Thoughts on an NPC

[Supplement Four]

I'm creating a few NPCs for my game, and I'm using Vincent's excellent Player's Guide to brainstorm some backgrounds and put meat on their bones.

The NPC is 12 years old (a year younger than PCs next session), a Cimmerian, and he's a Blue Fox clansman living in Seven Stones Ridge (in north-central Cimmeria in the southern foothills of the Eiglophians). He'll be a 1st level Barbarian in 3 years (and his stats, then at age 15, will be: STR 19, DEX 9, CON 14, INT 13, WIS 11, CHR 10).

What I've established so far is that he lives in Seven Stones with his family. His family will be a shepherd/farmer/carpenter/weaver/hunter/fisherman or something like that.

He's an only child, but has an adopted sister a year younger. Her name is Chani. And, he has two other adopted younger brothers.

So, here's the interesting part: Brial has trouble with one of his relatives over an issue of love. He caused a person to lose a limb. And, he rescued someone from an accident.

Chani, his adopted younger sister, also rescued someone from an accident.

I was thinking of tying all these events together into one event.

Can you think of a situation where a Cimmerian boy causes a person to lose a limb while rescueing them at the same time, with his little sister helping, and have the situation somehow tied to a romantic encounter?

I love setting up parameters like this and trying to figure a plausible explaination to tie all the parts together.

Have any ideas?

 

[VincentDarlage]

Due to a mistake in climbing, one child has his leg or arm trapped under a boulder. The Brial and Chani cannot move the boulder, but because of an impending animal attack (bear?) or Nordheimer attack or enemy clan attack, they have to HURRY or die, so Brial uses an axe or spear and chops off the trapped limb. Brial and Chani help bring the limbless child back home, escaping the attack.

Perhaps Brial's early love is the sister of the limbless child... or perhaps it isn't a limbless boy, but a limbless girl, and now Brial's clan owes a debt to the girl's clan because the rock accident was Brial's fault... or perhaps a girl of another clan witnesses the event and falls in love with Brial because of his brutal solution to the problem, but she was betrothed to the limbless boy (and now does not want him).

 

[Spectator]

Wow, they made a film about people with these types of love issues:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_(1996_film)

 

[Supplement Four]

Due to a mistake in climbing, one child has his leg or arm trapped under a boulder. The Brial and Chani cannot move the boulder, but because of an impending animal attack (bear?) or Nordheimer attack or enemy clan attack, they have to HURRY or die, so Brial uses an axe or spear and chops off the trapped limb. Brial and Chani help bring the limbless child back home, escaping the attack.

Perhaps Brial's early love is the sister of the limbless child... or perhaps it isn't a limbless boy, but a limbless girl, and now Brial's clan owes a debt to the girl's clan because the rock accident was Brial's fault... or perhaps a girl of another clan witnesses the event and falls in love with Brial because of his brutal solution to the problem, but she was betrothed to the limbless boy (and now does not want him).

That's good stuff. I love the idea of a kid having to hack someone's arm off. It's a cold, harsh world in Cimmeria--in more ways than one.



My thoughts on this at work today led me to one-armed Olav, from Betrayer of Asgard. I haven't read much on him--so, I need to check what kind of background is established for him in that adventure.

In my game, though, I established Olav as an NPC during game session one. He's an Aesir, but he's welcome in Seven Stones. He makes his living (currently) by bringing "entertainment" to a few clans during the Beltain celebrations. He also makes a bit by trading--even speculative trading between the clans.

I was thinking of working in Olav's missing arm with these two young NPCs. Olav is quite a bit older than the NPCs (who are aged 12 today), and I was thinking that Olav's had the missing arm for some time. So, maybe the NPCs were....um...9..when it happened?

And, if it is Olav, how does the love angle work? How did Brial cause Olav to be trapped?

I could make Brial fatherless and then have Olav become a suitor of his widowed mother. Of course, he's Aesir. She's straight Cimmerian. Oh, the scandal!

Maybe young Brial set a trap for Olav because he didn't want him messin' with his Ma. But, the log trap was a little more deadly than Brial wanted it to be. He just wanted to trap and then scare Olav--so that he'd leave his mother alone.

What were they running from? Why did Brial have to hack the arm off instead of just go get some help?

I'm thinking that whatever Olav brought to Seven Stones that year--maybe a bear and some wolves for the town to watch rip each other apart--that Brial let it loose. He did this to lure Olav away from the town.

Olav went looking for the "event" that had gotten away, due for the center ring the next day. And, the Beltain is going on. Maybe he's a bit snockered with ale.

Boom. Brial traps him and crushes Olav's arm. The bear shows up, and Brial has a choice--leave Olav to die or help him out. He's too small to lift the trap logs by himself, but he takes the axe or hatchet--whatever he used to make the log trap--and hacks off Olav's arm so that Olav will live.

Mess with a Cimmerian's mother and see what happens to ya.





It's not perfect, but I like that direction.

Another thought I had that will not fit if I go with the above is to have a love angle between Brial and Chani. Chani is not Brial's blood. She's his sister by adoption. Something happened to her family. Maybe Brial's Da took her in and received wounds in the same encounter that killed Chani's family. The two kids are entering puberty, and Brial is torn. He's got these feelings for Chani, but technically, honor demands that he treat her like a sister.

Maybe Olav finds out about the two? Then the trap thing...Brial was going to make sure that Olav told no one.


Maybe I can merge the two ideas together.