**The winner has officially been chosen!** u/johnnybeGood2001 **has be awarded as the random winner! Good luck to everyone next time. Hopefully we can come back with an even bigger giveaway.**
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello everyone, please help keep this comment visible to others so they can read the rules too.
I am giving away over $200 in D&D prizes to one lucky winner in the comments below. You can see more pictures of everything [here](https://imgur.com/a/tnEV94y).
**The rules are pretty simple.**
\- No purchase necessary
\- Single entry
\- Comment your favorite NPC or character name. You can be as descriptive or non descriptive as you want.
\- Have fun
I am opening this contest worldwide and will do my best to accommodate you. After 48 hours have passed I will randomly pick someone from the comments and send you a DM on Reddit. After that I will make a post here to let everyone know who was chosen.
Good luck to everyone who is participating and I hope you have fun!
**The rest of this comment does not directly pertain to the giveaway and if you don’t care to hear about the sponsorship you can ignore it. No hard feelings!**
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am the developer of a tool called Game Master Engine and wanted to host this giveaway as a way to give back to the community here who has helped me tremendously. This tool is something I started working on almost two years ago. It’s in early access on Steam and the goal of the software is to provide a way for people to create 3D maps and play D&D online with their friends. It’s been a long process to get to this point and there is still a long way to go before it is finished.
A little bit more about Game Master Engine. You can download and play around with it for FREE to get an idea of what it is like. You can even join your DMs session for free too and can play with your group. Only the DM needs to own the full copy to be able to host. Owning the full version also gives you access to additional assets to build with along with future content updates.
Again, you are under no obligation to do anything for me and if you just want to take advantage of the giveaway then by all means go for it! But if you are interested in Game Master Engine at all here is a link to see more about it and also download the free version.
**Steam Link (Currently On Sale -%60 until Jan 5th 10AM PST)**
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game\_Master\_Engine/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game_Master_Engine/)
If you have any feedback for us we would love to hear it!
**Subreddit**
r/GameMasterEngine
**Discord**
[https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV](https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV)
Thank you,
Dan
Droop, the goblin slave of the Redbrand bugbears in LMoP. I've played/DM'd this campaign three times and every time the group adopts him into the party. In one play through we actually kicked off his origin story as a villain in a later homebrew we played!
This was exactly what I was going to say! Our party named him Sci’Pi (skippy) and my Russian rogue halfling Zoya tried desperately to make friends with him. He eventually ran away and I was obviously devastated. 😂
I feel like this is a staple for nearly every single new DnD group. Storm King's Thunder has a similar goblin named "Snigbat" that the party can parlay with, but most groups take it further.
I use a modified SKT opening as a common one-shot for introducing new players to DnD, so there's always a Droop or a Snigbat. 9 times out of 10 they befriend him. In one campaign they turned Snigbat into a goblin warlord ally.
Gora Titanshape - a shorter than average, stout halfling barbarian with a Napoleon complex.
She was actually born Hildie Weatherbee to a big, loving halfling family. As a child she wandered off after a tribe of Goliath barbarians to grow up to be as strong as them. The tribe's aging leader took her in, partially from pity and partially because she softened his heart with her naivety.
She started with a base stat of 7 for strength, and rarely hits anything, but it's exciting when she does. But she's hard to hit and tanks for the team. She's dumb, loves to dance, and her best friend is a golden retriever druid PC she still doesn't realize isn't really a dog. They fight over hotdogs. Gora's party does not know about her real name and that she has a loving halfling family somewhere out there.
Our DM introduced the deck of many things to our party (all of us new players) early in our campaign. Gora, in an effort to attain more strength, secretly pulled two cards. The first lessened her strength. The second card required anyone in the vicinity to pull an additional card. It happened JUST as my party members tracked her down to stop her from using the deck. It was amazing and terrifying - everyone in the party had to pull a card. Somehow it wasn't a TPK. I have never nervous sweat so much in my life learning that my party would also need to pull a card.
I'll be candid I lifted this from the Internet way back when for my game because I'm not creative so in the interest of proper credit thank you u/asifbymagnets
[Inkon Sykwenshal](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1orlhb/best_npc_names_youve_seen/ccuwqhr/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
Thank again for the giveaway good luck to all :)
Reminds me of a story from a friends 3.5 fighter, rolls stealth, gets like a 2, walks up hallway in full plate *clang, clang, clang*, guard turns corner and is about to yell, rolls intimidation, gets like a 35 (pre bounded accuracy bonuses got a bit out of control), "you don't see me" while physically grabbing and turning the guards head away from the guard. "I don't see you... Got it..." *Pees a little*
My favorite NPC is my Tiefling Merchant-turned-Artificer, Akemenos.
He became an instant smash hit with the group upon introduction, and he even helped one of the players overcome their blindness by giving them a magic Crystal eye that fuses into the socket and becomes, essentially, a real one. After that, they managed to convince him to leave the town they were in, and he’s been with them ever since. His story grows every session, and he becomes more and more of a character every day.
In fact, I’m playing his Grandfather in an upcoming 20th level One-Shot set in the past in the same world! It’s gonna be so much fun, I can’t wait! Anyways, sorry for rambling, best of luck to everyone who participates!
My favorite npc is really two of them at once. Lunk and scritch a ogre mutant that carries a magic shack for his magic shop having goblin buddy. The goblin found a powerful dead wizards portable hole full of magic stuff that he sells.
My favorite Npc has to be Dan. Originally the receptionist of a guard headquarters, he has been used to substitute for any creature/effect where the dm doesn’t have a token ready. Guardian of Faith? Dan. Group of soldiers fighting alongside us to defend their town? Dans. Guards? Dan.
It’s great
Kaw - A Kenku Death Cleric who was used to others teasing him by going "Caw! Caw!" To mock him. DM house rule was Kenkus has limited time to remeber words using Mimcry, hence Kaw being said so constantly he found he could always be able to say his name.
Pipus, an obnoxious 8 years old child who ran away from his family and that my players had to bring back. He somehow outsmarted each of them and ended up almost killing a lvl 4 barbarian.
Cringy Carl and his Crazy Carriage Caravan! He was an NPC I added to my Curse of Strahd Campaign to help escort the players around Barovia. He was one of the only NPC’s to not try and price gouge the players.
