Help with my Character Story? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help with my Character Story? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
oloknotwise
01-10-07, 12:23 AM So this is my first time playing D&D and my DM has requested a background and a list of personal traits for our characters (including our purpose for adventuring with the other members of the group). I have written my story already (I'll post it below, but I warn you: it is long) and have a bit of a list of traits that can work. However, I want to expand the personal traits list, possibly with some really weird quirks.

My character is a Human Cleric of Pelor.

My party:
Human Ranger (very reckless, but my connection to the party)
Half-Elf Ranger (other ranger's half-sister, wants to befriend every animal and call them Peaches)
Elf Druid (annoying person who thinks of the half-elf ranger as a role model)

We are only working with the Core books (3.5), but my DM has allowed me to become the Radiant Servant of Pelor if I make some minor changes.

Story:
Ollo Beron, formerly Kevmorn Chorster, was born into a wealthy, nomadic family. The family of Chorster was known throughout the lands of the kingdom or Lennox for their long family history and their great deeds that they have performed. However, not all of the citizens of Lennox praised the deeds.
At the very young age of five, Kevmorn’s family was ambushed in the dead of night during their stay in the small farming town of Cole. Kevmorn’s mother fought desperately with the attackers to keep her youngest son, Kevmorn, from perishing under the attackers. His entire family was slain in before his eyes, and he, will still relatively young, was taken hostage by a Half-Orc Barbarian.
Rather than gaining any care from the Barbarian or from his cohorts, Kevmorn was sold to a wealthy, but secretive merchant. The merchant treated Kevmorn as a slave and worked him to the bone. It did not take long for hatred to develop between the two of them, which only made matters worse for Kevmorn.
Until the age of eleven, Kevmorn stayed with the ruthless merchant, spending each day performing tedious and exhausting tasks. Kevmorn had become isolated from society and remained fairly secluded. However, just after his twelfth birthday, Kevmorn overheard the merchant speaking to a “special” client of his. The merchant had become part of a ruthless guild of thieves, calling themselves the Silent Sickle. The Thieves wanted nothing more than wealth, a trait that the merchant was known for.
That fateful night, Kevmorn had learned of plans to raid the local Inn for any goods that would be of any wealth. Out of spite for his owner, Kevmorn slipped out of the back door of the merchant’s store and quickly made his way for the local law enforcement post. There he explained the impending raid on the Inn, allowing the local paladins to gain a lead against the Silent Sickle.
However, unknown to Kevmorn, his lack of nimbleness during his run to the law enforcement post was enough evidence to alert the merchant of Kevmorn’s deeds. Angered, the merchant turned on the boy and attacked him. Severely injured, Kevmorn was taken from the small village and left to die many miles from town.
In the early hours of the morning, a traveling dwarf cleric of Pelor by the name of Veit Beron came upon the unconscious boy. The Cleric, who was known throughout the Dwarven lands as the Traveling Medic, made a camp nearby and tended to the boy’s wounds. The dwarf spent many days ensuring the health the young boy, never leaving his side. It was over a week until Kevmorn was at full health, however, many of the scars that the merchant had given him would remain forever, most notably the one scar across his right cheek.
In great debt to the cleric, and in order to ensure his safety away from the Silent Sickle, Kevmorn adopted a name that the dwarf had provided (from a recently deceased brother), becoming Ollo Beron. Viet spent much of his time teaching Ollo about the ways of his Deity, Pelor. To the astonishment of Ollo, the ways of Pelor and the duties of a cleric had become the ways of his new life.
When Ollo reached the age of fourteen, the two of them reached the city of Myev, a city with a reputation for thievery. After spending the afternoon on his own trying to haggle for a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, a Halfling Rogue of the Silent Sickle recognized Ollo from his earlier years with the merchant. The rogue informed other members of the guild about the presence of Ollo and devised a plan for his assassination. That night, a group of assassins made their way into the inn that Veit and Ollo were located. However, due to the lack of knowledge of the assassins about their prey, they brutally slaughtered Veit instead of Ollo. This vile deed brought back terrifying memories of the fateful night that his family was slaughtered.
When the assassins left, Ollo knew that there would be a ransom for his death and quickly made his way from Myev. The guilt of his desertion of Veit in the inn weighed heavily on Ollo for the next two months as he traveled alone. However, he eventually came across a Church of Pelor. From relying on his faith in Pelor for keeping him from death all his life, Ollo entered the church and explained everything to the clergy he found inside. They realized the horrors that Ollo had witnessed an offered to care for him for some time. Out of remorse for Veit, Ollo decided to join the church and become a full Cleric.
When Ollo turned sixteen, the church’s priest had a nightmare regarding Ollo. The Priest, who wanted to keep the church on peaceful terms with the rest of the citizens of Lennox, forced Ollo to leave. However, Ollo was little resentment of his departure. He knew that the divine power of Pelor was to guide him through the lands as the new Traveling Medic, honoring the life of Veit. For three years Ollo traveled from village to village, providing healing to those who required it. Soon Ollo crossed the border of Lennox into the foreign lands of Ikaslia. It was here that Ollo had stumbled upon the reckless human ranger, Adrian. Ollo took an automatic disliking to the ranger and made his leave as soon as humanly possible. However, only a few months later, Ollo received a dream from Pelor indicating him to seek out Adrian and his half-sister Thearia to follow them on their journeys. Ollo, who did not want to see the Ranger again but destined to follow the wishes of Pelor, reluctantly agreed to the task. Just after he turned 20, Ollo had found the two rangers. Since then, Ollo joined the half-siblings on their journey trough Ikaslia, often providing aid in combat and healing them as needed, though sometimes acting stingy and “accidentally” providing weak healing spells for Adrian.

