My first serious character [Archive] - Wizards Community

My first serious character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
sourface
08-23-05, 10:06 AM I'm not really new to D&D, but all my previous characters have consisted of a character sheet and three sentences background, so i consider this my first 'serious' character. The post is quite long, but please read it it and give your opinion!

Mourn is a gaunt elf in his mid-two hundreds. He’s a depressive sort of fellow, trying to amend for some past wrong he won’t talk about. He is weatherbitten and rugged from living in the wild for a long time. He wears a long dark travelling cloak, a chainmail vest, sturdy leather boots and a dark green tunic with even darker trousers. He has a peculiarly nasty scar on one shoulder, paining him in damp weather.

Mourn was born in the small elven village of Amakiir, where he also lived his first decades. He lived a happy childhood, learning his people’s traditions, how to fish, trap and hunt. Finally he was taught the deadly art of swordsmanship. At the age of seventy he moved to the larger city of Vestele, where he went to university.
As his combat powress grew, so did his arrogance. This cumulated into him challenging another student to a battlering (formalized combat, no bloodletting intended) for giving him a reprimand for yelling at a servant who served his tea cold.
They were roughly equals, but finally Mourn (then called Aravilar) saw an opening and lashed out at his opponent’s abdomen. Although the rules state that not even the clothes of the opponent, Aravilar wanted to punish him for disgracing him in front of their fellow students. His intention was just to give him a shmall cut, but due to imbalance, Aravilar lost control, and his blade slid deep into his opponent’s belly, slaying him instantly. As the university cleric was away for the moment, there was no way of saving him.
Of course this tragic event was followed by a trial, to see what had really happened. It was during these long weeks of verbal fencing between the scholar defending him and the one trying to convict him of murder, that he finally came to realize what a monster he had been. He listened to the multitude of witnesses describing him mistreating them, and for the first time in many years, he felt ashamed.
The university finally decided to send him away to be tried in his hometown. After a similar trial, he was finally sentenced for unintentional elfslaughter to pay a huge sum of money to the deceased’s relatives, and leave the settlement, to wander the northern wilderness and not to come back until he had atoned.
His family was greatly disgraced, but the stood by his side nonetheless. However, the family of the deceased was not content. They wanted to see him dead and were ready to pay for it. The scar on his shoulder is a reminder of one fierce such encounter.
A hundred and fifty years have passed, and Mourn is sill wandering, tracking down and slaying evil creatures, contemplating his fate.

Because of his own experience, Mourn cannot tolerate people harassing or mistreating other people or servants. Somehow he feels comforted by the falling of rain (perhaps it reminds him of how small he is, and how small his problems are), even tough his shoulder hurts because of the damp.
Cirah
08-23-05, 02:06 PM Sounds very nice. And the name Amakiir reminds me of one of my favorite characters ^_^

What character class is he going to be? Warrior, rogue, ranger and perhaps paladin seem to suit him.
Gingerbread Guy
08-23-05, 04:33 PM Hey, looks like a pretty solid character background there! You also seem to already have a grasp on how his background has affected his personality and behaviour, and you've come up with a few behavioural quirks (such as being comforted in the rain) to play with.

I'm interested to hear more about the character and how he gets along with the rest of the party. What class is he, and what alignment have you decided on?

~Ginger
sourface
08-24-05, 02:50 AM I've been thinking about making him a ranger or a fighter. During his time at the university he was definitively a fighter, but he's been living in the wild for one and a half century after that, so I guess that makes ranger a natural :D choice.

I think that ranger is better, also because it gives him more skillranks, and I've been thinking about giving him ranks in diplomacy, perform (flute) and craft (calligraphy) to reflect his aristocratic background. I might later on multiclass with fighter and perhaps even Kensai to reflect perfection of his swordsmaship.

Concerning alignment, I've considered making him CN (or even CE) and try make him to do good deeds, with the ultimate goal of reaching a good alignment (doesn't really matter wich one).

One of the problems I've had is that I haven't been able to find a good sword for him. My idea is a medium-sized sword that can be wielded one and two-handed, perferably gracefully (it would be perfect if he was able to use Weapon Finesse). I've thought about the katana, but I'd like him to have something more 'elvish'.

(I'm rubbish at coming up with names, so I almost always use the names out of the FR book...)
I Am Famine
08-24-05, 03:38 AM Interesting background. I have a brilliant image of him because of your description and story. He seems to be one of those characters who could either become unrepentantly indifferent to evil. He could go either way really, he might suffer a great sacrifice in the name of good or completly revert into a twisted shell of a living creature. You've set yourself up nicely there.
Gingerbread Guy
08-25-05, 10:51 AM In terms of alignment, I think Chaotic Neutral sounds about right. He sounds somewhat.. I hesitate to say selfish.. selfcentered perhaps? Maybe even callous, but not outright evil.

And as far as weapons go, check out Races of the Wild. It has three superb exotic elven weapons in there. You'll love 'em. The elven lightblade is basicly a light version of the rapier (rather than one-handed, so it can be used in an off-hand without incurring annoying TWF penalties), and the elven thinblade is essentially a rapier that does damage one size larger than usual. The elven courtblade is my favourite: a bastardsword that, though it can only be used two handed, works in conjunction with the Weapon Finesse feat. Too friggin' cool. Remember, if you take the Improved Weapon Familiarity feat (Complete Warrior, I think), you gain proficiency with all exotic weapons that have your race's name in their name.

