Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MagnaZero 08-25-03, 04:19 PM	Im starting a new hobgoblin character in a Forgotten Relams Campaign, hoping he will be my sucessful long-term character, but I do not have any idea what kind of background to give him. Here's what Im planning so far: Species:Hobgoblin Gender:Male Class:Fighter(I plan to multiclass him into fighter/rogue/ranger/wizard/spellsword) Alignment:Chaotic Netural Using this information, can someone help me develop a back ground for this character? Thanks!
cheshire_grin 08-25-03, 06:30 PM	Originally posted by MagnaZero Im starting a new hobgoblin character in a Forgotten Relams Campaign, hoping he will be my sucessful long-term character, but I do not have any idea what kind of background to give him. No offense, but you seem to be kind of going about this backwards. You might try coming up with an interesting character, then figuring out how to make that character into a D&D character. Species:Hobgoblin Why? What makes a hobgoblin interesting to play to you? (I'm not being snotty here; what makes you want to play this race, for this character?) Class:Fighter(I plan to multiclass him into fighter/rogue/ranger/wizard/spellsword) Why? What character development arc do you see making the character make those decisions? Don't justify them as "well, I need 2 arcane caster levels for this PrC", or "I want the fighter BAB and bonus feat", why would the character want to do this? Alignment:Chaotic Netural Why? Aren't most hobs LE? Why is this character different, why does he make the life choices he does? When making up a character, "why" is a very powerful question.
MagnaZero 08-25-03, 07:05 PM	quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by MagnaZero Im starting a new hobgoblin character in a Forgotten Relams Campaign, hoping he will be my sucessful long-term character, but I do not have any idea what kind of background to give him. No offense, but you seem to be kind of going about this backwards. You might try coming up with an interesting character, then figuring out how to make that character into a D&D character. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, I already made him to a D&D character. I had a good idea of the lay out and everything and what I could do, but I wanted people's opnions on WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD BACKGROUND FOR HIM. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Species:Hobgoblin Why? What makes a hobgoblin interesting to play to you? (I'm not being snotty here; what makes you want to play this race, for this character?) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Right now you are just riddiculing my ideas. I wanted to try something new with this character, besides the "plain races" you see (human, elf, dwarf, etc,) and I also though it will make A NICE FUN ROLE PLAY EXPERIENCE. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Class:Fighter(I plan to multiclass him into fighter/rogue/ranger/wizard/spellsword) Why? What character development arc do you see making the character make those decisions? Don't justify them as "well, I need 2 arcane caster levels for this PrC", or "I want the fighter BAB and bonus feat", why would the character want to do this? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I NEVER SAID I WANTED THOSE CLASSES FOR BONUS FEAT'S. I choose fighter because I like characters who could fight. I chose Rogue and Ranger because they were good role-playing characters FOR ME.I chose wizard so I have spells for Spellsword, which is one of my favorite classes. quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alignment:Chaotic Netural Why? Aren't most hobs LE? Why is this character different, why does he make the life choices he does? When making up a character, "why" is a very powerful question. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All because the majority of the race is lawful evil, doesn't mean that one can't be different ( take a certain dual wielding drow for example.) I thought mabey he could have thought that the way of his race of wrong, and he seeks a path of his own. Basically, I wanted this character for a different experience, other then playing basic races all the time. Stats are not the only thing I care about. I came here for ideas, not to get assualted for no reason.
cheshire_grin 08-25-03, 10:10 PM	Originally posted by MagnaZero quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by MagnaZero Im starting a new hobgoblin character in a Forgotten Relams Campaign, hoping he will be my sucessful long-term character, but I do not have any idea what kind of background to give him. No offense, but you seem to be kind of going about this backwards. You might try coming up with an interesting character, then figuring out how to make that character into a D&D character. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, I already made him to a D&D character. I had a good idea of the lay out and everything and what I could do, but I wanted people's opnions on WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD BACKGROUND FOR HIM. Which is fine, I was just suggesting that expecting random strangers to come up with entire character backgrounds out of whole cloth might be a bit much -- not to mention that the kind of background I (or someone else) might not be at all the kind of character you're interested in, so if you can give some general jumping off points, that'd be swell. And race/class/alignment just don't serve as super great jumping off points, IMO. Right now you are just riddiculing my ideas. I wanted to try something new with this character, besides the "plain races" you see (human, elf, dwarf, etc,) and I also though it will make A NICE FUN ROLE PLAY EXPERIENCE. Okay, see the part where I said "what makes you want to play this race, for this character"? I'm NOT trying to ridicule you. I'm trying to find out what you are hoping to gain by playing a hob instead of something else. It might be that you're more interested in the outcast role that a monster race is likely to play in the "mainstream" elf-human-dwarf civilization, or it might be that you're interested in playing a bigger, rougher-and-tumbler race than elves or whatnot. I can't tell without asking you. I NEVER SAID I WANTED THOSE CLASSES FOR BONUS FEAT'S. I choose fighter because I like characters who could fight. I chose Rogue and Ranger because they were good role-playing characters FOR ME.I chose wizard so I have spells for Spellsword, which is one of my favorite classes. Um. Yeah. I basically said "don't justify the character in terms of game mechanics", you said "I'm not," and then did it anyway. I'm trying to help you out here, work with me a little. Justify it in terms of the character's choices. Imagine yourself in this hob's shoes. He just spent a long, painful apprenticeship getting thwacked with practice weapons so he could be a Ftr1. Why would he want to plunge himself back into another long session of learning to be a sorceror, or a rogue, or whatever? (The answer is not "because I want him to pick locks". The answer might be because he's naturally curious and has a short attention span, so he tends to drift with whatever class just grabbed his attention. Or it might be for some other reason.) I mean, you have to be aware that saying you want to multiclass into a "fighter/rogue/ranger/wizard/spellsword" is somewhat difficult to justify as far as character goes. It'd be like me saying I want to be a historian/soldier/mathematician/computer programmer/auto mechanic. Sure, you can probably do it, but pretty much noone does -- so the people who do probably have good reasons for it. I'm just trying to get you to think about your own character's reasons. All because the majority of the race is lawful evil, doesn't mean that one can't be different ( take a certain dual wielding drow for example.) I thought mabey he could have thought that the way of his race of wrong, and he seeks a path of his own. That's the first decent answer you've given. Obviously not every member of a race is going to have the same alignment, and frankly I don't care if you make him Chaotic Loopy as long as you think about why he is that way. What happened in his life that disillusioned him from being LE like his parents, friends, siblings, childhood heroes, etc? Basically, I wanted this character for a different experience, other then playing basic races all the time. Stats are not the only thing I care about. I came here for ideas, not to get assualted for no reason. Look, you made some unusual choices for character generation here. I'm just trying to point up those reasons and generate some ideas based on them. I never tried to ridicule you -- which is why I said "no offense" and "I'm not trying to be snotty". I'm just trying to get a sense for why you made those choices, so that I can use them to spark some ideas. Finally, if you're going to expect people to provide a backstory based on nothing more than a pure character sheet, then it might be helpful to provide all of the relevant information -- stats, feats, weapon preferences, etc. It won't do anyone any good to come up with a story about a highly intelligent but flighty hob if you've rolled up a 6 Int and an 18 Wis. Relax a notch or two and actually think about the questions I'm asking instead of immediately going nuclear. Or don't, and I just will ignore this thread. :shrug:
Morka 08-27-03, 08:35 AM	Some background ideas: - He is more intelligent (Int or Wis at least 16) than his siblings. He was always questionning the orders of the clan leader, and is soon cast away from his clan. He could meet some kind of ranger or an halfling encampment, become friend of them... - A group of paladin (or someone else) destroyd his clan when he was only a baby. He is adopt by someone of this group. He might be raised to be a bodyguard or a gladiator. - Instead of being the typical goblinoïd clan, his clan is thrall to a Red Wyrm. Most of his siblings wish to be freed from the Wyrm, and a group of adventurers finally kill the monster. Only survivor, he joins the group.
Trydan 08-27-03, 11:50 AM	Well, before I can really answer this, could you clarify a few things?[list=1] With whom will he be adventuring. It makes a big difference if the answer is "elves" as opposed to "more hobgoblins" Is this going to be an outdoors wilderness campaign, or something underground? What would be his attitude towards the "civilised" races (humans, dwarves, elves, etc.) Any idea on what sort of age he'd be? Young? Middle-aged? Old? What would the attitude of the "civilised" races in the campaign be towards him? That is, how much will he have to do in order to "be accepted"? [/list=1] Hmm... that should get me started.
