Changes made to Major NPC's in your campaign. - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Changes made to Major NPC's in your campaign.

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Argon
Nov 17, 2003 15:38:26 Well here's one of my first changes to an NPC in my GH campaign.

Turrosh Mak is refered to as being a Half-Orc in the GH campaign setting. In truth he is a Hobgoblin IMC. Some of the rumors as to his race are actually spread by humans in the surrounding areas. They think this will make Turrosh seem less threatening. Orcs are seen as dumb brutes, hobgoblins are seen as inferior warrior types. So many who have faced Turrosh in battle and failed to overcome this general. Think it is best to acquaint him with being a union between human and orc. This is their way of justifying Turrosh Mak's great leadership skills.

Their is another reason behind associating Turrosh Mak with being of human and orc stock. This makes life harder on half-orcish humanoids harder in human dominated lands.

Dwarves and Elves while biased against all goblionoids. Won't allow their racial prejudices from acknowledging Turrosh Mak as a Hobgoblin warrior. Dwarves have known of Hobgoblin superior leadership skills over the rest of their brethern for centuries.

Well that's just one of many takes I have on thing's what are some other changes you have made with NPC's in your campaign.
#2
zombiegleemax
Nov 17, 2003 15:53:02 Actually, I also changed Turrosh Mak, but I made him a full-blooded orc who is simply "better" than the rest. I did this since I simply hate half-breed creatures.

Besides Mak, I haven't made any changes and such powerful Npc's haven't come into my low-level game yet.
#3
zombiegleemax
Nov 17, 2003 16:31:49 The Pomarj is pretty much as it was in the '83 box set in my campaign, but I do use Turrosh Mak. He is a full-blooded orc, and the chief of one of the stronger orc tribes in the region.
I've made changes to many of the NPCs, but most are not active. The only one that has had any interaction with the PCs is Serten. I changed him back to a cleric of Pholtus. He's the superior of a PC cleric. He's been the instigator of an adventure or two, and the party often goes to him for information or spell casting. His low intelligence often means he comes up dry as a source of advice, and his spells are not always used to their maximum effectiveness.
Scott
#4
kelanenprinceofswords
Nov 26, 2003 10:10:49 IMC, the PCs began a successful campaign of guerilla warfare in the Pomarj starting when they were around 7th level. They recaptured Fax and Elredd in the name of Greyhawk, and conducted damaging raids on Highport. They became bored with killing orcs and goblinoids, and decided to travel to Geoff to hunt giants, and during their absence, the forces of the Prince of Ulek, Knights of Luna (led by Melf), and Greyhawk Militia besieged Stoneheim and captured it, Turrosh was captured and beheaded, and his head adjorned a spike on the wall of the city of Gryrax for weeks. The former Wild Coast cities are now possessed by Greyhawk, while the rest of the Pomarj has been restored to the Prince of Ulek.
#5
Brom_Blackforge
Nov 26, 2003 14:28:36 Mordenkainen is now a little girl with blonde pigtails.

Actually, I'm kidding. She's bald.
#6
bdpenney
Nov 26, 2003 15:44:06 Turosh Mak is indeed an intriguing figure, though to this point he hasn't been directly dealt with in my campaign. I never liked the "Slavers" explanation of who Turosh Mak was - it just didn't have enough pop for me.

Therefore, I agree with earlier readers that I'd make him something more than just a half orc, or even an orc. Turosh Mak united the rabble of the Pomarj, and you just can't do that without being something special. At the least, I'd have him be a very high-level Orc of Legend. If I were running an epic campaign, he'd be a Paragon Orc (THAT'D make him tough as hell!).

Changes I DID make in the Pomarj setting are mainly centered around the ogre mage Blackthorn. In him I created a plotting, sophistocated power-broker who is Turosh Mak's right-hand man and advisor. I made Blackthorn a 17th-level Ogre Magi Sorcerer and the leader of a small tribe of Ogre Magi (with a 12th-level Ogre Magi Fighter named Gorath as his primary assistant). Blackthorn has his hands in everything around the pomarj, using his wit and guile to keep the enemies of his "Master" from becoming too potent or united to pose a true threat.

The party has tangled with Blackthorn several times, and it has always come down to making deals and negotiating rather than strait combat. They'd never want to atually fight him, anyway, as he's known to be a real horror as an opponent. To his credit, Blackthorn has always come out ahead when dealing with the party, and has bluffed and bullied his way out of what could be a difficult situation for him several times...
#7
extempus
Feb 15, 2006 4:18:12 I can't think any major changes I've made other than increasing major NPC's levels by 1 or 2 since the official game year is 591 CY but it's 601 CY in my campaign...
#8
grodog
Feb 15, 2006 22:49:31 I'm not fond of all of the nobility of the Great Kingdom having been turned into animii, so I tend to ignore that.
#9
crag
Feb 16, 2006 1:14:43
I'm not fond of all of the nobility of the Great Kingdom having been turned into animii.

