Sakira Orben, Half-Elf Ranger with Major Silver Dragon Bloodline (3.5)
Step One "I've got a problem with people who leave others to deal with their messes." Spoiler:Show
1. Sakira's great-grandfather on her mother's side (her mother's mother's father) was a silver dragon. Her current goal in life is to make her best attempt at killing him. She does not expect to survive the encounter.
2. Her great-grandmother was a court bard of a now fallen empire who was kicked out of the court for becoming pregnant out of wedlock (stupid humans) and ended up building an inn in a village that later became a minor resting place for travelers along an old highway. Her grandmother (the half dragon) had a one night stand with an elf rogue, got pregnant, had the baby, and left to join the clergy of Sehanine Moonbow, hoping that elves would accept her more readily than humans. Her mother has worked at the in her whole life, and met Sakira's father, an adventurer who retired after loosing his right hand, there.
3. Due to the number of travelers who stop in her home village, their was an actual constabulary rather than just the guards of the nearby tower (owned by a minor knight). Sakira was one of these until a new mayor took over and had her kicked out, allegedly because they couldn't afford her pay, but actually because he despises mixed race individuals and sees them as deficient. This is when Sakira left home and established her goal of killing her great grandfather.
4. She wandered around the wilderness for a few years, going from town to town, taking the occasional monster killing contract, and generally being angry. The beginning of the campaign is actually her first time in a large city, but she tries not to show it.
5. She is very obviously transferring her anger about something onto her great-grandfather, but I have no clue what.
1. We've already established that she really, really wants to kill great-grandpa, but what she doesn't like admitting to herself is that she wants to know why he and her great-grandmother didn't stay together. I suppose she also wonders about what happened to their daughter, her grandmother.
2. I really want her to develop organically, according to the way the campaign goes. I want to see her form deep relationships with the other party members, though.
Step Three "We'll talk when I know you better." Spoiler:Show
1. When she was very young, she wanted to be a dragon. She never told anyone this.
2. Her grandfather is in fact an important member of a secret organization. Dunno what kind.
Step Four "Mayor Mossfall is a prick." Spoiler:Show
1. Sakira's best friend growing up was a girl named Messila Thraw, who now runs the village school in their hometown. Messila desperately wanted to go to a university, and once tried to run away from home to further her education. Sakira was disappointed in her for giving up, but they remained friends. None the less, Sakira didn't tell her she was leaving before leaving town.
2. Dovan Jess is Sakira's father's old adventuring partner, a human cleric of Pelor, has never met Sakira, but they've begun corresponding since she went adventuring.
3. Thom Mossfall, the new mayor of Sakira's home village, despises mixed race people and relationships. Sakira's part dragon, part elf, half human heritage and her tendency to be frank about her opinion of him made them instant enemies.
1. Sakira remembers the time she and Messila took an unauthorized camping trip into the nearby woods and were attacked by a badger, which she killed with a kitchen knife she had brought along. She specifically remembers the large amount of blood involved.
2. Sakira remembers her first day after leaving town, and how she killed more fish than she really needed for dinner.
3. Sakira remembers the one time she visited an elven settlement in her travels. The elves looked at her funny just like humans did, and some of them very incredibly condescending.
Interesting concept. One question: why does she want to kill her father ? That's the big thing you should probably address, since it's one of the character's goals.
Resident Murderous Psychopath
Our works are short-lived. All we have achieved will be gone in a few thousand years. Our towers will crumble, our homes will rot, and all we strive for will be worthless if none assign it value, while our deeds are forgotten. Nature is eternal. Even if all Earth's life is destroyed, the stones will endure, and they too are part of the wilds. Our works are futile, but nature has always been and will always be.
Any feedback possible? Just poured this out of a sleeve so it probably needs a lot of work.
So far, very good. You might want to introduce some sort of immediate goal or conflict that has him starting on the path to adventure, something that Xarba feels strongly about. That would likely fill up the open slots in your background and the remaining secret. That sort of hook is what helps Dungeon Masters create adventures that resonate with your character.
And yes, sorry, the article was through DDI. But you captured the essence of it: finding a way for races to work in different settings.
Our works are short-lived. All we have achieved will be gone in a few thousand years. Our towers will crumble, our homes will rot, and all we strive for will be worthless if none assign it value, while our deeds are forgotten. Nature is eternal. Even if all Earth's life is destroyed, the stones will endure, and they too are part of the wilds. Our works are futile, but nature has always been and will always be.
So far, very good. You might want to introduce some sort of immediate goal or conflict that has him starting on the path to adventure, something that Xarba feels strongly about. That would likely fill up the open slots in your background and the remaining secret. That sort of hook is what helps Dungeon Masters create adventures that resonate with your character.
And yes, sorry, the article was through DDI. But you captured the essence of it: finding a way for races to work in different settings.
For an immediate goal...well working with another character on that.
The other character is currently in jail after his previous adventuring group experienced something horrific and got betrayed by one of them. All of them died except for him and the betrayer. As an adventured that PC has build up credit and thus gets a 2nd chance to help the Lord with a problem. But he only gets his chance under supervision of Xarba. And Xarba is there to re-habilitate criminals and also the authorities gathered a group of adventurers and needed Xarba to fill out the ranks and be a re-Representative of them.
Xarba is a bit of a social worker hahaha :P
So these 2 pc's are linked. Then there is a halfling cleric and half-orc barbarian which travel together and got drafted so the speak. And the 5th is a dwarf rogue which the other 4 will meet up a bit later.
