Your Ideas for new NPCs
Dazzu
Member Posts: 950
So once upon a time, there was This thread started by @Shandyr and it was a brilliant idea, but somehow it died off. How does that happen?
Before that, there were probably other such threads. Why are these not more common?
Regardless, it should be reborn! A lot of the same rules apply: one idea per post. There'll be a post just below with a link to other ideas. It'd be a lot easier though if there were more buttons to make quotes and thread post links, but I'll get it done.
Post a character. There probably doesn't need to be an image (especially for some races) but a nice stat spread wouldn't hurt either and an alignment. Whatever details you have, feel free to share.
Let's keep this alive, shall we?
Before that, there were probably other such threads. Why are these not more common?
Regardless, it should be reborn! A lot of the same rules apply: one idea per post. There'll be a post just below with a link to other ideas. It'd be a lot easier though if there were more buttons to make quotes and thread post links, but I'll get it done.
Post a character. There probably doesn't need to be an image (especially for some races) but a nice stat spread wouldn't hurt either and an alignment. Whatever details you have, feel free to share.
Let's keep this alive, shall we?
3
Comments
Cross-posted from there:
Farbauti Battlehammer, a Chaotic Neutral Dwarf Barbarian from Mithral Hall. She's the quintessential female warrior: she loves fighting, drinking, and tall men. A real "life of the party" type, Farbauti flirts with Dorn, Minsc, Keldorn and Sarevok, but refuses any and all advances from Korgan. Farbauti doesn't take things very seriously, because there are very few problems that can't be solved with a sword and a mug of ale.
Her storyline involves a string of ambushes as the player progresses through the game, each time consisting of dwarven fighters and clerics plus a few human mercenaries. It becomes clear that Farbauti is being hunted by her former clan - after the second encounter, the player learns that she's been accused of murder. Farbauti admits she killed a high-ranking Battlehammer dwarf who tried to "make her do something she didn't want to do" (the wording is intentionally vague; she doesn't want to talk about the past).
After the Underdark, a third and final ambush stops the player on their way back to Athkatla. This time, the group is led by Freya, a Lawful Neutral Dwarven Defender and Farbauti's daughter. Freya fills in the blanks: the man Farbauti murdered was her husband, Freya's father, who tried to force Farbauti to join the clan's honor guard. This would have required Farbauti to never leave Mithral Hall again; when she refused, their argument escalated to violence and Farbauti killed him.
At this point, Freya offers the player a choice. Her mother must stand trial for what she's done, but she's also a capable (and therefore valuable) warrior. Therefore, if the player surrenders Farbauti, Freya will agree to take her place in the party. If the player accepts the deal, Farbauti will go hostile and you'll have to kill her, with Freya as your new party member. If the player refuses Freya's deal, she and the others will attack.
(It's designed this way to allow maximum character roleplay: Evil PCs can sell Farbauti out, or flip off Freya's quest for justice; Lawful Good PCs can choose to stand by their friend even though she admits her guilt, or attempt to surrender Farbauti to the authority of her clan, etc.)
In ToB, Farbauti will have a crisis of conscience after defeating one of the Five, noting that she doesn't enjoy battle as much as she used to and fearing that her desire for freedom may have come at too high a price. The player can then either encourage her to be true to herself, or to try harder for the sake of Freya's memory. This dialogue choice will result in one of two possible epilogues for Farbauti: she either returns to Mithral Hall and singlehandedly defends her clan from an orc invasion, giving her life in the process, or she leaves a trail of demolished taverns and very dazed human and elf men from Calimport to Waterdeep, happy and free of her past.
Alternately, Freya will mourn her mother in ToB, and form friendships with Imoen, Mazzy and/or Aerie. She will also be a romance option for dwarven Charnames.
Name: Adamanta Bigtoes
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Cleric/Thief
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Stats(Dice roll 84):
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 19
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 17
Charisma: 10
Thief Skills(at Level 1):
Move Silently: 30
Find Traps: 10
Pick Pockets: 40
Open Locks: 25
Hide in Shadows: 30
Detect Illusion: 0
Set Traps: 5
Weapon Proficiencies: *Sling, *Sword and Shield Style.
Deity: Brandobaris
Spells Memorized: Light Cure Wounds, Bless, and Sanctuary.
