We’ve had a few contests, here at Musings of the Chatty DM. For instance, we recently had the very successful 10 word Adventure and very useful Characterization ones.
Now it’s time for something bigger! I have teamed up with RPG e-Zine mogul Johnn Four (of roleplayingtips.comfame) to bring you the biggest independent RPG-themed contest to date!
How do you enter? Quite simple!
You need to write a One Sentence NPC, generally based on the tips provided in Johnn’s latest edition of the e-zine: Use 3 traits, include a contradiction, Make it generic but interesting.
See the tips reprinted at the end of this post.
You can submit them on the blog’s comments here or email them to Johnn (johnn@roleplayingtips.com). Please don’t submit the same entry at both places… 
The goal is to have a short writeup that can be used by GMs to drop in their game and/or inspire them to create similar NPCs with their favorite RPG system.
Each NPC submitted grants you one chance to win a prize, determined by a random draw (yes you could win multiple prizes, so enter massively)!
What’s in it for you? How about a metric ton of prizes? Such as:
From Wolfgang Baur: http://wolfgangbaur.com/
- 3 x Kobold Quarterly #4 issues (print or PDF - your choice)
- 1 Standard Patron Open Design account (value $30)
- 1 Senior Patron Open Design account (value $100)
- Note that each patronage can be applied to either the OGL Blood of the Gorgon Horror adventure, the OGL Tales of Zobeck adventure anthology, or the 4E Wrath of the River King adventure.
From Hero Lab http://www.wolflair.com
- 4 x Hero Lab 2.0 licenses (character creation software for multiple game systems)
From Expeditious Retreat Press http://www.xrpshop.citymax.com/
1 print or PDF version (your choice) of the following:
- 1 on 1 Adventures #9: Legacy of Darkness
- 1 on 1 Adventures #10: Vengeance of Olindor
- 1 on 1 Adventures #11: Unbound Adventures
- Advanced Adventures #4: Prison of Meneptah
- Advanced Adventures #5: Flaming Footprints of Jilanth
From Goodman Games http://www.goodman-games.com/4371preview.html
- 3 x GM Gems book (print or PDF - your choice)
From Paizo http://paizo.com/
- Print copies of Pathfinder #7,8 and 9 (The 1st half of the Curse of the Crimson Throne path).
Entries will be edited and then given back to everyone in the e-zine and here on the Blog (as a PDF).
What GM couldn’t use a list of one sentence NPCs for instant game and planning use?
Here’s an example entry to get you started (See also Johnn’s Elmo below)
- Nervous, twitchy bodyguard with a drinking problem becomes intensely focused and displays nerves of steel when client is in danger.
So have fun! Tell all your friends about this contest and participate in droves, this will make an awesome gaming aid!
Thanks very much to the generous prize sponsors.
As usual, by submitting entries, you grant us non-exclusive use of your entries for free publishing on the e-zine and the PDF file and you permit us to derive ad revenues for the traffic generated by this contest.
We also reserve the right to invalidate any entry or disqualify a participant that does not comply with the contest’s intent (obsenity, repeated and/or automated/nonsensical bulk entires, etc).
Here’s the tips proposed by Johnn Four:
1. Create Three Traits
It’s important you give your one sentence NPCs three traits or characteristics. NPCs done well are the life of the game. They not only drive plots, but they fuel roleplaying and add
depth to the game world.You can create one or two trait NPCs, but during play I find those come off as cardboard, clownish, or cliche. It seems the third characteristic creates that extra dimension needed
to make NPCs alive. It provides you that extra spark to GM and roleplay them well, and to mine them for story roles and encounter ideas.A great technique is to pick one trait from three different categories (categories are outlined in later tips). Each category reveals a new aspect of the NPC, and this turns out to be the key if you desire three dimensional non-player characters in your games.
For example, if I only chose the Appearance category, and gave the NPC three appearance traits, there wouldn’t be much depth or material to work with when GMing that character. To make him interesting, you’d need to resort to extremes, giving him an odd or distinguishing appearance. That might get you by with a few NPCs, but if your whole campaign was filled with NPCs who looked remarkable, with no other traits, it would seem strange and become dull.
That brings us to another aspect of this tip. There are more than three possible trait categories. I’ve seen NPC formulas in the past, including in this e-zine, but cookie-cutter NPCs without variation will cause campaign and world development issues fast. The predictability and repetition will ruin sense of disbelief, mood, and atmosphere.
Fortunately, there are more than three categories to choose from, and by picking one trait from three different lists each time, your NPCs are sure to be varied, interesting, and unpredictable. Perfect!
