Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kethka 11-08-05, 08:53 AM	Okay, heres the scenario: Vannis, my half-drow con-artist/burglar, will be inducted into a wide-spread and influential thieves guild next session. Since it was my idea, my DM wants me to help him come up with ideas for the organization and some notable members (especially since one of these members will eventually be my cohort). Obviously, this is too big a job for just one man - so I decided to come to the experts on character development for help :D The guild will probably be called 'The Nightblades' or something of that nature (And I intend to borrow the nightsong PrCs from complete adventurer). I'm not looking for a short novel on these characters, just a name, class (maybe PrC), race, and a short background - My DM can fill in the rest. Think of it as an exercise in character creation :cool: Very few restrictions on this.. they can be of any alignment (Though evil members probably won't make the cohort list since I travel with a LG cleric of heironeous - lets just say my high bluff is necessary to maintain this relationship :P ). All the complete books are open, both base classes and PrC, and low level adjusted races are also okay (Up to, say, +3) Without further ado, here's one of my ideas, to get the ball rolling: Alyssa Female Halfling Rogue/Thief Acrobat: Alyssa grew up in a travelling circus, performing with the other acrobats who were an adopted family of sorts. Her life was relatively uneventful until the circus was disbanded just after her twenty-second birthday due to a lack of revenue (it had been struggling for a while). Recognizing the usefulness (and deperation) of the suddenly jobless acrobats, the Nightblades offered some of them positions as cat-burglars. Alyssa accepted, and learned to blend her acrobatic prowess with the more conventional skills of a rogue, as taught by the guild. Alyssa was raised in a very close-knit eviornment that was looked down upon by most 'outsiders' and she still maintains a very "us versus them" mindset. Towards members of the Nightblades, Alyssa is warm and accomidating, treating them as an extended family. Anyone outside of the guild, however, recieves a cold shoulder and an ice glare at best - a dagger between the shoulderblades at worst. Like I said, one member will become my cohort eventually, while the others will all be used to populate the flesh out the thieves guild. Okay, enough ranting.. Let the character creation begin! :D
2y1y1z2 11-08-05, 09:54 AM	Tagresk Male Half-Orc Rogue/Ranger: Tagresk grew up in the wilds, raised by his Orcish father and treated as an inferior all his life. He eventually developed a hatred of his father's people and ran away. He lived alone in the woods for several years until (Warning: Cliche) a band of adventurers found him and brought him along. He was taken in by the guild because of his impressive combat abilities and is the newest member. Make his Favored Enemies Orc +4/Human +2. He hates Orcs because of how they treated him as a child, and he hates Humans because he feels that his mother abandoned him. How's that?
Fithero 11-08-05, 10:04 AM	Ae'mall, Elven Wizard (spec:divination)/Lore Master: A elf whom considers himself "morally unrestrained" who seeks to gain knowledge any way possible. He found that going through the usual (ie. official) channels was too time consuming and often failed in the end so he decided to jump the fence and join the bad guys. He uses his magics to search out possible targets (people and locations) in return, the guild obtains certain texts or bits of info for him. Im thinking this guy would be more neutral instead of evil. Hope you can use him. Later
Kethka 11-08-05, 10:05 AM	2y1y1z2: I like it :D After all, what's a thieves guild without some hired muscle? The fact that he was raised in the wilderness and seems to be in the guild mostly for acceptance makes him more interesting than a generic 'half-orc thug' (though I'm sure they have plenty of those, as well). Since he can already track down his foes and has stealth to boot, I could definately see a character like this ending up as a guild 'bounty hunter' to hunt down traitors and other guild enemies. Maybe with a few levels in the Bloodhound PrC later on?
Morka 11-08-05, 10:22 AM	Shanna: An aristocrat spoiled girl, she had bad companies to put a thrill in her life, and secretly joined the thieves guild. A silver tongue, she use her noble status to study manors before the thieves break into it. She has some pickpocket skills. Silent Gregg: Gregg secretly knows a large amount of languages, but seldom speak. He plays the roles of a stupid guy, but understand much more things than it seems. He is also known for his ability to break into buildings without making any noise. Zog: Zog is continually sleeping in a corner of the guildhouse. No one knows why he is always there, but there is a rumor that the guildleader as a debt toward Zog's father. Siira: This beautiful elf lady is a true cat-burglar. Everyone in the guild would like to work with her both for her skills and beauty, but she prefers to work alone. She despises Shanna, whom she sees as a female rival without skill, but she keeps it secret, for it would mean she likes the attention the men give her. Cladius: The average thief, he has good skills and is mildly friendly. No one knows though that Cladius is a spy reporting directly to the king. Fedill: The thug of the gang. This barbarian half-orc specialize in grappling and intimidating the unlucky "customers". A few ones know though that Fedill scream like a girl when he sees some rats... Tallek: This halfling is Fedill's partner, and the brain of the duo. They specialize in usurious loans. Dorian: A rogue/ranger, he trains some seagulls to steal shinning objects. His wardog is following him everywhere. He loves to introduce some rats in the guildhouse to see Fedill scream.
