Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jimmcq 02-12-08, 02:22 AM	I need to flesh out a background for a human sorcerer named Mento. Mento has a strong relationship with both of his parents who are alive and well. His twin sister has been missing for the past two years after an undead army attacked their village (insert interesting reason why). He set out into the world trying to discover what may have happened to her, but without many leads the search has been fruitless so far. He has been left to take on odd-jobs to make ends meet while searching for clues to her fate. Mento was led to pursue magical studies after at a young age he discovered that he had some innate magical abilities (insert interesting reason why). One key point is that Mento goes on to join the Necromancer's Guild... so what kind of background details would you add?
Aaarrrgh 02-12-08, 04:12 AM	I think it's obvious. He joins the guild to find out who was behind the undead army that took his sister away. The army had retreated when the villagers fought back, but first they kidnapped several young women, among them Mento's sister. Nobody knows who sent the undead, or where the women were taken, but Mento goes to the one place he knows that can help him find the truth. Of course, he never tells them of the missing sister, or his motivations behind joining, but he sees every day as a small step towards the truth about his sister. And when he finds the person responsible, we'll see who is the better necromancer...
jimmcq 02-13-08, 07:22 PM	Thanks for the info! I think that could fit nicely. Any ideas for discovering the innate magical abilities that led him to become a Sorcerer?
Aaarrrgh 02-14-08, 04:25 AM	That could also have happened during the undead attack. Mento joins the defenders trying to drive the undead from the village. However, he's not very good at fighting. Soon his weapon gets knocked from his hands, and he falls. As the zombie is about to deliver the killing blow, Mento, out of panic, stretches his arms forward and screams. And to his (and the zombie's) surprise, a magic missile shoots out from his palms, striking the zombie in the face.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 02-14-08, 04:57 AM	Alternatively he could have discovered them shortly before-hand. He was sent away to a wizards school where he was supposed to learn to control his power. Perhaps even the same school his sister had only recently returned from (his powers manifested late and strong so he couldn't become a wizard). The attack occured while he was away and as such he may well blame himself for not being there when his sister needed him.
The_Shaman 02-18-08, 06:01 PM	I need to flesh out a background for a human sorcerer named Mento. One key point is that Mento goes on to join the Necromancer's Guild... so what kind of background details would you add? Maybe he tried to find her beforehand - let's say he was a halfway talented hunter - but could not. He grew interestedi in their nature despite himself as he pursued them - then rumors of them, in his odd-jub period - for years. He wanted to understand them, to know them... And at some point, it became all too natural. That, mind you, would work best for a wizard. A sorcerer's power is often intrinsic, and sometimes - rp-wise at least - not easy to guide. Perhaps in a conflict with an undead something happened - a spell went wrong somehow - and he absorbed some of the undead's energy. It tainted - or enhanced, depending on how you see it - his own magical powers, and his magics became increasingly necromancy-oriented.
loganic1 02-20-08, 08:19 PM	There's a couple angles. One is of the investigative angle, thats been mentioned. Alternately, you can use similar but different angles. Power He's seen what the power of the undead can be. He's seen how ineffective every other school is against the power and numbers of necromancy, and feels in order to be truly powerful, he has to be able to match the necromancer when he finally meets him. Fear He's seen what the power can be. He's terrified of it. So like any true pursuer of magic, he seeks to control it, turn it against the one who's destroyed his life.
jimmcq 02-20-08, 08:25 PM	Here is my version as currently written: Mento has a strong relationship with both of his parents who are alive and well. His twin sister has been missing for the past two years after an undead army attacked their village. Mento joined the defenders trying to drive the undead from the village. However, he was not very good at fighting. Soon his weapon got knocked from his hands, and he fell. As a zombie was about to deliver the killing blow, Mento, out of panic, stretched his arms forward and screamed. To his (and the zombie's) surprise, a magic missile shot out from his palms, striking the zombie in the face. The army had retreated when the rest of the villagers fought back, but first they kidnapped several young women, among them Mento's sister. Nobody knows who sent the undead, or where the women were taken. Mento set out into the world trying to discover what may have happened to her, but without many leads the search has been fruitless so far. He has been left to take on odd-jobs to make ends meet while searching for clues to her fate. He has also begun to pursue magical studies to learn more about his innate magical abilities. I've purposefully left his motivations for joining the Necromancer's Guild out of it for a couple reasons... One is because the motivations are secret... the other is that it is still open-ended enough to go either direction (power or fear).
