Make a famous NPC

[Nevermorrow]

For some reason, when I was writing this, something went wrong and it would only let me submit this post as a draft. I don't know what happened. Anyway, I had to change the title to get the board to post it as a new thread (which I'm not sure it will actually do as I write this. Mods, if you can find that draft, please delete it. I'm not sure how that works.

Many RL players, myself among them, have always complained that there is too much attention focused on darklords, their allies, and heroes like Tara Kolyana and Van Richten. Many of the most interesting historical figures would fit into neither category. Some, such as Cagliostro were notorious in their time, but seem far from evil enough to make darklord material without substantial change. So why don't we add some interesting figures of our own making?

Come up with someone completely original. Base him/her/it/they on a real or fictional personage. Wikipedia is fertile ground for this; Leonardo da Vinci, Joan of Arc, Casanova, Sawney Bean, Cleopatra, whoever catches your fancy; they don't even have to be alive, but could be legendary figures in modern RL. I'd like to writeup a character based on Lord Byron this weekend myself. Make the NPC human or secretly a monster or supernatural creature. Give 'em the Ravenloft touch or let them be "normal". Make it a group if you like. Just give them a personality, tell us their secrets if applicable, and decide what made them famous or infamous.

Anyone interested?

[HuManBing]

Yes, but I find d20 a very frustrating system to work in because it tends towards a cinematic fantasy style.

Most people from history will fit poorly into the system unless you make a load of tweaks to it. I did this for a while and then gave up and went with a different system entirely that was more realistic in nature.

[Nevermorrow]

Very true, HuManBing. That's a large part of why I eventually abandoned the d20 system myself. But I didn't say anything about rules; I know I'm no the only one around here not playing d20. All I meant was a description of the person. Game stats are okay but not needed.

[HuManBing]

I created a group of high-level NPCs all working in a guild, called l'Agence d'Affaires. The guild's entire gig is that they take care of people who arrive in Darkon and then lose their memories. The guild gets a labor force, and they are able to provide some gainful employment for these lost souls who would otherwise drift into crime, prostitution, and exploitation. The guild operates in Darkon, with a few contacts in neighboring domains. Its internal structure is much like a modern corporation.

Because of the guild's function, it evolved from a purely commercial enterprise to more of an information gathering enterprise. Some of Darkon's Kargat cells are working to put an informant in the guild to tap into this wealth of information. I have an entire campaign arc that focuses on the guild's unhappy downfall from an Infiltrator, and its rise from the ashes.

Shayla Nin:

The chief executive officer of the company. A compact, dark-haired, businesslike woman in her middle age. Shayla Nin was once a victim of memory loss herself upon arriving in Darkon, but she worked tirelessly for the previous Company Head, Leotref Lejnt. Lejnt promoted her to the guild's leading circle of officers. Nin is slightly mousy, frazzled, and was quite attractive in her prime. She speaks in a clear, somewhat curt voice, and is initially brusque. She's very warm once she gets to know somebody personally, but this almost never happens until after she's dealt with them in commerce or business long enough at formal arm's length to know they can be trusted. Those who impress her are invited to spend a week or fortnight at one of her several lodges around Darkon, in retreats with other company members and social worthies. Nin distinguishes herself as a charming hostess at these events.

Past: Nin was actually once Petra Lebojik, a Lamordian noblewoman whose husband ran up debts he could not pay. When the bailiffs came, she placed her daughter Dagmar into a convent and fled to Darkon, intending to return. Sadly, she lost her memories in Darkon, and has remained there ever since. Dagmar, her daughter, died in the convent but remains significant. The Falkovnian spymaster Yuri Mitrovic has "borrowed" Dagmar's history as a cover story for his own illegitimate daughter Sonia, who is at a sanitarium under Dagmar's assumed name.

Plot Development: Nin is the company head and responsible for internal affairs. As time progresses, the agency receives several high-paying jobs from an anonymous client. The targets of these jobs are seemingly unrelated and some are outright criminal. Nin begins her own investigations into the client. Meanwhile, some missions are blown and some agents are compromised. Nin begins researching who is doing this, but is eventually poisoned before she can finish. The PCs pick up where she left off and finish her research for her.