Where to find her: Gullykin, not sure where I'm going to place her yet, but definitely in Gullykin.
Background/Backstory/Biography?:
Adamanta was found, orphaned, outside of Gullykin where some halflings found her, and took her in as their own. As a youth, Adamanta tried to copy her halfling siblings, and friends by sneaking around and doing other things. However, she was always kind of big, so she ended up helping her siblings, and friends, by lifting them up to windows and such. Now, since she's older, she can sneak around and make her friends and family proud.
A friend of mine helped me with the biography. Also, this is probably a first draft. So, throw some opinions on it!
Name: Kars'i
Race: Duergar
Class: Fighter/Thief
Alignment: LN
Str: 16
Dex: 17
Con: 19
Int: 11
Wis: 7
Chr: 8
Total: 79
Weapons are
++ Axe
++ Crossbow
+ Long Sword
+ 1H Weapon Style
As she levels she will fill in Long Swords and move on to Clubs
Her gear consists of nothing special. In fact, as a slave, she starts with nothing but a small cache of starting gear: namely an Army Scythe and +1 Studded Leather.
Background: Daughter of a Deurgar Smith, Kars'i was never satisfied sitting still. She snuck around the underdark to find new things and became an important scout for her home. All that changed when she was caught by the drow while spying. To save face from the brink of war, the Duergar denied her connection, even her own father and they were spared.
Kars'i never stayed in one slave setting for very long. She wound up going all over the continent under new masters and keepers. It's only a stroke of luck that you were there to save her from clutches in Amn.
Kars'i may have once been Neutral Evil, a selfish scout mostly in it to get rewarded for her work, but slavery has wisened her up and she almost crusades against it.
Her sneaky ways have kept her alive and becoming a gladiator has forced her to fight in close quarters.
Unique Features: Kars'i is a Dark Dwarf, which means she provides a reputation hit, but since not a Drow this hit is only 1 point. She has trouble in sunlight like all Underdark creatures, but possesses strong resistances to fire, poison (35%), Magic (25%) and can see through illusion magic IE she gets a free cast of Inquisitor Truesight. She also has +1 damage and THAC0 against dwarves and elves.
Despite spending a good many years a slave, she's mostly just glad to be free and would rather not risk that freedom by lashing out at her traveling partners; the only ones she outright hates are Dorn and Hexxat, though she will not fight them. She gets along very well with Aerie as they can really connect about their enslaved pasts. Viconia is interesting in that she is a Drow, but clearly as adverse to the Underdark as she is, giving them a tense but mutual enemy of my enemy relationship.
The Knightly characters, mostly Keldorn, will be wary at first, even angry about travelling with an Underdark denizen, but her calm and less than cruel demeanor will ease him up.
Kars'i will demand you free the slave children if you haven't already. From there, she has no quest until the Underdark, to which she'll almost beg you to take the boat.
In the Underdark, you will find her father, who ran away from home in his grief to explore the world and find his daughter. He traveled north along the coast. Kars'i must decide whether to kill him or forgive him or even threaten him to make items for her and there are rewards for each option.
Most of the gear is from the first IWD game (whereabouts he traveled and learned to imitate some gear of the last century,) +3/+4 stuff. Most of the better items like the Long Sword or Morning Star of Action, The Repeating Heavy Crossbow +3, the Defender Morningstar +4, Lover +4 Throwing Dagger, +3 Defender Bastard Sword and the Great Halberd +4.
Keep in mind you'll likely be higher level than when you found them originally in IWD.
Kars'i will romance men and women, but only Dwarves, Half Orcs and Gnomes. This limits her romance conflicts to fewer NPCs than you'd imagine.
Kars'i seems powerful, due to her race, and her tendency to be indifferent to many things other than allowing others to have free will. She's not hard to fit into most parties.
I think BG2 could use a few more "late" pickups... Maybe someone lurking in the Underdark, or someone (besides Imoen) who you could boost from Spellhold (hello Tiax!).
As things stand, with a little meta-gaming, you could put a perfect party together almost without completing a quest.
Race: Half-Elf
Class: Fighter/Cleric (Worships Auril)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Stats:
Str: 18/11
Dex: 16
Con: 15
Int: 10
Wis: 17
Chr: 8
Total: 84
Proficiencies
++ Flail
+ Club
++ Sling
+ Staff
As he levels he'll first finish staff and then clubs.