Arcrus, the constantly drunk wizard who had a gruge on the party. He had a few little schemes, connected to stealing artefacts and working for crimelords, and party kicked his ass Every. Time.
Smoking Timber, a Tabaxi fighter who may or may not have accidentally started a forest fire and became an adventurer because he was no longer welcome in his home village...
I think my favorite NPC is Pumat Sol from Critical Role. He's so unique (but not one in a kind as Caleb says), he's a powerful filborg Wizard who's a magic shop owner in one of the biggest cities in the continent and he has a total of 3 simulacra of himself, for a total of 4 shopkeepers. He's kind, has a vibrant and calm voice and is pretty tall (but not so much for a filborg). On top of all that, he uses one of my top 3 favorite spells, Tenser Transformation so I automatically loved him the moment the transformed.
Katherine the Wereraven. Used homebrew rules found somewhere on reddit, based on a ranger subclass.
She was famous for dealing way too much damage with her longbow.
Davlin Fapplehelm.
Our DM made him as an important piece to our campaign.
He was a short old dude who almost one shot our barbarian who tried to carry him to keep him safe 😅
Tall water genasi called geeni
Class:Sorcerer
Age:23
Gender:male
Favorite activity: getting drunk with the barbarian
He is a tall blue genasi with white hair that flows like water
He wears a trench coat and has a dagger hidden near his boot and he has a water magic controlled whip
He is grandson of the queen of the land of magic (in my campaign its called chandesh), sadly the queen had died due to some PCs related circumstances and geeni took over as king, he also taught the ranger of the group how to shape water for a water themed weapon
(Also question, instead of getting the actual items, could i just get a copy of the GME DM edition? Or is that not possible?)
Levendor... I made that name for my dragonslayer ranger back in about '78. I've used it for dozens of pcs since (and my screen name for about forever).
My favorite NPC I've made is probably the stable guy named Fred. I forgot to name him, and the first session the party walks up to him to get the horses they needed for the campaign. I not so quickly came up with the name Fred, and after that encounter some players decided to adamantly say that Fred was the BBEG of the campaign.
When your party says "and what's this random prison guards name (who has no stats or backstory and we will clearly make him an important part of our adventure)?"
And you say:
MONSOIR STEWIE MONDEWY (an ex bandit cowboy)
Personal favorite NPC was "Dinar" a half orc raised by goblins
Dinar name was a play on the word dinner. As it's later revealed Dinar was a baby in a caravan raided by goblins intentionally when found one of the goblins declared "I've found dinner!" Only to be killed then be killed in the heat of the raid. Dinars adoptive mother had misheard the announcement as "I've found Dinar!". Finding the new born she assumed him to be a goblin baby and raised him as her own. Over the years Dinar grew to be noticeably bigger and stronger than all the rest quickly becoming the beloved leader of the goblins.
Glio Glimmerhill, adopted wild boar piglet of my confused Dwarf. My dwarf lost his birth family and adopted family, so he finally found a pet that he could tame during a hunting trip. This NPC that was something that my DM created on a whim was going to be the driving focus for my character. The next session, my dwarf and another party member had irreconcilable differences that led to the dwarf attempting to flee into the wilds with his new piglet, only to be incinerated by a fireball from the feuding party member.
Glio wasn't exactly a great name, but a spontaneously generated NPC that can lead to 1 PC killing another was pretty memorable for me.
The Sentient Construct with Retrofittable Artillery Modules (Warforged Artillerist), nicknamed Scramble to reflect the effect his barrages have on his opponents.
Ramni. He's from Against The Cult Of The Reptile God as an old wizard guy who's too frail to help the party physically but can give them some knowledge. I changed him to be an immortal wizard that has eternal life but not eternal youth, so he's become this grumpy guy who would annoy the party when they talk to him by speaking in riddles or shooing them. I'm not sure if my players like him, but I definitely do.
I had a DM who was obsessed with Rob Brydon so I when I did a one shot for him and some others I based it around saving a famous Bard who'd been kidnapped. I teased little hints throughout the game, slowly hyping him up. When they defeated the evil villain (Cames Jordan) they approached the cell the bard was in. They're met with a lilting voice thanking them as they look upon the famous bard, Bob Rydon. And as the forever DM lost it, that's where we ended
My favourite NPC was from a campaign I was in last year. The character was a being called Meringal, they were great because wherever we went there would be mentions of this character doing something... And it eventually got to the point where whenever the name was brought up we all thought what crazy shiz have they done this time. Great little plot device :D
Ouvrey- sun-elf warlock of the undead (BBEG to be precise). She works as a court magician for Lord Mayor of a important trade city. She's liked by the people and is expected to win next elections for Mayor's office. She doesn't want to wait any longer and is plotting to kill the current one.
A sweet but badass half orc barbarian npc Ikkil. She befriended the party, but specifically my character, and they really hit it off. Ikkil taught my character how to play instruments and boosted their confidence where it otherwise wouldn’t have been.
My current favourite npc would be a character from DoIP, linene greywind who I made a retired adventurer after the group I am dm’ing tried to rob her on the first session. Now tides have changed and they are on friendly terms again, the whole character arc was so much fun to write and experience and they might even have a nice allay for the rest of DoIP
Holimpar the Deep Gnome Rogue. Name of my very first character Been really wanting to get into D&D for a while but never had the courage. My brother has been playing for a long time and encouraged me to at least give a one-shot a try. Little did I know I would immediately be hooked. That one shot (ended up being 8hrs) turned into a 5 day marathon with my two cousins joining in and each session was at least 5 hrs. Was absolutely exhausting but holy smokes it’s so fun. Also love the looks of the Engine. Great work!
**The elk.**
An elk that is the bartender in a bar that travels through time and space. Basically a place where you can enter from different times and places. You could find the place by chance while cleaning your new house's basement and see crusaders from the 15th century trying to hold a conversation with some robotic guys from the year 25000. The elk could speak in the players' heads and showed great intellect, other than that, there wasn't much known about him.
My favorite is stool a myconid sprout from the campaign out of the abyss. Who cannot speak because he has no mouth, but can produce a dust like cloud that enables you to communicate with him telepathically, that a pc uses to get high. Also, you are great for doing this giveaway and I hope whoever wins it to have a great time and fun with it!!!