2. Create A Contradiction
A key element to the one sentence NPC technique is to create one conflict or contradiction between the character’s three traits. This will generate friction in the NPC’s makeup, and is where his humanity (for lack of a better word where NPCs can be of any race), depth, and mileage will come from. This is a critical aspect of making NPCs, especially the one sentence variety.
For example, Elmo has three traits:
- Occupation: farmer
- Appearance: big and strong
- Stat: low intelligence
Here’s a one sentence description of Elmo:
Big and strong secret agent, posing as a farmer, who often gets into trouble because of his low intelligence.
At first, players will have fun poking the big, dumb, rural man. Soon, though, the roleplaying will dwindle and the group will look for a more interesting NPC to game with. Elmo might be good for a comic relief role, which is fine, but he’s become a one dimensional cliche. Worse, plots or encounters you might try to drive with this NPC will feel forced or lack depth.
What if we add conflict and change Elmo’s farmer occupation to secret agent? Elmo is only posing as a farmer so the villain’s minions won’t pay him any attention. We now have an interesting NPC with a bit of depth. As you roleplay him, his mission will drive his objectives and decisions. You can mine this for many gaming opportunities and cool encounter
moments.He’s much more fun to GM too, as I find gaming a secret that’s close to the PCs adds a lot to each session. You’ve also got a great surprise in store for your players when Elmo’s true identity gets revealed.
We’re not done with Elmo yet, though. The real conflict amongst his traits comes from his poor intelligence. You can play this in many ways, as intelligence has many definitions. However, this shortcoming is at direct odds with being a successful secret agent. What fun! This twist gives you lots of GMing material.
- If Elmo becomes an ally, perhaps the PCs need to rescue him a few times.
- Elmo might have enough guile to maintain his cover, but as you roleplay him he makes several unsavvy and odd actions and decisions that perplex the PCs, giving them a mystery to solve while the major story arc progresses.
- Once the PCs know Elmo’s secret, they might join forces, and he keeps getting them into predicaments, or forces the PCs to roleplay and get him out of trouble with his superiors on occasion.
Note: I advise not going for more than one strong contradiction. Feel free to experiment, but you don’t want to create a tossed salad NPC with so much conflict and weirdness that he becomes unbelievable or brittle (though Dennis Hopper fans might disagree).
3. Make One-Sentence NPCs Interesting But Generic Until Used
It might seem like a contradiction, but leave your one-sentence non-player characters as generic as possible until you bring them into play at the game table or in a design session.Do this to keep your options open until you’re ready to introduce the NPC. You want to minimize in-game, last minute changes or retrofitting, to make GMing easier. It also means you need to make fewer notes to track changes.
While GMing, it’s often simpler to bring in a generic element and customize it for your current need, than to bring in a fleshed out element and trim away on-the-fly to make things fit.
In practical terms, when creating a roster of one-sentence NPCs for later use, you can leave the following bits of information blank until the last minute:
- Name
- Gender
- Race
- Location
- General appearance
4. Use Traits That Affect Encounters
This tip was hard won by experience.
effect on gameplay - ever - I finally learned that the details that matter most are ones that come into play during
encounters.I would spend an hour on an NPC’s history, for example, but during games that information would have no impact, or worse, become obsolete or contradictory due to shifting details.
Writing fiction for an hour is not a waste of time. In previous e-zine tips I’ve described how creative writing helps GMing. For pure NPC value though, stick to details and manage your time so you only create what will impact your
game directly. Use NPC traits that affect encounters.For example, our spy Elmo might have a fear of spiders. Fears have a spectrum of severity, so let’s say Elmo’s fear is debilitating when in the presence of large spiders.
Unless you plan for large spiders and Elmo to be in the same encounter, your creative effort has been largely wasted. Maybe a kinder term for it is deferred.
in an encounter - hopefully, more than one encounter.It’s important to reveal each of the three characteristics you’ve defined for your one sentence NPCs, so that all their dimensions and conflict come into play.
Another trap is creating a trait that does come into play, but is too minor to have any impact. For example, we say Elmo dislikes cloudy days. Except in extreme circumstances, this fact will not affect the game at all when it comes up. Roleplaying, action, plot, clues, and other storytelling categories all seem unaffected with this trait. Best to replace it with something that does affect gameplay when it manifests.
123 Comments
Write a Comment»indigo, a minoan bull-riding assassin, reborn into modern college life.
stephen m (ethesis)s last blog post..My Brother Daniel
Quite possibly the fastest comment ever! 12 minutes! Thanks Stephen!
So something like this?
A meticulous and charismatic illusionist devoted to Chaos.
A beautiful genius with a penchant for complex plots but never quite in control of her hair-trigger temper.
