Need RP Input: Gnomish Cleric [Archive] - Wizards Community

Need RP Input: Gnomish Cleric [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Callista
03-19-06, 10:20 PM Soo... This backstory has just been approved by my DM. And, as usual when playing a new character, I would like tips, pointers, input, etc., from the good folks here at Character Development.

My idea here is to try to play a character always going back and forth from Law to Chaos; things like discipline and little white lies, respect for your family, loyalty to a clan... all that. And, of course, I wanted to have fun playing a gnome; because gnomes are just cool.

Especially I want your input on the "Personality" section--if it makes sense to you; and how it would affect her actions both during times of stress (battle, etc.) or relaxation.

The deity is not yet decided because this is a homebrew world. Either I'll pick whoever's a gnomish deity, or I'll go for someone who does healing, family, or nature. I figure there should be a Garl-Glittergold-analogue somewhere in any world.

Name: Krisatra Trickfoot, a.k.a. Kris
Race: Gnome
Class: Cleric of [NG DEITY]
Alignment: NG
Age: 81
Height: 3'5"
Weight: 48 lb

Appearance: Jet-black hair and eyes, light brown skin. Her clothes are the greens and browns of a summertime forest; she has a strong, farm-girl sort of build, and is taller than most gnomish women. Hair tied into innumerable braids and decorated with dozens of ribbons and beads; clothing is clean but a little worn. Carries (DEITY's FAVORED WEAPON) and a healer's kit at all times. Usually seen accompanied by a large, brown, shaggy riding dog.

Personality:
Kris is level-headed and perceptive, and fairly disciplined, but she generally behaves as though she were much younger than she is, with the energy and enthusiasm of a child. It isn't that she's immature; she just seems to feel as though life shouldn't be taken too seriously. Internally, she feels responsible for the welfare of her clan and that of her friends; but she probably wouldn't admit this if asked.

Companion: Gypsy, female riding dog; large, brown dog of indeterminate breed. Not quite trained out of licking folks' faces...

Backstory: (Spoiler for length--approx. 2 pages)
Kris's mother is a healer and her father an artisan; she grew up in a relatively isolated gnomish settlement in the woodland country of [PLACE]. At a young age, she showed an aptitude for the healer's art; before she came of age, she was a healer in her own right. When, one year, an epidemic struck her community, she was the first to find an effective treatment for the illness and, later, to find a way to prevent it.

Kris would have stayed at home, gradually becoming known for her skill in nearby settlements, if it had not been for the basilisk.

To this day no one knows where it came from; perhaps some of the gnomes had dug their tunnels too close to its den, or perhaps it had been driven out of hiding somehow. The first inkling that anyone had of its presence was the disappearance of a group of youngsters who had gone berry-picking, and the discovery of several statues which looked exactly like the youngsters--except that one of the statues seemed to have been half eaten.

At first it was thought to be some elaborate prank; but when the children didn't return, it became clear something was wrong.

Unknown to all, the older brother of one of the children decided to find out for himself what had happened. Tracking the creature was easy; it had left a swath of crushed vegetation and a trail of claw marks. The boy finally found himself at the entrance to what looked like a shallow wolf's den. He had only a few moments to examine the area before a huge, wolf-sized lizard came out the entrance--straight at him!

The boy's courage failed him; and this was what saved his life. He barely glanced at the creature before he turned and ran, all-out, back to the village. The creature must have stopped pursuing him almost immediately; but he did not stop running until he was safely back inside his own home.

From the boy's frantic description, the nature of the creature was transparently obvious to those in the village who were older or had learned much at all about monsters. For a week or more, the villagers stayed fearfully inside their own homes; but before long, it was decided that something must be done before more statues appeared; else, they would run out of food. And, anyway, what sort of life was it to huddle in one's own burrow day after day?

Kris and her parents were part of the large group of villagers who set out to kill the basilisk. Thoroughly lectured about the necessity of keeping one's eyes averted, they headed for the creature's den. Hidden in the trees and undergrowth, they waited as a local wizard summoned a small animal and set it to scampering around outside the entrance to the big reptile's den.

