Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Grynn 07-03-04, 04:02 PM	In the fall I'm going to be starting into a new campaign. We are going to be playing D&D 3.5, with psionics. There will be four of us playing, so we each selected one of four basic roles: tank, sneak, healer, and mobile artillery. I'm going to be playing the artillery role, and I decided that instead of playing the standard wizard or sorcerer I would play a Psion, more specifically a Telepath. I've come up with a character history and was hoping to get some feedback. In particular I would like to know if there is any part of my background that seems to be missing, or if something needs clarified. Family Turrik Havlak is the second son of Orbrin and Nalreen Havlak. Orbrin was a fine tailor, but is now retired. Nalreen stayed at home taking care of Turrik and his siblings. Turrik's older brother, Eldin, learned the family craft and has taken over the business for Orbrin. His younger sister, Jolfreska, has recently married a barley farmer. Military Turrik was an exceptionally bright boy, and was expected to be the natural choice as the local wizard's apprentice. Unfortunately a civil war broke out and Turrik was conscripted into the king's army. He was given some training and assigned to the guard detail at the manor of one of the king's supporters. During his time in the army Turrik was never involved in any combat. The captain of the guard where Turrik was posted took note of his keen intellect. It turned out that the captain was a Fighter who had also developed talent as a Seer. The captain took Turrik as a student, teaching him how to harness his mental energies. Recent Ever since his time in the army, Turrik has traveled widely. He seeks to widen his experiences and hopes to meet others with mental gifts. He makes his living at whatever job is available when he settles in a town. The Statistics Turriks ability scores are: Str: 12 Dex: 12 Con: 12 Int: 18 Wis: 15 Cha: 8 His feats are: Simple Weapon Proficiency Shield Proficiency Psionic Endowment He has four ranks in each of the following skills: Concentration Knowledge (arcana) Knowledge (nature) Knowledge (the planes) Knowledge (psionics) Knowledge (religion) Psicraft His powers known are: Mind Thrust Mindlink Precognition, Defensive He is a 20 year old, Chaotic Good, male Human. He stands 5'8" tall and weighs 160 lb. His hair is blond, and he has blue eyes. He reveres Fharlanghn.
Persephone Imytholin 07-05-04, 09:04 AM	It depends - you should only write about things that are important to your character's narrative. If I were running the game, I'd like to see a bit more about how your character's past shaped him. While you don't need to get down to the level of individual scenes, it'd be good for you to throw in a little more. For starters, tell us how your character feels about his family. Tell us about what they do now, and maybe a brief word on how they look - just one or two distinguishing features. Most importantly, tell us how they feel about each other, and your character feels about them. This works in with your past - your character's family will react well to major events. Apart from this, you might want to look at a little internal conflict. How has the character been shaped from within? How has he reacted to his surroundings? How does he feel about things that've happened to him? His charisma is below average - maybe he has some slight issues with self-confidence, or is a bit snarky. The other trick is, I don't see anything learned from that craftsman heritage, nor is there anything to reflect your military training - maybe a rank in a smattering of slightly military skills would be better than maxing out a few. Plus, there's nothing to really explain why you have Knowledge (the planes) maxed unless you're a seasoned planewalker. What's there isn't bad, though. It just seems more like a bare outline to me.
Grynn 07-05-04, 10:29 AM	Alright, I can answer a couple of your questions, but the rest I'm going to have to ponder. His military training is reflected in his Simple Weapon Proficiency and Shield Proficiency feats. He lacks Craft ranks because he only did simple work for his father's business, which his high Intelligence let him cover. His Charisma is low because he is more comfortable just thinking to himself rather than being social.
Persephone Imytholin 07-05-04, 10:38 AM	Even simple work justifies a single skill rank, since you know enough to be able to produce average work with a small amount of time and effort (ie, allows you to take 10). Plus, it's not a low charisma. It's a below average charisma.
Saeryk 07-05-04, 04:29 PM	It seems like you have a good outline, however, for the knowledge planes I would suggest removing it and adding some kind of military and/or craftsman knowledge. In keeping with this character, I would suggest that instead of knowledge simple weapons he have a weapon proficiency. Anything that a military officer might use and have would be a good thing, rather than a simple dagger or club, if they are anywhere near the typical D&D technology level. Just some thoughts... But you might also wish to show the DM why this character has left his family, and what he intends on doing in the world, rather than crafting I suppose. You might also find that the psychic warrior would better fit this template, since he wasn't developing just his psionic powers, and was fighting as well.... Just a thought :)