Help fleshing out an unsual class combination [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help fleshing out an unsual class combination [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Gralphid Blackstripe
06-15-04, 05:18 PM So for an upcoming campaign, I'm planning on playing a Barbarian/cleric of Heironeous multiclass. NG, the only alignment he can be, is obviously the one chosen. I have a pretty fleshed out concept for him as follows:
Basically, he was raised a primitive (barbarian 1), but was "uplifted" by a paladin of heirneous who realized that he was basically a good guy. After this, he really wanted to be a paladin of heironeous, but found that he lacked the temperment to become one, especially with his anger management problems. Instead, he became a cleric of heironeous, but also had levels in Barbarian (anger management problems :D ). The levels in Barbarian reflect an effort on his own part to channel his anger against enemies, but it doesn't always work. Basically, the character is torn between chaos (his innate nature), and law (his desire to worship heironeous, who exemplefies order).

So a few questions:

1. I'm trying to think of things besides "it's evil!" which will make the character mad. Maybe certain character traits or actions?

2. I would like to create some other interesting traits, and one thing I thought is that this character is very religious. I wanted to show this, and was looking for some ideas. I thought that given his history, he might also have some blending of primitive religious beliefs with more standard "church of Heironeous" sponsored religious activities. I liked the idea, but ran into one problem. What type of religious beliefs/rituals/superstitions/whatever would either one of these two opposite ideas have? And how could I show them in character when roleplaying?

Also, any suggestions on how to flesh out the character are appreciated. I already basically have his character sheat related stuff, but want to really flesh out this character. Thanks in advance.
Spellbinded
06-15-04, 09:17 PM Nifty concept, Gralphid. As for your questions, I'll see what I can do. Hmm...

1. Maybe the very thing that in himself that causes him frustration (ie, his inability to completely conform to the teachings of Heironeous due to his innately chaotic nature) anger him when confronted with it in others. Basically, his being unable to realize true lawfulness causes him to punish chaotic streaks in others. Ironically, he'd become something of a barbarian imposing Law on other people. o.O Of course, this could always cause problems in that he might actually start getting the lawful alignment. Of course, that'd always solve his "anger management issues" :smirk:
On the other hand, he could always become angered by people who force a certain viewpoint down other people's throats. This could be other members of his church, even, who try and force lawfulness on those who are more "free spirits" such as himself, but could also involve people whose ideas about equality and egalitarianism go against both a more lawful support of a ruler of a land and his decisions and a barbaric "right of strength" paradigm, finding a certain comfort in allowing a ruler to continue to enforce laws so long as they're "tough enough" to see them enforced.

2. If you're going for a blending of two religions, as it were, one of law and order and one of nature and spirits and more shamanistic, primitive relgious views, then I'd suggest a sort of "natural order" viewpoint, where law and order existed before people and are simply the balancing points of the universe, as obvious and inmutable as the air or the sun. He'd probably understand order as being omnipresent in all things, a fact that couldn't be ignored. As such, he'd probably punish transgressors of the law the same way he'd punish transgressors against nature, putting them under the same sort of umbrella viewpoint of "wrongdoers".

Hope this helps! :angel:
Morka
06-16-04, 09:56 PM Is it more a barbarian or a cleric, or an equal mix of both?

The first part is hard to answer. If he multiclass into cleric, he should have a good wisdom. And with a good wisdom, how could he has difficulties to control his anger? I could see him using more intimidation than diplomacy though.

For the second part, I suggest that your character has a birth totem. A good totem for a wise barbarian could be the owl. He could wear a necklace with owl feathers. He could even see Heironeous as a great owl when He appear to him.
Gralphid Blackstripe
06-17-04, 12:26 AM Spellbinded: Thanks for the compliment.
I also like you're suggestion for the blending of the two religions, no I'll need to talk with the DM and find out exactly what the situation is in the world, so I can start tayloring the character to the world.

