Post/Author/DateTime	Post
rayz89 01-20-04, 05:49 PM	I am creating a Fighter Class PC for a FR Campaign. I could use some pointers on Background. Here is what I'm working with: A human fighter who's origins would be Ten-Towns. Any good alignment, I'm leaning towards neutral. The character is an ex-military type who quit and is now out into the world trying to make his way or find his place in the world. The character doesn't worship a Deity (I thought this might leave room for later RPing), and only fights as a last resort. The stats for this PC are fairly high, so I thought I could work in a Craft skill in something obscure to add to the diversity of the character. I know this is a vague description, but if anybody can work off of this and brainstorm my way... Thanks
Kickbutt_nancy 01-20-04, 09:19 PM	When I'm creating a background I like to roll up the stats first to see what the numbers tell me, for example: 16, 15, 14, 13, 10, 7 could be: Int 7, Wis 13, Cha 15 (rich snob or a knight) Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 7 (hardened thug or gladiator) Int 15, Wis 7, Cha 13 (cocky swashbuckler or soldier) This will raise questions like, why was he not educated or had such a good education, why is he so foolish or how did he get so wise, why does he treat everyone so nicely or why does he keep people so distant.
Morka 01-21-04, 10:04 AM	While in the army (militia?), you could have been worshipping Torm because all your friends were. Your patrol eventually fall in a trap some goblins set, and they are all killed, save yourself. Feeling forsaken by Torm, you reject him and left the army.
rayz89 01-21-04, 11:21 PM	Here's what I have so far: Character Background: Cyrus Despres Cyrus was born and raised by his parents in the trading city of Scornubel. Cyrus’s father, a devote follower of Tempus, traded fur and was a member of the local Militia. His mother crafted fabrics and clothes, while helping to educate the town youth in the ways of reading and writing. Cyrus’s parents had different ideas about raising their son. Reaping the benefits of a well read mother, he was taught how to read and write at an early age, but spent the majority of his time in the Tempus Temple training with his father and the local guard. While not busy learning to cleave heads, and suit up armor, he was helping his mother typeset books and making fur clothing for trade. His father was killed while escorting a trading caravan that was raided by Orcs. Soon after this tragedy, his mother who was devastated by the loss, became distant and eventually was taken in by good neighbors. Later she passed away of an illness. Cyrus eventually left the town of his birth……….(still fleshing out a general goal)
Morka 01-22-04, 01:46 PM	I don't think that a follower of Tempus who lose a relative in a battle will stop to worship Tempus... Each time your character was entering the temple of Tempus, he should have been told that one could find glory or death in a battle. Even if his faith is low, he could have been "brainwashed"!
rayz89 01-22-04, 07:13 PM	Well here it is............................. Character Background: Cyrus Despres Cyrus was born and raised by his parents in the trading city of Soubar. Cyrus’s Father, a devote follower of Tempus, was a member of the local Militia as well as a hired Caravan Escort by trade. His Mother educated the town youth in the ways of reading, writing, and math. Cyrus’s Parents had different ideas about raising their Son. He was taught how to read and write, but spent the majority of his time in the Tempus Temple training with his Father and the local guard. His Father believed his skill with the sword would increase his lifespan more-so than his abilities with pen and paper. While not busy learning to cleave heads, and suit up armor, he was helping his Mother copy and bind books. This allowed him to spend time with his mother, and get out of training. His Father was killed while escorting a caravan that was raided by Orcs. Soon after this tragedy, his Mother devastated by the loss, became distant and eventually was taken in by good neighbors. Later she passed away of an illness. With no family, and few friends, Cyrus grew bored with training in the Temple. He began to loan his fighting services, as his father before him to the Trading Caravans. But this too, outside of honing his skills, offered little excitement. And so it was that Cyrus Despres, confident in his abilities, left the town of his birth in search of a life that both his parents could be proud of. Personality: Cyrus spent little time with his Father outside of training to fight, but his father was a good man who instilled good values upon him, so he will do the right thing. His Mother was more the ‘free spirit’ type, and spent time with her son reminding him what it is to be free. So while Cyrus is disciplined, he is not the type to necessarily die for ‘King and Country’. His allegiance to Tempus is more out of respect for his Father, and not from his heart. This only adds to Cyrus being something of a lost soul. Description: Cyrus keeps his stark white hair cropped short. He is well built and walks with confidence. His winter cloak is the color of dark fur. His armor and brown boots are well worn..
