Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Master_Vega 04-02-08, 12:11 PM	So last night I was statting an encounter for my PCs (who will soon be sent on a mission outside their normal operations area), and to my surprise a funny piece of dialogue popped into my mind: Drow Female Cleric, Terise: Such an unflattering assignment, and surrounded by men too... Drow Male Sorcerer/fighter/bladesinger, Siln: *sarcastically* Perhaps they commissioned you here to see that we stay under orders? So many powerful males in one place certainly would make our beloved matriarc antsy. Terise: *frustrated sigh* Your ego will get us both killed, male. Siln: Oh, I'm certain an ego will indeed get us killed. Terise: Do not speak against me again, inferior. I'll have the wolf spiders(*) devour you. Siln: *smirks* What if they like me better? Terise: *smirks back* Then I'll convince them that you taste better than I do. Siln: *sarcasm* How could the taste of a lowly male's flesh compare with the luscious, superior female flesh? I would guess you will find it a difficult task to convince them, what with their noses and all. Terise: *angered* Silence! Out of my sight! * Wolf spiders are the name of a strange wolf-like race with eight arms and a poison bite. They came from another race, a wolf people called the Lupiscari, who in tern came from good-aligned werewolves seeking to remedy their curse. Ehlonna showed them mercy and gave the werewolves a more stable form that would not affect their minds. A group that was already too far gone sought the feral power they had before, and eventually -somehow- made a deal with Lolth to become what they are now. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure Siln, if there was anyone around him aside from the Wolf Spiders, who do like him better than Terise, would be toast the the moment he persisted to back-talk his female counterpart... so that leads me to believe he just doesn't care anymore. If he survives the PC's mission to route the drow ambushers, he'll probably be at a loss of what to do. Siln is tenth level, ECL12, and here are his ability scores: Str:14 Dex:18 Con:10 Int:18 Wis:11 -- this'd be why he keeps shooting his mouth off. (I know it's not negative, but please bear with me. It's his lowest stat. :P) Cha:20 Right now, I'd say Siln is true neutral. He's never liked being pushed around and, after being sent away with a small troupe of males, he's never wanted to come back under the direct command of any of the drow houses. For the past year or so he's only been sent on simple lackey missions because he is considered too rebellious for more important work, but he is too valuable an asset to execute for impudence (hooray for high charisma!) He picked up swordplay with the rapier because that was the only blade the others would let him hold. He then practiced with it because he wished to become a Bladesinger; the idea was very romantic, and he had a great deal of free time due because of his simple assignments. Any backstory ideas? Thoughts on why this back-talking drow male is still alive? Ways to minimize the Drizzt jokes at my gaming table if this character lives long enough to introduce himself to them? Thanks!
Paul_V 04-02-08, 06:59 PM	Easy. Drow males are used as slaves, and the females don't even acknowledge their presence. Someone with such a high Charisma should've been picked to be a "personal" slave, and he would undoubtedly found out many, many secrets. That alone would help keep him alive. If you want to go with why he turned good, you could go with sheer disgust. Being used and abused for someone else's advantage would trigger something inside him that would make him want to be as different as he can from the rest of the Drow. Besides, he has a high sense of self (Charisma) and a really high Intelligence. Even if he isn't wise, he knows enough to fake normalcy AND detach himself from the rest of his race. Besides, it's common knowledge that the smarter someone is, the less they fit among their kin. I'd make him TN and then NG as soon as he's gotten rid of that woman (it helps if he's defeated by the PCs and pardoned or something like that).
Master_Vega 04-02-08, 07:23 PM	Those are some good points. Thanks, Paul. I didn't want him to turn good right away, though. He's already TN, and has been for some time... he's probably only interested in his own wellbeing at the moment, (which would include what you mentioned about disappearing from Drowdar and trying to blend in elsewhere) though that doesn't mean he won't be gracious if the PCs let him go. Later on, he has a high chance of turning good simply If they spare him, I plan on having them encounter him again later, so they can take him on as a cohort if they so choose (they already have a few henchmen/cohorts, acquired through roleplaying and sidemissions), and not have him so close to their own level. It'd be interesting if he knew something of the city the PCs are currently trying to clean up. (This is a Vigilante campaign, where the PCs' end goal is to take down the mob in a metropolis). I've already had the players fight one drow there, though they never recognized him as one because he kinda got krispyfied by far too many alchemist's fires. :P Any ideas there?
Paul_V 04-02-08, 08:35 PM	Those are some good points. Thanks, Paul. I didn't want him to turn good right away, though. He's already TN, and has been for some time... he's probably only interested in his own wellbeing at the moment, (which would include what you mentioned about disappearing from Drowdar and trying to blend in elsewhere) though that doesn't mean he won't be gracious if the PCs let him go. Later on, he has a high chance of turning good simply If they spare him, I plan on having them encounter him again later, so they can take him on as a cohort if they so choose (they already have a few henchmen/cohorts, acquired through roleplaying and sidemissions), and not have him so close to their own level. It'd be interesting if he knew something of the city the PCs are currently trying to clean up. (This is a Vigilante campaign, where the PCs' end goal is to take down the mob in a metropolis). I've already had the players fight one drow there, though they never recognized him as one because he kinda got krispyfied by far too many alchemist's fires. :P Any ideas there? Np, I like posting in this subforum (not like Char Op, where I couldn't give advice to save my life). Not being Good isn't a problem. Alignment switches aren't drastic (unless it's magical), so TN works perfectly. You can have him do a lot that NG or LN wouldn't get away with (like betraying his abusive mistress, selling her to the adventurers for protection, freedom or the right price). Good idea. See above for some ideas. Another suggestion will be for one (or more) of your PCs to take him under their wings(Warning: DM nudging might be required). Some examples: Paladin/PC of Good Alignment: "It's our duty to protect those seeking redemption from their evil ways." Female PC: "He's so handsome... I wonder if..." Wizard/Sorcerer/Fighter: "He can cast some spells and swing that rapier, he might be useful to keep around." Well, he's got a high Charisma. That's THE best stat to have when you want to... yup, you guessed it right, Gather Information. Add some Bluff and Diplomacy checks to the mix (again, yay for that 20 in Charisma), and you have a Drow who knows who's who in the 'hood. He could agree to give free info to the PCs if they help him escape/get rid of annoying cleric. Are you looking for something specific?
Master_Vega 04-02-08, 09:27 PM	I think that, if the PCs work at it, he'll eventually become good. He'll be more of a mercenary to start, though... And there's a well-paying market in vigilantism, so he might explore that a bit before he starts working with the PCs. That gives me an idea. :D The Vigilante "guild" that the PCs are in has a spy corps, and the main mob family the PCs are trying to take down has a lot of (evil) elves in it, so he might be able to fit in there. If he observes someone enough, and is supplied the right magical equipment, he could quite possibly replace someone in the loop. The PCs won't see him for awhile, which means they can advance to the point where he can feasibly become a cohort... and he can deliver some important information in the future. Now I need to re-distribute Siln's skill points Thanks again for the advice! All of it helped!
Paul_V 04-02-08, 09:56 PM	Not a problem, it was a good challenge. Post if you need anything else.
Master_Vega 04-03-08, 06:19 PM	Any other opinions and ideas would be appreciated. Thanks again for the help!