Kethka 11-08-05, 10:37 AM	Ae'mall, Elven Wizard (spec:divination)/Lore Master: A elf whom considers himself "morally unrestrained" who seeks to gain knowledge any way possible. He found that going through the usual (ie. official) channels was too time consuming and often failed in the end so he decided to jump the fence and join the bad guys. He uses his magics to search out possible targets (people and locations) in return, the guild obtains certain texts or bits of info for him. Im thinking this guy would be more neutral instead of evil. Hope you can use him. Later I was actually thinking that the guild probably has a few spellcasters in its employ. In exchange for things like divinations, magical protections for hideouts, and maybe some item crafting for the higher-ups, a wizard gets a respectable amount of coin and access to some illegal or otherwise unattainable recources for research. Since its not really a full-time job, a wizard could even work for the guild ont he side, to fund expensive research (Just as long as they don't get caught by the local law enforcement). Another idea of mine (This one's more of a comical character idea - but usable nonetheless :D ): Father Tomak Middle-age Human Male Cleric (Olidimarra)/Evangelist: Father Tomak is a rather eccentric individual who considers himself the "spiritual compass" of the Nightblades. He wanders often, but can usually be found at one of the Nightblade hotspots in the City of Greyhawk. When he's not preaching the word of Olidimarra or partaking in sacrimental wine (any wine), he can be found offering confessions to Nightblade members, in order to ease their guilty souls. Usually, the god of thieves forgives them (big shock), sometimes demanding that they repent by visiting a local tavern, or patronizing one of the local ladies (or lads) of the night. Not suprisingly, Father Tomak usually recieves a considerable amount of donations from his followers, allowing him to maintain a small but impressive shrine to Olidimarra where guildmembers can request divine aid. Oh, I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier but we are playing in the Greyhawk campaign setting (The guild is housed primarily in the City of Greyhawk).
Morka 11-08-05, 11:41 AM	Take a look at the Character Concepts Compilation in my sig, there is a tons of concepts. There is few true roguish characters though, but many wizards.
Dolomel 11-08-05, 05:03 PM	The City of Greyhawk already got an assassin and a thief guild of great importance. Are you making a side one or you didn't know there was any? If you didn't know, you can maybe use the already available NPCs of the guild or maybe make some of them work for YOUR thief guild? (Ex: Some thugs prepare a rebellion versus the first thief guild and work with you, maybe it's them that made the ''new'' guild)
Kethka 11-08-05, 06:41 PM	Morka: I really like the thief lineup you thought up. The fact that they are aware of each other and have some patterns of interaction makes them seem much more real than the same number of individual npcs would - and I could think of some really funny scenarios that could arise if the party ever ran into some of them Dolomel: No, I didn't know there was already a detailed guild in the City of Greyhawk (and apparently, neither did my DM). This is our first time attempting a game in Greyhawk so I'm not surprised it was overlooked. Could you point me in the direction of some information on this guild? And, regardless, unless they have some lower-level members statted out and described, I'm probably still going to need to come up with some npcs, since we're only level 6 at the moment and I doubt I'll be interacting with any of the "important" members of the guild any time soon. Though having some guild rivalry could lead to some interesting adventures... :plotting:
Hola 11-08-05, 07:58 PM	A quickie, Hynjas: NG female human Rouge, hired by the royal guard to infultrate the organizeation Hynjas always looks a little stressed for she has taken a honest intrest in the guild but does not want to cross the crown.
Dolomel 11-09-05, 08:08 AM	Ok I'll try to post the NPC's tonight, tho I think they are, like you said, high levels npc's.
