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Author
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Sacremas
Orc
(10/11/02 12:01:59 pm)
Reply
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Re: alright..
Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys for Lareth! Of course!
Quote:
I mean, if I was a lady, I would feel bad for him, too!
Err... okay.
-Sacremas
"I think, therefore I am... I think" |
Zagig
Pie
(10/11/02 2:25:56 pm)
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Re: NPC traits
Kudos to deafdungeonmaster!!! Awesome idea for Lareth.
Siobharek, I like Hedrack being Kurgan-like for two reaasons. One, I am a fan of Highlander. Two, I don't know about anyone here, but his uncivility is what makes him scary. Someone who acts logically we can understand, but someone who is nuts (as both Hedrack and Kurgan are) is hard to understand. I read somewhere else about someone who goes "postal" being scary because they break society's rules and we can't understand that. It follows that if we can't understand Hedrack, then he would be scary also.
PS: Sorry to all postal workers for comparison. I was trying to save space.
Zagig
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TrinityDM
Pie
(10/14/02 5:45:57 pm)
Reply
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Re: alright..
Quote:
Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys for Lareth! Of course!
LOL, could be hilarious if you were to play him as the more nutty psychotic type:
"Wipe out the human race? Great idea. It's great. More of a long-term goal, though..."
or:
"Go away, or I'll have you shaved, sterilized, and destroyed."
or, best of all:
"Naaarrgh... GET OUTTA MY CHAIR!!"
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Siobharek 
Orc
(10/15/02 3:22:46 am)
Reply
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NPC traits - the collection.
At one point I suggested that the relevant parts of this thread be put in the BoB. I do not suggest that we're done, but I'd just show you what we've seen so far (this is also for the benefit of the louts who cannot appreciate the beauty of sifting through shards of wisdom and in the end come up with a beautiful, fragmented WHOLE!! ... Sorry, chanelled Paelban's take on Chenashi there for a moment)
Paelban:
CHATRILLON will be either French or Cajun or both. He is also extremely arrogant and foppish—and did I mention his Salvador Dali moustache? Chatrillon (or “Chatrillioun, you fewels!”) has a thing for Maridosen, which his low Wisdom score doesn’t exactly help hide. Maridosen hasn’t stabbed Chat’s face off yet, but things can change.
MARIDOSEN herself is a bit of a goth: dark hair, pale face, bags under her eyes, withered smiling muscles, penchant for wearing leather all the damned time, etc. She regards the world in general with a mild, passing contempt (“More ale, you say? That’s so original.”). She regards Chatrillon with a much more proactive contempt, but still recognizes his relative importance to the Cult (i.e., she’ll do her best to cover his ass if he goes and gets himself in trouble with the law).
MASTER DUNRAT has more neuroses than Woody Allen on speed. He is a broad, balding man with a black, greasy goatee and a mole on his cheek that shakes when he is angry. Dunrat wears a loose, faded, gray robe with a white sash and sandals. A hypochondriac, he constantly washes his hands and accuses random passers-by of looking over his shoulder.
GRUNE is, in many ways, a more competent leader than Dunrat. He is too lazy, however, to assume the mantle of leadership. That and the fact that Dunrat would kick his ass before he could so much as think “Oh @#%$!”
TORIDAN is big, loud, and dumber than a bag of hammers.
CHENASHI is what a librarian would look like if a librarian wanted to destroy the world.
VACRA is the most evil cultist in town, and finds herself constantly pushed aside by Tharizdun’s more … flamboyant followers. She would be the town’s primary villain, if only she were more powerful.
“JAROO” finds maintaining one form uncomfortable, and has to go off by itself every few days to “stretch.” It regards Dunrat and the other cultists as amusing little creatures, and the rest of the world as its own playthings. “Jaroo” works with the cult because they pay it and give it a chance to play with the human-things; it doesn’t necessarily believe what they say (“What? Oh yeah, destroy the world, unmake creation, pave the path for He of Eternal Darkness’s return—whatever.”).
YSSLANTH has let his newfound power go to his head. He orders the gnolls and Geynor about with impunity, and mentions the Elder Elemental Eye at every opportunity (i.e., “Work fassster, you foolsss! The Eye ssseesss all, and frownsss upon your sssloth!”). Ysslanth ssscoffsss at Geynor Ton’s hatred of him because he doesn’t think Geynor is anything near a threat.
