A Rogue's Gallery Of Aborted NPCs

Ok, so I said I'd gone through a bunch of ideas for the NPC, and I have. Here is a mostly complete list of them.

Greenskin Abraxen Fighter (Archer)

This guy was basically Fas'binder 2.0. The goal was to be a kind of primitive hunter type that used Master Craftsman to make magical bows and arrows. I didn't have too much planned for him, other than a desire to try and find his original clan in The Beastlands (the Niht clan). The guys could either help him or hinder him, or ignore him, and each those choices would have affected the events going on in The Beastlands at the moment.

Elduman Monk (Zen Archer)

This idea combined two ideas I had. I wanted a kind of wise advisor to the group that could be all wise and mysterious with kind of a psychic theme. I explored the option a bit and talked to Fred about it and kind of came to the conclusion that a wise and mysterious person of any sort amounted to me basically railroading the group into being good guys. This idea went through two other versions as well, a Fighter (Archer)/Wizard/Arcane Archer version and a Psychic Warrior/Psionic Archer, Psionic Archer is not a prestige class that exists mind you.

Elduman Monk (Weapon Master)

I briefly detoured from my ranged obsession to contemplate and build a monk that focused on weapon combat. The concept was the same as my other monk ideas, a wise and mysterious combat expert. This guy would have focused on disarms, trips, and sunder attempts with a temple sword.

Fell Human Rogue (Poisoner)

For some reason I got on this weird ranged combat kick. Came up with an idea for a knife thrower Rogue that used poison to augment the small damage of daggers. I also decided he would be mute, then there would be no danger of me deliberately or accidentally leading the group. This idea also went through another version, an Elduman Soulknife with blade skills that focused on chucking blades of idealized will at his enemies.

Child of Volung Barbarian (Hurler)

This idea continued the whole ranged combat thing I was fixating on. He would charge enemies and pick up things to throw at them along the way. A pretty straightforward idea. I envisioned him with a large barrel of smaller barrels on his back and reaching back to hurl them as he charged. The hurling rage skills allow a raging Barbarian to throw large objects, but rather than improvised weapon damage, they do damage based on their size and distance thrown, ala falling object damage.

It was at this point that I let go of ranged combat and kind of decided that I wanted a powerful NPC that was useful to the group, but might have a background or personality issue that made them a useful, but less than ideal adventuring companion.

Child of Volung Barbarian (Drunken Brute)

This was the drunken barbarian idea I spoke of previously. He would combine some hurling rage powers with the Drunken Rage class feature and some booze related powers to shrug off status effects. He would have been constantly irritable and very pragmatic about things. Also drunk, and angry. Very hard to deal with and handle, but an absolute monster in combat. I would have also really liked to expose the group to another race in The Known World. They only really have long term experience with Fell Humans and Soulless, and now Okwighta.

Fell Human Rogue/Wizard/Arcane Trickster

This character was going to be a professional thief that used sorcery to augment his skill use. The brand of trouble he brought to the group would stem from his underworld ties and his willingness to steal everything not nailed down that had a resale value greater than a mark. To be honest, I envisioned him as something of an even more amoral alternate D'alton. One that could sneak attack with fireballs and lightning bolts.

Fell Human Alchemist/Rogue (Poisoner)

This was going to be a vaguely creepy dude obsessed with life and death and how various chemicals caused or altered those states. The troubles he brought with him would relate to the fact that he was a major creeper and his allegiance to the most skilled Alchemist in Hekinoe and the shenanigans that that savage doctor got up to. Those shenanigans are tangentially related to the plot of this campaign.

Fell Human Magus

The key feature of the Magus seems to be a pseudo-two-weapon fighting/flurry of blows type ability that allows them to wield a sword in one hand, and a spell in the other. The Magus is an interesting class that I kind of like. The trouble from this character would stem from his background, though it would only really be an issue if the players pushed and pulled at the threads of it. 

Anyway, that is the stable as it currently stands. I've limited myself to plotting out the Magus (one Krieg Byr'ger, formerly of the Necropolis), to only three levels in an attempt to preserve the mystery of the character. I guess I'm fluctuating between the Barbarian (Drunken Brute) and this Magus idea I have. The Barbarian would be a lot more...fun, I think, but in the end, I think the Magus would be more rewarding to play. Can GMs play multiple NPCs?