Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kuraito 06-16-06, 06:00 AM	I have a character, which I have a few problems with. First, let me give you his background, then I'll tell you my problems. I'll try to keep it short and get to the point. Hyram Hala and his sister Asa-Rayen Hala were orphaned at a young age (Hyram was 3, Asa was 6). They went to an orphanage, but didn't stay there long. Soon, a noble couple, incapable of having there own child, came to adopt a little girl, as Lady Hala has always wanted a daughter. She was taken with Asa and adopted her on the spot. Asa however, refused to leave her little brother, and politly declined, saying she'd rather stay. Lord and Lady Hala, still taken with the little girl, decided to adopt them both. This, as a side note, is Hyrams first memory... Hyram and Asa continued to grow up together, closer to each other then anyone else, living in a nobles home, wanting for nothing. They quickly became quite fond of there adoptive parents. Thier own particular talents were shown at an early age, as Asa exceled in sports and other physical activities, while her brother, not nearly as strong, tough or agressive as his sister, found a deep love for books. Both were well adapted at there area, considered prodigies by everyone. Asa, wanting to please her adopted father, followed in his footsteps and became a knight. Hyram was accepted into a Mage school. They both did very well and quickly gratuated with honors. However, many of the nobles didn't like the fact that these two Common Blooded people were outshining their own children. Asa, in particular was hated, as a common girl becoming a knight angered many. Soon, Asa was sent on a mission she had little chance of accomplishing on her own. They couldn't JUST send her alone though, they had to make it look like she was incompatent. So, they decided to send her little brother with her, Hyram having just gratuated was only 15, Asa was 18. So begins there adventures. Quirks: 1. Hyram is fanatically loyal to his sister and loves her dearly. He has never forgotten that day in the orphanage or her kindness growing up or her unshakeable belief in his abilities. As such, he desires nothing more then protect her and make her the best knight she can be. 2. Hyram is SEVERLY lacking in self confidence. He believes that Asa is better then he in everyway that matters. Because of this, he is constantly afraid that when Asas life is on the line, he won't be good enough to protect her as shes protected him their whole lives. This also makes him very shy. 3. Hyram LOVES to learn and is knowledgable about just about anything. Full ranks in Nature, Arcana, Religion, Planes and History, with the Lore ability at +9, along with Dechipher Script, Spellcraft and max ranks in Speak Langueage. He knows alot and is CONSTANTLY reading. 4. Though Hyram is 15, he looks and acts like someone much younger. Many people ask what a CHILD is doing adventuring, thinking Hyram is only 13 or so. Indeed, he often does act like a child, hes rather unworldly, even naive at times. Hes good at picking out intent and such, thanks to his high wisdom, but he often has trouble understanding the semantics. All in all, the best word to use to describe him is "Innocent", but hes no dummy. Ok, my problems are as follows. 1. Hyram was original an Abjurer(wizard), but the more I looked, the more the cleric spell list seemed better for protecting and aiding my sister(and the party of course). I wanted to keep his flavor mostly the same, the shy, studious, frail boy, so I decided to make him a cloistered cleric. I am deityless and worship "Knowledge", I even use a Spellbook as a focus (though its empty). While his magic is Divine in nature, I made it more a product of his learning and less about his faith. Indeed, he still considers himself a "Mage", a term usually reserved for Arcanists. This is mostly flavor, it does nothing to change the mechanics, but does this seem a bit much for "Flavor text"? I'm trying to RP him mostly as I would a wizard. (PS, I don't have access to the archivest.) 2. Hyram seems to have no long term goals, indeed, his long term goals are mostly to help his sister acheive HER long term goals. I tried to make this a character quirk, justify it as steming from his self confidence issues, hes so concerned about being useful day to day, hes never really thought about accomplishing something in the long term. Is this exceptable, or should I try to cram SOME type of long term goal in my character that has nothing to do with my sister? If so, any suggestions? 3. Hyram is damn smart, though its reflected more through skills then Int now (I had to switch his int and wis since i cast with wis now, so 14 int, 18 wis). How should I reflect this, just constantly go "Oh that? I know all about THAT." and just start rattling off what I know? Or should I try to be more subtle with it. 4. Despite his frail apperance, Hyram is actually quite tough, with 14 con and high HP rolls with that D6 HD(31 HP at 5th level). I've decided to make this more an effect of will power then physical toughness, when its really important, he just refuses to go down, making him surprisingly durable. Is this likewise exceptable flavor text? 5. How do I RP someone who is both Innocent and possesing a High Wisdom? My DM has suggested that I do notice things, I just don't always understand them. What do you think? 6. Any pointers on more little quirks to add to my character?
