So in a campaign I'm doing I have a plan for my party to find a castle full of warriors, mages and other kinds of people, then the leader steps forward to greet the party at the gate and here's where I need help, I'm on the fence about how the leader should be, a narcissistic person that acts like a child if they don't get there way, a veteran of past wars, or someone that was never a leader before, are they rough on the outside with a good heart or very kind acting person with malicious intent, so, feel free to share any ideas you have, hell, they could be searchly vampires or even just bandits in hiding, so, what's your idea
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Marvarax andSora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Make the leader a person, they don't need to be praising themselves in the mirror nor do they need to be the grizzled war vet. I find the most believable leader to be they person who flexes their muscle when needed but not overly so. In addition maybe they could be the guy/gal/lizardfolk who rolls their head back and swears to the gods if something bad happens. I based one of my town guards off a supervisor I once had...he was cranky but a warm person who would kneel down to talk to kids but at the same time walk into a room and take charge of it.
I like the idea but the truth is the setting is an apocalyptic environment so I wanted a leader that would fit this, someone hopes already a surviver or someone that could never get by without, thanks for the idea thought I will keep it in mind
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Marvarax andSora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Is this leader going to in some way affect the overarching story behind the castle, or the adventure? This last post gave us a bit more info, apocalyptic environment (which I take to be that something catastrophic is currently happening? Or in your world did something happen along time ago and now it's a post apocalyptic settings?), but it doesn't really speak to any other factors for us to base his personality on.
I'll throw out a quirk or two, maybe that'll stir the pot a bit.
The leader of this particular castle takes on multiple wives, when he does so he renames them after various Goddesses and refers to himself as a God of His Domain.
Or
This leader is particularly inept at leading, he has a charming smile, but his wit is poor and he cannot think on his feet. Thus he always puts off major decisions until he can leave the castle walls and consult with a Druid who lives in a nearby forest.
Then make this character someone who no one wants to be right. You kind of person who can be right about anything but no one will say "Wow you're right" because then they will puff their chest out and be insufferable. Alternatively make them super meek except when the situation is demanding then they turn into a BAMF.
I think you've probably got archetypes that fit into your setting well enough- but we're not going to be able to help you choose which one fits this guy's position, or give you good ideas for what to do beyond those, without knowing what you want this guy to be as far as your campaign/setting/players are concerned. And, moreover, what this entire castle is! Is this a dungeon full of people you anticipate your party fighting, or are these going to be allies for your party against a greater evil, or are they essentially a city where they can do trade/make friends/whathaveyou, but the inhabitants are powerful and your PCs should toe the line? All are totally valid answers, and there are tons of perfectly valid answers beyond that- a totally neutral place that might hold potential allies or potential information or even potential items the party could acquire within, or legit pretty much anything else. But I feel like you need to have an idea of the reasons the castle is there before you can flesh out major characters that reside there. (Also, in worldbuilding sense- like, is this a duke's castle? A baron's? A castle of some land long wiped clean of life and the demarcations of power and then recolonized, with these people using this castle as a fortress against the dark chaos that lies beyond it? Why is it there?)
Do you want this guy to be a roadblock that your PCs have to bypass by a lot of negotiation/roleplay, that maybe seems formidable initially but, once they realize who and what he is, , seems silly or weak in hindsight? Do you want him to be a comic relief aspect in your dreary apocalyptic setting? Do you want him to be a mouthpiece/puppet for a more powerful character, that can be either good or evil depending? Then the Childish Narcissist might work out for him.
Do you want him to be a great asset to your party if they can manage to impress/persuade him onto their side, but a closed wall if they don't? Then the Gruff Veteran archetype might be perfect for him. He can be hiding a heart of gold if you want him to be genuinely good for your party once they get below his gruff exterior, or a evil heart of evil if you want him to be a terrible heel for the party just pretending to be on their side; I think either would work fine with this archetype. But basically, if you want this guy to dismiss them as unimportant out of hand and only give them attention if they prove themselves worth it, that would be a great personality to justify that. Depending on the party, you might give them a concrete goal to impress this dude ("he's distracted by two advisers constantly complaining about a nesting pair of harpies terrorizing the southeast fields, if only someone would take care of them"), or they might be able to pull a clever con, or they might just be able to talk him over to their side if that's their strong suit.