GEYNOR TON despises Ysslanth with the kind of passion Gruumsh reserves for Corellon Larethian. Were it not for his blind devotion to Tharizdun (amplified by his low intelligence), he would have killed the pest long ago. As he sees it, Ysslanth will get his comeuppance soon enough, what with the unmaking of the world and everything. So long as Geynor is well-fed, he’s happy.
GREN is the cultist most dedicated to Tharizdun. Unlike Geynor and Ysslanth, she genuinely Believes in the Eye, and will gladly lay down her life to see It’s plans through.
GARRIK tolerates the clerics because they give his people—the gnolls—food, money, and a place to stay. If he could provide for his pack without the cult, he would, and would probably kill the cultists in the process just to shut them up.
FESTRATH is mad, irredeemably mad. Being trapped by Utresshimon has stretched him beyond the breaking point, forcing him to actually question the Eye’s power. Nearly animalistic, he attacks anything that comes near, and if somehow subdued and questioned, rants and raves until a lack of oxygen makes him black out.
HEDRACK: Hedrack is what you get when you go through insanity and come out the other end. Hedrack is in control of his madness, but that does not make him sane—far from it. Rather, Hedrack can channel the raw power of his madness wherever he sees fit. (In case it isn’t obvious yet, I’ve made Hedrack Lawful Evil; IIRC Big T’s alignment is listed as “Neutral Evil” in The Greyhaw Gazetteer, so there’s no reason his clerics can’t be LE. That and I got pretty sick of seeing so many CE’s in the stat blocks. But anyway.) Hedrack is also a far cry from the cackling madman-type of evil cultist; rarely does he show any emotion whatsoever.
Hedrack follows Tharizdun because he is, at heart, a perfectionist—an insane, uncompromising, and murderous perfectionist, but a perfectionist still—and he feels the multiverse is far too imperfect to be allowed to exist. Better to destroy so foul and flawed a creation than to let it persist and insult the hand that built it.
LARETH: I see Lareth more or less as TrinityDM does: about as close to human physical perfection as possible—until you see his face. I also like Siobharek’s take on Lareth (i.e., Lareth = Kurtz), and have therefore given him a German accent.
Like his face, Lareth is broken—betrayed by his god, killed by an “inferior” (Y’Dey), and resurrected only to be forgotten in a hollow, lifeless ghost town. He is not, however, bestial-minded like Festrath: Lareth would just as soon engage the PCs in a lengthy discourse on the essence of being as fold them in half, depending on his mood. He is more likely to talk, however, given his almost total isolation (essentially, he is a Dark Del).
Once Lareth is Chosen, however, it’s a whole new can of worms. After being fused with the destructive essence of the four elements themselves (I LOVE the “Lareth of the Four Elements” idea!), Lareth is more powerful than he has ever imagined possible, and his might may well rival Hedrack’s. Whereas before he regarded the party with indifference, he now sees them as tiny, pitiful things that DARE to challenge He of Eternal Darkness. (And he’s got a light-saber.)
LARETH & HEDRACK: I’ve given these two a category of their own because of the following: 1) Hedrack thinks he is the Champion of Elemental Evil until it is revealed to be Lareth; 2) Hedrack isn’t going to be at all happy about this; 3) Lareth feels Hedrack has betrayed him, so how’s he going to react to the sudden change in his treatment on behalf of the Temple?
The way I see it (and this is an important thing to note: this is just how *I* see it), Lareth will easily let this power and prestige go to his head (ala Ysslanth, but on a far grander scale). Meanwhile, Hedrack will feel betrayed, and I can imagine he’ll be a little “lax” in protecting Lareth until such time as he is fit to summon the Princes (i.e., he’ll let Lareth be beaten half to death before trying to save him).
TrinityDM:
CHATRILON - Easily my favorite character in the module so far, I represented Chat as being very similar in appearance and demeanor to Michael Ironside (specifically his character in the movie Total Recall). He is balding, wiry, and speaks in a dark voice. He is cold, calculating, and patient. He will achieve his goals, one way or another.
ELMO - With his open, clean-shaven face, Elmo is young-looking... until you get a look at his eyes, which have seen too much for someone his age. I played him as being cautious and smart, but cagey... he's lost too much to take big risks. He takes his responsibility of guarding the town very seriously. His mannerisms I based on a younger Harrison Ford in Blade Runner.