Personal Traits:
• Clumsy and not very good with his hands
• Wisdom is very important to Ollo. He has a conscience that takes great precedence in his decision-making (like spell selection). He has to think his actions through and must analyze his situation to try to make the best decision. However, he has a tendency to over think his actions or to be over cautious.
• He prays as if a monk would meditate by sitting on the floor, legs crossed. However, he is not meditating, but merely praying. He should not be disturbed when praying or he will become vengeful.
• When he casts a spell, he will first snap his fingers, state the spell’s name and move his hands in the required form. If the spell requires the use of the symbol of Pelor, he will take the symbol in one hand, hold it above his head and with his other hand follow the same routine as a regular spell.
• He prefers to wield the mace than any other weapon. The mace is not only the preferred weapon of Pelor, but also a weapon similar to Veit’s choice of weapons.
• Despises rogues and barbarians. To Ollo, they represent evil and betrayal. He is also weary of wealthy, greedy merchants.
• Ollo prefers to travel rather than stay in a populous place for a long period of time. He is aware that the Silent Sickle may not operate in Ikaslia, but is still afraid that someone might recognize him.
• He prefers to travel by day than by night. If he needs to travel in the dark, he will automatically draw his mace for extra protection.
• Ollo enjoys the company of Dwarves. He can speak the Dwarven language and is empathetic to Dwarven ways.
• He believes that the best offense is a good defense. He feels safer with better armor on rather than heading into combat with agility (prefers a higher AC than to increasing his melee capabilities).
• Ollo cannot stand people who will just jump into combat or make a move with little or no thought at all. Recklessness is not something he wants to be associated with.

Any help?
BlackZed
01-10-07, 01:57 PM To me, he seems as though he would be quiet, and a bit introspective, preferring to keep to himself most of the time. If so, my suggestion would be to determine some minor pasttime to occupy his attention so that it doesn't seem like he's moping or just being standoffish. I had a druid that kept to herself, and she whittled dead wood into shapes of animals, leaving the small statuettes wherever she was when she finished one as a homage to nature. As he's a cleric, perhaps he keeps a healing kit that he checks every night or morning to ensure the components are still in good condition, giving him fair excuse to avoid the ranger and keep his own counsel.

You said he was born to a wealthy family. You might pull some ideas from that. How did they gain their wealth? Were they nomadic due to their culture, or their profession? Did they have a trade or a pasttime that Ollo might emulate to help keep their memory alive?
oloknotwise
01-12-07, 01:04 AM To me, he seems as though he would be quiet, and a bit introspective, preferring to keep to himself most of the time. If so, my suggestion would be to determine some minor pasttime to occupy his attention so that it doesn't seem like he's moping or just being standoffish. I had a druid that kept to herself, and she whittled dead wood into shapes of animals, leaving the small statuettes wherever she was when she finished one as a homage to nature. As he's a cleric, perhaps he keeps a healing kit that he checks every night or morning to ensure the components are still in good condition, giving him fair excuse to avoid the ranger and keep his own counsel.

You said he was born to a wealthy family. You might pull some ideas from that. How did they gain their wealth? Were they nomadic due to their culture, or their profession? Did they have a trade or a pasttime that Ollo might emulate to help keep their memory alive?

