Home brewed Antagonists

[Tirisilex]

Just curious to see if anyone has made some cool home brewed antagonists.. I dunno something like the murderous Mime a mime armed to the teeth yet still cant stop acting as a mime. Has no problem killing people along with zombies. This is just a bad example.. Anyone got anything good?

[filo_clarke]

When I create NPCs I tend not to think of them as Antagonists or Protagonists. I prefer to create a person whose goals may be similar or different than the PC party, but then I allow the players to shape that interaction, ultimately determining how the NPC will react. Still, I do like to throw oddball NPCs at them from time to time, just to see what comes of it.

One of the NPCs they met was a lone traveler on the road. He was actively recruiting people to help him build a stable base of operations. Now a few red-flags jumped out at them immediately; he was unarmed, and survived by avoiding zombies altogether. He said that he had been part of a larger group, but they had parted ways due to a "disagreement". As they talked more with him on the road, he brought up things like building an "eco-friendly community", "eco-village", and "permaculture". These ideas sounded great to the PCs, who were desperate to establish some kind of permanent base of operations, and feed themselves, rather than living as scavengers and raiders. Unfortunately the talks also included is interrogations about the PCs methods, and he demanded that they declare, out-loud, their rejection of science, and their commitment to returning to the "Natural Way", blaming vaccines and GMO foods on the zombie outbreak. Within a few days of getting to know the group, he began making demands, like abandoning all of their weapons, because killing any living creature (or zombie) was "spiritually wrong", and he wouldn't assist in their efforts to build an eco-community with murderers... and rapists. It was soon thereafter that his attacks became personal; he accused the leader of the PCs of raping a fellow PC the night before (an act that did not happen, but he was convinced that it had). He made vague threats of punishment towards the men of the party, and acted condescendingly protective of the women. Once I sensed that the group was nearing their breaking point with this guy, I let them find out that he has ABSOLUTELY no idea how to grow crops, or irrigate an area, or even how to do things like process grains into flour, or which wild-berries are safe to eat. His skills were non-existent, and his personality (bordering on the schizophrenic) was extremely jarring to the party. In the end he confronted the leader of the PCs, in a violent manner, accusing him some kind of connection to a "global conspiracy", and demanded that the women leave to follow his hew leadership. The group cut him loose and simply left him by the side of the road to find a new bunch of survivors to annoy.

I have some more examples, if anyone is interested, or I can just leave it with this one?

[Tirisilex]

I'd like to hear more.. I like how you took the Retro Savage and made your own lil spin on him.

[filo_clarke]

Well then, let's see... The closest thing to an active antagonist that I have thrown at my group was the leader of a different group. This guy was heavily armed, dressed in BDUs, and used copious amounts of military jargon, coupled with a dominant personality. He alternatively claimed to be "ex-special forces" and an "ex-army sniper". The PCs met him when they were low on ammo and SDC, and he seemed like a godsend - a good shot with plenty of guns, a group of people following him, and well-stocked with provisions. They joined his team, for mutual safety, and slowly began to realize that this guy was trouble. For one, he clearly had no actual military experience, beyond knowing about guns. Worse, his tactics involved telling people to "man-up" or "n#t-up" while sending them on hazardous missions. Mistakes or problems were quickly blamed on unpopular group members. Weakness in his group was ridiculed, and people who were injured or sick got the same advice... "man-up!". Any time his tactics were questioned (particularly by a soldier PC) his response was "let me show you how we do things in the special forces". Finally, after a particularly disastrous supply-run where the smart tactic should have been to withdraw, but because of hubris ended up as "keep reloading until you can't!", one of the PCs confronted him in front of his own people. The PC in question was an Air Force Ground Radio Technician, and clearly knew infinitely more military doctrine than this "ex-army-special-forces-sniper". What occurred was a thorough dressing-down of the group leader, in front of his followers (or "family" as he referred to them), who were already reeling from the recent deadly encounter. This humiliation was not well received, and he flew into a rage attacking the PC group "outsiders", and severely wounding the enlisted Air Force Tech (resulting in the loss of her right arm, eventually). The PCs fled the situation with a few of the leader's own, disillusioned, people, but they found themselves hunted relentlessly. The enemy leader claimed that they had stolen guns and ammo from him (given to them freely a few days before) and were dangerous renegades that needed to be "put down". The PCs were eventually forced to kill him in self defense, but it marked the first time one of them had taken a human life, and a turning point in that character's story-arc.