Needing some help filling in a character concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Needing some help filling in a character concept [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Kharne
09-16-03, 05:12 PM Basically, i'm wanting to try playing someone pretty young...about 13-15 yrs old). My idea is for a kid whose parents have always struggled hard to make ends meet but have kept a nice home and taken really good care of their son. I'm imagining the son was learning his father's trade in whatever city I decide to put them in when it started to decline (possibly due to war?) or had to be closed for some reason. His parents have since basically become pretty destitute and his father is having to work at pretty back breaking labor to keep the family fed. At this point, the son runs away pursuing an adventuring group after hearing all of the stories. His goal is to make a lot of money so that his parents don't have to work anymore.

I'm really looking forward to playing the growth of the character in a couple areas:

1.) He's basically a good person...but in the beginning, at least, he is driven primarily out of greed. What will be fun is not letting the other players know that his greed is really coming from a desire to help his parents. Eventually, the character will begin to care more and more about helping people first and getting paid second (especially after he's gotten some of his money back to his parents).

2.) I'm just looking forward to playing out his growth as an individual as well. At the beginning of the game, he will be a pretty quiet but very polite young man...and i'll let the events of the game determine where he is taken.

Now for the questions I have:
1.) What skill might be good to reflect his father's profession? I'm looking for something that is mostly in character but hopefully will occasionally be useful.

2.) What class might work well? I'm leaning towards rogue or ranger...even more towards the ranger because of the ranged weaponry. I'm hoping to spur some of the characters to almost looking after him as if he is a younger brother...and by being focused in ranged, I won't necessarily constantly be a distraction on the battlefield. The only strange thing is that I can't see where he would have picked up those skills, since I want his father to have been some sort of a craftsman in the city.

3.) Would you try to do anything strange with the stats to reflect his youth? (it will be either 32 or 34 pt buy game)

4.) Any other background or build ideas that I might not have thought of?

Any help is appreciated :bow:

Quick note here: If anyone on these boards is around the ages i'm mentioning, please don't be offended by my references to the extreme youth...i'm 28 and am more wanting to push myself to play out the differences. ;)
Poukis
09-16-03, 06:37 PM 1. Since father is strugling to make end meet he should be something like an artisan a trader a lumberjack or a sailor... The skills are craft (something), diplomacy (for a trader), knowledge (nature, geography), and of course profession (any...).

2. It depends on the father's profession. If it has anything to do with wilderness it should be ranger. Maybe the young child even met an experienced elven ranger living in the forest, or he is self tought. If he lives on a big city he should propably be a self taught rogue, or a cleric of a roguish deity (Olidammara, Tymora...).

PS. Maybe the father or mother is a performer and the child becomes a bard...

3. Nah... He's grown up enough to be steady in his stats... If you want him to be naive, I suggest a low wisdom score. Well maybe you should also consider a low strength score if he is a rogue... But not if he is in the wilds... If it is so he should have a high strength score...

4. Hmm... You should work on the tutor... Maybe as a younger child he slipped out of the house and watched the events of te city from rooftops, seeing experienced adventurers or something...

If you like respond to let me know if you liked any of these!
Trydan
09-17-03, 03:20 AM The father could be a bowyer or fletcher. That would give an excuse for archery skills.
Morka
09-17-03, 12:50 PM Father & mother should work for a noble, and eventually it is the noble who is destituted. This way, the young could have contact with the house's gards, or with the noble's personnal wizard, or with any other tutor. The father could be anything needed in a noble estate: gardner (druid), blacksmith (ranger)...

For a side story, the young could know something of importance that explain the noble's destitution (another noble treachery), but not understand this. The rival noble could send bounty hunter after the boy, and the boy doesn't understand why.

Discuss this with your DM, you could start with a small size, and by level 4-5, get the medium size as the character get older.
Obi-Wan Quixote
09-17-03, 01:31 PM Originally posted by Kharne
Basically, i'm wanting to try playing someone pretty young...about 13-15 yrs old). My idea is for a kid whose parents have always struggled hard to make ends meet but have kept a nice home and taken really good care of their son. I'm imagining the son was learning his father's trade in whatever city I decide to put them in when it started to decline (possibly due to war?) or had to be closed for some reason. His parents have since basically become pretty destitute and his father is having to work at pretty back breaking labor to keep the family fed. At this point, the son runs away pursuing an adventuring group after hearing all of the stories. His goal is to make a lot of money so that his parents don't have to work anymore.