Thanks! That really helps!
marcel_deathbringer
01-19-07, 09:42 AM I would say what you have is adequate. Although it is nice to have a background and traits for your character, you don't want to bog it down with so many details. I would say stick with what you have. No need for anymore clutter.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
oloknotwise 01-10-07, 12:23 AM	So this is my first time playing D&D and my DM has requested a background and a list of personal traits for our characters (including our purpose for adventuring with the other members of the group). I have written my story already (I'll post it below, but I warn you: it is long) and have a bit of a list of traits that can work. However, I want to expand the personal traits list, possibly with some really weird quirks. My character is a Human Cleric of Pelor. My party: Human Ranger (very reckless, but my connection to the party) Half-Elf Ranger (other ranger's half-sister, wants to befriend every animal and call them Peaches) Elf Druid (annoying person who thinks of the half-elf ranger as a role model) We are only working with the Core books (3.5), but my DM has allowed me to become the Radiant Servant of Pelor if I make some minor changes. Story: Ollo Beron, formerly Kevmorn Chorster, was born into a wealthy, nomadic family. The family of Chorster was known throughout the lands of the kingdom or Lennox for their long family history and their great deeds that they have performed. However, not all of the citizens of Lennox praised the deeds. At the very young age of five, Kevmorn’s family was ambushed in the dead of night during their stay in the small farming town of Cole. Kevmorn’s mother fought desperately with the attackers to keep her youngest son, Kevmorn, from perishing under the attackers. His entire family was slain in before his eyes, and he, will still relatively young, was taken hostage by a Half-Orc Barbarian. Rather than gaining any care from the Barbarian or from his cohorts, Kevmorn was sold to a wealthy, but secretive merchant. The merchant treated Kevmorn as a slave and worked him to the bone. It did not take long for hatred to develop between the two of them, which only made matters worse for Kevmorn. Until the age of eleven, Kevmorn stayed with the ruthless merchant, spending each day performing tedious and exhausting tasks. Kevmorn had become isolated from society and remained fairly secluded. However, just after his twelfth birthday, Kevmorn overheard the merchant speaking to a “special” client of his. The merchant had become part of a ruthless guild of thieves, calling themselves the Silent Sickle. The Thieves wanted nothing more than wealth, a trait that the merchant was known for. That fateful night, Kevmorn had learned of plans to raid the local Inn for any goods that would be of any wealth. Out of spite for his owner, Kevmorn slipped out of the back door of the merchant’s store and quickly made his way for the local law enforcement post. There he explained the impending raid on the Inn, allowing the local paladins to gain a lead against the Silent Sickle. However, unknown to Kevmorn, his lack of nimbleness during his run to the law enforcement post was enough evidence to alert the merchant of Kevmorn’s deeds. Angered, the merchant turned on the boy and attacked him. Severely injured, Kevmorn was taken from the small village and left to die many miles from town. In the early hours of the morning, a traveling dwarf cleric of Pelor by the name of Veit Beron came upon the unconscious boy. The Cleric, who was known throughout the Dwarven lands as the Traveling Medic, made a camp nearby and tended to the boy’s wounds. The dwarf spent many days ensuring the health the young boy, never leaving his side. It was over a week until Kevmorn was at full health, however, many of the scars that the merchant had given him would remain forever, most notably the one scar across his right cheek. In great debt to the cleric, and in order to ensure his safety away from the Silent Sickle, Kevmorn adopted a name that the dwarf had provided (from a recently deceased brother), becoming Ollo Beron. Viet spent much of his time teaching Ollo about the ways of his Deity, Pelor. To the astonishment of Ollo, the ways of Pelor and the duties of a cleric had become the ways of his new life. When Ollo reached the age of fourteen, the two of them reached the city of Myev, a city with a reputation for thievery. After spending the afternoon on his own trying to haggle for a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, a Halfling Rogue of the Silent Sickle recognized Ollo from his earlier years with the merchant. The rogue informed other members of the guild about the presence of Ollo and devised a plan for his assassination. That night, a group of assassins made their way into the inn that Veit and Ollo were located. However, due to the lack of knowledge of the assassins about their prey, they brutally slaughtered Veit instead of Ollo. This vile deed brought back terrifying memories of the fateful night that his family was slaughtered. When the assassins left, Ollo knew that there would be a ransom for his death and quickly made his way from Myev. The guilt of his desertion of Veit in the inn weighed heavily on Ollo for the next two months as he traveled alone. However, he eventually came across a Church of Pelor. From relying on his faith in Pelor for keeping him from death all his life, Ollo entered the church and explained everything to the clergy he found inside. They realized the horrors that Ollo had witnessed an offered