Needs to be more Eberrony - New Character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Needs to be more Eberrony - New Character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
CapnBone
01-03-07, 08:05 AM Hey folks,

I have a character for an Eberron campaign that I will be beginning soon. I have skimmed through some of the core Eberron Manuals (namely the Campaign Setting, Player's Guide, and Explorer's Handbook) but it's a LOT of information so I'm not sure how much of it I've retained. I think I've got a half-decent history worked out but I'm wondering if there are inconsistencies with the existing information about Eberron (from which my DM will be drawing) that I don't know about. Or maybe someone can offer place-names that will help the character fit better into the setting.

It's not a hideously long character history: sometimes I like characters with "boring" histories because I find that such histories leave a lot more room for further development later (and as such, the total history becomes organic and unique). I was aiming for a character that could be likened to what you'd get if you mixed Indiana Jones with a bit of James Bond; i.e. made him a lot more social and willing to work in a group. Furthermore, he should not have the pesky heroic-but-realistic-virtually-guaranteed-success-at-almost-everything, so that I have as much fun getting him out of messes as I do getting him into them.. especially when he rolls those natural 1's. Character stats are at the end, for your reference; min/max advice is appreciated and noted, though I made some roleplay choices that don't necessarily make for the most "efficient" character.

******************
He's a 1st level Elven Bard, named Zelikhandteo Kaiil Shol d'Phiarlan of 123 years, 4'11 and 109 lbs. He grew up during the war, and didn't see much of it since he was too young to participate until near the end. His appearance is not especially noteworthy: the blue eyes, brown hair, and lithe frame common to his race. He hasn't seen much front-line combat, and doesn't have any distinguishing scars.

His parents has originally intended for him to have a future as a warrior, but found he had far too short an attention span for it. He would often show intense interest in any given subject, learning the basics quickly before growing bored and looking for something new to capture his notice. (An exception to this was the subject of history, which he continues to study to this day; apparently his fascination in people includes those no longer among the living). This interest in the new and exciting, combined with his inherent love of people, naturally led him into the field of Entertainment. When he was finally old enough to be drafted into the war, he was chosen to play a supportive role, bolstering his comrades through his arcane (musically-invoked) powers, as well as participating in combat when things got rough. He also spent part of his time as a scout for his combat troupe.

After the war, he was recruited into the House of Phiarlan as dictated by his heritage. Though he did not show a dragonmark, he was trained as a spy and masqueraded as a minstrel, for the purpose of obtaining information regarding enemies and competing houses. During his time as a spy, Zelik found himself developing strong relationships with those he was supposed to be spying upon and found it increasingly difficult to continue in that line of work. Being good at but unexceptional in the role, the house masters took pity on him and instead put him into a role that would suit his existing skills and knowledge. Namely, he was made an adventurer, with the purpose of seeking out powerful artifacts lost during the war, to return them to the house or remove them from the hands of enemy houses.

At the moment, Zelik is taking a lot of leeway with this assignment. He currently seeks employment with more adventurers, and has a willingness to help them towards their goals even if said goals diverge from his own. As far as he's concerned, such adventures would be an opportunity to see and experience new things and might lead him to find items that the house might be interested in. He no longer maintains regular contact with the house, and isn't opposed to taking a "long time" to return to the House any artifacts that may he come across.

*************
Chaotic Neutral (Chaotic because of his indecisive, easily distracted nature; Neutral because, although he basically has a good heart, other people's long-term goals quickly bore him so he has no interest in championing causes for either good or evil)

STR 14
DEX 16
CON 10
INT 12
WIS 11
CHA 16
(high Cha since his fascination with people equates to a lot of social experience, high Str and Dex due to combat experience, naturally average Wis thus poor "Sense Motive", "Listen", etc. explaining his lack of extraordinary success at being a scout or spy, low Con racially)

Feats Known: Two-weapon Fighting; (from his early years training as a warrior, in particular with the Valenar Double-Scimitar, and reinforced during the war)

Skill Ranks:

Appraise - 2; gained thanks to a brief foray into thievery, towards the end of his career as a spy when he was getting frustrated with that role.

Bluff - 4; a skill critical to his success (and survival!) as a spy. Also, a skill he had unwittingly practiced his whole life, to get the things he wanted and to get out of things he didn't want.

Diplomacy - 2;
Gather Information - 2;
Tumble - 2; more skills necessary to being a scout or spy. The ranks also represent natural aptitude as well as training.

Knowledge (History) - 4; representing a keen interest. One of the few subjects of Zelik's studies where his interest has been unwavering. This extensive knowledge also motivated the House of Phiarlan to put him in the role they did; who better to hunt artifacts than a man knowledgeable in them and their contexts?

