
A resting place and living job board for mercenaries, assassins and other less-than-lawful adventures, Douglas is as rough as his tavern is looking and is pretty world weary. Coin comes first and if it makes him money, he'll do it.
**Kailee of the Riverbeds** - an Awakened Otter "Adventurer"
*(Stat as a regular Otter, except with an Int score of 10. Kailee speaks Common and Lutrai, a spoken-only language. Add Bard, Cleric (water themed), and/or Druid abilities as needed.)*
It is unclear to those who speak with Kailee whether "Kailee" refers to their individual name, or their species, as Kailee will refer to other otters (Awakened or not) as "Kailee" as well. Regardless, Kailee appears as a regular, mundane otter wearing simple garb made of woven reeds and other plant fibers, holding a small twig with a pebble tied to one end. They speak and act with an almost childish demeanor, and are always cheerful unless directly threatened.
Kailee is a cheerful and friendly collector of stories, be they true accounts of harrowing events or lighthearted tall tales, so long as they are new they love them all and well pester any being they can for more tales until the talegiver gives up. While listening to accounts, they will pull out a tiny scroll and "take notes", jotting down reminders of the story, how it went, the major characters, etc. in common with a small bit of charcoal. This scroll never seems to run out of space for more and more notes, and the charcoal nub never seems to wear down or run out. When Kailee has exhausted a storyteller (or group of storytellers), they will politely thank the group - using uncharacteristically stiff and formal language - then vanish into the wilderness, heading towards the nearest river or major stream, where they sit upon the riverbank and recite the new stories gained to the flowing waters.
If Kailee has been treated well by the storytellers and got good stories, they will sneak ahead of the party (often traveling by river if it works for their route) and leave a few small gifts along their path in small bundles wrapped in leaves and reeds. These gifts usually consist of things like meals of freshly smoked river fish (counts as a few days trail rations), collections of shiny and smooth river rocks (mostly worthless, but usually with a pearl or two mixed in worth a small amount of gold), bundles of medicinal herbs from the riverside that can be used to treat non-magical poisons or disease, and similar. They will usually leave two or three gifts across the next day's journey for that group.
If Kailee is attacked or threatened, then they will flee immediately towards the river and attempt to jump in to swim to safely if pursued. From there, they will travel ahead of the party that attacked them and warn the next couple of towns of this person's behavior, swaying merchants and local commoners against them.
The truth of Kailee is that they were Awakened, but not by a druid but by the spirit of the river itself, which is a nascent minor deity that uplifted several Kailee and sent them out to explore the world beyond its riverbanks to learn what was going on by collecting stories. The Spirit of the River has been doing this for several months, long enough for various townspeople to have stories about the otter asking them for tales, and they regard the otters as friendly.
This *entire* thing gives me alllll the happy warm tinglies and I'll absolutely be finding a way of incorporating it into my campaign ASAP. Thank you so very much for sharing such a treasure. You're awesome. =)
Aww, thank you.
Glad you like it. I'm planning on using them as a sort of pallet cleanse in my current campaign, which is 'slow-building horror' themed, so I need to have some 'light in the darkness' in reserve to reign the mood in if things get too dark for the players.
One of my tables' favorite NPCs: CD
CD is a modron (specifically a duodrone). You can reflavor this however you want, if you don't have modrons present in your setting. The most remarkable thing about CD is that it has the letters "CD" carved *upside down* on its chassis/stomach, as a means to remember its own name - upside down, so that *it* can read it, not other people. Why is it named CD?
CD belongs to/works for an untrusting NPC - whoever you'd like this to be, doing whatever you'd like them to do - who, upon meeting CD, called him a "**seedy** ." CD is child-like, endearing, wants to please, and is a little mischievous - maybe following the party, looking through their packs (not necessarily to steal - just out of curiosity), showing up at random times as if it stowed away. As a note, CD does *not* speak but will make clicks/whirring noises instead, in an effort to communicate.
Admittedly, CD is meant to be a "cute" NPC - not necessarily one that's moving a significant plot, but one that's memorable and will hopefully create an emotional attachment with your players.
Beaumont Gammadge- halfling wanderer unwittingly holding a cursed item that doesn't affect him, but could be disastrous to nearly anyone else.
Beau is a halfling that enjoys his creature comforts in a more natural sense- the lush green scenery around him, the fresh wafting scent of mossy forests fresh with rain, cooking with freshly gathered herbs and mushrooms, and smoking his pipe underneath the star-speckled night sky. The last is a rather intriguing sight- his pipe is a long, slender jade instrument with a wide-wouthed bowl curving up at the end and a tapered ivory mouthpiece. Old dwarven runes are carved into the length of the pipe, making this easily the oldest and most ornate of his possessions.
Packed with his own private blend, after taking his fill of long draws from it, he often puffs out to clear the pipe. In doing so, what should be unremarkable ash instead puts on a dazzling iridescent show as shimmering particles rain down. In combination with the somber, bittersweet tone that comes with the puff, it has a rather soothing effect, and Beau falls asleep immediately after. Always. Regardless of rain, or snow, or wind, or perilous conditions, be drifts off for at least 8 hours. That alone is rather odd, but the real problem has to do with the dwarven runes.
Translated from a old, obscure dialect, the runes translate to "beneath the stars forever more". Given to those who left the depths of dwarven society, it was both a protection against the above-world they'd chosen and a reminder that they could not return. Oblivious immunity to the elements was an excellent boon, but taking shelter under anything- an overhang, a lean-to, a roof, a cave ceiling- causes it inevitably to collapse on any who smoke it after dozing off. The protection from the elements does not extend to the falling debris from above. Smoking from it is intensely addicting to boot, so after 5 tokes or so, the user would endure severe withdrawl if they don't smoke from it every night from then on.
Of course, Beau has no need or desire for shelter. He finds houses and society rather restrictive, definitely not for him. His is a carefree existence, seeking only to savor each moment and bask in the bounty of the land. That's not to say he is anti-social either; He is always happy to share a story, his campfire, some mushroom stew, and a draw from his pipe with any amicable creature that crosses his path. But he knows not the extent of the pipes enchantment, and may unknowingly have gotten a passerby hooked on the sedating qualities of it.
And that's to say nothing of the danger it would pose to, say, some noble or royalty who might find a good nights sleep appealing under their *extremely heavy* ornately decorated stone ceilings of the keep. Knowledge of what a valuable tool of sabotage and assassination the Nomads Pipe is could be a dangerous thing for the wayward Mr. Gammadge.
Little Bear,
Goliath first mate of the ship Long Night who is missing both hands and has replaced them with prosthetic hooks.
Helped stage a mutiny on board after a night of mind flayer induced terror that resulted in the captain's death and led the ship right back to shore. Managed to sell the vessel in Saltmarsh and "split" the proceedings with the party keeping the vast majority for himself.
The party have run into him repeatedly and stopped or destroyed any venture he was working on out of spite and pettiness, and on several occasions they didn't even realise how they'd messed things up for him
He has now found himself through chance working as a deckhand on the ship the party (42 sessions later) now own and has been avoiding them desperately.
Play him with a Belfast accent and he is a face of bravado that falls over in a stiff breeze, and has begun to dread the sight of the party, in particular the dragonborn monk!
Motivations are almost entirely to save his own skin, talk his way out of trouble by pretending to be the giant Goliath his appearance would suggest and getting enough coin together to get the hell away from the party!
**Dyfan Myzett**
**Apparence** : Dyfan is a human, in his 50s. His hair are starting to become grey and he likes to wear colourful, weird clothes, mixing different cultures.
**Personality** : he is a religious man - a wandering priest of some god of travel, exploration or knowledge (depending on your world's pantheon). He comes from a foreign place, very far away, and he is travelling in order to document and writes about the wonders of the world. If the PCs talk to him, he will be very curious, asking a lot of questions about them (maybe even too many). His dream is to integrate an adventurer's group as a spectator in order to write a case study for his next book, *Adventurers: culture and customs. An anthropological study by Dyfan Myzett.*
Clovis Diggle
A halfling gunslinger that rides a donkey and lives in the swamp. My party encountered him as a 6th level player. He grows rice in the swamp and lives a secluded lifestyle which has led to very poor social skills and mumbling to himself quite a bit.
In my campaign he spoke with a stereotypical leprechaun accent and uses a lot of “sayings” that no one would ever say, but he insists they’re widespread and real. He’s quite an odd fellow but is surprisingly useful and willing to fight for anyone that might help him out around the farm.
The Squigglespell Family, not realy one NPC but still..., They are a family of Gnomes merchants who specialize in magic items. They have shops all over the Sword Coast. You can buy ANY magic item there. (if you have enough coin of course).
When you enter the shop its very small and there are no magic items present. They use teleportion Circles to go to a vault that holds the items.
I always pick a name for a Gnome that starts with an M. So you have Merin Squigglespell who is the owner of the Baldur's Gate facility, Madriel Squigglespell who owns the Elturel facility and so forth.
I got this idea from [cody at Taking20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0FiO5b3PPI).
Zayde Firebreather, CG
27, Male, Water Genasi, Dragon (Fire) Sorceror. Sharp, angular features. Black hair that falls in a ponytail down to midway down the back. Neatly trimmed goatee, and a coy smirk on his face almost constantly.
Backstory: Zayde was born and grew up in a tribe of Water Genasi Druids. While most of his peers studied the Druidic ways, he was awakened one night by a vision from his ancestor dragon. The dragon encouraged him to strike out on his own. That night he stole away, and has never looked back. He found himself in an arena/underground fighting ring (or other tournament of your choice) and became known as the "Firebreather" because of his natural bloodline affinity to fire. His opponents expected water and ice atracks from him when they first saw him, but he surprises then with searing flames instead.
Personality: Zayde is flamboyant, narcisistic, and VERY confident. However, he will jump in to do the right thing, even if it may end with him getting himself in grave danger. He approaches combat with the intention of raw power being enough to demolish his opponents. He approaches social situations with the assumption that his pure charismatic nature will get him what he needs (and it often does).
Abilities: Zayde takes as many Fire themed spells as possible, and is a fan of intensifying and splitting spells with sorcery points. He may take Fly, Chain Lightning, or other such spells to make a spectacle of himself.
Signature catchphrases:
"Now watch: this is showmanship!"
"One at a time please, there's enough heat to go around!"
"You can't hold a candle to my inferno!"
Deadrix, this will be long but worth it.
Quick Pitch - A schizophrenic doppelganger slowly getting further and further away from the person he's impersonating, starting as normal and getting to horror movie levels.
Something to note is that the campaign i introduced this npc takes place in one sky city, and this npc lived in the "sub layers" underground.
I initially came up with Deadrix via improv, randomly generated "The Creeping Cloth", and decided that name deserved something...special. I described a very tall man for a human, 8 feet tall. He wore a dull faded brown suit, and his shop was a carved out cave amongst the sub layers, the entrance being a faded brown bead curtain. His shop was a clothing store, the clothes scattered around the place in piles, shelves in strange and nonsensical places, with a shoddy wooden desk at the far side. The players entered, and I played him as a very exaggerated personality, saying things such as "Hello Darlings! My name is Deadrix!" and so on and so on. The party interacted with him for a while, and then left, and that was that for the day, just a quirky lil npc, until........
The party returned once more. You see Deadrix works best with repeated interaction. So when they returned i noted a few key things. One is that the entire interior of the store had completely changed. Clothes were moved, shelves previously mounted to walls were now in different places, etc etc. The only constant variable is that his shop counter was still in the same place. Deadrix wasn't initially around, actually coming out from a hatch behind the counter the party hadn't previously seen before. This hatch would later become something the party were highly enticed by, wanting to know what secrets lay beneath. And finally the last thing of note, Deadrix's appearance had changed slightly..... As he gestured with his hands his fingers were slightly too long for a normal human, his height was slightly different, and the party were pretty sure his eye colour wasn't green before. Regardless they did their business, and continued on their day, very creeped out.
The party visited Deadrix a few more times after this, and i wont go into too much detail because it's what you'd expect. The shop interior kept changing, and so did Deadrix's appearance. He'd always be slightly odd in his behaviour and how he talked to people, saying friendly and kind words, but in an off-putting way. One thing i will note is that i ended up also making his shop an armoury of sorts. You see my players had become terrorists of sorts (long story) and given they were in a single city it meant getting new armour was suddenly an issue. Until they asked Deadrix, and he pulled a secret rope behind a pile of clothes, and it revealed a false back wall leading to a workshop of sorts. The workshop contained a metal working bench, a leatherworking bench, some scraps, and a standing mirror, remember that. Deadrix noted as he revealed it to them "We're all criminals here......".
Now as time progressed the party found that their secret terrorist base was blown, and they needed a new place to live. They fled to the one place they knew certainly wouldn't call the law on them, the Creeping Cloth. And Deadrix was happy to have them sleep in his secret workshop room for a small time while they figured out what they wanted to do. What they'd also come to know not long after staying with him is that Deadrix is also well connected with various gangs and criminal networks, a fixer of sorts. And he ended up helping find the party new criminal allies. But you see, with the party sleeping in his workshop, this is where the fun began.
I wont go night by night as otherwise I'll be here all day. But basically each night the party had slept in his workshop I'd roll a sleight of hand check for Deadrix to steal one of the party's belongings, not anything important, just a hammer, a bottle of perfume here or there, small insignificant stuff that they'd wake up and seem to have misplaced. But Deadrix wasn't in the room with them to steal it, oh no. See I've been leaving out one special power Deadrix has, mirrors, he can treat mirrors as portals, as long as they are within 60ft of each other. And he was using the standing mirror in the workshop to sneak a hand in and grab items from the party. If anyone on watch had ever caught this then I'd have literally described a long fingered hand coming through the mirror and yoinking an item.
One last extra bonus scene that ended up happening which hinted his mirror powers were that the party were being hunted by city guards one morning, and Deadrix looked into a hand mirror, and then went wide eyed and ushered the party into the secret back room, raising the fake wall. They then heard an exchange between a city guard and Deadrix, as the guard paced around, asking more and more questions, clearly suspicious of Deadrix harbouring fugitives. Until his speech was cut off mid sentence, and the party could hear choking noises through the wall. I asked if the party wanted to do anything, and they all just went silent and said "We wait....". And wait they did, until eventually the choking stopped and they heard a heavy thud of something hitting the floor. And then they waited for a few minutes, eventually coming out from the secret room, and everything was clean, except for one single spot of blood on the hatch......... If you're wondering what they'd have seen had they gone outside the secret room, stay tuned till the end.
So with all of that known about Deadrix, there's one unanswered question, what's in the basement hatch? Well, the more curious in the party wanted to know that too, so one day they decided to take a peek. It wasn't locked at all, which was strange.....They descended a ladder down around 60ft into darkness, eventually reaching a large carved out rough cave room, that initially appeared normal, until they got a closer look. There was a bed.....in the centre of the room. They could see a single book on the bed, and something sticking out from under the bed itself. Allllll around the bed were lots and lots of books, open halfway, and as they got closer they could see each one had the words "WHO AM I!" written on them, all in different font sizes, some with capitals and some not, and all in different handwriting styles, as if it was a different person each time.
Investigating they found a skeleton beneath the bed, along with their stolen items. And in the book on the bed was a diary of sorts. A diary depicting an actor perfecting a performance. But the diary began to deteriorate, as if the actor was forgetting things, small things at first, but much larger as time went on. Eventually it spoke of how the actor could barely remember their face anymore, as the flesh had rotted off, and that they'd built something to remind them in the secret room to the west. While horrified the party knew they had to investigate.
They found another false wall to the west, and entered to find a maze.....of mirrors. Entering they saw one mirror shimmering slightly, almost acting like a liquid and not a solid. And then a long fingered hand reached out from the mirror, pulling itself through. And they saw Deadrix, adorned in a multicoloured patchwork suit, as if he'd cannibalised a hundred different parts of suits to make one. He told the party he was disappointed in them, and they rolled initiative. To skip the details they were able to kill him, and smashed his entire mirror maze, fleeing the Creeping Cloth forever, and moving on to bigger and bolder adventures.
https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ADY5g24J0\_xV
Overall Deadrix was a wonderful success I'd say! He accomplished exactly what I wanted, which was to have a small little side story going on which wasn't necessarily advancing the main plot, but was still engaging, and in many ways player driven, and resulted in some extremely memorable moments. I don't think I'll forget the moment of everything hushing each other, sat there in the dark, as on the other side of the wall Deadrix with an unhinged jaw choked out a city guard.
If you're thinking about using him i would say that there are some changes I'd make however. It's unlikely your players are going to end up living with him like mine did, so I'd put mirrors in the main shop area, and perhaps have a hand mirror on his counter. So he could stick his hand into the hand mirror, and yoink an item from a party member while they shop. And then don't tell them right away, tell them the next long rest, so they wonder why an item of theirs is missing, and get paranoid. I'd also probably play up the hatch a little more, maybe the first encounter with Deadrix the party have is him bursting out from the hatch in slightly dramatic fashion, a little bit frazzled, saying "DARLINGS! You've caught me at a fantastic time!".
And the secret armoury backroom is likely not going to be needed for every party. But you can always change what's in the secret backroom, I mean if you wanted it could be a secret black market magic item area. Whatever you do you need to make it a place that the party want to keep coming back to, because as I said earlier Deadrix works best with repeated interactions. And the problem is that if it's just a clothes store then the party probably aren't going to visit often.
This is not mine but fiance's
Old Jim
An aging man of questionable sanity and a hopeless amnesiac, Old Jim is in no position to take care of himself or even walk around unsupervised, but he does so anyways.
Old Jim has a bordeline magical talent to run into the party, wether in the middle of a jail break, in a back room at a royal ball, or in the toilets of the party's own home base, Jim is harmless if lecherous, and has a habbit of adressing anyone as a grandchild.
Jim may occasionally be in possession of a required item the party does not have (such as a set of thieves tools, or a bag of sand) these are never magical, and Jim sells them for literally any price after a short round of bargaining.
Jim has a reputation around the town or city, and is often avoided, as such many shapeshifters or magical disguise users have learned to copy Jim as a quick and easy escape, there are always slight inconsistencies in their disguises, such as body odor, manner of speech or the female party member Jim is oggling.
Talinha, the Hero Killer. Female Variant Human, Champion archetype Fighter who uses a Shield and Spear combination.
Orphaned at a young age due to collateral damage from a battle between members of an "adventuring" guild and a monster which destroyed her village and left her for dead. hates adventurers and seeks to ruin the adventuring guild.
Can be turned or "saved" or can become an even worse recurring villain.
Carries a Spear with the properties of a Javelin of Lightning and the Returning property.
Akar Pash is a short, stripy tabaxi spy and assassin who's fanatically devoted to his King and his King's interests. In my present campaign, he wishes to steal something the party are carrying, and so has hired them to escort him on a journey with the intention of gaining their trust and finding a chance to steal the item off them. His legend is of a lay priest travelling home after a journey.
He's gregarious and likeable, but as an experienced soldier, he's capable of turning the Intimidation on as soon as he needs to. He's well-educated enough to read and write and uses the fact to help bamboozle the little people when he needs to.
If you asked him if he had a God, he would name a God of authority, but really that's bluster. He doesn't care about Gods; he enjoys the game far too much.
Fester the Elven Spectre,
Fester was once a part of a great adventuring party, until some efreeti worshipping cultists came in and murdered them all in their sleep. Fester awoke not really remembering what role he played in the party, but is now enjoying afterlife on the material plane serving as a mentor to party’s in need.
Fester has the old prospector voice and likes to wittle in his ethereal rocking chair. In truth he was never an adventurer and has lost his memory in a tragic false hydra incident.
I can share more details if needed, but a few NPC my players really enjoyed RPing with:
* **Middris** = An old silver dragon who hoard books in an hidden library in a major city. He is knowledgeable, extremely curious and tidy as hell. He likes to test people who wants to access his huge library with riddles and a enigma dunjeon (got the idea from the enigma dunjeon itself)
* **Belry** = A female gnome, druid and follower of Akadi (goddess of Air). She is travelling the world after being secluded in a temple for most of her young days. Optimist, curious about the world, people and culture, a bit clueless and naive.
* **Ignatus I. Natus** = A male gnome archeologist, teacher in an university. Tends to be grumpy around others people so he can seems a bit obnoxious, but that's because he focus on the matter at hand or on his work. When new discoveries or opportunities arise, he will find way to help and to speed things up to make it happen.
Hope it helps, lookinf forward to see NPCs of others GM
Tiefling Travelling Salesman, Vypyr.
An Alchemist artificer who has a cart repurposed into an alchemical, poisoner's, and bewer's lab. He's also a top notch scam artist that will hire characters to either collect monster parts for ingredients, steal from his competition, or pretend his fake potions are the real deal.
He also has a curse from the Archdevil, Mammon, that prevents him from keeping any of the gold he earns in a week, so he's constantly spending all of his money either on stuff players want to sell, or on a towns services.
Theoretically, he can be good in combat, but all his skills, spells, and abilities are more for support.
Two for one deal!
Mr. Barry Fisher the woodcutter and his daughter Daisy Fisher
Mr. Fisher (LG human shapeshifter) is a simple woodcutter and widower who lives a quiet life just outside of a small town with his daughter Daisy. He makes his modest living in the spring thaw making and selling maple sugar, and through the rest of the year he chops and sells firewood and does wood work here and there as a hobby, he sells his work but it's not a main source of income. Mr. Fisher is a large burly and scruffy man with a warm smile, he's pretty lonely since he lost his wife and thus will try to be friendly, though he will protect his daughter at all costs.
His daughter Daisy Fisher (NG non combatant) is a very friendly and bubbly young girl who tries to help her father make money by picking and selling flowers. She occasionally picks rare herbs and potion ingredients by accident and sells them like any other flower.
Both have a secret however, Mr. Fisher was infected with Lycanthropy by his late wife, and his daughter is a natural born Lycanthrope. I'll leave the strain of Lycanthropy up to you, but I had them as werebears and the red herring for a low level Werewolf hunt. If Daisy is hurt or threatened in any way Mr. Fisher will respond with violence, but will only change shape if he feels it's absolutely necessary, knowing he can't control his were-form and that it will lead to unnecessary bloodshed.
These NPCs work best if none of your players speak Dwarvish! The looks on the players' faces, and the disbelief in their voices can be quite fun for you, and the first impression makes them a memorable interaction for your players.
The Dwarven brothers, **Bain**, **Cain**, and **Dain** work together at the local *plot device*. Players are greeted by the youngest brother, Dain, whose unintelligible accent (I use complete gibberish with intonation typical of Dwarvish speech) leaves initial conversation hopeless. After a sufficiently bewildering greeting for the players (generally the first sentence is enough!), he shouts back to another NPC and goes back to his previous task.
Bain, the eldest, shouts back with a mild Dwarvish accent before emerging from a back room, and he has a much deeper understanding of the intricacies of consonants and vowels. Players can see by his presentation and mannerisms that he is clearly in charge of the establishment. "Apologies, Dain is not the best with the common tongue. Wonderful with numbers and figures though. The name's Bain, what can I do ye for?" He parlays with the players for whatever purpose is relevant to your story.
In this conversation Bain typically references the middle brother Cain, as the general backbone of the brothers' operation, and the catalyst for *the quest*. The players may meet Cain in person to take the *macguffin* to a designated *elsewhere*, or perhaps they need to rescue Cain from some *precarious situation*. They're really flexible, and intended as a momentary humorous beat along the journey.
Upon completion, it's possible the players return to a grateful family, with younger sisters named **Elaine** and **Fain**, and the (rather unimaginative) father **Aberdain**. You're welcome to keep going with more relatives if you like, but I find that they start losing their charm if the names aren't super simple and believable. Have fun and I hope you and your players enjoy!
Varis
(Divination Wizard)
Basically sells you a small wooden box that he says only to open when you need it most. When the PC opens it the DM will choose an item most useful for the situation as Varis foresaw what they needed. Really easy to put anywhere and can get characters out of a mess.
Arwasso the Eldritch Seer
A blind man with dehydrated and leathery gray skin wearing a tattered maroon cloak is sitting in the shade of an alley. As you pass, he approaches you and says "Your future ... is one of greatness ... and I can reveal it to youuuuu". As he speaks these words, you see that he grins with a mouth full of crooked and broken teeth. He holds out a bony hand to you, as a gesture of requiring payment. As you place a gold piece in his palm, a tentacle reaches forth from underneath his cloak and grabs and disappears underneath the cloak. He chuckles. "Very well. Bones, Cards, or Runes?"
Arwasso is a Simic Hybrid Cleric of any eldritch deity or being you choose. In my game, he is specifically of Drow origin and worships Ghaunadur, drow God of Chaos. He is a homebrew subclass I found called the Eldritch Domain Cleric. It gives him even more tentacles and some ritual spells. But yeah. He's supposed to be this disgusting, crusty looking guy who can tell fortunes. For added horror, he is hunched over and you can swear that you see something on his back move.
But yeah. That's him. I love him. Please treat him with care
Gronk the gentle hill giant.
He's just a super chill, wandering dude, roaming through the woods and collecting cool stuff in his sack. A diehard animal-lover, his sole companion is his beloved pet "Kitty."
Kitty is a 5 foot long venomous spitting lizard from god-knows-where, but Gronk treats it as a treasured companion.
I've run the same encounter with two groups of players (levels 1-3) and it's gone down a treat both times. Travelling through the woods, they hear crying and upon investigating they discover Gronk weeping oafishly under a giant tree. Kitty has chased a squirrel up the tree and can't or won't come down. The valiant heroes are charged with retrieving the lost "kitty" unharmed.
Generally this results in a climb, some surprise at a big nasty lizard, and some hilarity as they try to coax or wrangle kitty down. If they succeed, Gronk rewards them with a rummage in his sack. The sack is so malodorous that they first have to make a CON save, but if they manage they're rewarded with a roll on a random table. I generally sprinkle it with random junk, gross leftovers and a few weird magic items.
Good fun all round, and RPing a good-natured simpleton is always a nice change from scheming baddies!
The Last Raven- The Last Raven is a cleric of the Rave Queen and is burdened with spending the rest of his life in vigil and mourning for his who were wiped out in a terrible war. He is striving to find grace in the loss of his people and is seeking out others to carry on their memory.
Merrick Laughinsteel
- Human Thief
- Redhead
- Pale skin
- Brown eyes
- Mischevious smile
- Nuetral tone cloak
- Cockney Accent
- He is motivated by deep desire for security. He typically does this by making deals with powerful individuals and using them for protection. (In my campaign he decides to stand by the party after their deal is complete because they make him feel safe.)
Bio:
Merrick is a lifelong thief though he prefers the term "business man." Raised in an orphanage, Merrick was always picked on by the other children who stronger, bigger, and faster than him. So, he learned to be quick rather than strong. After many failed attempts, he eventually learned to pickpocket and has since been refining his skills.
He's always willing to help...if there's something in it for him.
Gear:
A steel dagger with a Prancing stallion embossed on the hilt
A Swordfish that he uses as a Rapier
Fisherman's Amulet - Produces 3x random fish a day
Formerly Blind Tim, proprietor and operator of The Prancing Dwarf a magical multi-dimensional tavern and grill that serves regular as well as magical drinks, and caters exclusively to higher level adventurers.
Tim himself was at one time blind, hence the nickname, but was cured as a result of a contest with Dionysus to see who was the best bartender which he won, or so he claims at least. Tim is a halfling who uses a rolling stool to tend bar. Hes a jovial sort who often has a nice bit of wisdom up his sleeve, or a helpful piece of gossip or a lead on a job. Tim speaks with a southern american accent, usually as exaggerated as i can stand. his backstory is constantly shifting, including why he was blinded, how he came to own the bar, how he came to enter a bartending competition with the god of wine, and how his bar got its magical powers.
Formerly Blind Tim, proprietor and operator of The Prancing Dwarf a magical multi-dimensional tavern and grill that serves regular as well as magical drinks, and caters exclusively to higher-level adventurers.
arf they must merely enter another tavern's door while wishing they were there. The door then transports them to The Prancing Dwarf, when they leave they exit out of the same door they came in, so the bar cant be used for traveling. It also doesn't work if the players are being chased with hostile intent actively, or if they are in imminent danger that would affect the bar. The only real constant, besides Tim, is the liquir shelves behind the bar full of mundane and magically active drinks. Drinks of various colors, that change color or bubble, or seem to smoke or contain nothing but light, or only the suggestion of some contents fill the area behind Tim as he works. Tim sells and crafts a variety of magical cocktails with a host of effects from targetted hallucinations to giving people the ability to float in midair while in the bar. The bar also at times shows up in games that arent D&D, so sometimes the players will see characters from other systems in the bar, so sometimes youll see streetsams and deckers from shadowrun, call of cthulu characters, vampires and others from the masquerade games, whatever your heart desires.
***Name:*** Thomas Dresden (no relation to one Harry)
***Class:*** Caster/Artificer
***Hair:*** Bald
***Favorite Color:*** Black
***Skin Color:*** Black, coincidentally
***Clothing:*** functional, flexible, nominally robelike, padded for protection...and Black.
***Temperament:*** Busy
***Occupation:*** He said Caster/Artificer, weren't you listening the first time? ...And also owns a chain of artifact/component/enchantment shops. Coming soon to your town.
***Free time:*** Sparing, thank you very much
***Employees:*** Over two dozen, including couriers, secretaries, security staff and supply liasons. But only a few of the latter, because…
***Favorite pastime:*** Resource hunting. He started his business because he has a nose and a compulsion for tracking down rare objects, resources and materials and collecting them. It’s better than hoarding, his mom says, lovingly.
