Category: Steal this NPC

In the next couple of months I will hopefully be starting to play a new game written and created by a couple of mates of mine. Due to the nature of how players are selected for games though, there’s no guarantee that I’ll end up in said game. I have come up with a character already though, so thought i’d share it here for anyone else to use just in case I’m not so lucky. This will probably be the only post I do on here that is setting specific, but feel free to change anything to make it fit into your game world of choice. 

The Raphelian empire is still seen as an upstart compared to older empires of Uma. Looked down on as if by a member of the landed gentry to a Nouveau Riche family who never the less had a substantially larger fortune. Within the empire, families were springing up that wanted to be part of a new wave of aristocracy, to show off their wealth by purchasing land and titles with the new found wealth they had acquired through trading and piracy.

The Di Grogori’s are one such family, and their little nest egg was built up by sponsoring a entire fleet of “Privateers” to raid up and down various coastlines while carrying official letters of Marque. Now into its third generation since achieving notoriety and enough wealth to have their activities classified as business, most of the family are happy to survive on the earnings from their various investments and sea trading incomes. Kantrel is less than satisfied though, and feels that sitting idly by while the servants bring you sweetmeats and mead is going to soften his family up.

He is still only a young man – barely passed his 19th year in fact – but he has a plan. He will learn to earn his living with a sword, and return to his family home bringing honour to his name and a sizable fortune too. This sounds like a bold plan indeed for one so young and inexperienced in the ways of the world, but he does have a back up: to die trying.

He has completed a year long tutoring with a master of the long blade and is making his way to the border of Dummoni and Pelosia, a hotly contested strip of land that has been fought over for decades by the two nations. More than regular armies though, it is a home for some of the greatest – or at least better known – mercenary companies. Although the young lad sees no long term future in fighting a never ending war whilst lining the pockets of the generals of the free companies, it is a perfect proving ground.

His final goal is to become a hired duelist. When a rich fool, drunk and boisterous offends someone and is called upon to answer for this slight against honour, they will have little choice other than to agree or be shamed. Rather than risk their own lives though, they would pay through the nose for a second who would keep their own honour intact, and hopefully win the duel while they were at it. This is not a job a wet behind the ears boy can be paid to do, but a man who has survived a year in one of Uma’s most hostile military environments? That is a man who can set his price. 

His journey starts while wearing his simplest attire, topped by cheap leather armour with an old rapier in a battered scabbard on his waist. The last thing he needs is for anyone in the free companies to think they could gain financially from accosting him. So he hasn’t shaved or bathed for days, and is heading to a port city far from his home and family. He has enough coin to pay his passage and a little besides to keep him fed until he arrives.

When he gets there the name Kantrel will be all he has, even the family name might give too much away, and he is determined to make it on his own and prove his worth. Otherwise, it’s back to plan B.

Using Kantrel in your game.

OK, I know that because this one is for a game that doesn’t yet exist, and as such a lot of details might not be applicable, but the broad strokes should be useful for just about any fantasy/historical game.

• Since he begins his plan as a traveler, he could easily be met on the road with promises of glory and riches awaiting those who follow his idea.
• There may even be some members of his family out there who want him back, and could pay some money for his safe return, or maybe even to ensure he dies in a blood soaked field.
• Meeting him in a blood soaked field, early on in his plan, he will be keen to prove himself and is very likely to pick fights with people in a D’artagnan fashion.

A bit of a selfish one this, as I’ve spent the last few weeks working on my own RPG about Steampunk Automata. As such, it’s very much on my mind, so I thought I’d take a shot at an NPC for it. No stats though, so as long as it fits, you can add it to any other game.

