Steal This NPC: Baron Allemonte
Jun 21, 2020 17:34:52 GMT
joatmoniac, letterlost, and 2 more like this
Post by DM Onesie Knight on Jun 21, 2020 17:34:52 GMT
Hey all! Like many of you, I do lots of theorycrafting making up characters and NPCs that will likely never see the table. But sometimes I come up with something that feels really juicy and it hurts to see it sitting in my notebook, unused and unloved.
So I got to thinking that maybe somebody out there has a home for these poor orphaned characters with no campaign to call their own. I'll strip out any details specific to my games and try to leave it as a template that you can drop into any game. I hope you like it!
Without further ado, I present the Baron Allemonte, formerly known as Taka the Shaman.
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The Concept:
Taka is an Ogre Mage who magically disguises himself as a male human noble. He is a sophisticated gourmand who is impeccable in word and dress, and has a taste for fine wines and "exotic" meats. His demeanor is one of elevated manners and courtesy, and his table is loaded with the well-seasoned remains of the rude and arrogant who offend him.
The vibe of this character is very Hannibal Lecter; a suave and erudite monster. He is in possession of a very unique magic item: the Pocket Watch of Sustaining: when wound up, it extends the duration of the most recently cast spell on the wearer by up to 8 hours. Taka/Baron Allemonte uses this item to maintain his Human Noble persona throughout the average day. If the watch is removed or broken, the spell it is sustaining immediately plays out its typical unmodified duration; usually this means the spell ends immediately.
The Backstory:
Taka was once the shaman of a savage tribe of raiders in the hills. They got too big and powerful and attracted the attention of an order of paladins, who defeated Taka's raiding party and captured him, locking him in a magically warded cell to be interrogated about the movements of the tribe and its chieftain.
A feast day happened to coincide with Taka's imprisonment, and the jailer had a very special dinner which he slowly savored bite by bite. Taka was enthralled; his fellow tribesman would simply stuff their faces as quickly as possible. This, on the other hand, looked like ecstasy. In an uncharacteristic show of kindness to an ogre, the jailer served up a plate and a glass and Taka's life was forever changed. His life in the tribe had been fun, but without purpose. He never knew there was a whole world of pleasure so close at hand. He decided then and there he would pursue a civilized life.
He cooperated with his captors and sold out his former tribe. After a few months, with the raiders losing ground, he escaped from his lower-security accommodations and made his way to the capital city to begin building his new life.
In the many years since, Taka developed the persona of Cedric Allemonte using bits and pieces of various noble family histories. Using his magical powers and guile, he established himself in the criminal underworld to increase his wealth before cozying up to the city nobility and eventually earning a land grant for "exemplary service," and thus the Baron came to be. His reputation among the peasantry is actually not horrible; he is known for being fair, but unforgiving. Taxes are reasonable and crime is low, but punishments are severe for lawbreakers and the Baron orders more executions than average. Don't worry about the public executions though... What you really ought to be worried about is the unexplained disappearances nobody talks about...
The heraldry of Baron Allemonte is a mockingbird perched upon a hybrid branch, bramble on the right and olive on the left. The mockingbird is Taka's inside joke about his false persona, while the branches represent war and peace. The Baron's territory features two well-known drinking establishments called the Mockingbird Inn and the Branch & Bramble.
So I got to thinking that maybe somebody out there has a home for these poor orphaned characters with no campaign to call their own. I'll strip out any details specific to my games and try to leave it as a template that you can drop into any game. I hope you like it!
Without further ado, I present the Baron Allemonte, formerly known as Taka the Shaman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Concept:
Taka is an Ogre Mage who magically disguises himself as a male human noble. He is a sophisticated gourmand who is impeccable in word and dress, and has a taste for fine wines and "exotic" meats. His demeanor is one of elevated manners and courtesy, and his table is loaded with the well-seasoned remains of the rude and arrogant who offend him.
The vibe of this character is very Hannibal Lecter; a suave and erudite monster. He is in possession of a very unique magic item: the Pocket Watch of Sustaining: when wound up, it extends the duration of the most recently cast spell on the wearer by up to 8 hours. Taka/Baron Allemonte uses this item to maintain his Human Noble persona throughout the average day. If the watch is removed or broken, the spell it is sustaining immediately plays out its typical unmodified duration; usually this means the spell ends immediately.
The Backstory:
Taka was once the shaman of a savage tribe of raiders in the hills. They got too big and powerful and attracted the attention of an order of paladins, who defeated Taka's raiding party and captured him, locking him in a magically warded cell to be interrogated about the movements of the tribe and its chieftain.
A feast day happened to coincide with Taka's imprisonment, and the jailer had a very special dinner which he slowly savored bite by bite. Taka was enthralled; his fellow tribesman would simply stuff their faces as quickly as possible. This, on the other hand, looked like ecstasy. In an uncharacteristic show of kindness to an ogre, the jailer served up a plate and a glass and Taka's life was forever changed. His life in the tribe had been fun, but without purpose. He never knew there was a whole world of pleasure so close at hand. He decided then and there he would pursue a civilized life.
He cooperated with his captors and sold out his former tribe. After a few months, with the raiders losing ground, he escaped from his lower-security accommodations and made his way to the capital city to begin building his new life.
In the many years since, Taka developed the persona of Cedric Allemonte using bits and pieces of various noble family histories. Using his magical powers and guile, he established himself in the criminal underworld to increase his wealth before cozying up to the city nobility and eventually earning a land grant for "exemplary service," and thus the Baron came to be. His reputation among the peasantry is actually not horrible; he is known for being fair, but unforgiving. Taxes are reasonable and crime is low, but punishments are severe for lawbreakers and the Baron orders more executions than average. Don't worry about the public executions though... What you really ought to be worried about is the unexplained disappearances nobody talks about...
The heraldry of Baron Allemonte is a mockingbird perched upon a hybrid branch, bramble on the right and olive on the left. The mockingbird is Taka's inside joke about his false persona, while the branches represent war and peace. The Baron's territory features two well-known drinking establishments called the Mockingbird Inn and the Branch & Bramble.