Help with a fun concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help with a fun concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sean, THe Incompotent
05-16-07, 05:48 PM Hello everyone I'm trying to think of a way to develop the back-story and reason for adventuring for one of my new concept a gnomish circus performer. What I have so far is that he was abandoned at birth for some reason and was taken in by a human community his real name is Isaac Bottlenose his stage Name is Jungo. At the appropriate age he was accepted into a wizard academy but became board with it soon after mastering his first year of curriculum and joined dropped out to join a traveling circus. As for classes he is a wizard illusionist with necromancy and abjuration (defensive spells cant recall how to spell it at the moment) as prohibited schools. I’m really struggling with coming up with reasons to adventure and feat/ spell selection for him if you guys could offer some help it would be great.
Westbound
05-16-07, 07:41 PM I like this background, so far. It's very creative. But just to make sure, you're a circus performer that can cast magic. Is that what he does at the circus, or does he do something else, like an acrobat or a clown?

Let's flesh out the circus a little more. Let's say it's the only one of its kind in the land, at least as far as you know, and it's very new, roughly 20 years old. It would be the hit of the land, traveling by way of a huge caravan from village to city to township, and so on. Initially starting as a group of troubadours, they grew away from simple ballads and storytelling to feats of daring do and acrobatic stunts. Inspired by accidents that may have caused grievous injury or death to a couple of performers, slapstick comedy was added to the circus soon thereafter. With a way to gather revenue in the venue of a tent or a pavillion, a common tramp band of gypsy troubadours became a huge business, attracting talent from the four-corners of the world. Only recently, however, was exotic creatures added to the attraction because it took a long time to come up with a way to show these things in a manner that wasn't an arena.

Speaking of arena, it could be that your circus is competing against a gladiatorial arena or two.

Part of your adventuring career could involve capturing monsters, particularly things that most commoners would never see in their entire lives if it weren't for you. Capturing owlbears, ogres, and minotaurs would not be out of the question. Displacer beasts would make a very delightful and very suspenseful attraction. Perhaps your circus-master is somewhat nuts, asking for bigger and badder monsters, demanding creatures like doppelgangers, then trolls, then giants, then vampires, then mind flayers, then beholders.

On top of this, perhaps you are looking for new performers. Maybe you're looking for ancient secrets to improve your own act. Or maybe you're looking to start some sort of show of your own someday.

These are a few ideas. I may come up with some more later.
David Argall
05-17-07, 03:38 AM Now an illusionist wizard obviously fits in with a circus very easily. All sorts of ways illusions might be used.

However, keep in mind that the circus is DM territory. Quite possibly, you will start your first adventure and never return to the circus. So creating it may well be a waste of time. Check with the DM and see if he wants to work it into the plot. Otherwise, add in a story about how you got fired or quit.

Now you likely don't want your circus to be a huge thing. In fact, you likely want it to be rather small, one that can't hire a better illusionist than your 1st level one. That way, the circus can possibly grow with the PC. You start out playing the hicks out in the boonies. Maybe you do capture some of those monsters for the midway, and start going to actual towns instead of mere villages. A couple of more adventures and the circus continues to prosper and you move to a small city...

But the basic here is that you need to check with the DM. As mentioned, you may simply start in a bar and this mysterious stranger walks in with a strange quest and that's the last you ever hear of your backstory. So until the DM vets the idea, you need to work more on why you are currently at liberty than about what you were doing.
Sean, THe Incompotent
05-18-07, 12:18 AM Thanks for the responses guys, I like the whole capturing monster's idea as a reason for adventuring. I’m still stuck on spell selection for this guy I figured stuff like glitter dust mirror image and what not to amaze the crowd. I’m also thinking maybe some conjugation spells and evocation would fit into this flash description if anyone could help me out with some flashy and combat useful spells it would be great.
Westbound
05-18-07, 01:48 AM First, I can't tell you how relieved I am to read that you're not making gimmicky Gnome Illusionist. A Wizard is just fine, if you ask me.

