NPCs · Mythic/ Historical · Political
Npc History Generator
Requesting advice
Help wanted, needs more events. No voting yet please.
Collaboration
Looking for more ideas, I want about a hundred events in total. Right now I'm at 42. This needs to be actions taken within a 5year period of time that goes beyond the basics of everyday life and somehow either changed history/the face of a country/settlement or adds some flavour to the character. This is primarily meant for rulers of a country or heroes/heroines.
- Disfigured during; roll again
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Injured during; roll again
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Suffered
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Betrayed
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Long Dreary Journey
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Lost a battle
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Lost a companion
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Did something evil on purpose
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Tricked into doing something evil
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Imprisoned
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Found a new companion
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Assumed disappeared
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Exciting Journey
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Won a battle
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Feat of strength
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Feat of intelligence
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Survived despite great hardships
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Made a great Discovery
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Found something of importance
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Fantastic Encounter
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Saved someone of importance
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Lied about something
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Built something grand
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Founded an order
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Founded a settlement
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Ended a great threat/plot
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Wrote something (e.g. Diplomacy related, love letter, book, laws etc).
- Magic ; 1d6 ;
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- Catastrophe
- 2. Incident
- 3. Item
- 4. Person; (1d6 - 1,2,3; Hostile encounter, 4,5,6; Positive encounter)
- 5. Monster; (1d6 - 1,2,3,4; Ordinary monster, 5,6; Legendary monster)
- 6. Dragon
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Act of benevolence
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Divine Encounter; (1d6 - 1,2; Evil God, 3,4 angel or lesser, 5,6; Good god)
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Tried to make amends for something
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Started a new fashion/trend
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Focused on raising his/her child/living a normal life
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Granted the nobles something
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Granted a foreign nation something
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Introduced something new to his/her country
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Worked towards integrating outcasts in society
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Worked towards modernizing the country
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Reconciled with someone
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Translated an old text
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Trained a protege
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Increased his/her wealth
Scrolls
Twists, chapters, and details meant to stream with the submission — not general discussion.
43. Kidnapped by rivals44. Converted to a different faith45. Became patr…
43. Kidnapped by rivals
44. Converted to a different faith
45. Became patron of scientific works
46. Married a political rival's relative
47. Banished significant ethnic group from territory
48. Scandalized by false accusations
49. Foiled assassination attempted
50. Divorced from spouse
51. Produced illegitimate children
52. Crushed popular rebellion
53. Seized control of rival territory
54. Survived Sever Weather Condistions: Tornado, Hurricain, Etc.55. Disc…
54. Survived Sever Weather Condistions: Tornado, Hurricain, Etc.
55. Discovered a new Species of:
1-25% Animal
A. 1-50%---- Animal
B. 51-100%--- Magical Animal
26-50% Plant
A. 1-20% Fruit
B. 21-50% Vegetable
C. 51-75% Herb
D. 76-89% Flower
E.90-100% Other.....Probably Carnivorous...or some kind Cthulhu love- child thing
51-75% Fungus
A 1-45% Medicinal properties
B 46-75% Poisonous properties
C 76-100% Magical Properties
76-100% Humanoid creature.
56: Discovered an old text which Discribes a creature that has a different name than what is known Presently. ( Bugbears or gnomes might be good examples)
57: Accidently awakened a long forgotten creature, not seen in 100's of years
58: Made great attempts at discovering a new form of magic.
59: Mage Great attempts at finding a forgotton treasure.
60: Has made a new kind of magic that mixes cooking/baking with traditional magic practices.
I've gone the more mundane route, things the 'average' person might aspi…
I've gone the more mundane route, things the 'average' person might aspire to.
