The Fifty Worlds: NPCs

Sir Ruthven Despard

Boo! Hiss!

Sir Ruthven Despard is a melodramatic villain, the epitome of a Bad Baronet.

More specifically, he is a high level neutral evil bard, son of the previous Bad Baronet by a conjured succubus. Sir Ruthven can do anything a high level bard can do, plus almost everything a succubus can do, noting specifically that:

  • he cannot drain levels;
  • he can teleport at will, but only to his home or to locations marked with teleport markers;
  • he cannot fly at will (although there's no reason why he couldn't use the 3rd-level spell);
  • he can alter self at will, but only to humanoid forms (and specifically not to forms with functional wings) (although there's no reason why he couldn't use the 4th-level spell polymorph self).

    [AD&D-Specific:] Sir Ruthven Despard, semi-human male, Str 16 Dex 17 Con 15 Int 13 Wis 13 Cha 17 Align NE Hp 95. Fighter, level 7; Bard, level 24.

    Sir Ruthven is centuries old, but has not received divine ascension and probably never will. Since he can change his appearance at will, he looks as young or as old as he needs to for plot reasons.

    Sir Ruthven owns a mirror of mental prowess, and knows how to use it to travel between worlds, although perhaps not how to use all of the other powers it possesses. It's in his evil lair, which is not one of the locations I have detailed. (He's a fun NPC, and I don't want people trashing his home.) Using it, he could potentially turn up anywhere in the Fifty Worlds.

    Sir Ruthven is not interested in philosophy, and does not give a fig for law or chaos. He does not even care all that much about evil as such (which is why he is unlikely ever to receive divine ascension). What he is interested in is melodrama.

    Imagine the scene. Sir Ruthven has cast domination on the helpless heroine and instructed her to walk along a path and over a cliff edge (there being, in fantasy worlds, no railway tracks to tie her to). Will the handsome hero reach her in time and save her? Or will she tumble to her doom? Does Sir Ruthven care either way?

    No, not really. What he cares about is melodrama. Ideally, the handsome hero will arrive seconds too late, but if he arrives in the nick of time instead, Sir Ruthven can snap his fingers, say "Foiled again!", smile, twirl his mustaches and go on to his next evil scheme. What Sir Ruthven really doesn't like is one-sided contests, where either the hero turns up far too early, or not at all. No melodrama in the situation.

    Sir Ruthven is, as you may have gathered, racist, sexist, and not politically correct. Boo! Hiss!

    Although Sir Ruthven loves being a Bad Baronet and doing evil deeds, he has no particular hangups about alignment, and in certain circumstances might even cooperate with the forces of good.

  • In view of his mixed parentage, Sir Ruthven has some sympathy with others of mixed ancestry, specifically including not only half-elves but those female-only species such as dryads and sirines which mate with human males; should any such people be oppressed by lawfuls or harrassed by chaotics, Sir Ruthven would come to their aid, as long as he could find a way of doing so melodramatically.
  • Sir Ruthven is sexist and old-fashioned. If a comely humanoid female specifically asked for his assistance, he would not turn her down.
  • Sir Ruthven does not harm other bards, and may sometimes even help them. Professional courtesy.
  • Sir Ruthven is racist. He dislikes dwarves and finds hobbits disgusting. He would probably come to the assistance of anyone suffering from a plague of hobbit thieves. He might even overcome his distaste for one-sided contests if the opportunity to fireball a tribe of hobbits were to arise and nothing more obviously melodramatic came to mind.
  • Sir Ruthven is a sportsman, and if he comes across an existing conflict, he will (if he gets involved at all) side with the underdog in order to even the odds and make the contest more interesting.

    Sir Ruthven Despard and Jorysania are intimately well-acquainted with one another. They may sometimes be found together watching particularly closely-matched encounters, placing bets on the outcome.

    Sir Ruthven Despard and Tanleigh Dyrrant are acquainted with one another and flirt with one another when they meet, but their relationship is no heavier than that. They will try to avoid interfering with one another's plans.

    Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

    1