You can't really go wrong with Cantrips, and there are a lot to choose from these days. Blink would be quite dazzling in a performance, especially if you can accompany it with a pinch of flash powder to mark your location at each blink. Illusions are nice too, but evocations are cooler, especially a well-timed Burning Hands spell. Wall of Fire/Ice would be cool. A Detect Thoughts spell would be a neat attraction to pull off card tricks with audience members or play psychic parlor tricks. Rope Trick, Spider Climb, Fly, Tenser's Floating Disk, Levitate, Charm, Color Spray and a lot of other spells could be used quite well. Occasionally, you might want to use Lightning Bolt, but that might come off cheesy.

You gotta be careful with anything demonic. If you cast Gate, who knows what'll come out. Your DM may have you summon a demon, though.
Sean, THe Incompotent
05-19-07, 12:17 PM Would anyone know if I took the improved familure feat and chose an animal large enough to ride would i need to take riding feats or since the familure and I have a mental connection do I not need them. I figured the crowds would like to see Jungo ride onto the stage on a winter wolf or a dire spider ...I'm not actualy sure what animals you get with the feat my books are at the dm's house.
Gingerbread Guy
05-19-07, 02:26 PM Hey gang,

To quickly answer your question, you don't need ranks in Ride to ride an animal that has been trained with the Handle Animal skill to bear a rider. You can even attempt Ride checks without any ranks (to perform tricks such as hanging from the mount's side, making it leap over obstacles, and performing fast mounts and dismounts) though of course you may have trouble beating the DCs. Even an animal with improved intelligence (by way of being a familiar) would still need to learn how to properly carry a rider. Its a pretty difficult task for a wizard in general, but spells like cat's grace should help with the ride checks, and you can always buy the skill cross-class. Frankly I think it would just be easier to create the illusion that you're riding around doing tricks on an animal. ^_^

Returning to your background, it might be good to flesh out why your character was abandoned and raised by a human community, and have an idea of what this community was. Parents are hardwired not to simply abandon their young, so there must have been a good reason. Even if your character doesn't know it, its a good idea to have a reason. Perhaps his mother was an imprisoned criminal, or quite the opposite, she was a heroic character, burdened with duty, who felt that her adventurous, dangerous way of life was no place to raise a child. Maybe the former is the truth, and the latter is what the humans who raised your character told him, to spare him the hard reality.

Whatever the case, this part of the background should have a profound effect on your character - perhaps he's even adventuring in hopes of learning something about his parents. Maybe he knows who they are, but not where, and he's simply seaching for them.

Even if he's made peace with being an orphan, he is likely to have a different perspective on the definition of family. If he grew up being cared for by a large number of people sharing the role of parent, he may end up treating everyone close to him like a brother, sister, aunt or uncle (and expect to be treated likewise). This works well with the concept of him joining and finding solace a circus, which is like a giant, traveling family where everyone's unique characteristics are cherished rather than feared. A good adventuring party also shares a lot of these values.

~Ginger
Sean, THe Incompotent
06-03-07, 12:17 PM 0_o ... I am having trouble rping this guy can anyone help me with some quirks I could use as guide lines he if it helps he is CN
Aaarrrgh
06-03-07, 01:36 PM First off, since he's out to capture monsters and exotic animals, he should try to stop the other partymembers from killing anything he would like for the circus, even if the monster/creature is attacking them.

"Hey, be careful, that beauty is priceless, so I think you should let her take it! I mean, you have two arms, right?"

He should then get really angry whenever they actually kill something. This does of course mean he needs to avenge the poor, sweet manticore, who never did any harm (at least not any harm that couldn't be fixed with some resurrection...). So how does an illusionist give a dead creature revenge on its killer? With illusions, of course! Whenever one of your partymembers kill something cool, wake them up in the middle of the night with an illusionary ghost of the dead creature! Add in some sound effects, and they won't sleep at all that night!