He has a boosted Ice Resistance offset by somewhat reduced fire resistance, +50, -25% respectively.
Background: Zernath gives you a cold stare, befitting for one who says he's of Auril's faith. Though he says very little, he stands stoic, and a bit to the side by himself, waiting to do what must be done. All he tells you is that you'd best not question the will of his icy goddess.
It's mostly just a concept as of yet.
@Quartz I believe one exists called Nephele, though she is a silent one.
Coming up with a new concept on the spot isn't that hard either.
Name: Grahik
Class: Barbarian
Race: Half-Orc
Alignment: TN
Stats:
19 Str
17 Dex
16 Con
9 Int
13 Wis
10 Chr
Total: 84
Prof:
++ Short Bow
++ Halberd
+ 2H Weapon Style
+ Staff (an extra + at 9)
+ Bastard Sword (if 12 or higher)
Biography: When asked about his past, Grahik tells you that he's glad you care about him more than the orcs he called family, but would rather not talk at all. With your curiosity still on him, he sighs, mentioning how he was always seen as weaker because of his mixed blood, but never really cared what they thought. On a whim, one day, he left his clan to wander the world, lost without a goal or mission.
He says little more because he doesn't care to hear you speak. With a final snarl, you leave him be.
Grahik can be found at the Druid Grove right near the entrance, fighting a few trolls. He is cursing his luck because he's out of fire arrows. If you help him out, he may repay you with his service as a warrior.
Grahik respects strength, whether physical or magical, and does not care for those without a backbone. He otherwise doesn't care, as long as you don't provoke or bother him, befitting of his True Neutral tendencies to just not give a damn.
He is romancable by humans, Half-orcs, gnomes and dwarves of either gender, provided their strength is at least 11.
He also has a quest when you enter Imnesvale with him involving his tribe needing his help. Namely, the problem is getting into the big human city without causing a fuss. Orcs tend to draw a crowd, after all.
And that... was an on the spot idea for a character.
Race: Aasimar*
Gender: Female
Class: Priest of Set, Cleric/Thief optional installation
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Nephiset is a character I'm pretty keen on doing some work for, though I don't have her overly developed as of yet. She's originally from Mulhorand, though likely had to flee the country and is now wandering the west, corrupting people for the glory of her evil overlord.
They say that good doesn't always equal nice, and I think the converse is going to be true with Nephiset. She's a fallen priestess of Isis, the NG Mulhorandi goddess of love, so she'll be pleasant and even-tempered, but personal tragedy destroyed her faith, and there's little left there but nihilism. She thinks the world isn't worth saving and just wants to watch it burn.
If she ever happens, Nephiset is going to be a very corruptive character. She turned away from goodness, sincerely believes that it's a lie, and will try to drag a good aligned PC into the darkness with her. Probably several of the other NPCs as well. Why, hello there, Aerie.
Romance? Maybe. Redemption? Probably not. I'd rather try legit evil, though I'm pretty sure that the Cult of Set engineered her downfall, and she doesn't know it yet.
*In Mulhorand, divine blood is as common as mud and the priesthoods are generally descended from the gods. I'm probably going with the lore whereby this makes them Aasimar, since it makes a multiclassing option a bit less illegal.
And that's as close to an npc idea I am right now. I still need a name though.
Name: Chremain
Race: Halfling
Class: Swashbuckler
Alignment: LE
Stats:
16 Str
17 Dex (19 In SoA)
15 Con
13 Int
9 Wis
15 Chr
Total: 85 (87 SoA)
Weapon Proficiencies:
++ Short Sword (second pip at 4)
+ Crossbow
++ Dual Wield (SoA will start getting pips)
Biography: Chermain gloats about how awesome he is the second you lend him your ear. He tells you nothing of where he's actually from, but sings praises as to things he's done. One such story is a battle he had against a Red Dragon, but you suspect he might be lying. He speaks of how he can charm women and nobles alike.
Chermain doesn't have much in the way of quests in Bg1, but his roguish nature gets the better of him due to how cocky he is. He mostly just wants to boast to the point that few NPCs want to actually listen. He barely gets along with anyone because of his overbearing nature, but nobody really wants to actually kill him for it except maybe Shar-Teel.
BG2 sees a short smattering of quests, mostly stemming from a certain dragon.