Pieter Lejnt

The owner of the guild. He inherited it from his father, and is smart enough to know he is not competent to run it. He supported Shayla Nin's promotion to CEO and keeps her position secure against her ambitious Stockmaster underlings. Lejnt has important connections with the main traders in Darkon and abroad, as well as some allies in military uniform. Pieter himself is a tall thin man with a good socialite's parlorside manner. Unlike Nin, he has a family and life outside the guild, and he keeps it completely separate from work.

Past: Pieter's father Leotref founded the guild. Pieter himself is a conscientious owner but lacks the penetrating business acumen of Nin and the Stockmasters. He is the final arbiter of guild direction and corporate policy, and can demote and dismiss officers at will.

Plot: Relatively little. Lejnt's approval is needed for all personnel changes, and the Infiltrator is working to turn Lejnt against Nin and her supporters so he'll dismiss them. Lejnt eventually is the one to reform the guild again with the PCs' help.

The Four Stockmasters[:

Below Nin work four stockmasters, each running their own operatives and staff. They have separate portfolios and jurisdictions, but their own agendas. Any one of the could be the Infiltrator - it's up to the DM which one and why.

Vesildur Ermoroud is a faintly elven-blooded sorceror and a member of a licensed mages' circle in Il Aluk that occasionally does contracting work for the king. He is itching to do some dungeoneering. He is the least political of the Stockmasters and likes nothing better than to drop his academic pretences and go gallivanting into some abandoned ruins or other adventure with a band of mercenaries. He is the one who brings a gentle stream of magical items into the Agence, and also knows of the market demand for rare and special magical components. He has a neat calling card - literally. When he gives you his card, you can burn it later and it will allow him to speak with you through the fire. Vesildur looks like a human with a vivid dye-job: his hair is faintly green and his eyes are piercing emerald. When he talks, he is gracious enough but there is the hint of sorrow or regret behind his expression.

Plot: Vesildur could be the Infiltrator. His mages' circle already do some business with Azalin (though at arms' length) so he could have been contacted by the Kargat. As a half-elf, he could suffer from the outcast syndrome of Tanis on Dragonlance, and the Kargat could have tempted him with promise of extended lifespan so he can finally fit in with elvish peers. If this is the case, Vesildur wishes to bring down the guild because he has found a better offer outside of it, working for the king.

Casimir von Delantz is an aristocrat who is trying to rebuild his family fortunes after his forebears were brought low following charges of treason. That side of the family is now in Mordent, having fled Darkon, but von Delantz is just popular enough in nobility circles to have escaped their fate. He plays up the role of the foppish dandy, but he is ambitious and calculating. There is a hint of steel behind his charm. von Delantz is dashingly handsome, with golden wavy hair and low-lidded blue eyes.

Plot: Casimir could be the Infiltrator. He is already a nobleman and Nin is a mere laborer... it would be unbearably insulting for owner Pieter Lejnt to promote Nin above him. He could bring the support of Darkon's finest houses behind the guild, if only they would dispose of Nin and her bookmakers' ways. He is also disgruntled with Nin's cost-conscious budgets for the Stockmasters. As a wassailer and hob-nobber and socialite, von Delantz's expense account feels the pinch.

Vasily Szekler (pronounced "Sheckler") is the Agence's military attache. A former Darkonian army man, he served under the ex-company head Leotref Lejnt and now controls the Agence's operations in Falkovnia. Although his duties include safeguarding Darkonian trade shipments to and from that country, he also plays a role in smuggling asylum seekers over the border. The Agence has found this to be a dangerous-but-rewarding exercise: it earns them the gratitude of a whole new generation of members, who will lose their memories and continue to serve the Agence for a period of time thereafter. Szekler's current sources tell him the Falkovnian army has deployed in villages and holdings along the border. He fears another invasion may be threatened or imminent. Even in full dress uniform, Szekler is a large, rough-looking man with perpetual stubble and scars on his face. His bravery and effectiveness in battle carries over into a clipped, curt manner in civilian transactions, but he admires discipline and self-control in others and responds warmly.