Perform (Singing) - 4; natural talent. Zelik simply has a great voice, and loves how people react to it. It has become even more important to him now that he's figured out how to use his voice to power the arcane spells he's seen sorcerers use.

Sense Motive - 4: Although his ability to determine people's true motives is not *nearly* as sharp as that of the top spies of the House of Phiarlan, Zelik acquired a better than average skill through his experiences as a scout, spy, and in social settings in general throughout his life.

Sleight of Hand - 2: Zelik was trained in some small quicker-than-the-eye tricks during his time as a spy. He came to practice these skills briefly during his short time as a thief, but never developed them to any masterful level. He also found himself being bothered by the morality of it; decent people taken a step closer to starvation through his actions, people he might otherwise enjoy sharing a meal or a conversation with.

Use Magic Device - 2; This skill represents special training he took specifically after becoming an adventurer. If he was going to be hunting down rare artifacts, he ought to be able to use them, he thought.

Spells Known:
Detect Magic - Staple spell for spies, for determining potentially dangerous people and other threats. Also works great for thieves and dungeon-crawlers, for finding artifacts and the best loot quickly.
Lullaby - A good spell when working with a team of spies, for allowing them to slip past while everyone else's attention is upon you.
Mage Hand - Good for various dungeon-crawling tasks, such as trap detection, document-snatching, or guard-distracting;
Message - Useful to scouts and spies, but also worthwhile for anyone who plans to spend a lot of time in other people's territories and dungeons, unauthorized;

So .. whaddaya think? Any and all replies are appreciated, so thanks in advance.

Dan
Devlonir
01-03-07, 02:46 PM Pfff... there are a few things that I thought odd about the character background.

Elves arent imature before their adventuring age, but are more pre-occupied in learning about their culture, history and social subtleties to do any adventuring or fighting (hence, the starting age). So... maybe he did get a little more of the war action.. it can be as simple as suddenly being in the middle of a skirmish in his (diplomatic immune and completely neutral) d'Phiarlan caravan or anything. Also, I do not think house members, not even the undragonmarked ones, actually did a lot of fighting in the war. The reason the Houses survived was because of their neutrality during the war. Multinationals who choose sides tend to get anihilated in the other countries during a war.. especially one as long as the Last War.

Most likely during the end of The War, seeing how he is a bard, he was part of a group of entertainers travelling from camp to camp to boost morale for a price.

Again, the d'Phiarlan business is not just spying.. that is their secret business. Their outward business is more towards entertainment, which you as an unmarked bard are very capable of. So chances are they never expected you to spy for them.

Why would the House want you to be an adventurer? Wouldn't they gain a lot more gold off you entertaining? Maybe you asked for a task that wasn't so restrictive (seeing you are free-spirited, more so than most Elves) And they told you that maybe you need to join an adventuring guild or even one of the Eberron newspapers and try and find a job as a form of chronicler for a promising young party of adventurers. Which means that instead of reading and studying history, you are actually going to write your own! And also visit historic places only a few people will ever visit. You can work that into your character quite well, seeing how you love history.

How does the House earn money off you? Well, no matter what you work for.. you demanded a fixed wage above what you gain from adventuring. That wage goes straight to the House, which gives you the right to be free from them.

Next to those things, i really like the concept.. Don't often see a Phiarlan character who actually doesn't wan't to be a spy!
CapnBone
01-04-07, 10:57 PM Devlonir ..

thank you for your insight!! You may or may not be interested in hearing changes I'm making to Zelik's history as a result. If you are interested, I'm mixing the changes in with my response to your comments, below.

"
Elves arent imature before their adventuring age, but are more pre-occupied in learning about their culture, history and social subtleties to do any adventuring or fighting (hence, the starting age).
"

The PHB is a very vague on how age affects each race, so I'd always just implicitly assumed that the longer-lived races would develop like what you'd get if you took a human and slowed down time for him.. but I never really thought about it. What you say makes a lot more sense. (I can't imagine being a toddler for ten years!!)

"
...caravan or anything. Also, I do not think house members, not even the undragonmarked ones, actually did a lot of fighting in the war. The reason the Houses survived was because of their neutrality during the war. Multinationals who choose sides tend to get anihilated in the other countries during a war.. especially one as long as the Last War.

