Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Stolide 01-15-08, 02:04 PM	I am working on the background for my latest character. Any comments, including telling me it is stupid, are appreciated. So don't hold back with criticissms, I won't get upset in the slightest. Araponid Refak: Level 6 Human Beguiler (Paranoid Freak) Araponid lived in a large trading city for many years until he went insane. One day while walking home from the docks, he saw his family brutally murdered by assassins. He ran inside to kill the assassins but the seemed to have disappeared. He spent the next three days mourning over the dead bodies. However, all was not as it seemed. Araponid had gone insane, and hallucinated the whole thing. His family, unable to figure what happened to him, sent him to an insane asylum. After two days, he “realized” that the owners of the asylum were in league with the same assassins that killed his family. Immediately, he broke out and ran away. Since then he has been moving from place to place trying to stay hidden from the assassins following him and, adventuring in order to have a source of income while remaining as anonymous as possible. So how good/mediocre/bad is it? EDIT: this is a primliminary draft, I intend to add to it. Or perhaps take away from it depending on your opinions.
Orchomenos 01-15-08, 02:16 PM	Certainly original! :clap: You could give him an invisible friend he "met" at the asylum, and who "reveals" him that any single thing that happened to him is related. Oh, and have him completely distrust the other PCs as well. But your PC knows it all, so for this time he "pretends" to completely trust them and follow their illusory quest, just to keep an eye on his own foes...
Stolide 01-15-08, 02:38 PM	I wasn't going to have him trust anyone... Especially not the LG Paladin, no one suspects them of anything, you never know he might really be evil and have a conceal allignment spell. Although a halucinary buddy from the asylum might be good. Thank you for the suggestion. BTW I always go for orignal characters. My most current character is a CG kobold on the run from his clan disguised as a halfling...
Aaarrrgh 01-15-08, 04:38 PM	And when you meet the BBEG (or some other important NPC) you could mistake him for a long lost relative, start beleiving he is all you have left in this world, and switch sides completely!
Stolide 01-15-08, 04:50 PM	That would be interesting... I'm not sure I would want to dissasociate him from the party like that though. That might be a good idea for a LBEG (Lesser Bad Evil Guy)
Aaarrrgh 01-15-08, 05:09 PM	Or, you could just stop fighting when you "realise he is your relative", and stay away for a while. Then, ehen the ithers kill him, you finally have proof they are working with the assassins!
Stolide 01-15-08, 05:50 PM	That would be very funny... I've decided that I am going to have a "friend" from the asylum. If anyone has suggestions feel free to make them. I think his name will be "Gary Iman" but if you have ideas please post them.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 01-16-08, 11:59 PM	I would add something leading up to the psychotic break. Give him a few months worth of unusual paranoia where he is still aware the the feelings are insane. He knows that noone is after him or his family but can't shake the feeling. He fears both "the enemy" and his own mind and so does not share these feelings with anyone. Now he feels racked by guilt because he "knew" what was coming and did nothing to stop it out of fear he might be called mad. As for Gary I'd consider making him a trained assasin who was betrayed by your enemies. He used to work for them and is now aiding you in an attempt to gain his own revenge. He has a list of people who he personally killed and shares it with you thereby showing "proof" of the conspiracy. He also knows why you were targetted but won't share that information until you have succeeded in bringing down the villians. note as an assasin you can explain why noone else seems to see him as a combination of his own paranioa and exception skill (not to mention potential magic use.)
Oz_Bodkins 01-22-08, 02:18 PM	If you have role played a little while at all you know it’s tough to come up with anything super original. You either tried it, a friend did, you read it here, you got it from a book, etc. So if its new to you that is all that matters. The most important thing is “party compatibility”. Sure it is nice to have diverse people adventuring, but remember it’s a group of people playing a game too. If the characters have absolutely no connectivity or reason to associate it makes it nearly impossible for the GM to spin together yarns that make much sense session after session. It doesn’t have to be “Robin Hood and is Merry Men – let’s all be friends”, but there has to be a thread to keep the people together otherwise everyone would just splinter apart. I’ve seen and been the GM trying to force characters together again and again. Are playing out sessions like episodes of a TV show, i.e. an indefinite series of adventures, their needs to be better reasons to “party” or if you are playing out a movie, i.e. a couple of sessions and no matter the outcome it ends. It seems your character works well in a “movie” but would disrupt a “TV show”.a So the goal is to play a character that is fun while not interrupting the playing of everyone else.
I_roll_ones 01-22-08, 09:44 PM	I agree with Oz. While it might be fun for you, would it be fun for others to have all of their plans fall through, every guard trying to kill them, and unable to talk to a single NPC because of a lunatic? While you don't seem to have bad intentions, the character might play like Chaotic Stupid.