I don't know about your game's society, but keep in mind that in a lot of medieval societies, you were an adult round about the age of 16 (perhaps as young as 13 or 14.) So, your character is more likely to think of himself as a full-fledged adult than as a child.

A few reasons his family might be destitute:

1. Perhaps a new guild came together, and your character's father underbid the guild-set prices, which led to all sorts of retribution. For example, if your character's father was a tailor, then perhaps the Clothman's Guild instructed the weavers to stop supplying cloth, and the Woodworkers Guild refused to fix Dad's loom after it was "mysteriously" broken.

2. This plays off the idea of a guild, but the guild is more a good guy here. Dad suffered some injury, perhaps to his hands, and it made him unable to continue work. Junior tried to learn the family trade, but the guild rightfully refuses to allow Junior to run his own shop, for Junior is (at best) a decent journeyman, not worthy of the "craftmaster" label.

I'm really looking forward to playing the growth of the character in a couple areas:

1.) He's basically a good person...but in the beginning, at least, he is driven primarily out of greed. What will be fun is not letting the other players know that his greed is really coming from a desire to help his parents. Eventually, the character will begin to care more and more about helping people first and getting paid second (especially after he's gotten some of his money back to his parents).

I'd suggest a low Wisdom to reflect your character's focus on principle rather than practicality and his likely short-sightedness.

Now for the questions I have:

1.) What skill might be good to reflect his father's profession? I'm looking for something that is mostly in character but hopefully will occasionally be useful.

How about Profession (barber) or Craft (tailor)? Ancillary to either of these skills would be Heal (probably taken cross-class), which can help you back up the party's healers when they're busy. Alternatively, Profession (Dockworker) or Profession (Teamster) might provide some encumbrance bonuses when you load ships or animals.

2.) What class might work well? I'm leaning towards rogue or ranger...even more towards the ranger because of the ranged weaponry. I'm hoping to spur some of the characters to almost looking after him as if he is a younger brother...and by being focused in ranged, I won't necessarily constantly be a distraction on the battlefield. The only strange thing is that I can't see where he would have picked up those skills, since I want his father to have been some sort of a craftsman in the city.

Virtually any class can work. But what might be more realistic is the Expert class; you'll start off the game as a fairly skilled tradesman who learned the basics of the business at Father's feet (Appraise, Diplomacy, Profession, Craft, what have you), but you'll have to pick up the profession of fighter, wizard, or what have you as you adventure.

3.) Would you try to do anything strange with the stats to reflect his youth? (it will be either 32 or 34 pt buy game)

I'd go with a somewhat low Wisdom.
Mr. VanderMeer
09-17-03, 03:27 PM I have a character with a background that would be somewhat applicable.

He's a human wizard.

His father was a scribe. His job was writing up documents for the local government (in his case the mayor's aides. He wasn't important enough to work directly for the mayor).
He thought his son calligraphy, as that was his craft. He also encouraged his son to read many books. It is these books that started his interest in magic. He would read about wizards.
When the country, in which their home town was, got mixed up in a war times started getting tough. His father was paid less and less per writing job.
Fascinated by magic, Walen (the character) started to investigate spellbooks that might lead to a way to write more documents in a shorter time. Just so his father could earn more money.
Walen dicovered that he could not do it on his own. He found an adventurer that seemed to have some knowledge of magic. This adventurer taught Walen the basics.
He also told Walen much of his adventures and Walen was especially interested in the tales of treasure. That is what convinced him he should go out and find enough treasure to support his parents for the rest of their lives.

Maybe something like this is an idea? If he starts at a young age, he could start as an apprentice. I do not know how to do that classwise. Maybe you could make him a level 1 wizard, whose only spels have to do with reading and writing or languages (Comprehend languages, Erase) besides that he knows a few cantrips. He'll still have to find the kind of spells that are useful to adventurers.