Most likely during the end of The War, seeing how he is a bard, he was part of a group of entertainers travelling from camp to camp to boost morale for a price.
"

Oh! I'd come to believe that the war and five nations were somewhat racially aligned and that the Houses, given their inherent association with race, were also thus aligned (but that just seems silly in hindsight).
I **love** the idea of Zelik being part of a paid group of entertainers, working on one side for a week and then travelling to the enemy camp to do the same job, while at the same time working as a spy to pass on information between sides.

This is as opposed to my original idea of having him fight for just one side. The nature of this type of job would appeal immensely to a guy like Zelik, and if he were able to believe that "all them other guys are EVIL" he could do it easily without any moral qualms. Thus I needed him to have motivation to leave, and the moral conflict he runs into after the war is a pretty weak excuse.

By having him work both sides, he would recognize the humanity (err.. elfanity?) of the people involved on all sides of the war, and the internal conflict I mentioned works SO much better if it had been an ongoing internal conflict throughout his whole career. This would more than justify his very sudden and unexpected abandonment of his job as a spy just a few short years after the war ended.

"
Why would the House want you to be an adventurer? Wouldn't they gain a lot more gold off you entertaining? Maybe you asked for a task that wasn't so restrictive (seeing you are free-spirited, more so than most Elves) And they told you that maybe you need to join an adventuring guild or even one of the Eberron newspapers and try and find a job as a form of chronicler for a promising young party of adventurers. Which means that instead of reading and studying history, you are actually going to write your own! And also visit historic places only a few people will ever visit. You can work that into your character quite well, seeing how you love history.
"

Zelik specifically asked for a different job more appealing to him, but for the moral considerations instead (because he actually quite enjoyed the other aspects of being a spy).
I actually considered playing him as a Chronicler for a while, but I initially rejected the idea. The way I have his personality designed is a "doer" not a "writer" .. he's not the typical singer-of-legend-and-teller-of-myth like mosts Bards (though it is certainly in his repertoire of abilities, given his extensive knowledge of history).

HOWEVER, that said, I like your take on it. Zelik would strongly tempted by the thought of becoming a part of a group that promises to visit some of the places he's read about in his history books; and to actually participate in what might become history, alongside a group of adventurers whose desire for change and excitement is almost as strong as his own, would seal the deal.

