Help fleshing-out my Binder's backstory... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help fleshing-out my Binder's backstory... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Pallin Rahl
02-01-07, 05:28 PM My Character: Level 5 Human Binder (from Tome of Magic)

The Setting: My DM decided he wanted to try a "hunter" kind of campaign (lots of vampire, demon, zombie, ghost, lycanthrope slaying, etc), set in a distant-future, post apocalyptic Earth... but far beyond the initial aftermath of the "apocalypse" in question. Much time has passed since the event. There is a fair mix of smaller fantasy-style areas, some almost more "wild west"-feeling areas (in general lifestyle, that is)... and even some quasi-futuristic areas. There's some high technology, but it's not in the hands of the common man... it's more rare, even moreso in most areas we'll be treading. Think a world akin to that seen in the Vampire Hunter D novels. Of course, magic has been (re)discovered... and though not that common, it's certainly not unheard of. ...magic items and the like will be as available as in a common D&D campaign.

There's a strong supernatural vein to the enemies we'll be facing... and we've been told that pretty much any of the D&D monsters / races / etc are likely to show up... those not of a supernatural origin being more the result of scientific experimentation, mutation and the like.

What I'd Like To Accomplish With My Background:
Normally backgrounds flow rather easily for me... but this one is a bit rough around the edges, so to speak. Though there are some elements I want to incorporate into my background, I'm having a bit of a tough time smoothing them out in a cohesive manner.

One key past event I'd like to tie in there is the death of my character's sister (when we were children/younger). I want it to essentially be my character's fault (or at least for my character to view it as such)... leaving him a ...conflicted... individual. I was also hoping to possibly work in some sort of ongoing quest related to this... a greater purpose.

One thought was to have my character's young, inexperienced self accidentally summon/release a demon... somehow resulting in his sister's death. Possibly directly by the demon (i.e. he just kills her) ...or hell, maybe something as drastic as the demon being angry with my character upon being summoned by such a weak and inexperienced whelp, demanding his life as proper sacrifice... at which point the sister walks in and the demon is content to drag her soul to hell instead.

Something akin to the latter could find my character not only seeking out the demon (who might be loose on the world, causing all sorts of trouble) to do him in... and/or possibly even trying to find a way to spring the sister's soul from hell, etc...

Seems a bit mish-mashed, if you will... :blush: ...eh, work in progress :P ...and I'd love to hear any interesting suggestions.

NOTE: Binders (from ToM) do not actually summon/bind demons, but instead vestiges... something rather different. The whole "releasing a demon" thing would have to be related, but not directly-so. ...maybe a complete screw-up due to inexperience or something... I dunno. It's one (of several) odd points in my concept.

Eh... maybe you have a better idea entirely for the sister's death or whatever... I'd be happy to consider it. :)

---

Another thing I was considering adding to the backstory was some sort of imprisonment, for a time. I want some time to have passed since the sister's death... and this would only be a small part of the time that passed since that event. It need not be for "legal" reasons... I was strongly considering having the character spend a bit of time in a mental hospital / asylem of sorts. ...not sure if that's a route I want to take with him, though. Might toss this idea completely, as it doesn't really mesh THAT well with the rest of what I'm working on.

---

Alrighty, I've blabbered on long enough.
I'd love to hear any suggestions. :)
jameswilliamogle
02-01-07, 05:54 PM Hi Pallin, are you familiar w/ Full Metal Alchemist? The two kids were playing with Alchemy, and went far beyond what they were capable of. The mother was basically sucked into a portal (probably killing her, I just watched half of the first show), and one of the brothers was turned "ethereal", as it was, and posseses a suit of armor. The other brother had one of his arms turned into metal. You could adapt that to your ideas pretty easily (the settings are similar, too):

You and your sister were playing around with conjuration magic, and by a twist of fate and inexperience summoned a demon that snatched away your sister's soul, toying with it, and taunting you with the energy, before returning to abyss. Remaining on the floor was a circle, with runes you weren't familiar with. Rising from the floor was the image of the vestige of Amon, who began to speak with you about the demon, and told you that your sister could be brought back. You spent the rest of your teenage life searching for the right combination of power to bring your sister to life, which would explain your class and your motivation.