Kuraito 06-18-06, 08:22 PM	name change and bump. only one.
Ensjak 06-19-06, 12:48 AM	1. Seems fine to me. This whole game is about "flavor" whether it's you wanting to deal 2d6 + 1.5 str but picture your character using a spear is totally up to you. Likewise, if you want your character to consider himself a mage even though his magic is divine that's still peachy keen. 2. A character should always have some type of goal or motivation, even if it's just so a DM to make a little side adventure out of it. You might tie a long term goal in with the issue from #1. Maybe your character wants to explore why other "mages" don't study divine magic as opposed to the so called arcane. Or perhaps he compares notes with priests and wizards to see how he can cast divine spells without either worshipping a deity or studying a spellbook. Perhaps he considers himself a divine counterpart to sorcerors and is seeking to uncover the bloodline that allows him to cast divine spells. 3. How to show he's smart? Make use of large words. The more difficult to pronounce the better. If the character is shy, he probably won't go rattling off facts and making himself sound superior without being asked for input, but anytime he is asked for advice he should offer way more information than necessary. 4. Perfectly acceptable. I dont know if you've read the dragonlance novels at all, but I read on these boards here that Raistlin (who's portrayed as a frail and sickly mage) actually had a con score of 10, but his player wanted to play a sickly, fragile spellcaster. 5. You could play the character as very trusting of others. This kind of goes against the whole sense motive thing, but if you're not dumping skill points into it, it shouldn't be too much of a discrepancy. Or you could make him a very curious character. Innocence might mean not knowing any better and the first time he encounters something he just won't know what to do (but with high wis and int he'll be darn sure to remember in the future). This also goes along with the pursuit of knowledge quirk. Remember, 15 years old is still a kid. Play him like one. 6. Your concept's already better than any character I've ever played, lol. Anyway, I hope some of this helps. I'm sure other people on these boards will have more to say and that it will all be of much higher quality than my own advice.
Morka 06-20-06, 02:04 PM	1. Hyram was original an Abjurer(wizard), but the more I looked, the more the cleric spell list seemed better for protecting and aiding my sister(and the party of course). I wanted to keep his flavor mostly the same, the shy, studious, frail boy, so I decided to make him a cloistered cleric. I am deityless and worship "Knowledge", I even use a Spellbook as a focus (though its empty). While his magic is Divine in nature, I made it more a product of his learning and less about his faith. Indeed, he still considers himself a "Mage", a term usually reserved for Arcanists. This is mostly flavor, it does nothing to change the mechanics, but does this seem a bit much for "Flavor text"? I'm trying to RP him mostly as I would a wizard. (PS, I don't have access to the archivest.) Perhaps that because of his "commoner blood", he wasn't allowed to truely study arcane like the young nobles. Of course, he was allowed to study theory, but not applied magic. Depending on the conception of deityless divine power, he either developped his own powers, or was introduced by some other cleric. 2. Hyram seems to have no long term goals, indeed, his long term goals are mostly to help his sister acheive HER long term goals. I tried to make this a character quirk, justify it as steming from his self confidence issues, hes so concerned about being useful day to day, hes never really thought about accomplishing something in the long term. Is this exceptable, or should I try to cram SOME type of long term goal in my character that has nothing to do with my sister? If so, any suggestions? At 15, he's still pretty young, he has time to have some long-term goals. But as a nerd, his long-term goal could be to learn more about anything he meets; thus, the mission could be a good occasion to learn more things. 3. Hyram is damn smart, though its reflected more through skills then Int now (I had to switch his int and wis since i cast with wis now, so 14 int, 18 wis). How should I reflect this, just constantly go "Oh that? I know all about THAT." and just start rattling off what I know? Or should I try to be more subtle with it. Someone with an high wisdom is able to make links between different concepts. For example, you can know that wolves eat deers, but you have to understand that if you see a large deer flock, there is probably a wolf pack nearby. It's more difficult to roleplay than simply saying "Well, I knew that..." But you could make a deal with your DM so each time he explain a new concept during your travels, he gives you a paper sheet with the concept explained. Then, when the NPC begin to explain it, your character can summarise the concept clearly. 