Morka: He's a Barbarian 5, cleric 3, and plans on going back and forth from now on. He has a decent wisdom (13-14, I can't remember), and I plan on keeping it close to the mininum level to let him cast his highest level spells. That will last until his wisdom gets to like 16. After that, I believe that his wisdom would be high enough to control his problems, but that probably won't happen, since he'd be epic level by then (Clr 11, Brb 13), and I very much doubt the campaign will go that long. If it does, the character will probably have changed considerably, so its probably not a big deal.

I love the Birth totem idea! That sounds really fun. Only thing is I see heironeous as powerful, strong, regal, and noble. Tryign to find an animal which most fits that, I'm thinking Lion, or Eagle, rather then owl. I don't know though, I'm still mulling it over. Really cool idea.;)

So any other suggestions? Thanks everyone.
Persephone Imytholin
06-17-04, 10:24 PM 1 and 2. Your barbarian clan might have a complex code of 'law' based on group survival. Perhaps theft from individuals doesn't matter since everything belongs to the clan - but keeping things from the clan is punishable by death since it affects everyone's survival. Maybe the clan is ruled by a council of 7 elders, chosen every summer for their wisdom so that they can keep the clan safe through winter.

Because your character's early childhood was with the barbarian clan, this view may have made an exceptionally strong impression - strong enough that he has trouble understanding our complicated laws, where individuals own things and people rise to power just because their father had a certain name. Your barbarian might have trouble punishing a man for stealing to feed his starving family, and instead bring to justice people who don't share their excess food. Your barbarian might not support a hereditary ruler, and instead want society governed by a council of carefully chosen individuals. In this way, his barbaric childhood might bring him into conflict between the spirit of the law (group survival, universal good) and the letter of the law.

Picking up on the birth totem idea, your barbarian might be under a clan totem. Your clan totem might be a black bear. Black bears react with extreme violence to threats or perceived threats, and usually don't stop until that threat's in little pieces on the ground. Your barbaric rage could be an expression of this - and instead of getting angry at evil, he could react with horrific violence against anyone who threatens or hurts his friends or allies, often continuing to attack long after life flees the torn and broken flesh.

