Genetically speaking, anything that can interbreed will work in any order, in other words: Human+Elf=Half-elf Human+Orc=Half-orc Elf+Orc= ???, but viable Half-elf+Half-Orc=Human I think he's using creative license to call Billy a human, since his appearance apparently reflects something more exotic.
It's certainly more ambitious than my attempt to create a nontraditional Orc-blooded PC. Did you get to play him much, DK?
Not yet, made him for an upcoming game, an exotic background and all that, but not asking the DM to bend over backwards (including the fact there are no longer half orcs in 4th ed, but It's going to provide lots of rp fun.
Billy, can you help talk us out of this with your elven charms? Ummmm no. Some half elf you are. I'm not.
Billy! use your strength to lift the gate! I'm not strength based! What kind of half orc are you? I'm not!
Also its creative lisence and junior high school science, I actualy remembered a lesson!
Genetically speaking, anything that can interbreed will work in any order, in other words: Human+Elf=Half-elf Human+Orc=Half-orc Elf+Orc= ???, but viable Half-elf+Half-Orc=Human I think he's using creative license to call Billy a human, since his appearance apparently reflects something more exotic.
It's certainly more ambitious than my attempt to create a nontraditional Orc-blooded PC. Did you get to play him much, DK?
nooooo, I'm like 99% sure that elves/eladrin and orcs have never been viable.
and I'm pretty sure that extends to half-elves and half-orcs.
and a half-orc + half-elf = half-human, quarter-orc, quarter-elf. It's significant until 1/16 bloodline.
Well, when all else fails, we can always assume "It's magic"! If orcs and elves can't interbreed it could be because Corellon won't let them.
As long as Billy has acceptable STR, DEX, CHA, and CON scores, his heritage is represented, the rest is just flavoring. I note that he's a ranger, which might help.
I can't promise you'll like this guy, he's more an experiment with making an interesting character without dipping heavily into the fantasy side of things.
Sam Thatcher, Neutral Good Human Fighter
Write five things about your character's concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character.
1) Sam was a soldier all his life. On his 16th birthday he enlisted in Lord Dover's small army, and served well enough for decades. He saw actual war only twice, both times emerging shaken but altogether in one piece. Sam and his comrades served as heavy infantry, and were comfortable with spear, shield, and sword.
2) During his time as a soldier Sam married and had a son, Jake, though he spent very little time at home. What time he did pass at home was usually spent looking after Jake and secretly hoping that he would follow in his father's footsteps....and one of his proudest moments was when his son took up shield and spear to fight alongside his father.
3) Almost in spite of his dedication and occasional hard work, Sam never distinguished himself above his peers, and was barely any higher in status by his 60th birthday. On that day he was forcibly retired, offered a moderate pension and sent on his way.
4) Over the next years, he watched as his body wasted slowly away to old age and depression. His wife had caught a tenacious sickness that had her bedridden most of the day, and Jake had by then risen to a respectable position among Lord Dover's army. Fatherly pride subtly turned to envy, and his own wasting body soon filled him with quiet rage and fear that he refused to acknowledge even to himself. Almost.
5) In the middle of the night, Sam snuck out. He had his armor, his weapons, and food enough for a trip to the nearest city where he planned to....he didn't really know. No military or sailing crew would possibly accept his services on the basis of his age, but maybe he could relive his old life as a staunch companion amongst exotic adventurers...
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.
1) Sam wants nothing more than to turn back the clock and go back to his previous life, maybe even literally.
2) Sam wants to be able to return home and meet his son face to face as equals once more.
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
1) His son is no source of pride for Sam anymore, not with the way things turned out. Sam harbors a deep resentment toward Jake that frightens even himself, but still holds out hope that he can privately reach reconciliation with his feelings.
2) Sam is absolutely terrified of being old, and would give anything to rid his body of such an affliction. His subconcious whispers to him, softer than he could possibly hear, of the dark arts that one could use to cast off the mantle of mortality itself...
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character through blood, romance, or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character and one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
1) Sam's wife, Olivia, is bedridden with illness. After Sam left she has been under the care of some of the neighbors. She misses him desperately.
2) His son Jake by now is an officer in the army, and had nothing but respect for his father until he heard he had ran away in the night. He feels betrayed, but more than anything wants simply to reunite with his father and make him proud.
3) No one is truly hostile to Sam. However, were he to come back with the chill of the grave about him, Jake would make quite an enemy.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
1) Sams fondest memories as a soldier weren't of the fighting, but the comradarie and respect shared amongst him and his buddies. 2) The day Jake joined him in the military was the proudest moment of his life. 3) The night he left, Sam was feeding Olivia dinner when he saw them in a mirror sitting side by side, each ravaged by both age or sickness. A part of him snapped, he didn't speak another word the rest of the night, and left before dawn.
