Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rockboy 09-05-03, 10:16 PM	We have a group that is in an area that is plagued by undead, especially vampires. The group has 4 characters, which all have a reason to be hunting the undead, but the bard. Here is the other characters, Cleric of Pelor and Paladin of Pelor, are pretty obvious as to why they are hunting undead. We have a LG half-orc monk, who is hunting the people that destroys his tribe. (which he just found out is a very powerful vampire). But the bard is Neutral and he mostly have just come with the group because he is getting alot of money for being with the group. He is an elf. I would love some help as to a way to improve his background to make him more strongly allied with the group. He really hasn't made up his background much, though he is a bit of a joker. Any help or thoughts would be helpful, thanks. :confused:
Mobius 09-05-03, 10:59 PM	Here’s an idea: The bard really doesn’t care about hunting undead. He is however intrigued by the idea of a heroic band out to vanquish evil. If he can tag along with these other three adventurers, he’ll be able to witness some heroic exploits firsthand. Just think of the stories, ballads, poems, and plays he’d be able to write based on their upcoming adventures. Why, his name could live on forever with these yet-to-be-written epic masterpieces. - Mobius
Rockboy 09-05-03, 11:09 PM	Thanks, I had thought of that, but I guess I was looking for other thoughts besides that one.
Kharne 09-06-03, 07:13 PM	He may not be particularly religious but a Neutral character still believes in a balance in the world and would be inclined to try and correct the balance if the presence of the undead "tips the scales" so to speak. It might be worth mentioning that to the player. How has the player been playing out his morality? What kind of motivations does he have? Or is it that you are looking for ideas along these lines to present to the player? Also, you might direct the player to take a look at the post titled "playing into the game" in Regdar's Repository. I'm not meaning to insinuate that the player isn't doing this already since he has stuck with the group so far...but it might be helpful for the player to realize that there are things he can do to help the DM...especially if he is wanting to play a Neutral character in a group filled out with some pretty hard-core goody two-shoes ;) One last thought...you might allow the character to discover some rumors about an item of magic or something that he might value...heck, possibly an instrument?
Rockboy 09-06-03, 09:04 PM	Thanks. His past is he entertains any who have ever asked for him, doesn't care who is employer has been. He is going along with us, mostly to get out of many of the towns he was in, plus he has gotten alot of loot following us, even though we tithe a good portion of the treasure. He pretty much stays out of combat, shooting things with his bow, and inspiring us with his song. As you might guess, we aren't a very quiet group. :heehee
Kharne 09-07-03, 01:30 AM	I just re-read your first post and was thinking of a couple more possibilities...Now, some may be a bit cliche :P but hey, things become cliche because they worked well ;) Maybe one of the character's saves the bards life. He might feel indebted to him for a while at least. Alternatively, the DM might find some value in running a couple of light combat sessions with a lot of roleplaying between the characters. This can help to build a rapport between the characters as the players figure out how their character will act around the others and what reactions they would have to the other players. A bond between the characters like this, if it were strong enough, could work just as well as any kind of a life-debt. The bard might come across a group of people that have been massacred by the undead. The DM might want to have him out on his own when he discovers this so that it is a very personal event. One thing that might be interesting is for the DM to roleplay out the night before in a bar when the bard has some great conversation with one of the people he later finds dead. If the bard's only motivation is money...it may remain up to the player and DM to make sure there is enough of it there to keep him interested. The bard could always have a vision (now is that not the most cliche thing ever?) :P If the player starts feeling like the character is taking more risks than he otherwise might have, he might need to rethink why he made that character as an adventurer in the first place. I don't mean to knock this player, but it seems like he is setting himself up for failure with the character combined with the direction the game seems to be running. If he was merely wanting to play a traveling minstrel, it might not work best with the game...not much adventure to be had roleplaying out night after night of singing for people. Anyway, I do feel like the DM can always drop a couple of carrots to keep people around...but if the player isn't biting, I see any trouble as falling with the player rather than the DM. Sounds like you guys have a neat group of players, it just sounds like one of the characters didn't click quite right with the style of this particular campaign and the DM and player should sit down and figure out together what they can do to keep the player around...even if it is just the player having some kind of event or epiphany and switching alignments. I don't think that it is imperative that the player switch alignments, but I think it could be helpful to the DM that the player find a few more motivations outside of money if he can't see the money as keeping him around...especially since it sounds like the DM is capitalizing on the one thing the player has fed him about what might keep him around and is making sure the players get enough to keep him interested. Well, enough of my book writing for tonight...i'm off to work on my game for next week. Good luck with your game, it sounds interesting. :cool:
Morka 09-08-03, 02:57 PM	I will go even further than Kharne: when he is alone (perhaps because the rest of the group is sleeping: he's an elf, after all!), have a vampire attack the bard. Suck him a few level, and as soon as the rest of the group awake, have the vampire flee. Later, you can find the body of a nother vampire slayer with (oh surprise) a wand of restoration. Now, your bard will have a reason to hunt the vampire!
Trydan 09-09-03, 10:22 AM	Maybe there is something undead that is required for a particular magic item. E.g. a harp of undead-summoning needs strings of vampire hair or something.
Daeri Maer'jiir 09-09-03, 01:52 PM	Elves don't like undead (old sterotype that *I* don't like).