XAOD - Although IMC the paladin finally was put to rest (after being raised twice by the party), he was fun to play. Physical and enthusiastic in facing all things but a morning hangover, Xaod was strongly inspired by Kurt Russell (pick just about any move).
DUNRAT - Dunrat is a tall man with long, black hair (and the seemingly obligatory goatee). I played Dunrat as a supremely egotistical maniac. He is very sure of himself, and consequently becomes very upset when things go wrong. More of a stereotypical villain, his voice and mannerisms I modeled after Alan Rickman a-la Die Hard.
Y'DEY - A middle-aged woman with a cool, no-nonsense disposition, I based her largely on the actress Maggie Smith.
MARIDOSEN - For some reason, I kept seeing her in my mind's eye as being portrayed as a real bitch by Carrie-Ann Moss. Thus is how she was portrayed.
LARETH - Instead of playing him wild and screeching mad, I wanted Lareth to come across as powerful yet creepy. Obviously physically imposing, with long blond hair, he looks the paragon of an heroic cleric... until you see his face, and hear his slippery, cool voice speak. For his mannerisms I took another cue from Blade Runner, basing him heavily on Rutger Hauer's depiction of the replicant Roy.
YETHER THE KEEN - Friendly, helpful, and honest, Yether's about the only one in Hommlet my players trust. Being so virtuous, he's been a real challenge to make interesting. I've tried basing some of his mannerisms on Bill Pullman, since he seems to have a tendency to portray such gosh-darn friendly guys.
Sacremas:
ELMO: I played him as a big friendly bear of a man, with a gleam of intelligence and clarity. He had the respect of the players within seconds of meeting them, and that has just grown. I think that he's the only one so far that they trust with their lives, and have done so, once at nearly catastrophic consequenses. When the old temple is mentioned he does his best to give info and be helpful, but quiet down soon as memories of his brother haunt him. Possible actor: Kurt Russel or Viggo Mortensen
QUESTIN: A loud mouthed, offensive devil-may-care halfling that throws peasants out of the nearby chairs if one of his friends could use it, my players fell in love with this one from the start, and wants to keep him still even though he's so far proven less than optimal. Possible actor: That dwarf in Seinfelt (Kramer's friend).
XAOD: Wild and raving while drunk, but quiet and humble sober, his demanour is as contrasted as everything else about him. He sits and drinks heavily from early on, and the alchohol have already made him unable to say how long he's been in the town or how long ago it was that he was in the ToEE. Possible actor: Keifer (sp?) Sutherland
CHAT: I went all the way with the seasoned cocksure adventurer, with a professional air over him. He seemed deadly to the players... and so they gladly welcomed him into the group. They ended up hating him more than any other character yet, and even though they think he's down... he'll stick around for a bit yet. Possible actor: Christian Bale or Peter Stormare
"JAROO": I played this one as a senile old man, with unfocusing eyes. He were dying and only wished to be left alone (but sympathy of course made Elmo spend a lot of time with him still, and invite him to councils...). The doppleganger on the other hand I played sort of the "whatever" of Paelban, but also eager to prove worth further employment by Dunrat/the cult, as he killed Yundi as well and tried to kill the druid... with bad results. "He'll be around the place", the gore spattered druid told Elmo later. Possible Actor (Jaroo):
MARIDOSEN: Grumpy bitch, with wide shoulders. I planned on making her a goth girl as above, but sort of forgot it in the initial meeting. The players do not have any suspicions with her, and figure her for simply an Unfriendly Wench. Possible actor: Carrie Ann Moss or Anne Heche
YSSANLASH: Didnt have much time to make up a personality of him, since the monk decided to garrote him before he could say a word. Did not work and it evolved into a long, complicated, and exiting battle in the hallway, and obelisk chamber. But I did put him as scared of the obelisk and terrified with the grell. Possible Actor: Errr... Shrek's cousin on his father's side.
MASTER DUNRAT: The players have mostly only heard rumors of this guy, and the druid had seen his back in a dream. Even so, his smug, confident and controlled smile at them made all the players actually start to tremble in terror. I described him as black clothed and with tailor made black armor, while his back is covered in various
Andorax:
GREN: Young, naive, from a rich family. She was roped into the cult as part of youthful rebellion, doesn't have a *clue* what sort of dark evils they're really up to. Her devotion, thus far, is blind...and if she is captured (her description lists her as rather dying than surrendering), and confronted with the full darkness of the cult she's a part of, I see her as breaking. She's not fully mad yet, nor is she completely (and irredeemably) evil.