Secondly, he could always be training for his act, doing card tricks, making coins appeare out of nowhere... He should think of this as something very funny, and do it all the time, including battle.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sean, THe Incompotent 05-16-07, 05:48 PM	Hello everyone I'm trying to think of a way to develop the back-story and reason for adventuring for one of my new concept a gnomish circus performer. What I have so far is that he was abandoned at birth for some reason and was taken in by a human community his real name is Isaac Bottlenose his stage Name is Jungo. At the appropriate age he was accepted into a wizard academy but became board with it soon after mastering his first year of curriculum and joined dropped out to join a traveling circus. As for classes he is a wizard illusionist with necromancy and abjuration (defensive spells cant recall how to spell it at the moment) as prohibited schools. I’m really struggling with coming up with reasons to adventure and feat/ spell selection for him if you guys could offer some help it would be great.
Westbound 05-16-07, 07:41 PM	I like this background, so far. It's very creative. But just to make sure, you're a circus performer that can cast magic. Is that what he does at the circus, or does he do something else, like an acrobat or a clown? Let's flesh out the circus a little more. Let's say it's the only one of its kind in the land, at least as far as you know, and it's very new, roughly 20 years old. It would be the hit of the land, traveling by way of a huge caravan from village to city to township, and so on. Initially starting as a group of troubadours, they grew away from simple ballads and storytelling to feats of daring do and acrobatic stunts. Inspired by accidents that may have caused grievous injury or death to a couple of performers, slapstick comedy was added to the circus soon thereafter. With a way to gather revenue in the venue of a tent or a pavillion, a common tramp band of gypsy troubadours became a huge business, attracting talent from the four-corners of the world. Only recently, however, was exotic creatures added to the attraction because it took a long time to come up with a way to show these things in a manner that wasn't an arena. Speaking of arena, it could be that your circus is competing against a gladiatorial arena or two. Part of your adventuring career could involve capturing monsters, particularly things that most commoners would never see in their entire lives if it weren't for you. Capturing owlbears, ogres, and minotaurs would not be out of the question. Displacer beasts would make a very delightful and very suspenseful attraction. Perhaps your circus-master is somewhat nuts, asking for bigger and badder monsters, demanding creatures like doppelgangers, then trolls, then giants, then vampires, then mind flayers, then beholders. On top of this, perhaps you are looking for new performers. Maybe you're looking for ancient secrets to improve your own act. Or maybe you're looking to start some sort of show of your own someday. These are a few ideas. I may come up with some more later.
David Argall 05-17-07, 03:38 AM	Now an illusionist wizard obviously fits in with a circus very easily. All sorts of ways illusions might be used. However, keep in mind that the circus is DM territory. Quite possibly, you will start your first adventure and never return to the circus. So creating it may well be a waste of time. Check with the DM and see if he wants to work it into the plot. Otherwise, add in a story about how you got fired or quit. Now you likely don't want your circus to be a huge thing. In fact, you likely want it to be rather small, one that can't hire a better illusionist than your 1st level one. That way, the circus can possibly grow with the PC. You start out playing the hicks out in the boonies. Maybe you do capture some of those monsters for the midway, and start going to actual towns instead of mere villages. A couple of more adventures and the circus continues to prosper and you move to a small city... But the basic here is that you need to check with the DM. As mentioned, you may simply start in a bar and this mysterious stranger walks in with a strange quest and that's the last you ever hear of your backstory. So until the DM vets the idea, you need to work more on why you are currently at liberty than about what you were doing.
Sean, THe Incompotent 05-18-07, 12:18 AM	Thanks for the responses guys, I like the whole capturing monster's idea as a reason for adventuring. I’m still stuck on spell selection for this guy I figured stuff like glitter dust mirror image and what not to amaze the crowd. I’m also thinking maybe some conjugation spells and evocation would fit into this flash description if anyone could help me out with some flashy and combat useful spells it would be great.
