Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Pimpadillio 05-03-06, 10:57 AM	Im building a char that is going to be a Arcane Heirophant, but because AH is kind of cheesy (not why I want to play one) I was thinking of justifiyng it by having a nice backstory. the char will start at lvl 9, so that will allow me to start with 2 levels of AH (wiz3/druid4). But that isnt very important, what is important is what I have so far is that he was a prodigal young wizard of an elf community, he was never very social but instead focused on his training and was thus concidered very nonelvish with his very unsocial behaviour and singleminded focus on his training, something happens(he does something horrible, atleast he thinks he did something horrible) wich makes him forsake his magic as unnatural and destructive( when I think of it, quite similar to Elminsters early opinion of magic). He becomes tormented and begins to fade away and finally leaves his village. as he is about to succumb to guilt and hunger in the wilderness, an old woman( human ) saves him and takes him to her cave/cottage( one of those hillside thingys ), and nurses him to health, she turns out to be a druid and teaches him about the fundamentals of nature and this is, after a while of self pity and disdain, very much to his liking and he turns out to heave great affinity for the way of the druid. He finds this way of life very gratifying and becomes very friendly and outgoing and is more than happy to spend time with the occasional visitor, but is very suspicious of the occasional wizard that comes by, atleast those he suspects is wizards, wich is part that he suspects hem of bringing as much tradegy as he did, and part that he is jelous of their magic(he loved wizardry after all). But after some time she dies of old age and left alone( exept for the animals of the forest he has lived in for the past years. But after getting to know the old hag ( hehe ) he has a new taste for life and decides to venture. ...and then he becomes a arcane heirophant! So what I want help with is the horrible magic accident(or was it? I discussed what I had came up with with our DM and he will be more that happy to throw in a sideQ about my char visiting his home again) and how he came to embrace magic again and learn the way of the AH( did he meet a willing tutor? did he find his own way?) Im quite split and want help with finding these parts of the persons history and probably some way of fleshing out the story. his current personality as the campaign starts is very friendly and outgoing except that he doesnt want to talk about his past to the group and he doesnt really want to talk about how he blends divine and arcane magic, tho he often speeks of how obvious it is that magic is part of life and all that arcane heirophant diddly-doo... So please come with some nice advice for me^^ I can give some basic stats too, so you know something of his physique: str 8 dex 12 con 10 int 18 wis 17(19 with the first boosts cha 14 he has is very frail but the rest is pretty awesome Dont throw in anything bout any magic items or such, I felt quite bad about rolling these stats when we had our campaign briefing, so I will have him magically naked as he has spent most of his time in the forest contemplating and training... maybe a wand of sleep(for his elven heritage) but that isnt epic enough of an notice in the backstory. thanks again /P
Need_A_Life 05-03-06, 04:25 PM	Formatting. You should really try remember capitalized letters and use fewer (if any) parenthesises(sp?), as they make things look less fluent. Now the story: something happens(he does something horrible, atleast he thinks he did something horrible) wich makes him forsake his magic as unnatural and destructive( when I think of it, quite similar to Elminsters early opinion of magic). I'd suggest some sort of wild surge, channeling an epic amount of arcane power and obliterates his good friends, he flees in fear and isolates himself for years because of this mistake. Forgive me as my memory is not entirely clear, but the early Elminster thought of magic as evil as he had only seen people use it for evil. Is this what you're going for? It'll take a lot to make him a spellcaster again, mind you. an old woman( human ) saves him and takes him to her cave/cottage( one of those hillside thingys ), and nurses him to health, she turns out to be a druid and teaches him about the fundamentals of nature Nurses him back to health? You mean "takes care of his depression" or what? To me it seems like you're just trying to get an excuse for ranger or druid levels, I suggest describing her as a woman who lived alone in the woods without actually mentioning the word druid at any time. ...and then he becomes a arcane heirophant! Great, look at the title for the thread. If you're going to let the defining part of your character be covered by half-a-line then that's your call. Detail this a bit, please? Now, I suggest that you expand on your training A LOT, but you have a decent frame to work with. Keep it that way and you'll go far on these boards
KnolanCross 05-04-06, 01:52 PM	Agreed with the part that simply says... "...and then he becomes a arcane heirophant!" The 14 cha is kinda strange for a person that "was never very social." The accident could be something going against his own alignment, that is on your own. And BTW, ii I were you I would go Wz 3, Drd 5/AH 1, intead, so you can wild shape and get some decent stats to replace your phisical stats to improoved your AC, saves and battle abilities, specially because I can see no good reason why to go back to druid's way and grab one more level at druid before you reach AH lvl 10.
