Evil Bard NPC (Vile Pied Piper) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Evil Bard NPC (Vile Pied Piper) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Master_Vega
12-18-07, 01:19 PM Running another game soon (the others haven't ended, they're just on hold for the time being) and I wanted an evil bard as either the BBEG's right or left hand. I can't remember the name of this guy's class (I don't have the book it's in, though I'm hoping my main group's primary GM does), but it's essentially a bard that animates the dead.

Here's the character; my questions will be at the end of the post. :P

Isaac "Mourn" Pierce

Pierce, in polite society, or Mourn to those who cross him, is an insidious and vile elf. He appears to troubled communities under the guise of a helpful bard willing to chase off plague-infected vermin, when in fact he called the sickly creatures to town in the first place. By the time he arrives, the children are already sick and weak from the rats' infliction; this is an integral part of his plan. Every time one dies he animates the child and has them play ill until he gathers more.
When he has gained control of a considerable portion, he has them attack the townspeople, taking full advantage of the parents' damaged morale. The tactic has never failed him, always leaving the zombie children behind in favor of the stronger and more developed adults. There are no survivors, none sane enough for other communities to believe anyway... Though a troublesome ghost caller (I'll probably post a thread about him, too) has been tracking him for over a year now.
The undead armies are covertly taken to the lead temple of the self-proclaimed goddess of death, where they are offered to her as soldiers for her cause.

Character: Obviously the bard has a quick and elegant tongue, able to talk his way into places he wants to be and out of situations he would rather not be involved in... He could sell snake oil to a snake oil salesman.

The characters will encounter him in his next target village... and what happens from there is up to them, though if my party has a bard I have a neat way for the situation to be resolved. :P

My questions are as follows:
Can someone get me the name of that class (or something close), please?
How do you get this screwed up? o_O
What should his motives be, other than strengthening his goddess's (more like demi-goddess's) armies?

Note: this is another homebrew setting.

Thanks in advance!
Terjon of the Blue Rose
12-20-07, 04:40 AM I think you want Dirgesinger.

You don't get that screwed up you start off that way. You are then raised that way and never exposed to the concept of any foreign morality. He probably has no reason to beleive that the whole world is not in an open war with his goddess and so sees it as simply a duty to fullfill to enhance her ranks by whatever means. After all war is war and casualties are inevitable.

Of course if you want a horrid tortured background simply tie him to some other god of death first. He started his life in a church of the undead and lived it their still but when he joined the ranks of that god's armies he learned of other god's for the first time. He was appalled a the treachery within his own church and longed for a simpler life. Trained in the lies and secrecy of his former faith he now bends that power to serve a more direct goddess. If you go with this he may well seek also to destroy that old church even more than to support his own. Or perhaps he secretely hold faith in a union of the two powers until he can betray one and subsume it into the other.
Master_Vega
12-20-07, 04:24 PM I think you want Dirgesinger.
Yeah, that's the one. Thanks! Do you remember what book it's from?

You don't get that screwed up you start off that way. You are then raised that way and never exposed to the concept of any foreign morality. He probably has no reason to beleive that the whole world is not in an open war with his goddess and so sees it as simply a duty to fullfill to enhance her ranks by whatever means. After all war is war and casualties are inevitable.
I like this idea... It works well for my setting. Thanks!

Of course if you want a horrid tortured background simply tie him to some other god of death first. He started his life in a church of the undead and lived it their still but when he joined the ranks of that god's armies he learned of other god's for the first time. He was appalled a the treachery within his own church and longed for a simpler life. Trained in the lies and secrecy of his former faith he now bends that power to serve a more direct goddess. If you go with this he may well seek also to destroy that old church even more than to support his own. Or perhaps he secretely hold faith in a union of the two powers until he can betray one and subsume it into the other.
I'd have to modify this a bit; he'd have to be part of a separate cult, as there's only one death god in the campaign setting I'm running. Works just the same, though. I'll think about it and see how it fits.

Thanks for replying, Terjon!
Dead_Weasel
12-20-07, 07:05 PM Libris Mortis, p43. 6 levels of Bard get you in (technically only 5 if you can pick up flaws at levels other than first and/or are comfortable with bending the rules for a villain). It is flavorful, but not very powerful: its only undead-creating ability affects one target, only for as long as he performs; you will either have to tack animate dead onto his spell list, or make the Dirgesinger capstone a great deal more impressive if you want this to work.

His particular tactic requires that he either be extremely amoral or pretty thoroughly depraved; if you want to get psychological, it could be the product of an extremely unpleasant childhood or perhaps even the loss of his own children (although the latter comes a little too close to the sample Dirgesinger for my tastes, it would work).

As an alternative to heretical worship of the death god, he could serve a powerful demon or devil (ex: Orcus/Tenebrous).