Apparently, though, the basilisk must have been sleeping, or wary; the prey did not lure it out, though the trick was tried several times. Finally, someone grew impatient with the wait and used a cantrip to taunt the basilisk, placing the words as though they came from the basilisk's lair.

The confused beast stumbled out of its den, blinking in the sun, and was immediately hit by a barrage of crossbow bolts, cantrips, and various caustic or explosive products of alchemy. Much of the attack bounced off its thick hide; but some penetrated, and the basilisk roared in anger and charged--straight towards a nearby group of crossbow-wielding villagers.

One member of the group threatened by the beast's charge was a young woman who had been a childhood friend of Kris's, and whose wedding had been to take place only three weeks hence.

So it was no surprise that at this point Kris, having until then been calmly unloading crossbow bolts at the basilisk, lost her head. Dropping her crossbow, she drew her [weapon] and, yelling as loudly as she could, ran out into the open, hoping to distract the basilisk from its prey.

Something caught her foot--a tree root, maybe--and Kris fell heavily to the forest floor. If her yelling had not distracted the basilisk, her status as helpless prey did; and it came lumbering towards her.

If the love of a friend for another friend is strong, the love of parents for a child is doubly strong; and Kris's parents had both seen her fall. Soon there were two more charging at the reptile.

Stupid creature that it was, the basilisk became confused, not quite knowing whom to chase down. But it did know, and quite well, how to use the power of its gaze; and it locked its eyes on one of the charging figures which threatened it.

First a stumble, then a gray cast to the skin and a heaviness of limbs; and then Kris's father was frozen, mid-step, as a stone statue.

The basilisk resumed its path towards the prone Kris, who by now was attempting to scramble up, eyes squeezed shut and her weapon clenched in her hand, ready to wave blindly at anything that came close.

But just as it reached her, the basilisk seemed to stumble, its legs giving out; and then it crashed to the ground. A half-minute of twitching and bleeding; and its dangerous eyes closed forever. It was later ascertained that someone had managed to get a crossbow bolt right down its maw; and though many claimed the shot, no one could prove its origin.

When they were sure it was dead, the villagers broke cover--cautiously at first, then jubilantly shouting and conjuring small, magical flashing lights, dancing around the body of the dead monster.

But the damage had been done; and there were two in that crowd who were not celebrating: Kris, face streaked with tears, babbling apologies at the unresponsive stone statue of her father; and Kris's mother, a healer who knew she could not save her husband from this half-death.

Kris's worship the next [night/morning/noon] at [DEITY]'s shrine differed from her usual respectful ceremony. Somehow, she pleaded, was there not a way that she could rescue her father? She had made a mistake, been too quick to act; and her father was paying for it. And maybe... (she felt almost audacious for making this request)... maybe there might be a way to restore the children, as well? Her father's transformation was tragic, but the children... she hadn't known them; but they were just innocents in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Couldn't she, somehow, put it right?

Finally, Kris ended her prayer, hoping [DEITY] had listened.

But [HE/SHE] must have; for that night, she had a dream: [deity's symbol/creature associated with deity/deity him/herself] spoke to her, telling her she must leave her village, travel to the nearest city; that, there, she would find further direction.

Kris woke to find her pillow soaked in tears of thankfulness.

Reluctantly, her mother allowed her to go. While the village needed Kris's skill, Kris's mother had taught her everything she knew; and, devout herself, she knew that [DEITY] was no one to be ignored.

Kris had planned to leave secretly; but the next morning as she and her riding dog set out, half the village seemed to turn out, attempting to stuff her saddlebags with everything from homemade cider to magical trinkets. It was mid-morning before Kris was finally able to get away.