Who says they have been; Ivid the Undying has many human nobles, animii are still a minority.
#10
pauln6
Feb 16, 2006 4:41:13 I kept Turrosh Mak pretty much as was, but changed his class and level to make him more in line with his first and second edition stats. I toyed with the idea of giving him some kind of Divine Luck bonus to represent his pact with the Earth Dragon and possibly a Divine Competence Bonus to his dealings with humanoids since his charisma is quite low.

I kind of like the idea that the real Mak is actually far less than the legend would have the world believe, much like rulers in the real world.
#11
Mortepierre
Feb 16, 2006 5:52:56
Who says they have been; Ivid the Undying has many human nobles, animii are still a minority.

Sure, but the latter tend to disappear a lot slower than "regular" humans. Heck, 500 years from now a significant number of them could still be around. The funny part being that I bet some noblemen from the (former) Great Kingdom will start wishing they had been transformed too. After all, you gain immortality and a chance to lord over your subjects for all eternity. As always, until you're actually transformed, you think of it only in terms of advantages...
#12
pauln6
Feb 16, 2006 6:48:20 I've also noticed that some npcs have been adjusted to take into account prestige classes:

eg: Tenser Wz21 to Wz16, ArM5
Cymria Fg/Wz ? to Fg1, Wz5, ElKn 7

I'd quite like to see how other major npcs have been tweaked to fit in with 3.5. I read a recent thread about Melf where people disagreed about the best way to reproduce his stats. My campaign is relatively low magic, so I think I'll go for:

Melf Fg2, Wz5, ElKn8
(broadly giving him bab +11 (Fg11) plus 3 bonus feats, & spells similar to Wz12 plus 1 bonus feat, which is quite similar to his 2e levels)