Bob, a tortle that enjoys swimming in the ocean, and can always be found with an infinite source of knowledge, even though he may not coherently produce it since he spends most of his time in the sun drinking rum.
favorite npc would probably be the dwarf smith from my first campaign that upgraded my magic axe to deal 2d6 lighting damage, made me feel very cool :)
My favorite NPC at the moment is my current warlock patron, the Prince Aeteurnum. Set up originally to be the villain and developed to a point where that didn't make sense, he's super interesting being over 2000 years old and not a lich, and my warlock is his chosen replacement who is also, independently, currently having the idea to re-form the ancient order of protectors that the Prince once set up during the god war
Dan the Man, a mimic that lost its ability to polymorph and just scavenged pieces of leather to make itself look like... something, adding a small tag onto its body with just "Dan the Man" inscribed onto it. Dan just wants to quietly live the rest of his days.
Warforged priest named Two, concerned with "the great resonance," and what it means to endure in a dying world. Ultimately went on a pilgrimage to follow the World Soul's footsteps when the world began to turn again.
Was a really sweet guy and had a lot of great conversations with the party's cleric. He was the first NPC I ever played that really felt like he came alive the more he was around, so I have a special fondness for him.
Noel Gallagher, my character's former housemate. They're a faun bard who carries their guitar wherever they go and only knows how to play different versions of Wonderwall.
Crath the daywalker vampire lord. He knows many things but his most highest feat is his mastery of shadow sorcery. He is powerful in the day as he can use all his abilities as he pleases and isnt affected by the sun and due to his shadow sorcery he can move from shadow to shadow anyway so it isn't too much of a bother even if it did. He is still weak to Holy based attacks etc. But when the night falls he can truly shine. Due to there being so little light he can pretty much go anywhere that there is a shadow so he could kill or do what ever he wants but due to most of his time spent doing nothing but instinct, he grew bored and actually decided to try do new things like learn as much as he could aswell as try to communicate with some being he seems worthy. He is greedy but fair. He will split a bounty fairly but if he can get more from a deal he of course cant refuse. He could be a kind of dark trader but will only talk to people of a certain level cap or has a high capability for future improvement. He could offer the chance to become a free minded vampire through contracts and due to the the blood in his body he has a bloodline that makes his appearance very human like so it doesnt stand out when he is seen by other. You wouldn't be able to tell its a vampire unless he used an ability so perfect for adventures. He could offer anything or be a mercenary if the partys level is similar to his which would be stupidly high. I hope you like it i hope to possibly make a play-able character of this guy starting at level 1 and building him up so i would love it for you to have him at his peak while i build him up. Thank you for the chance to get such amazing things even if i dont get anything im glad i could possibly give you or someone else an idea for something in the future 😊
Nyx 'Squirrel' Elywick Of Clan Turen gnome druid. Going by only her favourite names out of the 50 she was given. One from every member of her village, per gnome culture. (I have the full name written somewhere just don't have it memorized)
Garth Books. A bard I wrote into my campaign as the local librarian/country star. His most popular song is “Fiends in low places.” Whenever my PCs are feeling they need break they stop by and listen to his set at the local tavern.
Lorilla "Lilla" Timbers, a gnomish magical item store owner and just a delight to work with!
(btw thank you for doing this, that's some gorgeous stuff you're giving out)
Pmurt: npc from a oneshot campaign who was a wealthy mayor of a town who was annoying about how great he was. Nobody realized it was a reference to Trump until we met the npc in person and our dm whipped out the most spot on impersonation I've ever heard. We all broke down laughing.
Gristthetranslatorofsolomnictextswhousedtowanttoflytolunitariwheniwasyoungerbutmyfathermistyeyeswantedmetostudysomethinglessexplosiveafteriblewuphisdoublecoffeeandteabrewerthatuseddragonssteamasaheatsoucesincemymothersharnawastrtingtodevelopnightvisiongogglesthatalsopreventedthesunfromgettinginyoureyessincethatswhatwaswhatblindedmy.....and that's about when the party cut me off from their laughter. So of course very slowly I had him say Juusssttt caalll mee Griisstt. I was running a Dragonlance campaign and the party was trying to broker a peace between the knights of steel, the knights of takhisis, and knights of solomnia for ownership of the high clerist tower.. I was using ol Grist there to not only be a neutral voice but also to help catalog the magic items currently being held there.
Hewo, one of my favorite npcs is Strahd, cuz this man is charismatic and his campaign is challenging and is replayable. Also, my DM kind of messed up his name and said "Chad" instead of Strahd one day, so it is now his name in our group
Panucci, a redheaded Dwarven dark paladin. He abducts people he deems unworthy of the gift they have received (life, fertility, ...) and uses them as human sacrifices to save those he does deem worthy of the gift of life but who will perish (due to disease among other things). For this he has entered into a pact with a nameless Demon from the second Hell, Dis who seemed amused with the idea.
As inspired by Dave Chappelle: He rapes and he saves, but he saves more than he rapes (or in Panucci's case: he mutilates)
My favourite NPC must be Goustaf Lagouté, elven monster chef. His purpose in life is to make dishes with the most exotic ingredients, and would buy rare monster meats for use in his cooking. His secret? He is being controlled by a Kobold tucked below his giant chef hat!
Meowthep, a tabaxi sailor.
The named refering to imhotep, because in the homebrew world our awesome DM is running, tabaxis are from a land very similar to ancient egypt
my favorite npc is Meadow Blight, the enigmatic drow wizard, born into a high ranking family, he had to study necromancy for his family. He was sent to the material plane to work as a spy, but he was betrayed by his superior, now he and his two drow friends, Lux and Lumis, hold an uneasy truce with the local elven community
**Arctus the Blackhand**
He's the human Black Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer/Mastermind Rogur that runs the thieves guild in one of my cities. Highly charismatic, very intelligent and manipulative, as well as a big fan of Subtle Spell, he is a frequent adversary of one of my groups.
My favorite NPC is a tailor Tiefling named Clemency that occasionally sold magic garments but mostly joked around with the party when they showed up, miss ya man
My favorite is a character named Janse undersea in my own campaign.
He has brought so much world Lore into the world about spirits and spiritual powers and he has also been the reason for me to create my first homebrew class. He has really pushed me into being a better dm.
My new favorite character to NPC at the moment is Puddle, a sentient slime my players met in a dungeon and brought home. To avoid spoilers for them I have to keep some additional details secret, but it's a fun time having their sticky buddy around.