erbmjw 11-09-05, 10:55 AM	Twig: female hafling rogue/wizard - very small/light even for a hafling. Started life with an 18 int, but a very low con, str and for a hafling rogue a low dex as well. She is not a con artist, thug, nor a cat burgler; she is a specialist in devices/magic/items and an occasional source of information. Often brought {sometimes even carried} into a job site to deal with a difficult situation. Skilled at forgery, disable devices, crafting gadgets/items/fakes and getting past magic. Lots of craft skills and a few item feats so she is also the guilds source of 'speciality items'. She does many of the appraisals for the items the guild has stolen because of her craft skills and her familiar{a raven} *scribe scroll *craft wondrous item *brew potion ( depending on her level - she could also have Appraise Magic Value from Complete Adventurer ) Twig's parents ran/run a successful resturant/inn {her family does not live nearby} so Twig has the profession cook skill at level 8 . {Could go lower/higher as you and your GM need} As her cover and to keep her from getting into too much trouble Twig is also the 'owner' {the guild is a silent majority partner} of a quirky but successful resturant, "The Raven's Roost". The guild insures that her customers are never robbed near/in her resturant, nor is any information gathered in her resturant. The building her resturant is in is owned by the guild and also is one of the guild's most secret safe houses. If you want I can send you a description of the building. It's an old alchemical factory and it has a rooftop herb garden :)
Morka 11-09-05, 02:23 PM	Morka: I really like the thief lineup you thought up. The fact that they are aware of each other and have some patterns of interaction makes them seem much more real than the same number of individual npcs would - and I could think of some really funny scenarios that could arise if the party ever ran into some of them Thanks. I was thinking about the guildhall itself, that would look like some kind of tavern. There would be a table with a few thug playing cards or dices, a knife thrower training in a corner (but keeping on missing the bullseye), an annoying bard, a thug at the door, a smoky atmosphere, a dwarven bartender, some duelist training feints and lunges... you know, a mix between the typical tavern where the adventurers meet and a pirate ship. Heh, it could be cool to have a ranger training a monkey to steal things!
erbmjw 11-09-05, 11:29 PM	Hey Morka - if you don't mind Twig could also try food based experiments on the tavern's customers and fellow guild members. She would also be asking for their opinion on the food she provides - "more spices in the meatballs? Perhaps the cream sauce should be lighter?" I only ask because evey 'ship' needs a cook :) I may be harvesting some of these characters myself.
Kethka 11-10-05, 01:56 PM	Wow, lots of good replies since last time I checked! Hola: I like the idea of a spy with divided loyalties. I have to wonder if she is aware of other agents of the crown (such as Cladius) - If so, she could cause alot of trouble for either the guild or the crown; depending on whom she ultimately decides to side with. erbmjw: I think Twig could be very easy and fun NPC to insert, possibly serving as a source of information or advice (and perhaps a place to lie low now and then). I could also see the cellar of "The Raven's Roost" containing a led-lined vault where 'creatively aquired' valuables can be stored to thwart detection spells :D (All meticulously numbered and organized of course, since it's managed by Twiggy) Also, if you have the time to post it, I wouldn't object to a description of her resteraunt :cool: Morka: I showed your NPC lineup and guildhouse description to my DM, and he likes it alot too. In all likelihood, that guildhouse will end up being where I spend most of my time while my party is in town doing their own thing inbetween adventures.
Morka 11-11-05, 11:47 AM	Hey Morka - if you don't mind Twig could also try food based experiments on the tavern's customers and fellow guild members. She would also be asking for their opinion on the food she provides - "more spices in the meatballs? Perhaps the cream sauce should be lighter?" I only ask because evey 'ship' needs a cook :) I may be harvesting some of these characters myself. It's even better. By the way, I hold no rights on any of these characters, it's just to help Kethka and his DM. Kethka, I'm happy you like it. I sometimes feel inspired by some posts, and when it happens, it's cool my ideas are appreciated!
erbmjw 11-11-05, 12:28 PM	Glad some of you liked Twig - like Morka I jump in to help when a post interests me. As for the resturant, expect the description over the weekend :)
General_Ridley 11-11-05, 07:17 PM	If you have Races of eberron: Vin, CN Male changeling Wiz 5/Recaster 2 (1st and 5th level Wizard are Substitution levels). Vin has many identities, notable among them are Ulfgar Ironforge and Gurk, a permanently reduced size half-ogre (minor Change shape allows this, as a Half-Ogre could take human heritage to gain the humanoid type and becoming eligible to be impersonated in this manner). Vin himself is quiet and reclusive, almost unknown to all. He is a Becomer, and has trouble relating to those who do not appreciate change. Ulfgar Ironforge is a Dwarf of good standing in the community. He is a tinkerer with arcana, and hopes that his casting skills can help him assist in creating better armor and weapons than his more prosaic fellows. Gurk is a physically weak, mentally strong Half-Ogre who shows that the stereotype is not always remotely correct. He conducts himself well in public, and people are often shocked at his wit and intelligence. Gurk proves to be an adept mage, and teaches at the local Mage Academy during his free time. Vin's familiar morphs to meet his needs. Normally, it is a raven. For Ulfgar, it is a bat. For Gurk, it's a rat. note: Vin uses his illusion and Transmutation specialties to help the guild with magical thievery.
