Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Fithero 11-30-05, 11:12 PM	Ok guys, this here thread is all about providing basic character backgrounds for people who dont have the time to create their own. Now were not looking for fully fledged, 5 page backgronds with every detail covered. What were looking for are bried backgrounds, around 100-200 words that explain the basics of the character's history. The bare minimum of what we need is the characters race, their class and events that led them to become an adventurer. Things that can be left out are the characters age, sex and physical apperance, since these can be modded by the player. Anyway, I think the easiest way to go about this would be for people to use this thread purely for character backgrounds and not for discussion. Also, to make things easier, put the type of character at the top of your post so that anybody scanning through the list can get an idea of all the characters without having to read each one. Eg. "Dwarven Cleric" or "Half-Orc Paladin". Just throw out as many backgrounds as you want, the more the merrier. Later
Sang-Drax 12-01-05, 04:45 AM	Shifter Druid or Ranger Insert was raised in a village built by paladins of the Silver Flame who were tired of the Last War. They were traveling with 200 refugees at that moment, and they decided to desert and built the village. The village was pretty much a self-sustentable cluster of very small farms nailed in the middle of a forest, near the southeastern boarder of the Eldeen Reaches. No-one ever went too far into the woods, simply because it wasn't needed. Being raised by paladins and all, its inhabitants were pretty much devoted to the Silver Flame, and each generations the townsfolk grew even more fanatic, as there was really nothing else to do. One day, one of the guards that patrolled the outskirts of the small town found a wrecked carriage, with a dozen dead bodies scattered around. Most of the bodies were clad in hide armor and simple clothing. They wielded axes and wooden shields, and most of the bodies were smashed and crushed. There were also blood footprints, an it was possible to determine something huge had killed them (two Athaches, in the case - see MM). Inside of what once was a carriage, there were two people dressed in white. The woman was dead, the man was still breathing, albeit with difficulty. He explained the guard he was a moonspeaker, and asked if he could take care of his son for him - the baby was under a blanket, unharmed. The guard accepted the duty, and the man departed. The moonspeaker (something the guard obviously had never heard of) never told he was a shifter, though (the poor man really thought it was implicit!). The guard couldn't really catch the name of the baby, because it sounded really strange and he was a little embarassed to ask again. So, he decided to name the baby after his biological father, last name and all. Thus, Insert was raised in a human village. The guard already had a son and the two got along pretty well. One year after the boys' mother's death (choose random disease), the shifter manifested his shifting powers at a young age, during a holiday, when fighting another boy. After slashing/crushing the other boy's [random part of the body], his brother dragged him home and they told their father. He told the kids to go out of town, because the paladins would come after them to inquire about the situation. He told them to come back after a few days. However, being a holiday, his mare was not addled, and, by the time they had saddled it and gathered provisions, the paladins and the furious mob were almost near their doors. The kids rode away, but could heard their father's dying scream. To these paladins, shifters and lycanthropes were the same (read stuff about the lycanthrope purge promoted by the order of the silver flame). The boys rode and rode, with some of the town guards following them. After a day's ride into the woods, the path grew too heavy for their mare to come along, and they set it free. A day latter, they were walking down a trail into a forested hill, when the guards spotted them and ran after them. They ran, and, at the end of the road, there was a [insert mid-level aberration name here]. The guards fled, leaving the boys to be eaten by the strange creature. Insert's brother got in the path of the creature's blow and died instantly. Before the creature could aim its second blow, a rhinoceros showed up out of nothing, charging and killing the creature. Two ashbound (or something else of your likeness) druids showed up and absent-mindedly asked the boy his name. His name was the same as his father's, and, though the druids never actually met his father in person, they knew him as a fellow druid and spiritual leader of a shifter village that was razed by aberrations years before. There were few moonspeakers in the region, reason why they sent his father away. The druids took the boy to their training grounds, where he nurtured his hate for both aberrations and the silver flame. If you want him to be a moonspeaker, have a retired, crazy old shifter moonspeaker in the the training grounds. Someone who is lucid enough to teach him the way of the moonspeaker but mad enough to be of no usefulness to grant information or power. His teachers should be the sect you choose (a good RP reason to be both ashbound/gatekeeper and moonspeaker).