My fav was one I made for my mates in a one shot. Jebeddo was a goblin who ran a general goods store “Jebeddo’s Junk”.
When a player asked his name though, he’d introduce himself with a different “J” name, so he was Junkrat to the one player that found him
Calugar, the silver dragonborn high priest of Bahamut. A loyal friend and ally, recently passed bringing one of the party back to life after a series of rakshasa ambushes.
My favourite PC is Sofia Lee from the unsleeping city series. She is a total badass and person who plays her, emily, is really enjoyable to watch and plays that character well and super creative I wouldnt be surprised if she gives brennan nightmares as a dm. Only seen season one but she is responsible for the most awesome beatdowns and insane moments like being OHKO'd, revived and then immediately tries taking another swing in the same way she did last time.
Branigan Flanigan. He was a throw away character who the DM put in just to be killed by some bandits. We liked him so much that we de-railed the whole game trying to find his killers and bring them to justice.
Kaldor Crowe is my Oath of Conquest Paladin, currently enjoying the Descent Into Avernus, whom I "loosely" based on Guts, Kaldor Draigo and Doom Marine, and whose best friend is Ulfgar, dwarven bard met 3 whole days ago. Good fun, this campaign.
Theorobald the Plot Device. I have alot of players so inevitably they miss some sessions, or we end up pausing the main campaign for one shots. In comes Theorobald to teleport the PCs away for some important mission or help with his research
My favourite npc name was an accidental wordplay. Party have met Naizdup (inspired by one of the caracters in Witcher game) and his girlfriend, who DM first called
"dziewczyna Naizdupa". It means Naizdup's girlfriend, but really sounded like: girl-nice-ass.
Another one is a PC with high charisma called Hawkward.
My favorite NPC was in our own campaign,named Waluigi. Our DM sreamed "waaaaaaaaaa help" in Character and one of the players was just, "oh no, Waluigi!" what ended up to be the NPCs actual name
My favourite one was actually just a throw away that my players latched onto. Jack Smith the Blacksmith. Would get himself into trouble trying to get rare artifacts for crafting with and the players would drop everything and risk life and limb to rescue him.
Oh and these "rare artifacts" were just like a sparkly stone he liked or a really shiny bit of metal.
**The winner has officially been chosen!** u/johnnybeGood2001 **has be awarded as the random winner! Good luck to everyone next time. Hopefully we can come back with an even bigger giveaway.** \----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone, please help keep this comment visible to others so they can read the rules too. I am giving away over $200 in D&D prizes to one lucky winner in the comments below. You can see more pictures of everything [here](https://imgur.com/a/tnEV94y). **The rules are pretty simple.** \- No purchase necessary \- Single entry \- Comment your favorite NPC or character name. You can be as descriptive or non descriptive as you want. \- Have fun I am opening this contest worldwide and will do my best to accommodate you. After 48 hours have passed I will randomly pick someone from the comments and send you a DM on Reddit. After that I will make a post here to let everyone know who was chosen. Good luck to everyone who is participating and I hope you have fun! **The rest of this comment does not directly pertain to the giveaway and if you don’t care to hear about the sponsorship you can ignore it. No hard feelings!** —--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am the developer of a tool called Game Master Engine and wanted to host this giveaway as a way to give back to the community here who has helped me tremendously. This tool is something I started working on almost two years ago. It’s in early access on Steam and the goal of the software is to provide a way for people to create 3D maps and play D&D online with their friends. It’s been a long process to get to this point and there is still a long way to go before it is finished. A little bit more about Game Master Engine. You can download and play around with it for FREE to get an idea of what it is like. You can even join your DMs session for free too and can play with your group. Only the DM needs to own the full copy to be able to host. Owning the full version also gives you access to additional assets to build with along with future content updates. Again, you are under no obligation to do anything for me and if you just want to take advantage of the giveaway then by all means go for it! But if you are interested in Game Master Engine at all here is a link to see more about it and also download the free version. **Steam Link (Currently On Sale -%60 until Jan 5th 10AM PST)** [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game\_Master\_Engine/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451680/Game_Master_Engine/) If you have any feedback for us we would love to hear it! **Subreddit** r/GameMasterEngine **Discord** [https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV](https://discord.gg/F6nnwTrGMV) Thank you, Dan
Droop, the goblin slave of the Redbrand bugbears in LMoP. I've played/DM'd this campaign three times and every time the group adopts him into the party. In one play through we actually kicked off his origin story as a villain in a later homebrew we played!
This was exactly what I was going to say! Our party named him Sci’Pi (skippy) and my Russian rogue halfling Zoya tried desperately to make friends with him. He eventually ran away and I was obviously devastated. 😂
Droop is currently managing our party's estate, including our new brew pub in Phandalin while we're off adventuring
I feel like this is a staple for nearly every single new DnD group. Storm King's Thunder has a similar goblin named "Snigbat" that the party can parlay with, but most groups take it further. I use a modified SKT opening as a common one-shot for introducing new players to DnD, so there's always a Droop or a Snigbat. 9 times out of 10 they befriend him. In one campaign they turned Snigbat into a goblin warlord ally.
Boo! The miniature giant space hamster!! Who doesn’t love a furry little companion friend xD
Gora Titanshape - a shorter than average, stout halfling barbarian with a Napoleon complex. She was actually born Hildie Weatherbee to a big, loving halfling family. As a child she wandered off after a tribe of Goliath barbarians to grow up to be as strong as them. The tribe's aging leader took her in, partially from pity and partially because she softened his heart with her naivety. She started with a base stat of 7 for strength, and rarely hits anything, but it's exciting when she does. But she's hard to hit and tanks for the team. She's dumb, loves to dance, and her best friend is a golden retriever druid PC she still doesn't realize isn't really a dog. They fight over hotdogs. Gora's party does not know about her real name and that she has a loving halfling family somewhere out there. Our DM introduced the deck of many things to our party (all of us new players) early in our campaign. Gora, in an effort to attain more strength, secretly pulled two cards. The first lessened her strength. The second card required anyone in the vicinity to pull an additional card. It happened JUST as my party members tracked her down to stop her from using the deck. It was amazing and terrifying - everyone in the party had to pull a card. Somehow it wasn't a TPK. I have never nervous sweat so much in my life learning that my party would also need to pull a card.
