Post/Author/DateTime	Post
trickydevl666 01-19-07, 10:07 PM	Hello there, I asked my friend to start a Campaign, and I've been trying to think of a decent backstory for my character. So my character is an Illumian from a gravewhisperer cabal in Karrnath. He is from a line of warlocks and so will have the eldritch abilties but also he will be learning the skills of necromancy and become a dread necromancer from the heroes of horror book and has a desire to fight off death by becoming a lich. His cabal is connected with the Blood of Vol and so he is loyal to the blood. Red Watchers attacked his cabal after the Last War was over, and as a result of the battle, the infrastructure of his home was distorted and his training had to be stopped, so he was sent out to learn necromancy and to develop his eldritch powers. He goes to Sharn for some reason I have yet to figure out. He's chaotic neutral but I still haven't decided if Is hould start him as a warlock or dread necromancer. Edit: I added the text... it's kind of long... but bear with me ^^ The Darkwing Cabal was created in the shadows of the Ashen Spires, in the Nightwood. It has existed since 675K and thrived. The black table members of the cabal today are the same ones as when the cabal was founded, though now they are sentient undead. In 896K, the Blood of Vol enlisted the help of the Illumians to help supply the armies of Karrnath with undead. In return for aiding the Blood, the cabal had received ancient tomes detailing ways to preserve the dead so as to make better use of them in undeath. After the first arrangements between the Illumians and the Blood had been completed, Vol proposed a second deal. She divulged some of her plans of reviving the Mark of Death and with the promise of new power under the mark, the Illumians agreed again to assist Vol. The Darkwing Cabal now helps Vol by researching undead and trying to create stronger creatures, as well as hunting for texts that are associated with the Mark of Death as well as those involving necromancy. Aside from the promise of power, the deal benefits the Darkwings because as a bonus to doing the things they normally do, researching undead and searching for texts, they gain valuable knowledge from the Blood, such as lore and techniques that they would otherwise be unable to attain. Those who know of the true connection between the Blood of Vol and the Darkwing Cabal are limited to the Black Table. However, the members of the enclave do know that they have an allegiance with the Blood, but they are not allowed to ask why. Because of their affiliation with the Blood, most Illumians follow the Blood of Vol, but this is not a set rule. In 997K, a group of Red Watchers had discovered the Darkwing Cabal and sent a force to try to exterminate it. The Illumians were caught off guard but were able to quickly recover. The Darkwings were able to successfully drive back the Red Watchers, though not without casualties. Their workforce had been depleted. Some important members of the defense directorate had been killed. The enclave has now focused its sights inward, rebuilding their structure by creating new undead and appointing new members of the directorate. Because of this, those able to teach the new Illumians are now far too busy trying to rebuild their cabal. It has been nearly a year since Darkwing Lasham left his home. With the promise of being taught in his enclave shattered, he left Karrnath for the Sharn. For 15 years he had studied to become a necromancer. He studied texts on these arts, translating scrolls on the history of necromancy, he had helped preserved bodies, and he had even started his training to finally become a necromancer. It filled him with great pride when he was finally able to summon his first undead. But sadly his hopes had come to an end. The Red Watchers had killed his teacher during their unexpected attack. And all of the spellcasters able to teach him had become too busy inspecting the field of battle, scavenging for useful bodies in order to replenish their forces. The enclave had supplied him with equipment and money enough to send Lasham to Sharn. This had pleased Lasham. He had grown tired of the stuffy, old cabal anyway. He was now looking for a new teacher, one to help him with his necromancy as well as one to help him discover the meaning behind some of these new abilities he had discovered. Sometimes his body surged with a strong force, one that could possibly be used and manipulated for something greater. He has yet to learn to control or command this new power and therefore is unable to use it. Lasham feels that the day is coming and he will soon be able to know the truth behind the mysterious powers that flow through him. So now that I have updated, I wish to know what y'all think. I took Korasukage's advice and chose that his powers are actually a result from lifelong exposure to negative energy and that he was more susceptible than other members of the cabal. Now I request roleplaying advice. How exactly should I play a knowledge and death obsessed cn necromancer? I was thinking about having a fun time and making him actively pursuing knowledge or being really smart but acting oblivious when he really notices everything...