Thanks again immensely for your response.
Devlonir
01-05-07, 05:30 AM No problem, it was a very interesting concept and you used a lot of things i never thought about. I hope you enjoy playing it and i hope you don't mind me 'stealing' your character to use as an NPC of sorts (either antagonist or protagonist) in my running Eberron campaign. :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
CapnBone 01-03-07, 08:05 AM	Hey folks, I have a character for an Eberron campaign that I will be beginning soon. I have skimmed through some of the core Eberron Manuals (namely the Campaign Setting, Player's Guide, and Explorer's Handbook) but it's a LOT of information so I'm not sure how much of it I've retained. I think I've got a half-decent history worked out but I'm wondering if there are inconsistencies with the existing information about Eberron (from which my DM will be drawing) that I don't know about. Or maybe someone can offer place-names that will help the character fit better into the setting. It's not a hideously long character history: sometimes I like characters with "boring" histories because I find that such histories leave a lot more room for further development later (and as such, the total history becomes organic and unique). I was aiming for a character that could be likened to what you'd get if you mixed Indiana Jones with a bit of James Bond; i.e. made him a lot more social and willing to work in a group. Furthermore, he should not have the pesky heroic-but-realistic-virtually-guaranteed-success-at-almost-everything, so that I have as much fun getting him out of messes as I do getting him into them.. especially when he rolls those natural 1's. Character stats are at the end, for your reference; min/max advice is appreciated and noted, though I made some roleplay choices that don't necessarily make for the most "efficient" character. **************** He's a 1st level Elven Bard, named Zelikhandteo Kaiil Shol d'Phiarlan of 123 years, 4'11 and 109 lbs. He grew up during the war, and didn't see much of it since he was too young to participate until near the end. His appearance is not especially noteworthy: the blue eyes, brown hair, and lithe frame common to his race. He hasn't seen much front-line combat, and doesn't have any distinguishing scars. His parents has originally intended for him to have a future as a warrior, but found he had far too short an attention span for it. He would often show intense interest in any given subject, learning the basics quickly before growing bored and looking for something new to capture his notice. (An exception to this was the subject of history, which he continues to study to this day; apparently his fascination in people includes those no longer among the living). This interest in the new and exciting, combined with his inherent love of people, naturally led him into the field of Entertainment. When he was finally old enough to be drafted into the war, he was chosen to play a supportive role, bolstering his comrades through his arcane (musically-invoked) powers, as well as participating in combat when things got rough. He also spent part of his time as a scout for his combat troupe. After the war, he was recruited into the House of Phiarlan as dictated by his heritage. Though he did not show a dragonmark, he was trained as a spy and masqueraded as a minstrel, for the purpose of obtaining information regarding enemies and competing houses. During his time as a spy, Zelik found himself developing strong relationships with those he was supposed to be spying upon and found it increasingly difficult to continue in that line of work. Being good at but unexceptional in the role, the house masters took pity on him and instead put him into a role that would suit his existing skills and knowledge. Namely, he was made an adventurer, with the purpose of seeking out powerful artifacts lost during the war, to return them to the house or remove them from the hands of enemy houses. At the moment, Zelik is taking a lot of leeway with this assignment. He currently seeks employment with more adventurers, and has a willingness to help them towards their goals even if said goals diverge from his own. As far as he's concerned, such adventures would be an opportunity to see and experience new things and might lead him to find items that the house might be interested in. He no longer maintains regular contact with the house, and isn't opposed to taking a "long time" to return to the House any artifacts that may he come across. *********** Chaotic Neutral (Chaotic because of his indecisive, easily distracted nature; Neutral because, although he basically has a good heart, other people's long-term goals quickly bore him so he has no interest in championing causes for either good or evil) STR 14 DEX 16 CON 10 INT 12 WIS 11 CHA 16 (high Cha since his fascination with people equates to a lot of social experience, high Str and Dex due to combat experience, naturally average Wis thus poor "Sense Motive", "Listen", etc. explaining his lack of extraordinary success at being a scout or spy, low Con racially) Feats Known: Two-weapon Fighting; (from his early years training as a warrior, in particular with the Valenar Double-Scimitar, and reinforced during the war) Skill Ranks: Appraise - 2; gained thanks to a brief foray into thievery, towards the end of his career as a spy when he was getting frustrated with that role. Bluff - 4; a skill critical to his success (and survival!) as a spy. Also, a skill he had unwittingly practiced his whole life, to get the things he wanted and to get out of things he didn't want. Diplomacy - 2; Gather Information - 2; Tumble - 2; more skills necessary to being a scout or spy. The ranks also represent natural aptitude as well as training. Knowledge (History) - 4; representing a keen interest. One of the few subjects of Zelik's studies where his interest has been unwavering. This extensive knowledge also motivated the House of Phiarlan to put him in the role they did; who better to hunt artifacts than a man knowledgeable in them and their contexts? Perform (Singing) - 4; natural talent. Zelik simply has a great voice, and loves how people react to it. It has become even more important to him now that he's figured out how to use his voice to power the arcane spells he's seen sorcerers use. Sense Motive - 4: Although his ability to determine people's true motives is not nearly as sharp as that of the top spies of the House of Phiarlan, Zelik acquired a better than average skill through his experiences as a scout, spy, and in social settings in general throughout his life. Sleight of Hand - 2: Zelik was trained in some small quicker-than-the-eye tricks during his time as a spy. He came to practice these skills briefly during his short time as a thief, but never developed them to any masterful level. He also found himself being bothered by the morality of it; decent people taken a step closer to starvation through his actions, people he might otherwise enjoy sharing a meal or a conversation with. Use Magic Device - 2; This skill represents special training he took specifically after becoming an adventurer. If he was going to be hunting down rare artifacts, he ought to be able to use them, he thought. Spells Known: Detect Magic - Staple spell for spies, for determining potentially dangerous people and other threats. Also works great for thieves and dungeon-crawlers, for finding artifacts and the best loot quickly. Lullaby - A good spell when working with a team of spies, for allowing them to slip past while everyone else's attention is upon you. Mage Hand - Good for various dungeon-crawling tasks, such as trap detection, document-snatching, or guard-distracting; Message - Useful to scouts and spies, but also worthwhile for anyone who plans to spend a lot of time in other people's territories and dungeons, unauthorized; So .. whaddaya think? Any and all replies are appreciated, so thanks in advance. Dan