About his stats, wizard stats work well for a kid. High dex, lower strength. He would be extremely intelligent for his age. I would also make his wisdom not to high for this concept.
Trydan
09-18-03, 09:09 AM I'd also leave Con average to low. The problem with such a high point-buy, is that everything tends to be high. But I agree with Mr VanderMeer - High Dex and Int, and then (in order) Cha, Wis, Con, Str.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Kharne 09-16-03, 05:12 PM	Basically, i'm wanting to try playing someone pretty young...about 13-15 yrs old). My idea is for a kid whose parents have always struggled hard to make ends meet but have kept a nice home and taken really good care of their son. I'm imagining the son was learning his father's trade in whatever city I decide to put them in when it started to decline (possibly due to war?) or had to be closed for some reason. His parents have since basically become pretty destitute and his father is having to work at pretty back breaking labor to keep the family fed. At this point, the son runs away pursuing an adventuring group after hearing all of the stories. His goal is to make a lot of money so that his parents don't have to work anymore. I'm really looking forward to playing the growth of the character in a couple areas: 1.) He's basically a good person...but in the beginning, at least, he is driven primarily out of greed. What will be fun is not letting the other players know that his greed is really coming from a desire to help his parents. Eventually, the character will begin to care more and more about helping people first and getting paid second (especially after he's gotten some of his money back to his parents). 2.) I'm just looking forward to playing out his growth as an individual as well. At the beginning of the game, he will be a pretty quiet but very polite young man...and i'll let the events of the game determine where he is taken. Now for the questions I have: 1.) What skill might be good to reflect his father's profession? I'm looking for something that is mostly in character but hopefully will occasionally be useful. 2.) What class might work well? I'm leaning towards rogue or ranger...even more towards the ranger because of the ranged weaponry. I'm hoping to spur some of the characters to almost looking after him as if he is a younger brother...and by being focused in ranged, I won't necessarily constantly be a distraction on the battlefield. The only strange thing is that I can't see where he would have picked up those skills, since I want his father to have been some sort of a craftsman in the city. 3.) Would you try to do anything strange with the stats to reflect his youth? (it will be either 32 or 34 pt buy game) 4.) Any other background or build ideas that I might not have thought of? Any help is appreciated :bow: Quick note here: If anyone on these boards is around the ages i'm mentioning, please don't be offended by my references to the extreme youth...i'm 28 and am more wanting to push myself to play out the differences. ;)
Poukis 09-16-03, 06:37 PM	1. Since father is strugling to make end meet he should be something like an artisan a trader a lumberjack or a sailor... The skills are craft (something), diplomacy (for a trader), knowledge (nature, geography), and of course profession (any...). 2. It depends on the father's profession. If it has anything to do with wilderness it should be ranger. Maybe the young child even met an experienced elven ranger living in the forest, or he is self tought. If he lives on a big city he should propably be a self taught rogue, or a cleric of a roguish deity (Olidammara, Tymora...). PS. Maybe the father or mother is a performer and the child becomes a bard... 3. Nah... He's grown up enough to be steady in his stats... If you want him to be naive, I suggest a low wisdom score. Well maybe you should also consider a low strength score if he is a rogue... But not if he is in the wilds... If it is so he should have a high strength score... 4. Hmm... You should work on the tutor... Maybe as a younger child he slipped out of the house and watched the events of te city from rooftops, seeing experienced adventurers or something... If you like respond to let me know if you liked any of these!
Trydan 09-17-03, 03:20 AM	The father could be a bowyer or fletcher. That would give an excuse for archery skills.
Morka 09-17-03, 12:50 PM	Father & mother should work for a noble, and eventually it is the noble who is destituted. This way, the young could have contact with the house's gards, or with the noble's personnal wizard, or with any other tutor. The father could be anything needed in a noble estate: gardner (druid), blacksmith (ranger)... For a side story, the young could know something of importance that explain the noble's destitution (another noble treachery), but not understand this. The rival noble could send bounty hunter after the boy, and the boy doesn't understand why. Discuss this with your DM, you could start with a small size, and by level 4-5, get the medium size as the character get older.