And then she was on the road, with the sun shining down on her and her dog padding faithfully along the road beneath her...
WhrenKehrsyn
03-20-06, 12:57 PM Looks good. If youre looking for suggestions for her personality, maybe a fascination with alchemy, there must be an alchemical means of reversing petrification right? You just need to study to find it out. Also maybe a protectiveness of her companions, you wouldnt want to lose them too. And perhaps a terrible fear of things that can petrify, especially if fighting it involves your companions putting themselves at risk of petrification.
blackjackg
03-20-06, 07:48 PM To be totally honest, your personality description strikes me as paradoxical: she is both level-headed and childish, she is disciplined, but doesn't feel that life should be taken too seriously. A little clarification may be in order.

Also (and I know you didn't ask this, but the DM in me cries out. Forgive if I've overstepped my poster bounds) your backstory has a troublesome flaw: your character has a clear, concrete goal. This works well for characters in a novel, but for a character in an open-ended game like D&D, it's death. When she gets her parents de-stoned, what then? Does she retire? Unfortunately, a reversal of petrification is not terribly hard to come by in D&D. And it's not like it can be put off... if she was being played in character, she'd be hunting for it nonstop. This idea will sound preposterous to a lot of DMs and players, but I usually encourage my characters to start out with either no ultimate goal at all (beyond achievining fame and glory) or a nigh-unachievable goal, so that they can continue playing until the campaign is over.
Callista
03-20-06, 09:14 PM I think it might be a bad thing to have a clear goal for most characters; but for a cleric, it's different: My DM plays my deity.

Once my character is an adventurer, she can have more convenient dreams, see things that her deity would want fixed and go to fix them, or just fall in love with the life... in any case, she could just drop by Mom's house to un-petrify the people who need it and go right back to the road. A cleric is a built-in plot hook. :)

I did worry about the "paradoxical personality" thing--can someone who's light-hearted also have deep convictions? How far does acting like you don't have a care in the world go before you really *don't* care about the world? Can you be frivolous and prankish, and still be dedicated to fulfilling your responsibilities?

There'd have to be good reason for the existence of this sort of "face personality" as opposed to what's deep inside the character... but I haven't figured this out yet. Thus the request for help :)
Harrow Blade
03-21-06, 12:16 AM I would Imagine that Kris would be grief striken thinking that it was all her fault that her parents were turned to stone. As such she may now feel uncertain of her place in the world and decide either conciously or unconciously to try and find her niche. She may meet a paladin and be impressed by the fearless surety and try to emulate one for a while giving the impression of lawfulness. That is until she meets some one who is carefree and chaotic in nature and she may try to emulate them in an attempt to develop that freedom. That would always be short lived as the reason for her leaving her village is her parents and that drives her on until she completes that goal. Greif and guilt can make any one do strange things.

hope this helps
Callista
03-21-06, 02:02 AM Back and forth between Law and Chaos... yep. Hope I find a NG deity.

Being a Cleric, though--that does give the character one point of stability in life--her deity. And while gods may change, they don't do so over a gnome's life span, unless the gnome is very unlucky. So perhaps the deity (if only I had more info about the setting...) could become sort of a pivot point.

BTW, just one parent--the father--was turned to stone. I had to leave Mom unpetrified; otherwise, there'd be no healer left back home, and the character would have to return home at the earliest opportunity, and stay home when she did. This way, she has quite a bit more leeway. After all, unpetrifying people generally isn't the sort of quest that puts you under time pressure; stone is stone, and stone it stays. Until you zap a Break Enchantment at it, anyway.
Nobody_
03-21-06, 10:42 AM I always reccomend giving your character a unique quirk. Maybe you have a fascination with Ironwood, or a fear of yellow and blue spotted Silk (rare, but interesting when it happens)

Little things like that can literally make a game.

As for the paradox thing, you do need to change that to be more specific (although you could just be Bi-Polar). Maybe you are level headed when it comes to matters of magic and fighting, but very playful anytime politics or negotiations of any sort ore involved.

In other words, find domains for those contradictory personality traits to exist in such a way that they don't overlap too much (and then you get to have a dillemma when they do)

Fun stuff

-Nobody
Callista
03-21-06, 06:50 PM Well, I've given her a riding dog of whom she can be inordinately fond. And I've decided she likes mint tea.

Not too quirky, but it's a start.