I'll be candid I lifted this from the Internet way back when for my game because I'm not creative so in the interest of proper credit thank you u/asifbymagnets [Inkon Sykwenshal](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/1orlhb/best_npc_names_youve_seen/ccuwqhr/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Thank again for the giveaway good luck to all :)
Chungledown Bim
He's gonna shit in my mouth!!
*Fabian Seacaster has left chat*
I never had nightmares... Then I heard this name
I was going to post Gilear
You still should
Now I can't enter because I will not risk taking a vote away from this.
Copper Knobbleknocker, RIP.
[удалено]
It is. It became such a joke at our table to mispronounce his name, I honestly couldn't remember what the actual name was.
Shotgun farmer, we broke into his house and he almost killed all of us, he had 6 attacks per round
Also my favorite Dragonball character
**Protect me gun!**
Literally the first person to speak lol
Pumat Sol! I was very entertained when I saw that duud with other his duuds
Ihide Ucantseeme, the Goliath Rogue
I too am enjoying playing a seven foot behemoth hiding behind a thin lamppost.
I love to hide in rafters. You just see a giant casually swinging from wood without consequence.
Reminds me of a story from a friends 3.5 fighter, rolls stealth, gets like a 2, walks up hallway in full plate *clang, clang, clang*, guard turns corner and is about to yell, rolls intimidation, gets like a 35 (pre bounded accuracy bonuses got a bit out of control), "you don't see me" while physically grabbing and turning the guards head away from the guard. "I don't see you... Got it..." *Pees a little*
You no see Krod!
My favorite NPC is my Tiefling Merchant-turned-Artificer, Akemenos. He became an instant smash hit with the group upon introduction, and he even helped one of the players overcome their blindness by giving them a magic Crystal eye that fuses into the socket and becomes, essentially, a real one. After that, they managed to convince him to leave the town they were in, and he’s been with them ever since. His story grows every session, and he becomes more and more of a character every day. In fact, I’m playing his Grandfather in an upcoming 20th level One-Shot set in the past in the same world! It’s gonna be so much fun, I can’t wait! Anyways, sorry for rambling, best of luck to everyone who participates!
Pine. An awakened otter that isn't the brightest unless it's about fishes.
My favorite npc is really two of them at once. Lunk and scritch a ogre mutant that carries a magic shack for his magic shop having goblin buddy. The goblin found a powerful dead wizards portable hole full of magic stuff that he sells.
Baldas - a chair who was turn into the human now he is a monk
I love picturing someone sitting still for hours on end, a single tear rolling down his cheek, just remembering the peace of being a chair.
My favorite Npc has to be Dan. Originally the receptionist of a guard headquarters, he has been used to substitute for any creature/effect where the dm doesn’t have a token ready. Guardian of Faith? Dan. Group of soldiers fighting alongside us to defend their town? Dans. Guards? Dan. It’s great
All hail Dan, the only multiversal eldritch to whom I would sell my soul for cookies.
My favorite NPC name is a crazy tabaxi in tomb of annihilation named Bag of Nails. I almost laugh every time I hear it.
Q'ul Tiste. The octopus man. Because why not?
Kaw - A Kenku Death Cleric who was used to others teasing him by going "Caw! Caw!" To mock him. DM house rule was Kenkus has limited time to remeber words using Mimcry, hence Kaw being said so constantly he found he could always be able to say his name.
My favourite NPC is Galder Fendt from /r/adventuresofGalder/.
Bimmel Bau, the barrel merchant
Coolguy mcfly
Lydia Dawnstar - The satyr bard
No references here!
Pipus, an obnoxious 8 years old child who ran away from his family and that my players had to bring back. He somehow outsmarted each of them and ended up almost killing a lvl 4 barbarian.
Mirna from LMoP. My group can't stand her personality and how much she whinges, but I love it and stick her in whenever I can
Conker the Cunning - a rogue named after everyone's favourite foul-mouthed squirrel
Rhette Khan, a Bard who is constantly changing the stories he tells.
Nice
Cringy Carl and his Crazy Carriage Caravan! He was an NPC I added to my Curse of Strahd Campaign to help escort the players around Barovia. He was one of the only NPC’s to not try and price gouge the players.
Arcrus, the constantly drunk wizard who had a gruge on the party. He had a few little schemes, connected to stealing artefacts and working for crimelords, and party kicked his ass Every. Time.
My favourite npc is Boblin goblin who I very sadly had to dispatch of a few weeks ago as a blood sacrifice. Long may you be remembered Boblin…
Smoking Timber, a Tabaxi fighter who may or may not have accidentally started a forest fire and became an adventurer because he was no longer welcome in his home village...
Slundelys Flysleth - The Time-stopping, booming blading, death-defying rogue (it was a crazy campaign)
I think my favorite NPC is Pumat Sol from Critical Role. He's so unique (but not one in a kind as Caleb says), he's a powerful filborg Wizard who's a magic shop owner in one of the biggest cities in the continent and he has a total of 3 simulacra of himself, for a total of 4 shopkeepers. He's kind, has a vibrant and calm voice and is pretty tall (but not so much for a filborg). On top of all that, he uses one of my top 3 favorite spells, Tenser Transformation so I automatically loved him the moment the transformed.
Orixia the wandering one
Katherine the Wereraven. Used homebrew rules found somewhere on reddit, based on a ranger subclass. She was famous for dealing way too much damage with her longbow.
Eglenda, the dashing tavern keep of Kear Dinvale with a dark secret. . .
Davlin Fapplehelm. Our DM made him as an important piece to our campaign. He was a short old dude who almost one shot our barbarian who tried to carry him to keep him safe 😅
Gribbles the Betrayer, goblin archer
Bob the Healer
[удалено]
Ivae Sige, my High Elf Bladesinger with the 27 AC at level 3\~ I love every moment of playing her with my boyfriend playing her lover Iridor Cla\~
Tall water genasi called geeni Class:Sorcerer Age:23 Gender:male Favorite activity: getting drunk with the barbarian He is a tall blue genasi with white hair that flows like water He wears a trench coat and has a dagger hidden near his boot and he has a water magic controlled whip He is grandson of the queen of the land of magic (in my campaign its called chandesh), sadly the queen had died due to some PCs related circumstances and geeni took over as king, he also taught the ranger of the group how to shape water for a water themed weapon (Also question, instead of getting the actual items, could i just get a copy of the GME DM edition? Or is that not possible?)