Plot: Szekler could be the Infiltrator. Of all the Stockmasters, he has given the greatest physical sacrifices in crossing swords with Falkovnia's frontline soldiers. A Kargat agent could have posed as a refugee under Szekler's assignment, and planted the seed of perfidy in his mind. To Szekler, all the other company heads might seem like office-bound ignorant civilians who have no idea of the lives at stake along Falkovnia's border with Darkon. Nin would be the worst of all: a trade-tired woman of whom the Falkovnians would make short work if they ever put their mind to it.

Kellsin Cotter is a ne'er-do-well and scoundrel extraordinaire. A sallow, thin-faced man, he has contacts with landowners and slumlords throughout Martira Bay and Il Aluk. In times when the Agence's plans go awry, he's the one to arrange safehouses or hiding holes for them to lie low until the storm blows over. Cotter is the connection for the Agence whenever they need deniable lockpicks or other questionable access to areas they shouldn't be prying into. More than once, Nin's art business has required her to send informants behind closed doors to appraise or confirm the existence of paintings and other goods.

Plot: Cotter is probably the easiest Stockmaster to make into the Infiltrator. So easy, in fact, that if he really DOES turn out to be the infiltrator, the DM may want to make him less rogueish and more like a happy-go-lucky swashbuckler type of fellow instead. Cotter could easily be swayed to turn against Nin purely through the promise of power and wealth.



In may campaign, the PCs did a few missions for each Stockmaster, getting to know them and getting a few conversations with them and their views on Nin and how the Agence is being run. The missions included three which tallied to the first three Grand Conjunction adventures, each with an added MacGuffin to tie it in to Azalin's research. Slowly but surely, more and more of their missions are being sabotaged from inside by the Infiltrator, with each sabotage benefitting Azalin or the Kargat indirectly.

Then, the Infiltrator strikes, with Nin sickening and eventually dying from her illness. Three of the Stockmasters scapegoat the fourth, and Lejnt appoints one Stockmaster (not the Infiltrator) to succeed Nin as CEO. The guild begins to dismiss and purge many agents whom the Infiltrator deems unnecessary or threatening, including the PCs.

Once they're dismissed from the guild's protection, they become fair game for the Kargat. In a series of chases, the Kargat pursues them across Darkon to the eastern shore, where they are eventually forced onto a boat for escape. This triggers the fourth GC adventure, Ship of Horrors.

Finally, the PCs survive the adventure and sneak back in to Darkon. The Agence by that time has been largely stripped of its assets by the Infiltrator and has become a full-time intelligence gathering branch working for the Kargat. The PCs must quietly track down and speak with all the dismissed surviving staffers to find out which Stockmaster is the Infiltrator, and present proof of this to Lejnt.

In my campaign, I actually did not decide who the Infiltrator was - I merely gave each Stockmaster an equal number of alibis and incriminating evidence, and I let my PCs decide. They chose Vesildur Ermoroud, and I gave them a spyhunt culminating in a rooftop battle. After killing Ermoroud, Lejnt was able to access Nin's records and rehabilitate the staffers. Among Nin's records are her own tragic history (Dagmar's death, Petra's conversion to Shayla) as well as findings to help the PCs regain their memories. Some records had to be recovered from Nin safehouses that had fallen to the Kargat.

The Agence plot arc ends when the Kargat decide to eliminate the PCs once and for all. The Agence is maneuvered into sending the PCs to a nobles' ball at the royal apartments in Il Aluk, where the PCs are captured and delivered to Avernus. Azalin then initiates the events of "From the Shadows" with them.