A week spent with Yether, after a very tearful breaking from her dark path, could lead to her eventual redemption (and possably even NPChood).
Roland Delacroix:
XAOD. The party never got into much with him. It's a large party, 6 players but usually 5 a night, so they drop 'xp drains' as soon as they can. Anyway, I played him a little like Ash, thats right, from Army of Darkness. Ash's character traits, reluctantly good, would rather run away, etc, fit Xaod pretty well. If you look at my RttToEE Yahoo site, under the NPC photo section, you can see I even painted his fig up like Ash! I had a good time playing him the few sessions he was in.
Sacremas’ Point on Lareth/Hedrack
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If Lareth should return to the cult, I suspect that Hedrack would look upon him as the prodigal son returned home, and would guide the Elemental Lareth to be the greatest Champion he can be.
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TrinityDM:
Whoa, another major Blade Runner flashback. I already have cast Lareth as Roy... does that make Hedrack Tyrell? Imagine the following scene:
* * *
Lareth enters Hedracks chambers, bearing the rod of force and rings of force armor reserved for the Champion. Hedrack blesses him for the upcoming ritual. "I always knew there was something about you. That's why I raised you."
"Yes," says Lareth. "You raised me. Raised me as I stand before you today. I was the image of perfection... and now look at me."
"That is my point... look at yourself. You're the prodigal son. You have the power now within you to unmake a world. All will flock to your call or be crushed beneath your heel. Physical appearance is nothing, nothing at all, compared to that."
"Nothing," echoes Larth softly. He gently raises his hands, caressing the sides Hedrack's head. "Nothing at all... as even the mightiest become, eventually." His hands clench forcibly together, his thumbs digging in to Hedrack's skull as the head of the Outer Fane flails and thrashes about. After a long moment, the body falls to the ground, where it shudders and then lies still.
Lareth looks down dispassionately at the body, then strides out the door. "Naquent. It is time. Take me to the Temple, and I will fulfill the task for which I was chosen."
* * *
That would be an awesome scene for the PC's to see (perhaps in a dream/vision, or while spying on Hedrack in some way).
Roland Delacroix
TAL CHAMMISH I'm gonna play him like, uuuuuhhhh, that crime boss guy from Snatch (forgot his name). He's mean and vile, and doesn't hide it too good, but tries to put on a face for outsiders. If Tal and some muscle manage to get a PC alone he's gonna take the PC over to a local farm, cut him up, and 'feed 'im to the pigs'.
I've got 2 or three farm communities tied to the temple, through worshipping disgusting gods, they don't know about the end-of-the-world thing. Like those strange families in Lovecrafts works, twisted by evil, everyone else suspects but stays away.
'Snatch' had some great characters in it, Freddy Four-Fingers, that russian 'The Bullet(arrow?)-Dodger', lots of good material there.
DeafDMRIT on Hedrack & Lareth:
Formal, brilliant, insane, chaotic like Hannibal, but organized like a godfather. I would portray him as Magneto from X Men. If you look at the art of Hedrack, he looks suspiciously similar to Ian McKellan *ms?*. He will be ruthless but brilliant. He cannot keep the temple together without organization. I mean, there are a lot of part of the temple are clean. He even have a mind flayer working for him!
While he is not clearly egoistic, his mind indicates otherwise. He feel that almost no one, save for Lareth and Varachan, are even close to his ability. He want to get things done, period. He wants T to be release and destroy the world as whole. That is his goal.
For Lareth, I don't think he should start off as chaotic evil. More like Chaotic neutral. He should behave more like Brad Pitt from 12 Monkeys, acting all nuts, but logic are all there, especially his purpose and intent to establish a goal. I mean, he was beautiful, he was a lady's man… He used to have it all until he lost part of his face.
I mean, his charisma score should be high with women, causing them to feel bad for him! I mean, if I was a lady, I would feel bad for him, too!
TrinityDM’s comments on Lareth as Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys:
Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys for Lareth! Of course!