Westbound 05-18-07, 01:48 AM	First, I can't tell you how relieved I am to read that you're not making gimmicky Gnome Illusionist. A Wizard is just fine, if you ask me. You can't really go wrong with Cantrips, and there are a lot to choose from these days. Blink would be quite dazzling in a performance, especially if you can accompany it with a pinch of flash powder to mark your location at each blink. Illusions are nice too, but evocations are cooler, especially a well-timed Burning Hands spell. Wall of Fire/Ice would be cool. A Detect Thoughts spell would be a neat attraction to pull off card tricks with audience members or play psychic parlor tricks. Rope Trick, Spider Climb, Fly, Tenser's Floating Disk, Levitate, Charm, Color Spray and a lot of other spells could be used quite well. Occasionally, you might want to use Lightning Bolt, but that might come off cheesy. You gotta be careful with anything demonic. If you cast Gate, who knows what'll come out. Your DM may have you summon a demon, though.
Sean, THe Incompotent 05-19-07, 12:17 PM	Would anyone know if I took the improved familure feat and chose an animal large enough to ride would i need to take riding feats or since the familure and I have a mental connection do I not need them. I figured the crowds would like to see Jungo ride onto the stage on a winter wolf or a dire spider ...I'm not actualy sure what animals you get with the feat my books are at the dm's house.
Gingerbread Guy 05-19-07, 02:26 PM	Hey gang, To quickly answer your question, you don't need ranks in Ride to ride an animal that has been trained with the Handle Animal skill to bear a rider. You can even attempt Ride checks without any ranks (to perform tricks such as hanging from the mount's side, making it leap over obstacles, and performing fast mounts and dismounts) though of course you may have trouble beating the DCs. Even an animal with improved intelligence (by way of being a familiar) would still need to learn how to properly carry a rider. Its a pretty difficult task for a wizard in general, but spells like cat's grace should help with the ride checks, and you can always buy the skill cross-class. Frankly I think it would just be easier to create the illusion that you're riding around doing tricks on an animal. ^_^ Returning to your background, it might be good to flesh out why your character was abandoned and raised by a human community, and have an idea of what this community was. Parents are hardwired not to simply abandon their young, so there must have been a good reason. Even if your character doesn't know it, its a good idea to have a reason. Perhaps his mother was an imprisoned criminal, or quite the opposite, she was a heroic character, burdened with duty, who felt that her adventurous, dangerous way of life was no place to raise a child. Maybe the former is the truth, and the latter is what the humans who raised your character told him, to spare him the hard reality. Whatever the case, this part of the background should have a profound effect on your character - perhaps he's even adventuring in hopes of learning something about his parents. Maybe he knows who they are, but not where, and he's simply seaching for them. Even if he's made peace with being an orphan, he is likely to have a different perspective on the definition of family. If he grew up being cared for by a large number of people sharing the role of parent, he may end up treating everyone close to him like a brother, sister, aunt or uncle (and expect to be treated likewise). This works well with the concept of him joining and finding solace a circus, which is like a giant, traveling family where everyone's unique characteristics are cherished rather than feared. A good adventuring party also shares a lot of these values. ~Ginger
Sean, THe Incompotent 06-03-07, 12:17 PM	0_o ... I am having trouble rping this guy can anyone help me with some quirks I could use as guide lines he if it helps he is CN
Aaarrrgh 06-03-07, 01:36 PM	First off, since he's out to capture monsters and exotic animals, he should try to stop the other partymembers from killing anything he would like for the circus, even if the monster/creature is attacking them. "Hey, be careful, that beauty is priceless, so I think you should let her take it! I mean, you have two arms, right?" He should then get really angry whenever they actually kill something. This does of course mean he needs to avenge the poor, sweet manticore, who never did any harm (at least not any harm that couldn't be fixed with some resurrection...). So how does an illusionist give a dead creature revenge on its killer? With illusions, of course! Whenever one of your partymembers kill something cool, wake them up in the middle of the night with an illusionary ghost of the dead creature! Add in some sound effects, and they won't sleep at all that night! Secondly, he could always be training for his act, doing card tricks, making coins appeare out of nowhere... He should think of this as something very funny, and do it all the time, including battle.