Drop Dice

• Good versus Evil - Its black and white when dealing with evil, but not so much when dealing with good. 
• Heroes are not likely - at first you are a pig farmer in a terrible countryside until...
• Heroes tend to keep it personal - ...Vong Guul Dark Sorcerer of Tir Nok and worshiper of the evil snake god shows up and kills your family. Now you will hunt him to the ends of the earth and once you kill him, peace falls over the land for a limited time.
• Villains are big - Vong Guul was just a peon, the big threat shows himself and forcibly married your wife who thought you was dead. Next adventure please (sequels)
• Counter Society - Society is bad m'kay. People of simple cultures tend to be better people. Cities make thieves and empires make villains.
• There are exceptions - Sometime cities can produce a true hero after some altering event that causes him to question his country's motives.
• Men are heroes women are scantily clad and sometimes heroes - Pretty straight forward there. Female heroes in S&S can be especially neat as they are often unexpected by male dominated culture and if seen in a supporting role they are almost always critical to the hero's success.
• Heroes travel alone - Except they don't. Sure the story focuses on Cragnar of the Wildlands. But Cragnar is assisted by his best buddy (a ridiculously greedy thief), a "skilled" warrior (playfully mocked by Cragnar but a very skilled fighter in the classical sense), and usually some sort of extra that covers the healing arts and some random stuff. S&S sometimes feels like you can't play it up with a party at a table but really watch the movie and look for those support characters, they may not kill as much but they are always memorable.
• Gods don't care - this is mainly because most of the original writers in the genre were atheists, but it can be refreshing to see. In games faith tends to be constant or at least in the background heavily and usually on the side of good, in S&S it'd different. They look at how too much faith leads to zealots and persecution. Faiths that are active are seen as evil, or too good to be true in some cases. Again unless its a barbaric ancient faith or druidism, that's the stuff of hero support characters.
• Life never gets better - you do not get knighted, you get vast amounts of riches you waste on booze and good times. And if life does "get better" like becoming king it just sucks in a different way. Warrior kings almost always begrudge their position and feel limited by the structure of government that says the hero can not enter the field of combat.
• Magic is scary and rare - Pretty straight forward here too, it is often used as a tool of villains. Most heroes use brains and brawn.
• Prophecies! - It was foretold of your coming eons ago by a mad blind woman who would ritually burn herself for visions. And guess what happens, they are so vague they always conveniently come true. If you want a great example watch the In the Name of the King movies. If you don't, watch them anyways, both are pretty good. 
• Heroes usually don't have jobs - lets face it most of them don't, or if they did before adventuring it's back to the humble beginnings thing again. They generally don't forge their own weapons or have trade skills like so many D&D characters. They have adventurer skills and some negotiation skills to try to pawn the golden idol they found in that temple for a new ax.
• Weapons and armor are disposable - Throw your sword at that beast you can always get another.
• Heroes have a reason to be heroes, even if that does not always make them "good guys" - Straight forward, nothing new here anti-heroes welcome so long as you can get along with your crew. no lone wolves.

Villains

1. Who are you? What lands do you hail from stranger?
2. Who are your parents? Brothers and sisters?
3. Why should I hire you? What skills have you?
4. How will I recognize you when we meet? Do you have any peculiar mannerisms?
5. Why do you travel these lands? What is your quest?
6. Whom do you call brother/sister?
7. What is your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?
8. What do you think of civilized people? And of the tribesmen?
9. What of your own place of birth, what do you think of them?
10. What do you know of love?
11. What of your family? Any children?
12. Do you have any prejudices?
13. What kind of companions do you travel with? Or rather what do you look for in companions who travel with you?
14. What is your favorite and least favorite things?
15. What is your greatest ambition? Would you give it up for another?
16. What faith do you find comfort in?
17. What is your worst fear?
18. How do you feel about magic?
19. Who were you before Chaos descended? Where were you when it happened? What have you been doing since?
20. How will you die?