D&D Next Playtest: Ahten Nomads

The characters are currently exploring the plains to the east of Goldenhills Hall, crossing the Twisted Pass and seeking to re-establish contact with the Ahten Nomads, who used to trade livestock for metal goods.

The Ahten are horse-riders and herdsmen.  They fight as horse archers and lancers, wearing mostly leather/bone armor.

The Ahten are divided into  several clans.  In the winter, each clan moves into small encampments scattered around one of the 6 major valleys on the western side of the Saltwind Prairie.  In the summer they move out onto the high plains with their herds, and skirmish with the gnolls, who live to the north, and the lizard-men, who have villages in the tidal flats and brackish estuaries along the ocean.  They also tangle with raiders and slavers from Hellonde, the City of Chains to the far east (about 200 miles).

The Ahten are loosely allied with the City-State of Arar, called the Gate of the North, which is to the north-east of the Saltwind Prairie and which is perpetually at war with Hellonde.  They used to trade with the Old Kingdom, and with Goldenhills Hall, and with Britha to the north, but Britha was destroyed by some catastrophe they don't like to talk about, and they had to fight hordes starving refugees - the ones that the gnolls didn't get.  They are now somewhat isolated, and their equipment and fortunes have suffered as a result.

 The clans are all run by a Chief, who can be male or female. Usually the Chief is chosen by acclamation, and must be a proven war-leader or shaman.  Family ties mean quite a bit in this, though, so the child of a Chief has a pretty good chance of replacing them, provided they live up to their parent somewhat.

There are six Ahten clans and each clan has a specific valley where they spend the winter.

Ahten Clans:
Eagle (eagle-plumed headdresses, white and red colors.  Eagle wings standard)
Crow (crow-claw jewelry, black and gold colors, crow and raven feather banner)
Weasel (sharpened teeth, brown and red colors, Weasel-pelt standard)
Foolish Dog (hordes of cattle dogs, yellow and tan colors, dog-skull standard)
Stallion (Horse-tail decorations, painted horses,
Grey Wolf (Wolf pelt clothing and wolf tooth decoration)

The Crow Clan:
The Crow Clan are resident in the valley where the Twisted Pass opens out, and are currently under attack by gnoll raiders, ghuls and other undead creatures - seeming to originate from a ruined keep in the hills to the north.

The Crow are scattered and leaderless, with many winter camps destroyed and people missing.  Many Crows have joined with other clans, or have led their camps out onto the plains, where it is somewhat safer.  Javach Rel, the shaman of the Crow Clan is in the east with her riders, raiding against Hellonde slavers.

Atli Blackhair

NPC: Atli Blackhair 
Human Female Ranger 2
Strong-faced young woman in stained but fine leathers.  She is intense, focused and somewhat merciless.  She has 4-year old son, Oyudran.

Atli is the only surviving wife of Droud, previous chief of the Crow clan, who was killed in a Ghul attack.  Oyudran is Droud’s son, and has a chance to claim the chief's mantle if he survives to majority and proves himself as a shaman or warrior.

If Atli can muster enough support, she can rule as clan-chief until Oyudran is adult.  She is a known tracker and huntress, and being Droud's wife adds to her influence.  This is her primary focus.  Secondarily, she wants what is best for her clan.

My Favorite NPC: Rohan Tomat

It's weird - when I think of NPC's that I've really liked, none of MY NPC's come to mind.  Which is actually pretty concerning.  Note to DM self - you need to spend more time on NPC's.

The NPC that really stands out from all the years of gaming was from our numerous Vampire: the Masquerade games in university.  My buddy Nic was a truly standout DM - able to manage complex political plots, multiple well-fleshed-out NPC's and basically playing really good Vampires.  His games were always tons of fun, even if we were often the simpletons among the scheming, subtle Kindred.

But of all the manipulative bastards that we encountered in those games, Rohan Tomat was by far the most bastardly.  And he was truly horrible because he was likable.  You KNEW that Rohan was fucking you over, but the smile and the carrot were always too much to resist.

We never learned much in the way of specifics about Rohan - his allegiances, history and motives were things he kept close to his chest.  I think he was some variety of Sabbat, but certainly not a very invested one.  Rohan's loyalties were generally to Rohan - or to whatever plot, scheme or machination Rohan was cooking up.

This is how I picture Rohan.

I remember several times that the party decided that they needed to call in Rohan to help out with an
insoluble problem.  It was always an agonizing decision, because you were aware that you were going to get screwed, and that it would *seem* like it was worth it, yet deep in your mind, that niggling feeling that you were getting short, poo-encrusted end of the stick was always there.

I don't remember ever putting one over on Rohan, although I'm pretty sure we defeated his minions a few times.  He never hung around for that, though - when the fangs came out, Rohan was never around for the shit-storm.

We liked him, hated him, fought against him and allied with him.  He was sly, slick and utterly unscrupulous, and we never, ever out thought him.  The very best thing about him was that Nic played him utterly fairly.  No DM fiat, "magical" protection or anything.  Just cruel smarts and the willingness to use them.  I'm sure now he was kind of a "mary-sue" NPC for Nic, but that doesn't matter.  When the topic of NPC's comes up, Rohan stands above them all.