The ever-talented Jason Sholtis made my week by drawing a
just-perfect character sketch of Glamdalf (that's him above), one of many NPCs of
escalating weirdness that appear in Fever-Dreaming Marlinko. It
reminded me that I have been sitting on this list of “out-take”
NPCs that didn't make it into the final draft.
Given that petty crime
(especially small-scale grift) is a widespread, popular pastime in that
strange little borderlands city, many of the following are likely to
be in the annoying nuisance category of urban NPCs.
[Oh
also I done got interviewed about the Hill Cantons by Jack. Check it out here.]
Roll
a d10 (if
you must)
1.
Radko the Ruffler.
0-level Man-at-Arms. Leather Jack, tattered uniform surcoat, sabre.
Approaches a Fighting Man and claims to have been a veteran in the
Kozak Wars. Claims to be looking for honest work or a donation to get
him through a hard time. If hired on, he will split at the
first opportunity, stealing an item of value from the party.
2.
Havol the Hooker.
0-level
combatant. Padded, polearm. Hp 4. Despite the name Havol is not a
prostitute but instead has gained his underworld nickname by using
his long, hooked polearm to grab hang lines of clothes, spring open
second-story shutters and commit other pole-related crimes.
3.
Poor Tomas the
Ubra-man.
A second level mountebank. Hp 5. Feigns anxiety disorder claims that
it prevents him from fulfilling seed money for a wilderness
expedition and is now financially destitute. Carries an Ubra-stick, a
white-painted staff that signifies a former patient/indentured
servant of the Ubra work camp for the mentally ill. Will ask for
specific amounts of alms money (5 gold and 2 silver), offering rumors
and gossip (true and useful at first but increasingly more fanciful
and far-fetched as he runs out of info). Will pretend to have a
panic-induced heart attack if ever confronted.
4.
Bedka the Bawdy
Basket.
First-level thief. Leather jack, hand axe. Hp 3. A matronly,
rosy-cheeked pedlar of kitchen ware. She bribes servants to steal
items of value from the townhouses of their patrons.
5.
Petr, Prigger of
Prancers.
Second-level thief (stealth skill 4). Leather jack, lasso, sabre. Hp
10. A wee, bow-legged, skilled horse thief, Petr will approach the
party either as means to off-load stolen horses (giving deep
discounts of 40-50% off the listed horse price or as marks to be
stolen from.
6.
Janos the Jarkman.
Forgerer of papers. He can knock off 200-400 gp worth of inducement
fees (bribes) to Marlinko or contrada authorities by filing mountains of
official-looking falsified paperwork. Takes a commission of 30% from
any cash saved. He's backed by One Armed Jiri and any attempts to
cheat or otherwise metaphorically fuck him will suffer retribution
from his semi-criminal society.
7.
Zela the Inflicted.
0-level woman-at-arms. Half plate (AC:5), spear, sword, large
container of tallow soap. Hp 2. High strung, fidgety with deep black
bags under her eyes, she will offer her services as a hireling. While
earnest in trying to pull her weight, she will panic when asked to
individually take on a task even half-dangerous. Discreetly soaping
up her face, she will feign an epileptic seizure in such a case.
8.
“Whipjack”
Wahlo.
0-level man-at-arms. Studded leather. Trident. Hp 5.
Broad-shouldered, black-skinned (literally) and barely speaking the
local tongue, Wahlo is a shipwrecked sailor from the Scarlet
Sultanate. He is quite anxious about his “papers” (forged by
Janos above) and being picked up by the local authorities--and is
sadly ignorant of the Overking's law granting free right of passage
to distressed mariners. Manipulative PCs could wheedle him into
serving at a pittance of the hireling rate. A patron however who
informs of his legal rights and undue worry will gain his
near-fanatical loyalty and gratitude.
9.
“Upright Man” Uli. 3rd level thief. Leather,
quarterstaff. Hp 15. Though dressed in a threadbare and patch-covered
doublet, grey-haired Uli is almost stately in countenance. Uli has a
finger in every small scam or theft below Jiri's interest. All on
this list owe him a favor, the women owe their hearts and the petty
criminals owe him grudging fealty. He may be persuaded to intercede
in trouble with any listed here—for a fee.
10. Frazalina. Daughter of Fraza
the curio dealer. Thin, spindly-necked and sharped-nosed, Frazalina
is uncannily similar to her old man in both appearance and aspect,
she is also freakishly honest—and a racist. She is likely to offer
a commission for appropriating rare macguffins in local murderholes.
She is in terrible company on this chart.