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LOL, could be hilarious if you were to play him as the more nutty psychotic type:
"Wipe out the human race? Great idea. It's great. More of a long-term goal, though..."
or:
"Go away, or I'll have you shaved, sterilized, and destroyed."
or, best of all:
"Naaarrgh... GET OUTTA MY CHAIR!!"
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This thread is definitely too good to lose, so it *will* be posted in the BoB. Just want to make sure that everything is included. Is the format OK, guys?
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
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Taxman66
Pie
(10/15/02 10:45:00 am)
Reply
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Re: NPC traits - the collection.
Actually another good idea for Hedrack would be something along the lines of General Jack T. Ripper from Dr. Strangelove.
I can just see him sitting back in a big ol' chair puffing on a stoggie discussing his errr... fixations (for lack of a better term) whilst also coldly calculating the destruction of the PCs.
I'll see if I can put together some good rip-off quotes (adjusted for setting).
To top it off Varachan makes a perfect Col. Mandrake.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go rent the movie.
Taxman
"It takes an uncommon mind to think of these things, Hobbes." - Calvin
Edited by: Taxman66 at: 10/15/02 10:49:27 am
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Zagig
Pie
(10/16/02 12:37:33 am)
Reply
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Re: NPC traits - the collection.
All this talk about NPC traits got me thinking about other NPCs in the game. Since my group is about to assault the Fire Bridge, I am specifically thinking of D'gran and his personnel. I am not sure how clear this is, so further fine-tuning of this will be greatly appreciated.
I see D'gran as a very emotional leader who has no qualms about expressing those emotions, sometimes violently. Witness what he has done to Descritad. She stole from him and killed his pet. Not only has she gone against his incredibly high ego by stealing, the emotional attatchment to his pet doesn't help matters any. Now she hangs on a wall like a decoration, and suffers whenever D'gran forgets that his pet is dead. He will go to pet it, only to remember it is gone; or he will go to his room, expecting it to jump up at the sight of him, only to find no one there. Those who have lost dear pets may understand what I am talking about.
His emotionalism also makes him a dangerous and unpredictable leader. If one of his flunkies does something to annoy him, D'gran could lose his temper and beat on the poor fellow. Or, he could just shrug it off. This is how he ends up with the chaotic nature described in the adventure.
D'gran is also quite capable of strategizing and planning before a battle (witness the defenses he has in place). However, he can easily lose his temper and act on whatever he feels like doing regardless of the consequences. For example, if the party is holed up in Krall's room (this happened in my campaign) and D'gran finds out, he will reasonably try to find out what happened. However, if he is defied, he will lose his temper and, instead of planning the best way to get the door down and destroy whoever is behind it, he will probably get the biggest and toughest (hill giant) to bash the door down.
This does not mean that the Fire Bridge forces are not capable. All of his personnel know that D'gran is unpredictable. His forces still fight strategically and smart, even though D'gran may not.
Actually, this may be a good rp opportunity for the party. Some of his underlings (the warriors, the gnolls, Heunar and Tippesh) may actually be happy to see d'gran dead. They could do the same thing as Choranth, allow the party to leave if they agree to off D'gran.
Zag ig
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Tristan DArque
Here for a while
(1/10/03 7:48:09 am)
Reply
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Re: NPC traits - the collection.
Sorry, I just wanted to bump this up to the top to save it from oblivion. Siob, you've done the collection to put these great ideas into the BoB, but as far as I can see you've not actually made the transfer. I'd hate to lose them...
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Siobharek
Still here? Wow.
(1/10/03 8:34:13 am)
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Re: NPC traits - the collection.
Good catch! I'll post 'em right away.
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
deafdungeonmasterRIT
Here for a while
(1/10/03 9:52:55 am)
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About the Triad
How should we describe the Triad or EVEN Imix personalities?
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Taelohn
Looking around
(1/10/03 11:51:36 am)
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Imix
I'm not sure if much roleplaying will be required for Imix - at least, unless you change him from how he's written in the book. There, Imix just seems to head straight into combat, chopping things with his sword (in preference to using his spell-like abilities, at that). That doesn't sound like a guy the players will make much conversation with...
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Siobharek
Still here? Wow.
(1/10/03 1:22:56 pm)
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Re: Imix
I'd say that the Triad is something along the same lines. Whip out your copy of the BoVD and get some traits there, but other than that, these guys are so far in that role-playing may not be much of an option. But I dunno...
Siobharek
...it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. |
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