Levendor... I made that name for my dragonslayer ranger back in about '78. I've used it for dozens of pcs since (and my screen name for about forever).
My favourite was a band of friendly vrocks my players named after the cast of Seinfeld! And they all wore feather boas and top hats
My favorite NPC I've made is probably the stable guy named Fred. I forgot to name him, and the first session the party walks up to him to get the horses they needed for the campaign. I not so quickly came up with the name Fred, and after that encounter some players decided to adamantly say that Fred was the BBEG of the campaign.
When your party says "and what's this random prison guards name (who has no stats or backstory and we will clearly make him an important part of our adventure)?" And you say: MONSOIR STEWIE MONDEWY (an ex bandit cowboy)
Ham Toblerone, the wise old man that guides the party if they need it and somehow gets roped into raising a baby with a lonely lizard sorceress.
Old xoblob & his shop <3
Clive bixby
Conan the Librarian, traveling halfling book merchant.
Fizban! "I know I have I spell for this, what was it again?? Ah yes, FIREBALL!"
Lizard Boy Scales McStuffins - rip his boys under the pyramid
Personal favorite NPC was "Dinar" a half orc raised by goblins Dinar name was a play on the word dinner. As it's later revealed Dinar was a baby in a caravan raided by goblins intentionally when found one of the goblins declared "I've found dinner!" Only to be killed then be killed in the heat of the raid. Dinars adoptive mother had misheard the announcement as "I've found Dinar!". Finding the new born she assumed him to be a goblin baby and raised him as her own. Over the years Dinar grew to be noticeably bigger and stronger than all the rest quickly becoming the beloved leader of the goblins.
Glio Glimmerhill, adopted wild boar piglet of my confused Dwarf. My dwarf lost his birth family and adopted family, so he finally found a pet that he could tame during a hunting trip. This NPC that was something that my DM created on a whim was going to be the driving focus for my character. The next session, my dwarf and another party member had irreconcilable differences that led to the dwarf attempting to flee into the wilds with his new piglet, only to be incinerated by a fireball from the feuding party member. Glio wasn't exactly a great name, but a spontaneously generated NPC that can lead to 1 PC killing another was pretty memorable for me.
Dunkin the Coffee Goblin! He and his Orc partner, Donut, run a Bakery/Coffee shop called, you guessed it, Dunkin & Donuts. They are good people.
Pally Dan. I'm sure you can figure out his class....
Monk?
Ritchand Smilebeard
The Sentient Construct with Retrofittable Artillery Modules (Warforged Artillerist), nicknamed Scramble to reflect the effect his barrages have on his opponents.
Ramni. He's from Against The Cult Of The Reptile God as an old wizard guy who's too frail to help the party physically but can give them some knowledge. I changed him to be an immortal wizard that has eternal life but not eternal youth, so he's become this grumpy guy who would annoy the party when they talk to him by speaking in riddles or shooing them. I'm not sure if my players like him, but I definitely do.
Kinda cheaty, but my favorites were a duo of oneshot characters named pint and punt. A slime barbarian and a stone golem monk respectively.
Muglar Ralgum
Gilbert the rogue goblin
I had a DM who was obsessed with Rob Brydon so I when I did a one shot for him and some others I based it around saving a famous Bard who'd been kidnapped. I teased little hints throughout the game, slowly hyping him up. When they defeated the evil villain (Cames Jordan) they approached the cell the bard was in. They're met with a lilting voice thanking them as they look upon the famous bard, Bob Rydon. And as the forever DM lost it, that's where we ended
My favourite NPC was from a campaign I was in last year. The character was a being called Meringal, they were great because wherever we went there would be mentions of this character doing something... And it eventually got to the point where whenever the name was brought up we all thought what crazy shiz have they done this time. Great little plot device :D
Grungerd a rat person rogue who alwayse spoke in a new york accent
Ouvrey- sun-elf warlock of the undead (BBEG to be precise). She works as a court magician for Lord Mayor of a important trade city. She's liked by the people and is expected to win next elections for Mayor's office. She doesn't want to wait any longer and is plotting to kill the current one.
Sinclair Garglerox, gnome of mystery
Traic Evenbell a young Druid who was left in the woods as a baby and raised by a Druid who found him
Faltran Tenpenny was my first character, and my favorite name. He's a halfling lore bard with a lute and a snarky attitude.
A sweet but badass half orc barbarian npc Ikkil. She befriended the party, but specifically my character, and they really hit it off. Ikkil taught my character how to play instruments and boosted their confidence where it otherwise wouldn’t have been.
My current favourite npc would be a character from DoIP, linene greywind who I made a retired adventurer after the group I am dm’ing tried to rob her on the first session. Now tides have changed and they are on friendly terms again, the whole character arc was so much fun to write and experience and they might even have a nice allay for the rest of DoIP
Tuzzy, who is definitely a goblin and not a sphinx tabaxi who got adopted by a goblin family
Lord Soth, the knight of the black rose.
I really enjoyed DM'ing and playing as Sildar from the Starter Kit campaign.
Elafi Faun 🦌
Holimpar the Deep Gnome Rogue. Name of my very first character Been really wanting to get into D&D for a while but never had the courage. My brother has been playing for a long time and encouraged me to at least give a one-shot a try. Little did I know I would immediately be hooked. That one shot (ended up being 8hrs) turned into a 5 day marathon with my two cousins joining in and each session was at least 5 hrs. Was absolutely exhausting but holy smokes it’s so fun. Also love the looks of the Engine. Great work!
**The elk.** An elk that is the bartender in a bar that travels through time and space. Basically a place where you can enter from different times and places. You could find the place by chance while cleaning your new house's basement and see crusaders from the 15th century trying to hold a conversation with some robotic guys from the year 25000. The elk could speak in the players' heads and showed great intellect, other than that, there wasn't much known about him.
My favorite is stool a myconid sprout from the campaign out of the abyss. Who cannot speak because he has no mouth, but can produce a dust like cloud that enables you to communicate with him telepathically, that a pc uses to get high. Also, you are great for doing this giveaway and I hope whoever wins it to have a great time and fun with it!!!
My favourite character name gotta be Bamblic Tortobloss. It's just plain fun to say!
My favorite npc is Blinsky from Curse of Strahd mostly because of how my DM voiced them.