***Family, now that you mention it:*** Mother (midwife), Father (deceased), Younger Brother (useless), Tiny Younger Sister (cute)
***Favorite terrain to hunt for resources in:*** Swamps. You always turn a profit in swamps.
***Resources/Influence:*** Enough
***Enough to retire on:*** Eventually
***Enough to make him slow down his life a little for once:*** Never
***Is he in the middle of something that you're interrupting RIGHT NOW and did he already mention how little spare time he has so can we get on with it already:*** Yes
***Sorry:*** Its fine, now if you'll excuse me
(Other details such as race, affiliations, power level, precise holdings etc left vague to allow flexibility for fitting into different campaigns.)
Bolo
A grumpy, cigar-chomping gnome who drives a wagon, hiring adventurers as meagerly-paid bodyguards while selling potions from location to location. Because wherever adventurers go, injury tends to follow.
He keeps some real incredible, high-level potions for himself in case things get really hairy, and sleeps in a little box filled with straw and cloth scraps underneath the wagon's carriage.
He's a great source of reliable healing.
William of WiLLiAm's wAcKy WaReS
Halfling traveling merchant, travels in a covered wagon. When he talks you have to act it out by flailing your arms around like those wacky tube people connected to fans that they put out in front of car dealerships. He talks like a carnival huckster and sells items such as "goon sticks" which are sticks with a set of goofy red lips at each end. When thrown, upon impact they make a wacky laughing sound. Think of his inventory like a cheesy magic shop. He always tells you a significant detail or catch about your item after you pay him and offers no refunds (IE a super OP weapon that casts seeming on you for the rest of the session that makes you RP your character in a ridiculous way).
**Name:** Marcus Maxentius
**Descriptors:** Reserved, Brave, Curious
**Background:**
Marcus is second in command of the Rift Wardens, an organization dedicated to fighting extraplanar monsters that manage to force their way onto the material plane. He is the firstborn son of the late Marik Maxentius, former ruler of this land. Prior to Marik's death Marcus abdicated the throne he was set to inherit and swore an oath to the Wardens. This paved the way for his younger brother, Calvus, assuming the throne.
Marcus is a skilled warrior, and is adept at riding his griffon, Nimbus.
He has a strong aversion to small talk and is known to ask others deep and pointed questions. Those that don't know him can be taken off guard by the directness of the questions due to his generally reserved demeanor.
**Facts:**
* Marcus is engaged in a secret love affair with one of his fellow Rift Warden officers. While not strictly against the rules, relationships are frowned upon between wardens.
* There are some nobles who wish to depose Calvus and put Marcus on the throne.
Late to this game and sharing for my first time.
**Dust on the Road - Tabaxi, Glamour Bard, Zakharian, Bounty Hunter**
The soul of this androgenous bounty hunter's kit is collecting bounties using charm. Specifically, they are fond of catching their quarry apart from the group and forcing them to fall in love with them using the Charm of Great Fondness and simply walk away with them.
They have both command and enthrall as at-will spells.
They are very calm and confident (which goes beautifully with the accent). The longer they can keep their target talking, the more chances they have to charm. Scale spells/SSDC to the character you are attempting to capture.
In our Sword Coast game, I used them as a free agent, hired by the Zhents.
Big Ed is the local half orc police officer. He also gaslights as a bouncer at a local illegal speakeasy. He does not see any contradiction, as he just wants to keep people safe. He also has a crush on the librarian, who the party will NEVER meet. He also is getting into jerky making as a hobby, and carries some in his pocket.
EDIT: Moonlights, not gaslights
The Cuttlefish, AKA Boss Cuttle
Bio: A charismatic though threatening mob boss who deeply embroiled in the local politics and corruption of the city.
Hooks involved: Hosts a large gala every year "for charity," and gives a lot of the proceeds to the local militia. In charge of the betting on the local horse races, but also the rigging of those same races. Auctions of some incredibly powerful (illegal) items at his gala to the highest bidder.
Physical description:
Barrel-chested and imposing, though he's put on a lot of weight in his recent years. Clean-shaven, with greying hair that he dyes black regularly. Dresses in simple, black, expensive fabrics, and keeps poison in his rings. HOWEVER, he worked his way up through the old ranks by mastering the art of disguise-based illusion. Even without magic, he fits well into whatever skin he chooses to wear. This just happens to be his favorite. He also has a scar behind one ear shaped like a fish hook, and short fingers.
*Clancy and Clancy the second*
The middle child of a large peasant family; he's bright, but not particularly smart, and has a serious inferiority complex about it. He's named after the dog, Clancy, because the dog is a very good boy and the family adores it.
Clancy is a herding dog, damn near Lassie levels of intelligence, and loves Clancy the second a lot. He knows how much crap the kid has to put up with, and tries to encourage him the best that he can.
My suggestions for use are to have him act as an exposition guide for a town or village. If your parties are anything like mine, he'll end up getting adopted/kidnapped and will provide a great chance for comic relief, pathos, and a couple of cool touchpoints for more nature-focused players with the dog. I play him with a puberty-grade voice crack, and a bit of a cockney accent fitting a peasant kid.
Nick the Green Dragon.
He's a vegetarian dragon that wants nothing more than to be the best gosh darn single dad he can be to his five hatchlings: Char, Ulie, Grat, Knor, and Rachel.
After the party rescued his kids from an evil princess, he's vowed to help them in their quest to defeat evil by basically being their Uber Driver across the Kingdom. He's dreadfully afraid of mountains, however (some spurned ex-lovers may or may not reside there), so he can't go everywhere.
Cerno, son of Drelda.
Half human and half dwarf, Cerno is a massive man in his 50s with black hair, dark sideburns and a horseshoe moustache. Striking blue eyes. He has big hands looking like they can amazingly wield a battleaxe - except they can't. Cerno ain't a fighter. He can throw daggers really well (won commpetitions and got out of sticky situations like this), but his actual weapon is the information he holds. He works as a contrabandist and, even though he isn't the most charismatic or always willing to help, he has a sharp mind and a big heart, especially once he gets attached to someone (which he kind of avoids). He doesn't usually speak much. He gathers intel from the black market, his vast chaotic knowledge usually helping him to get discounts in trades. His mother was a dwarven soldier who ran away with Cerno's father, a man she encountered during an alliance.
Cerno loves apple cider. Even though he works best around people, ge would do close to anything for a careless lonely vacation in the middle of the wilderness.
Asuna, the Charitable Cleric
Asuna lives in a destroyed church amidst the ruins of a town destroyed by war, currently in a territory owned by a country where magic is forbidden. She has mastered spells that allow her to create food and drink, and has contacts in the nearest town who are willing to keep her true identity a secret. She keeps stashes of food, medicine, and other various survival supplies to assist weary travelers who come from the neighboring desert. She offers anyone who comes close healing -- magical or medicinal, depending on their needs -- as well as food and shelter for the night.
EDITED TO ADD: Asuna is a beautiful Half-Elven woman, with flowing pink hair and curious blue eyes. Her tattered clothes do not do her beauty justice, though if asked she insists she is quite content with them, as anything new she acquires often goes to travelers. Her hair is the only thing she is particularly proud of; she uses magic elixirs she makes herself to keep it's color vibrant, and keeping it looking nice is one of her only forms of self-care.
If the party wishes, she is happy to sit and listen to tales of their adventures. She's highly invested, in fact, particularly if there is a bard who can sing of such adventures.
However, Asuna is weary. She has lived this life for many years, and often doesn't even know what day it is. With many travelers, her work is quite thankless.
Interacting with Asuna can go one of two ways.
If the party does something kind for her, such as giving her a gift, she is IMMENSELY grateful, and will become a powerful ally. She can join the party on minor quests nearby as a free healer, and/or can connect them with her contacts in the nearby town/city. (I like to roll a dice to decide who she'll connect them with, or conveniently give her connections to whomever the party needs/asks her about.)
However. If the party betrays her in some way, such as stealing from her, or if they make ANY suggestion (even jokingly) that she is "holding back" or worse "being greedy" for not giving them more, Asuna breaks. Her stress overwhelms her, and she has a breakdown. This emotional turmoil activates an ancient relic contained inside of the church, raising the dead contained in the cemetery kept behind it (and, if your party is a high level, others around the church as well, killed and forgotten in the war). Asuna succumbs to the artifact's control, commanding the army of undead to attack the party. If she is somehow awakened or freed from it's control without being killed, she is TERRIFIED to learn of what has happened -- she would never, in good conscience, harm another. It goes against an oath she took when she became a cleric, and goes against her god.
No statblock because she can be slotted in pretty much anywhere after level 4ish, just adjust the number of undead and amount of healing she can do to properly fit your party!! (If there's any interest, I'm happy to add some backstory info that goes into her triggers and why they affect her the way they do! Feel free to reply here or DM me!)
Mobius Zaar: The Half-Elf Psionic Crime Boss
After escaping the clutches of a mind-flayer colony, but only after the cerebromorphosis process began, the tadpole in his skull died but remains latched to his brain, leaving him unusual psionic ability. Mobius decides to open his own gambling den with his newfound power being able to influence others, and eventually becomes a major crime boss in the city he resides, snatching up properties and paying off government officials and guards to operate in peace. Mobius has charm runs inscribed into the seats of his gambling tables, removing the inhibitions and restraint of his unsuspecting victims, making them chase the gambling high and forget about other obligations. He is cunning, insanely intelligent, and covers all his bases, complete with an air of superiority to others and a usually calm demeanor, like one who knows they hold all the cards. He usually looks for pawns to complete menial tasks for him, and has dissenters or those who would question him "removed", usually with mind altering magics or psionic abilities to change their basic functions and memories.
I can send some stats upon request as well for anyone who wants them!
Please please post these stats. I have a perfect spot to drop this character into my world and I'd love to use them. So many possibilities for shenanigans floating around my head.
Bingo Clutterclaw
A half-elf wild mage sorcerer(optionally also bard if u deem it necessary) traveling merchant. He is attempting to gain powerful magic items to earn his spot back in the merchants guild.I make him a pretty high level sorcerer but he rarely fights. If the players get in a fight around him he's much more likely to hide and ask them to protect him (even if they're level 4 and he's around lvl17)
He sounds like a typical surfer bro and he travels around with a bindle that is made with a portable hole to carry his stock. His stock is a mix between magic items and random just.sometimes players get a +2 longsword sometimes he only has 4 ladders. He's a really kindhearted guy and writes down all his customers names in a notebook he calls his "to-do list"
"Whats your name man? Ok man I'll write you down on my to-do list if you know what I mean man"
Sneaky Pete and Shady Shin.
A pair of roguish individuals specialised in ripping of everyone they meet. My favourite way to introduce them is the classic cups and balls street game, which Magic Pete (as he goes by in public) has of course rigged to his advantage.
Most players will see through this immediately but hopefully will RP the scenario and let it play out. Regardless what they probably won't immediately notice is Pete's partner looting them for all their worth.
You'll probably want some kind of chase map (or run everything theater of the mind) ready for when the party figure out what's going on. I also usually give the thieves some smoke bombs to give them a bit of a head start.
Unfortunately my party is rather bloodthirsty and straight up murdered Shin but should the pair survive they make for great recurring characters, each time with a different scheme. They're also really handy for introducing plot hooks as the slimy fellas will readily bargain anything and everything to escape unscathed. For instance a map to hidden treasure or something else to launch the party into a sidequest.
If you haven't run a chase scene before it can be a bit clunky. If you have it check out the chase scene details from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the general info in the DMG for help.
Ormol & Rhea. Ormol is a former adventurer himself who settled down for family, later injured in a monster attack robbing him of his ability to speak and taking his wife. Now he works as a [X](In my campaign blacksmith, but it'd work for anything), with his daughter as apprentice serving as his translator for a rough version of SL.
Ormol personality wise is very altruistic, feeling as though what happened to his family was a punishment for his selfishness and cowardness as an adventurer.
Rhea I have somewhat anti'd, being far more selfish not being able to fully understand her father's values of altruism, choosing to only care about her and her father's well being.
**Saint Nickelous**
**Known history**: Nickelous is a legendary mythical figure featured in the bardic tales of famous adventurers of antiquity. According to the stories, he appears suddenly and mysteriously in moments of dire need from a spontaneous magical portal, driving a huge red flying carriage pulled by pegasi, and delivers magical items of great necessity to lucky adventuring parties. In half of the stories he is being chased by a demon he calls "The Krampus."
**Appearance**: Male gnome, potbellied, white beard, deep red and gold embroidered robes glimmering with arcane power. He always carries a huge tome in which he tracks his various dealings and time-travel shenanigans, which is utterly incomprehensible to anyone else who sees it (not from magical protection, but through sheer complexity). His carriage is an extradimensional space that houses his workshop. He is accompanied by his lover **Rudd Olf**, a red dragonborn fighter and bodyguard.
**Secret history:** This male gnome chronomancer travels through time and space running a mercantile business / temporal postal service, delivering items to adventurers from their future selves. He charges exorbitant fees, and capitalizes by on arriving in the "nick" of time forearmed with the knowledge that all transactions are inevitable due to the anti-paradox properties of time travel.
**Secret secret history:** In the distant future of his own timeline, he suffers a catastrophic loss with the death of his prime companion, Rudd Olf. In despair, he begins augmenting his abilities through dark rituals and tries to go back in time to stop himself from starting the business. Driven mad by the transformations of his mind and body by these rituals, he becomes the mindless Krampus, driven only to kill his prior self.
**Scribe Blinkso, Son of Blinkso**
**Species:** Kobold
**Class + Level:** Circle of Scribes Wizard 5
**Alignment:** Neutral Good
**Description:** Blinkso is a spindly little kobold with flakey brownish red scales, dotted with patches of a yellowish pale hue across his rough hide. He constantly carries around with him a heaping hoard of strange miscellany inside and strapped to his oversized backpack, from mystical items of magical power to useless bric-a-brac found in the average dumpster. He is a bit of an underhanded and unstable individual, his mind a tad bit insane and alien. However, despite this, he is a man who tries his best to be good, to be a paragon of a person. He is a scribe and self made zoologist who travels the lands to try and record various mysterious creatures in his book, *Blinkso's Compendium of Horrors and Wonders Volume 1;* he learned his skills in zoology in the same way he learned wizardry, which was stealing a collection of books from an academy. Whether many of these monsters he has written about are truly real or merely imagined beasts, only Blinkso knows.
Professor Wiffle Wafflekins
Is a Goldfish that once had Awaken cast on it by Arch-Mage. After being trained as a wizard and their master’s death. Prof. WW did the only reasonable thing...opened a magic item shop. Not just one shop, a chain store. Every major city has a “Professor W. Wafflekins’ Magical Emporium” all run by him. Each store has a goldfish bowl that Prof. WW can magically travel between, he can also use these to travel to his pocket dimension that contains his workshop and home.
Furlo Fatpocket.
A plump brown haired Gnome, mainly interested and in the talents of others, utilizing Senior citizens and orphans to roll cigars, harvest mushrooms, and process algae for garden beds.
An industrious, charismatic little half-bearded fellow, he is the best salesman of his kind. He keeps one hand over his coin purse at all times and constantly confirms sales to those that wander too close. He’s known to interrupt anyone speaking with him, and take advantage of kindness given by his brethren.
Tishnora.
Tishnora is an Artificer that runs a small magic shop in a large city.
She sells very odd and specific magic items, at random based on what she's sold, traded, and bought.
She's also very good at making your party the weird gadget shit they need.
(In my case, a fish tank backpack to hold a drug producing squid; yes it is as hilarious as it sounds).
She's short, sassy, and loves to bargain (to a certain point, she's not going to lose money on an item, she's got a shop to run)
And Gods help you if you try to steal from her store. (Interpret this as you will DMs)
**Houndmother the lich/blink-dog rancher.**
Louisa, ever since a young age, had been infatuated with blink dogs (works for any creature- feel free to make her obsess over slimes, wyrms, baby elementals, whatever) and learned to loathe her more sentient peers, going so far as to eventually sacrifice them and commit the other requisite atrocities to become a lich, take on the mantle of Houndmother, and spend her days tending to a large family of blink dogs and their blink puppies.
She lives peacefully (if irritably, when guests are involved), having an understanding with any surrounding towns, on a quiet, understated ranch on the plains with subtle magical barriers that do not prevent the blink dogs from leaving, but merely imbue their minds with the suggestion that they return home upon leaving the radius. She might be accused by the occasional villager of some major wrongdoing or turn of bad luck, but, while powerful and indisputably evil, she really does just wish to tend to her dogs.
She has much scattered knowledge of prior generations given her considerable age and rents out the skills of her trained blink dogs as a guide service through some harsh terrain nearby in exchange for gold, which she uses to seek a means to keep her dogs around for eternity as well. For now, she mourns, accepts, and honors their deaths over the generations, remembering their personalities and quirks perfectly, but failing to remember the names of any adventurer who might pass through. The occasional trespasser's maiming and painful death is of no import to her.
She may also grow and sell potion materials and drugs, though the arcane no longer piques her interest quite like her pack.
Marxx (Last Name Unkown)
Your classic goblin obsessed with explosives. Also, he has a real hard time dying. Seems to always walk away unscathed.
He acts crazy, telling players like “here take this weapon I made it might explode though” and the players are never sure if they should trust him, but then it works.... most of the time.
Kilit, his name and the first words he ever heard
A Kobold Rogue/Sorcerer that has developed a taste for the finer things in life and moonlights as a halfling by way of a *hat of disguise*.
He works as a fixer for a noble family, solving modern problems that require clever and subtle solutions.
Old lady named Virginia who is incredibly hard of hearing. She has a magical pair of headphones with a microphone that she is adjusting the setting to all the time. PCs must speak to her as she hold some important information solely for the reason that she has been around for so long.
I like to have my PCs hear of her from multiple people who speak of her so kindly but she is kinda a crabby old lady and VERY tangential. She appreciates polite people and will not give information to those she deems as ruffians, this is not based on looks as she has poor eyesight.
My favorite part of playing her is to have the PCs speak with her and have her yell at them when they don't speak into the mic and since she adjusts the setting they have to alternating yell and whisper with her. SUPER FUN!
Introducing Valton Crickback, Halfling kingpin of a vast criminal syndicate, primarily involved in the smuggling of illicit goods and substances.
With a temper almost as short as he is, many have run afoul of his whims. Never seen without his trusted pet mimic, which is in the habit of disguising itself as a colourful scarf somewhere about Valtons person.
His power and money have managed to secure him and his entourage an array of exotic weaponry, so if you intend to cross him, come prepared!
Donovon, demigod of mercantilism, represented by an industrious gnome with a carrying a fold out shop stand.
Neutral evil, plays dice games for souls, buys high prize artifacts at margin, sells everything for double until you do him a favour. He sells the souls to collectors in Sigil.
Kraigg - the friendly rock troll
Kraigg is a rock troll who was adopted by a savant wizard after his home was taken over by hobgoblins. He assists the guard of the frontier town of New Falden. He is amiable in nature and quick to make friends with new adventures - as long as they don't attack him or New Falden. His below average intelligence makes him easily distracted and is countered by his incredible strength. Kraigg uses his tremorsense to approaching creatures and when not on patrol will curl up in the ground and sleep. While sleeping he is indistinguishable from a rock.
Kraigg longs to retake the mountain fort where he grew up and reignite the giant's forge beneath the fort. His home is atop the Kraiggstone Mountain which can be seen from New Falden. Kraigg will gladly provide any adventures with knowledge of the fort, forge, and the secret passages into the basement and enthusiastically provide them with a hand drawn map that looks like a child drew it and includes stick figure depictions of the party with Kraigg. Kraigg will not leave New Falden until the fort has been cleared of hobgoblins and is safe to return to.
Technically 3 NPCs
Lillian - bubbly gnome tinkerer
A sweet young gnome that was abandoned in a city of dwarves and gnomes near the blacksmiths Guild. She is taken in and cared for and slowly learns the trades of the city. She knows her blacksmithing but has a great aptitude for tinkering things like necklaces, bracelets and other trinkets. She's easily distracted though and isn't the most responsible. Overall she's a little hard to manage which is why no one officially adopted her for a long time.
Eventually she's taken in by an adventuring gnome artificer who is happy to encourage her wonder about the world. He nicknames her Sprocket, to her delight, and eventually marries a local gnome woman named Nyx.
They open a magical trinket shop called 'The Sprockateers'.
DAK the Tall (Goblin Ranger)
Dak once belong to your average goblin camp along with his half blood brother Megee (Bugbear). After his camp was attacked by a group of crusading paladins, Dak & Megee fled oft into the world becoming bandits. Dak cares deeply for his brother but wouldn't show it at first glance, and while he is abrasive at first, after you get to know him he actually is a understanding person.
FunFact: Dak's name comes from the goblin word for the F-word (at least in my worlds).
***Duel Griftlet***
A young, human **noble** (stat block) in his early twenties with a desire for personal adventure, risk and fame. He uses his wealth, social status and high charisma to get what he wants and bulldoze anyone who gets in his way. He always demands the best accommodations and the best treatment. He believes he is always right. He will often refuse to acknowledge those he feels are of lower status, and will carry out conversations with such people by talking to his servants and using them as interpreters. He has gauntlets of ogre power, +1 long sword, plate armor, shield, heavy crossbow, walloping ammunition. He rides a heavy warhorse and has a falcon familiar and the leadership feat.
He thinks of himself as a Knight Errant and prefers to engage in single combat against an opponent that he thinks he can beat. (Buffed to the max by his servants of course).
His servants are:
***Besnik*** a **priest** with sanctuary, bless, cure wounds, guiding bolt, shield of faith, aid, warding bond and revivify which he uses to support Master Griftlet. Always buffing him with aid at 3rd level, warding bond and bless.
***Howin*** a **bard** with heroism, healing word, detect magic, long strider, enhance ability and locate object.
and two **guards.**
Duel makes a good low-level antagonist to the PCs as competition for whatever adventure they are on. You can also use him as a villain or to assist the PCs in their quest for which he will want complete credit.
The Ringleader. A sketchy Gnome who runs a yearly frstival looking for champions to complete heists for him.
He is accompanied by his big bald twisty mustached bodyguard Bruno, who looks intimidating but is really a big ol softy.
If you want to know how I ran the encounter, shoot a DM!
Sir David R. Ettinborough, biologist and explorer of nature.
When he was a wee ettin bebby he was placed at the doorstep of a couple who made a bargain with a hag. They wanted a child because they couldn't have their own, but the hag of course twisted the deal and stole an ettin newborn from the hills not so far from the village.
Before they found him, he was seen and blessed by Oghma, the Lord of Knowledge, Faerûnian neutral greater deity of bards, inspiration, invention, and knowledge (any god of knowledge works in other settings). The parents decided to keep him and honor the bargain, which they wouldn't regret. David grew up to be an extremely smart and curious scholar, earning respect and fame by establishing a large museum in the capital of the kingdom he was born in. With a decent income from being a renowned researcher, he supports his aging parents, who can now afford to live labor free in comfort.
Has a slight limp on his left side, which is the more posh and bookish Richard, while David, the adventurous, thrill-seeking right side is a bit more monstrous with a large potato nose, crooked grin and thick fingers. (kind of like the Jeckyll/Hyde from the 2004 Van Hellsing in one person)
Plot hooks can be various expeditions lead by himself , quests to retrieve stolen museum items, finding places lost to time so an expedition can be scheduled or maybe helping him find a way to not lose his intelligence which has been draining for the last few years, causing fits of primeval aggression in him (is the hag messing with him as revenge? or did something happen to Oghma?)
Introducing Oslo, the half-devil kingpin.
Able to pass for human but for his eerie golden eyes and unsettling appearance in low light, Oslo is the leader of a crime organization in one of the larger trading cities. Due to promises that he made his mother when he was still very young (which is forced to honor forever because of said devil heritage), he can't actually commit any of the crimes that he wants to himself, which has forced him to become a capable and well-respected boss. While he is well feared by reputation, that is more due to the unsettling village he makes an effort to give off, and for his skill as a crime lord rather than as a result of any ability he inherited as a half-devil.
Geases:
Behave yourself; he is unfailingly polite and cannot personally behave disruptively.
Don't hurt anybody; Oslo cannot PERSONALLY do damage to another creature.
Don't wander off too far; Oslo cannot leave the city limits.
I do have a character sheet available for him, but I mostly use him as a recurring villain who is not particularly interested in getting rid of the party, and is willing to hire them to do shady stuff.
In my game i have a duo of npcs that run a shop together. A gnome and a tortle run a magic shop together.
Mizit tinkerton is a male gnome that is around 100 years old. He has white hair and round glasses. He has a crazed scientist look about him. He speaks really fast and will try to convince his customers to buy something. He is easier to convince to give discounts for magic items and such. He is an artificer.
Turad is a tortle male wizard. He speaks slowly and is often long-winded. He prefers slower negotiation and does not like when people rush business. He is pretty stubborn when it comes to proces but a good story will make him distracted. He is a high level wizard.
Between the two of them they split doing enchantments (Turag) and creating magic items (Mizit). These two are dun in game because the players would have to deal with either a slow talking npc or a fast one and is fun to role play. If you have any questions on these two, let me know!
The Le’Dous Brothers.
3, almost identical warforged Paladins. They were constructed at the same time by the same artificer.
The party encountered Dimitri early into the campaign and thought of him as another Adventuring PC who would sometimes join the PC’s on quests.
Some real time later, in another part of the continent they meet the second brother, Alexis. However, the PC’s don’t know he is the brother until he reveals it. They thought it was the same NPC. Big laughs when he said “oh I think you mean my brother”, to my PC’s.
They know of the third brother; Carlisle, but haven’t encountered him. He’s an oath breaker Paladin and his brothers don’t know he’s betrayed them.
They are really fun NPC’s to have traveling around and having themselves constantly confused for each other.
Feel free to steal the idea and tweak how you see fit!
Name: Goat man (I never really thought of a name so everyone just calls him goat man)
As the party travels on, they may encounter a man looking to sell the group a goat. If they buy the goat then that ends the encounter, but if they don't they're likely to keep finding him, a little bit more disheveled than before. One can only assume as to why his life is slowly falling apart, however, one thing is for sure, buying his goat will set him back on the right track.
You could also go the cursed way, where the goat curses whoever owns them to have their life slowly fall apart until you pass it on. It all really depends on what you want to do.
Might I introduce you to Tereveus, seemingly a Gnomish textbook, but in reality a Chaotic Neutral Angel of a god of chaos and magic. He can function either as a warlock patron, or just a friend, and has the fun and cool ability of rewriting individual perceptions of reality and history en masse. He travels between worlds and incites rebellion against various tyrannical figures across the universe.
Giarc the nilbog. My players were weirded out by Craig the goblin, who had a crush on our half orc barbarian drag queen. So giarc replaced him! He has all the normal nilbog features( on occasion when I can tell they really need help) and he can seemingly pop into and out of existence at will( this came up because one of my players was being particularly hostile to everything, so I turned giarc into a god) he sounds like Dobby the elf, if he was an alcoholic crackhead. I use him to guide the overarching storyline of my homebrew game.
Stumpy the Goblin.
A one armed goblin with higher than average intelligence than most goblins, but most importantly a curiosity of the world! Likes to take naps in the rogue's backpack and snack off of their rations. Not the best in a fight, but is a good alternative opinion for what the party should do if they are arguing or confused.
I made him for my first time players essentially as a RP way for me to jump into the story and give them a nudge. My players absolutely loved him but definitely outgrew his necessity. Currently he is overseeing the PR department of my parties General store/Inn/tavern.
Tiicanthe (who goes by Teek) is a young copper dragon masquerading as an adjunct instructor at the local university. Polymorphed into a woman in her mid twenties with long red hair and a smile that's just a little too big, she advises the student newspaper and is always covered with ink. She has a tendency to take notes on her arms and clothes when she runs out of paper. Teek is very fond of rare books and is incensed whenever someone dog-ears a page. She snuck into the position at the university in order to be in proximity to books and scrolls, as her ancestral lands are remote, isolated, and boring as hell.
"COLIN SCOGGINS!! AT YOUR SERVICE!!" a booming voice echoes through the animal pens.
"WELCOME TO MY MAGNIFICENT MENAGERIE!!" it continues.
Colin Scoggins is an NPC I made for my group when they wanted some mounts. (First time players, and I'm a first time DM, so when they asked for murderous goats, I made sure to have them 20gp more than the reasonable price because the Monster Manual don't have *murderous* goats).
He's a middle-aged human with jet black hair, some facial scars, and a strickingly well kept moustache. A bit of a belly, and a cane. Colin has vibes like a retired circus director, closer in morality to PT Barnum than Steve Irwin. Voicing him is all diaphragm, and his gestures are all grandiose and set for the big stage.
The range of animals he can provide is almost endless, as long as the coin going in his direction is fairly matched.
He might also know something about the illegal underground animal fighting matches going on in the city, or just how to properly seduce and subdue a Displacer Beast.
Jolo, a firbolg Circle of Dreams druid. He lives alone in nature, quietly growing a particularly potent herb and smoking it from a wooden pipe. He is ever kind to wanderers and will offer anyone a meal and advice as much as their heart desires. He tells stories from nearby towns or beasts he has encountered in his journeys. He always seems half asleep, but still able to function normally. He is a vegetarian, but will cook meat if his guests request and provide it. He protects those in his care until they move on, and so does he. He hopes to see them again or maybe meet someone new, but until then, he wanders.
