So I've gotten a bit bored with scripting. Things seem to work alright on the ambient system, but I haven't the energy to test it thoroughly or to try putting it to use. I'm itching to build again, but we haven't finished work on our haks, so that's off the table. Well, no, not entirely. I can do some stuff with 1.69 content.
I got to designing a coupla NPCs. Here's one, an NPC named Dante.
Dante is the owner of the Haven Inn, a cozy little place in Manheim Court in Midport. He's a genial old fellow, and a retired Churchman and adventurer. Few but his friends know that he is also a powerful alchemist. In fact, Dante's years of research have fueled the current age of scientific discovery. Despite this, Dante is humble and down-to-earth. Though he no longer goes out on adventures, preferring his comfortable life in the city, Dante heads the Order of the Ouroboros, a group of adventuresome alchemists.
Dante is the Elminster of S&S, though he doesn't look it. In fact, he's largely responsible for the retreat of the Nerathim forty years ago. The question is, though, how do you keep him from overshadowing the PCs? In the FR setting, for example, you have to wonder why powerful NPCs are always giving out quests instead of just using scry-and-die tactics. In most settings the answer is that these NPC powerhouses are just too busy with the really big epic planar threats to handle the goblin invasion. That's what the PCs are there for.
Dante's reason for delegating is much simpler: he's old. Dante has had his fair share of adventure, and it's time for him to settle down and relax. Why risk your neck out in the wilderness when someone younger and fitter can do it?
I've got a lot of story ideas for Dante, and a lot of secret lore, too. But you don't think I'm going to tell you them here, do you? :)
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