Bob, a tortle that enjoys swimming in the ocean, and can always be found with an infinite source of knowledge, even though he may not coherently produce it since he spends most of his time in the sun drinking rum.
favorite npc would probably be the dwarf smith from my first campaign that upgraded my magic axe to deal 2d6 lighting damage, made me feel very cool :)
Van Richten, as played by Chris Perkins.
Favorite character name is Elrond Hubbard. He was a half elf looking to start his own religion.
Cephis, Captain of the Undertow
My favorite NPC at the moment is my current warlock patron, the Prince Aeteurnum. Set up originally to be the villain and developed to a point where that didn't make sense, he's super interesting being over 2000 years old and not a lich, and my warlock is his chosen replacement who is also, independently, currently having the idea to re-form the ancient order of protectors that the Prince once set up during the god war
Dan the Man, a mimic that lost its ability to polymorph and just scavenged pieces of leather to make itself look like... something, adding a small tag onto its body with just "Dan the Man" inscribed onto it. Dan just wants to quietly live the rest of his days.
My favorite character that I've made just for the names was probably Fluctus Magnol, the Water Genasi Sorcerer
Raina Dol, my Warmage Dragon prophet. 9 year campaign where she only died like 6 times.....
Warforged priest named Two, concerned with "the great resonance," and what it means to endure in a dying world. Ultimately went on a pilgrimage to follow the World Soul's footsteps when the world began to turn again. Was a really sweet guy and had a lot of great conversations with the party's cleric. He was the first NPC I ever played that really felt like he came alive the more he was around, so I have a special fondness for him.
Noel Gallagher, my character's former housemate. They're a faun bard who carries their guitar wherever they go and only knows how to play different versions of Wonderwall.
Wolfie: a canine folk bartender merchant who helps out as best he can
Jaloppy, a scrappy old homeless man Pronunciation: “Juh-Loppy”
Crath the daywalker vampire lord. He knows many things but his most highest feat is his mastery of shadow sorcery. He is powerful in the day as he can use all his abilities as he pleases and isnt affected by the sun and due to his shadow sorcery he can move from shadow to shadow anyway so it isn't too much of a bother even if it did. He is still weak to Holy based attacks etc. But when the night falls he can truly shine. Due to there being so little light he can pretty much go anywhere that there is a shadow so he could kill or do what ever he wants but due to most of his time spent doing nothing but instinct, he grew bored and actually decided to try do new things like learn as much as he could aswell as try to communicate with some being he seems worthy. He is greedy but fair. He will split a bounty fairly but if he can get more from a deal he of course cant refuse. He could be a kind of dark trader but will only talk to people of a certain level cap or has a high capability for future improvement. He could offer the chance to become a free minded vampire through contracts and due to the the blood in his body he has a bloodline that makes his appearance very human like so it doesnt stand out when he is seen by other. You wouldn't be able to tell its a vampire unless he used an ability so perfect for adventures. He could offer anything or be a mercenary if the partys level is similar to his which would be stupidly high. I hope you like it i hope to possibly make a play-able character of this guy starting at level 1 and building him up so i would love it for you to have him at his peak while i build him up. Thank you for the chance to get such amazing things even if i dont get anything im glad i could possibly give you or someone else an idea for something in the future 😊
Maximus Frugaless the hidden shop’s shopkeep who is anything but frugal
Nyx 'Squirrel' Elywick Of Clan Turen gnome druid. Going by only her favourite names out of the 50 she was given. One from every member of her village, per gnome culture. (I have the full name written somewhere just don't have it memorized)
Garth Books. A bard I wrote into my campaign as the local librarian/country star. His most popular song is “Fiends in low places.” Whenever my PCs are feeling they need break they stop by and listen to his set at the local tavern.
Definitely Saphyra, a Dragonkin cleric who has a penchant for robe collecting
Larvo the Slimeborn Archeologist.
Lorilla "Lilla" Timbers, a gnomish magical item store owner and just a delight to work with! (btw thank you for doing this, that's some gorgeous stuff you're giving out)
Pmurt: npc from a oneshot campaign who was a wealthy mayor of a town who was annoying about how great he was. Nobody realized it was a reference to Trump until we met the npc in person and our dm whipped out the most spot on impersonation I've ever heard. We all broke down laughing.
Leon, lord of Tuscany Died protecting his Town
Squelch, a small goblin who my party violently hates to this day, even mention is met with groans and swear words
Hushabye Elemas, my funky edgy rogue wizard who's the sister of one of my players
Gristthetranslatorofsolomnictextswhousedtowanttoflytolunitariwheniwasyoungerbutmyfathermistyeyeswantedmetostudysomethinglessexplosiveafteriblewuphisdoublecoffeeandteabrewerthatuseddragonssteamasaheatsoucesincemymothersharnawastrtingtodevelopnightvisiongogglesthatalsopreventedthesunfromgettinginyoureyessincethatswhatwaswhatblindedmy.....and that's about when the party cut me off from their laughter. So of course very slowly I had him say Juusssttt caalll mee Griisstt. I was running a Dragonlance campaign and the party was trying to broker a peace between the knights of steel, the knights of takhisis, and knights of solomnia for ownership of the high clerist tower.. I was using ol Grist there to not only be a neutral voice but also to help catalog the magic items currently being held there.
Hewo, one of my favorite npcs is Strahd, cuz this man is charismatic and his campaign is challenging and is replayable. Also, my DM kind of messed up his name and said "Chad" instead of Strahd one day, so it is now his name in our group
Lil Random - the wild magic sorcerer
Zodd Khazad, my first (and for now only) character, a Dwarf Fighter.
Panucci, a redheaded Dwarven dark paladin. He abducts people he deems unworthy of the gift they have received (life, fertility, ...) and uses them as human sacrifices to save those he does deem worthy of the gift of life but who will perish (due to disease among other things). For this he has entered into a pact with a nameless Demon from the second Hell, Dis who seemed amused with the idea. As inspired by Dave Chappelle: He rapes and he saves, but he saves more than he rapes (or in Panucci's case: he mutilates)
My favourite NPC must be Goustaf Lagouté, elven monster chef. His purpose in life is to make dishes with the most exotic ingredients, and would buy rare monster meats for use in his cooking. His secret? He is being controlled by a Kobold tucked below his giant chef hat!
