Wednesday, October 26, 2011

[Festival of Fright] Notorius NPC: "Mort" the Mortician Bot

"Mort" the Mortician Bot
4th Level Synthetic

STR: 13 --- INT: 14
DEX: 15 --- WIL: 15
CON: 9 --- CHA: 16
HPs: 50 --- AC: 6
Mutations: increased sense (smell), force screen, quick mind

Somewhere on the outskirts of a ruined city is a long-ago-forgotten funeral home -- dilapidated and run down. Its caretaker -- a mortician bot named "Mort" -- sat silently for decades, waiting to be of use again. A few months ago, Mort's circuitry reactivated for a self-diagnostic and something went wrong. When Mort's circuitry reactivated, a small electrical spike caused a causal loop in his programming. He now views every living thing as a potential "client."

Mort's back in business.

Mort initially kept himself busy by embalming and mounting birds and small animals. As he became bolder, he "serviced" larger creatures and the occasional traveler he'd encounter on the nearby trails. Mort is now lurking near villages and towns close by, catching folks tilling the fields or tending their herds and bringing them back to his funeral home for processing. But Mort's not evil; he just has a job to do.

Mort is very hard to attack head-on as his increased smell enables him to detect when he's about to have company. He can also use this sense to detect and find hidden clients. His quick mind gives him a 100% chance to determine if someone is lying to him. And mental attacks are difficult as an attacker must successfully roll three times to have a mental attack succeed. He also has a built-in force screen that he can raise if he feels the "dearly departed" is being particularly troublesome. Mort has a +1 to hit/damage bonus due to his STR and his CHA gives him a -1 Reaction Adjustment.

Mort is not a skulking villain looking to kill villagers. He sees himself as providing a much-needed community service. He takes pride in his work and will be highly insulted if his motivations are brought into question. He may even show off his "displays" to anyone interested. Little do they know that he has already selected them as the next clients who will benefit from his services.

Mort should come across as creepy, but initially harmless. He's charismatic, pragmatic and fairly straightforward when discussing what he used to do for The Ancients. "But I no longer prepare the Dearly Departed for their final destination," he'll sadly tell the party. He'll then sweep back a curtain, revealing his collection. "I prepare those who have not yet departed," he'll state as he reaches for a scalpel and embalming needle. "So who's first?"

1 comment:

  1. This description is spot on how an npc brief should be; snappy, direct, and full of flavour. Well done!

    Caught my eye as I have a toon nicknamed Mort, and your concept puts my toon to shame.

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