I realize that the Bard is a cornerstone of the character concept, but another Charisma-based caster (like the Dread Necromancer, for example) could fake that part with a single rank of Perform (wind instrument) and pipes of sounding. A few more ranks and some pipes of the sewers (and a potion of cure disease for if he fails the check) will get him his rat swarms; although they will be local rats, a few rumors in the right places ought to get people panicked.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Master_Vega 12-18-07, 01:19 PM	Running another game soon (the others haven't ended, they're just on hold for the time being) and I wanted an evil bard as either the BBEG's right or left hand. I can't remember the name of this guy's class (I don't have the book it's in, though I'm hoping my main group's primary GM does), but it's essentially a bard that animates the dead. Here's the character; my questions will be at the end of the post. :P Isaac "Mourn" Pierce Pierce, in polite society, or Mourn to those who cross him, is an insidious and vile elf. He appears to troubled communities under the guise of a helpful bard willing to chase off plague-infected vermin, when in fact he called the sickly creatures to town in the first place. By the time he arrives, the children are already sick and weak from the rats' infliction; this is an integral part of his plan. Every time one dies he animates the child and has them play ill until he gathers more. When he has gained control of a considerable portion, he has them attack the townspeople, taking full advantage of the parents' damaged morale. The tactic has never failed him, always leaving the zombie children behind in favor of the stronger and more developed adults. There are no survivors, none sane enough for other communities to believe anyway... Though a troublesome ghost caller (I'll probably post a thread about him, too) has been tracking him for over a year now. The undead armies are covertly taken to the lead temple of the self-proclaimed goddess of death, where they are offered to her as soldiers for her cause. Character: Obviously the bard has a quick and elegant tongue, able to talk his way into places he wants to be and out of situations he would rather not be involved in... He could sell snake oil to a snake oil salesman. The characters will encounter him in his next target village... and what happens from there is up to them, though if my party has a bard I have a neat way for the situation to be resolved. :P My questions are as follows: Can someone get me the name of that class (or something close), please? How do you get this screwed up? o_O What should his motives be, other than strengthening his goddess's (more like demi-goddess's) armies? Note: this is another homebrew setting. Thanks in advance!
Terjon of the Blue Rose 12-20-07, 04:40 AM	I think you want Dirgesinger. You don't get that screwed up you start off that way. You are then raised that way and never exposed to the concept of any foreign morality. He probably has no reason to beleive that the whole world is not in an open war with his goddess and so sees it as simply a duty to fullfill to enhance her ranks by whatever means. After all war is war and casualties are inevitable. Of course if you want a horrid tortured background simply tie him to some other god of death first. He started his life in a church of the undead and lived it their still but when he joined the ranks of that god's armies he learned of other god's for the first time. He was appalled a the treachery within his own church and longed for a simpler life. Trained in the lies and secrecy of his former faith he now bends that power to serve a more direct goddess. If you go with this he may well seek also to destroy that old church even more than to support his own. Or perhaps he secretely hold faith in a union of the two powers until he can betray one and subsume it into the other.
Master_Vega 12-20-07, 04:24 PM	I think you want Dirgesinger. Yeah, that's the one. Thanks! Do you remember what book it's from? You don't get that screwed up you start off that way. You are then raised that way and never exposed to the concept of any foreign morality. He probably has no reason to beleive that the whole world is not in an open war with his goddess and so sees it as simply a duty to fullfill to enhance her ranks by whatever means. After all war is war and casualties are inevitable. I like this idea... It works well for my setting. Thanks! Of course if you want a horrid tortured background simply tie him to some other god of death first. He started his life in a church of the undead and lived it their still but when he joined the ranks of that god's armies he learned of other god's for the first time. He was appalled a the treachery within his own church and longed for a simpler life. Trained in the lies and secrecy of his former faith he now bends that power to serve a more direct goddess. If you go with this he may well seek also to destroy that old church even more than to support his own. Or perhaps he secretely hold faith in a union of the two powers until he can betray one and subsume it into the other. I'd have to modify this a bit; he'd have to be part of a separate cult, as there's only one death god in the campaign setting I'm running. Works just the same, though. I'll think about it and see how it fits. Thanks for replying, Terjon!
Dead_Weasel 12-20-07, 07:05 PM	Libris Mortis, p43. 6 levels of Bard get you in (technically only 5 if you can pick up flaws at levels other than first and/or are comfortable with bending the rules for a villain). It is flavorful, but not very powerful: its only undead-creating ability affects one target, only for as long as he performs; you will either have to tack animate dead onto his spell list, or make the Dirgesinger capstone a great deal more impressive if you want this to work. His particular tactic requires that he either be extremely amoral or pretty thoroughly depraved; if you want to get psychological, it could be the product of an extremely unpleasant childhood or perhaps even the loss of his own children (although the latter comes a little too close to the sample Dirgesinger for my tastes, it would work). As an alternative to heretical worship of the death god, he could serve a powerful demon or devil (ex: Orcus/Tenebrous). I realize that the Bard is a cornerstone of the character concept, but another Charisma-based caster (like the Dread Necromancer, for example) could fake that part with a single rank of Perform (wind instrument) and pipes of sounding. A few more ranks and some pipes of the sewers (and a potion of cure disease for if he fails the check) will get him his rat swarms; although they will be local rats, a few rumors in the right places ought to get people panicked.