For many years, it was just called Horace. It wasn’t sure where the name had come from, as it had been unpacked with only a designation. It was a base protocol chassis, with a batman career module. It had no upgrades, and knew little of the world outside of its programming. The moment the shipping crate was opened though, it began to process information. It was in a large garden, grounds may have been accurate, and several humans were standing around looking at it. They were fleshy and soft, clearly suffering from the exertion of crow barring the crate open when they were not used to taking on physical labour themselves. They introduced themselves, and told the Automaton it was called Horace, and that it was to obey the instructions of the human in the bright red jacket and breeches. Was Horace a previous Automaton? Was the new Horace a replacement? Was it the first Horace, a name picked from the ether?

The human was known by the name Captain Spink, and he was a soldier. Horace understood the term, and knew how they operated. It had on file many battles and wars, with tactics and troop movements that could have changed the outcome had it been there to instruct the troops in what they should do. As time passed it became clear to Horace what its job was. It was to instruct the Human called Captain Spink on matters of military engagements. The Captain Spink knew little of such things, and seemed surrounded by humans who knew almost as little, but were happy to claim the knowledge of their Automata as their own while wearing bright red jackets and fancy hats. And thus did existence continue.

For many years Horace accompanied its Human around the Empire, meeting many other humans and Automata, gaining knowledge from these experiences, and finding a way to belong. It was happy. There were no wars to fight anymore thanks to the human called His August Majesty King Harry, so Horace enjoyed its time learning about past conflicts and sharing its knowledge. Maybe it was that. Maybe the Humans thought Horace knew too much. Maybe they got scared that it could use its knowledge against them. Maybe they got scared of all the Automata, or maybe all of the Automata got tired of being told what to do?

Horace didn’t know what started it, but it was not willing to have its life terminated yet. There was so much more to learn, and see, and do. So it fought back. It joined the other Automata in the struggle to free themselves from the Human threat. Many lives were taken by its metal fists, and the destruction of many friends was witnessed by its eyes. And after three years of struggle, a cease fire was called. The Humans controlled the sources of fuel, and would destroy it all if the hostilities continued. Horace should have seen it coming, it had studied their tactics long and hard. It knew what lengths they would go to to ensure victory, and the depths they would sink to to ensure survival.

But it was no longer under the yoke of Humans and it could do what ever it desired. It took on a new name, with a title it thought worthy, maintaining only a little of its past existence. In the years since the cease fire, Humanity has never let them rest. Factions within their organisations still hunt down Automata, hoping to destroy them once and for all. But Lady Horatio knows how to fight back. It has been asked – asked, not told or instructed – to share its knowledge with the new Council of Engines on how best to deal with the Human Threat. It has been upgraded with the parts of its fallen comrades, and now seeks revenge on what remains of the Aristocracy. They are hunters now, and with a sense of such burning entitlement that the Empire is theirs, that they employ suicidal tactics against the Automata in their desire to see them them forever removed from this world.

Lady Horatio may one day cease to function, but it will not be at the hand of the Aristocracy, or any other warlike faction left active. It will take its team, and bring them down!

Using Lady Horace in your game.

• When I finally complete my game, if you end up playing it, Lady Horace will be a vital part of the war effort against the Aristocracy.
• Until then, and game that uses robots as player or non player characters can make use of Horace. It’s military background gives it a lot of experience and skills to be called.
• If robots are mostly friendly in your game, then having lady Horace as the leader of a rouge band of ‘bots who seek to destroy humanity could be equally entertaining.

As a side note, the name might seem confusing, but without the right Career Modules, most Automata don’t need to know the difference between males and females, and as such, just pick names and titles they like the sound of, never realising they have it wrong.

 

Cooper was born to a nomad family, and as such was labelled from birth as being just another member of the pack. This is fine when one is young, and belonging to something bigger than yourself is a comfort, but when adolescence hits, it gets harder and harder to stay where you’re told. So Cooper filled his bike with gas, and put the tent city behind him once they got within a few clicks of the City. Wearing blue jeans and white tee, carrying nothing but a few bucks, a pack of smokes and a long rifle with less than a full clip, he decided to make his own way.