~Ginger
Deadlion
08-25-05, 05:40 PM That's a great character concept. Wish I'd thought of it myself, actually.
sourface
08-26-05, 05:29 AM Thanks for all the help! I agree with you on the alignment issue, Gingerbread Guy. I'll check up the elven courtblade (just one problem, I don't have the book... yet.).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sourface 08-23-05, 10:06 AM	I'm not really new to D&D, but all my previous characters have consisted of a character sheet and three sentences background, so i consider this my first 'serious' character. The post is quite long, but please read it it and give your opinion! Mourn is a gaunt elf in his mid-two hundreds. He’s a depressive sort of fellow, trying to amend for some past wrong he won’t talk about. He is weatherbitten and rugged from living in the wild for a long time. He wears a long dark travelling cloak, a chainmail vest, sturdy leather boots and a dark green tunic with even darker trousers. He has a peculiarly nasty scar on one shoulder, paining him in damp weather. Mourn was born in the small elven village of Amakiir, where he also lived his first decades. He lived a happy childhood, learning his people’s traditions, how to fish, trap and hunt. Finally he was taught the deadly art of swordsmanship. At the age of seventy he moved to the larger city of Vestele, where he went to university. As his combat powress grew, so did his arrogance. This cumulated into him challenging another student to a battlering (formalized combat, no bloodletting intended) for giving him a reprimand for yelling at a servant who served his tea cold. They were roughly equals, but finally Mourn (then called Aravilar) saw an opening and lashed out at his opponent’s abdomen. Although the rules state that not even the clothes of the opponent, Aravilar wanted to punish him for disgracing him in front of their fellow students. His intention was just to give him a shmall cut, but due to imbalance, Aravilar lost control, and his blade slid deep into his opponent’s belly, slaying him instantly. As the university cleric was away for the moment, there was no way of saving him. Of course this tragic event was followed by a trial, to see what had really happened. It was during these long weeks of verbal fencing between the scholar defending him and the one trying to convict him of murder, that he finally came to realize what a monster he had been. He listened to the multitude of witnesses describing him mistreating them, and for the first time in many years, he felt ashamed. The university finally decided to send him away to be tried in his hometown. After a similar trial, he was finally sentenced for unintentional elfslaughter to pay a huge sum of money to the deceased’s relatives, and leave the settlement, to wander the northern wilderness and not to come back until he had atoned. His family was greatly disgraced, but the stood by his side nonetheless. However, the family of the deceased was not content. They wanted to see him dead and were ready to pay for it. The scar on his shoulder is a reminder of one fierce such encounter. A hundred and fifty years have passed, and Mourn is sill wandering, tracking down and slaying evil creatures, contemplating his fate. Because of his own experience, Mourn cannot tolerate people harassing or mistreating other people or servants. Somehow he feels comforted by the falling of rain (perhaps it reminds him of how small he is, and how small his problems are), even tough his shoulder hurts because of the damp.
Cirah 08-23-05, 02:06 PM	Sounds very nice. And the name Amakiir reminds me of one of my favorite characters ^_^ What character class is he going to be? Warrior, rogue, ranger and perhaps paladin seem to suit him.
Gingerbread Guy 08-23-05, 04:33 PM	Hey, looks like a pretty solid character background there! You also seem to already have a grasp on how his background has affected his personality and behaviour, and you've come up with a few behavioural quirks (such as being comforted in the rain) to play with. I'm interested to hear more about the character and how he gets along with the rest of the party. What class is he, and what alignment have you decided on? ~Ginger
sourface 08-24-05, 02:50 AM	I've been thinking about making him a ranger or a fighter. During his time at the university he was definitively a fighter, but he's been living in the wild for one and a half century after that, so I guess that makes ranger a natural :D choice. I think that ranger is better, also because it gives him more skillranks, and I've been thinking about giving him ranks in diplomacy, perform (flute) and craft (calligraphy) to reflect his aristocratic background. I might later on multiclass with fighter and perhaps even Kensai to reflect perfection of his swordsmaship. Concerning alignment, I've considered making him CN (or even CE) and try make him to do good deeds, with the ultimate goal of reaching a good alignment (doesn't really matter wich one). One of the problems I've had is that I haven't been able to find a good sword for him. My idea is a medium-sized sword that can be wielded one and two-handed, perferably gracefully (it would be perfect if he was able to use Weapon Finesse). I've thought about the katana, but I'd like him to have something more 'elvish'. (I'm rubbish at coming up with names, so I almost always use the names out of the FR book...)
I Am Famine 08-24-05, 03:38 AM	Interesting background. I have a brilliant image of him because of your description and story. He seems to be one of those characters who could either become unrepentantly indifferent to evil. He could go either way really, he might suffer a great sacrifice in the name of good or completly revert into a twisted shell of a living creature. You've set yourself up nicely there.
Gingerbread Guy 08-25-05, 10:51 AM	In terms of alignment, I think Chaotic Neutral sounds about right. He sounds somewhat.. I hesitate to say selfish.. selfcentered perhaps? Maybe even callous, but not outright evil. And as far as weapons go, check out Races of the Wild. It has three superb exotic elven weapons in there. You'll love 'em. The elven lightblade is basicly a light version of the rapier (rather than one-handed, so it can be used in an off-hand without incurring annoying TWF penalties), and the elven thinblade is essentially a rapier that does damage one size larger than usual. The elven courtblade is my favourite: a bastardsword that, though it can only be used two handed, works in conjunction with the Weapon Finesse feat. Too friggin' cool. Remember, if you take the Improved Weapon Familiarity feat (Complete Warrior, I think), you gain proficiency with all exotic weapons that have your race's name in their name. ~Ginger
Deadlion 08-25-05, 05:40 PM	That's a great character concept. Wish I'd thought of it myself, actually.
sourface 08-26-05, 05:29 AM	Thanks for all the help! I agree with you on the alignment issue, Gingerbread Guy. I'll check up the elven courtblade (just one problem, I don't have the book... yet.).