Troublemakers At A Viking Wedding

I used the following NPCs in our Vikings & Valkyries campaign. With all the shenanigans going on, it took quite some time until I had to introduce other name-worthy characters (except for Guldnar and Grimhulda, a vicious dragon and a conspiring witch, respectively). A measly statline for B/X type of games is also provided.

Jarl Olaf Gunnbjörn – The father

• Fighter 4; AC 4 banded mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• An experienced warrior in his 40s, the leader of the settlement. He has long, well-groomed auburn beard and mustache; his eyes, once sparkling with life and vigour, are old and sad, which he tries to hide with drinking and the occassional womanising.
• He wants Ingrid to marry Varghöss for the sake of his people; he is afraid of what would happen if the two families maintained their rivalry, having lasted for generations already.

Fridha – The mother

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured; Atk 1 dagger 1d4
• Olaf's wife; not young anymore, but still beautiful. She has braided ash brown hair and eyes as blue as the sea.
• She does everything to stop the marriage between Ingrid and Varghöss, for it's only her who knows the terrible truth that Ingrid and Varghöss are half-siblings. For obvious reasons, she will not share this information with anyone willingly.

Faraldr Eriksson – The uncle

• Fighter 4; AC 5 chain mail; Atk 1 long sword 1d8
• Older brother of Fridha and Olaf's right hand. He has short brown hair and finely trimmed beard.
• He has no malicious intentions, but he may come off as obnoxious and paranoid, as he does everything in his power to keep the perceived integrity and renown of Jarl Olaf.
• He is also very protective of his sister, Fridha, for very much the same reasons.

Ingrid Olafsdottir – The bride

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured
• Olaf's astonishing older daughter. She has flowing blonde hair, and she wears pretty colourful clothes.
• She doesn't want to marry Varghöss, but she complies with her father's will.
• Unbeknownst to her (and basically everyone except Fridha), she is  the daughter of the same Sigurd as Varghöss, making them half-siblings.

Helvi Olafsdottir – The sister

• HD 1; AC 9 unarmoured; Atk 1 dagger 1d4
• Olaf's younger daughter. She wears her raven-black hair in ponytail, and her eyes look as innocent as a doe's.
• Underneath the soft appearance hides a wild and free-spirited Helvi, who doesn't want to have a life like her mother's or sister's.
• She yearns for travel and adventure, although her ideas of it are more romanticised than realistic.

Varghöss Sigurdsson – The groom

• Fighter 3; AC 5 chain mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• A young, handsome warrior with long light brown hair, short brown beard, and deep green eyes. He is the adopted son of Sigurd, ruler of a neighbouring settlement.
• He is engaged to Ingrid Olafsdottir, and while he understands the reasons why he must marry her, he fears she won't bear a son for him ("Just like her mother couldn't", he points out).

Amundr Björgvinsson – The best man

• Fighter 2; AC 6 scale mail; Atk 1 broad sword 1d8
• A tall man with dark brown hair and eyes; he is young but looks older because of his long beard. He is a good friend of Varghöss.
• He carries a precious family heirloom, a silver-bladed broad sword with a ruby in its pommel (worth 1,000 gold pieces in total).

Three Witches

[I've had short descriptions of weird characters and locations like this for quite some time; I think I'm going to slowly publish them on the blog, unless I find a better way of sharing them]

Anna lives in a castle that stands on a seaside cliff. She's always spying the surrounding lands through the eyes of her birds, and she herself is capable of turning into a bird. They say she's keeping a beautiful princess captive in the highest room of the tallest tower.

Esther lives in a tumbledown cottage in the Thornwoods. During the day, she wanders the forest in the form of a nice old lady, looking for weeds, roots, and mushrooms for her concoctions. When the night falls, she turns into a beautiful maiden. Moonlight, however, reveals her true self.

Mary is always on the move, interested only in the pleasures of the flesh: she seduces young men and, having laid with them, devours them. If caught red-handed, she escapes easily on her flying broomstick. Once every lunar month she writhes in torment for hours, at the end of which she spawns a gluttonous swarm of insects.

Twelve Peculiar NPCs

The following characters may make interesting henchmen or retainers (or allies or enemies or whatnot), in addition to showing how silly my games can sometimes be. Statistics are not provided so that each Referee can decide how powerful these characters are.