Korasukage 01-19-07, 11:10 PM	Damn it .. I just lost the post I wrote! OK here we go again ... 1) Though lacking in specifics, does this seem to be a pretty good idea for a character? Yup, sounds cool. The interesting thing is that you can concentrate on the "Divinity Within" doctrine which is central to their belief. Instead of worshipping an outside force you technically worship yourself.;) 2) When starting this character should I be a lvl 1 dread necromancer and later develop my warlockness? or should I have already manifested the eldritch abilities and seek to learn the powers of necromancy? I think either would be fine. 3)Know any good ideas of where the source of my warlock powers are from? An interesting source for your warlock powers could be directly attributed to all of the ambient necromantic energy that you have worked around. Maybe your character was the Sepuchral Embalmer(or warden) of your sect. The responsibilities of this position might have been the preperation of the cults dead for entombment or the daily care of the undead that aided your sect. Due to your constant "handling" of necromantic material you become "tainted". Through happenstance you realised that you could launch blasts of necromantic energy (eldritch blast, black of course) and you could see in the dark (devil's sight invocation) as easily as most of the undead creatures that surround you. 4)I need a good reason to be in Sharn, as well as partying with a rogue, swordsage, and some sort of meatshield(he hasn't told me what his character is going to be, probably a dwarven something or other) Here are some ideas ... 1) Perhaps you learned that one of the Red Watchers which attacked your cult is in Sharn. 2) Maybe you have learned of an individual that can help you understand and develope the frightening powers which you have developed. 3) You know of a cell of Blood of Vol worshippers in Sharn and you set out to warn them of a possible assualt by a Red Watcher Strike Force 4) Maybe you just want to hide ... what better city to do that in then the City of Towers. One last suggestion ... there is a prestige class called the eldritch theurge in the Complete Mage. It combines the warlock and an arcane spellcasting class. I think it would be a perfect fit for your character. Maybe something like ... warlock2/dread necromancer8/eldritch theurge10 Well thats my .02cp. Hope that helps!:) Sorry for the spelling errors. I don't have time to grammar check my post. Cheers Kol
trickydevl666 01-19-07, 11:30 PM	I was actually planning on doing just that... though I would like more levels of warlock... I wanna learn to fly :p and I love the idea of the necromantic forces around me being the source of my power! I NEVER would have thought of something like that! Eldritch Theurge was what I was planning on doing. I just forgot to mention it, hehe... Elritch spellweave sounds fun. I was sort of disappointed with the new invocations in complete mage...
trickydevl666 01-20-07, 05:27 PM	So post has been updated... yay! Bump
Korasukage 01-20-07, 08:31 PM	Now I request roleplaying advice. How exactly should I play a knowledge and death obsessed cn necromancer? I was thinking about having a fun time and making him actively pursuing knowledge or being really smart but acting oblivious when he really notices everything... A fun take on a knowledge obsessed individual would be if he kept a "black book" ... of secrets. As they say, "knowledge is power", so I think it would be interesting if he was always casting speak w/dead (when possible) and jotting down anything he learns. This way he can always attempt to blackmail or bribe people in his pursuit of knowlegde. :) Of course he would not exactly be honest with his team mates when they ask him what he learned. He would call his little black book his "Death Notes"(lol). You could also keep an eye on the obituaries and anybody of note that passes on could be a target for your "information" gathering. Another kinda funny quirk would be to make him obsessed with burial rites/preperation. Anytime he sees a deceased individual he might go on a tangent about how the individual must be prepared. He then goes about trying to find out the individuals beliefs etc in order to ensure that he is prepared correctly. I think max ranks in Know(Religion) would do the trick. Anyhoo, hope that helps.:) Cheers Kor
trickydevl666 01-20-07, 11:00 PM	Hmm... I just thought of an idea... but I can't figure out the answer to a question I have and therefore it may not work... Is it possible to take different pieces of dead creatures, put them together and use animate them? Undead golems sound like a good idea to me... because I think it would be fun for my character to be on a quest to create the perfect undead golem... and as a result constantly looks at people and sizes them up to see how well they would do in his project.
Korasukage 01-20-07, 11:09 PM	Hmm... I just thought of an idea... but I can't figure out the answer to a question I have and therefore it may not work... Is it possible to take different pieces of dead creatures, put them together and use animate them? Undead golems sound like a good idea to me... because I think it would be fun for my character to be on a quest to create the perfect undead golem... and as a result constantly looks at people and sizes them up to see how well they would do in his project. That sounds very interesting! Something kinda like Dr. Frankenstein. Mmm not sure if you could animate a pile of body pieces though. There are a number of different kinds of undead like crawling claws (undead hands that are animate) and whatnot. I know that are other types as well I just can't remember them right now. Anyhoo, you have a really good background story! He should be a blast to play.:) Cheers Kor
trickydevl666 01-20-07, 11:12 PM	Yes... I was thinking along frankensteiny lines... but he actually artificially grew the body parts... I'm thinking more of like Quilt from Dominic Deegan... I think it might work if I took parts of bodies from humanoids... I had a fun thought like a dwarve's eyes... elven ears... halfling torso... gnome limbs... I think it could work... what good it would do... I have no idea....
Doomed_Penguin 01-23-07, 09:14 PM	For the "Undead Golem" idea, maybe take some grafting feats? Seems to work well with the character anyway, so why not?
trickydevl666 01-31-07, 12:40 AM	hmm.. I'll probably save that when I make an artificer obsessed with making newer and better objects.... but for now I'll just leave it as coming back more powerful than others in the cabal and earning a seat at the black table. Or something like that. Now I'm trying to decide how to play him. He's Cha 16, Int 14, Wis 12... and I'm trying to think about how that would work out. Smart, polite, easy to get along with, but not very trusting... hm..