At one point, you were sneaking into a powerful Wizard's tower, to gather some information that might help your quest, but the Wizard caught you, and did [whatever] to you. You escaped by [adventurers killing wizard][wiz let you go][wiz died naturally][wiz left, and magical binds let you go].

EDIT: If it helps, here's the backstory to one of the two Binders I'm currently playing (Savage Tide modified for Eberron Adventure Path):
Thanatos, originally Jenson Padock hails originally from Breland. After working for his father, a tanner and trapper, he joined the [Breland Army] as a scout. On his first mission, the five-man team he was party to was captured by a group of three Ogre-Magi, who took them back to the [Shadowlands] they were from. They were attempting to unlock vestige-magic, and one-by-one forced the captured men to merge with the vestiges. All went mad, tearing out their own eyes, clawing at their own flesh, or simply becoming as zombies, with no will of their own. All the other men were used up, and boiled for food, except for Jenson and one other from the group named Tehn Akrest. When their turn came, Jenson and Tehn managed to be able to accept the vestiges without turning mad. This excited the Ogre-magi greatly, and one of them immediately attempted to perform the rite to merge with the vestige Dahlver-Nar, only to end up insane, and after ripping one of his own arms off, beating another of the ogre-magi to death when the last one killed him using magic. With only one ogre-magi left, the two bound Leraje, and snuck away from camp quite easily. Tehn ran north, to find a cousin that he had near the edge of the [Shadowlands]. Jenson went southeast, after hearing from the ogres that there was ocean there. He has renamed himself Thanatos for fear that the ogre-magi will find him someday. On the southwest coast, he found work among sailors and deckhands, and has since become trained as a decent carpenter for boat repair.

Thanatos may act weird to some characters; this is an aspect of his abilities, and not necessarily his personal feelings. He has a moderately well-toned physique, as a man who has worked most of his life: muscular, but wiry. He has tired of sailing for a time, but is still in need of coin. This is one reason he's interested in adventuring. Although he stole an ancient tome, written in giantish, explaining about most of the known vestiges from the ogre-magi, he still strives to learn more. He believes that the vestiges were an ancient and powerful magic from some long-forgotten civilization, and uncovering further knowledge, particularly why he and Tehn were capable of using this vestige-magic and not anyone else he has found, is the other reason for adventuring.
Pallin Rahl
02-01-07, 06:01 PM You know... I only know of Full Metal Alchemist in passing... but the DM and the other player I'll be playing with have both watched the entire run. ...honestly didn't want to really mirror FMA, though. (even though I can see some similarity, as you point it out)

Hmm... I kind of wanted to work in the Binder thing a bit differently, though... not as a direct consequence of the event itself. Not sure if I want to have already started my path as a Binder before the event... or thereafter.

The heart of your suggestion is still taken into consideration, of course. :) ...I'm totally open to more :D
Ensjak
02-02-07, 09:38 AM James's suggestions are very similar to what I might have said, however (and this is just my taste), I don't like mixing the conjuration magic with Binding especially if the character has no levels of a true spellcasting class.

My suggestion would be just to have your character exhibit a very curious, adventuresome, Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn type personality in his youth. Maybe one day he went to find some "fun" in a wilderness or an abandoned building. Unbeknownst to him his sister followed him (or maybe he brought her to try to scare her into leaving him alone). Inside the building was some type of demonic or monstrous dealing. Maybe a sorceror or wizard was summoning a demon. You and your sister were watching. The wizard or demon spotted your sister and she became the wizard's offering. Now you blame yourself for your sister's present condition. This gives you both a wizard and demon to go after. Or perhaps you've already killed or met up with the wizard during your first 5 levels of binder and this is how you know your sister is still alive and/or the demon's name and the fact that he is still on this plane.

How you stumbled unto the path of a Binder is totally up to you and how your DM envisions binder magic in his world. Perhaps your imprisonment was an insane asylum like you proposed. You took a downward spiral after the loss of your sister. Inside the asylum you did meet one man who was quite insane, but for good reason. He had stumbled upon binder magic and had consequently gone insane but not before uncovering its secrets. He still had enough coherency to teach you some of what he knew. The prospect of having the power to defeat or confront the wizard or demon allowed you to climb out of your depression and seek out your sister.