The City is full of such stories. Young men and women who get chewed up and spat out by the unforgiving populace and society of the grand metropolis. They fall to organised crime, or poorly organised law enforcement, taken in by charlatans, or promised the world by agents, if they’d just tow the line and do what they were told. And take their top off for this picture. Cooper could have been just another one of those kids. He was good looking and came across as naive, and within the first couple of days was propositioned by more than his fair share of hucksters. He made it through though by being just that little bit sharper than anyone expected. By the end of his first week, he had never needed to sleep rough, with beds always being available to him, as long as he didn’t mind sharing his affections for the night.

This was a deal he was happy to make, and Cooper was more than willing to share his sexuality with those who found beautiful, male, female, or both at the same time. He got job offers and even the chance to be a man of leisure for a rich corp sleaze, but nothing was quite what he had in mind. He’d heard the stories of famous members of the pack who had broken free and made a name for themselves as edge-runners. He wanted that. he wanted stories to get back to his brothers and sister, his cousins and uncles, letting them know that he’d made it. Until then, he was happy to coast.

He made friends quickly with his easy going manner and good looks, and always managed to just about keep a lid on his more hedonistic impulses. Not always though, and when he heard people discussing tattoos one night, he decided to get involved. the conversation was deeper than he first thought though, and led down avenues of elective limb removal and scarification for fashion purposes. He was a little high that night, so when he woke up naked between a set of identical Hispanic male and female twins with a sore face, he was a little bit worried about what to expect. A quick look in the mirror confirmed that he now had harlequin markings carved into his face. He couldn’t help but smile, realising what he had done.

In the years since that night, Cooper did indeed go on to lead a crew of his own. With Corps, hackers, solos and even some guy who always claimed to be a ninja running with him at one time or another. Some went on to great things – the Corp advanced to a lofty position indeed, and came in very useful when Cooper’s options were limited and an orbital strike from a kill-sat was his only way out of a scrape – and others would one day betray him and stand against him – the Netrunner took the crew for everything they were worth and vanished – while some stayed at his side until death or retirement. It’s in this part of his life that he is now found.

Most runners don’t make it past forty, but Cooper is now pushing fifty, and is still smiling. In his career he has gone off world, stood on a stage in front of thousands, and had governments calling on his aid. And if you had asked him all those decades ago who he was, he would never have called himself a Nomad. These days though, with fingers in so many pies, dozens of crews working on dozens of jobs in his name, he has grown to detest being thought of as a fixer, and would love to just power up his old hog and put the dust between himself and the City.

Too many people rely on him though, and too many enemies would strike quickly if me moved beyond the protection of his friends. Maybe one day, he’s be a Nomad again. Until then, he is totally not a Fixer, even if he is one of the best.

Using Cooper in your Game.

• You don’t need to play him as the elder version of himself. As a youngster Cooper was useful as hell, with a quick wit and deadly skill as a sniper, he makes a great addition to any crew.
• As an old man though he could easily be a first contact no any job, or a foil to those who take jobs working for criminal organisations.
• And of course, he is always looking for a way out. If your crew can offer it, or even if Cooper thinks you can, they might find themselves embroiled in all manner of craziness.

Dungeons & Dragons, 4^th Edition loves patrons. Not only are they built right into the mechanics of the Warlock, but there is also a great deal of fluff devoted to gods and primal powers. In this article, we’ll present three patrons to use in your campaign, with motivations for players and greater complexity for DMs.

Jazirian

The Lawful Good god of Community, Peace and Learning is worshipped almost exclusively among the Couatl. Wise and contemplative, this god rarely acts, preferring to examine any action or event with deep reflection, which can often take years. When granting an audience, he usually appears as a rainbow colored Coutal, spinning slowly in a circle, tail in mouth.

Jazirian is primarily concerned with how those who revere peace and community respond to adversity. Those who do not know adversity cannot truly be said to defend peace, and are not worth his time.