A shy, paranoid, home-bound scholar who holds the keys to undoing a wicked plot.
A rough and battered junkyard salvage tinkerer who can fix anything and collects Imperial Fabergé Easter eggs.
An obnoxious hedonist with a gift for seduction remains loyal to his family unto death.
Brians last blog post..Sham’s Take on Stats
That is exactly the spirit of it dear Trollsmyth!
This is going to be so cool!
I have to get a piece of this action.
Lord Klaxur the strong, fearless defender of the faith, athiest.
Trask, The Last Tyromancer
Trasks last blog post..Trask Will Be At the Origins Game Fair
A heroic paladin whose great intelligence makes him feel detached and distant from those he protects.
A remarkably large warrior is totally fearless in battle, but is terrified of stepping on other peoples’ feet.
An otherwise calm and capable spellcaster who studies ancient magical amulets lives atop a tall tower, but his fear of heights keeps him well away from his windows.
An honorable knight-captain loves his king like a brother, but is secretly indebted to the evil chancellor.
A kind and compassionate noblewoman runs an orphanage and homeless shelter, but is secretly the head of a dark cult.
A silver-tongued bard is quite a hit with the ladies, but to his shame is actually a eunuch.
Kavondes last blog post..Adventure Recap, 6/21/08
Don’t you just love it when blogpost synergy happens?
Here’s mine:
* Doubting Cleric convinced his God has died and is being impersonated by a force of evil
* Charming Ex-slaver forced to work the Dungeons with the party as punishment for his crimes
* Lightfingered Wizard’s apprentice exiled for stealing his master’s thoughts
* Bold //kothe// (fantasy coffee!) addicted priest of an illithid worshipping snake cult
* Beautiful Half-kobold princess searching for her natural father
* Mute monk sent by his monastry to find his true voice
More, later, I’m sure
Inspired by some of our groups most memorable PC’s…
* Former wrestling gladiator slave turned into religious and ascetic fighting monk by troubling prophetic visions
* Foul-mouthed old drunkard of a bard immensely popular among young female audience despite being ugly as sin
* Fat and timid merchant-wizard on a quest to destroy his half-demon daughter
* Radiantly beautiful young blonde bimbo paladin, whose steps are - fortunately - guided by God
Awesome!
@Greywulf: Now that is some scary synergies!
@Mak: Your last one is almost a word for word copy of a Paladin my buddy played a few years back.
All excellent Stuff so far!
Well, high time to start commenting, now that I might actually win stuff.
He’s not a very funny clown, but when you consider that he worships the God of Knives and Murder, that’s to be expected.
A loser who’s lost it all was moments away from suicide, but that angel came down–and trading living on the streets for being a paladin was a heckuva deal.
Welcome on the blog Mike!
Interesting twists on the sentence structures. I like them a lot!
@ Mike Danger - from my clown-averse coworker:
… ALL clowns worship that god.
Ians last blog post..dndinsider launch
The brave, valiant heroic knight everyone loves…on the run for treason against the royal court.
The uptight, law-abiding and somewhat prudish cleric…of the goddess of illicit love affairs and the protector of shady brothels.
The carnivore protesting about animal rights to impress the men/ladies s/he’s never gotten to get a date with.
The vegan lycanthrope who can’t stand the sight of blood, looking for a way to not starve on nights of ‘change’.
The sass-talking barkeep who doesn’t touch alcohol outside church rituals.
Hot damn, you guys are taking to this like fish to water!
More, more!
A few more. This is entertainin’.
By day he’s a gregarious and well-regarded jewelry merchant, but by night he stocks his store with the duke’s treasures.
An inquisitive travelling scholar can’t handle a sword, but never backs down from a fight.
The stubborn lord of a frontier town fights valiantly to defend his people, but secretly believes they are doomed.
A boisterous barbarian queen welcomes travellers to her home, but kills them at the slightest offense.
An idealistic young wizard joins a cult of demon worshippers in hopes of using their power for the greater good.
Kavondes last blog post..The world sucks, humanity is a disease, and we all deserve to die. So long, George.
Glad to see another contest up…
Benevolent giant of a man has multiple personality disorder and becomes a creature of unrelenting fury once wounded.
Autistic blacksmith has an odd accent, but can identify anything and anyone from 50 yards by sense of smell alone.
Widely beloved countess is a serial killer that abates her bloodlust by slaughtering the homeless.
Doppleganger disguised as woman’s spouse fights inadequacy by trying to live up to his assumed identity’s greatness.
A highly-skilled warrior filled with self-doubt has a mental breakdown every five minutes.
Couple more
* Young swindler and charlatan who mixes her acting talent with some arcane powers to become a master of disguise
* A sharp information broker and artifact collector with a manic urge to scry on important people
Maybe none of these is quite right, but here goes:
A young, innocent street urchin, with an unknown and uncontrolled power to project dreams to others, is having nightmares.
A lone detective appears to town folk as a dark stranger with purpose unknown, and is frequently seen in areas where a murder has just been committed.
A proud bard with six fingers on their left hand who can play the lute better than any before them, and is using their talent to control a local tribe of goblins to wreak havoc on the village of their youth, seeking revenge on those whose tormented them.
A mind-flayer in control of a famous poet, using the poet’s fame to spread enchanted texts in an attempt to attract meals.
An apathetic, violent barbarian with a love for kittens.
I think that’s all I have in me right now… And don’t have access to the web from home because I’m moving soon.
Hopefully I’ll be able to come up with something better soon…
Stuttering strumpet speaks strikingly smoothe in sac (her tongue is really loose in bed bahahahahaha).
Brave, boy bodyguard bolts when battling beetles.
I’ll submit more later when I can get my head out of alliteration mode.
Heathers last blog post..Life: And All That That Implies
@Felonius: You got the gist of it! I hope to see more from you soon!
@Heather: Ah the joys of alliteration. I see that some English majors are starting to flex their creative writing muscles.
Barfight-loving monk
improvises his weapons,
speaks only haikus.
I enjoy these sorts of things, even if I’m not the best at them.
A belligerent, violent shopkeep sells exquisite glass crafts.
An amicable and friendly thief that distrusts anyone taller than she.
The otherwise wise and kindly king nonetheless leaves standing orders to slay every red-haired child born.
The iron-fisted and over-taxing robber-baron still owns dozens of homeless shelters and orphanages.
The wheedling, weak kobold still finds great courage in defending his pets.
A brawny and heavily scarred orc chieftain finds great value in the local druidic elves.
The stoic, holier-than-thou priest of Pelor still harbors a secret fetish for goblins.
The homeless vagrant still acts with mien of a lord, secretly an ousted noble.
A man who lives a completely solitary existence in a remote location, but traverses the world in one magical night delivering gifts to children who have been good all year round.
A man, a plan, a canal: water elemental.
OK, now that’s out of my brain:
Elvish superspy poses as simple Bard, must suppress his inner-badass to complete missions.
Jovial Paladin with giant sword refuses to believe that all beings are not inherently good.
Religious wizard who struggles to reconcile creation theory with magical transformations.
Halfling cleric of trickster god cursed to be a skeleton tries to invent new, undead practical jokes.
Mad scientist who happens to be one of the nicest graders in the entire University.
College student who refuses to grow up continually fails just enough classes to remain in school tutors younger students via the Power of Rock.
Comparative Religion professor who happens to possess the talking sword of Joan of Arc bestows it on the worthy.
Double agent infiltrates both the Empire and the Rebellion to try to free his home planet from overarching galaxy-spanning governments.
Gnomish sorcerer would rather talk to the animals then deal with any pesky adventurers.
Super-intelligent ape struggles to gain acceptance in the Galaxy Police Force.
Gelatinous Bob, the only known ooze who can communicate, might be able to help with your problem… if he decides you aren’t tasty first.
Hobgoblin Cleric of Vecna has trouble performing necromantic experiments and staying menacing when his dad insists on tagging along.
Halfling detective isn’t exactly a hero, but he’s the best at what he does.
Dave T. Games last blog post..YouTube of the Week: Andy vs. Everybody Edition
> Elvish superspy poses as simple Bard, must suppress his inner-badass to complete missions.
I like this one! Now I’ve got “My name is Bard….. James Bard.” running through my head. Darn you!
A few more from me:
Paladin of the succubus lust Goddess foils everyone’s expectations with her naked truths - literally!
Two words: Barbarian technomancer.
Anmesiac Doppelganger stuck in the form of a Gnomish Rogue but remembers being….. taller.
Catfolk ranger in search of the perfect warm windowsill.
Cruel King geased to live as a lowly commoner for 101 days without revealing his true nature.
greywulfs last blog post..TroubleInTallreedWaters: A review. ‘Tis good.
Round two for me.
The savage, bloodthirsty orc warrioress is also a cooing, loving mother of three.
The gleaming, holy paladin recklessly slaughters every orc he sees; regardless of their ability to defend.
A brutal and widely feared warlord nonetheless treats prisoners with kindness and care, having been a prisoner of war in his past.
An evil, sadistic druidic slaver will not abide the caging of animals.
The extravagantly wealthy, nearly foppish nobleman secretly works as a vigilante, attacking criminals in the dark of night. (Thanks Bob Kane)
The unmoving, stoic dwarven cleric of stubbornness is completely unable to refuse his wife’s requests.
A studious and orderly wizard becomes recklessly chaotic and violent after only a few drinks.
The slavering and demented drider queen still tends a flower garden hidden in a sunny area of her plane.
@Dave: Ouch! I’m happy you got that one out of your system.
This is very very good stuff, I love it!
I also see that some people have starting having fun with it. Alliteration, Haikus and pop culture references! Weee!
Ba dum BA DAAAAHHHH….
Dave T. Games last blog post..4th Edition: Class Acts
Surly golem that runs on alcohol instead of fuel takes on prohibition in 1920’s America.
Goblin with inferiority complex looking for love in all the wrong places.
Evil overlord fashionista who only got into the job for the great outfits, but must now play the part.
Bartoneuss last blog post..4th Edition: Class Acts
A herculean bugbear with a distaste for authority becomes a local hero when he drives off the corrupt Baron’s tax collectors, protecting his adopted parents.
A no-nonsense dwarven she-monk opens a small dojo in Leeside, teaching the commoners self-defense and instilling new-found courage against the local street thugs.
A renowned brothel’s famous stage-performer specializes in seductive sorcerous dances to extend her growing influence, making the crime organization she leads one of the most powerful in the land.
An outcast Gnoll with a broken voice who seeks enrollment at the most famous bardic college in the realm to escape the violence of his people and find the song of his soul in the world.
A well-known, yet deeply troubled priest develops multiple personalities, with both serving as powerful priests to conflicting gods who wish to make a battleground of the man’s tortured soul.
nw_meyers last blog post..Denton Game Wanted
@Bart: That last ones is awesome! Stolen!
@nw_meyer: Dude Nathan! You have got a gift for these things… I distinctly remember your entries from the 10 word adventure contest.
All right I need to start seeing some more craziness here… Don’t forget, more entries = more chances to win!
Third batch…
* Pallid and sickly young boy whose mother died at childbirth but who still constantly discusses with an unseen mommy - maybe that’s why the grass turns to ash in his footsteps
* Big friendly lummox of a barbarian who loves his weekly bar fights, too bad he usually ends up turning into a grizzly bear after getting a bloody nose
* A weary and scarred old bishop who’d like nothing better than to retire to his garden has to keep facing the Forces of Darkness because he doesn’t trust the younger generation to care enough
* A rigidly honorable knight who sometimes wakes up after a battle covered in blood amid a pile of corpses brutally hacked to pieces
A juvenile, bronze dragon who is convinced that he has contracted lycanthropy from a were-rabbit when he was younger, and whenever he is startled, scared, or anxious, he ‘polymorphs’ himself into a small, brown rabbit with glowing, red eyes and a habit of biting people, but he refuses to believe that he is responsible for his own transformations, and is otherwise completely healthy.
SeiferTims last blog post..Progress
SeiferTim -
I think you’re pushing the limits of “sentence”.
Graham - maybe the modern sentence…look at some classic literature and you’ll see one can go on for pages!
Heathers last blog post..Life: Our Neighbors Are Harboring An Elephant
I’ve been trying to come up with a pun on “sentence” the grammatical structure vs prison “sentence”, but I keep going back to that old stand-by of a pun being it’s own “PUNishment”, and it just doesn’t work as well with “sentence” (A long sentence will earn you the same? I don’t know, I give up).
I finally have internet at home again, for hopefully the rest of the week.
And…
A highly social, highly isolated Luddite whose only means of communication is technology.
A water elemental which is afraid of any body of water more than “waist” deep. (do water elementals even have waists?)
Ms. Radcliffe, a grey-haired librarian, demands exactitude and has a severe demeanor. But she does love to whisper secrets, and a little sweetness weans them out of her – if it’s fed to her just right.
James- Men with Penss last blog post..Putting Twitter on Notice
Obese chimney sweep is too stubborn to lose weight or change occupations and demands large quantities of lube…
Third pile. I do wish I had more talent for these things, but I’d like to think that some of mine might be useful to someone’s campaign somewhere.
The mystic, aged fortune teller and soothsayer in the wagon caravan at the edge of town is secretly casting Geas/Quest during her divining, forcing her customers to make the prediction come true.
The evil and conniving ghost that is haunting the local inn is actually a murder victim of the aged elf that contracted the party to exorcise it.
The vile and hated orc clan known for banditry and raids has the secondary effect of controlling the population of roving undead that would otherwise plague the area.
The well loved and axiomatic captain of the guard for a large capital is also secretly hiring bandits and mercenaries for his guardsmen to defeat, just to keep his popularity and job security high.
The notorious and ‘uncatchable’ thief is truly only stealing money in order to fund charities around the city.
The drunken, unassuming beggar in the tavern that continually leaks information about criminal activities in the area is actually a highly skilled guard, using the adventurers to take out problem criminals.
The despondent, condemned man in prison for dozens of serial murders is actually a rare human born with innate TrueSight, living in a society heavily infiltrated by doppelgangers.
The highly intelligent and masterful arcane researcher relies on his butlers and assistants, as he is still incapable of preparing his own meals or putting together an outfit that doesn’t make him look like a complete fool.
The mad, slave-driving mindflayer that has enslaved most of the village populace is actually using the people to construct a device that will prevent the denizens of the underdark from spilling out onto the surface world.
…
I think some of these border more on adventure hooks than NPCs, but hey, I have fun writing them.
It’s all good stuff. Writing makes one more confident about one’s skills.
And if you can pull off a NPC and an adventure hook in one sentence, that’s quite a service you are doing for ideas starved GMs.
A man turned into dangerous werebeast by foul sorcery, now seeking a place to live in.
A beautiful and caring elven princess whose loved one is slain in a war with humans grieves no more, spiteful of what the world has done to her and seeking revenge.
His people have been cursed by the elves so that they can no longer walk in daylight and are in a state of constant war with everyone, yet he is trying to honestly negotiate peace with the elves. (This may stretch the three traits-restriction too much to be eligible.)
The lady of the three cities is as meticulous a trader as any, always honest in her deals, yet her deals with the local bandits reveal a ruthless streak.
A grim and determined hunter of fey and other fell beasts has no tools to cope with the departure of the dryad he loved, something he would be killed for, were it known to his superiors.
Tommis last blog post..A mediocre session and some inn-fighting
@Tommi: It was assumed that the 3 traits were more of a guideline than an inflexible requirement. All your entries are good. Thanks!
The Cloak, a charismatic, dashing Robin Hood-esque figure providing hope for lower class citizens in a corrupt city with his rebellious pranks/actions against “The Man”…but he’s secretly employed by the city officials to keep the poor just optimistic enough to distract them from their horrible living conditions and squalor.
mikes last blog post..
The vagrant, pursued by shadows - but are they real, or imaginary?
Being a wererat gives the halfling exterminator an uncanny insight into his job.
Alcoholic dragonborn insists that a skinful of booze improves his breath weapon.
A wizard, physically trapped for aeons in a crystal prison, staves off madness by walking every night into the dreams of others.
A dwarf warrior, wielding the most powerful warhammer ever seen, seems undaunted by the fact that it’s sized for a giant and she can barely lift it.
A madman cursed with doppelganger form longs to be human again, killing and replacing individuals to get the human contact it desires, but not skilled enough to maintain a convincing disguise for long.
More as it breaks!
I’m including names and genders for presentation purposes. I understand that this reduces the utility of the characters for instant insertion:
1> Alander could never go unnoticed, with her bright red hair which could never be tamed, and the vanity which prevent her from cutting it off, so every time she picked a pocket, she would have to make a scene of it.
2> Although his years of training in the service of Darum had forbidden it, Dark-skinned Markus had eventually come to peace with being a prostitute for fat merchants in a city where he could not even speak the language and no one knew his God’s name.
3> Dani’s rejection of corporeality seems absolute to those who only interact digitally with its amorphous purple icon, but designing wholly organic bodies is its greatest pleasure, and pays for its processor cycles.
4> Short and stout, Greglan only truly comes to life when flying acrobatically about the engine room of the capital ship Samarkand, maintaining her fusion drive in a graceful zero-G dance.
5> Youngest of twelve identical clones, each of whom grew into the same slender physique knowing of eachothers’ existence, but never meeting them, Jame chose the violin in an attempt to stand apart, as did her eleven sisters before her.
6> Slave to the radiant beauty Linadal, High Priestess of Smarn, white-eyed Igny occasionally wished the uprising would be put down quickly, but would never admit it to his lieutenants.
Okay, I think all are over the top and… Perhaps some of them played a bit more for comedy than I meant, but I wanted to try the game.
Joseph
Those continue to be absolutely great!
Don’t hesitate to experiment with the format and stretch its parameters!
Ok, not to break the contest (which is very cool!) but for one-second half-decent character concepts you can try:
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Character_Concepts
@Smorgasboard: I’ll ask Tommi (or someone else able to) if he can do like last time and put all of those (I have 8 pages of entries so far, plus Johnn Four got a few) into a random generator on Abulafia.
Blooey Cadaverous, a social high class zombie innkeeper sporting a monocle and a cane welcomes turists/adventurers by day and eats their brains by night with a silver spoon while they are asleep and rates them as if they were wine.