to care for him for some time. Out of remorse for Veit, Ollo decided to join the church and become a full Cleric. When Ollo turned sixteen, the church’s priest had a nightmare regarding Ollo. The Priest, who wanted to keep the church on peaceful terms with the rest of the citizens of Lennox, forced Ollo to leave. However, Ollo was little resentment of his departure. He knew that the divine power of Pelor was to guide him through the lands as the new Traveling Medic, honoring the life of Veit. For three years Ollo traveled from village to village, providing healing to those who required it. Soon Ollo crossed the border of Lennox into the foreign lands of Ikaslia. It was here that Ollo had stumbled upon the reckless human ranger, Adrian. Ollo took an automatic disliking to the ranger and made his leave as soon as humanly possible. However, only a few months later, Ollo received a dream from Pelor indicating him to seek out Adrian and his half-sister Thearia to follow them on their journeys. Ollo, who did not want to see the Ranger again but destined to follow the wishes of Pelor, reluctantly agreed to the task. Just after he turned 20, Ollo had found the two rangers. Since then, Ollo joined the half-siblings on their journey trough Ikaslia, often providing aid in combat and healing them as needed, though sometimes acting stingy and “accidentally” providing weak healing spells for Adrian. Personal Traits: • Clumsy and not very good with his hands • Wisdom is very important to Ollo. He has a conscience that takes great precedence in his decision-making (like spell selection). He has to think his actions through and must analyze his situation to try to make the best decision. However, he has a tendency to over think his actions or to be over cautious. • He prays as if a monk would meditate by sitting on the floor, legs crossed. However, he is not meditating, but merely praying. He should not be disturbed when praying or he will become vengeful. • When he casts a spell, he will first snap his fingers, state the spell’s name and move his hands in the required form. If the spell requires the use of the symbol of Pelor, he will take the symbol in one hand, hold it above his head and with his other hand follow the same routine as a regular spell. • He prefers to wield the mace than any other weapon. The mace is not only the preferred weapon of Pelor, but also a weapon similar to Veit’s choice of weapons. • Despises rogues and barbarians. To Ollo, they represent evil and betrayal. He is also weary of wealthy, greedy merchants. • Ollo prefers to travel rather than stay in a populous place for a long period of time. He is aware that the Silent Sickle may not operate in Ikaslia, but is still afraid that someone might recognize him. • He prefers to travel by day than by night. If he needs to travel in the dark, he will automatically draw his mace for extra protection. • Ollo enjoys the company of Dwarves. He can speak the Dwarven language and is empathetic to Dwarven ways. • He believes that the best offense is a good defense. He feels safer with better armor on rather than heading into combat with agility (prefers a higher AC than to increasing his melee capabilities). • Ollo cannot stand people who will just jump into combat or make a move with little or no thought at all. Recklessness is not something he wants to be associated with. Any help?
BlackZed 01-10-07, 01:57 PM	To me, he seems as though he would be quiet, and a bit introspective, preferring to keep to himself most of the time. If so, my suggestion would be to determine some minor pasttime to occupy his attention so that it doesn't seem like he's moping or just being standoffish. I had a druid that kept to herself, and she whittled dead wood into shapes of animals, leaving the small statuettes wherever she was when she finished one as a homage to nature. As he's a cleric, perhaps he keeps a healing kit that he checks every night or morning to ensure the components are still in good condition, giving him fair excuse to avoid the ranger and keep his own counsel. You said he was born to a wealthy family. You might pull some ideas from that. How did they gain their wealth? Were they nomadic due to their culture, or their profession? Did they have a trade or a pasttime that Ollo might emulate to help keep their memory alive?
oloknotwise 01-12-07, 01:04 AM	To me, he seems as though he would be quiet, and a bit introspective, preferring to keep to himself most of the time. If so, my suggestion would be to determine some minor pasttime to occupy his attention so that it doesn't seem like he's moping or just being standoffish. I had a druid that kept to herself, and she whittled dead wood into shapes of animals, leaving the small statuettes wherever she was when she finished one as a homage to nature. As he's a cleric, perhaps he keeps a healing kit that he checks every night or morning to ensure the components are still in good condition, giving him fair excuse to avoid the ranger and keep his own counsel. You said he was born to a wealthy family. You might pull some ideas from that. How did they gain their wealth? Were they nomadic due to their culture, or their profession? Did they have a trade or a pasttime that Ollo might emulate to help keep their memory alive? Thanks! That really helps!
marcel_deathbringer 01-19-07, 09:42 AM	I would say what you have is adequate. Although it is nice to have a background and traits for your character, you don't want to bog it down with so many details. I would say stick with what you have. No need for anymore clutter.