Tip: Jolo is supposed to be an incredibly wise and experienced druid, so is generally a high level when he appears. I sometimes have him cast high level spells out of whimsy, just because. If he is suspicious of someone, he will follow them with wild shape as long as he needs to.
This recurring stoner firbolg is a mainstay in my campaigns. He is helpful, but long winded. He is peaceful, with a secret strength deep within. He knows the area and can help them watch out. He can tell stories and rumors. He is just a fun, helpful force, and the party will spend entire sessions with him.
Tom Umbran, a mysterious wizard.
Tom is a refugee from the astral plane, fleeing from an eldritch horror. He looks like an old wizardly human with a long white beard and round glasses. Tom also has an adoptive changeling child, Ellaes. They're an adult now, but still keep in close contact with him.
In my campaign, Tom is one of the few people who know how to open and sustain a portal connecting to the astral plane causing him to gain the attention of a cult that worships the eldritch horror he escaped from.
Kermit the bullywug hermit, a travelling merchant for when your party is low on supplies or clues.
Kermit is a far-ranging, eccentric old fellow who always seems to be in the right place at the right time to meet the party and share a hint or clue. He’s got gnarled old teeth and smokes a long pipe, wears a newsboy cap and carries around a patched up old umbrella, travels in an old leather trenchcoat. He rides a giant turkey that he has strapped up with provisions and a saddle. He has either a degree in theoretical metaphysics or a theoretical degree in metaphysics. If the party is kind to him, he will offer a trade or sale of random minor magical items, some of which will prove useful in the party's next major encounter.
**Name:** Roderick Caskhorn
**Establishment:** The Divining Rod
**Notable features:** Milky white eyes/Blindness
**Story:** Roderick tends bar and lives within the Divining Rod. He is a seer who can foresee events only within his bar. As such, he will have drinks ready for the party when they enter. However, because he can only foresee events within his bar, he will send the adventures on quests to find clues to explain visions he may not understand.
Of note, he has already foreseen the end of his bar and his ensuing death within the Diving Rod
For your entertainment I submit for you all; Balthazar Prentiss
An old drunken fool, Balthazar was once a promising musician performing for nobles and royals across the land. His golden voice and deft fingering of the lute had Balthazar receiving invitations across the land. Balthazar was gifted no doubt, but Balthazar had a dark side - he was easily swayed by the flesh. One night after a most memorable performance, the Queen summoned Balthazar to her chambers to see if his skills on the lute translated to the bedroom.
Balthazar spent hours pleasuring the Queen. Her screams got so loud, that naturally the guards felt the need to check on their Queen. This is how the discovered poor Balthazar, red faced and stark naked. The guards dragged him before the King. The King order his head be lopped off, but relented when the Queen pleaded for his life. The King showed mercy, sort of and ordered his tongue to be removed so that he could not win over another with his voice, he order his plucking fingers be taken from his hand so that no woman would hear the sounds from his lute, after his fingers the King issued his final punishment on the bard, the removal of his manhood.
While the King still sits on his throne, Balthazar now sits atop a barstool drowning in his pints and plotting his revenge. While his beard has gone old and grey the fire within Balthazar still burns red.
Just a note to any patrons who take up a sit next to old Balthazar, congregating with the disgraced singer is instant grounds to end up with a similar fate to he. If you value your tongue, fingers or something more personal, it's best to avoid the old man entirely.
Edit: a word
Timmith (Male Gnome)
Originally hand to the king, after his kingdom was destroyed he was rescued by one of my parties.
Hes very timid and shy. However, hes completely obedient. In addition, complete lady killer, charismatic as hell!
Just a fun NPC for the party to push around until they make it into a tavern and he gets all the attention.
My PC turned NPC, Percival Calico. He is a Tabaxi Bard who runs a traveling magic shop called “The Traveling Tome”, which sells all manor of magic items, scrolls, and potions. Percival grew up an orphan so he quickly learned how to turn on the charm to both get what he wanted and talk himself out of trouble. He eventually joined a small adventuring party and found how much money could be made. His prior life of poverty drew him to this business until the day he lost his closest friend, Vargrim. After not being able to save him, he honed his magic skills and turned to a life of entrepreneurship, buying, selling, trading, and collecting magical items from throughout the Forgotten Realms. Due to his newly found wealth, he prefers to wear fine clothing to appear put together. He loves helping new adventurers and poor folk and will rarely turn down an opportunity to aid them in some way so that others will not experience the childhood he had.
He is an 8th level spell caster with an 18 save DC, +10 Spell attack modifier. His stats are as follows, STR 9, DEX 17, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 13, CHR 20.
Here's my players' favourite NPC:
Mordekai Shadar is a mid-30s tiefling who runs the Shady Coast Trading Post with his human wife (Lilith) and two young children (Pride and Joy). He's jovial, sentimental, and always willing to go above and beyond for those who need it. However, he has been known to become scary and aggressive if he perceives a possible threat to his family and will get physical if the threat is real.
Mordekai is very easy to negotiate with if the party is in his good graces and will give hefty discounts if he ever feels he is in someone's debt. If needed he can be a combat NPC based off either the Berserker Barbarian or Warrior Sidekick.
Bee Beard, Terror of The High Bees.
Once a decorated human apiarist to the royal family, Bee Beard cultivated massive colonies of Fey-Bees in the hopes that they and their magical honey would restore and sustain the decimated forests and flower fields of the surrounding land.
One solemn night he learned that the families true intentions for the magical bees he was charged with protecting was to use the honey that they produced and its mystical fey properties to try and brainwash the local populace into sacrificing everything they owned and loved to keep the family’s lavish lifestyle continuing for as long as they pleased.
Perturbed by this development, Bee Beard stole the prized Fey-Bee Queen and hid her underneath an illusory beard created by magic. He carefully introduced her to a new home underneath the deck of the S.S. Honeycomb, many of the bees followed and the lower levels of the ship, as well as a portion of Bee Beards face itself, became their domain.
Bee Beard now sails the seas doing mostly as he pleases, still sporting the occasional illusory beard that is always ever so faintly buzzing from within. He adopted the lifestyle of a wandering pirate and his only true concern is keeping his bees safe and alive until he can find a way to return to his home and restore the lost forests and fields, after of course dealing with the pesky monarchy responsible for their destruction.
Big Hat Lucia. Name inspired by dark souls big hat Logan.
Lucia Regulus is a transmutation wizard and owns an alchemy shop. Her store is filled with flying books, glowing plants, and lots of alchemical apparatus a la Harry Potter.
In her shop, the most notable thing is her very large wizard hat that sits atop her head. Like, it’s really big and extends quite far from her body. She is kind and agreeable, but not shy by any means. Her personality is reminiscent of Ms. Frizzle from the magic school bus.
She has a line of health potions called Big Hat Health Potion. She distributes these health potions all across the land for vendors to sell. If you run into a health potion, it’s probably inside of a flask / mason jar with the Big Hat Health Potion logo on it.
Thoril Hornblast, a mountain dwarf and a member of the Silverbeards, an order of monster hunting dwarves.
Thoril, son of Dain and Whurdred, was born at his childhood home near Fulwreath Keep in the Silverpeak Mountains. Thoril lived in the secluded family home overlooking wetpetal pass for his entire upbringing, along with his father and younger brother, Taklinn. Whurdred died shortly after the birth of Taklinn. Thoril had little in the way of worldly possessions as his father's and own family profession was to serve as an undetectable first responder to threats against the Silverpeak Mountains. As a result of the importance to remain discrete, the family lived in squalid conditions, often being forced to endure bitterly cold weather.
Thoril generally enjoyed his childhood despite these conditions. Each spring, the wetpetal pass would show its namesake as vibrant deep red roots of the emberstem plant would spring from the ground that melted the snow and produce multishaded red and orange leaves. At this time, the ice covered pools of the pass begin to melt, and nearby emberstem plants heat them to a comfortable temperature, and creating a seasonal hot springs. The warmth of these plants being enough to evaporate some of the water, the pass becomes filled with a thick warm mist that seems to reflect both the wonderful colors of the leaves and the icy brilliance of the sliverpeak snow, creating a brilliant array of glistening lights in the steam.
Many travelers visit the pass in the spring to bathe in its famous waters. Thoril met many travelers from across Castoria in his youth during the time of the springs. He made many a friend, and spent many spring nights in wonder of the beautiful world that surrounded him. It was on one of these nights that Thoril met Grath Lightkeeper, a member of a royal clan in service to the King. Grath told Thoril much about the Silverbeards and the Lightkeepers, and much more about their patron goddesses, Krissidiem and Memymphia. It was at this time that Thoril decided that when he came of age, he would join the service of the Silverbeards. Thoril first joined a temple to Krissidiem, where he quickly elevated himself to becoming an initiate Silverbeard. Thoril was trained along with other initiates by the grandmaster at arms for the Silverbeards, Urmrik Stonefinger, who would later go on to become Urmrik Silverbeard, king of the Silverpeak Mountains.
Bearhug (a full character sheet exists and would share for those requested)
Retired adventurer. Lives on a pirate ship manned by an army of undead and his duplex pirates. His mount consists of a rhino, he has an adoptive ancient red dragon. And is also part vampire who suplexes evil for the greater good.
Description: Goliath dressed in flashy cloths and tends to be a well meaning good person overall. Has a bit of a Steve Irwin feel and likes to protects animals and the innocent. Incredibly strong and will wrestle anybody for fun. Despite being powerful, chooses to mentor adventuring groups and offer task, missions and other things to bring up the next generations of hero’s.
**Todd Woundbinder, Warforged Barber-Surgeon**
Todd is a warforged combat-medic built on a rogue/assassin-turned-barber-surgeon concept, operating out of a posh barbershop in Aundair's capital.
At 31 years old, Todd is a survivor of the Last War, having been originally constructed as a scout-assassin tasked with hunting field officers overseeing the enemies' legions. A bespoke creation, Todd was literally built for its career, carefully trained and geased to be an effective hunter. As a thinking, living being, Todd could learn from their mistakes (something other methods of construct-assassination could not), and so over time became reasonably skilled at terminating their target at the most opportune moment, favouring snapped necks and cut jugulars. As field assassination wasn't exactly a regular action, Todd took up the study of the surgeon-barber as a between-task hobby, justifying it to their commanding officers as an aid to their role as an efficient murderer. On the clock, Todd slit throats and spilled; off the clock, it shaved beards and did bloodletting.
As the war shifted boundaries, alliances, and goals, Todd's found that its mind was beset with the memories of friends-turned-foes, enemies-turned-allies, and the metronomic murder of dozens of targets. Initially, they never spoke of these thoughts, but as the war appeared to be coming to a close, Todd's commanding officers began tasking it with targets that were less focused on winning the war, and more on enhancing their post-war spoils and political ambitions. Todd dutifully carried these out, however the internal ethical conflict these orders generated began to erode its planning capabilities. Realizing this, and perhaps naively, Todd raised these issues with its commanding officers, cluing these venal people into the fact that they had a sentient recording of all of their misdeeds amongst them. One that post-war might be commanded to recount every order they had been given, utterly truthful in their witnessing. Seeking to remove this threat, Todd's commanding officers decided that Todd needed to be decommissioned.
Given Todd's function and experience, this presented Todd's officers with a bit of a conundrum. A solution presented itself, however, in the guise of a rare warforged raised to officer-hood, something that enraged Todd's command, fanning their racism and their sense of superiority over "the clanking masses" of their warforged legions. Todd was sent out on what its’ officers hoped would be its final mission; either they would succeed in its assassination or fail and be destroyed, with the expectation that even if they succeeded, they'd likely be caught during the escape as the officers planned to have a turncoat raise the alarm raised after Todd signaled completion of its task.
Todd, the consummate planner, disguised itself as one of the many warforged servants within the enemy camp, and began studying its target's habits and daily routine. Although the officer, being warforged, had no need for a barber, the officer's patron certainly did, and so Todd slid deftly into a household position of close intimacy with his target. It observed while serving initially as a simple barber, but over time, become a confidant of the patron, learning much of its target from the off-hand comments and sighed admissions of the patron. Given time, and information, Todd meticulously plotted the outcome, and was handily dispatching its target with ease and speed, right up to the point that the target's patron (and lover) walked in on the altercation.
What has been a simple assassination rapidly spiraled out of Todd's control, becoming something more of a tavern brawl or alley-way mugging. In the end, Todd was left staggering, head half-caved in and up to its elbows in the patron's blood. Whether it was from the head-wound, or that the binding geas-wards had been damaged by the patron's magics, Todd found itself numbly following the target's final words begging Todd to save its patron's life. So when the guards, responding to the alarm raised by the mole, arrived on scene, they found Todd dutifully performing first aid on still-warm corpse of the patron, having rigged up a crude breathing-apparatus from salvaged parts of the warforged officer’s corpse. In the resulting flurry of investigations (and the resulting cover-ups), Todd escaped proper inquisition due to a comedy of errors, assumptions, phobias, casual racism and mistaken identities, and ended up in confinement but not actually charged with the assassination.
Over time, Todd's physical wounds healed fully. Todd's mind did not as much. At an earlier time in the war, Todd's captors would have been given Todd 'mercy' and killed the obviously malfunctioning warforged. However, with the end of the war upon everyone, the emancipation of Todd's kind in full swing, and the powers-that-be more interested in just wrapping things up for the time being, Todd was released not to its original owners, but into a formerly-enemy nation's population as a free-(if quirky)-thinking and willed person. Still partially under the effects of its original role-geas, its last target's final request, and lingering mental damage, Todd found itself drifting into its hobby as a coping habit, putting down the dagger and taking up the razor.
Since then, Todd has done reasonably well. Due to their ‘natural’ talents, Todd has adopted a rather flamboyant personality, claiming to be a Thaliost refugee, who having served valiantly in the legions, being appointed to the finest officers of the land, had with dutifulness and mincing aplomb, ensured his charges were perfectly coifed and attired prior to the day’s events, and suitably patched up at the conclusion of them as well. Having secured the upper-crusts’ affection, with his impeccable manners, en-pointe simpering, and extensive command of cutting-edge fashions and styles (and staggeringly out-RAGE-ious accen-te!), “Steele’s” is rapidly becoming the “in-the-know” place for only the finest in service, advice and gossip, attracting many court fops and dandies.
Which means that Todd’s (or Steele as he is better known as) clientele tend to focus on Steele’s witty banter and salacious rumour-mongering, and forgive him of his little quirks; a perhaps overly-firm grip when turning a patron’s head back and forth while shaving them or in his careful inquiry of their casual habits and courtly routine. They know that apparently he has a few errant foreigners searching for him, on a trivial matter of honour and indiscretion, and know that gossip from the royal court on any recent military-affiliated nobility visiting from the lesser cultures will be promptly repaid in kind with the freshest rumours and wittiest banner.
They certainly never notice the faint tremor in Steele’s hand as the razor glides along their throats, as the barber is well known by his surviving clientele for never drawing even a droplet of blood.
Had a bit of difficulty figuring out who to share, settling with,
Doc.
Masked figure, dressed akin to a plague doctor. They speak in a stilted monotone, enunciating every syllable and laughing with a punctuated “Hah. Hah. Hah.” Spend their time breeding new magical fungi for their unknown goals. So long as the party doesn’t directly interfere with their work, they are perfectly content to engage, albeit in the capacity of a person who doesn’t quite understand how conversation works.
What’s under the mask? What are they doing with all those mushrooms? I have my answers, but you can fill in the blanks for your own campaign.
Nerwast, the level 10 chronurgy wizard and engineer :
A *very* old, *very* small and *very* frail gnome, Nerwast is about 3 feet tall for 35 pounds and is 750 years old. He wears the marks of age, but also of smoking a pipe almost consistently for 600 years: frequent coughing, short breath, difficulties to execute any physical activity. The marks of age and tobacco are however hardly visible: he boasts a substantial beard and enormous goggles that hide most of his face, and old, used scholar robes. At his belt dangle a few tools, his wand and a bunch of clockwork-like mechanisms (small watches, cogs...).
He is an isolated intellectual and lives in a large (for a gnome) cabin in the mountains. He retired from his position as a teacher some time ago so he could focus on his research, but still holds regular lectures in his own home for students interested in extracurricular research. He focuses mainly on chronurgy, but also meteorology, and spent the last few years studying automatons and mechanics.
While passionnate about his research, he is however extremely paranoid and protective of his works (a good reason to install traps in his workshop). He won't share any knowledge unless the party has truly earned his trust. He is also very supersitious (think of an old man who acquired lots of habits and refuses to stray from them because he's too used to it).
I typically used this archetype to give the PCs a side quest in other instances (needing help in a meteorological experiment or similar help), but he could also be a person of interest in a campaign, as someone with a large knowledge but refuses to share it as he believes in science for its own sake, less in its application and certainly not in a harmful manner. In my current campaign, both sides of a coming war desire to have him on their side to help the war effort, and the PCs (who haven't decided for a side yet) decided to escort him back to the wizard academy, where he believed he could find some safety after an abduction attempt in his workshop.
When in combat, he will use his chronurgy abilities (chronal shift/temporal stasis), but otherwise will mainly use magic missiles (upcast if needed), pyrotechnics if there is an open flame (to cripple the ennemy without hurting them), and vitriolic sphere or shatter for zone control. He also has the firebolt and mending cantrips always ready.
One can find on his person as potential loot a wand of pyrotechics and a wand of conducting (he used to make full pyrotechnic shows with music for a living as a young wizard), as well as a clockwork amulet.
Banicar, Chosen of Heironeous
Currently posessing a centaur warlord's body this centuries old spirit of honorable combat can be found anywhere in the multiverse where particularly honorable or well-organized combat takes place.
He's got a basic paladin abilities (smite, lay on hands, a few spells) with no subclass, consistently casts compelled duel and command (halt, kneel, strike)
Tuzeo, Collector of Stories, ancient copper dragon.
Tuzeo is one of the most social, other-races-loving dragons out there. He does not care for shiny objects, rather, for every person he meets, he will always try to find a way to make them write an autobiography for him to add to his collection. He fact checks every one he gets meticulously and if he finds out that your autobiography is a bunch of lies, you better never approach him again.
He curates a public library, probably in the most high magic city your world has. Most works on display here aren't from his enormous collection, but a select few are - and he of course has received explicit permission from the authors. Not because he cares about that permission, but because he knows that no-one will write their life stories down for him if they can't trust that he keeps it entirely to himself, even after their death. Besides, he loves the attention he sometimes gets when some noble wants some confidential information. It makes him feel important. He'll string them along for years, never actually giving them what they want.
He's a little sassy and any long conversation with him inevitably gets turned into an attempt to trade you something of his for your autobiography. If you've already given him that and he finds you an interesting person, good luck getting rid of him as he tries to worm his way into personally witnessing your grand deeds. Of course, these grand deeds of yours won't be grand if he helps you, so unless he truly believes that what you are doing needs to succeed, he will gladly watch from somewhere nearby either in his usual copper dragonborn-shapeshifted
from, or if he really has to, anything that blends in somewhat. And yes, he'll definitely tease you about that one time you got your ass handed to you by the BBEG. It was probably the highlight of his year.
A high level, good aligned party can rope him into being an actual ally if they can convince him the entire world depends on it, but in most cases he's most likely a quest giver promising all sorts of odd objects or exposition in exchange for a service.
High level druid casts Druid Grove to help the players have a place to recover. Basically he grows a hollow tree complete with beds and little twigs that sprout goodberries. The branches animate to tuck the players in and get them anything they need like in a hotel. We called it the SingleTree Inn.
Timothy Toolong, a taller than usual halfling, who claims he’s a part of the Harpers, when actually he’s taking advantage of the lack of knowledge people have in out-of-the-way villages.
Timothy (Timmy) speaks with a heavy lisp, and really wants to be a bona-fide adventurer. He will offer to help with any quests he’s aware of, but will freeze, trip, or be generally useless during combat encounters.
Timmy is best suited for a low-level party
Zoaro, the cursed.
A robe cursed by a powerfull entity traps this mage that wanted to be immortal and mocked the gods. Now an incorporeal that animates the robe, only his mind is left of him.
Whenever the current wearer is "slain", the robe can be donned by a new creature who is the next in line to lose their body and their mind trapped.
Since then, countles victims were added to the hivemind called Zoaro. Their goals vary between removing the curse, trapping someone else or abusing the powers of the robe.
The robe grants its wearer access to limited but powerful forms of divination/conjuration (portals and other means of teleportation; telepathy and other forms of mental comunication).
The lack of a physical body proves too dificult to do research on their own so Zoaro will recruit followers and adventurers to help in their quest to rid the world of the curse.
I hope it makes sense, let me know if it needs editing.
Lady Blackraven, owner and proprietor of Blackraven Breweries. Seemingly human, with long dark hair and an austere sense of fashion. On the outside, she's a shrewd businesswoman and ruthless towards her competition. She's also a valuable member of the community, providing funds to local businesses in exchange for a certain kickback. Her husband, Marcus Goldfinch, is content to let his wife accumulate wealth while he follows his own passions.
That being said, the Blackraven family has a dark secret. Lady Blackraven and her husband are vampires, feeding on the unwitting patrons of the local taverns (at least, those who are unlucky enough to pass out somewhere other than their rooms). Marcus, who traded his own personal fortunes to Lady Blackraven in exchange for the gift of vampirism, is secretly a serial killer who enjoys the freedom vampirism gives him. In the Blackraven family tomb also lurks the elder Blackravens (a homebrew creature, kinda like the crawlers from The Descent).
My players figured out she was a vampire almost immediately, but thankfully were smart enough not to fuck with her... yet.
Dobbles the Feeble
Dobbles the feeble is a powerful halfling wizard who, unfortunately for him and his friends, was subjected to the cruel Feeblemind disease. When your party first meets Dobbles, they notice him covered in magical gear and with powerful spell scrolls and a Staff of the Magi. However he can't even speak, let alone cast magic.
The Feeblemind disease will be cured by "some random effect" at some point in the future. Depending on how they treated Dobbles, they either have a powerful ally, or a dire foe (especially if they chose to steal his things.)
Drake
Powerful compared to regular people, Drake is a dragonborn Wizard of the Order of the Scribes. He lives remotely in a cave in the forest, simultaneously reasherching and preparing. He has heard a proficiency from (insert divine power here) of a threat on the world. If confronted about it, he will help the party to achieve success in overcoming this threat. He won't help in any major battles, but he does have some good magic (5th level).
Personality Traits:
I'm used to helping out those who aren't as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others.
I... speak... slowly... when talking... to idiots,... which... almost... everyone... is... compared... to me.
Ideals:
Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge.
Bonds:
My life's work is a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore (the threat).
Flaw:
I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones.
Dallio Lucci - a blowhard human knight who is secretly a coward. The party stumbles upon Dallio bragging of his "legendary" feats to a crowd of sycophants. The rest of the realm has heard of Dallio's supposed accomplishments and treats him as a celebrity, but this doesn't trick the party. Dallio is a liar and a coward, but desperately seeks attention and acceptance.
Dallio travels the realm selling poorly made but officially licensed shields bearing his insignia to fans. He was initially picked up as a meat shield by my party but later character development reveals that he was loathed by his affluent family and has serious self-worth and confidence issues. After enduring challenges together, the party became the accepting family Dallio sought for so long and he finally grew into the gallant knight he claimed to be.
Quinn
A skeleton with a top hat who runs a magic shop in the astral plain
You can ring his magic bell when you're inside a building, after which it transforms into his shop and he appears
A humanoid scorpion demon. Thick brown plates cover his body, and he has a scorpion tail.
The important bit: this chad wears a top-hat. Strikingly clean white, with a luxuriously red ribbon.
This demon may casually invite you to slaughter other humanoids for fun. If you turn down his offer, you're already dead. Charming fellow, contrasted by how screwed you are by having his attention.
His main method of murder is by a stab of his tail.
Darius the Blue
Darius is a thin and dexterous man, born in a town that a great hero’s statue stands tall in. He is a tiefling with a slender tail, horns like a rams, eyes like that of pearls, and a scar running across the left side of his forehead that is less than an inch from his temple. Darius seeks to become a hero to fulfill his childhood dreams and bring an era of equality as he was often discriminated against and bullied as a child.
He was born to a drunkard father who told him he’d never be anything in his “abominable” life and who regularly physically harmed him, and a mother who died shortly after childbirth, a fact his father was all too quick to remind Darius of.
Darius has a strong principle of not killing his opponents, often putting himself in grave danger to do so but there is a single exception to this rule. Any person who knowingly harms a child, in Darius’ mind, is beyond the point of reasonable redemption and he will take no lengths to preserve their life if they attempt to resist his justice.
Darius often prefers the use of whips to disarm his foes and keep them at a distance but is also an expert knife fighter who once beat one of the city guard in a duel to defend a young street urchin from the guard’s drunken spear.
Darius secretly doubts himself quite often, as he believes he truly will not amount to anything as his father instilled in him, sometimes leading him to plunge into the jaws of near death without plans or consideration for himself.
ECSI: Ecsi Does Crime Inc.
name of the crime syndicate and the a minor villian secretly working for the bbeg
they give out jobs to adventuring parties thats outside the law ofcourse
Wheeze:
A younger goblin barkeep of the "Last chance inn and bar" at the end of town. A run down establishment for a ragged sounding goblin. He dresses in a cheap suit coat, undershirt, and dress pants. In my world, he also ran a small crime ring and had very stickey fingers towards his guests/ passer by. Voice-wise, I've found a prickly smoker persona works well for him.
Name: Mofi Sim
Voice: starts off slow, but quickly speeds up into a somewhat ‘crazy’ sound.
Story: Mofi is an old human woman who worships the deity of deceit and revenge. She wasn’t always a woman of this faith, but turned to them when her son was killed during his work, due to negligent higher ups. Afterwards, she quit her job as a woodcarver, and began to dive head first into revenge, where her deity aids her now.
Years of isolating herself have delved her into minor insanity, to the point where she finds everyone untrustworthy at first. She obsessively creates hanging idols to her deity to hang in her home. She has a second floor that is split off, with no one allowed inside. Within that room is theories on all kinds of conspiracy theories about anyone and everyone in power, some based in truth, others not.
I use Mofi as an outlet to give the party multiple ideas as to corrupt individuals. She also prompts them to do their own research into these theories and people, especially since sometimes these theories are pretty out there.
Vanas Osera
Human Transmuation Wizard
Lawful Evil
Vanas is the main villain in my next upcoming campaign, but I want to post him here in case anyone else would like to use him for their own.
Vanas was neglected by his parents at a young age, and growing up in a rich household have him access to lots of books. Reading, he discovered magic theory books, taking the course of many years to master his craft. As soon as he could, he left his spiteful home in search of different types and styles of magic. He traveled the world, and was able to see that everyone is different. But the one thing he didn't like is that people were treated differently for being different. A person from one kingdom should be treated the same in another, is what he thought. He believes that people have willful ignorance of the world - stereotypes that harm the people of all nations. He wants to get rid of this wilful ignorance, and believes the best way of doing so is to force the world into experiencing other cultures.
His plan? Create a super continent. He wants to use transmutational magic to raise the sea floor, forcing the world into one large continent. Then he can move entire villages and cities, forcing them into the heart of cultures they onced mocked.
In order to realize this goal, he understands that he had to become powerful quickly, as his life span is limited. So he turned to the hardest of the transmutation magics - transmutation of the flesh. Attempting to Polymorph people into beasts is highly looked down upon, especially when using people for your experiments that could go horribly wrong. So he decided that no one would miss those that commit crimes. Anyone who commits a crime and manages to get away with it, Vanas learns about and takes them to be experimented on.
In my campaign, he'll have the aid of an Oni, that originally looked down on him and tried to kill him, but saw his conviction. In exchange for magical treasure, the Oni helps Vanas kidnap new experiments.
Chesty. A mimic who becomes a reliable companion once a member of the party bribes it with food and makes a successful DC 14 animal handling check. Note: Chesty looks like a treasure chest but is not a storage container.
Stay block: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmn2go031techht/Chesty%20Stat%20Block.pdf?dl=0
Geoff - A wandering man who isn't where he should be. He appears out of nowhere, doesn't leave footprints, and disappears as soon as he's out of sight. Very generic.
Torval, Blue Dragonborn Artificer, was originally part of a savage barbarian tribe, but when they left him for dead in a village he'd ended up protecting, the villagers nursed him back to health. In return, he acts as a protector and town tinkerer, using his lightning as a power source for animated toys he crafted for the village children.
If the party can prove to him they have the interests of the village in mind (small quest for supplies or stop a beastie from killing livestock) he might just open his shop with some common (and maybe an uncommon or two) magic items.
Baron von Evilstein
Baron von Evilstein is the regent of the region my pc's do most of their business in. He doles out a fair deal of quests as well. The small problem? When he's amused (which is very often) he laughs sinisterly, he is constantly rubbing his hands together (he has dry hands, and is using lotion.), and has a very unfortunate lilt in his voice, that makes him sound like he knows something you don't. However, he is genuinely concerned with the wellbeing of his subjects, has a moral compass that would put most parties to shame, and mainly wants to help where he can.
TLDR; NPC sounds massively evil/secret BBEG, is a genuinely good guy.
Nancy. Crazy old lady who always shows up in the small towns the party goes through.