Linking PCs is a good way to fill out a background. Several characters in the game I run did just that, and it made getting the group together much easier. Check out the entries for Xat and Bee, or Tamasin and Lady Topaz to get some examples.
Step 1: "A penny loaf to feed the Fetch A farthing o' cheese to choke him. A pint of beer to rinse it down. A fagot of sticks to burn him. Burn him in a tub of tar. Burn him like a blazing star. Burn his body from his head. Then we'll say ol' Fetch is dead. Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah hoorah!" --Traditional chant used when burning a Fetch
1) A Fetch is an effigy made of sticks, twigs, old rags, and sometimes paper, and then animated with weak magic to make it animate.
2) It is usually made to resemble a certain person, usually political or criminal, and ritually burned. The magical animation gives the burning effigy a disturbingly life-like appearance as it crumbles.
3) Fetch are usually used to indicate extreme displeasure at a particular person or situation, and can sometimes be a herald of a revolt. For this reason, Fetch-burning is illegal in most places, but if the situation has deteriorated to the point where fetch-burning occurs, the local law usually has larger problems to worry about.
4) The epithet "fetch" is often applied to doppelgangers as a grievous racial slur. It implies that changelings are nothing more than poorly-made copies of real people, only pretending to be alive.
5) There are rumors of Fetchs being animated with much stronger magic than normal. Empowered by the hate of those who created it, it becomes a monster and goes on a rampage until it is destroyed.
Step 2: Fetch, Fetch, Fetch Poke him in the eye, Put him on the bonfire, And there let him die
1) The Fetch are meant to be a disturbing ritual I can show my players. They have already encountered the term "Fetch" and learned it's supposed to be offensive. Now I'm showing them why.
2) Fetch are tools of terror and anger. Much like a burning cross, watching someone burn in effigy is a powerful, negative statement, which can be useful in developing a culture.
Guy Fawkes day is a fascinating subject for me. The idea of burning a person for his crimes every year is something of a powerful symbol, and I wanted to incorporate that symbol in my game. The idea of hating someone so much you'd set fire to an image of them also strikes a chord.
I also wanted to develop the term "fetch" as it is used in my campaign. One of the emerging themes of this game is about tolerance vs. intolerance. This means showing off some of the ugly side of mortal behavior, and I want to make sure that a character referred to as a fetch understands why this is a bad thing. Of course, it's a thin line between an interesting game element and offending a person's sensibilities, so it's not something I put into the game lightly.
As a bonus, it also gets to be a source of interesting monsters. An animated, burning straw man empowered by hate? Yes, please!
Just updated Adrik and Arannis to reflect some new ideas.
Resident Murderous Psychopath
Our works are short-lived. All we have achieved will be gone in a few thousand years. Our towers will crumble, our homes will rot, and all we strive for will be worthless if none assign it value, while our deeds are forgotten. Nature is eternal. Even if all Earth's life is destroyed, the stones will endure, and they too are part of the wilds. Our works are futile, but nature has always been and will always be.
1) He hatched in a large and prosperous clan, lead by an ancient red dragon. 2) His father was the clan's best fighter, and taught him everything he knows. 3) At age 16, just a few months after he joined the ranks of the adults, the clan was attacked by an adventuring party, who slaughtered anyone who stood in their way before slaying the red dragon Jierdan. His father died in that attack, and Syrax survived only due to luck. The clan was looted afterwards. 4) He vowed revenge, and left the clan in search of those adventurers with what they could spare. His only clue is the name one of the adventurers called another: Garren 5) He is tall and imposing, with rust scales and golden eyes. 6) Impulsive, but honourable as any dragonborn. 7) He has had little to no contact with other races, save for stories, and he is more or less prejudiced against them. Especially against the tieflings. After all, the demonspawn were the reason Arkhosia fell. 8) He despises the dragons that abandoned Arkhosia in its last days. Which is, almost every dragon other than Jierdan. 9) He's anti-theist, blaming the gods for not helping the dragonborn when they needed them the most.
1) Revenge. Finding and killing those who shattered his life is his #1 priority. 2) Glory. Who doesn't want his name to be the stuff of legend? 3) Rebuilding Arkhosia. A distand third, more of a wish than an actual goal.
1) No one knows he actually survived the fight because he cowered after his father died. He told the survivors it was only luck, and intends to keep the secre to his grave 2) Jierdan was not as benevolent as Syrax and most of his clan think. The prosperity of the clan was fueled by raids in human settlements and he was terrorizing an entire kingdom. The adventurers were doing a heroic deed, as far as they (and the world) are concerned
1) His childhood friend, Malyg. He's a cleric of Bahamut, and chose to stay behind and help rebuild the clan rather than follow Syrax. 2) His mother, Nala. She survived the attack, and likewise stayed behind. She did not support her son's quest for vengeance.
1) Syrax remembers fondly the training sessions with his father. 2) He remembers the first time the mighty dragon deigned to speak with him, and ask him about his training and health. But especially the dragon's stories about his memories of Arkhosia, shared with all the clan's young and some of the adults. 3) But his most vivid memory is the day it all ended. His father rushing to meet their attackers, with the clan's warriors with him. His father falling to the sword of that Garren. The warriors perishing with a mere word from the party's wizard. Falling, after getting hit, his anger struggling with fear for control of his body. Getting up too late, only to find everything destroyed, everyone dead. Vowing revenge amidst the bodies.
Feedback always appreciated, as it's the first background I develop. Special thanks to Disciple_of_Juiblex, Nurgan_the_drunked, and especially Chiba_Monkey for their help
? That's the big thing you should probably address, since it's one of the character's goals.