AngeloftheNight 02-20-08, 09:28 PM	Mento has become embittered towards the world after his sister vanished in the chaos of the undead's attack, he left the village to try to trace the army. He traced them and picked up some compainions on the way, then his compainions betrayed him. After several years of aimless drifting he discovered his powers as a sorceror while on the run from a crime syndicate. One of the necromancer guilds spys saw the powers manifest and offered him safty and security. There was only one catch, he had to work with the guild. At first he resisted this but soon he was corrupted by the dark power he saw. After he gave in to necromancy he began to train and grow in power. Mento had almost achieved a measure of peace with the disappearence of his sister when he found records of her in the necromancers guild, her fate was listed as "unknown". He succumed to an attack of guilt and set of to find his sister.
malisteen 02-23-08, 10:30 AM	Here's my version of Mento's backstory: When the undead attacked, Mento and his sister were both very young. Their father and the men of the village went to fight off the undead, while their mother stayed behind with the children (or vice versa, depending on how gender might influence things in your campaign). The townsmen successfully drove off the undead, but when his father returned to his house, he found his wife and daughter missing, and his son left behind, gaunt, trembling, incoherent, and with his hair turned completely white. Mento recovered slowly, but was forever changed by the incident. His touch would occasionally kill small plants, his presence put animals on edge. At one point a healer traveled through the town and attempted to treat Mento, but found his balms only hurt and burned the child. At this point, many of the townsfolk believed him cursed, but their respect for his father, and their pity for Mento, kept the good townsfolk from driving him out. Eventually more potent, clearly magical abilities manifested, and Mento knew he could no longer stay in the town. Saying good-bye to his father, he left to find training in a wizard's academy, thinking there he might hone his curse into a power that would allow him to seek out those who had stolen his mother and sister. When he came to the academy, however, he was turned away. They claimed he was too old at this point, his powers had developed too far on their own to learn the rigorous and highly controlled method of wizardry. However, before they left, the High Lecturer of Necromancy at the school came to Mento in secret. He said he had witnessed Mento's application and seen his powers. The Lecturer told Mento of another school - the Bleak Academy - one which was more interested in what a student could do, rather then how they did it, and he gave Mento a map that would lead him to it. Though the journey was difficult, Mento eventually did reach the Bleak Academy, and there his curse was viewed as a blessing, and his innate talents were welcomed with relish. Here wizards, assassins, sorcerers, blackguards, and clerics all practiced their grim arts, and Mento's natural talents made him the subject of both admiration and envy. Mento, being raised by the good townsfolk of Hometown, had never known a place like the Bleak Academy - so overrun with evil and corrupt magic. His first impulse was to flee. But cold reasoning stopped him when he learned that most of the worlds great necromancers had trained here for a time. The Bleak Academy offered him not only the power overcome the one who stole his sister and mother from him, but also might hold the secret of their identity! So it was that Mento gave up a portion of his soul, part of what made him good, to plunge himself into the depths of necromantic power and negative energy, while also secretly researching the identities of several key graduates of the school within the last generation. Within two years he was ready to leave the academy, armed with a firm foundation of necromantic power and the identities of a half dozen Necromancers hidden in the world, one of which, he is sure, is the one who stole his childhood from him. Building this Mento: This Mento would function best as a Dread Necromancer (a class from Heroes of Horror), with the feat Tomb Tainted Soul (from Libris Mortis) to represent his curse. If these resources are not available, Dread Necromancer can be replaced with Sorcerer and Tomb Tainted Soul with role-playing, or a home brew curse from the DM (something that helps as much as it hurts mechanically, or that is offset by additional benefits a la the Unearthed Arcana drawbacks system). As for appropriate prestige classes: Libris Mortis has the Pale Master, which seems appropriate. On the other hand, Mento has mastered a crippling fear of the Undead, turning it into fascination, which might make the Dread Witch PrC in Heroes of Horror appropriate. Mento should use his bonus human skill points on 'Gather Information' (sadly, cross class, but still), to represent (and aid in) his attempts to uncover information about his mother and sister. There are many secrets in Mento's past. Not just who stole his mother and sister, but what is the nature and origin of his powers? Why was he left behind? Was he really cursed, or is there something more to his nature. Perhaps his mother's hair was also stark white - was it so because of her age, or is there some other connection? Did she have a secret past before marrying Mento's father? Will Mento have to confront his father about it before he is able to find his mother and sister? At the very least, Mento carries around a handful of good adventuring hooks in that list of names, and that's just the kind of thing that I, as a DM, would love to be able to work with. And if you have a moment, please check out my own necromancer's back story and leave me some feedback as well - link's in the sig. Thanks!