Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
Ramnza
Associate Fence Builder
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Ramnza »

Sometimes I'll go through a bit of DMing block, kind of a time when I can't think of anything good for an adventure time. I hate those times. My experience with DnD has not been the typical dungeon crawl. We have a few in the campaign, but we love variety. So, I was wondering what kind of wonderful ideas and stories are out there?

One of my most memorable NPC vilians has been a wizard named Magicha. Clever name huh :wink: She basicly wonders from dimension to dimension attempting to take over each one for her rule. She is the host to a black crystal embedded in her forehead. The crystal is homemade, gives her extra caster lvls, black auras, extra spells like a domain. Basicly the crystal is a small fragment of a larger, intelligent, item that is pure evil (pinky to corner of mouth) and simply desires to infest as many hosts as possible. Like a virus.

She's dead now. But I seem to find interesting ways of bringing her back, either through a dream-like encounter, or through a plot twist that requires PC's to travel to the distant past in order to ensure that she does not succeed. In fact that's where I'm at now, and this will be her final appearance. It gave on of the PC's a goal to work towards: Her destruction. That type of thing.

What's yours?:jump:
User avatar
fbmf
The Great Fence Builder
Posts: 2590
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by fbmf »

Ramnza wrote:
She's dead now. But I seem to find interesting ways of bringing her back


I had no idea that "interesting" could be used to mean "completely full of shit." Over the course of two campaigns (different generations) I've done everything in my power to keep this bitch dead. My characters are always foiled by the almighty DM handwaving - the kind that gives no Save and no SR.

Also, her name is pronounced Muh-gish-uh. I've always imagined it was written out like this: Magicia.

Oh well.

My most memorable NPCs, in the view of my players at least, are probably

a) Lodd, the serial murderer, a cross between Zsasz from the BATMAN comics and Hannibal Lecter.

b) Rhino, an exceptionally strong super soldier experiment gone awry. He's very docile and not terribly bright, but loves to tell stories, cook, and sing. He works construction in the capital city of the elves, and is the groundskeeper for the elven Defense Minister.

or

C) Flagg, the half-fey wizard who killed out of anger and was forever banned from the fey-lands because of it. He now wanders the world trying to help when and of he can, but because of his curse, good-aligned creatures are reluctant to believe him and/or work with him.

Game On,
fbmf
User avatar
Maj
Prince
Posts: 4705
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Location: Shelton, Washington, USA

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Maj »

This is a bit more vague... But for a while in the first campaign I ever played in, Ess (for some unknown reason) made lots of gnomes, or characters who were polymorphed into gnomes, who also turned out to be [negative] plot devices.

To this day, despite a change in campaign, whenever we see a gnome, we panic.
My son makes me laugh. Maybe he'll make you laugh, too.
User avatar
Count Arioch the 28th
King
Posts: 6172
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Count Arioch the 28th »

Strange, my players do the exact same thing when they run into gnomes.

My players hate illusions in general, and don't rect well to them at all. Usually when they sucessfully disbeleive something, someone jumps up in an attempt to strike me.
In this moment, I am Ur-phoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my int score.
Username17
Serious Badass
Posts: 29894
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Username17 »

I've had more success with illusions than that. My players generally seem to appreciate it when they can "figure stuff out". So when they manage a way through illusions they're pretty stoked about it.

I've used Aboleth as villains - which is all about the layered illusions - and that went off rather well. Also I've used some canibalistic fairies who were big into making their stuff out of invisible materials - and that was well recieved as well.

I don't know, maybe it's just the way they get presented. I often give the party access to some pretty weird archetecture, and so players are used to poking things with sticks or throwing sand around when running around in magical fortresses - so the illusions don't really come off as cheating any more than backwards flowing waterfalls or groves filled with out-of-season flowers.

In fact, my players get a lot more edgy whenever they can't confirm the time and the date than they do when they can't confirm that objects in front of them are actually real.

-Username17
Ramnza
Associate Fence Builder
Posts: 191
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Ramnza »

How do you guys normally role play your gnomes? I've encountered gnomes who are so backwards that talking to them hurts my brain:pimpslapped:
Normally I see them as child-like but intellegent.

As for illusions, I've been on both ends of spectrum when you just want to slap the DM for thinking that one up and when you jump up and down exclaiming the cleverness of you!
User avatar
Essence
Knight-Baron
Posts: 525
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Location: Olympia, WA

Re: Most interesting plots, npcs, etc

Post by Essence »

I think one of the most memorable semi-recurring NPCs in my games is Darian Kain, a Telepath/Soulknife who is very prone to solving every problem my stabbing you in the head with an unresistable Lesser Domination. Including problems like "she looked at me funny" and "my favorite cafe is switching brands of coffee". He's the mayor of the largest city on one of my campaign worlds, simply by virtue of the fact that the media within the city simply mysteriously refuses to print or play any advertisements for his rivals. :wink:
Post Reply