Tag: NPC

  • Lore 24: Mijdaf, the paddler

    Lore 24: Mijdaf, the paddler

    One of the great parts of Dungeons & Dragons is the impromptu nature of it all. When you’re at the table, especially for a homebrew campaign, things just happen. The participants riff off of each other and a story is created that shouldn’t exist and can never exist again. It is a moment in time. Mijdaf was born in one such moment recently.

    Mijdaf, the paddler

    Mijdaf is an NPC in the current campaign. He started because the group needed transportation up the river from their neighborhood to one on the very edges of urbanity.

    Me: There’s a barge pulled along the ropes on the side of the river.

    The PCs: That seems slow.

    Me: There’s also a paddleboat operated by a goliath.

    The PCs: We take that.

    That’s how a desert goliath living in the largest city of the region started to grow into relevance in the game. But at this point he’s just a ferryman in a boat. Sure, he’s huge and can paddle upriver faster than those humans can pull themselves, but he’s not yet unique.

    PCs: What kind of birds does he have?

    Me: Four seagulls that mostly rest on a branching perch above his head. He asks where your companions are.

    PCs: We’re trying to get a new one for Lauray. Do you know a good breeder?

    As Mijdaf I talk about two options and why he has one that he prefers. It’s one that doesn’t recognize the current government. Mijdaf starts talking about the history of the region that connects to an artisan that they’d met in the previous session.

    They riff off of this, pulling more information from the goliath. It’s interactive at this point. They roll very well. I start playing into Mijdaf being willing to talk, constantly. Soon the PCs figure out that the reason that Mijdaf was available is because no locals will ride in his boat.

    He’s not just a talker — he’s a conspiracy theorist.

    Mijdaf pulls out a slate with tangential connections between various politicians, professors and military leaders. He keeps going.

    At the table this was great. The players with me that day were smiling, nodding and laughing. The total scene may have been 10 minutes. There were some social dice rolls and a lot of me as the DM picking up on table clues to see what the group was enjoying and emphasizing that.

    And then Mijdaf reached the destination, dropping them off. He and they never expected to see each other again.

    A day later in game time the group needs to get back from the nearly rural neighborhood to their home base deep in the port city. They recognize a paddleboat, but don’t see Mijdaf. They steal the boat.

    That’s how Mijdaf, the paddler, went from a simple single scene NPC into a character with purpose, gaming joy, and just possibly a problem for the future.

  • My next D&D character is…

    My next D&D character is…

    For some finding inspiration for their next Dungeons & Dragons character can be difficult. A way to solve that difficulty is to find some part of our actual reality as a starting point, and then give it a twist. Maybe add something magical, or heroic, or tragic — and then smash something else from reality into that idea as well.

    Over on my Twitter account I ocaissionally present my every day life as inspiration for D&D characters. This series always starts with “My next D&D character is“.

    Let’s take this Propagandist (or Bard) concept.

    https://twitter.com/bedirthan/status/1400560210901553153

    I had recently been gifted a knife for which I had no sheath. When searching for a way to protect both it and the family I remembered my Field Notes notebook from the End Pages series. It was the perfect length. Then, springing from that secret spot in the mind where inspiration resides I thought of a character who stored their blades inside notebooks.

    They certainly write in the book as well, because they must — tracking those who have wrong them or those they care about; jotting down a possible secret; picking up the stories during their travels. Basically they use the notebook the way normal real people do, except it also has a dagger in it.

    Cleaning Houses

    While helping my wife prep homes for sale my mind sits within itself and wonders what magic would be helpful to complete this act. My latest idea was for someone who isn’t smart, but they are either lazy or overworked. So they took the fast way out and made a Pact with the Great Old One. Their Tome is full of rituals to help make living life easier. This warlock isn’t evil. They just needed a way to make living life easier. Now they are on a quest for a mighty power.

    Or, maybe your character studied to learn Prestidigitation because that’s what they needed to do in order to be better at helping the family business. They dreamed of being a warrior. Then one day those things combined.

    https://twitter.com/bedirthan/status/1398123279840268290

    During the winter you see an ice sculpture — your next PC is a Water Genasi that carves Ice Sculptures. When the weather is too warm they create the ice that’s needed for sculpting.

    I’ve been a sports writer spanning from amateur to semipro to pro (you can hire me), so many of my ideas revolve around sports. Each with nuance and difference, and yet all come about through following sports.

    During this whole pandemic period I came up with the idea that the party healer also heals the mind. This was entirely a creation due to my own personal mindspace during the pandemic. I needed a party healer that heals body and mind. The mind of adventurers is inherently broken. Like Special Forces soldiers they see some shit and though they work for noble cause (often) there are still mental scars.

