Hello forumites. Even golden ones.
This is my NPC thread. There are others like it, but this is mine*
Rather than people post dense TL;DR blocks of text that nobody will read, here's a really quick series of NPC hooks to tell us something about your ideal henchman / henchwoman / henchperson (I am the king of inclusivity, me).
It isn't the usual class / race / schtick. It's more of a feel for the type of NPC you'd ideally like to have as the one you'd never swap out, even at the expense of party efficacy...
ROLE you choose (anything from Tank / Packrat all the way through to muse / philosophical foil / comic relief)
KEY ITEM - What groovy item does the NPC have (Is it a +12 Hackmaster sword, a pet or an heirloom)?
APPEARANCE - Imagine the NPC has a little custom avatar (is it a big fat dude or a curvy uber-chick or a tattoo-covered barbarian like one of Noneks's or a mysterious shaman swathed in animal fur?)
FEEL - How does having this NPC make you feel about playing (intrigued cuz of back-story, just plain happy that they are good at what they do, thrilled because they look / act just like you wanted them to, amused cuz they are funny)?
I hope you see what I'm getting at, a character rather than a set of stats but not ignoring the fact that the character has a role in a game.
Carry on.