Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Grislof the Blind 03-24-04, 01:02 PM	I am playing on a rather low magic kinda post apocalyptic world where magic is feared by most. In this world is born my new character, he is a barbarian, and knew nothing about magic, at least until now when he learned about the existance of magic, and he will soon start to discover some strange powers wich he will try to tame, turning into a sorcerer. I like the concept i have until now, but i am really lacking on a background for him, his history, and i would really appreciate any ideas you could give me. Any ideas on how to rleplay him, or some quirks would be nice too, since he is not a standard barbarian, having a 16 charisma.. he would probably be some kind of leader (but he is still lvl 3) before he set of to adventure. Well thanks in advance. Grislof
Sorel 03-24-04, 01:25 PM	He was cast out from his tribe when his powers were discovered by the tribe's shaman. The 'curse' of the sorceror was upon him. OR When he led his people to a great victory over the evil horde of a rival tribe using some amount of magic power, he was reviled and cast out rather than celebrated. Since that time, he has become a wanderer across the wasteland, hiding his powers from any who might fear him.
Grislof the Blind 03-24-04, 04:03 PM	Nice idea the one of already knowing but hiding my powers... ill talk to the dm about that... But i was thinking about he not having powers until now. And also, he is only lvl 3 , so he is not likely to be a leader of a tribe. maybe the son of a leader.. or the son of the shaman, that being the origin of his powers. I think the cast out idea will work quite well too, but i would prefer not to be so cliche... Well thanks for the good ideas, ill be sure to consider them. Anyone else has any idea ? :D Grislof
Sorel 03-24-04, 04:20 PM	Maybe he exiles himself and thinks he's cursed. You could tweak up a backstory that makes him ambiguous about his sorcerous power. I dunno. Of course, that would make him a more traditional 'mutant' type. I can see a very superstitious character with lots of strange rituals unique to his own tribe. Maybe he eats insects, or won't wear anything made of cloth. Maybe he's a vegetarian barbarian. ;)
TheMightyMcClaw 03-24-04, 09:08 PM	Barbarian and Sorcerer together make me think "barely-controlled power." You might want to check out Unearthed Arcana for the Whirling Frenzy Barbarian and the Battle Sorcerer variants. Perhaps, when this character rages, he doesn't merely get angry -he glows with faerie fire, wind blows fiercely, woodland animals run and hide. He is extremely emotional, quick to anger - he unleashes magic without thought, often laying his surroundings to ruin.
Grislof the Blind 03-24-04, 11:27 PM	Nice ideas ! Keep em comming ! Sorel : Nice ideas on the supertitions.. but i was thinking along the lines of him being affraid of his power... not doing rituals from the tribe to evoke them...but t is a valid one and made me think... TheMightyMcClaw: You got exactly the feel i want for his beggining as a sorcerer, not being able to fully control his powers. Also ill be sure to take a look at the variants, but i think UA may not be permitted, also, am heading to the rage mage prestige class. i know it is not optimized, but it fits right the concept. Thanks again and hope you guys have much more from where these came ! Grislof
BrutalMisery 03-25-04, 12:55 AM	There is a seroes of books by Barbara Hambley, thouggh I cannot remember the names. It was a trilogy, and one of the main character was a 'barbarian' (more along the lines of a D&D fighter raised by tribesmen). Who, at a young age, learned he could see spirits. His highly supersicious father "beat the demons out of him". In the setting, wizards were all pretty weak, until they went through a specail test (which killed about 1/2 those trying out with magical power, and those without magic potenial were killed outright) Then they became pretty powerful. Unforutanly, almost all the spellcasters who know what the test was, died without passing on the knowledge. Guess who acceidently took the test, and discovered he had magical powers, potent ones, and no cluse how to control them? Barbara Hambley is an excellent writer. I highly suggest Dragonsbane (but not the sequeals). It has another 'barbarian' hero in it.