Harrow Blade 12-01-05, 05:12 AM	One Human Rogue for the Character Bank. I will use 'Insert' as the name of the character so that when you copy and paste into word or your prefered word processor you can do a find and replace. The character will be gender non-specific so that it can be used by both male and female characters alike. Insert grew up the only child of an increadilbly wealthy merchant who traded goods far and wide. Insert's parents made sure that nothing was too much for thier child and thus Insert was showered with gifts both mundane and exotic, what ever was the flavour of the day was gifted on a silver platter inlaid with platinum and gold. With such doting parents and lavish gifts one would think that Insert would be happy yet boredom haunted Insert's every step. One restless night Insert's guilded world was sullied by an intruder, the lad was young and scrawny but moved with a hard won grace that reminded insert of a hungry cat, cautious yet driven sate the hunger. Clad in tattered black the youth slunk into the room where Insert lay, deathly still under the silk bed sheets watching from the darkness as the intruder slipped silently from shadow to shadow. Insert knew that a single shout could summon the household gaurd but something held that shout back. A strange feeling had stolen over Insert, Excitement! It was unlike anything else Insert had known. A whisper of silk as Insert moved and the scrawny lad was gone in a flash along with several golden trinkets. For minutes or hours, Insert could not tell, excitement washed over, from head to toe. It was in that time that Insert made a decision that would alter the future. The following night Insert, clad in the best dark silks, crept out over the balcony and scaled the compound walls to venture into the city after dark. Everything was different in the shadows and adrenalin surged at every strange sound or flicker of light. Imitating the way the intruder had moved Insert slunk along the walls moving from shadow to shadow confidence growing as the minutes passed. That was until a patch of shadow detached itself from the wall and spoke. "You move like a dwarf taught you." The man said "But i have an eye for talent and I think you may have skill with training. Oh and bring a real knife next time" It was then that Insert realised the small paring knife that had been tucked into the belt for protection was now being rolled expertly around the mans fingers. They spoke only a little longer before they reached a decision. Insert would meet the man here on the following night to begin an apprenticeship that promised to offer unparalleled excitement and that ment more to Insert than the mountains of coin the Father had in his vaults. The months passed and finally Insert's teacher, who had taken the name insert gave him of Shadow man, told insert that only lifew would be able to teach more than he had and that only one holding Insert back was Insert. With those words ringing in Insert's ears Insert went back to the household compound packed the tools of the trade that were secreted under the bed, a pouch of platinum and bade a silent farewell to the life of luxurious boredom to greet the new life of excitement and adventure.
Fithero 12-01-05, 08:18 AM	Half-Orc Fighter Insert was born to an very young girl who was raped by a group of orcs when she was walking throught the woods one day. Already scarred from the gang rape, she was unable to survive the birth of her hybrid child. The girls family were reluctant to keep the abomination, but after much discussion decided that it was all they had left of her, so they decided to raise the child. Insert was everything but liked in its home town. From a young age insert was constantly reminded that it was the one responsible for its mothers death. The only half orc in the village, insert was the butt of all jokes and people would often vent their anger on it when insert had nothing to do with their problems. By the time it reached its early teens, insert's family was fed up with the stigma of the child so they took it to the nearest city and had it drafted into an army. The next few months were tough, if not eye-opening for insert. Out of the secluded village it found that people were alot more tolerant of its mixed heritage. Though it didnt have much time to explore its new surrounds due to the extensive training it was put through. Within a year, war was declared and insert was put onto the front lines of the first battle. Its training was the only thing that allowed it to survive for as long as it did, though no amount of training can safe guard you from a wizards ball of flame. Insert fell to the flames like so many others in that moment, yet unlike the others, insert continued to breath as it lay there. Many hours after the battle had passed, insert got to its feet and surveyed the carnage that surrounded it. The dead bodies, the siege machines and the carrion birds that fed and flew around above. It stood still for many minutes as it watched the desolate waste land, void of all life yet so full of death. Not seeing another living soul, friend or foe, within sight, it picked a random direction and started walking.
Fithero 12-01-05, 08:50 AM	Human Warlock Insert grew up an only child to a very poor family that struggled to survive day to day. It toiled amid the animal crap that it was forced to shovel from dawn till dusk for a pittance. Not seeing any way out of its pointless life it prayed to the gods, any of them, all of them. Hoping that at least one of them would hear its plight and release it from its pathetic and pointless life. The months passed and no god answered its prayers, it became more and more desperate until it became so jaded with the gods of kindness that it turned to the less honourable gods. Though after a few weeks, it quickly realised that even these gods ignored it. Its life in such a rutt, it turned to self harm, often scarring and burning itself while it prayed. On one such night, a minor thrall of ::insert evil god's name here:: appeared and berrated insert for wasting time praying. The thrall told insert that if insert gave something to the god, then the god would give insert the power to get out of the rutt itself. Insert, in such a miserable state, agreed without thought and in an instant felt its soul being torn from its body, only to be replaced with something else. The thrall dissappeared with a demonic laugh, leaving insert sitting in the barn, alone, empty, with not even itself for company.