I feel like the Brand New Leader archetype would work well for some parties, maybe mid-level good-aligned parties who might enjoy helping a leader gain traction with his people, but I feel like you'd be trading a lot of character heft to give them the opportunity to prop up an NPC. I feel like he holds clout over a lot of powerful people by what you describe, and so again, I'd say he'd need to have some secondary character controlling his choices and bolstering his position if that's the route you're going to go. That just sorta winds up jiving completely with what Madclergy above me was saying; he'd have to have a lot of charisma to hide the fact that he doesn't know what he's doing, so he'd wind up with a charming smile in front of an empty mind while some other character controls the shots from behind the scenes. And that is a character archetype I -love-, but I think you'd need to sort of have something to go off of from there! Who is he taking his cue from as far as commanding all these powerful characters? Is that character trustworthy?
...So I mean basically I guess I'm just saying, you seem to have ideas for this NPC, and I think any of them could work, but why is he there? What is the castle there for? Why are the warriors and wizards hiding in that castle, and what are they defending it from? Why do they defer to this guy? Are they here for generally benevolent or generally evil purposes? And how does this fit into the story of your PCs? What do they get from interacting with this castle? How do their goals/ideals coincide/conflict with those of the castle in general? The more you flesh out the role of this guy in your world, and the more you think about how he'd fit into your campaign structure, the more you might come to realize that one specific personality archetype would fit over any other.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So in a campaign I'm doing I have a plan for my party to find a castle full of warriors, mages and other kinds of people, then the leader steps forward to greet the party at the gate and here's where I need help, I'm on the fence about how the leader should be, a narcissistic person that acts like a child if they don't get there way, a veteran of past wars, or someone that was never a leader before, are they rough on the outside with a good heart or very kind acting person with malicious intent, so, feel free to share any ideas you have, hell, they could be searchly vampires or even just bandits in hiding, so, what's your idea
Marvarax and Sora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Make the leader a person, they don't need to be praising themselves in the mirror nor do they need to be the grizzled war vet. I find the most believable leader to be they person who flexes their muscle when needed but not overly so. In addition maybe they could be the guy/gal/lizardfolk who rolls their head back and swears to the gods if something bad happens. I based one of my town guards off a supervisor I once had...he was cranky but a warm person who would kneel down to talk to kids but at the same time walk into a room and take charge of it.
I like the idea but the truth is the setting is an apocalyptic environment so I wanted a leader that would fit this, someone hopes already a surviver or someone that could never get by without, thanks for the idea thought I will keep it in mind
Marvarax and Sora (Dragonborn) The retired fighter and WIP scholar - Glory
Brythel(Dwarf), The dwarf with a gun - survival at sea
Jaylin(Human), Paladin of Lathander's Ancient ways - The Seven Saints (Azura Claw)
Urselles(Goblin), Cleric of Eldath- The Wizard's challenge
Viclas Tyrin(Half Elf), Student of the Elven arts- Indrafatmoko's Defiance in Phlan
Is this leader going to in some way affect the overarching story behind the castle, or the adventure? This last post gave us a bit more info, apocalyptic environment (which I take to be that something catastrophic is currently happening? Or in your world did something happen along time ago and now it's a post apocalyptic settings?), but it doesn't really speak to any other factors for us to base his personality on.
I'll throw out a quirk or two, maybe that'll stir the pot a bit.
The leader of this particular castle takes on multiple wives, when he does so he renames them after various Goddesses and refers to himself as a God of His Domain.