'orrible 'obbit 11-12-05, 11:27 AM	hey these are real good NPC's. I am just attempting to build on the excellent work of others. Bling- Male, dwarf fighter/thief. Expert in jewellery, assesses potential targets . Risk averse, he likes to stay in the background but will fight if neccessary. Very good at bribery,corruption and "people skills". :D relies for contacts on Varax-female human assassin. She uses her astonishing good looks to "convince" rich males she's in love with them. Then disposes of them and steals their valuables. Ambitious and utterly ruthless she believes she should be running the guild. Varax's has established excellent "relationships" with certain officers in the Royal Guard perhaps one of them will tell her of the spies in the Guilds midst...
Twilly 11-14-05, 04:51 PM	Gimble (gnome rogue) Gimble runs a small shop in town. He sells musicboxes, toys and various tools. He crafts items on demand and for good money. This is all honest work. He loves gambling, unfortunately he is not very good at it. Most of the time he is broke. He is always looking for some cash. Since he loves to craft gadgets, he is also very good at crafting various thieving tools for different jobs. Long-spoon thieves' tools, mechanical burglars, automated footpads (see Song & Silence for these items), you name it and he can make it. He is also very good at making forgeries. He also is fond of children. He brings many homeless kids to the guild so they can become part of the family. Most of these children become pickpockts.
Blakeman101 11-19-05, 12:31 AM	"Sniper" Last name unknown CG Elf rouge. Corellon Larethian Sniper grew up in the darker part of town. He tried to keep a low profile because local shopkeepers called him Rif-raff. In order to survive on the street you need two things attitude and skill. Sniper had a boatload of attitude which got him into more than a little trouble. All he needed was skill. He learned how to pick a pocket and how to cut the bottem of a purse to make money fall out. He never liked to steal and always asked if he could have money before he stole. One day he ran into a local guard who caught him stealing. the guard laughed it off and gave Sniper the money. Needless to say they became fast friends. In order to protect himself the guard taught young Sniper how to use a bow. Up until then Sniper had had no name and simply called himself Elf. But after it was aparant that he had untold skill with a bow the guard called him a little sniper. The name stuck. The guard told Sniper a lesson he would never forget. The guard said "Freedom is important. Always help those who long to be free and escape the world's problems." Since then Sniper has become something of a D&D Batman. He hides in the shadows and attacks bullies, thugs, and murderers. Then he dissapears. Now helping the innocent and saving citizens is great but it doesnt pay. Sniper joined up with a local theiving guild called the nightblades but will not do anything that puts innocent people in harm. Over the years he has been working his way up the ladder and is now a high ranking member. He seeks to find others within the guild who want to help people. Sniper will tolorate evil people but likes to travel with others like him. Sniper would have avarage STR, High DEX, avarage CON, Avarage INT, low WIS, Avarage CHA. He has a MW shortbow, a MW longbow, and two MW daggers. Hope you like him.
erbmjw 11-19-05, 07:47 AM	Blakeman - MW .... merciful weapon? Why would he use daggers? Why not use a sap with the merciful weapon bonus? *** I'm not trying to poke holes in your concept, it's a good base, so I hope you take the following as constructive criticism/comments and not as an attack on your work. Doesn't like to steal. Always asked before he stole the money. Will not put innocents in harm. So he won't steal the rich girl's pocket money because she is an innocent kind of thing - or will steal her pocket money after saving her from violent criminals - a kind of charming thief. Since some of the guild members are thugs Sniper is going to be in conflict with the guild members. So how would he get to be high ranking in the thieves guild? Nothing in what you have written shows why {aside from time in guild} he would be high ranking. I could see him as a mid level helper on big non-violent jobs. Everyone needs a good lookout - safety man. The long range merciful bow attacks would be effective against guards and keep the death rate down - the low/no deaths would leave the law less interested in hunting down the non-violent criminals. If given the choice between hunting down no{low} death criminals and theives who kill the law will generally go after the killers. *** If you had made him a great con man, a charming non-violent thief, or an excellent cat burglar then I could see why he would be high ranking in a thieves guild, but right now I'm not seeing him as high ranking.
