Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 04-21-06, 03:42 PM	Note: Feel free to provide critiques here, but don't feel obliged to. I'm not really posting this here looking for help. I'm mainly posting this so that I can post a link to it in my signature. Race: Half-Elf Class: Paladin 2/Bard 1 (Note: YES, I cheated to get the first bard level. Getting it legally would have meant falling as a paladin, becoming Neutral Good, taking a level of bard, falling as a bard, becoming LG again, atoning as a paladin, THEN taking the feat. I skipped all of that and took the feat and my first bard level simultaneously. Get over it ;)) Stats (30 point buy): Strength: 16 Dexterity: 10 Constitution: 14 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 10 Charisma: 14 Feats: Human Blooded, Devoted Performer Quirks: -Somewhat pompous, verbose style of speech. -Is vegan. Currently looking for a non-leather whip to take advantage of his bardic weapon proficiency (maybe there are leafweave whips?) -Donates 20% of loot to the Church of the Silver Flame, or at least tries to (currently about 60 gp short of my goal, and have donated about 18% of loot). Background: Jean-Paul was born in the Aundairian town of Alvegny, located roughly halfway between Fairhaven and Passage. His father was a Khorvaire elf named Jacques ir-Goreaux, an entrepreneurial man, who amassed a fortune during the Last War supplying Aundair's forces with armor forged using elven techniques, such as Darkleaf, Leafweave, and Mithral armors, which attained great popularity among the Knights Arcane, especially the Knights Phantom. He simultaneously maintained nominal, if not very devout, membership in the Church of the Silver Flame, to hedge himself against Thranish victory. Some thirty years into the Last War, he became wealthy enough to persuade the crown of Aundair to give him the lordship of a noble house that had been wiped out by the ravages of the war, making him Lord ir-Goreaux, baron of the town of Alvegny. When Valenar broke away from Cyre, he managed to court and marry the daughter of a mid-ranking Valenar chieftain, Sailla, hoping to gain improved contacts with the new nation, and possibly improve his supplies of elven armor sold to the Aundairian crown. They had a son, Guillaume ir-Goreaux. Although there was little passion in the marriage between Jacques and Sailla, Guillaume was, in many ways, the fulfillment of both of their hopes. Graceful and perceptive, he showed skill at arms when both Sailla and Jacques' new position as an aristocrat compelled him to be trained in arms (Jacques had hoped to avoid such training, to make him less tempting as officer material in the Last War, which would likely lead to death, but both aristocratic tradition and Sailla combined won out). At the same time, he had a sense of compassion and conscientiousness that, though neither Jacques nor Sailla truly shared it, they both came to admire it. Some twenty years later, however, Jacques had a brief affair with his commoner human maid, Agnes of Alvegny. When the pregnancy was discovered, Jacques initially planned on compelling the maid to abort the child with pennyroyal tea. However, before it was done, Guillaume discovered the pregnancy too, and managed to persuade his father to let the maid have the baby. The baby was born, but the mother, Agnes of Alvegny, died giving birth to her half-elven son. Jean-Paul of Alvegny is the bastard son of Lord Jacques ir-Goreaux and Agnes of Alvegny. (w00t! My character is finally born!) Jacques tried to raise his new son well, but still regarded him as a mistake. Sailla, by contrast, was openly cold, if not hostile, toward her stepson, regarding him as a blemish on her ancestral honor. Guillaume tried to help Jean-Paul, but never truly treated him as an equal, and often tried to "aid" or "improve" his younger half-brother with a condescension which alienated Jean-Paul. Moreover, Jean-Paul bitterly resented his brother's success: Guillaume was perceptive, graceful, legitimate, and skilled. Jean-Paul was, by elven standards, clumsy and imperceptive. He possessed a strong, healthy body and a persuasive personality, but these were largely overlooked by his parents and brother. In his teens, Jean-Paul began to seek escape from the coldness of his family life. He found a group of fellow children of Alvegny's minor nobility and bourgeoisie. Known as "the companions," they experimented with Dreamlily, and developed associations with Alvegny's nascent criminal underground. Jean-Paul began to commit acts of petty vandalism and shoplifting with his fellow companions. He also began to seduce