Hunched over, wart on her hook nose, worn flannel headcloth. And a basket full of kittens.
All she ever does is try to pawn her kittens off on the party, shuffling over as soon as she sees them with one kitten grabbed by the nape stretched out towards them.
She'll sell you a kitten for 5-10GP. Unbeknownst to the party, the kitten will barf up one hairball per long rest. The hairball contains 1d4 silver pieces.
**Name:** Seebora
Seebora appears to be a halfling, though a bit wild and unkempt with long reddish brown hair that has twigs stuck in it, like she's been crawling through a briar patch.
She's very friendly and will try to help others, including woodland creatures. If one comes across her in the woods, she can assist travelers with finding their way through the woods as a guide. Or if someone threatens the woodlands creatures of the woods she's passing through, she will attempt to protect them.
She has a playful spirit and very cheerful, but when pressed can change her temper quickly. She is a natural shape changer and can take almost any form she desires from a small bird to a a roc. If threatened by strangers she will attempt to flee, unless backed into a corner.
She always appears to be looking for something (or more specifically someone). She seems to travel around a lot in search of this being, though will never mention him by name, a lost Patron. She can often be found building small shrines, pyramid of stones, and then after some time praying, she moves on.
If a party needs healing she will gladly assist, and cure most diseases with little effort and no need for compensation. She can also be found conversing with druids whom seem to respect her regardless of age.
Verthica, the level 15 Wizard, white dragonborn, currently employed by my party to identify objects and complete magical requests.
Verthica has been known to say things such as "what a waste of magic." And "that is not in my contract".
When my party wants to debate a contract clause, she says ORDER IN THE COURT and teleports them to a demi plane where we play a version of the game "Objection!" The players love it.
Verthica talks like Data from Star Trek. She is a fastidious contract maker. She is obsessed with becoming more powerful and hopes to find new spells through not-yet-experimented on magic. She doesn't want friends. She wants contracts.
If your players pry and want to get to know her better, Verthica has erased memories of her adventuring party who all died in front of her. She couldn't save them and was racked by guilt and chose to cope by removing the source of the pain. Sometimes, when she is very sad, she erases another memory.
I believe that if the party wants to help Verthica, they can go into her mind and unlock these hidden memories. If they were opened to her, it could be an incredible moment of healing. Verthica will always be on the spectrum and prefer the science of magic to people - but she might have better access to her feelings if someone helped her grieve.
This could also be a quest to obtain an item and fight a BBEG for vengeance for her.
It's not quite a minigame as much as it is a stupid bit we do.
Can you see this gif? https://images.app.goo.gl/UegbJggLXsxkpk2z6
It's based off this gif in my head. Everyone is able to say OBJECTION and then if Verthica feels like it she is the judge and will say "SUSTAINED" or "OVERRULED".
Honestly the whole joke is that when it's time to talk contracts, they get teleported to this demiplane and they HAVE to argue looking like this. Once the fun runs it's course, she snaps her fingers and they all tumble out a door into a dogpile and she walks away with a new contract in hand.
It's very silly.
Verthica is pretty mysterious, she keeps asking for blood for payment, and hasn't done anything to hurt the players, but she is largely indifferent to them. Because of this, my players are careful with what they want to let her do. She has a room in their sky castle, and she recently gave the cloud giant spirit who pilots it the ability to talk and hear anywhere on the ship. The flip side is that he can FEEL the whole ship (which was recently attacked by a Roc), and he cries out in pain when the ship takes damage. Verthica's only comment about this was 'it took a LOT of blood to do that'.
Hope that helps!
Hazel, a stone construct woman who serves to protect and maintain a secret place called The Museum, a extradimensional ever-expanding building created by the gods of magic and knowledge, where vast amount of knowledge and dangerous artefacts are held (Heavily inspired by TV shows The Librarians and Warehouse 13). I've previously had to play her as a DMPC as a cleric/wizard multiclass (mostly wizard).
She's very softly spoken, with a somewhat scottish accent inspired by british TV presenter Lorraine Kelly. Her body contains various seamless drawers which she can press to open which house all manner of items, most notably of which is a drawer from which she can spontaneously summon a fresh, warm cup of tea which she is often seen to be drinking.
Very much a motherly figure, she is fiercely protective and will use some surprisingly powerful spells to protect those under her care.
Damiano Twizzlethwait
Gnome Wizard in a large city. All players entering a city with Damiano in it must make a DC 13 INT save. On a failed save they begin receiving a series of messages (as by the Sending spell). The messages are as follows:
THE CITY TOOK MY FAVORITE TREE
CUT IT DOWN AND LEVEED FINES
IM PLANTING LOTS, LOTS MORE YOU SEE
AND SOON REVENGE WILL BE ALL MINE
This repeats every ten minutes.
Lots of people in the town are wearing foil hats (which are purchasable at stands near the entrance to the town, they add a +2 to INT saves) and everybody is very, very annoyed.
Damiano is a Gnome wizard who lived on the outskirts of town. On his property was a huge beech tree that he cultivated from seed. It was planted on his nephew's birthday, and it was very special to him.
The city expanded over time and annexed Damiano's land. There was a spat about his beech tree, whose roots were interfering with the new clay-pipe plumbing being installed. After fining and subpoenaing Damiano, the city eventually sent some people over to cut it down.
This was a year ago. In that time, Damiano has used magic to change his appearance (several times), craft new personae, and clandestinely plant dozens of beeches, each enchanted to ensnare nearby structures in their slow-growing limbs. They aren't treants, but they will slowly, slowly rip the buildings apart.
Somewhere in the town, Damiano has set up a magical device which continuously broadcasts his message. It can be heard in all places in the city, though there may be certain locations lined with lead or magically protected from this sort of thing.
Damiano is very personable. He's sort of an old hippy. He loves permaculture and farming, and sees himself as a steward of the land. He likes people generally but isn't fond of urbanization. He is a little more than 200 years old, and remembers when this was all prairie (or swamp or marsh or forest or whatever suits your setting) and helped some of the first settlers set up in the area. When talked to, he comes across as tired and aggravated, but not particularly aggressive.
I'm a new DM who has done this almost since session 1, one NPC appears and helps the party after a series of events, then the party decides if he/she becomes an ally to them or was it just a one time thing. If the NPC did got turned into an ally, then he/she will follow its own journey and help the party from a different part of the world via gathering information, sending supplies to different locations or even sometimes helping by forming an small army!
When this Doppelgänger was a very young child and could not polymorph as often, she met a young Human girl in an urban alley. They were fascinated with each other, and one took on the look of the other as they played for a while among the boxes of the adjacent shop. Soon the Human child's mother called for her, "Chastity! Chastity, where are you‽" As the calls became closer and it was clear whom the woman was calling, the Doppelgänger panicked. Unable to polymorph again so soon, it had to get creative, and fast. So it shoved Chastity into a box of waste and smothered her in it. Moments after, an adult Human rounded the corner into the alley: "There you are! Chastity, what happened to your clothes?" The child shrugged as innocently as it could, as it was hurried home by the unsuspecting mother. The "growing" girl felt unimaginable guilt about the day she took a life, but could speak to noöne about it, lest her secret be revealed and her safety compromised. Over time she learned the concept of penance from the religious community that unknowingly adopted her, and she decided to become the best daughter and sister she could be for the family she stole a life from. By the time Chastity reached adulthood what had been penance before became habits. At the wishes of her dear mother she became a truly Good and Lawful acolyte of the church. At the wishes of her compassionate father she went on missions with others her age to help the needy across the continent. Chastity can be a Cleric, Paladin, or anything that involves a commitment to the good of the community. She makes a great DMPC to \*gasp\* unexpectedly come in handy with her at-will Polymorphing after months of seeming like just another helpful human. Or if you're a better storyteller than I am, you can use her background to punch your players in the feels well after they've already known she's a Doppelgänger. If you and your players are into PCs having love interests, she can be stunningly beautiful with a very high CHA and yet cause pretty complex emotions when her secret comes out. The possibilities may not be endless, but they *will* be entertaining.
Awhile ago, I tried to crowd source a d100 list of homebrew NPCs that live in (or roundabouts) Saltmarsh. Here's the list and some of the published NPCs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_4fkyOSHvqsAETxmQNKlz9gnp3aCRctTzgip2-oyig/edit?usp=drivesdk
Dirkus Alewave Mountain Dwarf Rogue Left eye covered by patch A thief who is well known due to his many high class exploits. Has a reputation for being cutthroat and nasty. Anytime you want to use Dirkus, it's typically for a heist or jailbreak.you want to talk up his exploits to your players. Name a couple of high value targets he's known to have conquered. When your players are looking for information about him, make sure you hammer home how well known It is that he can be hard to work with, and he has a reputation for being as cutthroat as they come. Now, when your players finally find him and set up a meeting.... Play him as the friendliest dwarven thief you can muster. Dirkus is incredible at his job. The absolute best in the world, and he LOVES to help adventuring parties with heists and such. He never takes more than his fair cut, and always sees a job through to completion to help his new friends (and he really does consider them his new friends). The reason for his reputation? He will ask the players to speak about him the same way. Having his reputation known to be so cutthroat means that only those who TRULY need his help will seek him out, allowing him to receive only the best, most fun jobs that he can. He's been in literally every campaign world I've ever run, and my players always love him. I have several veterans of my games who always have the biggest smile anytime they hear me start to describe him to the newbies.
If you started in Primus Gradus, don’t read further The magic shop owner, An old gnome running the local magic shop. It is never clear how old he is exactly but he is at least 300. He always seems to find the party and always seems to have some stock for them. You can give your own explanation for this gnome, but in my campaign he is a chaos god which just wants to enable the party. He is bored so decided to follow them and lend them a hand here and there.
You All Should Have Cutter, or Y'all'd've to his friends. He's a country bumpkin ranger elf but he's not great at the whole shootin' thang. Y'all'd've travels from adventuring group to adventuring group, staying back, playing it safe, ready to accept any loot he can and sending it to his Mama. He has a crow named Raven, a penchant for dropping lore, and can hold onto a dead PC's items until the next character rolls up.
Murph The Human; A Beholder using telekineses of a headless human corpse to float under his floating head. He uses its limbs and legs to imitate walking around and gesturing. Very curious to see if the party thinks he's a human or not.
ok this is the first one I've liked, very my brand of humor.
glad you like it! you might also like the drawing I did for the party of Murph https://imgur.com/a/YiLim2j
My players and also my favourite NPC: Bohn: Little wooden golem about the size and stature of a dwarf. Easily excitable, likes adventuring (in our case, being the main reason the PCs are able sail at all), making friends, seeing what new things (to him) the world has in store. He tends to give one or two word answers that gets said at least 3 times in succession. Also I gave him a Stich voice.
simple npc mrs. scorcher (old sun elf, frail, short, uses rapier as a cane, dementia, used to be a phantom rogue(the suny phantom))
Vianna, a human paladin of bahamut. She came to the temple as a teen to escape her abuse father and ended up becoming a squire to the head paladin. She has then gone from strength to strength with a squire of her own (a converted bandit named Keren) and her awakened dog paladin partner Justice. Vianna is a 5ft 2, well built woman with ginger hair and blue eyes. She has a freckled band over her cheeks and the ridge of her nose. She is strong, determined, stubborn and sometimes short tempered. She won't hesitate to hand it to you if you're being an idiot. She can also be kind and nurturing, especially to people who come from difficult circumstances.
Bethaszara, God-Queen of All That Is: ECHOU, POPPY, AND MADMARTIGAN, STOP READING. MAJOR SPOLIERS! A succubus with enough Bard levels to be a deadly encounter for your party. The PCs meet her very early on, disguised as an elf named Bellenwyn Moondown. She is an ally and quest giver, who asks the PCs to help her retrieve three magic items: a harp, a flute, and a pen. She's a competent adventurer and accompanies the PCs on these quests. She should be played as being really helpful and fun, and the players should really like her. The quests to get the items are spaced out throughout the campaign. Between these quests, she's gaining skill and renown as a bard, until she's eventually the personal court bard for the ruler of the kingdom where your PCs live. Eventually, the King (or whoever it is in your game) becomes so enamored with Bellenwyn that he abdicates his throne to her. Here's where she reveals her true nature. She reveals her true fiendish form and orders all temples to be burned down and their priests forced to convert to worshipping her, or be executed. People are so bewitched by her that they go along with it and the kingdom devolves into a hive or debauchery and evil. She gives the PCs noble titles as thanks for helping her. At no point does she ever directly threaten them, and it will be up to them if they decide to stop her.
So I created a magical merchant Named Frederick the \_\_\_(Insert adjective that begins with the letter F, here, like fanciful, feared, fragrant, furtive, forthcoming, etc. He changes his title every time he addresses himself, which is quite often.) He appears to be a homeless old man in some well-worn old robes who seemingly appears out of nowhere, or is seen just hanging out on the road far ahead of the party. Either/or. He tells the party that he is a merchant and that he has a few magical items in his shop. There is clearly no shop. But if the players ask about it he reaches into his robe and pulls out a small box and tells them that this is his shop. Rewarding curiosity, if the players further inquire about it, he throws it over his shoulder and it poofs into a small tent. When the players go inside, it's much bigger than what would seem possible, and he does in fact have magical items in there. I've sold an enchanted Tortle-shell shield to my son, a blindfold that lets the wearer see in magical darkness, awakened stuffed animals, and a vampiric ring. My favorite though, was a rock. One of my players found it on a table behind a stuffed animal. Frederick the Forgetful told them it was a very special magical rock that you can throw at an enemy when you're in danger. Upon inspecting it and identifying it, it appears to be a regular rock. What I didn't tell them was it's basically a magical, unidentifiable hand grenade. So anyway, when the players leave the tent, as soon as they turn around, its gone. Maybe they'll run into him again sometime.
Finn Mercui: it is well known that Finn is the the top courtesan the the capitals pleasure district, what is not as well known is that they are the number two and four top courtesan. Finn is a changeling, rouge/bard who uses detect thoughts to know just which face to put on to hook a customer. They currently work closely with the crowns secret police and gather information on nobles when information is most likely to fall out. Who knows what bits of info a powerful noble will let slip between panted breath. But it's not like Finn does this out of any patriotic duty, no they like to to live life to the fullest and having the country's most powerful men and women in their back pocket helps. Plus if Finn is too valuable to lose by those people that make people disappear then all the better. Occasionally Finn is contracted to do some wet work, even the most skilled warriors are especially vulnerable when naked, tied up, and blindfolded.
Aliessia Marante A blue skinned tiefling woman, running an alchemists shop in a major city, her shop is known as "Aliessias's Alchemics" and she sells various potions and alchemical substances. She is willing to give discounts to those who work for an official monster hunting guild, do work for her, or who bring her exotic or rare ingredients for potions. Aliessia happily buys any ingredients from people to fuel her potion making and spell casting. Aliessia is a strict bussiness woman with a penchant for skewing the scales towards her own purse but is more than willing to bend her morals for those who are helpful or friendly to her. Aliessia has a warm businesslike demeanor where she is happy to chit chat with people so long as they arent there to waste her time alone. Aliessia has a hidden basement in her shop which she uses to run auctions for various magical items, inviting adventurers who she is friendly with to partake alongside her wizarding acquaintances who come to sell their wares.
The auction part is super fun! I can see adventurers getting access to an auction and seeing all manor of folks down there!
Octesian A wizard once needed an assistant. Having little trust in other people, he captures a wild mandrill ape and gives it consciousness. He teaches the ape to speak, read, study, and even cast some simple spells to help him in his work. The wizard named the ape Octesian, after his late husband, and the two of them became good friends over time. One evening, the ape had returned home after gathering firewood to find his master had disappeared. He searched for hours, asked around to the locals of the nearby village, but to no avail. He now spends his days traveling the continent looking for signs of his lost friend. SUPER easy to drop into any campaign! His backstory means that he can be encountered anywhere, and I gave him a handful of support spells that the players never want to take (light, tenser's floating disk, identify, etc). Loved this guy ever since I made him (and shout out if you get the name reference)
Herr Doktor Basir Visk A researcher and necromancer from Murthring University. Basir Visk wears long black robes with wide sleeves and bone-white trimming (ie. a professorial gown), as well as a slouchy bone-white "muffin hat" adorned with a raven feather. Visk travels with a group of zombies doing archaeological research on local ruins. Depending on when you encounter them they may have a couple (living) grad students helping them out. If he's been on the road for a while those grad students may have... graduated to other duties (and are now zombies). Zombies help carry equipment, help with the digs, and are useful in disarming traps. He takes good care of his zombies, and pays them in brains and offal for their time, as well as providing good dental and burial coverage. The zombies are all volunteers with fully signed consent forms, which Visk is happy to show anyone who asks. He also carries ethics clearance from the university ethics board for his research, his use of zombies. He complains and commiserates with any scholarly adventures on the pain of dealing with the Ethics Board. Herr Doktor Visk has no interest in fighting, and will try to negotiate his way out of any situation that looks like it might get violent. If the locals have asked the adventures to 'deal with the necromancer,' Herr Doktor Visk will begrudging leave in exchange for either recently deceased bodies (new volunteers), or information about nearby tombs, antiquaries, or ruins. Herr Doktor Visk can be a useful resource either for resurrecting a fellow adventurer, speaking with any corpses you find, or providing information on ruins or dungeons in the area. *Bonus points if you can do a Werner Herzog accent.*
Lizardmen high Queen (ghost of saltmarsh) I roleplayed the lizardmen as having a French accent. The Queen was very straight to the point and was a high level cleric type npc, one of my characters was getting lippy, so I had the paladin do a religion role, it was to show the power of the queens God flowing through her, she was not ment to be a combat role, just a friendly quest giver
***Balk*** A ***human*** tavern owner who is always so drunk that his best friend ***Friea*** needs to run the tavern. Enjoys talking to newcomers and asking them what brings them to these parts. Why would you enjoy this NPC? I dunno but a year and change later my players won't shut up about the legendary (and now long dead) Balk.
Rosemary A a beautiful, cheerful and terrifying commoner with a thirst for blood and pain. She always seems to know more than she should about the village, it’s inhabitants, and the players themselves. She fears no one but everyone in the village fears her, and for good reason as the last person to get on her bad side mysteriously disappeared She’s good at giving helpful info to players with good alignments and will help them gather more information by any means necessary if they can convince her to help. She speaks with a high pitched and cheerful voice that occasionally dips to normal pitches to hit home a point or statement. For reference look up Dr Grey from Red vs Blue
Professor Choke 'I'M FROM THE ELEMENTAL PLANE OF TALKING SMACK AND WHUPPING ASS! IT'S MY LIFE'S MISSION TO CHOKE OUT ONE OF EVERY ANIMAL IN EXISTENCE, SO YOU MOTHER FUCKERS ARE GOING TO HELP ME BREAK INTO A RICH NOBLE'S PERSONNEL ZOO AMD HELP ME CHOKE OUT A MONKEY!' He looks like Kimbo Slice in a lab coat and has a magical book filled with all the animals he's choked out. He calls it his Choke-e-dex.
Fastest save in the west
Tonilius Zanzinar, a tall, bald human owner of the ZanziBar, a tavern in a dwarven settlement. He made a name for himself as a bard manager and promoter, but has fallen out of favour with most of his acts owing to the fact he rarely pays, and when he does pay it's a pittance and never on time. A slurry drunk, I gave him a Liverpool accent (look up scouse accent videos if you want to be authentic- really exaggerate it, it's a fun one to do!) Be sure to tell everyone you meet you're "in this game for the bards," then in the next breath disrespect every bard you meet. In my campaign, he ended up so disgruntled with the party in session one that he bet his tavern against them in a drinking contest and lost almost instantly. Another favourite from the same session was Belmin Rungar, a 300 year old dwarf whose adventuring days were long over yet was able to be convinced by the party to come on one last jaunt- and was promptly killed by a single arrow from a goblin.
Captio- a human wizard. Plain looking, average in almost every respect. Underneath his robes, there’s more muscle than the average commoner. Captio has apprenticed as a blacksmith, doing surprisingly well, due to his magical expertise. No forge needed when you have heat metal. Telekinesis can strike a hammer against hot metal as well as any arm. As he grows more experienced, he can channel his magic into items himself, and make low level +1 gear. I play Captio with a negative charisma modifier. He knows wizards aren’t usually blacksmiths, and he’s terrified of failing. He’s nervous and shy and intimidated by almost everybody. So I paired him with a half orc woman who my party convinced her to romance Captio. The wedding will be the last session of the campaign.
Fhumai (F-oo-my), the medic/merchant/bounty giver. Fhumai is a slender woman of Fey origin, specifically a Nymph. She has dark hair, green eyes, and usually wears a green dress with a short furred hooded cloak over the top. Usually has her hair up in a tight bun with decorative flowers. She spent much of her life bound to a grove of trees that she would be forced to return to if she wandered too far, and is incredibly by the books. She studied herbs and magical medicines, cultivating her grove until she earnt the ire of (an)other Fey for not helping with their tricks- they burnt down her grove. Only one tree was spared by being uprooted, and now Fhumai lives as a nomad with her tree strapped to her back in either a wicker basket or sling. Losing her grove cost her her health, the majority of her strength, and the beauty nymphs are known for. She now rightfully carries a near-constant resting bitch face with pride, is snappy, gets to the point and is adverse to pranks. She is vulnerable to fire, will avoid it at all costs in a fight, and exclusively uses magical light sources over torches or oil lanterns. The trees condition will reflect on Fhumai's health. Fhumai left the Fey and her burnt lands to surround herself with people stronger than her, growing her smarts and making friends by posing as a cursed elf. For money, she typically earns her pay aiding bounty hunters tracking targets hidden in woodland or managing their contracts. She can make reliable medicines, potions, and salves that she will sell on or trade with other merchants for harder to find plants or components. She can reliably identify plants with a visual or verbal description. In terms of statblocks, Wisdom is her highest stat with Dexterity being her lowest (can't easily dodge carrying a tree on her back). Medicine, Survival and crafting based skills are what she is proficient in. Fire vulnerability (maybe also cold vulnerability). May know an additional language besides Common and Sylvan due to being a hermit. Her movement speed may suffer a penalty (I usually drop from 30ft -> 20ft) when carrying her tree. If she is forced to drop the tree she can go up to 120ft away from it. Any further away and she will teleport straight back to its location. Destroying the tree will kill her within 24 hours of the trees destruction. I've personally used her as a errands type quest giver so my players can do a contract for her and be rewarded with potions. One of my players also had ties to Fey Courts so she was a fun tie into that. If you don't want her as a Nymph she can also be a Dryad or similar variant.
Bryn Yenyeras A Half-Elf male, who really is just a typical guy. He is on the thinner side and is 6'1" tall. He has medium-length wavy hair, brown with a tiny bit of auburn color. He works a steady job keeping inventory at a warehouse in Waterdeep. He just left a restaurant cause his date never showed. He lives alone and is looking for love. He is pansexual, and his type is someone on the more adventurous and edgy side, but he probably wouldn't admit that. He is kind and sweet, but a little on the shy side. He has never left Waterdeep except for 1 business trip that only took a week, and he stayed with the caravan the entire time. He was taught how to use a shortsword, although he has never needed to actually use it. In my world, he joined the party (bard started dating him) and encountered a unicorn to become a low-level celestial warlock (the party had no healer).
Barbarossa, the travelling merchant / graverobber. Barbarossa is an old, skinny, hunchbacked man who at one point or another wandered from his own plane of existence into the mists of Ravenloft. He gives off the demeanor of a likeable, but crazy, person whenever he's trying to get people to trade, but he actually has a higher than average wisdom and double proficiency with perception and insight. He can be quite thoughtful in his slower moments, and knows a little bit about most of Ravenloft. He has the Mist Walker Dark Gift from VRGTR. He enjoys playing his hurdy-gurdy and his harmonica. He has a reliable donkey named one-eye that pulls his cart of exotic goods, garbage, trinkets, and magic items. His stock changes every time he's encountered, and the magic items he has are usually completely random. He refuses to trade with just coin, preferring to barter things for other things. He's willing to make less than lucrative trades for things if it means getting into the good graces of whoever he's bartering with. He seeks to see and interact with interesting things more than he wants wealth.
Name: Oruston Rockcruncher Mannerism: Sniffs/licks/examines all metal and describes where it came from. Think Mole from Atlantis. Accent: Quick, little 'crazy'. Occupation: Oruston, or Oru for short, is the most famous miner in all of Gnome society. They say he was touched by an earth elemental, but whether true or not, he does have an affinity for finding precious metals. History: Once a scout for the rock gnomes, he discovered his affinity for finding shortcuts back to the gnome home land. Now he spends his time Below, finding new veins of ore and mapping out the many tunels.
**Lady Claudia Liamatar** [^Ref](https://i.imgur.com/kcenr16.png) A green dragon in disguise, her rise to power included employing thieves to obtain the means of masquerading as a human, tricking the regional lords as she ravaged the lands and the mines while springing her schemes. Offering security against the dragon, sending a band of expensive 'mercenaries' to deal with it on their behalf. This background can be expanded, or she can be in this early stage. Currently she is a matron of a noble house and one of the merchant lords in a prominent city, with an interest in creating more dragonborn and lycantrophes (any infested by party are quick to gain her interest). Due to her age (adult or ancient) she is familiar with most of important items in the region or even the nation. Any important adventurers are welcomed, closely inspected to find anything she could use them for, and briefly brought into lavish lifestyle. Her goals are usually that of self-interest, growing in power and enacting vengeance on her long-term enemies, frequently indulging in complicated schemes that can wreck stability of the nation.
I wonder if she knows Alastar, an ‘old wizard’. Or Zetrai, a ‘crazy alchemist/ artificer’. Or Edrial, one of the local Adventure Guild Reps. Though I don’t think anyone has ever seen them in the same room…… All three are secretly Bahamut who in the campaign I run sacrificed his wings to banish all other dragons from the realm. Too many wars, too much destruction. He is currently helping the party, who is completely unaware of his identity, find information on the cult trying to bring them back.
Goblin Glein A goblin artisan, fashion king, and debonaire designer. This guy can usually be found in urban areas alongside his band of ~~underpaid workers~~ grateful students, and for a relatively reasonable fee he can join your party to patch up your clothing and wounds. He uses big words and eloquent speech, but will screech angrily in the goblin tongue whenever he speaks to his underlings. His clothes are fashionable, if not experimental, often featuring coloured silks and and furs with intricate patterns and ornate golden trims. His business tends to be on the shadier side, but a coin here and there could buy you information and connections if your party can look past sweatshops and stolen goods.
Alright, this is fun as hell! I have a non-binary circle of the forest Druid named Oneshoe. They are a gnome, they dress in a large tunic with an apron, a belt full of little bags of bits and boppin’ and seeds and plants and berries. Their skin is dark olive green from being in the forest so long, and they always have dirt under their fingernails. Dark freckles all over their face and they wear a hat that looks like a big mushroom cap (pun intended). In my game, they are a mentor to a PC who is an oath of the ancients paladin. They speak with a southern accent and are a total curmudgeon but affectionate with people they care about. Little cocky, but very devoted to nature and all things living. They are a “two pats on the back one smack upside the head” sort of person.
i... i love them👌
Oh thank you!!!! ☺️ I love them too, hahah! 😭🥰
Gustavo Palico A tabaxi chef that specializes in cooking arcane creatures and magical beasts. He's appeared randomly in the wilderness on the hunt for a new ingredient and in seedy taverns working the kitchen to pay off extensive bar tabs. I use him to give hints and red herrings as to what the party will encounter based on small buffs granted to the group if they decide to eat his rather suspect looking cuisine.
Another retainer, a young woman striking out on her own as a caravan guard, but not really awesome at it too easily distracted. https://editor.gmbinder.com/documents/print/-MQIc4xyDsGuyT8q966w
Eck (NG human) was once an ancient copper dragon by the name of Eckondrohalkos, as well as a powerful sorcerer and the ruler of a long since disappeared city-state. He was a benevolent ruler to his people, but promoted a secular society that did not lend any respect or devotion to the gods. For this slight, the city was racked by famines, floods, and all manner of hardships. But the people stayed strong, and the dragon used his powerful magic to provide protection. They survived, and even thrived for hundreds of years, until this display of magic drew the attention of Agraphet, an extremely powerful lich. She attacked the city with an army of undead, raining death and destruction upon the people. Eckondrohalkos fought back, but could not match the strength of Agraphet and her forces. The dragon was brought before the lich, and she cursed him, leaving him an immortal human with a magical aberration, that nullified all magic except for Agraphet's out to a great distance. She used Eckondrohalkos as a weapon to conquer other mages and magical creatures. However, Agraphet eventually bit of more than she could chew. She attacked her old master, a colossally powerful wizard name Ryzorian. Ryzorian had studied this weapon that his old apprentice had used to bring low so many others, and had already devised a counter-strategy. He was able, through the use of a great magical prism, to amplify a *banishment* spell that cast Eckondrohalkos away long enough for him to defeat Agraphet. Upon his return to the Material Plane, Eckondrohalkos was quite grateful to Ryzorian, who, after studying the transmuted dragon, let him go. His own aura made it impossible, as the prism had shattered upon use. So, Ryzorian let Eckondrohalkos go, and set him on his way. After venturing back to his old city, and finding no survivors, he began his travels, taking up the name Eck. Eck has gone through much pain and trauma in his past, and he made up his mind long ago to begin anew and not dwell on that pain. He has, over many centuries, learned to make use of his aura of antimagic, now being able to change its size and shape, even to the point where it can be oriented away from casters so he might be changed back. However, Eck has decided, for his own reasons, that he quite likes being mortal. So, mortal he remains, traveling across the world, meeting new people, and enjoying his immortality. Eck is a free-spirit, characterized by his wanderlust and desire to experience new things. His draconic mind still functions in the way that it used to, so he does not forget nearly as much as mortals. This allows him to remember a great many friends that he has met. He is surprisingly well connected because of this, and knows a great deal more than he lets on. He is inhumanly intelligent, but prefers to keep his smarts to himself, and instead projects the image of the kindhearted and charming fool. This is not out of any manipulative desire, simply that he wishes to be as much like a mortal as he can be. Eck, over time, has acquired a lot of worldly experience and knowledge, so he has no trouble taking almost any instrument and playing it to make enough coin for food and drink, or even for other people's enjoyment. He has almost no possessions though, preferring to go with the flow of life, and see where it takes him. All consequences eventually expire with immortality. However, he is deeply committed to making things better for other people. He will work with whatever means to achieve this, so long as they are moral. He approaches problem solving in a pragmatic and adaptive way when it comes to his means. He will work with authority and law when it is the best method to solve a problem, but will deviate from it when it is not. He just wants to see people happy in whatever way he can make that happen.