Wish I had more skill points... then I could put a couple in things like cooking or alchemy... an odd skill point or two is great for quirks.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Callista 03-19-06, 10:20 PM	Soo... This backstory has just been approved by my DM. And, as usual when playing a new character, I would like tips, pointers, input, etc., from the good folks here at Character Development. My idea here is to try to play a character always going back and forth from Law to Chaos; things like discipline and little white lies, respect for your family, loyalty to a clan... all that. And, of course, I wanted to have fun playing a gnome; because gnomes are just cool. Especially I want your input on the "Personality" section--if it makes sense to you; and how it would affect her actions both during times of stress (battle, etc.) or relaxation. The deity is not yet decided because this is a homebrew world. Either I'll pick whoever's a gnomish deity, or I'll go for someone who does healing, family, or nature. I figure there should be a Garl-Glittergold-analogue somewhere in any world. Name: Krisatra Trickfoot, a.k.a. Kris Race: Gnome Class: Cleric of [NG DEITY] Alignment: NG Age: 81 Height: 3'5" Weight: 48 lb Appearance: Jet-black hair and eyes, light brown skin. Her clothes are the greens and browns of a summertime forest; she has a strong, farm-girl sort of build, and is taller than most gnomish women. Hair tied into innumerable braids and decorated with dozens of ribbons and beads; clothing is clean but a little worn. Carries (DEITY's FAVORED WEAPON) and a healer's kit at all times. Usually seen accompanied by a large, brown, shaggy riding dog. Personality: Kris is level-headed and perceptive, and fairly disciplined, but she generally behaves as though she were much younger than she is, with the energy and enthusiasm of a child. It isn't that she's immature; she just seems to feel as though life shouldn't be taken too seriously. Internally, she feels responsible for the welfare of her clan and that of her friends; but she probably wouldn't admit this if asked. Companion: Gypsy, female riding dog; large, brown dog of indeterminate breed. Not quite trained out of licking folks' faces... Backstory: (Spoiler for length--approx. 2 pages) Kris's mother is a healer and her father an artisan; she grew up in a relatively isolated gnomish settlement in the woodland country of [PLACE]. At a young age, she showed an aptitude for the healer's art; before she came of age, she was a healer in her own right. When, one year, an epidemic struck her community, she was the first to find an effective treatment for the illness and, later, to find a way to prevent it. Kris would have stayed at home, gradually becoming known for her skill in nearby settlements, if it had not been for the basilisk. To this day no one knows where it came from; perhaps some of the gnomes had dug their tunnels too close to its den, or perhaps it had been driven out of hiding somehow. The first inkling that anyone had of its presence was the disappearance of a group of youngsters who had gone berry-picking, and the discovery of several statues which looked exactly like the youngsters--except that one of the statues seemed to have been half eaten. At first it was thought to be some elaborate prank; but when the children didn't return, it became clear something was wrong. Unknown to all, the older brother of one of the children decided to find out for himself what had happened. Tracking the creature was easy; it had left a swath of crushed vegetation and a trail of claw marks. The boy finally found himself at the entrance to what looked like a shallow wolf's den. He had only a few moments to examine the area before a huge, wolf-sized lizard came out the entrance--straight at him! The boy's courage failed him; and this was what saved his life. He barely glanced at the creature before he turned and ran, all-out, back to the village. The creature must have stopped pursuing him almost immediately; but he did not stop running until he was safely back inside his own home. From the boy's frantic description, the nature of the creature was transparently obvious to those in the village who were older or had learned much at all about monsters. For a week or more, the villagers stayed fearfully inside their own homes; but before long, it was decided that something must be done before more statues appeared; else, they would run out of food. And, anyway, what sort of life was it to huddle in one's own burrow day after day? Kris and her parents were part of the large group of villagers who set out to kill the basilisk. Thoroughly lectured about the necessity of keeping one's eyes averted, they headed for the creature's den. Hidden in the trees and undergrowth, they waited as a local wizard summoned a small animal and set it to scampering around outside the