Devlonir 01-03-07, 02:46 PM	Pfff... there are a few things that I thought odd about the character background. Elves arent imature before their adventuring age, but are more pre-occupied in learning about their culture, history and social subtleties to do any adventuring or fighting (hence, the starting age). So... maybe he did get a little more of the war action.. it can be as simple as suddenly being in the middle of a skirmish in his (diplomatic immune and completely neutral) d'Phiarlan caravan or anything. Also, I do not think house members, not even the undragonmarked ones, actually did a lot of fighting in the war. The reason the Houses survived was because of their neutrality during the war. Multinationals who choose sides tend to get anihilated in the other countries during a war.. especially one as long as the Last War. Most likely during the end of The War, seeing how he is a bard, he was part of a group of entertainers travelling from camp to camp to boost morale for a price. Again, the d'Phiarlan business is not just spying.. that is their secret business. Their outward business is more towards entertainment, which you as an unmarked bard are very capable of. So chances are they never expected you to spy for them. Why would the House want you to be an adventurer? Wouldn't they gain a lot more gold off you entertaining? Maybe you asked for a task that wasn't so restrictive (seeing you are free-spirited, more so than most Elves) And they told you that maybe you need to join an adventuring guild or even one of the Eberron newspapers and try and find a job as a form of chronicler for a promising young party of adventurers. Which means that instead of reading and studying history, you are actually going to write your own! And also visit historic places only a few people will ever visit. You can work that into your character quite well, seeing how you love history. How does the House earn money off you? Well, no matter what you work for.. you demanded a fixed wage above what you gain from adventuring. That wage goes straight to the House, which gives you the right to be free from them. Next to those things, i really like the concept.. Don't often see a Phiarlan character who actually doesn't wan't to be a spy!
CapnBone 01-04-07, 10:57 PM	Devlonir .. thank you for your insight!! You may or may not be interested in hearing changes I'm making to Zelik's history as a result. If you are interested, I'm mixing the changes in with my response to your comments, below. " Elves arent imature before their adventuring age, but are more pre-occupied in learning about their culture, history and social subtleties to do any adventuring or fighting (hence, the starting age). " The PHB is a very vague on how age affects each race, so I'd always just implicitly assumed that the longer-lived races would develop like what you'd get if you took a human and slowed down time for him.. but I never really thought about it. What you say makes a lot more sense. (I can't imagine being a toddler for ten years!!) " ...caravan or anything. Also, I do not think house members, not even the undragonmarked ones, actually did a lot of fighting in the war. The reason the Houses survived was because of their neutrality during the war. Multinationals who choose sides tend to get anihilated in the other countries during a war.. especially one as long as the Last War. Most likely during the end of The War, seeing how he is a bard, he was part of a group of entertainers travelling from camp to camp to boost morale for a price. " Oh! I'd come to believe that the war and five nations were somewhat racially aligned and that the Houses, given their inherent association with race, were also thus aligned (but that just seems silly in hindsight). I love the idea of Zelik being part of a paid group of entertainers, working on one side for a week and then travelling to the enemy camp to do the same job, while at the same time working as a spy to pass on information between sides. This is as opposed to my original idea of having him fight for just one side. The nature of this type of job would appeal immensely to a guy like Zelik, and if he were able to believe that "all them other guys are EVIL" he could do it easily without any moral qualms. Thus I needed him to have motivation to leave, and the moral conflict he runs into after the war is a pretty weak excuse. By having him work both sides, he would recognize the humanity (err.. elfanity?) of the people involved on all sides of the war, and the internal conflict I mentioned works SO much better if it had been an ongoing internal conflict throughout his whole career. This would more than justify his very sudden and unexpected abandonment of his job as a spy just a few short years after the war ended. " Why would the House want you to be an adventurer? Wouldn't they gain a lot more gold off you entertaining? Maybe you asked for a task that wasn't so restrictive (seeing you are free-spirited, more so than most Elves) And they told you that maybe you need to join an adventuring guild or even one of the Eberron newspapers and try and find a job as a form of chronicler for a promising young party of adventurers. Which means that instead of reading and studying history, you are actually going to write your own! And also visit historic places only a few people will ever visit. You can work that into your character quite well, seeing how you love history. " Zelik specifically asked for a different job more appealing to him, but for the moral considerations instead (because he actually quite enjoyed the other aspects of being a spy). I actually considered playing him as a Chronicler for a while, but I initially rejected the idea. The way I have his personality designed is a "doer" not a "writer" .. he's not the typical singer-of-legend-and-teller-of-myth like mosts Bards (though it is certainly in his repertoire of abilities, given his extensive knowledge of history). HOWEVER, that said, I like your take on it. Zelik would strongly tempted by the thought of becoming a part of a group that promises to visit some of the places he's read about in his history books; and to actually participate in what might become history, alongside a group of adventurers whose desire for change and excitement is almost as strong as his own, would seal the deal. Thanks again immensely for your response.
Devlonir 01-05-07, 05:30 AM	No problem, it was a very interesting concept and you used a lot of things i never thought about. I hope you enjoy playing it and i hope you don't mind me 'stealing' your character to use as an NPC of sorts (either antagonist or protagonist) in my running Eberron campaign. :)