Sang-Drax 12-01-05, 01:30 PM	Human Fighter/Wizard Insert was born the eldest son of a wealthy farmer's family. They raised grapes by the shore of a river it was said to grant fertility because, dilluted in its waters were the ashes of a phoenix. In fact, all farms in the area were just as prosperous; their wine, sweet and pure. Insert had two twin brothers and two younger sisters. He soon started to manifest deep interest in Physics, taught to him and some other boys in the neighbourhood by a retired engineer (artificer?) who lived in a small farm nearby. He studied really hard... he didn't really want to be a farmer, and he really wanted to study in the X-College someday. One day, however, when Insert was 14, the red plague (or other contagious random disease) came. Not only did it poison the grapes, it also infected humans. His teacher was one of the first to die, and people didn't really understand what was going on, when Insert's mother was infected as well. Despite the blisters, the Insert Family thought it was only a fever - serious as it could be. Soon after, the Royal Guard came, burned the crops and imposed quarentine upon the riverfolk. Insert's mother died such a horrible death that his father went nuts and hanged himself afterwards. One of the twins died as well. When the epidemy settled down, the kids were parentless, and, as usual, they had to be adopted, and the brothers would live apart from each other and their wealth would be split among their new families. Being older than the others, Insert was the last to be adopted. He lived for quite some time in a scorched land, awaiting for a new family. He was almost starving to death when a man came and took him. The man, in his mid-60s, was the owner of an ore mine deep into the country. What he really wanted was a slave, and not a son. Insert was kind of dead inside, not really oblivious to the world around him. He was forced to work hard night and day in the mine amidst goblin and orc slaves, and, despite being well fed, he was hard pushed and endured the rigors of the old man's extreme discipline, being an ex-officer from a mercenary army and all. Insert's frail frame quickly turned into a strong body. Some years later, the old man told Insert that he was too lazy, and that he'd made all the arrangements and Insert would join the same paramilitar army he'd served. The old man had grown sick in the last few years, and after being given all the instructions, Insert killed him and joined the army. The army served whatever cause paid more. They razed towns or fought black dragons... it was all a matter of the moment. Insert's best friend in the army was a wizard, that, seeing his friend was really interested in the subject, started teaching him some tricks. Insert saw in magic a parallel with Physics, his passion from youth, and learned really quick, since he knew quite a good deal of Physics, needed to comprehend the basics of magic. In a certain battle, Insert was wounded and would have to stay away from the army for a month or so (note: in a world where clerics are common, it could be vacations or something of the matter). When he came back, he found out that the headquarters were razed by paladins (or else, if you want Insert to be good-aligned). Taking his best friend's spellbook, he decided to move on, following the path of the gish.
Harrow Blade 12-02-05, 04:06 AM	Insert was the middle child and so often felt lost in the gap between the older brother and younger sister. With eight years separating Insert from the brother and only two from the sister insert felt that the human father favoured the brother, allowing him to do almost as he pleased, while Insert's elven mother doted on the younger sister as she had always wanted a daughter. At 15 he felt Insert had had enough of being stuck at home and so together with an adventurous sister suck out of thier home on the edge of town and went to explore the forrested slopes of the nearby mountain. They had gone no more than half an hours walk from the safety of the village when they were set upon by a troll (favoured enemy giants) on a steep path. armed with little more than rough walking stick the pair froze in fear. The troll was not hungry but in search of some fun and so swatted Insert from the path with one clawed hand. As Insert fell all that was heard was a high pitched scream which ended sickeningly even before Insert Landed. Scratched, bruised and shaking in fear and horror insert ran back to the house to wake the parents. On hearing the news insert's mother burst into tears and Insert's father flew into a rage beating insert until insert was senseless. When insert awoke insert's father was gone but insert's mothers weak sobs could still be heard from the other room. guilt, self loathing and shame flooded Insert as insert blamed insert for the sisters death. Without waiting got up and fled the town never to return. The guilt followed Insert everywhere, fueling the hatered of trolls and giants in general. Insert swore to do everything to prevent the same fate ever being suffered by anyone else and so set out to become the bane if giants. NB giants can be substituted for many other monsters. easily in this story.
erbmjw 12-02-05, 07:13 AM	Soon after, the Royal Guard came, burned the crops and prohibited the riverfolk to leave (there's a word for that, when you cannot leave someplace for danger of infecting other people. Native Speakers, please help me out). The word you are looking for is "quarantine": a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests Good story by the way Once you have edited the original post I will alter this as well
Sang-Drax 12-02-05, 09:06 AM	The word you are looking for is "quarantine" Thanks a lot! Btw, I was wondering... this thread is not that different from the Character Concept Compilation thread other than the fact that there are no builds and the backgrounds are a little shorter over there. So, do you really think this thread is necessary? Don't you guys think that maybe we should enhance the other one? The thread I'm refering to is under my sig, btw.