    What would the heroic version of my time as a linguist look like? A Mastermind or Inquisitive Rogue, halfling (duh) who studies the cultures and communities of the world, granting them a bit of insight when they fight, but also able to operate as the party face.

    Inspiration is everywhere. It’s in beer, in mushrooms, in trees, in walks down by the river, in your trips to the thrift shop, in the social media you consume. Our life is filled with interesting characters and characteristics. These can be your next PC or NPCs.

    A few of them I’ve statted up over at DnDBeyond. Feel free to use them. If you do just kindly share that you got the idea from Full Moon Storytelling.

  • Orne Willowrush – an NPC for your adventuring needs

    Orne Willowrush – an NPC for your adventuring needs

    Opening up an NPC creation series with a character I should have made ages ago – one with glasses. If you don’t know me, I’m basically finger-blind. Without glasses or contacts I am unable to count how many fingers you would be holding up if you are more than a couple feet away from me. And yet, I never have played a character or NPC with glasses. I actively avoided it.

    After reading Deven Rue’s recent post about embracing characters with vision impairment or blindness I decided that needed to change.

    Heading over to DM Heroes, I hit the random button until it turned up a character with glasses. Then, it was about creating a character with an interesting background who was not a quest giver. Because as Rue says, “Make us non-quest related. Just people in your world. Living. Existing.”

    Meet Orne Willowrush

    This image shows the bust of an older male halfling with somewhat receding grey hair that is swept back. He wears glasses and has a thin mustache. His clothing looks like it could be a rough robe or shawl shirt. It is light brown.
    Created using DM Heroes one of my favorite NPC art tools

    First up is a Simple Index Card Version of an NPC. These are designed so with just a few words you can know who an NPC is from a basic description of appearance, to some basic motivations. In Willowrush’s case he’s a former soldier who once fought for the realm, but now works as a cooper. In my deep belief that everyone in your D&D world should have a hobby he is a fisher. He is not skilled in fishing though. He just enjoys doing the calmness of fishing with his friends. He can get dreamy about his past, but also doesn’t like to talk about it. Orne recently lost his beaver – Tryn. He’s just newly bonded with an otter – Orla.

    Orne’s best friend is a librarian named Incirion Vadu, a goblin. You can often find them at the river together, ignoring work. Incirion knows Mending, and will often have an extra pair of glasses for Orne.

    Orne Willowrush

    Dexterity, Strength +1Stout Halfling, Conscript Fighter (3)
    Constitution, Charisma -1Cooper | Woodworking Tools, Fisher’s Tools
    Padded Armor, Common Clothes, Glasses, OtterWinestar, Lemplet Place
    Staff, adzeWants to relive past glories
    Modest lifestyle, and will buy you a glass of wineDaydreamer, Reticent, Recently lost his beaver companion
    An otter peers out from a small cave.
    Photo by David Frazer on Pexels.com

    If you want him built as a fully playable character I’ve added him to my DnDBeyond Community Characters campaign. Orne on Beyond is a Scout rather than a Conscript, so as to not introduce new rules.

    Winestar, Lemplet Place

    A map of Lemplet Place, a fictitious town. The river runs from south to north into a bay. There are seven neighborhoods with three being inside or somewhat inside the walls. Main roads leave to the east, the west, and the northwest. There is a castle, a green, and a large temple.
    Built using the Medieval Fantasy City Generator

    Winestar is a neighborhood built along the rolling ridge of the Lemplet River. It’s a mix of farmsteads with a few crafts to support their needs. Most of the good produced enter the walled part of the city via barge or float. The Spring, across the river, is up on a cliffside, and is generally more wealthy than Winestar, especially those parts that are next to the castle walls. Within Winestar you will, of course, find many small vintners, with most of the homes at least having a passing hobby of wine creation. In general, Winestar produces luxury goods whereas Northroad is sustenance farming.

    Lemplet Place is a city of about 4,300 people.

    1. Blackbridge – known for the eponymous bridge, the downtown of Lemplet Place
    2. Tidewater Place – the slums, used to flood with high tide
    3. Castle Lemplet – originally built as a exterior castle, the city has grown around it
    4. Trollrock – the northern block surrounds a huge rock hill with a cave inside, no trolls though
    5. Northroad – sustenance farming
    6. Winestar – grapevines, orchards
    7. The Spring – for the wealthy that moved out of the city

    How will you use Orne Willowrush in your campaign?