various commoner girls around Alvegny, abandoning them whenever he began to be bored with them, perhaps seeking to spread the coldness and isolation he experienced in his own life to others. (METAGAME NOTE: in short, he was chaotic evil at this point) In Jean-Paul's 18th year, the war finally ended. Whatever regret Jacques ir-Goreaux felt that his income from the armor trade would taper off was surely outweighed by his relief that Guillaume would not be killed fighting for Aundair. On the first anniversery of the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold, a celebration, including a jousting tournament was held Fairhaven. Although few Aundairians felt any desire to celebrate a peace which codified the loss of Thaliost, the Eldeen Reaches, and so much else, there was little doubt that the celebration would lift spirits. Guillaume was also to participate in the jousting, where he was favored to do well, and even considered a possible victor (although the odds were still long, in spite of his skill). Jean-Paul, however, felt that his brother was going too far, and that he needed a check on his rising success. Before they left for Fairhaven, Jean-Paul procured a poison from his underground contacts in Alvegny. The morning before the tourney, Jean-Paul drugged his half-brother's breakfast. It was not a lethal poison -- just something to make him drowsy, clumsy and uncoordinated: something that would make him fall off his horse, lose the tournament, so that someone else might win. The drug, however, worked too well. Not only was Guillaume unhorsed on the first joust, he fell so clumsily that he injured his spine in the fall, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. At first, Jean-Paul quickly rationalized his guilt away: perhaps the dosage had been slightly excessive, but the idea was sound. Really, it wasn't his fault that his brother had fallen: it's an inherent risk in playing a dangerous, stupid sport like jousting! And what did Guillaume need functioning legs for, anyway? He was rich for life, would always have servants, and if the Peace of Thronehold ever broke down, no one would expect him to serve. Anyway, it didn't matter: he had a rich father, and the Jorascos would soon have him fixed. Yet Guillaume's injuries proved remarkably resistant to the Jorasco's healing spells and treatments. Although the healers believed that he still might heal over time, there was no magical quick fix. Over the next month, Jean-Paul began to feel increasing regret over his actions. He also began to feel increasing revulsion at his life as a whole: the dreamlily, the callous treatment of others, the petty acts of malice. A month after the injury, Jean-Paul confessed to drugging Guillaume to Guillaume, Jacques, and Sailla. He vowed a penance: to become a Templar of the Silver Flame, and give up the comfortable life he had in the Castle of Alvegny, and his friendships with the companions. Although he was determined to change and improve himself, change did not come easily or quickly to Jean-Paul. Although he eliminated his most destructive vices, he was unable to attain the true selfless benevolence of the Silver Flame. He still was resentful of those above him, contemptuous of those beneath, and took his newfound devotion to the Silver Flame as an excuse for moral arrogance. He helped those in need, but more for the sake of his own virtue than for the sake of the needy themselves. (METAGAME NOTE: by this point, his alignment gradually drifted from chaotic evil to lawful neutral) If these vices were incompatible with the true spirit of the Silver Flame, though, they are not uncommon in the slightest in the mortal, temporal institution of the Church, and he found fellowship among his fellow Silver Flamers. He was deployed by the church to Korranberg, in Zilargo. There, to prove his zeal and virtue, he began to wander the city, preaching outside of Temples of the Sovereign Host, inside barrooms, and other places, giving sermons and literature to those who would listen. His attempts to proseltyze were of variable success. He also began to pick up some of the minor magical tricks of the gnomes there, and took an interest in the bardic musical styles and magical powers which were so prevalent throughout Zilargo. Once, in a bar, where he was proseltyzing, some patrons began to heckle him. Jean-Paul ignored these patrons, since it was a common occurence. However, eventually the threat went beyond heckling toward a more threatening atmosphere. Jean-Paul attempted to disengage and leave the bar, but a drunken patron attacked him. The patron, drunken and uncoordinated, was