Pimpadillio 05-05-06, 04:06 AM	little short on time so I give some short answers and make a longer one tonight I should have been clearer on the fact that, the parantethises was for you sake, they wont be inluded in the biography cause I wanted you advise specifically at those places. and the bit with"... and the he bocomes an AH" was for the fact that I dont have a friggin idea as to how that happened, never seen one in play before so I dont know were to pick it up fluetly... BTW, loved the "wild surge" idea and the modification for the old woman, I would proably have changed the druid part anyway as I dislike using classnames and such to define characters. But as I said earlier, I will update the story tonight and you can review my progression, Ive done some work and Im becoming a little more satisfied^^ ok, much work done: ________________________________ Ciel was a always seen as something of a mystery to his parents, he was never very social and instead focused intensily on his training in wizardry, and was thus seen as very "unelvish" by his kin. But in one way he exemplified his elven heriatage, his prodigal skill in wizardry, it didnt take many years for Ciel to catch up to, and surpass, his tutor and father, the little communitys high mage. But ever greedy for knowledge and wanting to exepriment to further himself,he started experimenting with eldritch energy, he took his fathers warnings as sign of jealacy, but alas, something went very wrong and a wild surge of energy got hold of his body! some time later Ciel finally woke up from the coma, thinking he must have died, only to learn that his father had sacrificed his life to save Ciel. Filled with guilt Ciel vowed never to wield magic again, but it did nothing to lessen the guilt he felt for his fathers life, and even tho no one ever blamed him for what happend, he still begins to fade away... 'till one day when he finally snaps as he cant stand to see the face of his mother or anyone from the village again, and sets of from the village in distress. As he is about to succumb to guilt and hunger in the wilderness an old woman finds him and takes pity on the wretched elf shuddering under a fallen tree, so she brings him to her home and nurses him back to health, when he is well enough to speak and walk he tries to leave but she is stubborn and wont let him, he takes a kining to this old woman who lives alone in the forest and, just like him, never had any real contact with other people,so she lets him have all the time he wants for himself, as long as she can cook him some dinner once in a while. As Summer passes to fall, he starts to see, the nature, to see the great forests as he never has bofore in his secluded studies, he starts to see life. he spends long periods in quiet meditation and walking the great forest, untill, one day, the animals dont run away anymore, the birds dont take to the sky at his aproach, he is at peace with nature. For the first time since his first spell as an aprentice, he is happy. It doesnt take long with his prodigal skill and help from the not so usual old lady, to start channeling the forces of nature, He is on his way to walk the path of the druid, defender of the wild. But when the third winter turns to spring, the fall of the womans life, turns to winter. Following her death he is again alone, but with his newfound joy for life, he takes this loss as a opportunity to finally see the world and sets out on a journey to see the natural wonders of the world. He begins to meet people as he from forest to forest, town to town, and begin to like the contact he has so shunned before, He is very liked when he comes to town as he is very friendly and has non of the haughty atitude that people is used to, and his care of the villagers animals and the maladies he cures is even more loved. But when he starts entering bigger towns he comes in touch with a blast from the past, when he gets information of nearby wisards he heads in the other direction, crying from long lost guilt and steeming with jelacy of the bliss of the arcane world. ________________________________________ ______________ so, alot of flesh on the story, much is useless, but I would like some new input on my writing, its feels hard to get the story of a wizard who becomes a druid and the takes up his wizardry again, its pretty complicated, so his story does take alot of space, but I still dont want to overshadow my fellow players... Im thinking of setting in a sidething that he is a hopeless womens man, tho not nearly as suave as he thinks he is, just to give him a funny quirk when playing him^^ Im gonna take a break and think over this story abit while I help a friend with his char: a elvish paladin/ranger, who is supposed to know my char since before our campaign starts^^ BTW, english aint my first language, so pardon the typos... / Im listening...