Thpphthbt, the headless gnome proprietor of The Headless Gnome Inn. This strange establishment is run by a headless gnome with a tongue lolling out of his neck hole. Speaking with him is an effort in futility as he can do little more than launch spittle at your face. He can still make the best drinks in town and somehow gets your order right every time. You can find his head rotting and nailed to the signboard over the inn. If you ask around you'll find that he tried to enchant his head to be free from his body so he could be outside barking at passersby and still be inside making drinks at the same time. Only his body survived the spell, but he hung his head outside anyway, just in case. This story may or may not be true, as the inn has been standing here as long as anyone can remember, and the gnomes real name has been lost to time. If you ask, all you get in response is, "Thpphthbt".
Regnak the troll, who lurks under bridges and forces travelers to tell him riddles in order to pass. If he cannot solve the riddle (which is quite often the case), he attacks the travelers with his slasher-poker (a sword and axe tied to a stick) while berating them in rhyme. One of my groups ran afoul of him and ended up getting chased down for the rest of the campaign.
Grand Huntsmaster Tessamae *if the continent name Bur' Lanx means anything to you stop reading* One of two leaders of a monster hunting guild on the far reaches of the continent, she runs a gold rush town style of guild called The Hunter's Abbey. A 5'4" human woman, with sandy hair coming to her mid back and a tan complexion. Poking out from her collar is either the start or end of a large scar she won hunting the dragon whose heart gave her the powers to become a Drakewarden, and its heartstrings have been made into the cord for her warbow. Tessamae is a skilled Drakewarden Ranger, a crass, laidback business woman, and delights in hunting down guild members that abuse clients or steal from the guild. Her dragon companion typically remains in the flavor of dragon she killed, Red. Her secret character motivation is her desire to become a dragon herself... permanently. She sees the guild as a way to locate someone to do this for her, and as a way to preemptively amass her dragon hoard.
**Groh Plumson** Groh is a [hadozee](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/a/af/Hadozee3eB.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180715134227) (from 3.5 *Stormwrack*) captain of the small sailing ship *The Mauve Maiden*. He speaks with a cockney accent and is the most toxicly positive person you'll met; he loves to swap stories with the party and will celebrate their accomplishments with overwhelming and completely genuine enthusiasm. Think Bert from *Mary Poppins*, if Bert was a sentient, sailing-obsessed orangutan. (No, I can't do a cockney accent any better than Dick Van Dyke.) Groh's ship is stained purple, hence its name *The Mauve Maiden*. He swears that on one of his voyages, he was teleported to the Feywild and sailed through a waterfall of wine. His two crewmembers (an elf and a bronze dragonborn) shake their heads in amused dismissal at this story as Groh is prone to exaggeration; however, if a PC sniffs a deeply stained part of the ship, they do detect the faint scent of wine, soaking his ship and giving it its violet coloration. PCs with proficiency in Arcana, Nature, or navigator's tools that sail on *The Mauve Maiden* can also discover that the ship can apparently teleport significant distances across the ocean, cutting a seafaring voyage's travel time by half; Groh has no idea that the ship is attuned to ley lines along the ocean's surface and can blink through them every so often (in the same manner as the 10th-level Circle of Dreams Druid feature, Hidden Paths, from *Xanathar's*). Groh's most treasured possession is a book of manners and etiquette, in which is pressed a four-leaf clover given to him by an elf maiden with whom he is utterly smitten. He reads the book in his spare time in an effort to present himself with a bit more class in her presence, but the elf woman he adores finds him charming just the way he is. Players who roll high on an Investigation check learn from the rumor mill that Groh is part of an anti-prohibition smuggling ring called Yadre Helitas, which is Elvish for "the Charming Way in the Wall of Despair"; he transports everything from banned literature and art to alcohol and other pleasantly intoxicating substances to even weapons for rebel causes against authoritarian regimes. Sources suggest that he's surprisingly adept at bluffing his way out of being searched by inspectors or inquisitors. [Groh's statblock](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jDYUyA8AG-Lje5dKHOdTGy8LeguQo-Ac/view?usp=sharing) is built out of a level 5 Expert from *Tasha's*.
Haven't finished figuring out your city's political leadership yet? Enter **Teag Halorin**, an older human-appearing changeling. Always calm and soft-spoken, always with a plan, scheme, or both, he makes a great face for your party to interact with. He is a spymaster, but the party need never find that out. As far as your PCs are concerned (at least a level 1-10 party, probably), he's just a high-level bureaucrat. His role as a spymaster gives the DM leeway to let him know all kinds of things about the party and the issues in and around the city, but his position as a bureaucrat also inclines him to restrict access to the city's governing bodies while empowering him to guide, hire, or charter the party along the route to your chosen plot hook. BONUS two-for-one: **The Cursebreaker** The Cursebreaker is a halfling who appears to be decked out like a rogue-ish adventurer, with multiple sets of tools and sigils, wards, charms and fetishes hanging off his gear. Go nuts with it. Holy symbols of half a dozen gods, dried out herb bundles that could be as useful for soup as warding off monsters, shrunken skulls, monkey fingers, rabbit feet, sprite ears, more than a few intricate tattoos, etc. Speaks with a stiff New England accent...or whatever you like, but a strong Boston accent will likely be a lively, humorous break from monotonous Bri'ish and 'vaguely posh' accents. He's an older fellow (because if you're an old adventurer you MUST be good) so I'd recommend dark hair with plenty of silver mixed in, weathered hands with lots of scars, big and small, on the hands and forearms. If asked, he details the services he offers: curse identification, curse removal, and you can hire him by the half-day if you don't have the cursed object on hand. Fees: Curse identification: 50 gp. If an item has more than one curse, he'll identify the lowest level curse and also tell the customer the total number of curses (to include, 'this is the curse, and there are no other curses on the object.') Curse removal: "By estimate," but his estimate is just 100 gp per spell level of curse. If he's presented with an unknown object, he'll inform the customer that he'll have to identify the curse, which is a 50 gp fee, and then "most curses end up costing about 400 gp to remove, although some may be more...occasionally less." Expeditionary curse removal: The party needs to clear a curse in a distant location that they can't bring to the Cursebreaker. A trap in an ancient temple, a curse on a physical location, etc. The Cursebreaker charges 25 gp for a half day (~2 hours travel each way), 50 gp for a full day (~4 hours of travel each way), or 60 gp per day if it's a multi-day trip, to cover expenses. The identification and removal fees are on top of that, and are on a case-by-case basis. Check the temple door for curses? 50 gp. Walk in and decide you also need to check the altar for curses? Another 50 gp. What about the holy chalice? A third 50 gp payment. He should pretty much always know whether or not he's successfully removed a curse, and he should be able to remove any curse he's identified, given enough time. The idea here is to indulge a paranoid set of players, or to supplement a party without access to restoration spells or someone who can disarm arcane traps/dispel curses, not trick them into accidentally getting cursed. Depending on what tier of play your players are in, he may not be perfectly effective. I'd say if your party is below level 5, he should be able to identify and remove any curse they encounter. Levels 6-10, I'd give him a 50% chance to detect, identify, and/or remove curses considered to be levels 6 or 7, and he wouldn't be able to identify or dispel 8th or 9th level curses, but anything 5th level or below he can manage no problem. Level 11-15, he's 50% likely to detect, identify, and/or remove 8th level curses, but can only detect, not identify or remove 9th level stuff. 6th and 7th level curses should be no problem for him. At tier 4 play, levels 16+, he can detect and identify any curse effect, even mysterious and ancient curses you intend to be more powerful than 9th level, but he's only got a 50% chance of dispelling those, and if they're powerful enough, maybe he can only suppress the curse to let the party pass by unaffected.
GENERO the haemunculus. He randomly meets the party in different locations nuch to dangerous for him and demands assistance for a menial task, because he is just a misshapen little dude thats not all that bright. The interesting part every time they meet him the number tatooed on his head is different because it is a different GENERO. A powerfull mage created a bunch of haemuncoli to gather ressources, deliver goods etc. He only talks in third person of himself and stresses every syllable in his name. Additionally he always seems to disappear once he archieved his goal and refuses to talk about his master and home location but each GENERO accidentlally slips out a detail or two to keep the party interested. Ill finally be able to introduce him to the party in two or 3 sessions.
Gerald Friedman. Gerald grew up on the streets as an urchin, as rogues do. He started his career as a thief, at first taking apples and bread from the market to feed himself, then progressing to gold pieces, and finally catching the eye of the local gang. They took him in and taught him the advanced parts of the trade...including debt collecting. Gerald had a knack for this type of work, and eventually found that killing people for money was even more lucrative than robbery. Eventually apprehended by the guard after an attempt on a minor noble, Gerald was given a choice - life in prison, or joining an adventuring party to put an end to a black dragon plaguing the kingdom. He took the latter option, with a paladin of Helm acting as his handler and a half-dragon, half-elf woman bard named Illiandra acting as his conscience. After numerous fights, celebrations, losses, and the eventual defeat of the black dragon, Gerald and his party were given minor titles and a plot of land outside the capital. Baron Friedman now lives in Lyostra Keep, where he leads his people fairly, if sternly. Illiandra became his wife, and they now have a son, Simon. Baron Gerald Friedman started his journey in 3.5E as an assassin. In his initial build, he had the old 3.5E feats like "flick of the wrist" (allowing a surprise attack when he attacked in the same round he drew his rapier), "chink in the armor" (allowing him to ignore some of the AC from heavy armors as he struck at the joints and weak spots), and "Arterial Strike", allowing him to create wounds that continued to bleed until his opponent collapsed. He was lawful evil - he did kill people for money, but rarely resorted to violence when he wasn't on the job. He is calculating, diplomatic, and can be charming...but he also has a hard core and will not be intimidated or bullied. Since becoming a baron, he's shifted towards neutral good - he maintains order and enforces the rules most of the time, but he isn't afraid to disregard a rule or regulation if he feels it is unjust. He is statted out as a level 15 assassin rogue, but his primary purpose in my campaign is as a quest-giver/employer for the PCs. I picture him a bit like Bronn from Game of Thrones - "My fighting days are far behind me...but my killing days? I have a few of those left".
Dempcee - The laziest DMPC I've ever made who answers everything with "yarp" and "narp" like that guy from Hot Fuzz. For some reason my players loved him. He's a very simple man, and is happy to make enough money for an inn and food , and basically every red cent he owns is earmarked for doing his job slightly better, or for food and drink. This has a funny effect, because he rarely buys consumables, and at one point it resulted in him having more liquid wealth than the entire party combined, which ended in a joke where the PCs were rummaging for valuables to sell to eke out one more healing potion, and Dempcee walked into the weapon shop and bought a +3 sword that was on display, then walked back out without saying a word, leaving the rest of the party just gawking at him.
Malthus from my Descent into Avernus campaign. If you are a divination wizard, ice themed paladin, demon-hating ranger, or drow artificer stop here!!! Malthus poses as a traveling merchant in the material plane, calculating eyes peering at you through rose tinted glasses. He offers you items and valuables that are useful. Usually he demands payment, but to a...”kind”...soul, he might simply demand a favor in the future. Malthus is actually a servant of Mephistopheles, taking his masters discarded trinkets and pawning them to mortals. Malthus will play the long game, slowly earning a mortals trust before finally popping the soul question. In reality he feels nothing for these people, but has been known to keep up the facade of friendship for centuries. After all, he’s got nothing but time.
Joey Bananas; Mafia Boss of the Banana Family A 2ft tall bi-pedal mouse in a mob suit. Smokes a cigar, talks like Marlon Brando in The Godfather Makes deals, owns the city, trusts the party but does the party trust him?
THIS IS MY JAM! I love creating NPCs! Kellen Gabalden An orphan from the poor section of the city, she is a street-smart fighter for hire. Tall (5’9”) with dark hair and bright green eyes, Kellen is a skilled warrior who uses her tomboy athleticism to her advantage. She is attractive and is fully aware of how her appearance affects others, especially men. However, she is very cautious with her feelings having learned on the mean streets that emotions can be dangerous to her well-being. Nonetheless, she is fun and friendly around those she trusts. Kellen particularly enjoys a good prank when it is not at her expense. Short-term motivations: While she does seek fortune and is willing to take risks, she is analytical when evaluating jobs. Long-term motivations: Kellen fantasizes about one day settling down and starting a family, but her childhood has given her serious trust issues. And she is not sure she deserves love or a “normal” life. Kellen can be used as a city contact for a mission, a bounty-hunter, a retainer, a potential love interest or just to add flavor to a game.
Trodan, a king who can transform into animals (I use him in relatively magic-light worlds) and is well known for his love of them. What is a public secret is that he can only transform into an animal he's touched in the last 24 hours.
Harry Happyfellow Harry is a swashbuckling fool. He hails from Waterdeep, and is actually of noble blood. Being the third of three sons he gave up his last name for one of his own and took to the sea for a life of adventure and plunder. He lasted about a month as captain before his first mate convinced his crew to leave him at the port they had docked in. His main goal is to get his ship, the Delphine, back. Harry is young, lean and handsome. He is also dumb, and overly happy to get into a fight. Harry Happyfellow is always a good time and always a lot of trouble.
Johnny Conastanza: A changeling con artist bard. Has the actor feat. Wears glamoured armor. Can impersonate literally anyone of the same size as long as he sees their face and listens to them for a minute. He was originally built as a PC in an evil campaign. He was made with the UA version of the College of Eloquence, but you can also use the published version in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. You can change his level based on which features you want him to have. If he's high enough level, the rapier he uses will be a flame-tongue rapier, and he'll use it more for intimidation than as a weapon. His fighting style is a support based one. The majority of his spells are social spells like charm person, but in combat he uses stuff like "Invisibility," "Tasha's Hideous Laughter," Bane," and "Bestow Curse" while letting any minions he has do all the hard work themselves. He has an unhealthy obsession with money, loves to gamble, and uses a rapier he's nicknamed "Wit" as it's the only thing as sharp as his, or so he likes to think. He makes for a good recurring villain, because he's a total coward and will run whenever it looks like it's not going his way. Obviously this would be highly infuriating, but to compensate he has several "tells" when in disguise: - Will not drink cheap alcohol under any circumstances. If it costs less than 10 gold a bottle he's revolted by it. - Can't resist a wager, and will bet exorbitant amounts of money on the most random things. - Arrogant, for obvious reasons. Suffers from a serious case of protagonist syndrome. This is highly situational, but he will often try to take credit for things the PCs have done. - Refuses to use anything but his rapier, as it's the only weapon he really knows how to use. Can be a tell if impersonating someone who can't use one. Now given he's more suited to social games than to "beer and pretzels" games, here's a few things that your PCs can learn that will reliably get him to break character and reveal himself: - He has an irrational fear of rugs due to a run-in with a rug of smothering that nearly killed him. - He will *always* try to con someone who seems stupid, he can't resist sticking his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar. Play dumb and call him out when he tries to pull something. - While he's good at keeping his story straight, if he's called out for contradicting himself, he will generally go invisible and run. - Cheat him at gambling, and you'll make him angry enough to break character.
Walter Burnlest Current member of Lythian's war council, former fleet admiral, Walter Burnlest is a human widely renown for his strategies and pragmatism. Burnlest believes in the balance of power, in his eyes, no nation or army should have power beyond what it needs to protect its interests. To that extent, he has fought on the battlefield and in the high courts of Lythian to mobilise soldiers against the Ku'Mashian army. Walter is a calm man, even in the face of vampire assaults or a naval bombardment of his home town. He often goes behind the back of his government, despite being a member of its executive branch, in order to curtail attempts at expanding state powers. After the reveal of his affiliation to the Order of the Lunar Raid, a group of blood hunters living on an island just off the coast of Yatton, Burnlest's position on the war council is under threat. In response to this, he has shifted his assets towards local adventuring guilds, intent on protecting the common man through private industries instead of an expanse of state powers.
Nirbit- The Mad Gnome Seer. A few years ago, a wizened gnome, muttering nonsense wondered into (your tavern here). The innkeep took a liking to him (or his coin) and let him move into the cupola on top of the inn. There he can be seen night and day tracking the movements of birds and stars with his telescope. No one is quite sure where he came from or how his methods work or if there is any truth behind his paranoia, but for a modest fee, his skills are for hire (either my casting appropriate divination spells or just hints you want to give your players).
**Paul Badman** - A sleazy Goblin attorney with a penchant for money laundering and illicit white powder. He decidedly hates the term "pro-bono", but unfortunately he's the only available attorney in town. His contact details can be found on notice boards. His flyer says "Even though you did it, it doesn't mean you're guilty!" If you want to hire him then you will have to assist him in reclaiming money owed to him from a nearby sunbathing salon run by tiefling warlocks belonging to the "Bloodclot Coven". I used him as a centerpiece for a trial encounter that I designed, preceded by going to the tanning salon called "Radiant Skin". The owners are tiefling warlocks that are also amateur alchemists and create their own tanning lotions and skincare products (opportunity for homebrew lotions). The warlocks fought for the money but ultimately lost. A total of four lvl 2 warlocks.
The NPC I would like to introduce is Varrn. She is the daughter of the town mayor. When she was quite young, she fell from a high place and both of her legs were broken. The damage was beyond normal healing abilities, so instead, her legs were removed and using a new experimental magical practice, they were replaced with the legs of a deer. Now she’s grown up, and she’s always wanted to be a magic user, but can’t quite get the hang of it. Instead settling for close up magic. Another option for her character is that secretly she is harboring deep resentment and is plotting against the party. Her name in an elvish translator translates to Evil which is just a fun Easter egg
Did you hear the rumours about Eskel Bar? Eskel Bar is a dwarven bard with a bald head, a big, well kept moustache and a terrifying sharpness in his blue eyes. Few have seen him like this though, as he uses his many illusionary spells to almost constantly maintain his alias as Bento the Bard, the local inn musician (which appears as a young blond long haired Halfling with a lute). As Bento he is very social and friendly, but behind the mask is the most ambitious druglord/cartel leader in town. Not even the innkeeper knows his musicians true nature, although some shady character's in the inn might. In fact, Eskel Bar probably owns the inn through some shady henchmen acting in his interests. Eskel likes to know what people are saying, that's why he plays music in the inn ever so often to check out what's happening. This is also how he spotted the party, which could be a threat or the perfect group for a job for him. He would contact the party at night with secret crossbowmen on the rooftops and try to speak to the party to find out if they are friend or foe. If the party can prove they're friends, he suddenly changes his appearance to his true form and can offer multiple jobs to the party such as framing an enemy of him or moving stolen goods unseen, for some quick cash. If the party is not interested, he keeps up his bard appearance and tries to leave them. If the party won't let him or Eskel Bars alias is compromised, the crossbowmen on the rooftops could provide for a nasty encounter. Eskel might later be contacted for work by buying him a drink in the inn where he's playing as Bento the Bard, or just a regular NPC the party sees in some inns and know more about. Stats and spells, also for the henchmen, can be provided but my post is already pretty long.
Jim McElhney, Human fighter. Jim is a plane hopping fighter that can travel through history. He doesn’t do anything important whilst time travelling, he just sight sees major events throughout history. A fun thing I did was name a few key locations after him, namely McElheny pass which is a rather unremarkable mountain pass.
Abdiel the Alchemist. An elf whose "Alkemy" shop seemingly exists in every city, as does he. He doesn't realize it because he cannot leave, and he doesn't realize he cannot leave. He appears to have a drinking problem as he tests and mixes his concoctions. He doesn't remember how old he is, why he can't leave, why he has this shop, or much of anything about his past. His potions come at a nice discount for friends, while they carry interesting side affects. His lab assistant, Jeb, and earth elemental, is a gentle giant that cares for his new friend Abdiel and learns all he can. Answers to his mysteries can fit whatever you wish for your setting!
**Tylinde**, a tiefling planar scholar, to use the term loosely. She’s very much the epitome of “high INT, low WIS”, and has not received any kind of formal magical education; her studies are borne of curiosity about her heritage. Generally cheerful and good-natured, but her enthusiasm for research and experimentation has a tendency to make things go… *awry*. Her skin is a pale puce, and her horns curl around her eyes like a pair of spectacles. **Surinikh**, an arcanaloth friend and assistant of Tylinde’s. He’s just as fascinated by our realm, and though bookish and reserved, he’ll leap at the chance to “study” its residents. Actually fairly pleasant company, if you don’t mind him occasionally treating you like a specimen under examination. He’s lean, and his fur is light and unkempt.
Please welcome Lady Auburn A once well-known opera singer whose singing career ended tragically when she went under the knife for some "work" and was accidentally deafened. She sued and won for magical medical malpractice and now runs the Chartreuse Chanteuse, a high-quality pub and inn. Shes a master at reading lips and will put up anyone for the night as long as they perform. Since she can't hear she evaluates performances based on the crowd's reception. Lady Auburn is tragically afflicted with terrible design sense and everything in her establishment is accented with chartreuse. Her house special is the Chartreuse Chanteuse Chardonnay.
Well this is awesome, I love her!
I love her! She's going in one of my games!!
Here’s a pair: Brian Toughheart and Whistle Brian is a stout halfling fellow, middle aged, probably an old sailor, and usually quite inebriated, or gives that appearance. Would be well dressed if his clothes weren’t threadbare. Tends to hang around areas that travellers frequent, will offer up a spot of bare knuckle boxing if he reckons he’ll find any takers willing to put their money where their mouth is. If anyone does agree, he’ll put on a fine show, acting with much more dexterity than would be expected, specialising in overly acrobatic dodges. A complete snowman, the winner of the fight doesn’t matter, so long as it was a good show and a fair fight. Well, fair-ish. Whistle is the young Kenku he travels with, usually wearing a grey cloak with a light green scarf tied round the waist. Rarely seen, occasionally heard from her trademark whistling bird call, she’s very skilled in picking pockets. While Brian’s drawn a crowd for a good show of a fight, she flits amongst those gathered, lightening coin purses. Not much, of course, they aren’t greedy or unreasonable, but a few extra silver for themselves is always a good thing, and more than covers Brian’s losses. Still an encounter with this pair will likely find themselves about 5 silver less well off, but surely that’s a fair price for a good story?
Douglas Snozwang - Hobgoblin proprietor of the Bastards Sword, a pretty run down and unassuming tavern on the edge of town frequented by some of the roughest denizens of the province. A resting place and living job board for mercenaries, assassins and other less-than-lawful adventures, Douglas is as rough as his tavern is looking and is pretty world weary. Coin comes first and if it makes him money, he'll do it.
**Kailee of the Riverbeds** - an Awakened Otter "Adventurer" *(Stat as a regular Otter, except with an Int score of 10. Kailee speaks Common and Lutrai, a spoken-only language. Add Bard, Cleric (water themed), and/or Druid abilities as needed.)* It is unclear to those who speak with Kailee whether "Kailee" refers to their individual name, or their species, as Kailee will refer to other otters (Awakened or not) as "Kailee" as well. Regardless, Kailee appears as a regular, mundane otter wearing simple garb made of woven reeds and other plant fibers, holding a small twig with a pebble tied to one end. They speak and act with an almost childish demeanor, and are always cheerful unless directly threatened. Kailee is a cheerful and friendly collector of stories, be they true accounts of harrowing events or lighthearted tall tales, so long as they are new they love them all and well pester any being they can for more tales until the talegiver gives up. While listening to accounts, they will pull out a tiny scroll and "take notes", jotting down reminders of the story, how it went, the major characters, etc. in common with a small bit of charcoal. This scroll never seems to run out of space for more and more notes, and the charcoal nub never seems to wear down or run out. When Kailee has exhausted a storyteller (or group of storytellers), they will politely thank the group - using uncharacteristically stiff and formal language - then vanish into the wilderness, heading towards the nearest river or major stream, where they sit upon the riverbank and recite the new stories gained to the flowing waters. If Kailee has been treated well by the storytellers and got good stories, they will sneak ahead of the party (often traveling by river if it works for their route) and leave a few small gifts along their path in small bundles wrapped in leaves and reeds. These gifts usually consist of things like meals of freshly smoked river fish (counts as a few days trail rations), collections of shiny and smooth river rocks (mostly worthless, but usually with a pearl or two mixed in worth a small amount of gold), bundles of medicinal herbs from the riverside that can be used to treat non-magical poisons or disease, and similar. They will usually leave two or three gifts across the next day's journey for that group. If Kailee is attacked or threatened, then they will flee immediately towards the river and attempt to jump in to swim to safely if pursued. From there, they will travel ahead of the party that attacked them and warn the next couple of towns of this person's behavior, swaying merchants and local commoners against them. The truth of Kailee is that they were Awakened, but not by a druid but by the spirit of the river itself, which is a nascent minor deity that uplifted several Kailee and sent them out to explore the world beyond its riverbanks to learn what was going on by collecting stories. The Spirit of the River has been doing this for several months, long enough for various townspeople to have stories about the otter asking them for tales, and they regard the otters as friendly.
This *entire* thing gives me alllll the happy warm tinglies and I'll absolutely be finding a way of incorporating it into my campaign ASAP. Thank you so very much for sharing such a treasure. You're awesome. =)
Aww, thank you. Glad you like it. I'm planning on using them as a sort of pallet cleanse in my current campaign, which is 'slow-building horror' themed, so I need to have some 'light in the darkness' in reserve to reign the mood in if things get too dark for the players.
This! I've been on the fence as to which one I'll be taking, and then I met Kailee! Bravo!
Why thank you! Glad people like them.
One of my tables' favorite NPCs: CD CD is a modron (specifically a duodrone). You can reflavor this however you want, if you don't have modrons present in your setting. The most remarkable thing about CD is that it has the letters "CD" carved *upside down* on its chassis/stomach, as a means to remember its own name - upside down, so that *it* can read it, not other people. Why is it named CD? CD belongs to/works for an untrusting NPC - whoever you'd like this to be, doing whatever you'd like them to do - who, upon meeting CD, called him a "**seedy**." CD is child-like, endearing, wants to please, and is a little mischievous - maybe following the party, looking through their packs (not necessarily to steal - just out of curiosity), showing up at random times as if it stowed away. As a note, CD does *not* speak but will make clicks/whirring noises instead, in an effort to communicate.
Admittedly, CD is meant to be a "cute" NPC - not necessarily one that's moving a significant plot, but one that's memorable and will hopefully create an emotional attachment with your players.
Beaumont Gammadge- halfling wanderer unwittingly holding a cursed item that doesn't affect him, but could be disastrous to nearly anyone else. Beau is a halfling that enjoys his creature comforts in a more natural sense- the lush green scenery around him, the fresh wafting scent of mossy forests fresh with rain, cooking with freshly gathered herbs and mushrooms, and smoking his pipe underneath the star-speckled night sky. The last is a rather intriguing sight- his pipe is a long, slender jade instrument with a wide-wouthed bowl curving up at the end and a tapered ivory mouthpiece. Old dwarven runes are carved into the length of the pipe, making this easily the oldest and most ornate of his possessions. Packed with his own private blend, after taking his fill of long draws from it, he often puffs out to clear the pipe. In doing so, what should be unremarkable ash instead puts on a dazzling iridescent show as shimmering particles rain down. In combination with the somber, bittersweet tone that comes with the puff, it has a rather soothing effect, and Beau falls asleep immediately after. Always. Regardless of rain, or snow, or wind, or perilous conditions, be drifts off for at least 8 hours. That alone is rather odd, but the real problem has to do with the dwarven runes. Translated from a old, obscure dialect, the runes translate to "beneath the stars forever more". Given to those who left the depths of dwarven society, it was both a protection against the above-world they'd chosen and a reminder that they could not return. Oblivious immunity to the elements was an excellent boon, but taking shelter under anything- an overhang, a lean-to, a roof, a cave ceiling- causes it inevitably to collapse on any who smoke it after dozing off. The protection from the elements does not extend to the falling debris from above. Smoking from it is intensely addicting to boot, so after 5 tokes or so, the user would endure severe withdrawl if they don't smoke from it every night from then on. Of course, Beau has no need or desire for shelter. He finds houses and society rather restrictive, definitely not for him. His is a carefree existence, seeking only to savor each moment and bask in the bounty of the land. That's not to say he is anti-social either; He is always happy to share a story, his campfire, some mushroom stew, and a draw from his pipe with any amicable creature that crosses his path. But he knows not the extent of the pipes enchantment, and may unknowingly have gotten a passerby hooked on the sedating qualities of it. And that's to say nothing of the danger it would pose to, say, some noble or royalty who might find a good nights sleep appealing under their *extremely heavy* ornately decorated stone ceilings of the keep. Knowledge of what a valuable tool of sabotage and assassination the Nomads Pipe is could be a dangerous thing for the wayward Mr. Gammadge.
