Post/Author/DateTime	Post
eudas 11-22-04, 06:52 PM	I am building a new character. The basic story so far is that the character lives with his wife in a moderately populated city. [Original profession as yet undetermined.] Due to hard times, the character began stealing to support himself and his wife. After a few dangerous encounters and almost getting caught by the city guard, he joined the city thieves' guild, received some training, and got a little better at his new job. [Rogue 1-2] At some point, he finds out his wife has been disloyal [situation undetermined; could be gradual development of distance between him and his wife, followed by a little detective work/shadowing, or he could come home to find them in flagrante delicto], and in a fit of dark fury, commits some act [exact act undetermined; however, i had in mind something along the lines of beating her severely, and then selling her to a slaver.. I hadn't decided what he'd do with the guy... either torture/kill him, or cut out his tongue, castrate him and then sell him as a galley slave?]. This bitterness and anger sticks with him; he develops the ability to cause bad things to happen. [Thus, he moves to Hexblade 1-3, gaining the Hex Curse 1/day, etc.] He spends some time pursuing his previous job as a thief, and at some point becomes involved in slave trade [perhaps through his contact that he sold his ex-wife...], so he traffics in that for a while, perhaps taking up some bounty hunting for selected "prize catches" (sneak attack damage can be nonlethal if a sap is used, after all.) This is the kind of guy that would kidnap a 13 year old girl, take her across the border, and sell her for a lot of gold. And along the way, maybe he'd even "sample the goods"... Eventually, I would like for him to be Rogue2/Hexblade 3/Invisible Blade 5. That leaves 10 levels open (possibly more rogue levels, a couple of fighter levels, some hexblade levels, or assassin levels... it seems to be the flavor for this character.) Character Stats (level 1, 30 pt buy): str 10 dex 15 con 14 int 14 wis 10 cha 14 Race: human Alignment: undetermined thus far, though i kind of lean towards NE; Hexblade is any nongood. So far, I'm pondering that he would be a NN citizen, either stay NN or go to CN as a rogue, and possibly either CN, CE, or NE when he turns to the slave trade. [NN->CN->CE or NN->NE->NE.] Arguments could be made a multitude of ways, depending on how the background is written. Help with that is appreciate, esp if it includes justifications that match the background. Development: I want the character to be able to do well in his thief skills, but I also want him to be somewhat focused on a few important social skills, namely bluff, sense motive, and intimidate, that will cover his development as Profession(slaver), fulfill prerequisites for Invisible Blade, and explain his role as somewhat of a thug. :) Other concerns: 1) What to do after level 10? 2) rogue2 only gives 1d6 sneak attack; invisible blade grants a few more sneak attack dice, but only for use with dagger-like weapons. Should i take a class or classes that bring more Sneak attack dice? Or would something else be more appropriate? Comments welcome and appreciated. eudas edit: i think the build will progress something along the lines of rogue 2/hexblade 3/invisible blade 5/assassin 5, leaving 5 empty levels to mess with. eudas
coldflame 11-23-04, 01:19 AM	Try taking 2-5 wizard or sorc levels then 3-8 assassin levels, then go crazy on shadowdancer classes (fun class really, just the summoned shadows have crappy drawbacks). Or just go with a class called Dragon Rider, I dont remember where Ive seen it but its a good combo with either rogue or fighter/sorc.
eudas 11-23-04, 05:47 PM	Any other comments, esp w/rt the storyline and alignment? eudas
TheMightyMcClaw 11-23-04, 06:17 PM	Well, from your description, he sounds like a very, very, very bad man. Thus, I'd recomend going with NE on the alignment. It takes a vile bastard to sell his WIFE into slavery. He's not particularly chaotic in his actions, he's just mean and awful. Personally, it seems that a villain like that would have made some serious enemies. Maybe he did just torture or castrate the guy, but didn't kill him... and now he's sworn to revenge himself on the character for selling his lover into slavery.
eudas 11-23-04, 11:41 PM	Yes, Samir is a very, very bad man. I think you're right, NN -> NE is the right path. Say, he finds out about his wife's transgression slowly, and starts setting little "traps" (signs of trespass) around the house with his thief skills, to see if people are going in certain ways, etc... looking for evidence, watching the house when his wife thinks he's out on a job. So when he sees the man come over, and watches them have sex, he is enraged... enraged enough to sneak in, sap the man, beat the wife up in a fit of passion. "You want to be a *****? Then you will be!!" Ties her up, ties the man up, tortures him a bit... "I'm not done with you... not by a damn sight!" ... drags her to the thieves' guild and sells her as a pleasure slave. Returning to his house, where he intended to finish the job of torturing and killing his wife's lover, he finds the rope bonds broken and the man is gone... and now he knows that he cannot stay. He must hunt this man down and kill him for what he has done. eudas
Sorcerer 11-24-04, 01:26 AM	I'ld leave the DM a loose end here with the missing man. Who is hunting who? Most likely this guy will run off to rescue the girl. Then together they will be a recurring nemisis for your slaver. Hiring assassins and the like. What if this missing guy has levels? Or worse, what if he is a Harper? Then you would have a whole organization with a grudge. evil DMs would have this wife ultimately sold to a vampire. The man rescues her, and she bites him! Now there are two vampires looking for revenge. Whats a poor slaver to do? Or what if this guy dies at your slavers hand? Undeath may come calling for this guy's unfullfilled desire to save the girl and get the bad guy. Spectres, wraithes, and Revenants, oh my!
eudas 11-24-04, 09:44 AM	Yeah I'm trying to leave the missing man as an open hook. Even the ex-wife is an open hook as well, since she could be bought, as you say, by someone "interesting". I'm struggling with trying to figure out if part of the character's "reason to adventure" should be to run *after* the missing man, or run *from* the missing man... eudas
eudas 11-24-04, 04:58 PM	Hrm... so... Let's say, that Samir started putting two and two together, and waited until the wife and lover were to meet next while Samir was gone for a few days on a "job"... watching the house, he sees a man come over, and his wife greets him rather more familiarly than she should. they retire upstairs, and samir lets himself into the house... quietly. armed with a sap, he catches them in flagrente delicto and there is a fight.. in the tussel, samir is almost knocked out but manages to wound the man savagely. the man sees samir's sigil and knows what it means, so he grabs it and the bag hanging from samir's belt, and kicks samir off of him, running away. cursing, but too wounded to pursue, samir drinks a potion. he knows he has to leave the city, or he'll be arrested by the city guard for thievery after the man shows the evidence. he gets his remaining things together, and threatens to kill his wife if she doesn't follow his directions. dressed in cloaks, they leave their apartment forever behind them. samir goes to a thieves' guild safehouse, and they help arrange passage out of the city with a foreign slave trader who is going to another city. at this, samir gets a cruel inspiration. when he meets with the merchant to discuss traveling with him, he offers his wife for sale as a pleasure slave, and it is agreed upon. a fair price for the slave, and passage over the desert to the next city, in exchange for his services as a caravan guard. thus ends samir's days as a thief, and begins his dark days as a hexblade mercenary, and his involvement in the slave trade business. the man, meanwhile, presents evidence to the city guard of samir's involvement with the thieves' guild and several recent burglaries, and after he gets healed, he swears to hunt samir down and rescue his lover... eudas