Need_A_Life 05-06-06, 04:49 AM	Your background is actually pretty good and it sounds like you've put some thought into all of this. But ever greedy for knowledge and wanting to experiment to further himself, he started experimenting with eldritch energy, he took his fathers warnings as sign of jealousy, but alas, something went very wrong and a wild surge of energy got hold of his body! I'd suggest something along the lines of: But ever greedy for the knowledge held by the ancient texts found in their libaries, he found a text millenias old and sought to master its secrets. He was not ready for such magic and when he attempted to control it he lost control, he was ripped apart by the eldritch powers he had tried to tame and knew that this would be his last moments. He sank into unconsciousness cursing his stupidity... Not perfect, but I've just gotten out of bed a while ago. even though no one ever blamed him for what happend, he still begins to fade away... I think I know what you mean, he is isolating himself hoping to never have to remember what happened or let it happen to anyone else, right? Ciel did not speak from the moment he awoke and weeks to come. He didn't sleep and nor did he eat, he was withering away. A slow death. On the first day of the third week he was gone, some said that he had withered away completely and some said that he had attempted to use the spell once again, but no one could know for sure. In the wilderness he would have succumbed to hunger and thirst had he not been saved by a woman... Just my two cents. Again, great work.
Pimpadillio 05-06-06, 10:52 AM	I will rip that right of you if you permit it, great writing for someone who just woke up^^
Need_A_Life 05-06-06, 02:51 PM	Thanks, Basically it was my way of waking completely up to prepare for the final exams
Pimpadillio 05-08-06, 10:22 AM	So, with some flavorful adjustments from someone who needs a life, here is the story: ________________________________________ ___________ Elessar was a always seen as something of a mystery to his parents, he was never very social and instead focused intensily on his training in wizardry, and was thus seen as very "unelvish" by his kin. But in one way he exemplified his elven heriatage, his prodigal skill in wizardry, it didnt take many years for Elessar to catch up to, and surpass, his tutor and father, the little communitys high mage. But ever greedy for the knowledge held by the ancient texts found in their libaries, he found a text millenias old and sought to master its secrets. He was not ready for such magic and when he attempted to control it he lost control, he was ripped apart by the eldritch powers he had tried to tame and knew that this would be his last moments. He sank into unconsciousness cursing his stupidity... Some time later Elessar finally woke up from the coma, thinking he must have died, only to learn that his father had sacrificed his life to save Elessar. After learning what fate his thirst for knowledge had brought upon his father he ceased to speak for weaks to come. He didn't sleep and nor did he eat, he was withering away. A slow death. On the first day of the third week he was gone, some said that he had withered away completely and some said that he had attempted to use the spell once again, but no one could know for sure. As he was about to succumb to guilt and hunger in the wilderness an old woman found him and took pity on the wretched elf shuddering under a fallen tree, so she brought him to her home and nursed him back to health, when he was well enough to speak and walk he tried to leave but she was stubborn and would not let him, he took a liking to this old woman who lived alone in the forest and, just like him, never had any real contact with other people, so she allowed him to have the space he needed as long as he came back to eat and say a few words once in a while. As Summer passed to fall, he started to see the nature, to see the great forests as he never had before in his secluded studies, he started to see, to breath, life. Elessar spent long periods in quiet meditation and walking the great forest, untill, one day, the animals didn't run away anymore, the birds didn'tt take to the sky at his aproach, he was at peace with nature. For the first time since his first spell as an aprentice, he was in happy, even more so, he was in a bliss. It didnt take long with his prodigal skill and help from the not so usual old woman, for him to start channeling the forces of the wild. He was on his way to walk the path of nature itself, to walk the path of the druid. But when the third winter turned to spring, the fall of the womans life, turned to winter. Following her death he was , once again, alone. But with his newfound joy for life, he took this loss as a opportunity to finally see the world and so he set out on a journey to see the natural wonders of the world. He began to meet people as he from forest to forest, town to town, traveled the world. When he met people he, unlike his former avoiding demeanor, was happy to speak