The adventure "Granite Mountain Prison" by Roger Baker appeared in DUNGEON magazine JULY/AUGUST #36 and if you want to make the most of this Remix then I highly suggest picking up a copy of the issue.
Aside from our target for rescue, Jathan Paark, there are four villainous, named non-player characters (NPCs): Lex Justicia, Nero Falconis, Teron Rotner, and Topper. These three deserve a bit of prep work on the part of the Dungeon Master (DM) as they will represent the major antagonists throughout the adventure.
Lex Justicia
Lex is the warden and is treated as a cartoon-ish villain in the text. He illegally imprisons a merchant who he believes did him a bad turn and consistently abuses his position to accept bribes. There are some important points to note about his character:
1. He has plans to rise above this posting
2. He gets "over zealous" with his questioning of prisoners
3. His leadership is efficient enough that the prison runs well.
The way that Lex is described reminds me of the stereotypical middle manager. A man who takes himself entirely too seriously and has plans to move up the corporate ladder but never will due to his own foolishness. I plan on playing him similar to Bill Lumbergh from Office Space in how he'll talk and behave. The biggest thing is to avoid leaning into the cartoon-ish elements and to instead focus on the banal evil of his role in this prison. The players will hate him because he is deserving of their ire, but they won't dismiss him because of his silliness.
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| Bill Lumbergh from Office Space |
Nero Falconis
Nero is the assistant warden and the description in the text makes him sound more like a maintenance technician with a fancy title. He's the one who maintains the lubricant for the wheel of woe and covets the Warden position. He's also a coward who will sacrifice the lives of his men to save his own.
I think of him looking a bit like Gary Oldman's character from Slow Horses with many of his mannerisms. I want the players to think of him as a disgusting slob who is too enamored with himself for his own good. I'm also going to be using the hand rubbing of Peter Pettigrew from the Harry Potter Films.
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| Gary Oldman from the BBC series Slow Horses |
Teron Rotner
Teron is an odd character. He wears a robe of eyes, boots of speed and is a fighter. His equipment implies that he's a bit paranoid and yet the way he is presented makes him sound more like a man who is just a bit too concerned with his own advancement. He is a neutral evil character, the only one among the four, and as such he comes across much more normal. Less starkly evil and more commonplace, everyday evil.
I think that I'll present him more like Count Tyrone Rugen from The Princess Bride. I want him to come across as someone brave until confronted by a mortal danger. He'll be capable, evil, but ultimately a coward who will fight when cornered.
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| Count Tyrone Rugen from The Princess Bride |
Topper
The character of Topper is a necromancer who is attempting to become powerful in his profession. Of the four he presents the greatest danger to the players over the long term so my goal is to make him someone they pity and perhaps let go. I would like to see him become a reoccurring villain, or even just a reoccurring bit part in the narrative that will give them someone to have as a touch point in the world.
I think that I will play him a bit like Woody Allen from his early career. This means that he'll lack confidence in what he's saying. He'll come across a bit like a loser who will give me room to drop in some funny one liners. But there is this dark underbelly (the necromancy) that will always be present in all the guy does. I want him to still be evil, but I want him to stick around so he can make additional appearances in the world.
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