Hope some or any of this helps.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Pallin Rahl 02-01-07, 05:28 PM	My Character: Level 5 Human Binder (from Tome of Magic) The Setting: My DM decided he wanted to try a "hunter" kind of campaign (lots of vampire, demon, zombie, ghost, lycanthrope slaying, etc), set in a distant-future, post apocalyptic Earth... but far beyond the initial aftermath of the "apocalypse" in question. Much time has passed since the event. There is a fair mix of smaller fantasy-style areas, some almost more "wild west"-feeling areas (in general lifestyle, that is)... and even some quasi-futuristic areas. There's some high technology, but it's not in the hands of the common man... it's more rare, even moreso in most areas we'll be treading. Think a world akin to that seen in the Vampire Hunter D novels. Of course, magic has been (re)discovered... and though not that common, it's certainly not unheard of. ...magic items and the like will be as available as in a common D&D campaign. There's a strong supernatural vein to the enemies we'll be facing... and we've been told that pretty much any of the D&D monsters / races / etc are likely to show up... those not of a supernatural origin being more the result of scientific experimentation, mutation and the like. What I'd Like To Accomplish With My Background: Normally backgrounds flow rather easily for me... but this one is a bit rough around the edges, so to speak. Though there are some elements I want to incorporate into my background, I'm having a bit of a tough time smoothing them out in a cohesive manner. One key past event I'd like to tie in there is the death of my character's sister (when we were children/younger). I want it to essentially be my character's fault (or at least for my character to view it as such)... leaving him a ...conflicted... individual. I was also hoping to possibly work in some sort of ongoing quest related to this... a greater purpose. One thought was to have my character's young, inexperienced self accidentally summon/release a demon... somehow resulting in his sister's death. Possibly directly by the demon (i.e. he just kills her) ...or hell, maybe something as drastic as the demon being angry with my character upon being summoned by such a weak and inexperienced whelp, demanding his life as proper sacrifice... at which point the sister walks in and the demon is content to drag her soul to hell instead. Something akin to the latter could find my character not only seeking out the demon (who might be loose on the world, causing all sorts of trouble) to do him in... and/or possibly even trying to find a way to spring the sister's soul from hell, etc... Seems a bit mish-mashed, if you will... :blush: ...eh, work in progress :P ...and I'd love to hear any interesting suggestions. NOTE: Binders (from ToM) do not actually summon/bind demons, but instead vestiges... something rather different. The whole "releasing a demon" thing would have to be related, but not directly-so. ...maybe a complete screw-up due to inexperience or something... I dunno. It's one (of several) odd points in my concept. Eh... maybe you have a better idea entirely for the sister's death or whatever... I'd be happy to consider it. :) --- Another thing I was considering adding to the backstory was some sort of imprisonment, for a time. I want some time to have passed since the sister's death... and this would only be a small part of the time that passed since that event. It need not be for "legal" reasons... I was strongly considering having the character spend a bit of time in a mental hospital / asylem of sorts. ...not sure if that's a route I want to take with him, though. Might toss this idea completely, as it doesn't really mesh THAT well with the rest of what I'm working on. --- Alrighty, I've blabbered on long enough. I'd love to hear any suggestions. :)
jameswilliamogle 02-01-07, 05:54 PM	Hi Pallin, are you familiar w/ Full Metal Alchemist? The two kids were playing with Alchemy, and went far beyond what they were capable of. The mother was basically sucked into a portal (probably killing her, I just watched half of the first show), and one of the brothers was turned "ethereal", as it was, and posseses a suit of armor. The other brother had one of his arms turned into metal. You could adapt that to your ideas pretty easily (the settings are similar, too): You and your sister were playing around with conjuration magic, and by a twist of fate and inexperience summoned a demon that snatched away your sister's soul, toying with it, and taunting you with the energy, before returning to abyss. Remaining on the floor was a circle, with runes you weren't familiar with. Rising from the floor was the image of the vestige of Amon, who began to speak with you about the demon, and told you that your sister could be brought back. You spent the rest of your teenage life searching for the right combination of power to bring your sister to life, which would explain your class and your motivation. At one point, you were sneaking into a powerful Wizard's tower, to gather some information