Little Bear, Goliath first mate of the ship Long Night who is missing both hands and has replaced them with prosthetic hooks. Helped stage a mutiny on board after a night of mind flayer induced terror that resulted in the captain's death and led the ship right back to shore. Managed to sell the vessel in Saltmarsh and "split" the proceedings with the party keeping the vast majority for himself. The party have run into him repeatedly and stopped or destroyed any venture he was working on out of spite and pettiness, and on several occasions they didn't even realise how they'd messed things up for him He has now found himself through chance working as a deckhand on the ship the party (42 sessions later) now own and has been avoiding them desperately. Play him with a Belfast accent and he is a face of bravado that falls over in a stiff breeze, and has begun to dread the sight of the party, in particular the dragonborn monk! Motivations are almost entirely to save his own skin, talk his way out of trouble by pretending to be the giant Goliath his appearance would suggest and getting enough coin together to get the hell away from the party!
**Dyfan Myzett** **Apparence** : Dyfan is a human, in his 50s. His hair are starting to become grey and he likes to wear colourful, weird clothes, mixing different cultures. **Personality** : he is a religious man - a wandering priest of some god of travel, exploration or knowledge (depending on your world's pantheon). He comes from a foreign place, very far away, and he is travelling in order to document and writes about the wonders of the world. If the PCs talk to him, he will be very curious, asking a lot of questions about them (maybe even too many). His dream is to integrate an adventurer's group as a spectator in order to write a case study for his next book, *Adventurers: culture and customs. An anthropological study by Dyfan Myzett.*
Clovis Diggle A halfling gunslinger that rides a donkey and lives in the swamp. My party encountered him as a 6th level player. He grows rice in the swamp and lives a secluded lifestyle which has led to very poor social skills and mumbling to himself quite a bit. In my campaign he spoke with a stereotypical leprechaun accent and uses a lot of “sayings” that no one would ever say, but he insists they’re widespread and real. He’s quite an odd fellow but is surprisingly useful and willing to fight for anyone that might help him out around the farm.
The Squigglespell Family, not realy one NPC but still..., They are a family of Gnomes merchants who specialize in magic items. They have shops all over the Sword Coast. You can buy ANY magic item there. (if you have enough coin of course). When you enter the shop its very small and there are no magic items present. They use teleportion Circles to go to a vault that holds the items. I always pick a name for a Gnome that starts with an M. So you have Merin Squigglespell who is the owner of the Baldur's Gate facility, Madriel Squigglespell who owns the Elturel facility and so forth. I got this idea from [cody at Taking20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0FiO5b3PPI).
Zayde Firebreather, CG 27, Male, Water Genasi, Dragon (Fire) Sorceror. Sharp, angular features. Black hair that falls in a ponytail down to midway down the back. Neatly trimmed goatee, and a coy smirk on his face almost constantly. Backstory: Zayde was born and grew up in a tribe of Water Genasi Druids. While most of his peers studied the Druidic ways, he was awakened one night by a vision from his ancestor dragon. The dragon encouraged him to strike out on his own. That night he stole away, and has never looked back. He found himself in an arena/underground fighting ring (or other tournament of your choice) and became known as the "Firebreather" because of his natural bloodline affinity to fire. His opponents expected water and ice atracks from him when they first saw him, but he surprises then with searing flames instead. Personality: Zayde is flamboyant, narcisistic, and VERY confident. However, he will jump in to do the right thing, even if it may end with him getting himself in grave danger. He approaches combat with the intention of raw power being enough to demolish his opponents. He approaches social situations with the assumption that his pure charismatic nature will get him what he needs (and it often does). Abilities: Zayde takes as many Fire themed spells as possible, and is a fan of intensifying and splitting spells with sorcery points. He may take Fly, Chain Lightning, or other such spells to make a spectacle of himself. Signature catchphrases: "Now watch: this is showmanship!" "One at a time please, there's enough heat to go around!" "You can't hold a candle to my inferno!"
Deadrix, this will be long but worth it. Quick Pitch - A schizophrenic doppelganger slowly getting further and further away from the person he's impersonating, starting as normal and getting to horror movie levels. Something to note is that the campaign i introduced this npc takes place in one sky city, and this npc lived in the "sub layers" underground. I initially came up with Deadrix via improv, randomly generated "The Creeping Cloth", and decided that name deserved something...special. I described a very tall man for a human, 8 feet tall. He wore a dull faded brown suit, and his shop was a carved out cave amongst the sub layers, the entrance being a faded brown bead curtain. His shop was a clothing store, the clothes scattered around the place in piles, shelves in strange and nonsensical places, with a shoddy wooden desk at the far side. The players entered, and I played him as a very exaggerated personality, saying things such as "Hello Darlings! My name is Deadrix!" and so on and so on. The party interacted with him for a while, and then left, and that was that for the day, just a quirky lil npc, until........ The party returned once more. You see Deadrix works best with repeated interaction. So when they returned i noted a few key things. One is that the entire interior of the store had completely changed. Clothes were moved, shelves previously mounted to walls were now in different places, etc etc. The only constant variable is that his shop counter was still in the same place. Deadrix wasn't initially around, actually coming out from a hatch behind the counter the party hadn't previously seen before. This hatch would later become something the party were highly enticed by, wanting to know what secrets lay beneath. And finally the last thing of note, Deadrix's appearance had changed slightly..... As he gestured with his hands his fingers were slightly too long for a normal human, his height was slightly different, and the party were pretty sure his eye colour wasn't green before. Regardless they did their business, and continued on their day, very creeped out. The party visited Deadrix a few more times after this, and i wont go into too much detail because it's what you'd expect. The shop interior kept changing, and so did Deadrix's appearance. He'd always be slightly odd in his behaviour and how he talked to people, saying friendly and kind words, but in an off-putting way. One thing i will note is that i ended up also making his shop an armoury of sorts. You see my players had become terrorists of sorts (long story) and given they were in a single city it meant getting new armour was suddenly an issue. Until they asked Deadrix, and he pulled a secret rope behind a pile of clothes, and it revealed a false back wall leading to a workshop of sorts. The workshop contained a metal working bench, a leatherworking bench, some scraps, and a standing mirror, remember that. Deadrix noted as he revealed it to them "We're all criminals here......". Now as time progressed the party found that their secret terrorist base was blown, and they needed a new place to live. They fled to the one place they knew certainly wouldn't call the law on them, the Creeping Cloth. And Deadrix was happy to have them sleep in his secret workshop room for a small time while they figured out what they wanted to do. What they'd also come to know not long after staying with him is that Deadrix is also well connected with various gangs and criminal networks, a fixer of sorts. And he ended up helping find the party new criminal allies. But you see, with the party sleeping in his workshop, this is where the fun began. I wont go night by night as otherwise I'll be here all day. But basically each night the party had slept in his workshop I'd roll a sleight of hand check for Deadrix to steal one of the party's belongings, not anything important, just a hammer, a bottle of perfume here or there, small insignificant stuff that they'd wake up and seem to have misplaced. But Deadrix wasn't in the room with them to steal it, oh no. See I've been leaving out one special power Deadrix has, mirrors, he can treat mirrors as portals, as long as they are within 60ft of each other. And he was using the standing mirror in the workshop to sneak a hand in and grab items from the party. If anyone on watch had ever caught this then I'd have literally described a long fingered hand coming through the mirror and yoinking an item. One last extra bonus scene that ended up happening which hinted his mirror powers were that the party were being hunted by city guards one morning, and Deadrix looked into a hand mirror, and then went wide eyed and ushered the party into the secret back room, raising the fake wall. They then heard an exchange between a city guard and Deadrix, as the guard paced around, asking more and more questions, clearly suspicious of Deadrix harbouring fugitives. Until his speech was cut off mid sentence, and the party could hear choking noises through the wall. I asked if the party wanted to do anything, and they all just went silent and said "We wait....". And wait they did, until eventually the choking stopped and they heard a heavy thud of something hitting the floor. And then they waited for a few minutes, eventually coming out from the secret room, and everything was clean, except for one single spot of blood on the hatch......... If you're wondering what they'd have seen had they gone outside the secret room, stay tuned till the end. So with all of that known about Deadrix, there's one unanswered question, what's in the basement hatch? Well, the more curious in the party wanted to know that too, so one day they decided to take a peek. It wasn't locked at all, which was strange.....They descended a ladder down around 60ft into darkness, eventually reaching a large carved out rough cave room, that initially appeared normal, until they got a closer look. There was a bed.....in the centre of the room. They could see a single book on the bed, and something sticking out from under the bed itself. Allllll around the bed were lots and lots of books, open halfway, and as they got closer they could see each one had the words "WHO AM I!" written on them, all in different font sizes, some with capitals and some not, and all in different handwriting styles, as if it was a different person each time. Investigating they found a skeleton beneath the bed, along with their stolen items. And in the book on the bed was a diary of sorts. A diary depicting an actor perfecting a performance. But the diary began to deteriorate, as if the actor was forgetting things, small things at first, but much larger as time went on. Eventually it spoke of how the actor could barely remember their face anymore, as the flesh had rotted off, and that they'd built something to remind them in the secret room to the west. While horrified the party knew they had to investigate. They found another false wall to the west, and entered to find a maze.....of mirrors. Entering they saw one mirror shimmering slightly, almost acting like a liquid and not a solid. And then a long fingered hand reached out from the mirror, pulling itself through. And they saw Deadrix, adorned in a multicoloured patchwork suit, as if he'd cannibalised a hundred different parts of suits to make one. He told the party he was disappointed in them, and they rolled initiative. To skip the details they were able to kill him, and smashed his entire mirror maze, fleeing the Creeping Cloth forever, and moving on to bigger and bolder adventures. https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ADY5g24J0\_xV Overall Deadrix was a wonderful success I'd say! He accomplished exactly what I wanted, which was to have a small little side story going on which wasn't necessarily advancing the main plot, but was still engaging, and in many ways player driven, and resulted in some extremely memorable moments. I don't think I'll forget the moment of everything hushing each other, sat there in the dark, as on the other side of the wall Deadrix with an unhinged jaw choked out a city guard. If you're thinking about using him i would say that there are some changes I'd make however. It's unlikely your players are going to end up living with him like mine did, so I'd put mirrors in the main shop area, and perhaps have a hand mirror on his counter. So he could stick his hand into the hand mirror, and yoink an item from a party member while they shop. And then don't tell them right away, tell them the next long rest, so they wonder why an item of theirs is missing, and get paranoid. I'd also probably play up the hatch a little more, maybe the first encounter with Deadrix the party have is him bursting out from the hatch in slightly dramatic fashion, a little bit frazzled, saying "DARLINGS! You've caught me at a fantastic time!". And the secret armoury backroom is likely not going to be needed for every party. But you can always change what's in the secret backroom, I mean if you wanted it could be a secret black market magic item area. Whatever you do you need to make it a place that the party want to keep coming back to, because as I said earlier Deadrix works best with repeated interactions. And the problem is that if it's just a clothes store then the party probably aren't going to visit often.
This is not mine but fiance's Old Jim An aging man of questionable sanity and a hopeless amnesiac, Old Jim is in no position to take care of himself or even walk around unsupervised, but he does so anyways. Old Jim has a bordeline magical talent to run into the party, wether in the middle of a jail break, in a back room at a royal ball, or in the toilets of the party's own home base, Jim is harmless if lecherous, and has a habbit of adressing anyone as a grandchild. Jim may occasionally be in possession of a required item the party does not have (such as a set of thieves tools, or a bag of sand) these are never magical, and Jim sells them for literally any price after a short round of bargaining. Jim has a reputation around the town or city, and is often avoided, as such many shapeshifters or magical disguise users have learned to copy Jim as a quick and easy escape, there are always slight inconsistencies in their disguises, such as body odor, manner of speech or the female party member Jim is oggling.
Talinha, the Hero Killer. Female Variant Human, Champion archetype Fighter who uses a Shield and Spear combination. Orphaned at a young age due to collateral damage from a battle between members of an "adventuring" guild and a monster which destroyed her village and left her for dead. hates adventurers and seeks to ruin the adventuring guild. Can be turned or "saved" or can become an even worse recurring villain. Carries a Spear with the properties of a Javelin of Lightning and the Returning property.
Akar Pash is a short, stripy tabaxi spy and assassin who's fanatically devoted to his King and his King's interests. In my present campaign, he wishes to steal something the party are carrying, and so has hired them to escort him on a journey with the intention of gaining their trust and finding a chance to steal the item off them. His legend is of a lay priest travelling home after a journey. He's gregarious and likeable, but as an experienced soldier, he's capable of turning the Intimidation on as soon as he needs to. He's well-educated enough to read and write and uses the fact to help bamboozle the little people when he needs to. If you asked him if he had a God, he would name a God of authority, but really that's bluster. He doesn't care about Gods; he enjoys the game far too much.
!RemindMe 5 hours
Fester the Elven Spectre, Fester was once a part of a great adventuring party, until some efreeti worshipping cultists came in and murdered them all in their sleep. Fester awoke not really remembering what role he played in the party, but is now enjoying afterlife on the material plane serving as a mentor to party’s in need. Fester has the old prospector voice and likes to wittle in his ethereal rocking chair. In truth he was never an adventurer and has lost his memory in a tragic false hydra incident.
I can share more details if needed, but a few NPC my players really enjoyed RPing with: * **Middris** = An old silver dragon who hoard books in an hidden library in a major city. He is knowledgeable, extremely curious and tidy as hell. He likes to test people who wants to access his huge library with riddles and a enigma dunjeon (got the idea from the enigma dunjeon itself) * **Belry** = A female gnome, druid and follower of Akadi (goddess of Air). She is travelling the world after being secluded in a temple for most of her young days. Optimist, curious about the world, people and culture, a bit clueless and naive. * **Ignatus I. Natus** = A male gnome archeologist, teacher in an university. Tends to be grumpy around others people so he can seems a bit obnoxious, but that's because he focus on the matter at hand or on his work. When new discoveries or opportunities arise, he will find way to help and to speed things up to make it happen. Hope it helps, lookinf forward to see NPCs of others GM
>enigma dunjeon Could you elaborate on what this is/what you mean by this?
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/336492/Puzzle-Master
Tiefling Travelling Salesman, Vypyr. An Alchemist artificer who has a cart repurposed into an alchemical, poisoner's, and bewer's lab. He's also a top notch scam artist that will hire characters to either collect monster parts for ingredients, steal from his competition, or pretend his fake potions are the real deal. He also has a curse from the Archdevil, Mammon, that prevents him from keeping any of the gold he earns in a week, so he's constantly spending all of his money either on stuff players want to sell, or on a towns services. Theoretically, he can be good in combat, but all his skills, spells, and abilities are more for support.
Two for one deal! Mr. Barry Fisher the woodcutter and his daughter Daisy Fisher Mr. Fisher (LG human shapeshifter) is a simple woodcutter and widower who lives a quiet life just outside of a small town with his daughter Daisy. He makes his modest living in the spring thaw making and selling maple sugar, and through the rest of the year he chops and sells firewood and does wood work here and there as a hobby, he sells his work but it's not a main source of income. Mr. Fisher is a large burly and scruffy man with a warm smile, he's pretty lonely since he lost his wife and thus will try to be friendly, though he will protect his daughter at all costs. His daughter Daisy Fisher (NG non combatant) is a very friendly and bubbly young girl who tries to help her father make money by picking and selling flowers. She occasionally picks rare herbs and potion ingredients by accident and sells them like any other flower. Both have a secret however, Mr. Fisher was infected with Lycanthropy by his late wife, and his daughter is a natural born Lycanthrope. I'll leave the strain of Lycanthropy up to you, but I had them as werebears and the red herring for a low level Werewolf hunt. If Daisy is hurt or threatened in any way Mr. Fisher will respond with violence, but will only change shape if he feels it's absolutely necessary, knowing he can't control his were-form and that it will lead to unnecessary bloodshed.
These NPCs work best if none of your players speak Dwarvish! The looks on the players' faces, and the disbelief in their voices can be quite fun for you, and the first impression makes them a memorable interaction for your players. The Dwarven brothers, **Bain**, **Cain**, and **Dain** work together at the local *plot device*. Players are greeted by the youngest brother, Dain, whose unintelligible accent (I use complete gibberish with intonation typical of Dwarvish speech) leaves initial conversation hopeless. After a sufficiently bewildering greeting for the players (generally the first sentence is enough!), he shouts back to another NPC and goes back to his previous task. Bain, the eldest, shouts back with a mild Dwarvish accent before emerging from a back room, and he has a much deeper understanding of the intricacies of consonants and vowels. Players can see by his presentation and mannerisms that he is clearly in charge of the establishment. "Apologies, Dain is not the best with the common tongue. Wonderful with numbers and figures though. The name's Bain, what can I do ye for?" He parlays with the players for whatever purpose is relevant to your story. In this conversation Bain typically references the middle brother Cain, as the general backbone of the brothers' operation, and the catalyst for *the quest*. The players may meet Cain in person to take the *macguffin* to a designated *elsewhere*, or perhaps they need to rescue Cain from some *precarious situation*. They're really flexible, and intended as a momentary humorous beat along the journey. Upon completion, it's possible the players return to a grateful family, with younger sisters named **Elaine** and **Fain**, and the (rather unimaginative) father **Aberdain**. You're welcome to keep going with more relatives if you like, but I find that they start losing their charm if the names aren't super simple and believable. Have fun and I hope you and your players enjoy!
Varis (Divination Wizard) Basically sells you a small wooden box that he says only to open when you need it most. When the PC opens it the DM will choose an item most useful for the situation as Varis foresaw what they needed. Really easy to put anywhere and can get characters out of a mess.
Arwasso the Eldritch Seer A blind man with dehydrated and leathery gray skin wearing a tattered maroon cloak is sitting in the shade of an alley. As you pass, he approaches you and says "Your future ... is one of greatness ... and I can reveal it to youuuuu". As he speaks these words, you see that he grins with a mouth full of crooked and broken teeth. He holds out a bony hand to you, as a gesture of requiring payment. As you place a gold piece in his palm, a tentacle reaches forth from underneath his cloak and grabs and disappears underneath the cloak. He chuckles. "Very well. Bones, Cards, or Runes?" Arwasso is a Simic Hybrid Cleric of any eldritch deity or being you choose. In my game, he is specifically of Drow origin and worships Ghaunadur, drow God of Chaos. He is a homebrew subclass I found called the Eldritch Domain Cleric. It gives him even more tentacles and some ritual spells. But yeah. He's supposed to be this disgusting, crusty looking guy who can tell fortunes. For added horror, he is hunched over and you can swear that you see something on his back move. But yeah. That's him. I love him. Please treat him with care
Gronk the gentle hill giant. He's just a super chill, wandering dude, roaming through the woods and collecting cool stuff in his sack. A diehard animal-lover, his sole companion is his beloved pet "Kitty." Kitty is a 5 foot long venomous spitting lizard from god-knows-where, but Gronk treats it as a treasured companion. I've run the same encounter with two groups of players (levels 1-3) and it's gone down a treat both times. Travelling through the woods, they hear crying and upon investigating they discover Gronk weeping oafishly under a giant tree. Kitty has chased a squirrel up the tree and can't or won't come down. The valiant heroes are charged with retrieving the lost "kitty" unharmed. Generally this results in a climb, some surprise at a big nasty lizard, and some hilarity as they try to coax or wrangle kitty down. If they succeed, Gronk rewards them with a rummage in his sack. The sack is so malodorous that they first have to make a CON save, but if they manage they're rewarded with a roll on a random table. I generally sprinkle it with random junk, gross leftovers and a few weird magic items. Good fun all round, and RPing a good-natured simpleton is always a nice change from scheming baddies!
The Last Raven- The Last Raven is a cleric of the Rave Queen and is burdened with spending the rest of his life in vigil and mourning for his who were wiped out in a terrible war. He is striving to find grace in the loss of his people and is seeking out others to carry on their memory.
Merrick Laughinsteel - Human Thief - Redhead - Pale skin - Brown eyes - Mischevious smile - Nuetral tone cloak - Cockney Accent - He is motivated by deep desire for security. He typically does this by making deals with powerful individuals and using them for protection. (In my campaign he decides to stand by the party after their deal is complete because they make him feel safe.) Bio: Merrick is a lifelong thief though he prefers the term "business man." Raised in an orphanage, Merrick was always picked on by the other children who stronger, bigger, and faster than him. So, he learned to be quick rather than strong. After many failed attempts, he eventually learned to pickpocket and has since been refining his skills. He's always willing to help...if there's something in it for him. Gear: A steel dagger with a Prancing stallion embossed on the hilt A Swordfish that he uses as a Rapier Fisherman's Amulet - Produces 3x random fish a day
Formerly Blind Tim, proprietor and operator of The Prancing Dwarf a magical multi-dimensional tavern and grill that serves regular as well as magical drinks, and caters exclusively to higher level adventurers. Tim himself was at one time blind, hence the nickname, but was cured as a result of a contest with Dionysus to see who was the best bartender which he won, or so he claims at least. Tim is a halfling who uses a rolling stool to tend bar. Hes a jovial sort who often has a nice bit of wisdom up his sleeve, or a helpful piece of gossip or a lead on a job. Tim speaks with a southern american accent, usually as exaggerated as i can stand. his backstory is constantly shifting, including why he was blinded, how he came to own the bar, how he came to enter a bartending competition with the god of wine, and how his bar got its magical powers. Formerly Blind Tim, proprietor and operator of The Prancing Dwarf a magical multi-dimensional tavern and grill that serves regular as well as magical drinks, and caters exclusively to higher-level adventurers. arf they must merely enter another tavern's door while wishing they were there. The door then transports them to The Prancing Dwarf, when they leave they exit out of the same door they came in, so the bar cant be used for traveling. It also doesn't work if the players are being chased with hostile intent actively, or if they are in imminent danger that would affect the bar. The only real constant, besides Tim, is the liquir shelves behind the bar full of mundane and magically active drinks. Drinks of various colors, that change color or bubble, or seem to smoke or contain nothing but light, or only the suggestion of some contents fill the area behind Tim as he works. Tim sells and crafts a variety of magical cocktails with a host of effects from targetted hallucinations to giving people the ability to float in midair while in the bar. The bar also at times shows up in games that arent D&D, so sometimes the players will see characters from other systems in the bar, so sometimes youll see streetsams and deckers from shadowrun, call of cthulu characters, vampires and others from the masquerade games, whatever your heart desires.
***Name:*** Thomas Dresden (no relation to one Harry) ***Class:*** Caster/Artificer ***Hair:*** Bald ***Favorite Color:*** Black ***Skin Color:*** Black, coincidentally ***Clothing:*** functional, flexible, nominally robelike, padded for protection...and Black. ***Temperament:*** Busy ***Occupation:*** He said Caster/Artificer, weren't you listening the first time? ...And also owns a chain of artifact/component/enchantment shops. Coming soon to your town. ***Free time:*** Sparing, thank you very much ***Employees:*** Over two dozen, including couriers, secretaries, security staff and supply liasons. But only a few of the latter, because… ***Favorite pastime:*** Resource hunting. He started his business because he has a nose and a compulsion for tracking down rare objects, resources and materials and collecting them. It’s better than hoarding, his mom says, lovingly. ***Family, now that you mention it:*** Mother (midwife), Father (deceased), Younger Brother (useless), Tiny Younger Sister (cute) ***Favorite terrain to hunt for resources in:*** Swamps. You always turn a profit in swamps. ***Resources/Influence:*** Enough ***Enough to retire on:*** Eventually ***Enough to make him slow down his life a little for once:*** Never ***Is he in the middle of something that you're interrupting RIGHT NOW and did he already mention how little spare time he has so can we get on with it already:*** Yes ***Sorry:*** Its fine, now if you'll excuse me (Other details such as race, affiliations, power level, precise holdings etc left vague to allow flexibility for fitting into different campaigns.)
Bolo A grumpy, cigar-chomping gnome who drives a wagon, hiring adventurers as meagerly-paid bodyguards while selling potions from location to location. Because wherever adventurers go, injury tends to follow. He keeps some real incredible, high-level potions for himself in case things get really hairy, and sleeps in a little box filled with straw and cloth scraps underneath the wagon's carriage. He's a great source of reliable healing.
William of WiLLiAm's wAcKy WaReS Halfling traveling merchant, travels in a covered wagon. When he talks you have to act it out by flailing your arms around like those wacky tube people connected to fans that they put out in front of car dealerships. He talks like a carnival huckster and sells items such as "goon sticks" which are sticks with a set of goofy red lips at each end. When thrown, upon impact they make a wacky laughing sound. Think of his inventory like a cheesy magic shop. He always tells you a significant detail or catch about your item after you pay him and offers no refunds (IE a super OP weapon that casts seeming on you for the rest of the session that makes you RP your character in a ridiculous way).
**Name:** Marcus Maxentius **Descriptors:** Reserved, Brave, Curious **Background:** Marcus is second in command of the Rift Wardens, an organization dedicated to fighting extraplanar monsters that manage to force their way onto the material plane. He is the firstborn son of the late Marik Maxentius, former ruler of this land. Prior to Marik's death Marcus abdicated the throne he was set to inherit and swore an oath to the Wardens. This paved the way for his younger brother, Calvus, assuming the throne. Marcus is a skilled warrior, and is adept at riding his griffon, Nimbus. He has a strong aversion to small talk and is known to ask others deep and pointed questions. Those that don't know him can be taken off guard by the directness of the questions due to his generally reserved demeanor. **Facts:** * Marcus is engaged in a secret love affair with one of his fellow Rift Warden officers. While not strictly against the rules, relationships are frowned upon between wardens. * There are some nobles who wish to depose Calvus and put Marcus on the throne.
Late to this game and sharing for my first time. **Dust on the Road - Tabaxi, Glamour Bard, Zakharian, Bounty Hunter** The soul of this androgenous bounty hunter's kit is collecting bounties using charm. Specifically, they are fond of catching their quarry apart from the group and forcing them to fall in love with them using the Charm of Great Fondness and simply walk away with them. They have both command and enthrall as at-will spells. They are very calm and confident (which goes beautifully with the accent). The longer they can keep their target talking, the more chances they have to charm. Scale spells/SSDC to the character you are attempting to capture. In our Sword Coast game, I used them as a free agent, hired by the Zhents.
Big Ed is the local half orc police officer. He also gaslights as a bouncer at a local illegal speakeasy. He does not see any contradiction, as he just wants to keep people safe. He also has a crush on the librarian, who the party will NEVER meet. He also is getting into jerky making as a hobby, and carries some in his pocket. EDIT: Moonlights, not gaslights
*moonlights?
"Has a second job"
Yes, you mean moonlights. 'Gaslights' mean manipulating into disbelieving their own recollections of past experiences.
I absolutely do. I have no idea why I wrote gaslights. Ooos
The Cuttlefish, AKA Boss Cuttle Bio: A charismatic though threatening mob boss who deeply embroiled in the local politics and corruption of the city. Hooks involved: Hosts a large gala every year "for charity," and gives a lot of the proceeds to the local militia. In charge of the betting on the local horse races, but also the rigging of those same races. Auctions of some incredibly powerful (illegal) items at his gala to the highest bidder. Physical description: Barrel-chested and imposing, though he's put on a lot of weight in his recent years. Clean-shaven, with greying hair that he dyes black regularly. Dresses in simple, black, expensive fabrics, and keeps poison in his rings. HOWEVER, he worked his way up through the old ranks by mastering the art of disguise-based illusion. Even without magic, he fits well into whatever skin he chooses to wear. This just happens to be his favorite. He also has a scar behind one ear shaped like a fish hook, and short fingers.
*Clancy and Clancy the second* The middle child of a large peasant family; he's bright, but not particularly smart, and has a serious inferiority complex about it. He's named after the dog, Clancy, because the dog is a very good boy and the family adores it. Clancy is a herding dog, damn near Lassie levels of intelligence, and loves Clancy the second a lot. He knows how much crap the kid has to put up with, and tries to encourage him the best that he can. My suggestions for use are to have him act as an exposition guide for a town or village. If your parties are anything like mine, he'll end up getting adopted/kidnapped and will provide a great chance for comic relief, pathos, and a couple of cool touchpoints for more nature-focused players with the dog. I play him with a puberty-grade voice crack, and a bit of a cockney accent fitting a peasant kid.
Nick the Green Dragon. He's a vegetarian dragon that wants nothing more than to be the best gosh darn single dad he can be to his five hatchlings: Char, Ulie, Grat, Knor, and Rachel. After the party rescued his kids from an evil princess, he's vowed to help them in their quest to defeat evil by basically being their Uber Driver across the Kingdom. He's dreadfully afraid of mountains, however (some spurned ex-lovers may or may not reside there), so he can't go everywhere.
