OK, so I got into Hero Forge allegedly to make images of all of the races, including those that don't have illustrations of them, as well as to make some iconic adventurers. Instead, I just was having too much fun making and copying models, and I got distracted a bit. I have loads of everything now, so I'm ready to make an iconic adventuring party of four or five characters. Then I'll make an iconic rival party of four more adventurers in another post. The rivals aren't bad guys, though. They're just another party and sometimes the one gets the jump on the other in terms of finding work, or treasure, or whatever.
Now, keep in mind that this isn't a typical D&D game. Adventurers don't shout huzzah and then go "delving dungeons." They don't heroically shout huzzah and go save the town. They are a mixture of rogues, mercenaries, thieves, and witch hunters... and occasionally heroes. They're in a much more grim business than adventurers in D&D. They're a bit more like adventurers in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. That said, these two groups have been together for some time, so they've got a good rhythm and work well together, and for whatever reason have managed to beat the odds and survive.
I think that for both groups, there's a core of two buddies who are the originals. Each group will have a kinda sorta girlfriend hanger-on who may have once been a Damsel In Distress that they successfully rescued and she decided to follow the group, and then two more characters who are more recent additions, and have probably replaced characters who've died; i.e., their history with the core two is not as long and they got picked up during the course of adventures.
First, we have Stefan Clevenger, a still youngish former Hillman Ranger. He was recruited early in to the infamous Shadow Division, the "witch hunter" brigade as the other divisions called it. After a year or two, he quit and went private, so to speak, following a disagreement with a commanding officer (who was later court-martialed.) Although he was invited to return, he decided he didn't want the strings attached, so he stayed solo and recruited some of his own companions and allies to help him out, but he's still well-regarded by many rangers, and can count them as allies as well.
His closest and longest friend, his blood brother, is Demir Rugova, a cursed shadow sword. His unusual abilities come in very handy in their work, because he is never unarmed, even when he is, since he can retrieve his blade of pure magic at any time. While Stefan is somewhat grim and stoic in tone, Demir's strategy to deal with the grim nature of their business is to refuse to bog himself down in fear and depression, and has an almost strained (sometimes) attachment to flirting, drinking, joking, and otherwise enjoying himself when not working. But he's very serious when on the job. Demir also has a strange penchant for reptiles and is rarely without his pet pseudodragon Flutra.
Revecca von Lechfeld is an important NPC and damsel in distress from the CULT OF UNDEATH campaign/story. After Stefan (and Demir) saved her, she fell head over heels for Stefan. While Stefan is in his late 20s, Revecca was orphaned at age 16, at which point the CULT OF UNDEATH stuff went down. She's less of an "active" member of the group in the field, although occasionally she does go out and do some of the less dangerous tasks, or those where her social standing is helpful, and rather is the wealthy patron who's house and occasional safe houses that she inherited from her father, Professor Alpon von Lechfeld the group uses. She's part Timischer from her father, but her mother was a Hill Country native, and her main home is in the country near Cockrill's Hill; at the "hinge" if you will of Timischburg and the Hill Country, and most of her father's additional properties are in Mittermarkt or elsewhere in Timischburg.
Revecca is very jealous of Alys, a young witch who was "given" to Stefan and Demir as part of a bargain or truce that they made with someone they were once attempting to hunt. Her sorcerous skills are often very handy when in the field, and have saved the boys many times. She is also a veritable font of esoteric knowledge, and has contacts and alliances that—while often shady and disturbing—are always helpful. While she is, in truth, the daughter of a major villain (although one who's biding his time and not actively hostile to anyone at the moment), she's grown fond of the boys, and does her best to help them.
Of course, Revecca need not be worried. Although she appears as a young and beautiful Hill Country maiden, that is an illusion. Alys is actually a lich and is centuries old; her physical appearance is an illusion for polite company. Both Stefan and Demir have seen her true form, which is below.
While they can't deny her general usefulness, they are very uncomfortable with Alys. Although they also don't know how to get rid of her without offending her father, so they tolerate her for now and do their best to not let it get to them too much.
If Demir is the deuteragonist, then Vant Quilin is the tritagonist of the group, a kind of on again off again character, who's a good friend and companion from harrowing adventures in the past. He does have his own things going on, so he's not always with the group when he's busy with his own business. But he comes around as often as he can and is a reliable support when they need him.
And finally, an on again off again ally of the group is Snorn, a goblin who is an informant and spy for crime lords, and sometimes for the group. He travels from major city to major city, and spends as little time as possible in the countryside and the smaller towns; he's very much an urban character. If he's in the same town as "the guys", he's often with them. He's a bit protective of "his towns" and likes to see threats to them eliminated. He's not as important with the crime lords as he thinks he is (or at least claims that he is) but he is both skilled and knowledgeable.
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