Author Topic: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs  (Read 4923 times)

Offline TauFirewarrior

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[Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« on: February 27, 2012, 12:27:56 PM »
Ok, here's the deal.  Longtime player of games in general but my group needs a DM and I'd like to try out Pathfinder.  Played one shorter campaign of it myself.  Thinking of making my setting one where the PC's belong to a monster-hunting guild.  Looking for a more humorous, relaxed game that has a decent amount of combat for characters and interesting/memorable encounters. 

So!  What I want here are stories if you guys had any cool PF experiences, siilly concepts floating around, or funny things you'd like to see happen.  Right now I'm hoping to get some good encounters squared away before I worry about Rival guilds.

For example, I spoke with one player on how large monsters like Giants would have no wealth thats worth anything to smaller races so I made a joke about having the majority of the Giant's wealth in magically enchanted boulders.  Not terribly hilarious, but quirky I thought.  Also planning on making the cattiest catgirl (weretiger beast totem barbarian... can probably do something else too), the Buff Guild (All bards with the different buffing achetypes + paladins and/or clerics)  The Savage guild (all rangers/barbarians/unarmed fighters).  That kind of thing.

None of this stuff is really meant to be optimized as it is quirky and fun.  If I can throw some retarded hilarious monster encounter at my PC's in between the more serious stuff I'll consider my job done.

Offline Halinn

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2012, 12:50:48 PM »
Via Giant In The Playground forums:
Quote
You, sir, want nothing so much as Bearington Bearman The Bearbearian.

Incarnate Dustform Anthropomorphic Black Bear Afflicted Were-Black Bear/Bear Totem Barbarian/Bear Lord/Bear Warrior. Take the feats Wild Cohort, Improved Unarmed Strike, and Vow of Poverty.

(the Incarnate Dustform bit is only done once, to establish the Humanoid base type). You're a humanoid bear who can turn into a bear, get angry and turn into a bear, talk to bears, summon bears, have a pet bear, fight with your bear hands, and carry only the bear essentials. Can you bear any more of this?

5 Animal HD+15 class levels at ECL20 with LA buyoff, 5HD+11 class levels without.

Offline TauFirewarrior

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2012, 12:57:04 PM »
In the right vein of craziness Halinn, but I'm looking for PF material.  I'd prefer very much not to use 3.5 stuff lest my players start wanting to do the same.

Offline ariasderros

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2012, 01:02:43 PM »
weretiger beast totem barbarian... can probably do something else too
Base Race Tibbit.

Also, give her a Cheshire Cat Cohort.
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Offline TauFirewarrior

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2012, 07:18:23 PM »
Which book is Tibbit from?  Also, thanks for the replies so far. 

Offline ariasderros

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2012, 08:00:20 PM »
Well, Tibbit isn't Pathfinder, your post ninja'd me.
but to answer your question: Dragon Compendium.

I don't really know of a PF version. I just thought the idea was cute.
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Offline TauFirewarrior

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2012, 01:13:50 AM »
The answer is Catfolk from MM3.  Posted in case you were curious :D  Still open to more silliness though.

Offline marcielle

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2012, 12:23:46 PM »
Ideas.
Swarmers guild. Druids, Summoners, Necro clerics. Basically minions galore and one man parties. The reason being they all can't stand each other(why do they even have a guild?).

Dark guilds. Evil parties. Worse than just pety assassins and thieves. These people plant evidence, destabilise small kingdoms, corrupt souls, carry out fate-worse-than-death vengeances etc.

The (all-male) Witches guild.

A crossblooded abyssal-celestial sorceror who hates himself both ways.

The guild of tinyfolk. Halflings, gnomes , small monster races, etc.

Offline TauFirewarrior

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #8 on: March 15, 2012, 12:49:52 PM »
I do like the Swarm guild idea.  And I've got a Sorcerer PC who is all kind of blooded craziness.  Definitely intend to make fun of him at some point. 

I just need more encounter ideas though, as I'm making a point not to have lethal fights between guilds.  I do have a Mimic-as-a-chest trapped in some kind of ooze or gelatinous cube that the party must get to but are unaware the chest isn't normal.  Pretty tame actually, but figured it'd be funny.