4. Despite his frail apperance, Hyram is actually quite tough, with 14 con and high HP rolls with that D6 HD(31 HP at 5th level). I've decided to make this more an effect of will power then physical toughness, when its really important, he just refuses to go down, making him surprisingly durable. Is this likewise exceptable flavor text? Being a young commoner amongst young nobles, perhaps was he bullied? He could eventually accept blows as being "part of the life", and not bother with that at all... 5. How do I RP someone who is both Innocent and possesing a High Wisdom? My DM has suggested that I do notice things, I just don't always understand them. What do you think? It's not because you understand everything that your not amazed when you see the true demonstration in front of you. If you succeed on a spot check and see the goblin hidden behind the tree, point frenetically and screams: "Eh, what's this?" instead of grabbing your spear with a cruel grin... 6. Any pointers on more little quirks to add to my character? Take a look at the links in my sig, some might help you...
Kuraito 06-23-06, 04:09 AM	Thank you for all your advice. I should clear up a bit of his backstory, while some of the nobles didn't like the fact he and his sister were not noble blooded, the family that adopted them are pretty powerful, so no one dared be openly hostile towards them. Asa delt with some hostility in Knight training, but they were able to explain it away as normal (knight training being alot like bootcamp). Also, many people (suprisingly, mostly girls) at the school actually liked Hyram quite a bit. The other boys disliked him, but being a Mage school, he didn't have to put up with bullying. The mission they were sent on: There is a town in this world called New Life, a place where non evil monsterous races who wish to live in peace go. Many converted Orcs, Ogres, Goblinoids, Magical Beasts, Dragons, ect live there. Some of the people in power in Hyram and Asas country grew worried about this city, that it might pose a threat to peace in the region. So, they decided to send an emissary to check things out. Some people saw this as the perfect chance to set Asa up for failure, most thought that there was no way she could accomplish this mission. The mystery however, is why Hyram was sent as well. They don't wish to discredit Hyram. Unlike Asa, Hyram has no wish to do anything great, he only wants to be left to his studys and to do what he can to help his sister, so most of the nobles simply ignore him. Hyrams Theory:Hyram believes that he was sent with Asa to make things LOOK like they wern't setting Asa up to fail. They couldn't send her alone, people would suspect there true intentions. They couldn't send another Knight or a company of soldiers, Asas to talented, with the right back up, she'd succeed. No, they needed to send ENOUGH to make it look like Asas incompatent, but not enough to give her chance to succeed. Enter Hyram. His lack of self esteem aside, the same people that dislike Asa also probably think Hyram is as weak as he thinks he is. Also, being her brother, that gave them the perfect excuse to send him as her only backup. Things however, get worse. Hyram looked a bit deeper and has theorized hes also protection from something else. Asa's death. They cannot afford to let Asa die on this mission, they need to discredit her, not kill her. If she died, theres the potential for backlash. They know that Hyram would do anything to protect Asa and Asa anything to protect Hyram. They're counting on. They figure, if things get bad enough, the desire to protect the other being equal, the weaker person will end up being the one who dies. Hence, Hyram serves as a saftey net and if things do get bad, Asa gets to go home as not only a failure, but a failure that couldnt even protect her own brother. Hyram has yet to tell Asa his theory on why he was sent, but is already trying to counter it, particularly by getting strong people to help him protect Asa and becoming stronger himself (hence the presence of the Party). The DM has yet to tell me weither I am correct or not, but regardless, Hyram believes it to be true and this theory will steer many of his actions in the future. I'd like to think this is a good example of Hyrams intelligence, a combination of Wis, Int and various Knowledges allowed him to come up with a plausible theory on the reasoning behind a political manuever. Or, hyram could just be paranoid.