Harrow Blade 12-06-05, 12:53 AM	Human Druid Insert was born to a middle class family in a large town, and spent the first year of life indoors as children usually do. It was after Inserts first birth day that a picinic was organised for a summers day in a small clearing in the tame local wood. The day was beautiful and the picinic went well, that was until a large wolf looking haggard and drawn burst into the clearing and snatched up Insert and took off into the woods never to be seen by insert's parents again. The wolf was infact a half-orc druid who had only recently lost her own child during the birth. Crazed with greif she had taken insert in place of her own child. After a few days the Half-orc calmed down but when she realised what she had done shame overwhelmed her. She went back to where the parents had been but cold find no trace of them. She swore then to care for the child as if it were her own. Insert then grew up following in his 'mothers' ways living in and with the wild. It was only when he came of age that she told Insert the truth. At first insert did not believe her as she was the only mother he had known but soon realised she told the truth and the shame of it had eaten away at her for years. Partly out of curiosity and partly out of love for the Druid mother insert set out to find the past that was lost and look for a future still to be. Inserts parents would be hard to find but there was nothing going to hold Insert back. Sang-drax, I read the the thread you mentioned and yes there are similarities but the characters are all set out with names and builds and they tend to be very specific. What we have here is the first step in a story that can be used by any one. There are no feat progressions or weapon preferences. No offence to those who have posted there, yourself included, but it seemed to me more of a place to post personal characters rather than offer flexible story options. I think that is what we are doing here. If some one Does read this thread and uses one of these stories please post to let us know which one you used. It would be nice to know if this is helping anybody. Harrow Blade.
Harrow Blade 12-08-05, 01:39 AM	Human Soul Knife (Human can easily be replaced with any other race easily here) Insert's First memory was of the Slavers coming to the small village on thier tall horses with whips and nets. The screams of the older people still ring in Insert's dreams to this day. The slavers came and took all the young ones, bundling them into sacks and cages before riding off again. Insert was only 5 years old when they came and changed Insert's future forever. For 11 years Insert served the master who paid the slavers. A small pouch of gold bought eleven years of a life and all that came with it. Insrt's master was cruel and demanding with no concern for those he owned. Whipings and beatings punctuated Inserts teenage years and would have completely crushed Insert's will to live had it not been for a fellow slave who took Insert under her wing. She was the cook for the master yet a slave as well and had been for more years than Insert. When Insert was at the lowest points She would console Insert and taught the art focusing the will that allowed Insert maintain a level of sanity. It was in the year of Inserts 16th birthday, the day having been forgotten as there was little chance for slaves to have birthdays, when a new group of slaves came to the compound, among them a small child much like Insert had been when Insert was made a slave. It was seeing this that triggered something in Insert, a wave of rage and anger washed Insert and before the two gaurds could react Insert was on them punching and kicking and biting but something had changed about Insert. the meditation had allowed Insert to draw on an inner power and with that came a jagged blade of fury extending from Insert's hand. this blade was parting flesh as surely as a real blade would and within seconds both gaurds were dead. Shaken but still thinking Insert picked up the child and fled the compound as did many other slaves. Together they fled into the country begging food and water as they sought out the childs parents. Finnaly after weeks of searching they found the village where the child was from and by some miracle the parents as well. Insert was unable to do more than leave the child to run to it's parents as Insert turned and left, unable to face the sorrow of not being able to run back to the parents that were long lost. Free now Insert has a world of opportunity ahead.