quickly defeated. Jean-Paul, however, quickly went beyond self-defense, and felt determined to "teach him a lesson," brutally attacking the drunk, leaving him bloody and in agony before leaving the bar. Shortly after, Jean-Paul was summoned to the offices of Solicitor Mylk by a warforged messenger. (METAGAME NOTE: This is where the actual campaign begins. I started this as a lawful neutral "ex" paladin (though, in truth, my character was never a paladin): basically, a charismatic, level 1 fighter-without-a-bonus feat. The campaign really isn't the focus of this board, and I'm really writing it from memory more as a journal for myself, after I accidentally deleted my character's original journal, than writing for all of you.) Solicitor Mylk quickly deviated from the procedure which Jean-Paul expected. Rather than being seen individually, he was seen with three others: Likha, a Dhakaani goblin ninja, and knowledgable guide to the Seawall mountains, Dethilar, a dwarf artificer, apparently left in debt by his brother's mismanagement of the business that was left to both of them by his father, and Sel, a mysterious woman, apparently in trouble for some form of theft. Mylk informed Jean-Paul that the drunk he had assaulted was actually a prince in Lhazaar, and that he was to be extradited to Lhazaar for trial, were it not for the fact that Mylk had forestalled this through some kind of backroom deal. Mylk coerced the group -- all of whom he had helped legally -- into aiding him in solving a labor dispute between management and the shifter workers in a gem mine of which Mylk was controlling shareholder in the Seawall mountains. The group set off, guided by Likha. They ran into a group of archeologists and students coming from Paluur Draal, with whom they camped. The next day, they were accosted by a sorcerer-bandit, who attempted to cast sleep on them and take their possessions, putting to sleep all but Likha (including Jean-Paul, whose player forgot that he was immune to sleep effects then rolled a bad will save), but Likha managed to wake Jean-Paul, who successfully grappled and pinned the sorcerer. The group confiscated the sorcerer's possessions, and Jean-Paul considered executing him for theft or taking him to town for trial, but the nearest town was Korranberg, where they initially came, so ultimately Likha knocked the sorcerer out with a sap, and they left him with promises of vengeance if he ever committed such crimes again, stripped of his possessions. That night, on Jean-Paul's watch, a giant spider attacked, but was slain. Finally, on the third day, they arrived at the mining complex. They were attacked by Iron Defenders, whom they defeated, but in a difficult battle. They were joined by a warforged ranger, Rockslide, who had never heard that the Last War had ended. Although the rest of the party suspected that the shifters were in open revolt, Jean-Paul wrote off the Iron Defenders as some kind of malfunction. When Jean-Paul called out the the shifter miners, announcing himself as a representative of Solicitor Mylk, coming to resolve the dispute, he was attacked by the miners. Although the miners were defeated, Jean-Paul and Likha were reduced to unconsciousness. Dethilar used an ill-conceived wand of magic missile/cure light wounds (I think that basically, when he passed a UMD check -- fairly rare for a low-level artificer anyway -- he then rolled a d100, and if it was over 20, it cast whichever one he actually wanted, and the opposite one otherwise), which ended up hurting Likha even more. Things looked bad for the group, but the Silver Flame itself intervened. The voice of Tira Miron visited Jean-Paul in his unconscious state, rebuking him for his selfishness and false piety, and urged him to abandon his pride, resentment, and self-righteousness, and let the purity of the flame wash over him. He initially protested, claiming to already be a perfect exemplar of all that was good and holy about the flame, but when he realized that he was arguing with the voice of the flame itself, he felt a deep shame, and abandoned any hope of achieving grace or virtue on his own. At that moment, the walls of his ego lowered, the purity and goodness of the Flame washed over him. His wounds were healed, and he channeled the Flame's power to heal Likha as well, having temporarily gained the power to heal wounds with a touch, as his eyes glowed with silver fire. After that, the full surge of power of the flame that had healed himself and Likha was gone, yet a trace of the divine still remained in his soul. (METAGAME NOTE: Jean-Paul got temporary unlimited Lay on Hands, after