Mordenkainen Wz19, ArM5
(I know the official Epic version is around Wz27 but I based lvl 24 on the fact that he was lvl 20 in 581 CY compared to e.g. Jallarzi who was level 14 and is now lvl 17 and Rary who was lvl 24 in 585 CY and is now...?, and Tenser who is still lvl 21 after being brought back from the dead)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Argon Nov 17, 2003 15:38:26	Well here's one of my first changes to an NPC in my GH campaign. Turrosh Mak is refered to as being a Half-Orc in the GH campaign setting. In truth he is a Hobgoblin IMC. Some of the rumors as to his race are actually spread by humans in the surrounding areas. They think this will make Turrosh seem less threatening. Orcs are seen as dumb brutes, hobgoblins are seen as inferior warrior types. So many who have faced Turrosh in battle and failed to overcome this general. Think it is best to acquaint him with being a union between human and orc. This is their way of justifying Turrosh Mak's great leadership skills. Their is another reason behind associating Turrosh Mak with being of human and orc stock. This makes life harder on half-orcish humanoids harder in human dominated lands. Dwarves and Elves while biased against all goblionoids. Won't allow their racial prejudices from acknowledging Turrosh Mak as a Hobgoblin warrior. Dwarves have known of Hobgoblin superior leadership skills over the rest of their brethern for centuries. Well that's just one of many takes I have on thing's what are some other changes you have made with NPC's in your campaign.
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 17, 2003 15:53:02	Actually, I also changed Turrosh Mak, but I made him a full-blooded orc who is simply "better" than the rest. I did this since I simply hate half-breed creatures. Besides Mak, I haven't made any changes and such powerful Npc's haven't come into my low-level game yet.
#3 zombiegleemax Nov 17, 2003 16:31:49	The Pomarj is pretty much as it was in the '83 box set in my campaign, but I do use Turrosh Mak. He is a full-blooded orc, and the chief of one of the stronger orc tribes in the region. I've made changes to many of the NPCs, but most are not active. The only one that has had any interaction with the PCs is Serten. I changed him back to a cleric of Pholtus. He's the superior of a PC cleric. He's been the instigator of an adventure or two, and the party often goes to him for information or spell casting. His low intelligence often means he comes up dry as a source of advice, and his spells are not always used to their maximum effectiveness. Scott
#4 kelanenprinceofswords Nov 26, 2003 10:10:49	IMC, the PCs began a successful campaign of guerilla warfare in the Pomarj starting when they were around 7th level. They recaptured Fax and Elredd in the name of Greyhawk, and conducted damaging raids on Highport. They became bored with killing orcs and goblinoids, and decided to travel to Geoff to hunt giants, and during their absence, the forces of the Prince of Ulek, Knights of Luna (led by Melf), and Greyhawk Militia besieged Stoneheim and captured it, Turrosh was captured and beheaded, and his head adjorned a spike on the wall of the city of Gryrax for weeks. The former Wild Coast cities are now possessed by Greyhawk, while the rest of the Pomarj has been restored to the Prince of Ulek.
#5 Brom_Blackforge Nov 26, 2003 14:28:36	Mordenkainen is now a little girl with blonde pigtails. Actually, I'm kidding. She's bald.
#6 bdpenney Nov 26, 2003 15:44:06	Turosh Mak is indeed an intriguing figure, though to this point he hasn't been directly dealt with in my campaign. I never liked the "Slavers" explanation of who Turosh Mak was - it just didn't have enough pop for me. Therefore, I agree with earlier readers that I'd make him something more than just a half orc, or even an orc. Turosh Mak united the rabble of the Pomarj, and you just can't do that without being something special. At the least, I'd have him be a very high-level Orc of Legend. If I were running an epic campaign, he'd be a Paragon Orc (THAT'D make him tough as hell!). Changes I DID make in the Pomarj setting are mainly centered around the ogre mage Blackthorn. In him I created a plotting, sophistocated power-broker who is Turosh Mak's right-hand man and advisor. I made Blackthorn a 17th-level Ogre Magi Sorcerer and the leader of a small tribe of Ogre Magi (with a 12th-level Ogre Magi Fighter named Gorath as his primary assistant). Blackthorn has his hands in everything around the pomarj, using his wit and guile to keep the enemies of his "Master" from becoming too potent or united to pose a true threat. The party has tangled with Blackthorn several times, and it has always come down to making deals and negotiating rather than strait combat. They'd never want to atually fight him, anyway, as he's known to be a real horror as an opponent. To his credit, Blackthorn has always come out ahead when dealing with the party, and has bluffed and bullied his way out of what could be a difficult situation for him several times...
#7 extempus Feb 15, 2006 4:18:12	I can't think any major changes I've made other than increasing major NPC's levels by 1 or 2 since the official game year is 591 CY but it's 601 CY in my campaign...
#8 grodog Feb 15, 2006 22:49:31	I'm not fond of all of the nobility of the Great Kingdom having been turned into animii, so I tend to ignore that.
#9 crag Feb 16, 2006 1:14:43	I'm not fond of all of the nobility of the Great Kingdom having been turned into animii. Who says they have been; Ivid the Undying has many human nobles, animii are still a minority.
#10 pauln6 Feb 16, 2006 4:41:13	I kept Turrosh Mak pretty much as was, but changed his class and level to make him more in line with his first and second edition stats. I toyed with the idea of giving him some kind of Divine Luck bonus to represent his pact with the Earth Dragon and possibly a Divine Competence Bonus to his dealings with humanoids since his charisma is quite low. I kind of like the idea that the real Mak is actually far less than the legend would have the world believe, much like rulers in the real world.
#11 Mortepierre Feb 16, 2006 5:52:56	Who says they have been; Ivid the Undying has many human nobles, animii are still a minority. Sure, but the latter tend to disappear a lot slower than "regular" humans. Heck, 500 years from now a significant number of them could still be around. The funny part being that I bet some noblemen from the (former) Great Kingdom will start wishing they had been transformed too. After all, you gain immortality and a chance to lord over your subjects for all eternity. As always, until you're actually transformed, you think of it only in terms of advantages...
#12 pauln6 Feb 16, 2006 6:48:20	I've also noticed that some npcs have been adjusted to take into account prestige classes: eg: Tenser Wz21 to Wz16, ArM5 Cymria Fg/Wz ? to Fg1, Wz5, ElKn 7 I'd quite like to see how other major npcs have been tweaked to fit in with 3.5. I read a recent thread about Melf where people disagreed about the best way to reproduce his stats. My campaign is relatively low magic, so I think I'll go for: Melf Fg2, Wz5, ElKn8 (broadly giving him bab +11 (Fg11) plus 3 bonus feats, & spells similar to Wz12 plus 1 bonus feat, which is quite similar to his 2e levels) Mordenkainen Wz19, ArM5 (I know the official Epic version is around Wz27 but I based lvl 24 on the fact that he was lvl 20 in 581 CY compared to e.g. Jallarzi who was level 14 and is now lvl 17 and Rary who was lvl 24 in 585 CY and is now...?, and Tenser who is still lvl 21 after being brought back from the dead)