Offline Rejakor

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2012, 08:02:18 PM »
Too much humour will kill your versimilitude.  But alright.  Since this is DnD more than half of these are adventure hooks.

A troupe of dwarven mimes who are very, very serious about humour.  To the point of blowing things up.

An angry drunken elf barefist brawler whose sole aspiration in life is to have a manly beard.  His constant attempts to grow ever greater facial hair are stopped only to beat up dwarves and humans who laugh at him.

A ninja assassin who keeps turning into a princess (somehow ninja outfits getting cut up and turning into pseudo princess dresses, princes keep turning up looking for her holding slippers etc) and can't stop.  Work in an evil dorf wizard named ganon somehow.

A mayor of the town who starts every sentence with 'However, hmph,'.

A tiny brownie archer who hunts only the largest prey, has a monocle, and lives inside a flying hut made out of dire mice.

Offline Balmas

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #10 on: March 19, 2012, 01:48:35 AM »
How about this:  a pair of conjoined twins, joined at the shoulder.  One half is a wizard, and holds a buckler, where the other is a warrior.

Hilarity can often be found in completely nonsensical combos.  Say, a gnome that believes himself to be a god of grappling.

Once in a while, give the PCs something to remember:  evil NPC parties.

Have your BBEG be affably evil, and dress all in bright colors.  Bonus points if he's the PC sponsor and they genuinely like him.
"Now hold on a second!  Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain, you guys! Chocolate rain!" ~Pinkie Pie

My Monster Manual lies to me:  it states that a pegasus is white or occasionally brown when everyone knows that pegasi ought to be blue with rainbow stripes.

Offline weenog

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2012, 02:16:08 PM »
This isn't pathfinder-specific but I think it can be easily modified to fit into any relatively magical game.

A desperately poor, lowest class homeless man eats a lot of poisonous mushrooms in a moment of starving desperation, and goes on a trip from which he never really comes back.  Latent potential for sorcery begins to manifest itself as he sleeps fitfully in a gutter, but he doesn't recognize what it is or how he's doing it.  He hears voices all the time, thinks they're semi-benevolent spirits talking to him, ordaining him as their champion, empowering and tasking him to uplift the weak, and mete out bloody justice to the well-off who step over (and on) the unfortunate.

In his ignorance, his magical practice is infused with mysticism.  He will divine answers by casting discarded chicken bones over a scribbled nonsense diagram or particularly interesting stain in the road, examining them carefully (and actually casting nothing), making a wild guess and assuming the idea is divine revelation.   He carries bogus talismans and charms, and depends on them to help fight or ward off evil.  He goes far out of his way to avoid seemingly random items, creatures and places, considering them taboo.  He speaks to the spirits of all living things, from trees to stray cats to innocent bystanders who have no idea what he's talking about.  He takes his hallucinations and delusions as absolute truth, and views everything else with doubt and suspicion.  He indulges in drink, drugs and mild poisons whenever he gets the chance, because they help him hear the spirits.

He is a demented, drug-addled, witchdoctor hobo, and a budding reality warper.  He thinks of himself as a spiritual superhero, but he's more like a wandering nexus of chaos.  He just sees the world wrong, and it bends to accommodate him.  His spell list is filled mainly with illusions, transmutations, and conjurations, to facilitate and reinforce his distorted view of the way things are.

I had that guy as a PC once, and he was both entertaining and baffling.  Best taken in small doses, but his erratic behavior makes it very easy to insert him into any situation, or have him wander off abruptly if his presence is getting old.  He works best if you keep the mechanics of what he's doing secret, so it's unclear if he's, for example, casting speak with animals and using Diplomacy against a horse, making an untrained Handle Animal check on it, or just babbling at it.  As DM you might consider giving him a permanent mind blank effect, or the Madness ability of the allip monster, to represent and mechanically support his mind being so far away you can't even reach it magically.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2012, 02:37:35 PM by weenog »
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Offline TauFirewarrior

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Re: [Pathfinder] Help me think of some quirky NPCs
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2012, 04:23:22 PM »
Hmm... Definitely some interesting ideas.  I might actually adapt weenog's idea as I have an idea for the BBEG likely leading a cult of some sort.  Not seeing too many of these I can adapt into monster encounters as the main focus of the campaign is Monster Hunting as mentioned earlier.  But I'll see if I can't use some of these.