Blakeman101 11-19-05, 01:48 PM	Well daggers are cool because they can be used to slit open purses and bags. About the sap idea he only attacks those who are evil. The evil people deserve to feel pain so what is the point of it dealing non-leathal damage. He would save the rich girl and would pick her pocket if she didnt give him a reward. He is high ranking because he has spent a lot of time in the guild. Other members die or get caught by the law and go to jail. Sniper only attacks evil people therefore he is not in jail. He is not a pacifist he just wont hurt good people. On jobs where there is killing good guys involved he doesnt take the job. Even though he dislikes stealing he is excelent at it. Even though he has avarage CHA he is a smooth talker and more often than not he is able to convice people to give him money rather than have to steal it. But if needed he can steal quite well. He is a bit like a CG paladin hunting down evil and evil alone.
erbmjw 11-19-05, 03:46 PM	He is high ranking because he has spent a lot of time in the guild. Other members die or get caught by the law and go to jail. Sniper only attacks evil people therefore he is not in jail Once again - time in a guild should not equate to high rank in a guild. Evil NPC's can still be law abiding and well off, so they could get the same if not better protection than the middle class merchants other thieves are robbing and beating on dark streets. For example Sniper robs a rich, powerful noble who is both law abiding and evil there then is a greater chance that Sniper will be hunted down ... either by the city guards or by law abiding goons of the evil noble. As I said before - good concept - but you need more storyline to support the "high ranking" You may also want to clear up a few issues in the background. ie does not like to steal - always asks for the money before he steals it So does he wait until he gets permission, or if he is refused permission does he then steal the money anyways because they "refused his polite request"? If he dislikes stealing so much, why hasn't he tried his hand at something else? With his skills, experiences as a thief and his conceinse he should make a good bounty hunter or general adventurer. So why is he still a theif in a thieves guild? *** Final note - what does "MW" mean when you are writing about the weapons? Merciful Weapon?
Blakeman101 11-19-05, 04:55 PM	Most of the time Sniper is very pursasive and is usually given money by nice people. If refused he will take a silver or two to get something to eat. Well if he is chosen to become the cohort that will be his ticket out of the guild. If he isn't chosen he will likely become a bounty hunter. I am unsure about what level he is supposed to be so MW stands for masterwork. If he is higher level than they could be whatever.
Vainamoinen the Steadfast 11-21-05, 11:56 AM	Yomack elven half-dragon(female) mnk she was abandond at a monestary when she was a year old.her father was a green dragon who had raped her mother while in human form.she has no idea about her haratige exept for that she was abandand on her first birthday.she joined the nightblades on her 22 birthday and is a friend of tagresk(probably because they both feel abanded by their parents(they also might have a "conecction"going on if you catch my meaning)and are really close freinds)she spends most of her time training others in the guild(and womping on those who call her half-breed)she shuns mirrors because they remind her of her background.shes a neutral character. dellos elven half-fiend(male) mnk/clrk he was abandond at the same monistary as yomack was at about the same time .his father was a chain demon who also forced himself on dellos mother who was yomacks mothers sister.neither yomack or dellos know this though they often treated each other as family probably because their both half breeds he was the one that convinced yomack to join the nightblades and feels a bond of friend ship with hynjas.hes often hanging around father tomak and praching the faith.
sleepwalker_ 11-21-05, 01:13 PM	Thank you guys. I have to come up with a bunch of different characters for the next game including guild members. I don't come here too often and didn't know where to look. Bascar Bascar is a pimp. He is tough enough to easily beat up or intimidate an average guy but not too heavy so he can hide outside in corners and shadows, waiting for eventual problems with violent customers. When he hits, he goes for the knock out (or kill depending of the offence). Since he operates in the streets, he is usually not heavily equipped and doesn’t want to stick around for long combat that make waves so he is an excellent backstabber. He is not much of a climber nor has good pick pocket skills. When he does pockets, the guy is on the ground. He hates to pick locks, he prefer kicking doors down but he had to learn how to be efficient with locks. He his linked to pretty much all ranks of society and can get info quickly and pretty easily. He gets a basic commission (DMs discretion) and operates with a "team" of 3 up to 10 "members" depending of the season. On his free time (low season) he'll spend more time at the guild, sharing info for money and join in robberies (especially if one of his girl is involved). He is easy to approach and a small part of his clientele is from the guild. He is respected so guild members will tend to watch his back. He as a few hide outs mostly for his girls that he treats decently (he doesn't force them into to the business, he protects them for money) (They’ll pick pocket non clients and passers-by, some are even good thieves). Weapons: long knifes or daggers, brass knuckles. Small crossbow (ready in advance). When facing an opponent, he uses odd objects as weapons for the surprise and intimidation factor (shovel, broken bottles, clubs, chairs, lanterns …) then quickly follow up with his crossbow. Other wise he’ll go for the backstab. He wears a Studded leather jacket and street clothes. O yea, I forgot, he his charismatic in a "Han Solo" way. I could write all day long but you get the idea. I hope you like. I'll post some more. Please let me know if something seems inconsistent, I might have omitted details evident to me.