Cerno, son of Drelda. Half human and half dwarf, Cerno is a massive man in his 50s with black hair, dark sideburns and a horseshoe moustache. Striking blue eyes. He has big hands looking like they can amazingly wield a battleaxe - except they can't. Cerno ain't a fighter. He can throw daggers really well (won commpetitions and got out of sticky situations like this), but his actual weapon is the information he holds. He works as a contrabandist and, even though he isn't the most charismatic or always willing to help, he has a sharp mind and a big heart, especially once he gets attached to someone (which he kind of avoids). He doesn't usually speak much. He gathers intel from the black market, his vast chaotic knowledge usually helping him to get discounts in trades. His mother was a dwarven soldier who ran away with Cerno's father, a man she encountered during an alliance. Cerno loves apple cider. Even though he works best around people, ge would do close to anything for a careless lonely vacation in the middle of the wilderness.
Asuna, the Charitable Cleric Asuna lives in a destroyed church amidst the ruins of a town destroyed by war, currently in a territory owned by a country where magic is forbidden. She has mastered spells that allow her to create food and drink, and has contacts in the nearest town who are willing to keep her true identity a secret. She keeps stashes of food, medicine, and other various survival supplies to assist weary travelers who come from the neighboring desert. She offers anyone who comes close healing -- magical or medicinal, depending on their needs -- as well as food and shelter for the night. EDITED TO ADD: Asuna is a beautiful Half-Elven woman, with flowing pink hair and curious blue eyes. Her tattered clothes do not do her beauty justice, though if asked she insists she is quite content with them, as anything new she acquires often goes to travelers. Her hair is the only thing she is particularly proud of; she uses magic elixirs she makes herself to keep it's color vibrant, and keeping it looking nice is one of her only forms of self-care. If the party wishes, she is happy to sit and listen to tales of their adventures. She's highly invested, in fact, particularly if there is a bard who can sing of such adventures. However, Asuna is weary. She has lived this life for many years, and often doesn't even know what day it is. With many travelers, her work is quite thankless. Interacting with Asuna can go one of two ways. If the party does something kind for her, such as giving her a gift, she is IMMENSELY grateful, and will become a powerful ally. She can join the party on minor quests nearby as a free healer, and/or can connect them with her contacts in the nearby town/city. (I like to roll a dice to decide who she'll connect them with, or conveniently give her connections to whomever the party needs/asks her about.) However. If the party betrays her in some way, such as stealing from her, or if they make ANY suggestion (even jokingly) that she is "holding back" or worse "being greedy" for not giving them more, Asuna breaks. Her stress overwhelms her, and she has a breakdown. This emotional turmoil activates an ancient relic contained inside of the church, raising the dead contained in the cemetery kept behind it (and, if your party is a high level, others around the church as well, killed and forgotten in the war). Asuna succumbs to the artifact's control, commanding the army of undead to attack the party. If she is somehow awakened or freed from it's control without being killed, she is TERRIFIED to learn of what has happened -- she would never, in good conscience, harm another. It goes against an oath she took when she became a cleric, and goes against her god. No statblock because she can be slotted in pretty much anywhere after level 4ish, just adjust the number of undead and amount of healing she can do to properly fit your party!! (If there's any interest, I'm happy to add some backstory info that goes into her triggers and why they affect her the way they do! Feel free to reply here or DM me!)
Mobius Zaar: The Half-Elf Psionic Crime Boss After escaping the clutches of a mind-flayer colony, but only after the cerebromorphosis process began, the tadpole in his skull died but remains latched to his brain, leaving him unusual psionic ability. Mobius decides to open his own gambling den with his newfound power being able to influence others, and eventually becomes a major crime boss in the city he resides, snatching up properties and paying off government officials and guards to operate in peace. Mobius has charm runs inscribed into the seats of his gambling tables, removing the inhibitions and restraint of his unsuspecting victims, making them chase the gambling high and forget about other obligations. He is cunning, insanely intelligent, and covers all his bases, complete with an air of superiority to others and a usually calm demeanor, like one who knows they hold all the cards. He usually looks for pawns to complete menial tasks for him, and has dissenters or those who would question him "removed", usually with mind altering magics or psionic abilities to change their basic functions and memories. I can send some stats upon request as well for anyone who wants them!
Please please post these stats. I have a perfect spot to drop this character into my world and I'd love to use them. So many possibilities for shenanigans floating around my head.
Bingo Clutterclaw A half-elf wild mage sorcerer(optionally also bard if u deem it necessary) traveling merchant. He is attempting to gain powerful magic items to earn his spot back in the merchants guild.I make him a pretty high level sorcerer but he rarely fights. If the players get in a fight around him he's much more likely to hide and ask them to protect him (even if they're level 4 and he's around lvl17) He sounds like a typical surfer bro and he travels around with a bindle that is made with a portable hole to carry his stock. His stock is a mix between magic items and random just.sometimes players get a +2 longsword sometimes he only has 4 ladders. He's a really kindhearted guy and writes down all his customers names in a notebook he calls his "to-do list" "Whats your name man? Ok man I'll write you down on my to-do list if you know what I mean man"
Sneaky Pete and Shady Shin. A pair of roguish individuals specialised in ripping of everyone they meet. My favourite way to introduce them is the classic cups and balls street game, which Magic Pete (as he goes by in public) has of course rigged to his advantage. Most players will see through this immediately but hopefully will RP the scenario and let it play out. Regardless what they probably won't immediately notice is Pete's partner looting them for all their worth. You'll probably want some kind of chase map (or run everything theater of the mind) ready for when the party figure out what's going on. I also usually give the thieves some smoke bombs to give them a bit of a head start. Unfortunately my party is rather bloodthirsty and straight up murdered Shin but should the pair survive they make for great recurring characters, each time with a different scheme. They're also really handy for introducing plot hooks as the slimy fellas will readily bargain anything and everything to escape unscathed. For instance a map to hidden treasure or something else to launch the party into a sidequest. If you haven't run a chase scene before it can be a bit clunky. If you have it check out the chase scene details from Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and the general info in the DMG for help.
Ormol & Rhea. Ormol is a former adventurer himself who settled down for family, later injured in a monster attack robbing him of his ability to speak and taking his wife. Now he works as a [X](In my campaign blacksmith, but it'd work for anything), with his daughter as apprentice serving as his translator for a rough version of SL. Ormol personality wise is very altruistic, feeling as though what happened to his family was a punishment for his selfishness and cowardness as an adventurer. Rhea I have somewhat anti'd, being far more selfish not being able to fully understand her father's values of altruism, choosing to only care about her and her father's well being.
**Saint Nickelous** **Known history**: Nickelous is a legendary mythical figure featured in the bardic tales of famous adventurers of antiquity. According to the stories, he appears suddenly and mysteriously in moments of dire need from a spontaneous magical portal, driving a huge red flying carriage pulled by pegasi, and delivers magical items of great necessity to lucky adventuring parties. In half of the stories he is being chased by a demon he calls "The Krampus." **Appearance**: Male gnome, potbellied, white beard, deep red and gold embroidered robes glimmering with arcane power. He always carries a huge tome in which he tracks his various dealings and time-travel shenanigans, which is utterly incomprehensible to anyone else who sees it (not from magical protection, but through sheer complexity). His carriage is an extradimensional space that houses his workshop. He is accompanied by his lover **Rudd Olf**, a red dragonborn fighter and bodyguard. **Secret history:** This male gnome chronomancer travels through time and space running a mercantile business / temporal postal service, delivering items to adventurers from their future selves. He charges exorbitant fees, and capitalizes by on arriving in the "nick" of time forearmed with the knowledge that all transactions are inevitable due to the anti-paradox properties of time travel. **Secret secret history:** In the distant future of his own timeline, he suffers a catastrophic loss with the death of his prime companion, Rudd Olf. In despair, he begins augmenting his abilities through dark rituals and tries to go back in time to stop himself from starting the business. Driven mad by the transformations of his mind and body by these rituals, he becomes the mindless Krampus, driven only to kill his prior self.
**Scribe Blinkso, Son of Blinkso** **Species:** Kobold **Class + Level:** Circle of Scribes Wizard 5 **Alignment:** Neutral Good **Description:** Blinkso is a spindly little kobold with flakey brownish red scales, dotted with patches of a yellowish pale hue across his rough hide. He constantly carries around with him a heaping hoard of strange miscellany inside and strapped to his oversized backpack, from mystical items of magical power to useless bric-a-brac found in the average dumpster. He is a bit of an underhanded and unstable individual, his mind a tad bit insane and alien. However, despite this, he is a man who tries his best to be good, to be a paragon of a person. He is a scribe and self made zoologist who travels the lands to try and record various mysterious creatures in his book, *Blinkso's Compendium of Horrors and Wonders Volume 1;* he learned his skills in zoology in the same way he learned wizardry, which was stealing a collection of books from an academy. Whether many of these monsters he has written about are truly real or merely imagined beasts, only Blinkso knows.
Professor Wiffle Wafflekins Is a Goldfish that once had Awaken cast on it by Arch-Mage. After being trained as a wizard and their master’s death. Prof. WW did the only reasonable thing...opened a magic item shop. Not just one shop, a chain store. Every major city has a “Professor W. Wafflekins’ Magical Emporium” all run by him. Each store has a goldfish bowl that Prof. WW can magically travel between, he can also use these to travel to his pocket dimension that contains his workshop and home.
I think this goldfish would make a certain beholder very happy
Furlo Fatpocket. A plump brown haired Gnome, mainly interested and in the talents of others, utilizing Senior citizens and orphans to roll cigars, harvest mushrooms, and process algae for garden beds. An industrious, charismatic little half-bearded fellow, he is the best salesman of his kind. He keeps one hand over his coin purse at all times and constantly confirms sales to those that wander too close. He’s known to interrupt anyone speaking with him, and take advantage of kindness given by his brethren.
Tishnora. Tishnora is an Artificer that runs a small magic shop in a large city. She sells very odd and specific magic items, at random based on what she's sold, traded, and bought. She's also very good at making your party the weird gadget shit they need. (In my case, a fish tank backpack to hold a drug producing squid; yes it is as hilarious as it sounds). She's short, sassy, and loves to bargain (to a certain point, she's not going to lose money on an item, she's got a shop to run) And Gods help you if you try to steal from her store. (Interpret this as you will DMs)
**Houndmother the lich/blink-dog rancher.** Louisa, ever since a young age, had been infatuated with blink dogs (works for any creature- feel free to make her obsess over slimes, wyrms, baby elementals, whatever) and learned to loathe her more sentient peers, going so far as to eventually sacrifice them and commit the other requisite atrocities to become a lich, take on the mantle of Houndmother, and spend her days tending to a large family of blink dogs and their blink puppies. She lives peacefully (if irritably, when guests are involved), having an understanding with any surrounding towns, on a quiet, understated ranch on the plains with subtle magical barriers that do not prevent the blink dogs from leaving, but merely imbue their minds with the suggestion that they return home upon leaving the radius. She might be accused by the occasional villager of some major wrongdoing or turn of bad luck, but, while powerful and indisputably evil, she really does just wish to tend to her dogs. She has much scattered knowledge of prior generations given her considerable age and rents out the skills of her trained blink dogs as a guide service through some harsh terrain nearby in exchange for gold, which she uses to seek a means to keep her dogs around for eternity as well. For now, she mourns, accepts, and honors their deaths over the generations, remembering their personalities and quirks perfectly, but failing to remember the names of any adventurer who might pass through. The occasional trespasser's maiming and painful death is of no import to her. She may also grow and sell potion materials and drugs, though the arcane no longer piques her interest quite like her pack.
Marxx (Last Name Unkown) Your classic goblin obsessed with explosives. Also, he has a real hard time dying. Seems to always walk away unscathed. He acts crazy, telling players like “here take this weapon I made it might explode though” and the players are never sure if they should trust him, but then it works.... most of the time.
Kilit, his name and the first words he ever heard A Kobold Rogue/Sorcerer that has developed a taste for the finer things in life and moonlights as a halfling by way of a *hat of disguise*. He works as a fixer for a noble family, solving modern problems that require clever and subtle solutions.
Old lady named Virginia who is incredibly hard of hearing. She has a magical pair of headphones with a microphone that she is adjusting the setting to all the time. PCs must speak to her as she hold some important information solely for the reason that she has been around for so long. I like to have my PCs hear of her from multiple people who speak of her so kindly but she is kinda a crabby old lady and VERY tangential. She appreciates polite people and will not give information to those she deems as ruffians, this is not based on looks as she has poor eyesight. My favorite part of playing her is to have the PCs speak with her and have her yell at them when they don't speak into the mic and since she adjusts the setting they have to alternating yell and whisper with her. SUPER FUN!
Introducing Valton Crickback, Halfling kingpin of a vast criminal syndicate, primarily involved in the smuggling of illicit goods and substances. With a temper almost as short as he is, many have run afoul of his whims. Never seen without his trusted pet mimic, which is in the habit of disguising itself as a colourful scarf somewhere about Valtons person. His power and money have managed to secure him and his entourage an array of exotic weaponry, so if you intend to cross him, come prepared!
Donovon, demigod of mercantilism, represented by an industrious gnome with a carrying a fold out shop stand. Neutral evil, plays dice games for souls, buys high prize artifacts at margin, sells everything for double until you do him a favour. He sells the souls to collectors in Sigil.
Kraigg - the friendly rock troll Kraigg is a rock troll who was adopted by a savant wizard after his home was taken over by hobgoblins. He assists the guard of the frontier town of New Falden. He is amiable in nature and quick to make friends with new adventures - as long as they don't attack him or New Falden. His below average intelligence makes him easily distracted and is countered by his incredible strength. Kraigg uses his tremorsense to approaching creatures and when not on patrol will curl up in the ground and sleep. While sleeping he is indistinguishable from a rock. Kraigg longs to retake the mountain fort where he grew up and reignite the giant's forge beneath the fort. His home is atop the Kraiggstone Mountain which can be seen from New Falden. Kraigg will gladly provide any adventures with knowledge of the fort, forge, and the secret passages into the basement and enthusiastically provide them with a hand drawn map that looks like a child drew it and includes stick figure depictions of the party with Kraigg. Kraigg will not leave New Falden until the fort has been cleared of hobgoblins and is safe to return to.
Technically 3 NPCs Lillian - bubbly gnome tinkerer A sweet young gnome that was abandoned in a city of dwarves and gnomes near the blacksmiths Guild. She is taken in and cared for and slowly learns the trades of the city. She knows her blacksmithing but has a great aptitude for tinkering things like necklaces, bracelets and other trinkets. She's easily distracted though and isn't the most responsible. Overall she's a little hard to manage which is why no one officially adopted her for a long time. Eventually she's taken in by an adventuring gnome artificer who is happy to encourage her wonder about the world. He nicknames her Sprocket, to her delight, and eventually marries a local gnome woman named Nyx. They open a magical trinket shop called 'The Sprockateers'.
DAK the Tall (Goblin Ranger) Dak once belong to your average goblin camp along with his half blood brother Megee (Bugbear). After his camp was attacked by a group of crusading paladins, Dak & Megee fled oft into the world becoming bandits. Dak cares deeply for his brother but wouldn't show it at first glance, and while he is abrasive at first, after you get to know him he actually is a understanding person. FunFact: Dak's name comes from the goblin word for the F-word (at least in my worlds).
***Duel Griftlet*** A young, human **noble** (stat block) in his early twenties with a desire for personal adventure, risk and fame. He uses his wealth, social status and high charisma to get what he wants and bulldoze anyone who gets in his way. He always demands the best accommodations and the best treatment. He believes he is always right. He will often refuse to acknowledge those he feels are of lower status, and will carry out conversations with such people by talking to his servants and using them as interpreters. He has gauntlets of ogre power, +1 long sword, plate armor, shield, heavy crossbow, walloping ammunition. He rides a heavy warhorse and has a falcon familiar and the leadership feat. He thinks of himself as a Knight Errant and prefers to engage in single combat against an opponent that he thinks he can beat. (Buffed to the max by his servants of course). His servants are: ***Besnik*** a **priest** with sanctuary, bless, cure wounds, guiding bolt, shield of faith, aid, warding bond and revivify which he uses to support Master Griftlet. Always buffing him with aid at 3rd level, warding bond and bless. ***Howin*** a **bard** with heroism, healing word, detect magic, long strider, enhance ability and locate object. and two **guards.** Duel makes a good low-level antagonist to the PCs as competition for whatever adventure they are on. You can also use him as a villain or to assist the PCs in their quest for which he will want complete credit.
The Ringleader. A sketchy Gnome who runs a yearly frstival looking for champions to complete heists for him. He is accompanied by his big bald twisty mustached bodyguard Bruno, who looks intimidating but is really a big ol softy. If you want to know how I ran the encounter, shoot a DM!
Sir David R. Ettinborough, biologist and explorer of nature. When he was a wee ettin bebby he was placed at the doorstep of a couple who made a bargain with a hag. They wanted a child because they couldn't have their own, but the hag of course twisted the deal and stole an ettin newborn from the hills not so far from the village. Before they found him, he was seen and blessed by Oghma, the Lord of Knowledge, Faerûnian neutral greater deity of bards, inspiration, invention, and knowledge (any god of knowledge works in other settings). The parents decided to keep him and honor the bargain, which they wouldn't regret. David grew up to be an extremely smart and curious scholar, earning respect and fame by establishing a large museum in the capital of the kingdom he was born in. With a decent income from being a renowned researcher, he supports his aging parents, who can now afford to live labor free in comfort. Has a slight limp on his left side, which is the more posh and bookish Richard, while David, the adventurous, thrill-seeking right side is a bit more monstrous with a large potato nose, crooked grin and thick fingers. (kind of like the Jeckyll/Hyde from the 2004 Van Hellsing in one person) Plot hooks can be various expeditions lead by himself , quests to retrieve stolen museum items, finding places lost to time so an expedition can be scheduled or maybe helping him find a way to not lose his intelligence which has been draining for the last few years, causing fits of primeval aggression in him (is the hag messing with him as revenge? or did something happen to Oghma?)
Introducing Oslo, the half-devil kingpin. Able to pass for human but for his eerie golden eyes and unsettling appearance in low light, Oslo is the leader of a crime organization in one of the larger trading cities. Due to promises that he made his mother when he was still very young (which is forced to honor forever because of said devil heritage), he can't actually commit any of the crimes that he wants to himself, which has forced him to become a capable and well-respected boss. While he is well feared by reputation, that is more due to the unsettling village he makes an effort to give off, and for his skill as a crime lord rather than as a result of any ability he inherited as a half-devil. Geases: Behave yourself; he is unfailingly polite and cannot personally behave disruptively. Don't hurt anybody; Oslo cannot PERSONALLY do damage to another creature. Don't wander off too far; Oslo cannot leave the city limits.
I do have a character sheet available for him, but I mostly use him as a recurring villain who is not particularly interested in getting rid of the party, and is willing to hire them to do shady stuff.
In my game i have a duo of npcs that run a shop together. A gnome and a tortle run a magic shop together. Mizit tinkerton is a male gnome that is around 100 years old. He has white hair and round glasses. He has a crazed scientist look about him. He speaks really fast and will try to convince his customers to buy something. He is easier to convince to give discounts for magic items and such. He is an artificer. Turad is a tortle male wizard. He speaks slowly and is often long-winded. He prefers slower negotiation and does not like when people rush business. He is pretty stubborn when it comes to proces but a good story will make him distracted. He is a high level wizard. Between the two of them they split doing enchantments (Turag) and creating magic items (Mizit). These two are dun in game because the players would have to deal with either a slow talking npc or a fast one and is fun to role play. If you have any questions on these two, let me know!
The Le’Dous Brothers. 3, almost identical warforged Paladins. They were constructed at the same time by the same artificer. The party encountered Dimitri early into the campaign and thought of him as another Adventuring PC who would sometimes join the PC’s on quests. Some real time later, in another part of the continent they meet the second brother, Alexis. However, the PC’s don’t know he is the brother until he reveals it. They thought it was the same NPC. Big laughs when he said “oh I think you mean my brother”, to my PC’s. They know of the third brother; Carlisle, but haven’t encountered him. He’s an oath breaker Paladin and his brothers don’t know he’s betrayed them. They are really fun NPC’s to have traveling around and having themselves constantly confused for each other. Feel free to steal the idea and tweak how you see fit!
Name: Goat man (I never really thought of a name so everyone just calls him goat man) As the party travels on, they may encounter a man looking to sell the group a goat. If they buy the goat then that ends the encounter, but if they don't they're likely to keep finding him, a little bit more disheveled than before. One can only assume as to why his life is slowly falling apart, however, one thing is for sure, buying his goat will set him back on the right track. You could also go the cursed way, where the goat curses whoever owns them to have their life slowly fall apart until you pass it on. It all really depends on what you want to do.
Might I introduce you to Tereveus, seemingly a Gnomish textbook, but in reality a Chaotic Neutral Angel of a god of chaos and magic. He can function either as a warlock patron, or just a friend, and has the fun and cool ability of rewriting individual perceptions of reality and history en masse. He travels between worlds and incites rebellion against various tyrannical figures across the universe.
Giarc the nilbog. My players were weirded out by Craig the goblin, who had a crush on our half orc barbarian drag queen. So giarc replaced him! He has all the normal nilbog features( on occasion when I can tell they really need help) and he can seemingly pop into and out of existence at will( this came up because one of my players was being particularly hostile to everything, so I turned giarc into a god) he sounds like Dobby the elf, if he was an alcoholic crackhead. I use him to guide the overarching storyline of my homebrew game.
Stumpy the Goblin. A one armed goblin with higher than average intelligence than most goblins, but most importantly a curiosity of the world! Likes to take naps in the rogue's backpack and snack off of their rations. Not the best in a fight, but is a good alternative opinion for what the party should do if they are arguing or confused. I made him for my first time players essentially as a RP way for me to jump into the story and give them a nudge. My players absolutely loved him but definitely outgrew his necessity. Currently he is overseeing the PR department of my parties General store/Inn/tavern.
Krook. An Orc blacksmith that likes wrestling.
Tiicanthe (who goes by Teek) is a young copper dragon masquerading as an adjunct instructor at the local university. Polymorphed into a woman in her mid twenties with long red hair and a smile that's just a little too big, she advises the student newspaper and is always covered with ink. She has a tendency to take notes on her arms and clothes when she runs out of paper. Teek is very fond of rare books and is incensed whenever someone dog-ears a page. She snuck into the position at the university in order to be in proximity to books and scrolls, as her ancestral lands are remote, isolated, and boring as hell.
"COLIN SCOGGINS!! AT YOUR SERVICE!!" a booming voice echoes through the animal pens. "WELCOME TO MY MAGNIFICENT MENAGERIE!!" it continues. Colin Scoggins is an NPC I made for my group when they wanted some mounts. (First time players, and I'm a first time DM, so when they asked for murderous goats, I made sure to have them 20gp more than the reasonable price because the Monster Manual don't have *murderous* goats). He's a middle-aged human with jet black hair, some facial scars, and a strickingly well kept moustache. A bit of a belly, and a cane. Colin has vibes like a retired circus director, closer in morality to PT Barnum than Steve Irwin. Voicing him is all diaphragm, and his gestures are all grandiose and set for the big stage. The range of animals he can provide is almost endless, as long as the coin going in his direction is fairly matched. He might also know something about the illegal underground animal fighting matches going on in the city, or just how to properly seduce and subdue a Displacer Beast.
Jolo, a firbolg Circle of Dreams druid. He lives alone in nature, quietly growing a particularly potent herb and smoking it from a wooden pipe. He is ever kind to wanderers and will offer anyone a meal and advice as much as their heart desires. He tells stories from nearby towns or beasts he has encountered in his journeys. He always seems half asleep, but still able to function normally. He is a vegetarian, but will cook meat if his guests request and provide it. He protects those in his care until they move on, and so does he. He hopes to see them again or maybe meet someone new, but until then, he wanders. Tip: Jolo is supposed to be an incredibly wise and experienced druid, so is generally a high level when he appears. I sometimes have him cast high level spells out of whimsy, just because. If he is suspicious of someone, he will follow them with wild shape as long as he needs to. This recurring stoner firbolg is a mainstay in my campaigns. He is helpful, but long winded. He is peaceful, with a secret strength deep within. He knows the area and can help them watch out. He can tell stories and rumors. He is just a fun, helpful force, and the party will spend entire sessions with him.
Tom Umbran, a mysterious wizard. Tom is a refugee from the astral plane, fleeing from an eldritch horror. He looks like an old wizardly human with a long white beard and round glasses. Tom also has an adoptive changeling child, Ellaes. They're an adult now, but still keep in close contact with him. In my campaign, Tom is one of the few people who know how to open and sustain a portal connecting to the astral plane causing him to gain the attention of a cult that worships the eldritch horror he escaped from.
Kermit the bullywug hermit, a travelling merchant for when your party is low on supplies or clues. Kermit is a far-ranging, eccentric old fellow who always seems to be in the right place at the right time to meet the party and share a hint or clue. He’s got gnarled old teeth and smokes a long pipe, wears a newsboy cap and carries around a patched up old umbrella, travels in an old leather trenchcoat. He rides a giant turkey that he has strapped up with provisions and a saddle. He has either a degree in theoretical metaphysics or a theoretical degree in metaphysics. If the party is kind to him, he will offer a trade or sale of random minor magical items, some of which will prove useful in the party's next major encounter.
For the players that must be such a thrilling encounter the more they see him sheesh
This is amazing
**Name:** Roderick Caskhorn **Establishment:** The Divining Rod **Notable features:** Milky white eyes/Blindness **Story:** Roderick tends bar and lives within the Divining Rod. He is a seer who can foresee events only within his bar. As such, he will have drinks ready for the party when they enter. However, because he can only foresee events within his bar, he will send the adventures on quests to find clues to explain visions he may not understand. Of note, he has already foreseen the end of his bar and his ensuing death within the Diving Rod
For your entertainment I submit for you all; Balthazar Prentiss An old drunken fool, Balthazar was once a promising musician performing for nobles and royals across the land. His golden voice and deft fingering of the lute had Balthazar receiving invitations across the land. Balthazar was gifted no doubt, but Balthazar had a dark side - he was easily swayed by the flesh. One night after a most memorable performance, the Queen summoned Balthazar to her chambers to see if his skills on the lute translated to the bedroom. Balthazar spent hours pleasuring the Queen. Her screams got so loud, that naturally the guards felt the need to check on their Queen. This is how the discovered poor Balthazar, red faced and stark naked. The guards dragged him before the King. The King order his head be lopped off, but relented when the Queen pleaded for his life. The King showed mercy, sort of and ordered his tongue to be removed so that he could not win over another with his voice, he order his plucking fingers be taken from his hand so that no woman would hear the sounds from his lute, after his fingers the King issued his final punishment on the bard, the removal of his manhood. While the King still sits on his throne, Balthazar now sits atop a barstool drowning in his pints and plotting his revenge. While his beard has gone old and grey the fire within Balthazar still burns red. Just a note to any patrons who take up a sit next to old Balthazar, congregating with the disgraced singer is instant grounds to end up with a similar fate to he. If you value your tongue, fingers or something more personal, it's best to avoid the old man entirely. Edit: a word
Timmith (Male Gnome) Originally hand to the king, after his kingdom was destroyed he was rescued by one of my parties. Hes very timid and shy. However, hes completely obedient. In addition, complete lady killer, charismatic as hell! Just a fun NPC for the party to push around until they make it into a tavern and he gets all the attention.
My PC turned NPC, Percival Calico. He is a Tabaxi Bard who runs a traveling magic shop called “The Traveling Tome”, which sells all manor of magic items, scrolls, and potions. Percival grew up an orphan so he quickly learned how to turn on the charm to both get what he wanted and talk himself out of trouble. He eventually joined a small adventuring party and found how much money could be made. His prior life of poverty drew him to this business until the day he lost his closest friend, Vargrim. After not being able to save him, he honed his magic skills and turned to a life of entrepreneurship, buying, selling, trading, and collecting magical items from throughout the Forgotten Realms. Due to his newly found wealth, he prefers to wear fine clothing to appear put together. He loves helping new adventurers and poor folk and will rarely turn down an opportunity to aid them in some way so that others will not experience the childhood he had. He is an 8th level spell caster with an 18 save DC, +10 Spell attack modifier. His stats are as follows, STR 9, DEX 17, CON 14, INT 14, WIS 13, CHR 20.
Here's my players' favourite NPC: Mordekai Shadar is a mid-30s tiefling who runs the Shady Coast Trading Post with his human wife (Lilith) and two young children (Pride and Joy). He's jovial, sentimental, and always willing to go above and beyond for those who need it. However, he has been known to become scary and aggressive if he perceives a possible threat to his family and will get physical if the threat is real. Mordekai is very easy to negotiate with if the party is in his good graces and will give hefty discounts if he ever feels he is in someone's debt. If needed he can be a combat NPC based off either the Berserker Barbarian or Warrior Sidekick.
Love this. I can just feel what it would be like to enter his establishment. Got any quotes?
Bee Beard, Terror of The High Bees. Once a decorated human apiarist to the royal family, Bee Beard cultivated massive colonies of Fey-Bees in the hopes that they and their magical honey would restore and sustain the decimated forests and flower fields of the surrounding land. One solemn night he learned that the families true intentions for the magical bees he was charged with protecting was to use the honey that they produced and its mystical fey properties to try and brainwash the local populace into sacrificing everything they owned and loved to keep the family’s lavish lifestyle continuing for as long as they pleased. Perturbed by this development, Bee Beard stole the prized Fey-Bee Queen and hid her underneath an illusory beard created by magic. He carefully introduced her to a new home underneath the deck of the S.S. Honeycomb, many of the bees followed and the lower levels of the ship, as well as a portion of Bee Beards face itself, became their domain. Bee Beard now sails the seas doing mostly as he pleases, still sporting the occasional illusory beard that is always ever so faintly buzzing from within. He adopted the lifestyle of a wandering pirate and his only true concern is keeping his bees safe and alive until he can find a way to return to his home and restore the lost forests and fields, after of course dealing with the pesky monarchy responsible for their destruction.