61. Encountered someone else who became famous or influential
62. Received an award for excellence in a unique hobby (flyfishing, rugmaking, skydiving)
63. Received an award for excellence in a field unrelated to their talents (It turns out draining the rice bog to combat malaria increases rice production)
64. Pioneered a new sport or game.
65. Founded a small town (with a few other pioneers).
66. Refined a chemical or academical process (invented a better catalyst, discovered alternative conditions)
67. Forged or enchanted a famous weapon or armor.
68. Used to serve at the royal court. as a (clerk, treasurer, stenographer, maid, assistant, researcher)
69. Formerly a well known hunter of (bugbears, ettercaps, wolves, carp)
70. Formerly a well known performer of (song, dance, instrument)
... O_o... 'Formerly a well known hunter of Carp' im not going to lie i …
... O_o... 'Formerly a well known hunter of Carp' im not going to lie i laughed when i read that.
'Dont go in them woods BOY, there be wild Carp Wondering all up-an-in-there, you know the horror stories about them Carp...'
~Old Man 'DeepOne'~
71. Started or been involved in a revolution 72. Unleashed an old terror…
71. Started or been involved in a revolution
72. Unleashed an old terror/foreign (as in from outerspace, another dimension etc.) threat on the world
73. Survived a plague
74. Lived as a monk/priest
75. Rediscovered/pioneered a doomsday spell
76. Discovered an ancient ruin of extinct culture
77. Chased after the image in a compelling dream
78. Had been a spy in operation in foreign countries
79. Discovered about royal lineage and the ensuing attempt to reclaim the throne
80. Lived as a bounty hunter/man-for-hire
81. Lost memories and on the hunt for personal identity
82. Village was destroyed by a giant mammoth-centaur that called his or …
82. Village was destroyed by a giant mammoth-centaur that called his or her name at the time.
83. Once met the Prince of All Cats, and received his blessing.
84. Is the evil twin. Has killed the good twin. Or was that vice versa?
85. Has anterograde amnesia. Cannot remember anything that happened after being struck by lightning.
86. Is being possessed by a friendly ghost.
87. Is being possessed by a friendly ghost from the future. Has difficulty not revealing the future.
88. Due to an ancient, failed resurrection scheme, is actually a genetic clone of an ancient, evil wizard.
89. Gay and out.
90. Transgendered but it's a secret.
91. Bisexual and NOT a nymphomaniac. Actually sorta vanilla between the sheets. Serial monogamist.
92. Dragosexual.
93. Training forever for a contest they've already lost. Kinda sad, really.
94. Pretends to be single. Has a crazy spouse living in the attic.
95. Has a fetish for a culture across the globe. Dress, speech, manners. Think of an otaku prince in Camelot.
96. Militant athiest. Makes fun of clerics. Suffers from several curses bestowed by disgruntled clerics.
97. Addicted to licking toads.
98. Owns a sacred scroll of kung fu. Trains daily. Looks for opportunities to use. Fails consistently.
99. Older sibling jealous of younger, perfect sibling, who is the savior of the world according to prophecy.
100. Terrified of lists. If a ruler, they will outlaw them at the first opportunity.
Alternate list, like the last, but sans whimsy:82. Once met a god in the…
Alternate list, like the last, but sans whimsy:
82. Once met a god in the guise of an old man/woman. Truth or hallucination. Either way, very religious.
83. Is from an ancient bloodline of Very Bad People. Trying make up for family name. Or are they?
84. Is prophesied to kill one parent and marry the other (a la Oedipus).
85. Crippled best friend in a moment of jealousy. Has regretted it every since.
86. Gave up birthright in order to experience poverty.
87. Anterograde amnesia from traumatic event. Cannot form new memories. Still thinks they're 21.
88. Holds to the key to a locked city, sealed away because of a plague.
89. Gay/bisexual/queer and proud of it. Despised by the major religion & fundamentalists everywhere.
90. Is the evil twin. Has killed the good twin. Or was that vice versa? No one is sure.
91. Despite being a good, honest person, was recently prophesied to destroy the world. Conflicted.
92. Has assumed power under a lie. Maybe a bastard impersonating another sibling.
93. Spent 40 years asleep as a result of a poison/curse. Might be aged or unaged, whichever is cooler.
94. Has sailed farther than almost anyone else. Tells unbelievable stories. (Think Marco Polo).
95. Has a fetish for a different culture. Dress, speech, manners. Think of an otaku prince in Camelot.
96. Militant atheist. Makes fun of clerics. Suffers from several curses bestowed by disgruntled clerics.
97. Killed the last unicorn.
98. Is part of a hostage exchange between warring royalty. If killed under any circumstances, war results.
99. Pretending to be insane while planning to murder man who has married mother.
100. loves one of the 'bad guys'. Think Romeo and Juliet. (But maybe dwarves and elves or something)
101. Was injured in a jousting tournament(head injury), gain 1 Flaw.102.…
101. Was injured in a jousting tournament(head injury), gain 1 Flaw.
102. Personality change when afflicted by disease, change 1 Quality into a Flaw.
103. Prolonged inactivity, gain 1 Flaw. If the Npc has the Athletic/Strong or Healthy Quality/Qualities, remove them.
104. Prolonged Isolation, gain the Paranoid Flaw. If the Npc allready has that Flaw, add another one.
105. A change in lifestyle, roll on the Traits table again, add 1 Quality/Flaw.
106. Started to exorcise(Roll 1d4; 1,2 gain the Athletic/Strong Quality, 3,4 gain the Healthy Quality).
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i do like these list ideas. Though i think that this list might need to get specific in order to get the most our of it.
Yeah these are just the events table, I've allready got a few other tables ready and waiting; The love table, the Birth table, the Birth Class table, the Money table, the Personality, the Childhood, the Golden Years, the Diplomacy table, the Death table...too many to list acctually. I might not be able to fit it all into one post now that I think about it.
It's simply a dice generator supposed to be able to generate a whole lifespan for a famous ruler or hero/heroine. What
circumstances surrounded their births, their inheritance, their childhood, their lives, how they died and what they did.
I created this to make background history generation easier.
I look forward to seeing the whole set of ruler table generation. Maybe I will try my had at some other type of NPC generator.
If you by some miracle happen to hit a hundred, keep going anyways, I want options. Once I've gotten a hundred that I can live with, I'll start on the actual submission.
are you familiar with character generation the traveler system?
No, but I looked it up. A system in which a character can be dead even before the game starts?
Had a similar occurrence when playing L5R (Legend of the Five Rings) where advantages/ disadvantaged can lead to characters having a taint. Had one player turn into an NPC during creation because said taint turned him non-playable. Ended up being a villain in the end.
Some gamers really like random elements in the game. The traveller system is mini-game you playing during character creation essentially you make wagers each time you roll. Thus you can take a relatively low ability character with out any taints or disadvantages or you can wager a few times to increase your character's skill and wealth. Another problem you might have with character generation is that you may end with a character that is wealth Duke or something that seems less likely to be engaging in risky space exploration. I do enjoy, though not exclusively and not generally in games I run, a system in which narrative elements are randomly assembled as in the Traveller. I did have a certified OCD player, who like Gossamer took one look at the system, and walked away with only a single observation.
I have successfully injected the OSHA required minimum of weirdness into this sub.
...And that ladies and gentlemen, is how NOT to do it. -.- Maybe you should make your own parody generator. :p I can always remove ideas right? If your silliness prevents me from getting more suggestions, I'm removing yours.
I'm a firm believer that every chart should have a few weird entries. BUT, I've made an alternate set that's hopefully more to your liking.
Well, it's better than the last one. But you should know that this here part is an EVENT generator, a lot of these are descriptions, e.g. being gay is something you're born as, that's no event. So, events that take place within a 5-10 year span in an Npc's life, like it says at the top.
If you really build a super-complex ruler generator, you might want to put it on Abulafia.
http://www.random-generator.com/
It's a site that that does exactly that. You enter all the details, and then anyone can click a button and generate a result in an eyeblink. This becomes more useful the more die rolls are required.
Consider refiling this as 'Advice Requested' or 'In-Work Private', if you don't want people voting on it.
Actually, later on we could add the coded generator _here_ :)
http://strolen.com/random_generators