In my Greyhawk - related campaigns I have (had, as at the moment I leave Greyhawk in my writing desk) some characters that reappeared with frequency - NPCs generated by me that aided the players in their bitterest struggles.
Members of this party that also occasionally appear in the D&D gaming world vicinity were:
Ivid Valerius, NG male human Ranger 22 of Suel bloodline, from an old noble family that had settled near the Adri Forest. He is the oldest character for WoG I ever created and the one I refer to with my nickname. ;)
He currently is the most famous raider of the Flanaess and I think, as many would consider him a villain, I am planning to submit his tale at the canonfire - postfest...
Cethegus, LN male human Sorceror 4 from Greyhawk, a big fan of Mordenkainen and, desperately trying to know his idol, usually getting lost somewhere in the Yatil Mountains...
Sperling, an *obviously* mentally derranged CG male human bard 18 my party met in the *custody* of the pirates of Nulb. As he says, a true follower of Rudd, refuses to wear ANY clothes... has recently arrived in the mists of Darkon...
Am I the only one to create such persons and to insert them in my campaigns or can you tell similar stories of your home adventuring?
Rafael
Actually, the half-orc (whose name is Keth Corwyn) has also spent some time adventuring with the party, and both Brom and Keth were with them when the PCs began exploring the Temple of Elemental Evil. (I'm running them through RttToEE.) However, Keth was recently slain in a battle with a wizard, and I'm not sure whether the PCs intend to try to have him raised. Brom is also considering leaving the party (actually, I'm not sure that they need him anymore, which is the reason he may soon "decide" to leave them).
Even when Brom does leave the party, however, I expect that he'll pop up from time to time, especially when I need an adventure hook or the PCs need help.
Sperling will be a part of the major plot for my RL party to free Azalin from his prison... (and lead them into the Flanaess, a land that this group has not yet seen.)
He was affected by charm several times for extended periods of time and eventually now he has come to see the party as great friends he looks up too. There was a little heat between the three dwarves and the goblin at first.
I have now painted a miniature for the goblin and plan to use him with the party for as long as I see he is an asset to me and the players.
He has become my first pet NPC that is active in the party, I have a few others that have made a cameo appearance here and there but almost all were not involved with battles.
I have actually brought a character from another game I played into my game as a pet NPC (Now that I think of it) and the DM i played with is playing in my game. It is kinda cool because i am finishing up a story that began and never ended in his game. I enjoyed it but some of the players didn't like or at least I seem to get the feeling the didn't.
Well, ramblers lets ramble!
Numat Kreb (monk 14) is an agent of the SB trying to redeem himself. The party has foiled his master plans twice but due to his political connections within the SB he has not been destroyed by his brothers. One last chance for him...
Jochaim MasterBarkeep (rogue/fighter 2/5) is a recurring character who has survived the Greyhawk Wars where he lost his tavern in Critwall to become a master smuggler along the Furyondian border. The party runs into him in the weirdest places...
The Honorable Lady Lauralin (aristocrat 6) was rescued posthumously from a SB kidnapping. The party has helped her recover, find a mate, and uncover a SB agent in the midst of the Court over the course of 4 campaign years.
Joseph (peasant/paladin 1/12) started off as a plot device to show the rift in Heironeous' clergy concerning admittance of peasants into the mostly noble order. The party has watched him grow from a dispossessed Shield Lander peasant to an honored servant of the Paladin God.
Couin (ogre mage, ranger/barbarian 2/2) was revealed as a sub-commander during the Greyhawk Wars. He had chosen to disguise himself as a dwarven warrior with a hat of disguise in order to gain advantage. The party forced him to reveal more powers than he had wanted to, stripping him of his concealment and robbing him of his command. Oh, how he hates the party!
Some weeks ago, my group found out that the ogre of my party (he is somewhat like the big mountain trolls from The Lord of the Rings, with the same number of brain cells as a christmas cookie) had a half-dead goblin warrior tied on his back for the last two months, from a goblin mountain camp through several dungeons and a magic winter storm...
I am wondering what will become of him when the ogre becomes hungry again...
Me. Samwise of Pelor, fanatical cleric at large. As I was the only cleric in the group, it was easier to keep him than create and introduce a new NPC. He was a Neutral Good fanatic of the first order, determined to bring the Light of Pelor to the UnderOerth. He also had an annoying tendency to embezzle the group treasure, constantly draining off a tithe for the church of Pelor. When the players realized what he was doing, they nearly revolted, until they realized it meant they got to go to the head of the line for being raised or getting certain magic item requests fulfilled.
Warpuppy. Awakened War Dog pet of Samwise. We liberated a half-starved dog during the game from some Evil doers. Naturally, I had to adopt it. When the dog was the only one to make a Spot check against a rather nasty NPC cleric waiting with an Inflict spell coupled with a poison bite, he took one for the team. There was no choice but to have him raised (out of group funds of course), and awakened, so he would be safer in the future. For the next 6 months or so of real time, he traveled with the group, aiding them in a remarkably intuitive fashion, following the most complex of commands, and taunting the party by making random comments when no one was looking. One character, who had become a psion, "believed" he was intelligent, and talked to him. This made everyone else think that character was going insane. I kept it up until one dramatic, life or death moment, when Warpuppy suddenly spoke out loud, to everyone. They were shocked, but the effect was incredible, especially when he reminded certain characters of some of the things they'd said about him.
Damir the Undying. A freed prisoner who joined the group to repay us for helping him. Originally a simple man at arms, he gradually became loaded down with so much surplus equipment (those old mods were dripping with magic) he was better equipped than some PCs. Finally after he died once (surrounded by hook horrors and shredded), and wanting to take advantage of one of the broken weapon enhancements in the 3E Psionics Handbook, one character had his swords upgraded to body feeders. With keen and improved critical, he could wade into combat, and begin delivering 50-100 point crits in a round, taking that as damage himself, and never slowing down. None of that improved his attitude, and he still expected every encounter to wind up with the entire party being cursed or slain or both. (Like the character from the Mummy II, "This place is cursed.")
Finslayer the Imperturbable. A near-artifact level sword that players can find and use to wreak havoc and mayhem. Finslayer is excessively gung ho, and was constantly haranguing the group to get out their and hack. I pictured him a R. Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket, trapped in a long sword and on the front lines. The party wanted to throw the sword into the deepest chasm they could find, but they needed its powers. Finally though, after the group cleared out the second stage of the module, and most of the characters died, Finslayer, along with Damir the Undying and Warpuppy, had to mosey on off into the sunset. I suspect they are still out there, wandering Greyhawk, Finslayer using some helpless commoner to carry him, looking to do some good and spread some weirdness.