Obi-Wan Quixote 09-17-03, 01:31 PM	Originally posted by Kharne Basically, i'm wanting to try playing someone pretty young...about 13-15 yrs old). My idea is for a kid whose parents have always struggled hard to make ends meet but have kept a nice home and taken really good care of their son. I'm imagining the son was learning his father's trade in whatever city I decide to put them in when it started to decline (possibly due to war?) or had to be closed for some reason. His parents have since basically become pretty destitute and his father is having to work at pretty back breaking labor to keep the family fed. At this point, the son runs away pursuing an adventuring group after hearing all of the stories. His goal is to make a lot of money so that his parents don't have to work anymore. I don't know about your game's society, but keep in mind that in a lot of medieval societies, you were an adult round about the age of 16 (perhaps as young as 13 or 14.) So, your character is more likely to think of himself as a full-fledged adult than as a child. A few reasons his family might be destitute: 1. Perhaps a new guild came together, and your character's father underbid the guild-set prices, which led to all sorts of retribution. For example, if your character's father was a tailor, then perhaps the Clothman's Guild instructed the weavers to stop supplying cloth, and the Woodworkers Guild refused to fix Dad's loom after it was "mysteriously" broken. 2. This plays off the idea of a guild, but the guild is more a good guy here. Dad suffered some injury, perhaps to his hands, and it made him unable to continue work. Junior tried to learn the family trade, but the guild rightfully refuses to allow Junior to run his own shop, for Junior is (at best) a decent journeyman, not worthy of the "craftmaster" label. I'm really looking forward to playing the growth of the character in a couple areas: 1.) He's basically a good person...but in the beginning, at least, he is driven primarily out of greed. What will be fun is not letting the other players know that his greed is really coming from a desire to help his parents. Eventually, the character will begin to care more and more about helping people first and getting paid second (especially after he's gotten some of his money back to his parents). I'd suggest a low Wisdom to reflect your character's focus on principle rather than practicality and his likely short-sightedness. Now for the questions I have: 1.) What skill might be good to reflect his father's profession? I'm looking for something that is mostly in character but hopefully will occasionally be useful. How about Profession (barber) or Craft (tailor)? Ancillary to either of these skills would be Heal (probably taken cross-class), which can help you back up the party's healers when they're busy. Alternatively, Profession (Dockworker) or Profession (Teamster) might provide some encumbrance bonuses when you load ships or animals. 2.) What class might work well? I'm leaning towards rogue or ranger...even more towards the ranger because of the ranged weaponry. I'm hoping to spur some of the characters to almost looking after him as if he is a younger brother...and by being focused in ranged, I won't necessarily constantly be a distraction on the battlefield. The only strange thing is that I can't see where he would have picked up those skills, since I want his father to have been some sort of a craftsman in the city. Virtually any class can work. But what might be more realistic is the Expert class; you'll start off the game as a fairly skilled tradesman who learned the basics of the business at Father's feet (Appraise, Diplomacy, Profession, Craft, what have you), but you'll have to pick up the profession of fighter, wizard, or what have you as you adventure. 3.) Would you try to do anything strange with the stats to reflect his youth? (it will be either 32 or 34 pt buy game) I'd go with a somewhat low Wisdom.
Mr. VanderMeer 09-17-03, 03:27 PM	I have a character with a background that would be somewhat applicable. He's a human wizard. His father was a scribe. His job was writing up documents for the local government (in his case the mayor's aides. He wasn't important enough to work directly for the mayor). He thought his son calligraphy, as that was his craft. He also encouraged his son to read many books. It is these books that started his interest in magic. He would read about wizards. When the country, in which their home town was, got mixed up in a war times started getting tough. His father was paid less and less per writing job. Fascinated by magic, Walen (the character) started to investigate spellbooks that might lead to a way to write more documents in a shorter time. Just so his father could earn more money. Walen dicovered that he could not do it on his own. He found an adventurer that seemed to have some knowledge of magic. This adventurer taught Walen the basics. He also told Walen much of his adventures and Walen was especially interested in the tales of treasure. That is what convinced him he should go out and find enough treasure to support his parents for the rest of their lives. Maybe something like this is an idea? If he starts at a young age, he could start as an apprentice. I do not know how to do that classwise. Maybe you could make him a level 1 wizard, whose only spels have to do with reading and writing or languages (Comprehend languages, Erase) besides that he knows a few cantrips. He'll still have to find the kind of spells that are useful to adventurers. About his stats, wizard stats work well for a kid. High dex, lower strength. He would be extremely intelligent for his age. I would also make his wisdom not to high for this concept.
Trydan 09-18-03, 09:09 AM	I'd also leave Con average to low. The problem with such a high point-buy, is that everything tends to be high. But I agree with Mr VanderMeer - High Dex and Int, and then (in order) Cha, Wis, Con, Str.