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I'd love to see him become one of the undead. It would be quite the homecoming afterward...
So, the adventure is done, and I've given out some interesting plot hooks. One of them involves the Eladrin Court. It's time to work on some new NPCs for the next part of the game, so without further ado, I present a new Eladrin villain:
The Ten-Minute Background of Soveliss Greensteel, Eladrin Artificer
Step 1: "These first dwarven designs were functional, but crude. They had no elegance, no artistry to them. I have refined the design...improved it. Watch as I demonstrate."
1) Soveliss Greensteel is an eldarin Artificer/Swordmage in the employ of the Eladrin Court of Avaleron. He works out of Minas Mesidii, the largest Eladrin settlement near St. Clarice. 2) Soveliss is tall and willowy, with golden hair and blazing green eyes. He robes himself in fine robes and dark silk that seems to shimmer and twinkle like the night sky. He has replaced both his arms with magically animated prostheses. 3) Soveliss is a wizard who adores magical constructs. He has spent centuries refining designs for golems, homonculi, and, recently, warforged. His greatest regret is that he did not develop the idea for the warforged before the dwarves did. He continually tries to outdo advances in Warforged creation techniques, and he is rarely satisfied with the results. 4) From a young age, Soveliss was fascinated with artifice and alchemy. He did not become obsessed with the idea of transcending the flesh until an accident cost him both of his arms. His magical replacements have spurred him on to finding a way to escaped the bonds of the flesh through magical transference. 5) He currently works under the auspice of Our Lady Wynowill Goldenbow, regent of Minas Mesidii. He is responsible for creating golems and warforged to protect the city, and he also tries to interest people in replacing limbs with his magical constructs. Some who have lost limbs to the dangers of the Feywild seek him out for just such a chance.
1) Soveliss is interested in the replacement of weak flesh with the cold precision of machinery. He sees magical constructs as more enduring and everlasting than mortal kind, and wishes to gain immortality through transferring his consciousness to an ever-solid body. 2) This is a villain who is off his rocker. He gets to fulfill my dreams of having a mad scientist running around (as if the A&E Guild wasn't enough). He's also meant to be creepy, like Stanley Gimble from Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines. He is a dangerous madman with the smarts to create a robot army and hack off his own bodyparts to replace them.
Step 3: "This model is defective. The magical matrix is unstable. Discard it." --Soveliss Greensteel, about a warforged.
1) Soveliss is deeply insane, more so than most Eladrin. Though he is brilliant, the trauma that he suffered and his subsequent obsession with magical animation make him unstable, to say the least. That, and he has no real regard for sentient life. His search for immortality through magical animation is tinged by selfishness. He has even begun to study necromancy, a practice forbidden among the Eladrin, to further his goals. 2) Soveliss has begun experimenting with a dangerous form of Wild Magic called Spellfire. This arcane energy manifests as a blue flame of power, and has powerful but unpredictable effects. Soveliss is also learning how to bind souls through necromancy. His attempts down this path have so far proved frustratingly imperfect, and he has had to "discard" several of his experiments. Spoiler:Show
3) The mad artificer's talents are tolerated because Soveliss is helping Our Lady Wynowill create an army. Lady Wynowill plans to use the warforged soldiers to spearhead an invasion of Coralton, along with normal Eladrin troops and monsters from the Feywild.
Step 4: "Ah! My Lady! What a pleasure it is to have you grace our workshop with your presence. Please, allow my to show you around. I have made some advances that I think you be particularly interested in!" --Soveliss Greensteel to Our Lady Wynowill
1) Our Lady Wynowill is Soveliss's patron. She rules the city of Minas Mesidii as regent, due to her husband's unfortuante illness. She is a powerful patron and he does what he can to appease her, though he is sure she doesn't really understand the glory of his work. 2) Soveliss is not sure why a noble eladrin such as Old Leroux would debase himself so to live among humans, but he does not begrudge a man's eccentricity. Besides, the Bralani keeps an eye on the mortal world for the Eladrin Court, and occasionally sends him information regarding advancements made by the Artificer's and Enchanter's Guild. 3) Anatole Delaurent is a detestable little wart who fancies he has some knowledge of the inner mysteries of Artifice. Oh, yes, perhaps he has made some minor innovations in the field, but there is no artistry in his work, no elegance, just pure practicality. That he has managed to keep ahead of Soveliss, ever so slightly, is galling. Why should this upstart dwarf take all the credit? But no. Soon, soon the three worlds will see the true power and craft of Eladrin engineering, and the dwarves will go back to their mines, humbled.