and found great joy in the encounters, and he was welcome, for the most time, werever he set foot as his skills with animals and with healing, both magical and with herbs, helped the daily lives of the ones he met. But when he started entering bigger towns he came in touch with a blast from the past. Whenever he got information about nearby wizards, especially guilds, he started of in the opposite direction. Unable to face his previous forté without getting a breakdown of greef and rage, Greef over the father he killed and rage of the folly of his "former self", Elessar didn't even acknowledge his life in his home village as a part of who he was, as far as he was concerned he was born under a fallen tree, adopted son of a woman he never knew the name of. This, for the most time easy, life of his went on for many a year, until one fateful day. While walking in an unknown forest he encountered a black bear fighting of an owlbear, as he frantically starts to search his mind for a apropriate spell to end the strife, the bear standing on his hindlegs starts to wave his rams in an intricate pattern, and suddenly the the air felt charged as lightning started to arc from tree to tree and hit the beast who hang suspended in the air, for what seemed an eternity, lifted by arms of thunder. And once again when in the presence of great power, Elessar faded into oblivion... When he woke up, his ears was still ringing from the great thunderclap, he was more terified than ever before as he bolted up and looked around. Sitting on a treestump, an old man sat stirring a pot of soup while scratching a great brown bear who lay outstretched on the ground sleeping soundly. Backing frantically away and hitting his head into a treestump, Elessar fell to the ground, "Not very clever rushing in a fight like you did, noble, yes, but not very clever..." _______________________ Done: -I have named the character now, his name is Elessar Elensar -Have changed the story to past sentence(dont now the english word for it, it was written in presence before) -Have come up with a sollution, for his meeting with an arcane heirophant. -Changed some minor details to make it more enjoyable to read. - Changed the meeting a little, Ive got a vision how I want it to look but Im finding it hard to put in words, Im trying to make it better, but I would appreciate some help ;) To do: -Adjust the opponent in the AH encounter Will add things to the lists as I write along, I will gladly take your advice in concidering, as long as you dont flame me that is^^ /I'm listening...
Need_A_Life 05-09-06, 09:09 AM	Done: -Have changed the story to past sentence(dont now the english word for it, it was written in presence before) -Have come up with a sollution, for his meeting with an arcane heirophant. -Changed some minor details to make it more enjoyable to read. To do: -Needs a good name for the character, I need both his name in the village, and a new name that he took on when he became a druid,(the current workname is "Boo". -Adjust the opponent in the AH encounter -Maybe change "blasts the monster with ray of scorching flame" to something more flavorful, I want the encounter to be memorable. Will add things to the lists as I write along, I will gladly take your advice in concidering, as long as you dont flame me that is^^ You're writing in the past tence, rather than the present tence, IIRC (grammar never was my favorite subject). Use Ciel as the name, it sounds a lot better than Boo and you haven't completely replaced it in the text anyway. And yes, blasts the monster with ray of scorching flame is not that memorable. I'd suggest forgetting about a specific spell and instead try to describe glimpses of the effect, describing the smell of burnt flesh and the crackling flame leaping from his hands is much more flavorful.
Kazzaroth Pan'theon 05-10-06, 09:52 AM	Note that Arcane Hierophants can channel their arcane or normal druid magcis trough their familiars or trough plants. So Bear which points to a tree whit paw and suddenly lighting erupts from it to hit owlbear. I toughted also that somesort unnaturall animal (like undead or abomination one) attacks Ciel and soem bear comes help him but then bear does the above descriped scene to blast the beast whit lighting by using plant as source of the spellb ecause that way bear avoided hit Ciel whit the spell (or bear was far away). Anycase your Arcane Hierophant mentor teaches magic be naturall element of the world and naturall part of life like druid magicdoes. But there is also 'tainted' versions of magic (the eldrict ones, shadow weave etc). So your char could learn use arcane magic again but he refuses think himself as wizard (nor likes them generally despite he uses their methods of using magic) because he views them suspiciously because wizards can go 'too far' in search for power if not checked but you seek magic in it's purest form and figth against 'tainted' magics or magics which warp nature (like raising dead whti necromancy). So your wizard spell list must show this intrest.