Or
This leader is particularly inept at leading, he has a charming smile, but his wit is poor and he cannot think on his feet. Thus he always puts off major decisions until he can leave the castle walls and consult with a Druid who lives in a nearby forest.
Then make this character someone who no one wants to be right. You kind of person who can be right about anything but no one will say "Wow you're right" because then they will puff their chest out and be insufferable. Alternatively make them super meek except when the situation is demanding then they turn into a BAMF.
I think you've probably got archetypes that fit into your setting well enough- but we're not going to be able to help you choose which one fits this guy's position, or give you good ideas for what to do beyond those, without knowing what you want this guy to be as far as your campaign/setting/players are concerned. And, moreover, what this entire castle is! Is this a dungeon full of people you anticipate your party fighting, or are these going to be allies for your party against a greater evil, or are they essentially a city where they can do trade/make friends/whathaveyou, but the inhabitants are powerful and your PCs should toe the line? All are totally valid answers, and there are tons of perfectly valid answers beyond that- a totally neutral place that might hold potential allies or potential information or even potential items the party could acquire within, or legit pretty much anything else. But I feel like you need to have an idea of the reasons the castle is there before you can flesh out major characters that reside there. (Also, in worldbuilding sense- like, is this a duke's castle? A baron's? A castle of some land long wiped clean of life and the demarcations of power and then recolonized, with these people using this castle as a fortress against the dark chaos that lies beyond it? Why is it there?)
Do you want this guy to be a roadblock that your PCs have to bypass by a lot of negotiation/roleplay, that maybe seems formidable initially but, once they realize who and what he is, , seems silly or weak in hindsight? Do you want him to be a comic relief aspect in your dreary apocalyptic setting? Do you want him to be a mouthpiece/puppet for a more powerful character, that can be either good or evil depending? Then the Childish Narcissist might work out for him.
Do you want him to be a great asset to your party if they can manage to impress/persuade him onto their side, but a closed wall if they don't? Then the Gruff Veteran archetype might be perfect for him. He can be hiding a heart of gold if you want him to be genuinely good for your party once they get below his gruff exterior, or a evil heart of evil if you want him to be a terrible heel for the party just pretending to be on their side; I think either would work fine with this archetype. But basically, if you want this guy to dismiss them as unimportant out of hand and only give them attention if they prove themselves worth it, that would be a great personality to justify that. Depending on the party, you might give them a concrete goal to impress this dude ("he's distracted by two advisers constantly complaining about a nesting pair of harpies terrorizing the southeast fields, if only someone would take care of them"), or they might be able to pull a clever con, or they might just be able to talk him over to their side if that's their strong suit.
I feel like the Brand New Leader archetype would work well for some parties, maybe mid-level good-aligned parties who might enjoy helping a leader gain traction with his people, but I feel like you'd be trading a lot of character heft to give them the opportunity to prop up an NPC. I feel like he holds clout over a lot of powerful people by what you describe, and so again, I'd say he'd need to have some secondary character controlling his choices and bolstering his position if that's the route you're going to go. That just sorta winds up jiving completely with what Madclergy above me was saying; he'd have to have a lot of charisma to hide the fact that he doesn't know what he's doing, so he'd wind up with a charming smile in front of an empty mind while some other character controls the shots from behind the scenes. And that is a character archetype I -love-, but I think you'd need to sort of have something to go off of from there! Who is he taking his cue from as far as commanding all these powerful characters? Is that character trustworthy?
...So I mean basically I guess I'm just saying, you seem to have ideas for this NPC, and I think any of them could work, but why is he there? What is the castle there for? Why are the warriors and wizards hiding in that castle, and what are they defending it from? Why do they defer to this guy? Are they here for generally benevolent or generally evil purposes? And how does this fit into the story of your PCs? What do they get from interacting with this castle? How do their goals/ideals coincide/conflict with those of the castle in general? The more you flesh out the role of this guy in your world, and the more you think about how he'd fit into your campaign structure, the more you might come to realize that one specific personality archetype would fit over any other.