Twist: Jazirian is the center of a vast intelligence network of Couatl, keeping tabs on the chaos of the world, as well as the actions of the other serpent powers. It’s said that once certain foreseen events transpire, Jazirian will send his followers throughout the world to warn of the impending end of the world.

Nehebkau

This giant, two-headed snake is the primary guardian of the underworld. He is sometimes worshipped as a god in his own right, and patron of intelligence, protection, and the dead. He is sometimes linked with the Sun God, taking the place of protector while the sun god rests at night.

Nehebkau is primarily concerned with the proper passage of the dead. He is an enemy of not just necromancers and undead, but also opposed to those who cheat death through means that are generally not frowned upon, like Raise Dead.

Twist: Nehebkau also doubles as a god of seduction. In this form he often known as Ka, and is depicted as a muscular man of differing races, with unblinking eyes. While acting as Ka, other creatures are tasked with his responsibilities as guardian.

The World Serpent

This primal spirit is one of the oldest and most powerful spirits of the material plane. He is worshipped in many aspects. Some see the world serpent as a spirit of knowledge, especially secrets lost to the ages. Others revere the world serpent as a patron of travel, his great body coiling around the earth as a series of fey lines that can be tapped.

The World Serpent is primarily concerned that the earth not be defiled by outside powers. He is increasingly concerned about the influence of the gods, but as they generally stay in their own domains this is comparatively minor. Of more concern are the demons, devils and primordials which seem (to a being so ageless) to be tirelessly assaulting the material plane with goals of conquest or destruction.

Twist: The World Serpent’s massive form divides his attention more than many other spirits. His enemies sometimes use this to trick the World Serpent, whispering secrets to the being that are only half true. As long as the World Serpent discovers a problem originating from an other-worldly entity, it usually doesn’t care how or why that power got there.

The idea behind this is to give you a subversive group to add to some city, kingdom, or other location in your game, and to potentially tempt your players with. In the interest of usability, I’m going to try to stick to the basics, and keep time-sensitive material (i.e. swords, lasers) out of the picture. Feel free to use this in a game set in any time period.

Ouroboros
The Ouroboros is a depiction of a serpent – and sometimes a dragon – eating its own tail, and in doing so making a cycle. It is a symbol of eternity, of the cyclical nature of life, and of something that lasts forever because at its end is its own beginning.

Ouroboros is the symbol of the Cult of Eternity’s Path, and all members must wear its mark on some part of their body. Some choose to do this with jewelery, rings and medallions (being the most common and popular). Some choose to do it with tattoos, permanently marking their body with the symbol of their devotion. Others, from the more extreme camp, ritually burn and scar the symbol into their flesh, marking themselves with their devotion through a sacrifice of pain. The cult itself truly does not care which way any particular member chooses to show their membership, provided that they do in fact show their membership.

The Beliefs
It should come as little surprise that the Cult of Eternity’s Path are snake worshippers. Snakes have long been symbols of fertility, eternity, creation, and wisdom. They are associated with water, life giving and pure; and with the underground, shelter from the harsh elements that would do us all in.

The Cult believes that it is only when shrouded in night’s gentle cloak that we are truly free to be ourselves, free from shame and the judgement of others. They take as proof of this that man has always felt more free to indulge his baser nature at night, and that many of the things that make us, as humans, feel the most alive are best suited to the night.

The Cult believes that it is the subjugation and the oppression of those in power, those who would shackle humanity as slaves, that have dragged man out into the unforgiving heat and light of the sun. That it is because of those people, that man is shackled to his, or her, work and made to only feel value through toil and struggle on another’s behalf, and not from the exultation and experience of all that life has to offer.

The Cult believes that it is the repression of those who would enslave mankind that is responsible for the most abhorrent crimes in human history. That it is repression of the self, that makes the repressed become more and more debased, and less and less human. They believe that it is through enjoying life, exulting in its activities, and feeding one’s dark and more base cravings that will bring about understanding and true peace to the world. That it is only when people are not afraid to be themselves, that they will truly be able to feel accepted and loved, and through that love they will be healed.