Trydan 08-27-03, 12:03 PM	cheshire_grin wrote:And race/class/alignment just don't serve as super great jumping off points, IMO. I understand completely where you are coming from on this, cheshire_grin, but for complete newcomers, it is their starting point. There's nothing wrong with that, but it won't necessarily get them far or down the lines they are thinking. Usually, when players say they have no idea of a background, they usually do. Their problem is that they don't know how to go about expressing their concepts into some sort of prose that can be handed to other players or the DM to convey that concept. To use the example here... Hobgoblin/Fighter/ChaoticNeutral All of these spark some questions whose answers would spark the creation of a rich background. For example: Hobgoblin - Why? How do they fit in with the others? Why are they adventuring with dwarves and elves? Aren't they always being picked on? How do they deal with that? Fighter - Why? Why not barbarian? Are they weapon specialists? How did they get to be that way? Where did they get their training? Are they fighting for love, money, or revenge? Chaotic Neutral - Why? Are they mad? Absent minded? Unpredictable? Or something else? And why isn't this one evil like the others of his kind? So you see, not all is lost, and for a new comer, getting race/class/alignment is much better than some. Patience... my friend. PS: But I know exactly what you mean :rolleyes: and I fully sympathise. :(
MagnaZero 08-27-03, 12:06 PM	Posted by Morka ________________________________________ _________________ Some background ideas: - He is more intelligent (Int or Wis at least 16) than his siblings. He was always questionning the orders of the clan leader, and is soon cast away from his clan. He could meet some kind of ranger or an halfling encampment, become friend of them... - A group of paladin (or someone else) destroyd his clan when he was only a baby. He is adopt by someone of this group. He might be raised to be a bodyguard or a gladiator. - Instead of being the typical goblinoïd clan, his clan is thrall to a Red Wyrm. Most of his siblings wish to be freed from the Wyrm, and a group of adventurers finally kill the monster. Only survivor, he joins the group. ________________________________________ ____________________ Great job Morka! I really appreciate your help here. I still like the first idea about being an outcast of his clan, but I also like the third on about being apart of a clan trying to kill the dragon controlling them. I'll have to think of that. ________________________________________ ____________ Posted by Trydan Well, before I can really answer this, could you clarify a few things? 1.With whom will he be adventuring. It makes a big difference if the answer is "elves" as opposed to "more hobgoblins" 2.Is this going to be an outdoors wilderness campaign, or something underground? 3.What would be his attitude towards the "civilised" races (humans, dwarves, elves, etc.) 4.Any idea on what sort of age he'd be? Young? Middle-aged? Old? What would the attitude of the "civilised" races in the campaign be towards him? That is, how much will he have to do in order to "be accepted"? Hmm... that should get me started. ________________________________________ _________________ 1. Basically he's travelling with a basic group- Elven Ranger, Human Wizard, Gnome Rogue/Illusionist, and a Human Cleric/Fighter. 2.Its more of a Campaign were we are going to be spending time on the surface, but in numerous dungeons as well. 3.He get's along with humans, he believes that elves think that there better than everyone when they aren't, he get's along with half-orcs, he does not like dwarves, he think gnomes are weird, and he think halflings are nothing but thieves. 4.I was thinking around middle-age.
FunkySpunky 08-28-03, 01:54 AM	Woah woah, he's travelling with elves?! Well, see first off, I don't care if he's chaotic neutral, him and the elf *unless previously acquainted* are most likely going to try and gut each other. And I severely doubt the rest of the party will have a kindly disposition. Backround wise, the ones you like the best are almost uniformly the ones you come up with. It just works out that way. First off, his radically different Chaotic Neutral alignment needs a lot of explanation, Lawful Neutral would make sense, Chaotic Neutral needs some explanation. Next, I agree with whoever else said that you have a tricky multiclass situation. I mean, really why IS he multiclassing into 5 classes? Multiclassing is pretty rare with 2 or 3 core classes, 4 is just baffling. I mean why did he go, Alright done with fighter, Alright Done with Rogue, Alright Done with ranger et cetera. I mean if you have a good, legitimate roleplaying reason, then by all means go ahead. So basically what I'm saying is that your character is VERY VERY VERY far off the norm for a hobgoblin, and the real question is why? Not as a question to you, but as previously mentioned on this board, why is he a radically different alignment, travelling with elves and eventually going to branch out into 5 different classes? When you can answer that, the hard part of your character is done
Trydan 08-28-03, 04:19 AM	Regarding the issue of 5 classes... if you have a good, legitimate roleplaying reason, then by all means go ahead. I think this is part of the original "question" (even though it wasn't asked explicitly). What sort of background would justify something like that. To spell it out a little bit more, for the sake of the original poster... Fighter is always okay. It is compulsory military service, mercenary life, additional weapons training, wanting to be good with the weapon inherited from some grandfather, etc. Ranger could be justified on outdoor grounds. And that racial enemy? Hmm... what about elf? ;) Rogue needs to be justified on the skills taken with all those skill-points. Or perhaps on the sneak attack (which suits his subtle style .... hobgoblin? subtle? :uh-huh: but you could come up with a good story for it. Now... why magic? Tricky. Perhaps this is part of the reason why he is travelling with the elf? Perhaps the elf has the key to some magic that will do... er... something? Not sure. Maybe both he and the elf are part of some prophecy. Maybe they are also representitives of their races for some special purpose?
Xysma 08-28-03, 07:28 PM	One source book that might help is Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide. Hobgoblins are a fairly common and well developed race in that setting. There are some excellent tips on roleplaying hobgoblins. One point you could focus on is why is he CN? Since most hobgoblins are lawful and come from martial societies, what sets him apart and makes him different? Also you may want to look at Dragon #304 and check out the section on The Nameless Legion, it really helped me flesh out an ogre pc that I was having problems coming up with a history for.