the conversion, but being first level, that ended as soon as members of the party weren't dying anymore. However, he did switch to being a Lawful Good "real" paladin) After this, Rockslide guided them to a dilapidated hut, where they made shelter. They camped for the night, and Dethilar scribed healing scrolls, as Rockslide stood guard and the others slept. They set off for the camp again that morning, and saw a gnome, Bivrick, nailed to the gate of the camp, still alive and in agony. They managed to rescue the gnome and escape the shifters, in the process seeing two other gnomes tied up in the camp as prisoners. Afterwards, two shifters tracked them back to the hut, and were defeated, one being killed. Jean-Paul successfully healed the other using mundane means, stopping his bleeding, and taking him prisoner. Bivrick advised them to enter the mine through an abandoned cave entrance, and told the party of the shifters' leader, Orum, and his second in command, Grun. Soon after, Bivrick went back to Korranberg, to report events to Solicitor Mylk and to receive more thorough medical attention. The party went to the cave entrance. There, a hypnotic clam almost killed the party by drowning it, but Likha was able to defeat it. Afterwards, they came upon a shifter, who was apparently Orum. He fought fiercely, refusing to surrender to the superior forces of the party combined, and was ultimately killed. The party found information in Orum's journal regarding some kind of rendezvous. Sel also came across some kind of Symbiotic slug which attached itself to her. (METAGAME NOTE: At this point, the party leveled up to second level) Likha divised an ill-conceived plan to disguise Sel as Orum for the rendezvous, while Jean-Paul was convinced that after suffering the loss of their leader, the shifters could be persuaded to surrender. A blow was struck against Jean-Paul's plan when it was discovered that the prisoner, whom he planned on exchanging for the two imprisoned gnomes and a settlement, had died of his wounds while they were away. They went with Likha's plan, but were unable to divise a sufficiently persuasive disguise, and decided to hide in the corners of the rendezvous instead. They found three strange creatures, like goblins but two squashed into one (Dolgrims) looking around the room where Orum had been, looking for something, which they could not find. Likha and Sel prepared a plan to sneak attack, which Jean-Paul spoiled by calling out for the Dolgrims to surrender. They did not, but the party was able to kill them. They saw a dragon head, which Jean-Paul identified as a symbol of the Cult of the Dragon Below. When the dragon head opened, Likha jumped in, although the others were more hesitant. Eventually, though, she found out how to open it again, and they all delved into Khyber. Rockslide was to track the Dolgrims to a a compound. There, in one room, goblins were being enslaved by some sort of mind-controlling chair. The party was able to fight through and destroy the chair, freeing the goblins of their mind control. Likha discussed matters with the goblins, trying to persuade them to join her in Dhakaani nationalism. Jean-Paul was knocked out in the fight for the room with the chair. Although Dethilar healed him partially, it was not enough to restore consciousness, and he was dragged back to the hut. After returning to the surface, the party discovered that the mining complex was abandoned. The remaining shifters had evidently fled from the party's onslaught. The fate of the two gnome prisoners was unknown. They returned to Korranberg, and reported to Solicitor Mylk, who had already received some information upon Bivrick's (safe, fortunately) return. Jean-Paul found a letter for him waiting in the Church saying that his brother, Guillaume, had died in a riding accident, from a childhood friend. Dethilar discovered that the family business was unrecoverable, at least in his brother's view. Rockslide and Sel went in their seperate directions, Rockslide still determined to find her unit in spite of the insistence of the party that it probably no longer existed. Likha had more luck, making a down payment on a pub which she hopes to own, which she hopes to turn into a hot spot for Dhakaani nationalism. (note: the campaign goes on more, but I'll add the rest later)
JulesCARV 04-28-06, 07:38 PM	I realize that I initially told everyone that they shouldn't feel obliged to comment, but I must confess, I am curious, with over a hundred reads and no comments, as to what people think. No pressure, but if you think it suxx0rs or r0xx0rs or anything, go ahead and say so.