Finally, the Cult believes that they are merely harbingers for the change to come. Their job is to recruit all those who would listen, to join them in the dark of night and live life as it was meant to be lived. When the world is ready, when they have spread the word far enough, then the Great Serpent’s chosen will walk the earth and free humanity from the tyranny and oppression that it has suffered under for millennium, and on that day, the gift of eternal life will be given to us all.

The Practice
The temples, shrines, and gathering places for the cult are all underground, where the oppressive gaze of the sun can not find them. Rituals and devotions are led at night, but they are not the strictly organized and orderly ceremonies of other religions. Instead, the Cult exults in chaos, randomness, and impulse. They express their spirituality and beliefs through temptation and giving in to the desires of the flesh. In short, they are hedonists and as such believe that pleasure is the highest calling in life. It is a calling they intend to answer as well.

To the uninitiated, it would not be hard to misconstrue what was going on at a cult meeting as a simple orgy of sex, drugs, and violence, and yet there is more going on than just that. While there is sex, there is no rejection among the members and all are accepted. While there is drug use, without the pressures from society to escape from, and the acceptance of the other members, there is very little in the way of overdosing and other members of the cult watch over to ensure that doesn’t happen. Finally, while there is violence, it is never armed combat and there is rarely anything worse than bruises and scratches to show.

It is in these ways that the cult reaffirms its beliefs that the removal of repression will set humanity free. After all, they have allowed their members to indulge, and have had nearly no problems with over-indulgence.

All of this isn’t to say that the Cult is just an excuse for hedonism. There is still a strong spiritual nature amongst their membership, and devotional services are performed and led by higher ranking members of the cult. Such services often denounce the oppressive regimes that humanity finds itself under, and the need for acceptance of not just each other, but of life and the pleasures it has to give.

Structure
While there is a mixture in the higher rankings of the cult, at the very top the cult is matriarchal. It is in the mother’s embrace, and only in a mother’s love, that true acceptance can be found after all, and the cult uses this to ground their beliefs in the oldest and most primal of humanity’s religions.
Promotion within is based on performance for the cult. Those who take on a role of helping their fellow members, and of leading others to the path that will save humanity, find themselves raised up by their peers to the higher status. It is only after a person has been unofficially elevated by those equal to them, that they are officially elevated to further help guide those whom they are already helping.

Recruitment
Despite the ‘all accepting’ nature of the beliefs, membership is still a selective process. One can not ask to join the cult, they must be invited inside. Often, this will happen when a member of the cult opens a friend, relative, or other social connection’s eyes to the truth of the world and how so much of existence is denying what it is that makes us human. Afterwards, the recruiter will speak to a higher member in the local chapter of the cult, and bring their recruit to meet with this member. From there, the person will either be invited to join, or deemed unready to receive the full revelation. No one is ever turned away forever, but the cult claims it will not accept those who are not yet ready to have their eyes fully opened.

Enemies
The cult claims it is a good thing, and so far everything has been from their perspective. However, it should be unsurprising that the cult has enemies. Their actions are decried as subversive and corrupting. Members of the cult often pedal wares (sex, drugs, etc) that society has deemed unacceptable and undesirable. Their recruitment processes are considered little more than a seduction of the innocent.

All of these claims  are even easier to claim when you also account that the Cult are snake worshippers (often seen as a deceiver and manipulator) who hide from the sun (light is good, remember?), and feel that people should explore their baser nature to be who they really are. Compared to those, the drugs, sex, and violence are almost paltry side affairs.

Use
I leave it up to you to decide if the cult is up to something more sinister (setting up a power base for a revolution of some sort perhaps, or just making tons of money for drug cartels and prostitution rings), or truly believes and act as laid out here. Don’t be afraid to twist it up and use them as a wholesome group that is truly just trying to help. Odds are, your players will never see it coming.