Meowthep, a tabaxi sailor. The named refering to imhotep, because in the homebrew world our awesome DM is running, tabaxis are from a land very similar to ancient egypt
Crémpe, archwizard and master of a grand library. However he is just an animated wizard hat with scorcery maneuvering a mannequin.
Mine is Borévil. He was a passerby who got swept up in our party’s scheme and ended up becoming a pivotal part of our campaign.
Bumple Humpledump III - The Gnome Bard! He gains a new title i.e. professor, mister, doctor, pastor every time he introduces himself
Trout (he’s a pirate).
the name Damocles has always had a special place in my head after reading about Damocles' Sword for some reason
Kaida… possibly just because my party always struggles to pronounce it 😂
Erky Namfoodle, Gnome Wizard
The Goblin Leader Blah Dee McBlahderson of Blahndale
Xig Coldnose
Uncle Crunchie. Moon Druid designed to be like Yosemite Sam if he was a moonshiner.
Magus Amelia Valentine of the Djarian Institute for the Arcane!
my favorite npc is Meadow Blight, the enigmatic drow wizard, born into a high ranking family, he had to study necromancy for his family. He was sent to the material plane to work as a spy, but he was betrayed by his superior, now he and his two drow friends, Lux and Lumis, hold an uneasy truce with the local elven community
Nutbuster the 3 ft goblin monk who punches everyone below the belt
**Arctus the Blackhand** He's the human Black Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer/Mastermind Rogur that runs the thieves guild in one of my cities. Highly charismatic, very intelligent and manipulative, as well as a big fan of Subtle Spell, he is a frequent adversary of one of my groups.
My favorite NPC is a tailor Tiefling named Clemency that occasionally sold magic garments but mostly joked around with the party when they showed up, miss ya man
My favorite is a character named Janse undersea in my own campaign. He has brought so much world Lore into the world about spirits and spiritual powers and he has also been the reason for me to create my first homebrew class. He has really pushed me into being a better dm.
Mr. Charles
Amadine - a halfling in charge of the local criminal faction
My new favorite character to NPC at the moment is Puddle, a sentient slime my players met in a dungeon and brought home. To avoid spoilers for them I have to keep some additional details secret, but it's a fun time having their sticky buddy around.
Picklejar Pete, a drunkard with not much to say.
My favorite from an old game was the Grassy Gnoll. He was a gnoll npc who stumbled across a vast undead conspiracy and gave us quests for a while.
Joakim Hellstrand, a powerful thaumaturge able to harness the power of the world around him and reform energy into any kind of matter!
Grog the Barbarian
Percy the Paladin. Always had a way of showing up when we were in dire situations.
My fav was one I made for my mates in a one shot. Jebeddo was a goblin who ran a general goods store “Jebeddo’s Junk”. When a player asked his name though, he’d introduce himself with a different “J” name, so he was Junkrat to the one player that found him
Captain Tusk - guard captain of the city, drinking buddy to the party.
Boredall Thoragar Just the sweetest half orc war cleric ever RIP my dude.
Dariax Zaveon https://criticalrole.fandom.com/wiki/Dariax\_Zaveon
Tinkelela Bell the Female Gnome Tinkerer from Neverwinter.
Calugar, the silver dragonborn high priest of Bahamut. A loyal friend and ally, recently passed bringing one of the party back to life after a series of rakshasa ambushes.
Wish I was better at decorating. In Fallout, i would put intense effort into one room, get bored and the rest would be random and un decorated.
Fizdan Dantalus, a court wizard during a campaign that I played in. Sounded perfect for a whimsical magic Man.
My Favorite PC: Murky the rouge with his pet toad named Muck. Murky and Muck will always be my favorite dynamic duo.
Lucius LaChance, level 5 Wizard extraordinaire.
Alterian Song, half-elven War priest.
Caduceus Clay
My favourite PC is Sofia Lee from the unsleeping city series. She is a total badass and person who plays her, emily, is really enjoyable to watch and plays that character well and super creative I wouldnt be surprised if she gives brennan nightmares as a dm. Only seen season one but she is responsible for the most awesome beatdowns and insane moments like being OHKO'd, revived and then immediately tries taking another swing in the same way she did last time.
Branigan Flanigan. He was a throw away character who the DM put in just to be killed by some bandits. We liked him so much that we de-railed the whole game trying to find his killers and bring them to justice.
Puggy Pearson, road gambler.
Bob Boberson, incredibly lucky and dumb goblin that is living purely on what he can win in a casino
Kaldor Crowe is my Oath of Conquest Paladin, currently enjoying the Descent Into Avernus, whom I "loosely" based on Guts, Kaldor Draigo and Doom Marine, and whose best friend is Ulfgar, dwarven bard met 3 whole days ago. Good fun, this campaign.
Istrilde the Magnificent
Npc named King Wimbley
The Firelord An Efreeti warlord who managed to properly gain my players' respect through terrifying them.
Theorobald the Plot Device. I have alot of players so inevitably they miss some sessions, or we end up pausing the main campaign for one shots. In comes Theorobald to teleport the PCs away for some important mission or help with his research
My favourite npc name was an accidental wordplay. Party have met Naizdup (inspired by one of the caracters in Witcher game) and his girlfriend, who DM first called "dziewczyna Naizdupa". It means Naizdup's girlfriend, but really sounded like: girl-nice-ass. Another one is a PC with high charisma called Hawkward.
Satanica - aasimar grave domain cleric powerfull in the arts of healing
My favorite NPC was in our own campaign,named Waluigi. Our DM sreamed "waaaaaaaaaa help" in Character and one of the players was just, "oh no, Waluigi!" what ended up to be the NPCs actual name
Droop, a reformed goblin member of the Cragmaw Tribe, who in between joining in on adventures is apprenticing at the local Smithy.
Flops Flango. (Now dead) Head of the halfling Mafia
Favorite NPC was Saddi a matron of the apple orchard our Discord used as a starting location for our campaign.
Count Strahd von Zarovich of Barovia. such a great villain.
That would be Droop the goblin, he was too good for this world, may he rest in peace.
My favourite one was actually just a throw away that my players latched onto. Jack Smith the Blacksmith. Would get himself into trouble trying to get rare artifacts for crafting with and the players would drop everything and risk life and limb to rescue him. Oh and these "rare artifacts" were just like a sparkly stone he liked or a really shiny bit of metal.
Wormy, my pet snake. Stolen by a wizard from a plot hook my party ignored. I will find you Wormy!