Ned help with NPC

HexIron

I am starting a campaign, and I need help with a key NPC. For those who know it my campaign is starting with the d&d 4E starter campaign, Beneath the Village of Harken. My NPC in mind will be Old Kellar, but I dont want him to just be an elder dwarf from the village. he is bringing the characters together, and providing insight and help through the rest of the campaign.

So far what i have in mind is to act like the narrator in Jim Henson's "Storyteller", an old man with a nack for stories and love for adventure.

Ideas I have had so far have been for him to be like G-Man from half life, an extra planar being who has seen the potential in the heroes and has some plan in mind for them. He would posses otherworldly knowledge, but never let the characters to know this, but he will be able to help them in times of need with information, which he will reagard as "something I heard'. If this is the case, Im not sure how to play him or spec him.

Another idea is have him be a fellow adventurer, shape shifter, intrigued by the chance to learn the tales of the heroes and simply follow them around. Essentially he would spy on them for his own amusement.

Also, I thought about making him work like ninja ninja from afro samurai, just following them around everywhere, babbling.

Any help on how i can do this or better ideas would be great, THANKS!

gnunn

I like the idea of him as a former adventurer. If you feel up to it, I think it might be fun to play him as a batty old prospector type who just turns up at the strangest times. If I were going to run him this way, I would set up any encounters with him like so:

* Know how he got to the place, and always have someplace else that he has to get to, so that he can't spend much more than a passing visit with the group. "Hey old Thor, what are you doing running around this part of the underdark!?" "Oh, I was just harvesting umberhulk eggs... They are a delicacy you know. But I must get them back to Fancytown before they spoil."
* Make him a little-bit batty. It'll add a sense of mystery to his personality and a sense of risk to his advice. (Just how crazy is he?)

You could introduce him by having the PCs run across him while he's in a tight spot -getting mugged by kobolds or something and they endear themselves to him by rendering assistance.

I just have this vision of the PCs stumbling on him in completely crazy places like pocket dimensions, prison, active volcanoes, the north pole... and he always has a very matter-of-fact reason for being there, and something he needs to see to as soon as possible.

Now I want to make a similar character for my campaign!

HexIron

Thank you, this may be a possibility... I liked the idea of randomly being places he shouldn't be at all. One thing I wanted to use him for would be as the narrator of the adventure log, which is where the story teller idea came in. I also may start using him in all of my campaigns, but using your idea it would be just funny once the characters don't need guidance (my players are all new), so this may just be the one thing that gets him adventuring once again.

Poutine_Paladin

I like the idea of the old adventurer who misses the thrill of it, and has a sort of mentoring role, which may or may not lead him back to adventuring himself. And Gnunn's idea of him popping up in their path on completely unrelated tasks of his own is a good one, because, as you say, your new players will need guidance from time to time, and once they don't they suddenly stop finding him along their travels all the time (maybe because they've been the spark he needed to go adventuring again himself)

This guy sounds fun. Especially if he's crazy...always shows up while he's on some seemingly insane journey or task, and tells long-winded stories with no point or moral (or is there?)

Duskreign

In my War is Hell campaign, I use an NPC as the voice of the adventure logs. It is a great way to expose your players to alternative points of view, to show them how an outside observer views their actions and attitudes. If your players take the time to read your adventure logs, they will find themselves drawn closer into the world, and more attached to the npc.

"ShinENZO":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/SHINenzo had an NPC named Hobo Jim that was very much like what Gnunn described. He would pop up here or there, where you would least expect him to, and offer a strange piece of advice that didn't make sense until later in the game.


"Duskreign":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/Duskreign

"Wyrmshadow Campaign Setting":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow

"Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-wars-knights-of-the-old-republic

"The System":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/system

FemmeLegion

Once upon a time, Jasper Thickneck was a renowned soldier for his clan. Such was his devotion to his people that he turned down repeated offers for the adventuring / mercenary life, saying that he was born to defend his home.

Then came the demon Vug'Nyagar, who threatened all of the world. Jasper traveled five hundred leagues from his home to join a band pledged to stopping the demon's terror. He and his comrades won the day, but Jasper literally lost his mind to the demon's ravaging. While he could understand when others spoke to him, he had barely any vocabulary left of his own, and not a single memory.

Merkin Silverpate, a cleric of the goddess of prophecy, tried to undo some of the damage, but alas - his Lady is forever looking forward, never backward. Jasper is functional enough to live independently, but he pretty much lives entirely on intuition at this point, and he makes other dwarves nervous because he often comes off as being whimsical rather than sensible.

Jasper is also frequently plagued with odd dreams and visions, and is forever sharing them with whomever he thinks would benefit from hearing them. Only about one dream/vision out of three is actually meaningful, but that's good enough for the people who visit his home or encounter him wandering. It's better than they'd get if they didn't see him at all.

Duskreign

Was his neck particularly thick, or did he just descend from a long line of stout-hearted Thicknecks?

BTW, Femme, You should totally add that character to the Fantastinomicon!

HexIron

Thanks Femme, that is a great back story to use,

FemmeLegion

Dusk, thanks for reminding me that's an option.

Beaumains

gnunn! That's an awesome idea.

HexIron: the dwarf could always be an Avatar of Moradin (or even a simple cleric or other servant) - or whoever your dwarven deity or other powerful figure is; exactly why Moradin (or his counterpart) would have an interest in the adventurers could be very interesting, especially if there's a reason he's not being open about it. Another alternative could be an ancient ... nevermind.

And Duskreign, that now reminds me of a couple NPCs I might be able to share.