A blood-thirsty chaotic barbarian that is doomed to be part of a pacifist party, behaving himself until he can take out the bomb on his back and kill everyone in the party as fast as possible.
Kimaris last blog post..Not so quick update
We have always very much enjoyed a former Goblin slave, now “free”, but unable to grasp this concept with its limited intelligence (after a life of slavery), with the nasty habit of trying to palm every unattended shiny object, and an aversion against clothes.
Even moreso, a Paladin of a highly honored order, yet also heir to the throne raised in seclusion and presented only with challenges he can handle. As such, he is naive, inexperienced, yet snobby and well-respected by virtue of his name and title alone.
And finally, an old, restless, and well-respected loremaster of age, traveling the world despite his age. Incapable of fighting, and with an interest in necromancy that borders on obsession. Only the guidance of a well-meaning friend can prevent this man from dabbling in the dark arts to lengthen his ending lifespan.
(such a character would also be a great means to dispense information to characters if they seek knowledge from him)
And to add, a cleric taverner running his inn on a busy road to a large magocratic city, banished from the church and city for breaking his vow of abstinence in a forbidden love with one of the city’s magocrats. Jaded and alone because his love chose not to abandon her city life of power and decadence and join him in his banishment.
Good Stuff Flying, Good stuff!
Brawny and charismatic dwarven cleric who gets nauseated at the sight of someone else’s blood and completely incapacitated at the sight of his own blood.
Bad-ass young pirate with a reputation of spilling the blood of all who dare cross him but who is really a woman with short hair and bound breasts who falls apart every time she sees a man who even vaguely resembles her long-missing father.
(Jet-lagged brain… ugh….)
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Round 2
We used this character in a campaign long ago.
An ancient noble of a forgotten kingdom, who was granted the wish of an immortal life, but was corrupted by the wish to be bound to his castle, longing for the release of death, and forced to watch all he loved slowly die around him.
A benevolent king of a kingdom long vanquished, bound by mighty arcane illusions to believe that his kingdom still stands, casuing him to roam through his cobweb-infested palace, giving orders and speaking with servants and friends long-dead and forgotten.
Matrixxy…
Stan is a sexy but mortal ladies man who woos and weds a succubus, only to be stuck with an overprotective Marilith for his mother in law.
Deborah was the wizard school’s wittiest and most apt pupil- until a bet with her friends and an icy flagpole cost her her tongue.
A beloved, aging knight-general, hero of the last war, is privately wracked with guilt over taking credit for the tactics that routed the enemy, which were actually the work of a young knight-initiate who perished during the battle.
An ancient red dragon, who has lost its interest in amassing power or treasure, has abducted the princess, renowned across the kingdoms for her beauty, charm, and intellect — for the pleasure of her conversation.
The high priest, a saintly old man revered by the masses, was in fact murdered years ago; an illiterate temple gardener was pressed into service as his impersonator in order to avoid civic unrest during those difficult times.
Adon, the Radiant Empress over all the lands between the mountains and the sea, is a blind eight-year-old girl of uncanny wisdom, who knows she can trust nobody in her court but the ancient, mute attendant who served her father and his father before him.
Daricia, called the Queen of Shadows, whose daring exploits as a swashbuckling thief and rebel against the tyrannical king have won the hearts of the populace, is a succubus who exploits hope as a powerful force for seduction; her plans carefully draw out the life of the rebellion, balancing success with failure so that the rebels are neither crushed nor victorious, but rather can struggle heroically on, drawing more to the cause.
Emil, a wizard of some renown, is a fidgety, stick-thin man who has little patience for adults and has been known to teleport unwanted guests halfway across the continent in a fit of pique, yet he is kind to and infinitely patient with the children of the city.
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Amber, a shadow vampire transmogrified into an earth spirit and then adopted into a paladin’s family.
(I\’m cheating, she is a character in a story at http://adrr.com/story/ )
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I must admit its awkward writing one sentence when the same ideas could be expressed in three or four, but I’ve taken liberties with punctuation and arrived at the following (long) list of ideas. None of these are very combat-oriented:
Willis The Bruce is bent on helping a young boy haunted by ghosts- until Willis discovers that he himself has been dead the whole time.
Although her reputation as a stoic battlefield commander is legendary, Kyrie privately cries after every battle, and prays for the souls of the vanquished.
Flirtatious barmaid Lena’s decolletage and short skirt do nothing to dispel her reputation for promiscuity, though she is secretly saving herself for a Prince Charming
Keith was a Bandit famous for his muscular physique and rousing adventures… IN AMERICA.