entrance to the big reptile's den. Apparently, though, the basilisk must have been sleeping, or wary; the prey did not lure it out, though the trick was tried several times. Finally, someone grew impatient with the wait and used a cantrip to taunt the basilisk, placing the words as though they came from the basilisk's lair. The confused beast stumbled out of its den, blinking in the sun, and was immediately hit by a barrage of crossbow bolts, cantrips, and various caustic or explosive products of alchemy. Much of the attack bounced off its thick hide; but some penetrated, and the basilisk roared in anger and charged--straight towards a nearby group of crossbow-wielding villagers. One member of the group threatened by the beast's charge was a young woman who had been a childhood friend of Kris's, and whose wedding had been to take place only three weeks hence. So it was no surprise that at this point Kris, having until then been calmly unloading crossbow bolts at the basilisk, lost her head. Dropping her crossbow, she drew her [weapon] and, yelling as loudly as she could, ran out into the open, hoping to distract the basilisk from its prey. Something caught her foot--a tree root, maybe--and Kris fell heavily to the forest floor. If her yelling had not distracted the basilisk, her status as helpless prey did; and it came lumbering towards her. If the love of a friend for another friend is strong, the love of parents for a child is doubly strong; and Kris's parents had both seen her fall. Soon there were two more charging at the reptile. Stupid creature that it was, the basilisk became confused, not quite knowing whom to chase down. But it did know, and quite well, how to use the power of its gaze; and it locked its eyes on one of the charging figures which threatened it. First a stumble, then a gray cast to the skin and a heaviness of limbs; and then Kris's father was frozen, mid-step, as a stone statue. The basilisk resumed its path towards the prone Kris, who by now was attempting to scramble up, eyes squeezed shut and her weapon clenched in her hand, ready to wave blindly at anything that came close. But just as it reached her, the basilisk seemed to stumble, its legs giving out; and then it crashed to the ground. A half-minute of twitching and bleeding; and its dangerous eyes closed forever. It was later ascertained that someone had managed to get a crossbow bolt right down its maw; and though many claimed the shot, no one could prove its origin. When they were sure it was dead, the villagers broke cover--cautiously at first, then jubilantly shouting and conjuring small, magical flashing lights, dancing around the body of the dead monster. But the damage had been done; and there were two in that crowd who were not celebrating: Kris, face streaked with tears, babbling apologies at the unresponsive stone statue of her father; and Kris's mother, a healer who knew she could not save her husband from this half-death. Kris's worship the next [night/morning/noon] at [DEITY]'s shrine differed from her usual respectful ceremony. Somehow, she pleaded, was there not a way that she could rescue her father? She had made a mistake, been too quick to act; and her father was paying for it. And maybe... (she felt almost audacious for making this request)... maybe there might be a way to restore the children, as well? Her father's transformation was tragic, but the children... she hadn't known them; but they were just innocents in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Couldn't she, somehow, put it right? Finally, Kris ended her prayer, hoping [DEITY] had listened. But [HE/SHE] must have; for that night, she had a dream: [deity's symbol/creature associated with deity/deity him/herself] spoke to her, telling her she must leave her village, travel to the nearest city; that, there, she would find further direction. Kris woke to find her pillow soaked in tears of thankfulness. Reluctantly, her mother allowed her to go. While the village needed Kris's skill, Kris's mother had taught her everything she knew; and, devout herself, she knew that [DEITY] was no one to be ignored. Kris had planned to leave secretly; but the next morning as she and her riding dog set out, half the village seemed to turn out, attempting to stuff her saddlebags with everything from homemade cider to magical trinkets. It was mid-morning before Kris was finally able to get away. And then she was on the road, with the sun shining down on her and her dog padding faithfully along the road beneath her...
WhrenKehrsyn 03-20-06, 12:57 PM	Looks good. If youre looking for suggestions for her personality, maybe a fascination with alchemy, there must be an alchemical means of reversing petrification right? You just need to study to find it out. Also maybe a protectiveness of her companions, you wouldnt want to lose them too. And perhaps a terrible fear of things that can petrify, especially if fighting it involves your companions putting themselves at risk of petrification.
blackjackg 03-20-06, 07:48 PM	To be totally honest, your personality description strikes me as paradoxical: she is both level-headed and childish, she is disciplined, but doesn't feel that life should be taken too seriously. A little clarification may be in order. Also (and I know you didn't ask this, but the DM in me cries out. Forgive if I've overstepped my poster bounds) your backstory has a troublesome flaw: your character has a clear, concrete goal. This works well for characters in a novel, but for a character in an open-ended game like D&D, it's death. When she gets her parents de-stoned, what then? Does she retire? Unfortunately, a reversal of petrification is not terribly hard to come by in D&D. And it's not like it can be put off... if she was being played in character, she'd be hunting for it nonstop. This idea will sound preposterous to a lot of DMs and players, but I usually encourage my characters to start out with either no ultimate goal at all (beyond achievining fame and glory) or a nigh-unachievable goal, so that they can continue playing until the campaign is over.
Callista 03-20-06, 09:14 PM	I think it might be a bad thing to have a clear goal for most characters; but for a cleric, it's different: My DM plays my deity. Once my character is an adventurer, she can have more convenient dreams, see things that her deity would want fixed and go to fix them, or just fall in love with the life... in any case, she could just drop by Mom's house to un-petrify the people who need it and go right back to the road. A cleric is a built-in plot hook. :) I did worry about the "paradoxical personality" thing--can someone who's light-hearted also have deep convictions? How far does acting like you don't have a care in the world go before you really don't care about the world? Can you be frivolous and prankish, and still be dedicated to fulfilling your responsibilities? There'd have to be good reason for the existence of this sort of "face personality" as opposed to what's deep inside the character... but I haven't figured this out yet. Thus the request for help :)
Harrow Blade 03-21-06, 12:16 AM	I would Imagine that Kris would be grief striken thinking that it was all her fault that her parents were turned to stone. As such she may now feel uncertain of her place in the world and decide either conciously or unconciously to try and find her niche. She may meet a paladin and be impressed by the fearless surety and try to emulate one for a while giving the impression of lawfulness. That is until she meets some one who is carefree and chaotic in nature and she may try to emulate them in an attempt to develop that freedom. That would always be short lived as the reason for her leaving her village is her parents and that drives her on until she completes that goal. Greif and guilt can make any one do strange things. hope this helps
Callista 03-21-06, 02:02 AM	Back and forth between Law and Chaos... yep. Hope I find a NG deity. Being a Cleric, though--that does give the character one point of stability in life--her deity. And while gods may change, they don't do so over a gnome's life span, unless the gnome is very unlucky. So perhaps the deity (if only I had more info about the setting...) could become sort of a pivot point. BTW, just one parent--the father--was turned to stone. I had to leave Mom unpetrified; otherwise, there'd be no healer left back home, and the character would have to return home at the earliest opportunity, and stay home when she did. This way, she has quite a bit more leeway. After all, unpetrifying people generally isn't the sort of quest that puts you under time pressure; stone is stone, and stone it stays. Until you zap a Break Enchantment at it, anyway.
Nobody_ 03-21-06, 10:42 AM	I always reccomend giving your character a unique quirk. Maybe you have a fascination with Ironwood, or a fear of yellow and blue spotted Silk (rare, but interesting when it happens) Little things like that can literally make a game. As for the paradox thing, you do need to change that to be more specific (although you could just be Bi-Polar). Maybe you are level headed when it comes to matters of magic and fighting, but very playful anytime politics or negotiations of any sort ore involved. In other words, find domains for those contradictory personality traits to exist in such a way that they don't overlap too much (and then you get to have a dillemma when they do) Fun stuff -Nobody
Callista 03-21-06, 06:50 PM	Well, I've given her a riding dog of whom she can be inordinately fond. And I've decided she likes mint tea. Not too quirky, but it's a start. Wish I had more skill points... then I could put a couple in things like cooking or alchemy... an odd skill point or two is great for quirks.