Henry Hankovich 01-28-04, 10:47 PM	Here's one way to look at things: why does your character (or why did his father) fight? That is to say, why were they 'soldiers,' and what set of beliefs did that entail? Money, religious beliefs, feudal loyalty, etc--and usually, a mix of the above. Also--and this is where the really cool roleplaying potential comes in--people may want to believe (to the point of convincing themselves) that they're really doing something for a reason different from their -actual- interests. For instance, a lot of (modern) soldiers will say that they joined the military to "serve their country," or some similar rationalization. However, when they get older, they tend to realize that in reality, most of them were just kids who joined up for "something to do," or because they were looking for excitement, or they wanted respect, or what have you. If your character's father was a caravan guard, he was probably a mercenary of some sort; that is to say, on some level he was getting paid to fight, which might be partial or full justification for being a soldier. He might have been a pure mercenary--doing it only for the money--or he might have been a person who saw himself as doing his religious duty (protecting the weak from harm), but was a realist enough to know that protecting weak merchants kept his family better fed than protecting weak peasants. :) Or maybe he didn't 'want' to be a soldier at all, and was conscripted--drafted. That happened quite a bit in the ancient and medieval eras--in some areas, the nobility tended to get footmen by ordering or forcing peasants into service. And ultimately, what your character does can always be a change from what his father did--again, good roleplaying potential. Maybe his dad did his soldiering out of a sense of religious duty--serving Torm--and your character suspects that his old man was a shmuck for not looking out for himself (and his family, in particular) better. He might be religious enough himself not to make much noise about that, of course. He might want to be like his father, or he might want to be completely different from his father. Think about what "finding his place in life" means to your character--enough money to tell anyone to :censored::censored::censored::censored: off, or a secure family life, or land/a business of his own, or what have you.
Myer Lynk 01-30-04, 02:10 PM	Originally posted by rayz89 I am creating a Fighter Class PC for a FR Campaign. I could use some pointers on Background. Here is what I'm working with: A human fighter who's origins would be Ten-Towns. Any good alignment, I'm leaning towards neutral. The character is an ex-military type who quit and is now out into the world trying to make his way or find his place in the world. The character doesn't worship a Deity (I thought this might leave room for later RPing), and only fights as a last resort. The stats for this PC are fairly high, so I thought I could work in a Craft skill in something obscure to add to the diversity of the character. I know this is a vague description, but if anybody can work off of this and brainstorm my way... Thanks well really if you were part of a militia you would wanna lead more towards chaotic good then nuetral but thats just my opinion, what was your character planning on doing take a trip to silverymoon to see what kind of trouble he can find? were you planning on doing an additional training in another class maybe a few levels in ranger and you can become a guide or build up a bit and be a caravan guard on your travels?
Bardrick 01-30-04, 08:29 PM	This is generally an outline of a backstory I did for a human fighter/soldier back in 2nd edition...take a look, maybe it will trigger some ideas for you. I'll insert Cyrus' name since that's the one above. As a young teen, Cyrus landed a position as an assistant huntsman for the local Lord's keep(gotta feed them people somehow). As the years passed he grew up, his skills grew and he worked his way into the castle guard. (etc, etc, etc fill in details as you wish). Eventually he had worked his up to Lt. in charge of the personal guard for the Lord & his family(perhaps even 2nd only to the captain of the guard if you like). That is where he met and fell in love with the Lord's daughter. ...at this point, have fun imagining if the Lord was merely displeased or fully enraged. End result: he's kicked out and now fending for himself. Maybe even fleeing the Lord's wrath with a bounty on his head. This story also lets you put full spin about his family AND have a reason he is a trained soldier AND that he has now taken up a career of adventure....and opens up many a roleplaying opportunity that you are looking for to weave in many details of your own.