Players Guide To Diablo: Non Playable Characters - The Villagers of Tristram

The villagers of Tristram are a handy bunch. They provide an array of services to the player character to aid with his quest of ridding the world of the Demon Lord, Diablo. In the original game, there were eight villagers who could offer aid to the character – ranging from idle gossip and advice through to professional services. So, who are these people and what do they offer?

Adria the Witch

The Witch, Adria, lives in a shack an a small island to the south-east of the village. Adria buys and sells magical scrolls, staves, spellbooks and potions.Adria also provides insight into some of the character quests and gives the character one quest in the game.

Deckard Cain (Cain The Elder)

Cain is located by the fountain in the village square. He is the last living human in the line of Horadric mages and provides the player with advice for many of the quests which the players undertake. Cain identifies magic items found in the game for a fee of 100gp per item.Cain is the initiator of two quests in the game.

Farnham the Drunk

Farnham was one of the search party which entered the catacombs led by the Archbishop Lazarus. Farnham survived the horrors that lay within but is haunted by his memories. Farnham provides some insight into the quests characters receive, but serves no other purpose in the game and is best ignored.

Gillian the Barmaid

Gillian is the Barmaid in Ogden's tavern. Like Farnham, she gives some insight into some of the quests within the game but has no other purpose.

Griswold the Blacksmith

Griswold is the village blacksmith. He buys and sells weapons (except staves, which are traded by Adria), armour, shields and helms. Griswold can also repair damaged armour at weapons – at a price, but repairs made by Griswold bear no reduction in the item's durability.Griswold, like other characters, also provides insight into some of the character quests and initiates two quests.

Ogden the Innkeeper

Ogden is the owner of the Tavern of the Rising Sun in Tristram. Ogden is a learned man and provides much insight into several quests in the game. Ogden's advice is second only to Cain's in the game.While providing no tangible services to the character other than advice, Ogden is the catalyst for two of the character's quests.

Pepin the Healer

Pepin is Tristram's town healer. Pepin will heal characters that are wounded in the game and also buys and sells healing potions and elixirs.Pepin initiates two quests, but offers no insight into other quests in the game.

Wirt

Wirt is a peg-legged boy and located across the river to the north of the village. Wirt sells rare and expensive magic items in the game, and characters can only buy a single item each level. He also charges characters 50gp to look at his wares.Wirt is not associated with any of the game's quests and offers no insight into them.

While there are eight main non-player characters, there is in fact a ninth, although his role is short-lived and he isn't involved in every game. His name is Kael Rills and he is the wounded townsman that is sometimes encountered outside the entrance to the cathedral.

Kael initiates one quest – to kill the demon known as the Butcher – before dying. His body remains at the entrance until the Butcher is killed, where his body vanishes.

The unofficial Diablo expansion pack 'Hellfire' introduced a further three NPCs into the game, but are not covered in this guide.

In the next part of this guide to the original Diablo game, we'll take a look at the character quests in the game.