(This thread was originally posted in the Kingmaker section but I moved it to the general area, since it was not Kingmaker specific)
Actually, this idea came from a thread Sunderstone started regarding Bokken from the Kingmaker adventure path, but since I didn't want to jack that thread I figured I would start a new one.
Basically Sunderstone's thread got me thinking about some of the cool NPCS that are found in the various Adventure Paths, and what inspirations the DMs of the community have used to make them memorable. Who are the actors, or movie characters, etc, that you have used to infuse these characters with life?
Also what are some the things you had these characters do within the game to make them memorable.
For instance:
Filge (Age of Worms) came out like a cross between Otis Driftwood (House of a 1000 Corpses) and George W. - I also added a Wand of Unseen Lover to the nightstand in his bedchamber, and after one of his zombies dropped the Paladin in the group I had him order it to rip the character's arm off and use it as a club to keep beating on his lifeless corpse.
Veltargo (Mad Gods Key) was re-stated as a Warlock and when the PCs first entered his chamber he used one of his incantations to cast Shatter first on the entire party (destroying most of their potions), and later on the Samurai's sword blasting it to pieces!
Breeg Orlivanch (Kingmaker) has made an appearance prior to his "encounter" and is based mostly on Hagrid from the Harry Potter stories (at least his voice). I also gave him a cloak with a thick collar made from the hide of an Owlbear. He despises the Fey, and frequently traps them, roasts them on cold-iron spits, or just mooshes them under his boot and then scrapes their nasty little wings off onto nearby rocks. The best part is that he is SUPER friendly, and will help the PCs out with anything they ask of him.
|
(This thread was originally posted in the Kingmaker section but I moved it to the general area, since it was not Kingmaker specific)
Actually, this idea came from a thread Sunderstone started regarding Bokken from the Kingmaker adventure path, but since I didn't want to jack that thread I figured I would start a new one.
Basically Sunderstone's thread got me thinking about some of the cool NPCS that are found in the various Adventure Paths, and what inspirations the DMs of the community have used to make them memorable. Who are the actors, or movie characters, etc, that you have used to infuse these characters with life?
About half of my villains have the voice of the evil cockney from The Mighty Boosh
About half of my villains have the voice of the evil cockney from The Mighty Boosh
Classic! I have never seen this before, but I am soaking it up now!
|
I swiped the "Swedish" guy's accent from the first The Gamers movie for a captain that ferried the party down the coast in my homebrew. He got upset when they laughed at the way he talked.
I've freely mined Team Fortress 2's voices and personalities for minor NPC's. Demoman was set to turn up in my homebrew
"THEY'RE GOONTA FIND YE DED IN AN ALLEY, WI' CAHTS LICKIN' AT YE!"
"OOOH, I'M GOONA BE ALL OVER YOO LIKE SHINGLES!"
On the matter of major NPCs in Curse of the Crimson Throne:
SPOILERS FOR THAT AP, NATURALLY
Grau Soldado is going to evolve into Adam Baldwin the next time they meet him, but not because of any of the obvious characters you might compare him to. Not so much Jayne as it is Kal'reegar. When the PCs meet him again, he'll likely be in the same exact position as Reegar, actually...
Dr. Davaulus was Jeffery Combs. I never quite got that down pat though.
Devargo Barvasi's voice was meant to be Vin Diesel's, but it wound up turning into some unholy combination of that and Jason Statham's when he actually showed up. My throat was sore after each session involving him.
I'd make the Cinderlander talk like Sniper, but most of the party has such a hate-on for the character(without ever actually meeting him! :D) that it would probably kill the moment to have a familiar, likable voice for him.
As a PC, I went for Adam Baldwin's voice for Jhomp, half-orc barbarian in a friend's old campaign. He was pretty much a CG Jayne, really. Sore throat after every session, but he was fun.
Are voice recommendations even spoilers? Well, oh well.
I went for a Jason Statham kind of feel for Devargo Barvasi too. And Clegg Zincher. Akron Erix somehow turned into Ving Rhames somewhere along the line, but the players didn't notice, so it was all good.
I messed up Cressidia Kroft a bit in the beginning, so she sounded like Julie Andrews, but I tried to keep it going while stretching the toughness in her voice. In my game she was a paladin of Erastil who came to Korvosa to help the city's displaced children, so, her sounding motherly wasn't too bad.
Dr. Davalus is Nicholas Cage, of course... I'm still doing the voice trying to get it down.
I think I did a little too much "asian" when I did Thousand-Bones, so I'm going to have to give some more time over to practicing my campy western indian voice.
Besides that, I'm considering kind of Jeremy Irons for when I finally get around to introducing Kazavon.
|
|
Classic! I have never seen this before, but I am soaking it up now!
About half of my villains have the voice of the evil cockney from The Mighty Boosh
Very British, and all three series have a slightly different setting and vibe.
It's good to share.
Just to throw out some names, although none pertain to APs...
I had a powerful wizard use the voice and mannerisms of Jimmy Stewart from the Campbell's Soup ads (from years ago). The PCs thought he was just a humble old wizzie. Later on they discovered his true range of powers hehe.
I've had Ving Rhames show up (primarily with the mentality of his character from Pulp Fiction).
Those are two examples off of the top of my head where I blatantly stole tv/movie characters and incorporated them in the game. I'm sure there are lots of others I just can't think of hehe.
Myself and a few others have habits of sticking Francisca Von Karma from the Phoenix Wright series as a Drow woman with a whip. I have her as an intelligence agent working for a group of Drow freedom fighters hoping to gain asylum when the war with the surface world starts.