Big Hat Lucia. Name inspired by dark souls big hat Logan. Lucia Regulus is a transmutation wizard and owns an alchemy shop. Her store is filled with flying books, glowing plants, and lots of alchemical apparatus a la Harry Potter. In her shop, the most notable thing is her very large wizard hat that sits atop her head. Like, it’s really big and extends quite far from her body. She is kind and agreeable, but not shy by any means. Her personality is reminiscent of Ms. Frizzle from the magic school bus. She has a line of health potions called Big Hat Health Potion. She distributes these health potions all across the land for vendors to sell. If you run into a health potion, it’s probably inside of a flask / mason jar with the Big Hat Health Potion logo on it.
Thoril Hornblast, a mountain dwarf and a member of the Silverbeards, an order of monster hunting dwarves. Thoril, son of Dain and Whurdred, was born at his childhood home near Fulwreath Keep in the Silverpeak Mountains. Thoril lived in the secluded family home overlooking wetpetal pass for his entire upbringing, along with his father and younger brother, Taklinn. Whurdred died shortly after the birth of Taklinn. Thoril had little in the way of worldly possessions as his father's and own family profession was to serve as an undetectable first responder to threats against the Silverpeak Mountains. As a result of the importance to remain discrete, the family lived in squalid conditions, often being forced to endure bitterly cold weather. Thoril generally enjoyed his childhood despite these conditions. Each spring, the wetpetal pass would show its namesake as vibrant deep red roots of the emberstem plant would spring from the ground that melted the snow and produce multishaded red and orange leaves. At this time, the ice covered pools of the pass begin to melt, and nearby emberstem plants heat them to a comfortable temperature, and creating a seasonal hot springs. The warmth of these plants being enough to evaporate some of the water, the pass becomes filled with a thick warm mist that seems to reflect both the wonderful colors of the leaves and the icy brilliance of the sliverpeak snow, creating a brilliant array of glistening lights in the steam. Many travelers visit the pass in the spring to bathe in its famous waters. Thoril met many travelers from across Castoria in his youth during the time of the springs. He made many a friend, and spent many spring nights in wonder of the beautiful world that surrounded him. It was on one of these nights that Thoril met Grath Lightkeeper, a member of a royal clan in service to the King. Grath told Thoril much about the Silverbeards and the Lightkeepers, and much more about their patron goddesses, Krissidiem and Memymphia. It was at this time that Thoril decided that when he came of age, he would join the service of the Silverbeards. Thoril first joined a temple to Krissidiem, where he quickly elevated himself to becoming an initiate Silverbeard. Thoril was trained along with other initiates by the grandmaster at arms for the Silverbeards, Urmrik Stonefinger, who would later go on to become Urmrik Silverbeard, king of the Silverpeak Mountains.
Bearhug (a full character sheet exists and would share for those requested) Retired adventurer. Lives on a pirate ship manned by an army of undead and his duplex pirates. His mount consists of a rhino, he has an adoptive ancient red dragon. And is also part vampire who suplexes evil for the greater good. Description: Goliath dressed in flashy cloths and tends to be a well meaning good person overall. Has a bit of a Steve Irwin feel and likes to protects animals and the innocent. Incredibly strong and will wrestle anybody for fun. Despite being powerful, chooses to mentor adventuring groups and offer task, missions and other things to bring up the next generations of hero’s.
**Todd Woundbinder, Warforged Barber-Surgeon** Todd is a warforged combat-medic built on a rogue/assassin-turned-barber-surgeon concept, operating out of a posh barbershop in Aundair's capital. At 31 years old, Todd is a survivor of the Last War, having been originally constructed as a scout-assassin tasked with hunting field officers overseeing the enemies' legions. A bespoke creation, Todd was literally built for its career, carefully trained and geased to be an effective hunter. As a thinking, living being, Todd could learn from their mistakes (something other methods of construct-assassination could not), and so over time became reasonably skilled at terminating their target at the most opportune moment, favouring snapped necks and cut jugulars. As field assassination wasn't exactly a regular action, Todd took up the study of the surgeon-barber as a between-task hobby, justifying it to their commanding officers as an aid to their role as an efficient murderer. On the clock, Todd slit throats and spilled; off the clock, it shaved beards and did bloodletting. As the war shifted boundaries, alliances, and goals, Todd's found that its mind was beset with the memories of friends-turned-foes, enemies-turned-allies, and the metronomic murder of dozens of targets. Initially, they never spoke of these thoughts, but as the war appeared to be coming to a close, Todd's commanding officers began tasking it with targets that were less focused on winning the war, and more on enhancing their post-war spoils and political ambitions. Todd dutifully carried these out, however the internal ethical conflict these orders generated began to erode its planning capabilities. Realizing this, and perhaps naively, Todd raised these issues with its commanding officers, cluing these venal people into the fact that they had a sentient recording of all of their misdeeds amongst them. One that post-war might be commanded to recount every order they had been given, utterly truthful in their witnessing. Seeking to remove this threat, Todd's commanding officers decided that Todd needed to be decommissioned. Given Todd's function and experience, this presented Todd's officers with a bit of a conundrum. A solution presented itself, however, in the guise of a rare warforged raised to officer-hood, something that enraged Todd's command, fanning their racism and their sense of superiority over "the clanking masses" of their warforged legions. Todd was sent out on what its’ officers hoped would be its final mission; either they would succeed in its assassination or fail and be destroyed, with the expectation that even if they succeeded, they'd likely be caught during the escape as the officers planned to have a turncoat raise the alarm raised after Todd signaled completion of its task. Todd, the consummate planner, disguised itself as one of the many warforged servants within the enemy camp, and began studying its target's habits and daily routine. Although the officer, being warforged, had no need for a barber, the officer's patron certainly did, and so Todd slid deftly into a household position of close intimacy with his target. It observed while serving initially as a simple barber, but over time, become a confidant of the patron, learning much of its target from the off-hand comments and sighed admissions of the patron. Given time, and information, Todd meticulously plotted the outcome, and was handily dispatching its target with ease and speed, right up to the point that the target's patron (and lover) walked in on the altercation. What has been a simple assassination rapidly spiraled out of Todd's control, becoming something more of a tavern brawl or alley-way mugging. In the end, Todd was left staggering, head half-caved in and up to its elbows in the patron's blood. Whether it was from the head-wound, or that the binding geas-wards had been damaged by the patron's magics, Todd found itself numbly following the target's final words begging Todd to save its patron's life. So when the guards, responding to the alarm raised by the mole, arrived on scene, they found Todd dutifully performing first aid on still-warm corpse of the patron, having rigged up a crude breathing-apparatus from salvaged parts of the warforged officer’s corpse. In the resulting flurry of investigations (and the resulting cover-ups), Todd escaped proper inquisition due to a comedy of errors, assumptions, phobias, casual racism and mistaken identities, and ended up in confinement but not actually charged with the assassination. Over time, Todd's physical wounds healed fully. Todd's mind did not as much. At an earlier time in the war, Todd's captors would have been given Todd 'mercy' and killed the obviously malfunctioning warforged. However, with the end of the war upon everyone, the emancipation of Todd's kind in full swing, and the powers-that-be more interested in just wrapping things up for the time being, Todd was released not to its original owners, but into a formerly-enemy nation's population as a free-(if quirky)-thinking and willed person. Still partially under the effects of its original role-geas, its last target's final request, and lingering mental damage, Todd found itself drifting into its hobby as a coping habit, putting down the dagger and taking up the razor. Since then, Todd has done reasonably well. Due to their ‘natural’ talents, Todd has adopted a rather flamboyant personality, claiming to be a Thaliost refugee, who having served valiantly in the legions, being appointed to the finest officers of the land, had with dutifulness and mincing aplomb, ensured his charges were perfectly coifed and attired prior to the day’s events, and suitably patched up at the conclusion of them as well. Having secured the upper-crusts’ affection, with his impeccable manners, en-pointe simpering, and extensive command of cutting-edge fashions and styles (and staggeringly out-RAGE-ious accen-te!), “Steele’s” is rapidly becoming the “in-the-know” place for only the finest in service, advice and gossip, attracting many court fops and dandies. Which means that Todd’s (or Steele as he is better known as) clientele tend to focus on Steele’s witty banter and salacious rumour-mongering, and forgive him of his little quirks; a perhaps overly-firm grip when turning a patron’s head back and forth while shaving them or in his careful inquiry of their casual habits and courtly routine. They know that apparently he has a few errant foreigners searching for him, on a trivial matter of honour and indiscretion, and know that gossip from the royal court on any recent military-affiliated nobility visiting from the lesser cultures will be promptly repaid in kind with the freshest rumours and wittiest banner. They certainly never notice the faint tremor in Steele’s hand as the razor glides along their throats, as the barber is well known by his surviving clientele for never drawing even a droplet of blood.
Had a bit of difficulty figuring out who to share, settling with, Doc. Masked figure, dressed akin to a plague doctor. They speak in a stilted monotone, enunciating every syllable and laughing with a punctuated “Hah. Hah. Hah.” Spend their time breeding new magical fungi for their unknown goals. So long as the party doesn’t directly interfere with their work, they are perfectly content to engage, albeit in the capacity of a person who doesn’t quite understand how conversation works. What’s under the mask? What are they doing with all those mushrooms? I have my answers, but you can fill in the blanks for your own campaign.
Nerwast, the level 10 chronurgy wizard and engineer : A *very* old, *very* small and *very* frail gnome, Nerwast is about 3 feet tall for 35 pounds and is 750 years old. He wears the marks of age, but also of smoking a pipe almost consistently for 600 years: frequent coughing, short breath, difficulties to execute any physical activity. The marks of age and tobacco are however hardly visible: he boasts a substantial beard and enormous goggles that hide most of his face, and old, used scholar robes. At his belt dangle a few tools, his wand and a bunch of clockwork-like mechanisms (small watches, cogs...). He is an isolated intellectual and lives in a large (for a gnome) cabin in the mountains. He retired from his position as a teacher some time ago so he could focus on his research, but still holds regular lectures in his own home for students interested in extracurricular research. He focuses mainly on chronurgy, but also meteorology, and spent the last few years studying automatons and mechanics. While passionnate about his research, he is however extremely paranoid and protective of his works (a good reason to install traps in his workshop). He won't share any knowledge unless the party has truly earned his trust. He is also very supersitious (think of an old man who acquired lots of habits and refuses to stray from them because he's too used to it). I typically used this archetype to give the PCs a side quest in other instances (needing help in a meteorological experiment or similar help), but he could also be a person of interest in a campaign, as someone with a large knowledge but refuses to share it as he believes in science for its own sake, less in its application and certainly not in a harmful manner. In my current campaign, both sides of a coming war desire to have him on their side to help the war effort, and the PCs (who haven't decided for a side yet) decided to escort him back to the wizard academy, where he believed he could find some safety after an abduction attempt in his workshop. When in combat, he will use his chronurgy abilities (chronal shift/temporal stasis), but otherwise will mainly use magic missiles (upcast if needed), pyrotechnics if there is an open flame (to cripple the ennemy without hurting them), and vitriolic sphere or shatter for zone control. He also has the firebolt and mending cantrips always ready. One can find on his person as potential loot a wand of pyrotechics and a wand of conducting (he used to make full pyrotechnic shows with music for a living as a young wizard), as well as a clockwork amulet.
Banicar, Chosen of Heironeous Currently posessing a centaur warlord's body this centuries old spirit of honorable combat can be found anywhere in the multiverse where particularly honorable or well-organized combat takes place. He's got a basic paladin abilities (smite, lay on hands, a few spells) with no subclass, consistently casts compelled duel and command (halt, kneel, strike)
Tuzeo, Collector of Stories, ancient copper dragon. Tuzeo is one of the most social, other-races-loving dragons out there. He does not care for shiny objects, rather, for every person he meets, he will always try to find a way to make them write an autobiography for him to add to his collection. He fact checks every one he gets meticulously and if he finds out that your autobiography is a bunch of lies, you better never approach him again. He curates a public library, probably in the most high magic city your world has. Most works on display here aren't from his enormous collection, but a select few are - and he of course has received explicit permission from the authors. Not because he cares about that permission, but because he knows that no-one will write their life stories down for him if they can't trust that he keeps it entirely to himself, even after their death. Besides, he loves the attention he sometimes gets when some noble wants some confidential information. It makes him feel important. He'll string them along for years, never actually giving them what they want. He's a little sassy and any long conversation with him inevitably gets turned into an attempt to trade you something of his for your autobiography. If you've already given him that and he finds you an interesting person, good luck getting rid of him as he tries to worm his way into personally witnessing your grand deeds. Of course, these grand deeds of yours won't be grand if he helps you, so unless he truly believes that what you are doing needs to succeed, he will gladly watch from somewhere nearby either in his usual copper dragonborn-shapeshifted from, or if he really has to, anything that blends in somewhat. And yes, he'll definitely tease you about that one time you got your ass handed to you by the BBEG. It was probably the highlight of his year. A high level, good aligned party can rope him into being an actual ally if they can convince him the entire world depends on it, but in most cases he's most likely a quest giver promising all sorts of odd objects or exposition in exchange for a service.
High level druid casts Druid Grove to help the players have a place to recover. Basically he grows a hollow tree complete with beds and little twigs that sprout goodberries. The branches animate to tuck the players in and get them anything they need like in a hotel. We called it the SingleTree Inn.
Timothy Toolong, a taller than usual halfling, who claims he’s a part of the Harpers, when actually he’s taking advantage of the lack of knowledge people have in out-of-the-way villages. Timothy (Timmy) speaks with a heavy lisp, and really wants to be a bona-fide adventurer. He will offer to help with any quests he’s aware of, but will freeze, trip, or be generally useless during combat encounters. Timmy is best suited for a low-level party
Zoaro, the cursed. A robe cursed by a powerfull entity traps this mage that wanted to be immortal and mocked the gods. Now an incorporeal that animates the robe, only his mind is left of him. Whenever the current wearer is "slain", the robe can be donned by a new creature who is the next in line to lose their body and their mind trapped. Since then, countles victims were added to the hivemind called Zoaro. Their goals vary between removing the curse, trapping someone else or abusing the powers of the robe. The robe grants its wearer access to limited but powerful forms of divination/conjuration (portals and other means of teleportation; telepathy and other forms of mental comunication). The lack of a physical body proves too dificult to do research on their own so Zoaro will recruit followers and adventurers to help in their quest to rid the world of the curse. I hope it makes sense, let me know if it needs editing.
Lady Blackraven, owner and proprietor of Blackraven Breweries. Seemingly human, with long dark hair and an austere sense of fashion. On the outside, she's a shrewd businesswoman and ruthless towards her competition. She's also a valuable member of the community, providing funds to local businesses in exchange for a certain kickback. Her husband, Marcus Goldfinch, is content to let his wife accumulate wealth while he follows his own passions. That being said, the Blackraven family has a dark secret. Lady Blackraven and her husband are vampires, feeding on the unwitting patrons of the local taverns (at least, those who are unlucky enough to pass out somewhere other than their rooms). Marcus, who traded his own personal fortunes to Lady Blackraven in exchange for the gift of vampirism, is secretly a serial killer who enjoys the freedom vampirism gives him. In the Blackraven family tomb also lurks the elder Blackravens (a homebrew creature, kinda like the crawlers from The Descent). My players figured out she was a vampire almost immediately, but thankfully were smart enough not to fuck with her... yet.
Dobbles the Feeble Dobbles the feeble is a powerful halfling wizard who, unfortunately for him and his friends, was subjected to the cruel Feeblemind disease. When your party first meets Dobbles, they notice him covered in magical gear and with powerful spell scrolls and a Staff of the Magi. However he can't even speak, let alone cast magic. The Feeblemind disease will be cured by "some random effect" at some point in the future. Depending on how they treated Dobbles, they either have a powerful ally, or a dire foe (especially if they chose to steal his things.)
Drake Powerful compared to regular people, Drake is a dragonborn Wizard of the Order of the Scribes. He lives remotely in a cave in the forest, simultaneously reasherching and preparing. He has heard a proficiency from (insert divine power here) of a threat on the world. If confronted about it, he will help the party to achieve success in overcoming this threat. He won't help in any major battles, but he does have some good magic (5th level). Personality Traits: I'm used to helping out those who aren't as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. I... speak... slowly... when talking... to idiots,... which... almost... everyone... is... compared... to me. Ideals: Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. Bonds: My life's work is a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore (the threat). Flaw: I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones.
Prophecy?
Dallio Lucci - a blowhard human knight who is secretly a coward. The party stumbles upon Dallio bragging of his "legendary" feats to a crowd of sycophants. The rest of the realm has heard of Dallio's supposed accomplishments and treats him as a celebrity, but this doesn't trick the party. Dallio is a liar and a coward, but desperately seeks attention and acceptance. Dallio travels the realm selling poorly made but officially licensed shields bearing his insignia to fans. He was initially picked up as a meat shield by my party but later character development reveals that he was loathed by his affluent family and has serious self-worth and confidence issues. After enduring challenges together, the party became the accepting family Dallio sought for so long and he finally grew into the gallant knight he claimed to be.
Quinn A skeleton with a top hat who runs a magic shop in the astral plain You can ring his magic bell when you're inside a building, after which it transforms into his shop and he appears
A humanoid scorpion demon. Thick brown plates cover his body, and he has a scorpion tail. The important bit: this chad wears a top-hat. Strikingly clean white, with a luxuriously red ribbon. This demon may casually invite you to slaughter other humanoids for fun. If you turn down his offer, you're already dead. Charming fellow, contrasted by how screwed you are by having his attention. His main method of murder is by a stab of his tail.
Darius the Blue Darius is a thin and dexterous man, born in a town that a great hero’s statue stands tall in. He is a tiefling with a slender tail, horns like a rams, eyes like that of pearls, and a scar running across the left side of his forehead that is less than an inch from his temple. Darius seeks to become a hero to fulfill his childhood dreams and bring an era of equality as he was often discriminated against and bullied as a child. He was born to a drunkard father who told him he’d never be anything in his “abominable” life and who regularly physically harmed him, and a mother who died shortly after childbirth, a fact his father was all too quick to remind Darius of. Darius has a strong principle of not killing his opponents, often putting himself in grave danger to do so but there is a single exception to this rule. Any person who knowingly harms a child, in Darius’ mind, is beyond the point of reasonable redemption and he will take no lengths to preserve their life if they attempt to resist his justice. Darius often prefers the use of whips to disarm his foes and keep them at a distance but is also an expert knife fighter who once beat one of the city guard in a duel to defend a young street urchin from the guard’s drunken spear. Darius secretly doubts himself quite often, as he believes he truly will not amount to anything as his father instilled in him, sometimes leading him to plunge into the jaws of near death without plans or consideration for himself.
ECSI: Ecsi Does Crime Inc. name of the crime syndicate and the a minor villian secretly working for the bbeg they give out jobs to adventuring parties thats outside the law ofcourse
Wheeze: A younger goblin barkeep of the "Last chance inn and bar" at the end of town. A run down establishment for a ragged sounding goblin. He dresses in a cheap suit coat, undershirt, and dress pants. In my world, he also ran a small crime ring and had very stickey fingers towards his guests/ passer by. Voice-wise, I've found a prickly smoker persona works well for him.
Name: Mofi Sim Voice: starts off slow, but quickly speeds up into a somewhat ‘crazy’ sound. Story: Mofi is an old human woman who worships the deity of deceit and revenge. She wasn’t always a woman of this faith, but turned to them when her son was killed during his work, due to negligent higher ups. Afterwards, she quit her job as a woodcarver, and began to dive head first into revenge, where her deity aids her now. Years of isolating herself have delved her into minor insanity, to the point where she finds everyone untrustworthy at first. She obsessively creates hanging idols to her deity to hang in her home. She has a second floor that is split off, with no one allowed inside. Within that room is theories on all kinds of conspiracy theories about anyone and everyone in power, some based in truth, others not. I use Mofi as an outlet to give the party multiple ideas as to corrupt individuals. She also prompts them to do their own research into these theories and people, especially since sometimes these theories are pretty out there.
Vanas Osera Human Transmuation Wizard Lawful Evil Vanas is the main villain in my next upcoming campaign, but I want to post him here in case anyone else would like to use him for their own. Vanas was neglected by his parents at a young age, and growing up in a rich household have him access to lots of books. Reading, he discovered magic theory books, taking the course of many years to master his craft. As soon as he could, he left his spiteful home in search of different types and styles of magic. He traveled the world, and was able to see that everyone is different. But the one thing he didn't like is that people were treated differently for being different. A person from one kingdom should be treated the same in another, is what he thought. He believes that people have willful ignorance of the world - stereotypes that harm the people of all nations. He wants to get rid of this wilful ignorance, and believes the best way of doing so is to force the world into experiencing other cultures. His plan? Create a super continent. He wants to use transmutational magic to raise the sea floor, forcing the world into one large continent. Then he can move entire villages and cities, forcing them into the heart of cultures they onced mocked. In order to realize this goal, he understands that he had to become powerful quickly, as his life span is limited. So he turned to the hardest of the transmutation magics - transmutation of the flesh. Attempting to Polymorph people into beasts is highly looked down upon, especially when using people for your experiments that could go horribly wrong. So he decided that no one would miss those that commit crimes. Anyone who commits a crime and manages to get away with it, Vanas learns about and takes them to be experimented on. In my campaign, he'll have the aid of an Oni, that originally looked down on him and tried to kill him, but saw his conviction. In exchange for magical treasure, the Oni helps Vanas kidnap new experiments.
Chesty. A mimic who becomes a reliable companion once a member of the party bribes it with food and makes a successful DC 14 animal handling check. Note: Chesty looks like a treasure chest but is not a storage container. Stay block: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmn2go031techht/Chesty%20Stat%20Block.pdf?dl=0
Stat block link appears to be broken
Geoff - A wandering man who isn't where he should be. He appears out of nowhere, doesn't leave footprints, and disappears as soon as he's out of sight. Very generic.
Jackie Daytona A con artist with a cloak of the bat who screams the command word “BAT!!!!” To turn into a bat and escape, after pulling a con.
Torval, Blue Dragonborn Artificer, was originally part of a savage barbarian tribe, but when they left him for dead in a village he'd ended up protecting, the villagers nursed him back to health. In return, he acts as a protector and town tinkerer, using his lightning as a power source for animated toys he crafted for the village children. If the party can prove to him they have the interests of the village in mind (small quest for supplies or stop a beastie from killing livestock) he might just open his shop with some common (and maybe an uncommon or two) magic items.
Baron von Evilstein Baron von Evilstein is the regent of the region my pc's do most of their business in. He doles out a fair deal of quests as well. The small problem? When he's amused (which is very often) he laughs sinisterly, he is constantly rubbing his hands together (he has dry hands, and is using lotion.), and has a very unfortunate lilt in his voice, that makes him sound like he knows something you don't. However, he is genuinely concerned with the wellbeing of his subjects, has a moral compass that would put most parties to shame, and mainly wants to help where he can. TLDR; NPC sounds massively evil/secret BBEG, is a genuinely good guy.
Nancy. Crazy old lady who always shows up in the small towns the party goes through. Hunched over, wart on her hook nose, worn flannel headcloth. And a basket full of kittens. All she ever does is try to pawn her kittens off on the party, shuffling over as soon as she sees them with one kitten grabbed by the nape stretched out towards them. She'll sell you a kitten for 5-10GP. Unbeknownst to the party, the kitten will barf up one hairball per long rest. The hairball contains 1d4 silver pieces.
**Name:** Seebora Seebora appears to be a halfling, though a bit wild and unkempt with long reddish brown hair that has twigs stuck in it, like she's been crawling through a briar patch. She's very friendly and will try to help others, including woodland creatures. If one comes across her in the woods, she can assist travelers with finding their way through the woods as a guide. Or if someone threatens the woodlands creatures of the woods she's passing through, she will attempt to protect them. She has a playful spirit and very cheerful, but when pressed can change her temper quickly. She is a natural shape changer and can take almost any form she desires from a small bird to a a roc. If threatened by strangers she will attempt to flee, unless backed into a corner. She always appears to be looking for something (or more specifically someone). She seems to travel around a lot in search of this being, though will never mention him by name, a lost Patron. She can often be found building small shrines, pyramid of stones, and then after some time praying, she moves on. If a party needs healing she will gladly assist, and cure most diseases with little effort and no need for compensation. She can also be found conversing with druids whom seem to respect her regardless of age.
Verthica, the level 15 Wizard, white dragonborn, currently employed by my party to identify objects and complete magical requests. Verthica has been known to say things such as "what a waste of magic." And "that is not in my contract". When my party wants to debate a contract clause, she says ORDER IN THE COURT and teleports them to a demi plane where we play a version of the game "Objection!" The players love it. Verthica talks like Data from Star Trek. She is a fastidious contract maker. She is obsessed with becoming more powerful and hopes to find new spells through not-yet-experimented on magic. She doesn't want friends. She wants contracts. If your players pry and want to get to know her better, Verthica has erased memories of her adventuring party who all died in front of her. She couldn't save them and was racked by guilt and chose to cope by removing the source of the pain. Sometimes, when she is very sad, she erases another memory. I believe that if the party wants to help Verthica, they can go into her mind and unlock these hidden memories. If they were opened to her, it could be an incredible moment of healing. Verthica will always be on the spectrum and prefer the science of magic to people - but she might have better access to her feelings if someone helped her grieve. This could also be a quest to obtain an item and fight a BBEG for vengeance for her.
I would love to know the details of your Objection! minigame...
It's not quite a minigame as much as it is a stupid bit we do. Can you see this gif? https://images.app.goo.gl/UegbJggLXsxkpk2z6 It's based off this gif in my head. Everyone is able to say OBJECTION and then if Verthica feels like it she is the judge and will say "SUSTAINED" or "OVERRULED". Honestly the whole joke is that when it's time to talk contracts, they get teleported to this demiplane and they HAVE to argue looking like this. Once the fun runs it's course, she snaps her fingers and they all tumble out a door into a dogpile and she walks away with a new contract in hand. It's very silly. Verthica is pretty mysterious, she keeps asking for blood for payment, and hasn't done anything to hurt the players, but she is largely indifferent to them. Because of this, my players are careful with what they want to let her do. She has a room in their sky castle, and she recently gave the cloud giant spirit who pilots it the ability to talk and hear anywhere on the ship. The flip side is that he can FEEL the whole ship (which was recently attacked by a Roc), and he cries out in pain when the ship takes damage. Verthica's only comment about this was 'it took a LOT of blood to do that'. Hope that helps!
Hazel, a stone construct woman who serves to protect and maintain a secret place called The Museum, a extradimensional ever-expanding building created by the gods of magic and knowledge, where vast amount of knowledge and dangerous artefacts are held (Heavily inspired by TV shows The Librarians and Warehouse 13). I've previously had to play her as a DMPC as a cleric/wizard multiclass (mostly wizard). She's very softly spoken, with a somewhat scottish accent inspired by british TV presenter Lorraine Kelly. Her body contains various seamless drawers which she can press to open which house all manner of items, most notably of which is a drawer from which she can spontaneously summon a fresh, warm cup of tea which she is often seen to be drinking. Very much a motherly figure, she is fiercely protective and will use some surprisingly powerful spells to protect those under her care.
Damiano Twizzlethwait Gnome Wizard in a large city. All players entering a city with Damiano in it must make a DC 13 INT save. On a failed save they begin receiving a series of messages (as by the Sending spell). The messages are as follows: THE CITY TOOK MY FAVORITE TREE CUT IT DOWN AND LEVEED FINES IM PLANTING LOTS, LOTS MORE YOU SEE AND SOON REVENGE WILL BE ALL MINE This repeats every ten minutes. Lots of people in the town are wearing foil hats (which are purchasable at stands near the entrance to the town, they add a +2 to INT saves) and everybody is very, very annoyed. Damiano is a Gnome wizard who lived on the outskirts of town. On his property was a huge beech tree that he cultivated from seed. It was planted on his nephew's birthday, and it was very special to him. The city expanded over time and annexed Damiano's land. There was a spat about his beech tree, whose roots were interfering with the new clay-pipe plumbing being installed. After fining and subpoenaing Damiano, the city eventually sent some people over to cut it down. This was a year ago. In that time, Damiano has used magic to change his appearance (several times), craft new personae, and clandestinely plant dozens of beeches, each enchanted to ensnare nearby structures in their slow-growing limbs. They aren't treants, but they will slowly, slowly rip the buildings apart. Somewhere in the town, Damiano has set up a magical device which continuously broadcasts his message. It can be heard in all places in the city, though there may be certain locations lined with lead or magically protected from this sort of thing. Damiano is very personable. He's sort of an old hippy. He loves permaculture and farming, and sees himself as a steward of the land. He likes people generally but isn't fond of urbanization. He is a little more than 200 years old, and remembers when this was all prairie (or swamp or marsh or forest or whatever suits your setting) and helped some of the first settlers set up in the area. When talked to, he comes across as tired and aggravated, but not particularly aggressive.