Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gdek 04-07-07, 11:50 PM	I'm trying to come up with a feasible background for a character for a new campaign. He's going to be a nimble sort of fighter/skill monkey. Anyhow, the only things I'm fixed on right now is that he is/was a horse thief, and has at some point in his past been a spice merchant. He is an extreme pragmatist, who doesn't particularly like spell casters. He is however, relatively (and often reluctantly) good at heart, though constantly tempted by his desire for fame and fortune. Thoughts?
pyro_cat 04-08-07, 12:08 PM	Hmm... Have you read anything by Eddings? Sounds a lot like one of his characters; Silk. You could pick up some inspiration from there. If you haven't read them, I highly reccomend them. Very light reading, you can do a book in a day, but it's a vastly entertaining series.
Westbound 04-08-07, 01:00 PM	Sounds like you've got an interesting recipe for exciting things to happen in your character's future. You're probably already aware that being a horse thief is grounds for a death penalty in many, if not most, places in a typical fantasy world. However, it's not the sort of thing that communities or governments will send lawmen out to you for. They will put a bounty on your head, though, and that'll potentially attract bounty hunters. Bounty hunters can be unscrupulous people. If they know where you are and they want to squeeze a bit more out of a bounty, they might do something like frame you for another crime. Get enough people to say you robbed a temple in such and such town and the bounty for your head goes up. For the most part, if you're a horse thief and haven't stolen a horse in quite some time, chances are that nobody will know. Among those that know, a few might care. What they do depends on what they are. If they're farmers, they're not going to come after you alone. If they're lawmen, they'll get suited up and come after you, and they might rile up local townsfolk just to see you hang. After all, life in rural communities can be very boring day after day, and a hanging can be the sort of thing people talk about weeks after the event. You might think that horse thievery is such a minor thing, why would they kill you over it? One, because they can, and two, horse thieves are considered worse than common thieves in town because a horse thief, by virtue of taking a horse, robs a person of livelihood. A horse is transportation, a labor tool, and as such it's a valuable commodity that can be traded and sold. A horse and wagon can transport you and your goods from your farm to town, and without it, you'll be lugging your harvest by hand. A lot of farms could lay out as far as 15 miles away or more from a town or city, and that's an all-day trip. If you're a merchant, you need your draft animals to haul your goods from town to city to village, and a horse thief can, in one fell swoop, strand you and potentially destitute you. The spice merchant aspect of your character sounds potentially lucrative...if your DM is smart enough to use it. Herbs and spices are valuable; peppercorns, for instance, were sometimes used as currency in medieval times and ancient Greece and Rome. Spices like saffron go for a heck of a lot of money in this day and age, so imagine how valuable it would be in olden days of yore.
Gdek 04-08-07, 01:57 PM	That's sort of the idea I'd come up with... The son of a fairly well known spice merchant, apprenticed to the trade, and has had some success on his own. For kicks, he steals horses on occasion from the towns/villages he's travelled through, though he often releases the animal before he reaches the next settlement. His guile, and the importance of the goods he carries, coupled with the fact that the horses usually return to their owners after a few days is the reason he hasn't had experienced a short drop with an abrupt stop. After all, why would a semi-successful merchant with a wealthy father steal horses? His risk seeking behaviour, and his travels have lead him to learn a little of combat, primarily for self protection. As he spends a lot of time in towns, he's taken the dagger as his weapon of choice. By switching caravan guards often, he is able to learn a little from each of them, and absorb different styles of fighting. He's finally had enough success to hire someone to run the majority of his business for him, and has decided to try out adventuring, mostly for fame and glory.
Gdek 04-09-07, 12:16 AM	@pyro - I read everything by Eddings ages ago, and hadn't made the connection to Silk until you mentioned it. Now I'll have to make sure I don't borrow too heavily. =)