[brilliantlight]

Kelgar Goldenhair (Based roughly on Caligula)

On an unspecified world Kelgar was born in one of the most powerful empires on the planet. His father was known as a great conquerer. He accompanied his parents on the march and was well liked by the troops who called him "The little soldier". The imperial family was rather large but squabbles between family members caused the death of his father, mother, an uncle and two aunts while he was a child. On assumption to the throne he was originally very popular having given bonuses to the Imperial Guard and recalled various exiles. The absolute power of his position soon corrupted him though. He had incestuous relationships with all his relatives, he went on foolhardy military expeditions to the east, and showed what he thought of the Imperial Senate by making his horse a senator. He ordered the deaths of both enemies and friends to seize their property. Then when he declared himself a god to gain power the mists claimed him and given him his own domain. His domain is an island of terror in the Sea of Sorrows. Used to ruling an empire that an area of 100s of thousands of square miles he has been reduced to ruling one of only 300 square miles. The imperial palace was shrunken to a Noble's castle and the number of servants/slaves are now a tenth of what they were. Occasionally his ships report of islands in in which he could start building an empire . His curse is that whenever a ship of his approaches one of these islands with the idea of conquering them something goes wrong. His ships are caught in a tremendous storm, or a plague hits the ships hard or they hit some rocks and sink. In some ways he is in an even worse position than Drakov as he doesn't lose these men in battle and the powerful Dark Lords barely know of his existence. I am not sure what Dark Lord powers to give him. Some ideas?

[herkles]

an NPC for dementlieu,

((based on the real life Dr. Guillotin))Dr. Albert Guillotin: Dr. Albert Guillotin, is the creation of the National Razor of Dementlieu, the Guillotine. Dr Guillotin, was the son of a noble family in Dementlieu. From an early age, he seemed to have been fascinated by the sciences, most particularly Medicine. He was sent to the University of Port-à-Lucine, when he was 19, and here he quickly became successful in the field of anatomy. He would work towards medical reform and publish several articles upon that and other fields in anatomy. It was however his reports on the body and capital punishment that would make him famous.

Before Guillotin, the most common manner of execution was beheading with a sword or axe or simply hanging. Dr. Guillotin, discovered that often times a person would not die right away through the previous methods of beheading and would need several chops to get it done. He also was seeking a more humane treatment of killing, thus he developed the National Razor.

Ironically, he would be executed by the device that bore his name when he got embroiled in a Scandal. This Scandal would ultimately end up with Dr. Guillotin being beheaded by his own device. Yet despite this, the National Razor is the most common used method for executing people in Dementlieu today.

[Sareau]

I actually did something similar here, but didn't have the impetus to finish nor properly integrate the NPCs into the Ravenloft setting. The idea of a merchant combine/criminal syndicate guided by cult principles working it's way around the Mists and other impediments to commerce is one I am still developing, however...

[HuManBing]

There are a load of Ravenloft NPCs in this thread: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... f=1&t=5131

It was started up as a statting exercise but a lot of them have backstories too.

[ewancummins]

What about an NPC based on Charles Dickens?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _1842.jpeg

I'd make him a playwright instead of a writer of serial stories, to better fit the setting. He'd fit well in Dementlieu. Paridon might be too isolated.

[Manofevil]

What about an NPC based on Charles Dickens?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _1842.jpeg

I'd make him a playwright instead of a writer of serial stories, to better fit the setting. He'd fit well in Dementlieu. Paridon might be too isolated.

Have him make his bones in Denmentlieu, then make a very well publicized visit to Paridon the way Dickens did to New York, specificly the Five Points area, and have him say similar things.

[Sareau]

My own favorite NPC is the deformed Erik, born in rural Dementlieu and sold to a travelling circus at an early age, Erik was born skeletally thin and without a nose, so was billed as the "human skeleton" and received a spotty education.
In Hazlan, he attracted the attention of Hazlik himself, who employed the young man as an architect, impressed by designs he saw the young man implementing in erecting the circus's tent compound. Soon, Erik was designing a palace with hidden labyrinths and all manner of architectural improvements, as well as acting as Hazlan's executioner, publicly garroting enemies of the state.
Of course, once the palace was constructed, Hazlik ordered Erik's death-he knew too much of the palace's layout and was a security risk. Fortunately, allies aided him in escaping Hazlan and returning to Dementlieu, where he financed and oversaw the construction of an opera house.
Honeycombing the opera house with secret passages, he also built private apartments with sewer access beneath the Opera House, where he currently hides from Hazlani agents...

[Manofevil]

In Hazlik, he attracted the attention of Hazlan himself,

Was he dyslexic, too?