A ruthless and wanton vampire has O-negative blood and must be very selective about his victims.
Rick, 16, seems attentive and wise beyond his years- that’s because he’s aging backwards and needs to find a cure before he’s too young.
The old elven hermit who lives out of town literally INVENTED the fireball spell, and now he must live out his long years wracked with guilt over his destructive invention.
The highly capable but voraciously voluptuary prince does not allow any female elves or gnomes to live in his kingdom unless they first spend the night in his bedchambers.
(Which leads me to…)
His loyal attendant ruefully tolerates the Prince’s promiscuity, although secretly she wishes to be his one true love.
Al-Pashim’s newfound ability to control water might be enough to save his tribe from dying of drought, if he can get past the tribe’s taboo against magic.
The illusionist could recreate any sight he saw, but his colorblindness made the results more entertaining than convincing.
When shy gnome Cassie lets her hair down from its trademark bun, look out- this rogue’s hairpin is actually a poisoned dagger.
@Zed: That first one is absolute mint if applied to a PC. DEFINITELY a “be careful what you wish for” scenario.
These are fun! And it’s a good exercise to try and sum up everything that’s critical to your campaign in one sentence…
A kind, old wizard is secretly a god who has been stripped of all his powers by the other deities, and is helping the PCs so that they can unwittingly help restore him to full power and bring the destruction of the world by his hands…
A notorious, wanted pirate captain is actually an ex-paladin, and while he still believes in law and justice, he must continue leading his pirate band on missions of pillaging and plunder or risk a deadly mutiny…
Abandoned as a baby, a young man has been raised by goblins in a ruined castle, which is now being explored by a team of adventurers looking for treasure, and among them is the young man’s twin brother…
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Giving you a genuine smile the balding book shop owner replaces the overlarge crossbow back beneath the counter and beckons you to enter with his other hand.
You see the man take careful aim, his stance confident and relaxed, his accoutrement obviously fine even the light seams to conspire to make him almost iconic yet the profusion of arrows adorning the area surrounding the practice dummy give
Hmmm that was fun, heres some others.
You see the man take careful aim, stance confident and relaxed, accoutrement obviously fine so that even the light seams to conspire to make him almost iconic; yet the profusion of arrows adorning the area surrounding the practice dummy give some contrast to his skill.
Short, older by some dozen years and bored he was none the less in charge of his uniformly young, tall and well equipped companions.
Patience in the shadow of a chimney was a virtue he had perfected by pondering whether he had sneaked or if he had slunk?
Wizards wove magic like fisherman hauling a net before a storm; by comparison the man currently holding creation to ransom wove magic into a tapestry alive in aspect and fact, balanced in design by calculated flaws so as not to offend the gods.
Absorbed in the task of appraising the artworks and artifacts stacked and in bags she remained professional while presenting an image of youthful beauty.
Phil: I can make these entries into a random generator that throws out a couple of these when used. The generator Smorgasboard pointed out creates new characters and does so pretty well.
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Things are picking up! Welcome and good luck to all new commenters!
The idea is to break our tendencies to write encyclopedias about NPCs. A lot of those submitted I could use directly “of the shelf” and have a meaningful impact on the game.
@Tommi: I’ll email you a Word document of the combined entries as soon as the contest ends. Thanks!
Who could take seriously a bald, peg-legged bandit with and acute lisp - until he pulls out his repeating crossbow.
Hmm… A Quentin-Tarantino Crossbow massacre scene is shaping up I feel!
Keep it up, I love them!
A hard-drinking, violent and hot-tempered bandit chief on the run from the law joins a monastery, but still in every inch remains the bandit he is trying not to be.
A half-orc scholar, the result of a consensual union between a human male and a female orc, is trying to find someone who will publish his work, but is constantly fighting racism, not only from the scientific community and his peers, but also from both his parents’ families.
Loud, flamboyant, and colorful gnome storyteller natters on about his collection of strange seashells as he stealthily unsheathes his poisoned dagger stowed in his lace sleeves.
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A well respected, and wealthy ex-adventurer is trying to put his adventuring days behind him and live out the rest of his days in a luxurious mansion in the center of a peaceful town, but he is frequently visited by old enemies, or relatives of vanquished foes seeking vengeance and reparations from his actions a long, long time ago, putting the townsfolk in danger, and forcing him to repeatedly come out of retirement to defend himself.
A powerful iron golem awakens in an abandoned, ancient, underground chamber, with no memory or knowledge of his purpose, other than the massive assortment of weapons attached to his body and imprinted fighting techniques, although he personally believes that all life is sacred and violence is wrong.
“Don’t fly into a rage, you’ll damage your harp”, you