This clan totem can create other roleplay opportunities - your barbarian may have nightmares about bears, or sound like one while enraged. Your character may even be under a geas never to kill, or allow to be killed, a bear under any circumstances.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gralphid Blackstripe 06-15-04, 05:18 PM	So for an upcoming campaign, I'm planning on playing a Barbarian/cleric of Heironeous multiclass. NG, the only alignment he can be, is obviously the one chosen. I have a pretty fleshed out concept for him as follows: Basically, he was raised a primitive (barbarian 1), but was "uplifted" by a paladin of heirneous who realized that he was basically a good guy. After this, he really wanted to be a paladin of heironeous, but found that he lacked the temperment to become one, especially with his anger management problems. Instead, he became a cleric of heironeous, but also had levels in Barbarian (anger management problems :D ). The levels in Barbarian reflect an effort on his own part to channel his anger against enemies, but it doesn't always work. Basically, the character is torn between chaos (his innate nature), and law (his desire to worship heironeous, who exemplefies order). So a few questions: 1. I'm trying to think of things besides "it's evil!" which will make the character mad. Maybe certain character traits or actions? 2. I would like to create some other interesting traits, and one thing I thought is that this character is very religious. I wanted to show this, and was looking for some ideas. I thought that given his history, he might also have some blending of primitive religious beliefs with more standard "church of Heironeous" sponsored religious activities. I liked the idea, but ran into one problem. What type of religious beliefs/rituals/superstitions/whatever would either one of these two opposite ideas have? And how could I show them in character when roleplaying? Also, any suggestions on how to flesh out the character are appreciated. I already basically have his character sheat related stuff, but want to really flesh out this character. Thanks in advance.
Spellbinded 06-15-04, 09:17 PM	Nifty concept, Gralphid. As for your questions, I'll see what I can do. Hmm... 1. Maybe the very thing that in himself that causes him frustration (ie, his inability to completely conform to the teachings of Heironeous due to his innately chaotic nature) anger him when confronted with it in others. Basically, his being unable to realize true lawfulness causes him to punish chaotic streaks in others. Ironically, he'd become something of a barbarian imposing Law on other people. o.O Of course, this could always cause problems in that he might actually start getting the lawful alignment. Of course, that'd always solve his "anger management issues" :smirk: On the other hand, he could always become angered by people who force a certain viewpoint down other people's throats. This could be other members of his church, even, who try and force lawfulness on those who are more "free spirits" such as himself, but could also involve people whose ideas about equality and egalitarianism go against both a more lawful support of a ruler of a land and his decisions and a barbaric "right of strength" paradigm, finding a certain comfort in allowing a ruler to continue to enforce laws so long as they're "tough enough" to see them enforced. 2. If you're going for a blending of two religions, as it were, one of law and order and one of nature and spirits and more shamanistic, primitive relgious views, then I'd suggest a sort of "natural order" viewpoint, where law and order existed before people and are simply the balancing points of the universe, as obvious and inmutable as the air or the sun. He'd probably understand order as being omnipresent in all things, a fact that couldn't be ignored. As such, he'd probably punish transgressors of the law the same way he'd punish transgressors against nature, putting them under the same sort of umbrella viewpoint of "wrongdoers". Hope this helps! :angel:
Morka 06-16-04, 09:56 PM	Is it more a barbarian or a cleric, or an equal mix of both? The first part is hard to answer. If he multiclass into cleric, he should have a good wisdom. And with a good wisdom, how could he has difficulties to control his anger? I could see him using more intimidation than diplomacy though. For the second part, I suggest that your character has a birth totem. A good totem for a wise barbarian could be the owl. He could wear a necklace with owl feathers. He could even see Heironeous as a great owl when He appear to him.
Gralphid Blackstripe 06-17-04, 12:26 AM	Spellbinded: Thanks for the compliment. I also like you're suggestion for the blending of the two religions, no I'll need to talk with the DM and find out exactly what the situation is in the world, so I can start tayloring the character to the world. Morka: He's a Barbarian 5, cleric 3, and plans on going back and forth from now on. He has a decent wisdom (13-14, I can't remember), and I plan on keeping it close to the mininum level to let him cast his highest level spells. That will last until his wisdom gets to like 16. After that, I believe that his wisdom would be high enough to control his problems, but that probably won't happen, since he'd be epic level by then (Clr 11, Brb 13), and I very much doubt the campaign will go that long. If it does, the character will probably have changed considerably, so its probably not a big deal. I love the Birth totem idea! That sounds really fun. Only thing is I see heironeous as powerful, strong, regal, and noble. Tryign to find an animal which most fits that, I'm thinking Lion, or Eagle, rather then owl. I don't know though, I'm still mulling it over. Really cool idea.;) So any other suggestions? Thanks everyone.
Persephone Imytholin 06-17-04, 10:24 PM	1 and 2. Your barbarian clan might have a complex code of 'law' based on group survival. Perhaps theft from individuals doesn't matter since everything belongs to the clan - but keeping things from the clan is punishable by death since it affects everyone's survival. Maybe the clan is ruled by a council of 7 elders, chosen every summer for their wisdom so that they can keep the clan safe through winter. Because your character's early childhood was with the barbarian clan, this view may have made an exceptionally strong impression - strong enough that he has trouble understanding our complicated laws, where individuals own things and people rise to power just because their father had a certain name. Your barbarian might have trouble punishing a man for stealing to feed his starving family, and instead bring to justice people who don't share their excess food. Your barbarian might not support a hereditary ruler, and instead want society governed by a council of carefully chosen individuals. In this way, his barbaric childhood might bring him into conflict between the spirit of the law (group survival, universal good) and the letter of the law. Picking up on the birth totem idea, your barbarian might be under a clan totem. Your clan totem might be a black bear. Black bears react with extreme violence to threats or perceived threats, and usually don't stop until that threat's in little pieces on the ground. Your barbaric rage could be an expression of this - and instead of getting angry at evil, he could react with horrific violence against anyone who threatens or hurts his friends or allies, often continuing to attack long after life flees the torn and broken flesh. This clan totem can create other roleplay opportunities - your barbarian may have nightmares about bears, or sound like one while enraged. Your character may even be under a geas never to kill, or allow to be killed, a bear under any circumstances.