Nick the Villager

One of the non-player characters in upcoming RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is based on the likeness of a man name Nick, who has a brain condition that gives him constant Migraines. The game’s developer, Polish studio CD Projekt Red, created the character model based on Nick after it heard about his story.

Nick explains his situation on Reddit, saying he’s dealt with the condition his entire life. And because there is no full-on cure, he says he has been prescribed a cocktail of painkillers. But these don’t always work and can even have side effects, so he’s turned to things like reading, spending time on Reddit, and playing video games to help “take my mind off the pain.”

Nick the Armor Craftsman

He says he’s drawn to big, immersive games because they help him “truly get lost within them and escape the pain that I’m feeling.” One such game was The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. He enjoyed the game so much that he wrote to CD Projekt Red to thank them for creating a game that has helped him manage his brain condition.

Nick exchanged emails with developers at CD Projekt Red, and the studio later sent him keys for the Witcher Adventure Game beta and some codes for a Witcher comic book. He went on to say that he was “so happy” to receive these gifts, but his excitement shot through the roof when he received another email from CD Projekt Red asking if he would like to appear in The Witcher 3.

“Basically, the team behind The Witcher series is absolutely amazing and I love them,” Nick wrote.

CD Projekt Red said in a statement to Eurogamer that Nick never asked for anything; he just wanted to let the studio know how much he appreciated their games. The studio created two character models: Nick the Villager and Nick the Armor Craftsman. It’s unclear if one or both will appear in the final game.

Nick adds that CD Projekt Red may not have gotten his proportions right, but that’s OK.

“In real life I’m a pretty tall guy, but nowhere as buff and these characters, which I find hilarious,” he said. “I still can’t believe it. They’re such amazing people.”

Someone else said CD Projekt Red could go further and make Nick’s NPC give a quest that rewards players for collecting herbs that could be used to remedy a headache.

“Holy sh*t that’d be awesome!” Nick said. “But what CD Projekt Red has done for me already is above and beyond anything I would have expected. I didn’t even think they’d get my letter!”

The Witcher 3 launches February 24, 2015 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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