that might help your quest, but the Wizard caught you, and did [whatever] to you. You escaped by [adventurers killing wizard][wiz let you go][wiz died naturally][wiz left, and magical binds let you go]. EDIT: If it helps, here's the backstory to one of the two Binders I'm currently playing (Savage Tide modified for Eberron Adventure Path): Thanatos, originally Jenson Padock hails originally from Breland. After working for his father, a tanner and trapper, he joined the [Breland Army] as a scout. On his first mission, the five-man team he was party to was captured by a group of three Ogre-Magi, who took them back to the [Shadowlands] they were from. They were attempting to unlock vestige-magic, and one-by-one forced the captured men to merge with the vestiges. All went mad, tearing out their own eyes, clawing at their own flesh, or simply becoming as zombies, with no will of their own. All the other men were used up, and boiled for food, except for Jenson and one other from the group named Tehn Akrest. When their turn came, Jenson and Tehn managed to be able to accept the vestiges without turning mad. This excited the Ogre-magi greatly, and one of them immediately attempted to perform the rite to merge with the vestige Dahlver-Nar, only to end up insane, and after ripping one of his own arms off, beating another of the ogre-magi to death when the last one killed him using magic. With only one ogre-magi left, the two bound Leraje, and snuck away from camp quite easily. Tehn ran north, to find a cousin that he had near the edge of the [Shadowlands]. Jenson went southeast, after hearing from the ogres that there was ocean there. He has renamed himself Thanatos for fear that the ogre-magi will find him someday. On the southwest coast, he found work among sailors and deckhands, and has since become trained as a decent carpenter for boat repair. Thanatos may act weird to some characters; this is an aspect of his abilities, and not necessarily his personal feelings. He has a moderately well-toned physique, as a man who has worked most of his life: muscular, but wiry. He has tired of sailing for a time, but is still in need of coin. This is one reason he's interested in adventuring. Although he stole an ancient tome, written in giantish, explaining about most of the known vestiges from the ogre-magi, he still strives to learn more. He believes that the vestiges were an ancient and powerful magic from some long-forgotten civilization, and uncovering further knowledge, particularly why he and Tehn were capable of using this vestige-magic and not anyone else he has found, is the other reason for adventuring.
Pallin Rahl 02-01-07, 06:01 PM	You know... I only know of Full Metal Alchemist in passing... but the DM and the other player I'll be playing with have both watched the entire run. ...honestly didn't want to really mirror FMA, though. (even though I can see some similarity, as you point it out) Hmm... I kind of wanted to work in the Binder thing a bit differently, though... not as a direct consequence of the event itself. Not sure if I want to have already started my path as a Binder before the event... or thereafter. The heart of your suggestion is still taken into consideration, of course. :) ...I'm totally open to more :D
Ensjak 02-02-07, 09:38 AM	James's suggestions are very similar to what I might have said, however (and this is just my taste), I don't like mixing the conjuration magic with Binding especially if the character has no levels of a true spellcasting class. My suggestion would be just to have your character exhibit a very curious, adventuresome, Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn type personality in his youth. Maybe one day he went to find some "fun" in a wilderness or an abandoned building. Unbeknownst to him his sister followed him (or maybe he brought her to try to scare her into leaving him alone). Inside the building was some type of demonic or monstrous dealing. Maybe a sorceror or wizard was summoning a demon. You and your sister were watching. The wizard or demon spotted your sister and she became the wizard's offering. Now you blame yourself for your sister's present condition. This gives you both a wizard and demon to go after. Or perhaps you've already killed or met up with the wizard during your first 5 levels of binder and this is how you know your sister is still alive and/or the demon's name and the fact that he is still on this plane. How you stumbled unto the path of a Binder is totally up to you and how your DM envisions binder magic in his world. Perhaps your imprisonment was an insane asylum like you proposed. You took a downward spiral after the loss of your sister. Inside the asylum you did meet one man who was quite insane, but for good reason. He had stumbled upon binder magic and had consequently gone insane but not before uncovering its secrets. He still had enough coherency to teach you some of what he knew. The prospect of having the power to defeat or confront the wizard or demon allowed you to climb out of your depression and seek out your sister. Hope some or any of this helps.