About twenty years ago, a ranger calling himself Vladimir appeared out of nowhere. He has made several enemies, and even those people who do not particularly dislike him regard him as untrustworthy.
[AD&D-Specific:] Vladimir, human male, Str 15 (Stamina 17, Muscle 13) Dex 11 Con 18 Int 19 Wis 16 Cha 12 Align NG Hp 114. Age: Forty-ish. Ranger (1st edition), level 17. Conjuror (2nd edition), level 11.
Vladimir has the psionic wild talent teleport, amongst others (including phase and dimension walk) - he dates from 1st Edition days and has two sciences and a number of devotions.
Vladimir's alignment was originally chaotic good. It has not changed all that much - like most people, he has become slightly less radical as he got older. He was originally on the good side of chaotic good, and he is now on the chaotic side of neutral good. The only penalty he suffered as a result of his small drift in alignment is that, for the most part, people of neither alignment trust him entirely.
In fact, so many people do not trust Vladimir that it is simpler just to list the people who do trust him.
Firstly, his ranger followers trust him. I may get around to listing them in due course.
Secondly, Vieshi Iczmonicernat (see here) regards Vladimir almost as an adopted son. Over the course of his career, Vladimir has donated somewhere in the region of 12.5 million gold pieces to the Temple of Mielikki. Vladimir is not particularly religious, but he has to do something with all that treasure he keeps finding.
Thirdly, the silver dragon community trust Vladimir. Vladimir's charisma to silver dragons is 17. Eakosta, Krylona and Zalixa think he is wonderful.
Fourthly, a few adventuring colleagues trust Vladimir. One is Aurelius. Equally importantly, Vladimir trusts Aurelius, and might even follow his orders for a while. Although Aurelius and Vladimir do not really like one another, as an adventuring duo they complement one another very effectively, and their adventures together have been astoundingly successful and profitable.
Another is Sabrina, who is a very close friend of Aurelius, Vladimir and Dalinda.
Tanleigh Dyrrant does not trust Vladimir, but then she does not trust anyone. Not long after Vladimir appeared from nowhere, he and Tanleigh were lovers. They sometimes run into one another during their travels around the worlds, and when they do they usually find time for sex.
Vladimir is also one of Pamina's numerous lovers.
Realising that one cannot continue ranging forever, Vladimir decided a few years ago to study conjuration at the College of Knowledge. His specialist tutor was Zaqqiya. Vladimir and Zaqqiya do not much like one another, but they recognise that they are on the same side in all important respects.
Vladimir is a member of the Teleport Society. He can already cast the teleport spell, and at the rate he is progressing it will not be all that long before he learns teleport without error. Vladimir understands vector calculus, and is one of the few people who can attempt to teleport onto a moving target with a realistic chance of success.
Vladimir continues to rise in levels very rapidly. He is particularly looking forward to learning prismatic spray. He wants to see what it does to red dragons.
When Vladimir reaches 18th level as a conjuror (and this is when, not if), he will set out on a quest to find the legendary sword POLARIS.
Why do so few people trust Vladimir? There are a number of reasons.
Firstly, there is that business about his alignment. Not that he would have done much better without the alignment change, as most rangers in Megalopolis are lawful good.
Secondly, people who go adventuring with Vladimir often do not come back. There is nothing sinister in this. Vladimir just assumes that other people are as good at taking care of themselves as he is. They are not. But (for example) when he sees an obvious trap (e.g. pull the lever and you get zapped by a lightning bolt), he does not usually bother to warn other members of the party about it. After all, they can see it too, can't they?
Thirdly, Vladimir does not follow orders or stick to plans. Nominally, his profession is that he guides and guards merchant caravans. Few merchants would hire him, knowing full well that if they did he would abandon them at the first sight of a red dragon lair.
Fourthly, Vladimir has his own way of doing things. There are three ways of doing anything: the right way, the wrong way, and Vladimir's way. Vladimir's way usually works, sometimes spectacularly well, but it invariably leaves the rest of the party wondering what on earth he is up to.
Fifthly, he falls uncomfortably into the generation gap. Old-style rangers, most of them now in their mid fifties, do not hold with new-fangled ideas such as multi-classing and specialist wizards. New-style rangers, most of them now in their mid twenties, want nothing to do with old-style rangers, and include Vladimir in that category.
Finally, some of Vladimir's claims do not endear him to the lawful good community. He has, for example, claimed that paladins are really a secret society of assassins. It happens that there is one area in the Fifty Worlds where a nominal society of paladins is really a society of assassins. It may also be the case, as Vladimir suggests, that paladins cause more death and destruction than any other group of people. It is certainly the case, as Vladimir points out, that whenever one has to confront an evil high priest any paladins present instantly run away. However, most paladins do not care to be reminded of any of these facts. And most people would dispute Vladimir's claim to have killed more red dragons than anyone else. Most people think that smashing eggs does not count.
It remains true that Vladimir has killed rather a lot of red dragons, and found rather a lot of treasure (and donated most of it to the Temple of Mielikki). And, for these reasons amongst others, silver dragons think he is wonderful even if most humans think he is a pain in the neck.
Note for DMs:
Vladimir can be useful to the plot in a number of circumstances.
If the player characters are having dragon trouble, particularly fire-breathing dragon trouble, Vladimir could turn up and help them out.
If the player characters fall into a trap, Vladimir could again turn up and help them out. (Vladimir sees player characters at the bottom of a pit and asks "What are you all doing down there?" When they tell him, he rolls his eyes in amazement that people can be so stupid as to fall into such an obvious trap. Then he rescues them.)
Vladimir can also be a plot hook. For example, the Knights of Megalopolis, who do not like him, might want to know where he gets all that money from, and hire a player character spy to find out.
There is also that legendary sword which Vladimir seeks. If no-one else goes after it, he will eventually find it. But surely there must be a player character who is also interested?