aelryinth 04-30-06, 07:14 PM	Well, it's an intersting backstory, it's just that a CE character calling himself an 'ex-paladin' kinda throws us for a loop. Really, why didn't you start him as a Hexblade or something similar? Non-good, charisma important, curses others...right up your ball park. ===Aelryinth
Seth of the First Brigade 05-01-06, 01:52 PM	I realize that I initially told everyone that they shouldn't feel obliged to comment, but I must confess, I am curious, with over a hundred reads and no comments, as to what people think. No pressure, but if you think it suxx0rs or r0xx0rs or anything, go ahead and say so. I thought it was actually very good, there are some parts that kind of broke the flow of awesomeness, they kinda came across as out of place and chessy. But overall; 99.9% was very good. I was especially impressed with your characters background, I am not and expert on all of D&D rules just yet, but from a fluff perspective it was right on. I have been trying to get the players of my group to come up with something this well though out, but to no avail; (how much of the Eberron source material did you have access to as a Player as opposed to as a DM?). This may attribute to why my players have not been able to do this; come up with a great and well thought out background story. At any rate I am torn now between using this character as perhaps and NPC in my campaign, or showing my group your background story as an example of what a super tight background looks like. I will probably chose the latter, as it accomplishes my goals more than the first. I think it will really help them have a paradigm shift in regards to back ground stories. So in closing, well done, please continue to post the exploits of your group as I would like to follow them, it sounds like a cool adventure/campaign. I will look forward to hearing more. Regards, Seth
JulesCARV 05-02-06, 10:37 AM	Well, it's an intersting backstory, it's just that a CE character calling himself an 'ex-paladin' kinda throws us for a loop. Really, why didn't you start him as a Hexblade or something similar? Non-good, charisma important, curses others...right up your ball park. ===Aelryinth As of the start of the campaign, he was LN. He became LG about three games into the campaign. Also, he wouldn't call himself an ex-paladin. He would call himself a templar, both before and after he became a true paladin. I thought it was actually very good, there are some parts that kind of broke the flow of awesomeness, they kinda came across as out of place and chessy. If you can say which parts specifically seemed like this, I'd like to hear it. For my part, the parts that I was least impressed with involved Jean-Paul's brother, Guillaume. I just made him sort of idealized and bland, I think; but what did you find cheesy and out of place? :) But overall; 99.9% was very good. I was especially impressed with your characters background, I am not and expert on all of D&D rules just yet, but from a fluff perspective it was right on. I have been trying to get the players of my group to come up with something this well though out, but to no avail; (how much of the Eberron source material did you have access to as a Player as opposed to as a DM?). I originally came up with the kernel background story (half-elf bastard-son of an elf nobleman with a past of evil trying to redeem himself) without knowing much about Eberron. I started the campaign that way, but I later wrote the back story to incorporate more thigns like the Last War, Valenar, etc. Basically, a lot of the Eberron specific stuff was retconned into the background story I wrote: none of it contradicts the original backstory, but it adds more specificity that links to Eberron in particular (the original backstory could have been in Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms or whatever). This may attribute to why my players have not been able to do this; come up with a great and well thought out background story. At any rate I am torn now between using this character as perhaps and NPC in my campaign, or showing my group your background story as an example of what a super tight background looks like. I will probably chose the latter, as it accomplishes my goals more than the first. I think it will really help them have a paradigm shift in regards to back ground stories. So in closing, well done, please continue to post the exploits of your group as I would like to follow them, it sounds like a cool adventure/campaign. I will look forward to hearing more. Regards, Seth Use it however you wish. I'm a bit behind on updating the campaign, but I think I'll post more updates soon. Thanks for the commentary, by the way.
Seth of the First Brigade 05-02-06, 01:20 PM	Thanks for the commentary, by the way. Indeed... :cool: Thanks for the responce.. ;)
Derrhyn 05-10-06, 09:57 AM	I only found on really cheesey thing in there. His name. I don't know about you but calling a guy Jean-Paul seems to me just about as cliché as calliing him Superman. Especially when he is an aristocrat with snobby manners. There are plenty of nice French names out there that is not Jean-Paul. But I guess it is a bit too late to change that now. Apart from that, I loved it. :clap: Derrhyn
JulesCARV 05-13-06, 11:03 PM	Hmm... I have a tendency to make character names that rub people the wrong way, apparently. (another character background I posted here, Siddharth Bhattacharya, also struck people as being a poor name.) Maybe I just have the wrong approach to character naming :P.
Derrhyn 05-14-06, 11:29 AM	Well as long as your fellow players are ok with them, don't worry about the whining jerks at this forum. :rolleyes: Derrhyn