Soveliss was a minor villain with a somewhat disjointed backstory that I didn't get much mileage out of last time. This time around, I've cleaned up his backstory, tied him in to a larger plot, and I'm happy with the result. Instead of "Mad Wizard locked away in a tower" he's now a "mad scientist working for a conquering nation." He is also fun to write for.
What I find most frustrating about 4E is that I can see it includes the D&D game I've always wanted to play, but the game is so lathered in tatical combat rules that I have thus far been unable to coax the game I want out.
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character.
1)While female she has disguised herself as male and human. Her appearance is of someone with chopped, jagged white hair that covers her ears, blue eyes and very pale skin and lips. A series of scars crisscross her face. She is usually garbed in dark clothes, and a heavy fur-lined coat and cloak given the cold-climate of the city.
2)She is running away from her fate and her past, that has been guided up to this moment by the Fates. Leading her toward the path of a Warlock. It has been hunting her for the past 10 years, now in her twenties she has decided to try and uncover why her fate has been so mapped out and has taken such extremes to change.
3)She is reluctant to ever use her Warlock powers but sometimes she doesn't have control over it. Thanks mostly to the events she witnessed but has now blocked from her mind in a vision. She saw what would come over control of her powers, herself, those she knew, everyone she has touched, their Fates altered... No dissappeared. She would become a black hole for time and fate.
4)She is distant and cold, but can turn quite fiery when aggravated. Normally swearing in Elven when she does. This is thanks to the two-counters of her personality what she has been forced to become and who she is. As a child she was forceful and out-going a "scrapper". As an adult on the run she has learnt to become distant and cold, least anyone she meets be a agent of Fate.
5)She prefers urban environments where she is simply one of the crowd. This is thanks to the fact that one can "hide" in a crowd and she has learnt that those who know how to see Fates find it hard to uncover one's unique Fate amongst the jumbled mess of interconnected ones of a city-environment.
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game.
1)Keep her identity hidden through the session. This is the most constant thing on her mind, if she even lets her guard down for a second she may be doomed to her Fate. This is her ultimate failure if it happens.
2)Uncover some more knowledge about the Fates. While being uncovered is her ultimate failure, uncovering the truth behind her fate and the Fates is her ultimate goal, anything that would help her in this cause she will do.
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet.
1)That she is a "she" and her whole childhood was guided by the Fates and the various familiars that had gathered around her. Only a single person, Sasha knows the truth and perhaps if her disguise is not perfect someone from her childhood town.
2)That she was a mistake, and was not the one meant to be a Warlock. They pursue her now in this goal so she may reach the realm of power where they can truly tap into her Fate and erase this mistake from history. The Fates cannot let someone deter them in their ever unravelling goals.
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character though blood, romance or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile.
1) Friendly: Jacob Erring, he is her main fence and source of income. Though he doesn't know for a fact he suspects she is not who she says she is.
2) Friendly: Sasha Retsa, she is her landlady and owner of the brothel-apartment that Alex pays rent in. Though the place is dirty and smelly, Sasha keeps a warm heart for her girls and Alex. She knows that Alex is female but little else.
3) Unfriendly/Enemy: Glass Eye, is a Familiar of the Fates. He takes the guise of a merchant who sales time-pieces and his Glass Eye can glimpse the future of each person he sees. He is currently pursuing Alex.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.
1)When Alex was 12 she noticed her first "ghost" these weren't ghosts but rather fragments of someone's fate that did not become complete. She quickly grew obsessed with these ghosts and tried her best to complete their fate much to the distaste of those around her.
2)Alex soon ran away from home after her encounter with Glass Eye, she has been drawn to a crossroads and been given a vision of Fate. She saw only one path, to run, not even Glass Eye knows what she saw, nor even herself anymore but it frightened her...
3)Her first theft was a failure, trying to steal a jewelry case from Sasha. This ended with a scar on her face and a very annoyed woman. Soon things changed though, and became what they are today.
Hey there everyone! Its been awhile but I'm back! (Miss me? :P )
There are some great characters here - I particularly like Sam the Soldier - he is quite neat.
Stray: Great villain - I like the mad scientist thing...and god Gimble was creepy...I did appreciate the weapon he left behind though :D
Sigil: I like the sound of this character, but it could use some fleshing out - maybe a bit more detailed background? On the whole though, I like the concept.
What I find most frustrating about 4E is that I can see it includes the D&D game I've always wanted to play, but the game is so lathered in tatical combat rules that I have thus far been unable to coax the game I want out.