Grislof the Blind 03-28-04, 12:30 PM	Thanks once again, BrutalMisery: Good suggestions but it may be very hard to find those books here on Brazil. but i got the idea and it sounds nice. I tought about his history and came up with this.. but is still kinda cliche in my opinion : Nothing is known about his life before the day he woke up on a small but comfortable cottage , the smell of herbs and hot soup in the air. The first person he saw was an old man holding a crooked staff looking as he got up. Later he would know that this man was the shaman of a barbarian tribe. The man told him he was about 13 years old and was found by the barbarians unconcious in the woods, along with a burnt carcass of a wolf, not understanding what had happened there they brought the boy to the village, and the shaman took care of the boy, be it by pitty, compassion, or curiosity about the many tatoos that the boy had covering his body (he had no idea where these came from too) . Years passed and the boy became a man, strong and quick he mastered a weapon wich few could use with skill, the double bladed sword, and became a respected fighter. All was well, until the day when a band of ogres attacked the village, having already brought down 2 of them , he was hit and felt his life was in danger.. real danger.. and it happened, a loud crack was heard on the "battlefield" as the smell of ozone rised in the air, and the ogre was struck dead by a devastating lightning , but the power of the lightning was too much, and it destroyed a large area around it, starting a fire wich consumed almost the entire village. After this incident, he decided that he was a danger to all others and decided to exile himself. More years passed and never again that happened. Until now...
TheMightyMcClaw 03-29-04, 05:05 PM	I got an idea from reading that line about "beating the demons out of him." Perhaps this barbarian is partially possessed by an angry fire spirit? This causes him not only to occasionally manifest deadly magic, but also for him to fly into a supernatural flurry of battle... thus giving a bit more "Humppa" to the idea of a barbarian rage. Perhaps the spirit is evil, and he constantly wrestles with it for moral control. Or, perhaps it simply has some goal other than that of its human host. Perhaps it wants seek vengeance on ancient enemy, or return its natural home on the far side of the world (or another plane entirely). Perhaps it possessed the barbarian when he tresspassed on some sacred ground, and now wants to force him to atone. It would open up a lot of roleplaying options, and a lot of dynamism to the character. Also, if you're going wield a two-bladed sword, please don't use the goofy-as-hell ones in the PHB. Go here (http://www.shaolin.com.au/weapon.html) and check out the "heaven and earth sun-moon sword" under Slicing and Stabbing weapons (about halfway down). Now that's a sword.
Grislof the Blind 03-29-04, 06:54 PM	Man this is one Good idea ! Ill be sure to talk with my DM about it ! It also helps defining some things for my character .. like the spells.. i would be looking for fire ones then.. really nice. im gonna write this one down ! About the sword.. i'm probably going to design my own sword.. dont get me wrong, but the "heaven and earth sun-moon sword" havent impressed me so much.. Anyways thanks again.. great ideas ! And we're still open 24h to anyone who wants to help !
Centurion_stalker 03-29-04, 11:10 PM	Hmm, your character was a fierce warrior in a superstitious tribe, and during a battle with another tribe, he blacks out and the entire opposition force is killed and many of his friends as well, and he doesn't know how this happened. He wakes up, and when he goes back to his tribe, they kick him out, because they think he killed them. ~~ build on them.
Lanoitakude 03-30-04, 01:28 AM	I don't know the whole story of your campaign, but maybe, as a child, your character was cought in magical upwelling or something (some sort of tear in magic) that scarred him terribly. He could have a massive Sagat style scar, or the scars could look arcane in nature (like runes, but burned into his skin). Whenever he rages and uses magic, the scar(s) glows brightly and burns him. Just a thought, I don't know if you wanted to take the character in the "tormented magic user" direction. I have long threatened to unleash a high level orc wizard upon my players (I'm DM) to rid them of their terrible stereotypes of orcs. They believe every orc is a barbarian, every hafling a crazy rogue, and every elf a panzy.
TheMightyMcClaw 03-30-04, 09:53 PM	I'm glad you like the spirit idea. It should make for a good mystical, fantastical sense to your magic, as well as providing a character theme that supercedes just being a "sorcerer" or a "barbarian." I suppose that's OK about the sword. I'm just a sucker for cool Chinese weapons. :P Just as long as the center grip isn't absurdly tiny, like in the PHB....