[Sareau]

In Hazlik, he attracted the attention of Hazlan himself,

Was he dyslexic, too?

So I type like a chimp....*grumble grumble grammar Nazi grumble*

[Nevermorrow]

Y'know, given how many Earthly analogues are missing from the RL canon, so I kinda hit a wall and wasn't able to come up with a Lord Byron equivalent. For instance, what domain would I substitute for Greece? Borca, maybe? There are plenty of non-canon domains I could use and I guess that's what I was thinking of.

I also have a confession to make. I got seriously side-tracked by 2 anthologies, the twin books of Masterpieces of Terror and the Supernatural and Masterpieces of Terror and the Unknown, both compiled by Marvin Kaye. The "masterpieces" in the title isn't hype and the stories are not the familiar horror stories usually included in masterpiece collections. I got to reading them and completely forgot about this little project. When I was done with them Christmas was just a few days away and I had done nothing to get ready! So please forgive me. I'll get right on this.

[HuManBing]

Lavrentiy Beria struck me as a really good example of an evil henchman. Doesn't quite rise up to the level of "tragic" in any real sense, because he was irredeemably debauched and died a coward in the end - but very capable of some astounding cruelties.

Politically, he wielded terrible powers of accusation - rather similar to Joseph McCarthy, a mere accusation from him could destroy a political career. He bragged, blustered, and bullied his way into control and influence as the commander of the NKVD secret police, and once he held it, proved himself to be completely without scruples or principles in wielding them. Few political rivals could be guaranteed immunity from his accusations and banishment to secret police cells. Enemies of the state would "disappear" into prisons, labor camps, or outright mass executions in the night at his whim.

Also grievous were his personal depravities. He would send his official limousine with secret police to deliver women whom he desired to his offices, where he would seduce or rape them. Regardless of their complicity in the actions, they would be given a bouquet of flowers as they left - some while still in shock at the brutality they had suffered. They would not be allowed to leave until they had accepted the flowers. Only later did the significance of this become clear - having accepted the flowers, Beria could safely claim they had agreed to become his mistresses, and so any accusation of rape would be hard to corroborate.

Beria's self-serving nature also observed no loyalties whatsoever. He owed his rise to Stalin's favor, but at the deathbed of Stalin, he bragged about having killed Stalin himself, whether by poison or by preventing Stalin's physician from attending to the dictator. When Stalin briefly recovered, Beria cravenly knelt and kissed his hand, until Stalin finally relapsed and died - at which point Beria stood and spat.

Eventually, Beria was outmaneuvered by his Politburo rivals working in concert. Khrushchev, Malenkov, Molotov, and Zhukov (the officer who captured Berlin after Hitler's suicide) suddenly declaimed him during what was supposed to be a routine Presidium meeting. Beria was taken completely by surprise, and Zhukov's soldiers arrested him. Such was his fearsome influence that the Defense Ministry had to recall an entire tank division and motor rifle division to Moscow to guard against any secret police divisions still loyal to Beria.

Beria was moved around a few separate locations, undergoing torture and coerced confessions at the hands of the same men who hours before had been his subordinates. He was finally admitted to the basement of the Moscow military HQ, and he was tried there in a quick hearing and sentenced by Konev (the other officer who marched into Berlin after Hitler's suicide) to death by firing squad, to be carried out immediately. His last act allegedly was to fall to his knees and beg for mercy. His body was cremated and his ashes spread around various locations.

It strikes me that such a monstrous character could easily be inserted, with minimal changes, into any high-ranking military post in a state with an unaccountable ruling elite. Darkon and Falkovnia are obvious examples. Nova Vaasa and Barovia could sustain a similar villain.

The presence of this villain also serves as an important foil to the darklords. True, the darklords are the true villains of the piece - but they have some sort of nobility or strength or stoicism that means they can suffer pain and agony, and that PCs may look at them and feel some faint pity. For somebody like Beria, a position as a depraved henchman would be far more suitable. There isn't even the faint pity that one might feel for Drakov (who is at least a capable combat leader).


Edit: Reworded a sentence in case people honestly thought I was comparing all of Beria's depravities to Senator Joseph McCarty.