nihility 12-10-05, 12:53 AM	I've posted several backgrounds here. (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=550534)
Harrow Blade 01-05-06, 05:49 AM	Half-Orc Barbarian Insert had the unfortunate luck to be born a half breed child of a captive woman. Not just any slave child Insert was blood of the orc chief, a particularly nasty humanoid with a penchant for women of other races. In between the regular beatings for no other reason than being of mixed blood Insert saw the value of strength and the application of said strength. For Insert's father was not particularly smart but he kept his tribe in line with a short temper and a blow that could fell an ox and did on one occasion. As insert grew it became obvious that physically insert would be the match of the father while temprement wise Insert was more like the mother who had died in childbirth, giving life to Inserts younger brother. When it came to feats of strength and endurance there was no one of similar age who was able to defeat Insert. Inserts father was in some small way proud of his child's prowess but that did not stop him from beating Insert. There came a time during Insert's 16th year when a number of local orc tribes amassed for a massive raid on a local township. Insert had heard the other orcs speak of the wealth to be had by sacking the human town. Keen to do anything to be out of the filthy makeshift camp Insert begged to be allowed to join the raid and was granted a place. Armed only with a club, hurriedly carved, Insert set out with the raiders as the sun sank. The raiding orcs fell upon the town expecting an easy fight only to be suprised by a group of adventurers the towns people had hired to help defend the town. This startled the orcs but they soon regrouped and pushed hard felling a warrior from the adventuring party. The defenders were soon retreating and some orcs had started looting already. Insert had been pushed to the back of the fight as the mixed blood did not allow a chance to loot first and it was from this position that Insert saw the first of the looting orcs return. Screams already filled the air as the battle continued in the orcs favour but one particular scream set Insert's stomach churning. A human woman was being dragged way from the battle by her hair, a particularly brutish orc grinning slavishly as he pulled the stuggling woman after him. It was in that moment that something inside of Insert changed, there in that womans face was Insert's own mother, in her belly was a future Insert to be born into pain and brutality. Hefting the yet unblooded club Insert put every ounce of strength into a single blow that caved in the grinning orc face. Snatching up the others well crafted great axe insert fell into a savage fury that added to the already prodigious strength as, like wheat before a scythe, startled raiders fell before rampaging Half-Orc. In a matter of moments Insert was drenched in blood, most of it from others, and the the raiders were fleeing back into the night. Exhaustion like none other settled on Insert's shoulders as the last orc fled from sight. The remaining adventurers found Insert amoungst a mound of orc corpses and knew that this young half orc was the fulcrum about which the battle had turned they likely owed all thier lives to Insert. thus it was a subdued party that left the village the next day with a somewhat stunned Insert in tow. Insert had expected, almost hoped, to die in battle or at the hands of the villagers yet now in the early light of dawn a new life free a fathers tyrany beckoned and it promised to be as bright as the day to come.
Sang-Drax 10-22-06, 10:28 AM	:bump:
Cherubaddon 10-22-06, 01:45 PM	And a human (or whatever) warlock for the character bank! X was poor, rarely happy, and never accepted. He lived in the worst social environment, his father was a drunkard, without a job not really caring for his child, and his mother had to work at an inn to make even the money necessary for her family to live. As the father drank ever more, however, it became increasingly harder for X's mother to make a decent amount of money. She worked hard, but all the money was quickly wasted by her husband. Until, one day, in her desperation, she noticed that - being rather pretty - the only thing left she could sell was herself. I took her husband quite a while to find out that his wife was now a prostitute. As he found it out, finally, he first did what he had always done: he got drunk. He then went home and yelled at his wife so loudly it could be heard down the street. She tried to explain the reason, but that only made him angrier, until he started beating her. She did not even care defending herself, not at all reacting to his hits, silently crying. Little X, seeing it from the doorway, was, of course, far too young to understand the implications. He did not know what a "*****" was, it had to be something bad, but - in his view - nothing was bad enough to beat his mother. And as the latter, after a particularly violent hit, simply fell on her face and stopped moving, X was shocked. All he felt was hatred. Hatred for his father. He never cared for him anyway, and now he had killed the only person that did. Screaming, he ran from his hiding place, ran to his father, and hit him in the stomach as hard as he could. Under normal conditions, this would have had no effect, but suddenly, he felt all his hatred coming up, he felt power flowing through his arm, and as he took his small fist from out the man's body, it was covered in blood. The man screamed, lifted his hand to hit him, X held his arms up to cover his face when, suddenly, a fiery ray erupted from his tiny little index...and blasted the man out of the window, burning. His father ran a few yards, came to a stop, and collapsed. The flames made quick work of him. X stood on the street. Alone. His old house stood ablaze, and soon, the adjacent houses had caught fire, too. The whole village was burning with the infernal flames that ad erupted from his body. Of course, nobody even considered blaming it on the little child, and so, he was free to go. And so he did. Alone. Wherever destiny might lead him. I am not an English native speaker, so some things might be unclear/ill-expressed. If I got something wrong, please let me know. Thanks!
Fithero 12-03-06, 01:12 AM	:bump: