New playing a sorcerer...... [Archive] - Wizards Community

New playing a sorcerer...... [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
bjdaredevil01
05-19-07, 08:49 AM Well Here is my dilema i was hoping for a little help in Character Development. I just joined a game and they ask me to fill in a slot and play a sorcerer (i never played one before) well i'm Having a little trouble conecting with the character atm and the way he introduce me to the game i kind of can't think of a good way to go at it.....here is the way i got introduced.

near the end of the session he told me i'm in the game witnessing what seems to be a confrontation of 4 fellows (pc)
and a fith (npc). They are interrogating the guy to get some answers it seems the guy is involve in the underground (Mobsters/Criminal) part of the story.

Well 3 Guards come into the picture (npc's as well) and the pc's tell the guards to capture the criminal that he's runing away the guards look at him clearly can't misss him and say they don't see anyone and start acusing the party of killing another guard. well it came down to a fight all pc's killed the guards.

While witnessing this i go to the guards stable and get the horses and i cast Ghost sound and trick the Pc's in to hearing 8 other guards marching to them and i Help them in the way out of town *wink*wink*(Long explanation i know sorry). Well game ended as we go out of town.

My problem now is that they don't now who am i and they don't know why was i following them and i know for a fact that they are going to start questioning me? This is where i need your help I need some suggestions as to What background i could use for a sorcerer that would incline my character to follow up with whats going on...
bjdaredevil01
05-19-07, 09:12 AM I'm a lvl 2
Name: Calenir ( no last name yet trying to incorporate a name later on in the game)
Race: Elf
Class: Sorcerer
Age:130
Aligment: Chaotic Neutral
Physical : 5 feet tall, 125 pounds, explorer cloth No major weapons but in my body i have 4 daggers and 4 darts
Personality: Care free fellow Always on the travel searching for my purpose in Life. Really don't care for anyone but ramdomly ill help people or screw them with a coin flip when a situation comes up.

I'm a very confuse guy sometimes i'm very pleasent but sometimes something triggers in my head and become unreasonably angry five years ago at maturity i started getting this strange powers most of them which where very fun and easy to play and control Ghost sound and message being 2 of them also Detect Magic and Read magic which soon became my favorites they just seem to feel right.eventually however it was set to be doom for me when a power came to me strange and uncontrollable and because of it my parents perish and i promise to never use the spell again unless my life was in danger. What was the spell you ask Magic Misile.

From here on don't know where to go....

My rolls 5d6 drop 2
(including class mod)

11 str
13 con
19 dex
14 int
14 wis
18 cha

Feat: Enchew Mat
Skills: 5 Bluff, 5 Concentration, 5 Spell craft, 5 Knowledge Arcana
Gingerbread Guy
05-19-07, 02:01 PM Hi there,

It sounds to me like your problem is mostly with your introduction, not with your character. It really bothers me when DMs take liberties with introductions like that without asking me if its in-character. But, when your DM hands you lemons, you buy ranks in Craft: Lemonaide.

What we have so far is a plotline that has tangled the PCs with an organized criminal syndicate that clearly has at least minor connections with the local militia. (You have to love D&D guards.. they're always walking around, even when there isn't anything to guard, per se.) Your character has interfered, which has forced you into the game. This is what we know.

What we don't know is why you're interfering, and so thats what we'll have to decide. I think the simplest reason is that you're the good samaritan and you're just trying to help. You saw what was happening, deduced that there was a conspiracy among the guards, and that the PCs were in way over their heads. Its a bit of a leap to assume that the PCs are in the right, but its a pretty logical conclusion given the behaviour of the guards. Hopefully the PCs resorted to violence only as a last resort or your reasons for helping them might feel a little thin.

Why did you do it? In this case, helping them fits into the chaotic portion of your alignment. Screw the damn syndicate, they can go to hell. A lot of chaotic characters have a tendency to root for the underdog, and in this case its the PCs. Just because you're neutral rather than good doesn't mean you can't do a good deed now and then.. and hey, maybe theres even something in it for you for helping out.

How do you act from here on? Be as honest with the PCs as you can; like it or not, you're involved now too and its in your best interest not to **** off your only allies. Tell them that you saw what happened and that you just wanted to help them get out of the mess they made. If they don't like you tagging along, remind them that they just murdered a handful of guards within the confines of the city, and you're the only witness to the truth. The mobsters can and probably will produce false witnesses who will back up whatever story they feel like telling, so you're a valuable asset.

Talk it all over with your DM first. He may want you to play some other role, perhaps even a villain who ultimately seeks to betray the PCs and walk them into an ambush. Its hard to tell; he's been really ambiguous so far.

~Ginger
bjdaredevil01
05-19-07, 03:48 PM Tks for the post its really good. Yeah i agree it was kind of weird that he in the middle of the fight tells me you were traveling trough the town and witness the whole thing and make me play from there???

Its kind of hard to come up with a background story for my guy when a) i never played a sorcerer and really getting used to the spells and b) i don't really feel the caracter almost at all. Maybe as i keep playing it i'll get more into it but atm is kind of hard to interact with the group when nothing comes to mind so far i been going around the situations and trying to not get involve in much and because of it its costing me xp at the end of the game.:weep:
Terjon of the Blue Rose
05-20-07, 02:06 AM Sorcerer is my favored class so lets see if I can help you.

Gotta aggree about the DMing style. Personally I've talked characters out of playing a role the party needs when they didn't really want to but felt it neccessary.

Still you might be able to tie things in a little better. Try talking to the other PCs and see what their backgrounds are. You've been around for quite a while now and there is no reason you can't have an pre-existing connection to one of them. It certainly would explain your taking their side over legitimate authorities. Alternativly maybe the DM will give you a connection to some organization that has a vested interest in the PCs, The Guard, or The Criminal Syndicate? Sorcerers can be great fun and are a little simpler on learning the mage role (imo) than other spellcasters. Ask to use instant metamagic instead of a familiar (DMG2) to simplify things even further. *There are a few extra suggestions for entry reasons at the end of the post.*

As for BG I think I can help you a little there.

Your powers are strange. You can almost always control them but sometimes things just... happen. It is frightening for you and you think perhaps you are cursed. You can create sound but often it isn't the sound you sought. You can read magic even though you have never been trained. You can even see magic sometimes.

This is the youth of a sorcerer.

Your parents are worried. Magic runs through all elven veins but in you it seems to be too strong. They have wizards and druid, clerics and scholars examine you. Eventually it is indeed determined you were born fated to weild magic as a sorcerer.

Your training is intense. Your master harsh. You know that it is only right for him to be so... After all you are a font of terrible power and can kill without even intending it if you lose control. Still his teachings make no sense. His formulae and memorization are meaningless until the power wells up within you and then it just a matter of directing its flow into the spell you desire.

*are you really set on killing your parents? If so read here
You can't control yourself. The power is welling up and needs release. You seek to forge it in the manner your master has taught you but it is to no avail. You seek to direct it instinctivly as you have in the past but that to fails. It forges itself uncontrolled into a bolt of pure force and flies from your hand seeking a target. Then again it rises and releases. When you wake your parents who came to console you in your time of difficulty are dead. You run.

*are you really set on killing your parents? If not read here
You can't take it anymore. Who cares that wool is key to this illusion but a coin can grant that form of scrying? You long for the time you spent as a child out in the green woods with your fellows. You used to practice the bow and the sword like all the other elves. You used to climb trees and listen to the druids tales of what the wind would say. Now you sit, still as a statue, and listen to an old man droaning on about the interplay of cosmic forces and recite back incantations that you couldn't care less about.

Finally you have had enough. You pack a small bag. You write a note that thanks your master for his tutelage and your parents for their efforts but explains that your fate doesn't lie in any tower or tome. You must leave so that you can find your own way.

Either way you get to be easy going and fun loving guy. You get angry because you still don't know why you have this power and it has cost you dearly to master it. You left home early for an elf and have had to live in the human world where your an oddity at best and a freak at worst.

Yoiu can even keep the coin flip. It would seem to you that your fate was decided randomly so perhaps you think the fates have a plan you shouldn't screw with. Or maybe they have no plan or power and as such their is no point to thinking of the future. After all why make plans in a universe ruled by chance?
bjdaredevil01
05-20-07, 10:08 AM Thanks a lot i really appriciated...i was really hoping you replied lol i seen your other post and your very very helpful as well as good :) tks again
Terjon of the Blue Rose
05-20-07, 11:31 PM sure thing
bjdaredevil01
05-30-07, 10:55 AM Hey guys i've been thinking about it and i really want to go with the "I didn't kill my parents" story, that being said... I want to specialize in a sort of theme for my sorcerer since i never played a sorcerer (well only in one setion) and i'm up for some playing on this friday i want a the opinion experience player.

What are good themes to go with? i guess illusion stuff sounds fun to me messing with peoples head but then again is too much fun and i want to play a rather more serious character. I defenetly love some of the Necromancy spells but with 2 Clerics in our team i don't know if is going to work.

i defenetly don't want to go with fire type/theme because i want to go with the whole idea of not wanting to use the MM spell unless really necesary (live or death situations). But i will need a reason of why i don't want to use MM since i did not kill my parents....I might need help in this aspect of the story too lol sorry to bother you guys.

By the way i found out that the story is based on 3 mixtures a) very heavy Final Fantasy Tactics b) Some Dragonlance/DnD c) Home base ideas
Fithero
05-30-07, 03:10 PM Perhaps you could base yourself around information gathering?

Be focused on divination (for scrying), illusion (for hiding the truth, and yourself) and conjuration (for summoning spies).

If your going with the whole "i didnt kill my parents" perahps your looking for ways to prove your innocence.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
05-31-07, 02:33 AM Maybe battlefield control with transmutation and conjuration. Instead of killing your parents (which is pure rumor) You teleported them? Its a bit of a high level spell but it could be available for a final breakthrough spell if your dm allows it.

Perhaps thats what finally forced you into mage training? They were scared of what would happen if you didn't get some control and sent you off as soon as they returned.
Apupunchau
05-31-07, 07:32 AM There are fey bloodline feats and a nifty PrC in Complee Mage that I can't remember off hand. You could go with a whole Fey blooded theme instead of the typical "I hvae Dragons Blood in my Veins" sorcerers. Specialize in Enchantment spells especially charms and play the character as capracious (sp?). Take a look at some celtic faerie books or even the Changeling game from white wolf and pick a fairie type to base your spell set around.
Mysteria
05-31-07, 08:35 AM <snip>What are good themes to go with? i guess illusion stuff sounds fun to me messing with peoples head but then again is too much fun and i want to play a rather more serious character. <snip>

Who says illusion has to be fun? I don't think many people will think of a phantasmal killer as fun ... :P
The good thing about illusion is that if you go shadow evocation/conjuration etc, you will have a lot of versatility (which is always good for a sorcerer) although it'll be less effective than the real thing.
Also, you can still pick other spells beside illusion. :) Put in some defensive spell, some offensive spell you can't double with illusion and some spells that will also help your allies and you're good to go. :)

edit: and you might actually have created an illusion of your dead parents :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bjdaredevil01 05-19-07, 08:49 AM	Well Here is my dilema i was hoping for a little help in Character Development. I just joined a game and they ask me to fill in a slot and play a sorcerer (i never played one before) well i'm Having a little trouble conecting with the character atm and the way he introduce me to the game i kind of can't think of a good way to go at it.....here is the way i got introduced. near the end of the session he told me i'm in the game witnessing what seems to be a confrontation of 4 fellows (pc) and a fith (npc). They are interrogating the guy to get some answers it seems the guy is involve in the underground (Mobsters/Criminal) part of the story. Well 3 Guards come into the picture (npc's as well) and the pc's tell the guards to capture the criminal that he's runing away the guards look at him clearly can't misss him and say they don't see anyone and start acusing the party of killing another guard. well it came down to a fight all pc's killed the guards. While witnessing this i go to the guards stable and get the horses and i cast Ghost sound and trick the Pc's in to hearing 8 other guards marching to them and i Help them in the way out of town winkwink*(Long explanation i know sorry). Well game ended as we go out of town. My problem now is that they don't now who am i and they don't know why was i following them and i know for a fact that they are going to start questioning me? This is where i need your help I need some suggestions as to What background i could use for a sorcerer that would incline my character to follow up with whats going on...
bjdaredevil01 05-19-07, 09:12 AM	I'm a lvl 2 Name: Calenir ( no last name yet trying to incorporate a name later on in the game) Race: Elf Class: Sorcerer Age:130 Aligment: Chaotic Neutral Physical : 5 feet tall, 125 pounds, explorer cloth No major weapons but in my body i have 4 daggers and 4 darts Personality: Care free fellow Always on the travel searching for my purpose in Life. Really don't care for anyone but ramdomly ill help people or screw them with a coin flip when a situation comes up. I'm a very confuse guy sometimes i'm very pleasent but sometimes something triggers in my head and become unreasonably angry five years ago at maturity i started getting this strange powers most of them which where very fun and easy to play and control Ghost sound and message being 2 of them also Detect Magic and Read magic which soon became my favorites they just seem to feel right.eventually however it was set to be doom for me when a power came to me strange and uncontrollable and because of it my parents perish and i promise to never use the spell again unless my life was in danger. What was the spell you ask Magic Misile. From here on don't know where to go.... My rolls 5d6 drop 2 (including class mod) 11 str 13 con 19 dex 14 int 14 wis 18 cha Feat: Enchew Mat Skills: 5 Bluff, 5 Concentration, 5 Spell craft, 5 Knowledge Arcana
Gingerbread Guy 05-19-07, 02:01 PM	Hi there, It sounds to me like your problem is mostly with your introduction, not with your character. It really bothers me when DMs take liberties with introductions like that without asking me if its in-character. But, when your DM hands you lemons, you buy ranks in Craft: Lemonaide. What we have so far is a plotline that has tangled the PCs with an organized criminal syndicate that clearly has at least minor connections with the local militia. (You have to love D&D guards.. they're always walking around, even when there isn't anything to guard, per se.) Your character has interfered, which has forced you into the game. This is what we know. What we don't know is why you're interfering, and so thats what we'll have to decide. I think the simplest reason is that you're the good samaritan and you're just trying to help. You saw what was happening, deduced that there was a conspiracy among the guards, and that the PCs were in way over their heads. Its a bit of a leap to assume that the PCs are in the right, but its a pretty logical conclusion given the behaviour of the guards. Hopefully the PCs resorted to violence only as a last resort or your reasons for helping them might feel a little thin. Why did you do it? In this case, helping them fits into the chaotic portion of your alignment. Screw the damn syndicate, they can go to hell. A lot of chaotic characters have a tendency to root for the underdog, and in this case its the PCs. Just because you're neutral rather than good doesn't mean you can't do a good deed now and then.. and hey, maybe theres even something in it for you for helping out. How do you act from here on? Be as honest with the PCs as you can; like it or not, you're involved now too and its in your best interest not to **** off your only allies. Tell them that you saw what happened and that you just wanted to help them get out of the mess they made. If they don't like you tagging along, remind them that they just murdered a handful of guards within the confines of the city, and you're the only witness to the truth. The mobsters can and probably will produce false witnesses who will back up whatever story they feel like telling, so you're a valuable asset. Talk it all over with your DM first. He may want you to play some other role, perhaps even a villain who ultimately seeks to betray the PCs and walk them into an ambush. Its hard to tell; he's been really ambiguous so far. ~Ginger
bjdaredevil01 05-19-07, 03:48 PM	Tks for the post its really good. Yeah i agree it was kind of weird that he in the middle of the fight tells me you were traveling trough the town and witness the whole thing and make me play from there??? Its kind of hard to come up with a background story for my guy when a) i never played a sorcerer and really getting used to the spells and b) i don't really feel the caracter almost at all. Maybe as i keep playing it i'll get more into it but atm is kind of hard to interact with the group when nothing comes to mind so far i been going around the situations and trying to not get involve in much and because of it its costing me xp at the end of the game.:weep:
Terjon of the Blue Rose 05-20-07, 02:06 AM	Sorcerer is my favored class so lets see if I can help you. Gotta aggree about the DMing style. Personally I've talked characters out of playing a role the party needs when they didn't really want to but felt it neccessary. Still you might be able to tie things in a little better. Try talking to the other PCs and see what their backgrounds are. You've been around for quite a while now and there is no reason you can't have an pre-existing connection to one of them. It certainly would explain your taking their side over legitimate authorities. Alternativly maybe the DM will give you a connection to some organization that has a vested interest in the PCs, The Guard, or The Criminal Syndicate? Sorcerers can be great fun and are a little simpler on learning the mage role (imo) than other spellcasters. Ask to use instant metamagic instead of a familiar (DMG2) to simplify things even further. There are a few extra suggestions for entry reasons at the end of the post. As for BG I think I can help you a little there. Your powers are strange. You can almost always control them but sometimes things just... happen. It is frightening for you and you think perhaps you are cursed. You can create sound but often it isn't the sound you sought. You can read magic even though you have never been trained. You can even see magic sometimes. This is the youth of a sorcerer. Your parents are worried. Magic runs through all elven veins but in you it seems to be too strong. They have wizards and druid, clerics and scholars examine you. Eventually it is indeed determined you were born fated to weild magic as a sorcerer. Your training is intense. Your master harsh. You know that it is only right for him to be so... After all you are a font of terrible power and can kill without even intending it if you lose control. Still his teachings make no sense. His formulae and memorization are meaningless until the power wells up within you and then it just a matter of directing its flow into the spell you desire. are you really set on killing your parents? If so read here You can't control yourself. The power is welling up and needs release. You seek to forge it in the manner your master has taught you but it is to no avail. You seek to direct it instinctivly as you have in the past but that to fails. It forges itself uncontrolled into a bolt of pure force and flies from your hand seeking a target. Then again it rises and releases. When you wake your parents who came to console you in your time of difficulty are dead. You run. are you really set on killing your parents? If not read here You can't take it anymore. Who cares that wool is key to this illusion but a coin can grant that form of scrying? You long for the time you spent as a child out in the green woods with your fellows. You used to practice the bow and the sword like all the other elves. You used to climb trees and listen to the druids tales of what the wind would say. Now you sit, still as a statue, and listen to an old man droaning on about the interplay of cosmic forces and recite back incantations that you couldn't care less about. Finally you have had enough. You pack a small bag. You write a note that thanks your master for his tutelage and your parents for their efforts but explains that your fate doesn't lie in any tower or tome. You must leave so that you can find your own way. Either way you get to be easy going and fun loving guy. You get angry because you still don't know why you have this power and it has cost you dearly to master it. You left home early for an elf and have had to live in the human world where your an oddity at best and a freak at worst. Yoiu can even keep the coin flip. It would seem to you that your fate was decided randomly so perhaps you think the fates have a plan you shouldn't screw with. Or maybe they have no plan or power and as such their is no point to thinking of the future. After all why make plans in a universe ruled by chance?
bjdaredevil01 05-20-07, 10:08 AM	Thanks a lot i really appriciated...i was really hoping you replied lol i seen your other post and your very very helpful as well as good :) tks again
Terjon of the Blue Rose 05-20-07, 11:31 PM	sure thing
bjdaredevil01 05-30-07, 10:55 AM	Hey guys i've been thinking about it and i really want to go with the "I didn't kill my parents" story, that being said... I want to specialize in a sort of theme for my sorcerer since i never played a sorcerer (well only in one setion) and i'm up for some playing on this friday i want a the opinion experience player. What are good themes to go with? i guess illusion stuff sounds fun to me messing with peoples head but then again is too much fun and i want to play a rather more serious character. I defenetly love some of the Necromancy spells but with 2 Clerics in our team i don't know if is going to work. i defenetly don't want to go with fire type/theme because i want to go with the whole idea of not wanting to use the MM spell unless really necesary (live or death situations). But i will need a reason of why i don't want to use MM since i did not kill my parents....I might need help in this aspect of the story too lol sorry to bother you guys. By the way i found out that the story is based on 3 mixtures a) very heavy Final Fantasy Tactics b) Some Dragonlance/DnD c) Home base ideas
Fithero 05-30-07, 03:10 PM	Perhaps you could base yourself around information gathering? Be focused on divination (for scrying), illusion (for hiding the truth, and yourself) and conjuration (for summoning spies). If your going with the whole "i didnt kill my parents" perahps your looking for ways to prove your innocence.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 05-31-07, 02:33 AM	Maybe battlefield control with transmutation and conjuration. Instead of killing your parents (which is pure rumor) You teleported them? Its a bit of a high level spell but it could be available for a final breakthrough spell if your dm allows it. Perhaps thats what finally forced you into mage training? They were scared of what would happen if you didn't get some control and sent you off as soon as they returned.
Apupunchau 05-31-07, 07:32 AM	There are fey bloodline feats and a nifty PrC in Complee Mage that I can't remember off hand. You could go with a whole Fey blooded theme instead of the typical "I hvae Dragons Blood in my Veins" sorcerers. Specialize in Enchantment spells especially charms and play the character as capracious (sp?). Take a look at some celtic faerie books or even the Changeling game from white wolf and pick a fairie type to base your spell set around.
Mysteria 05-31-07, 08:35 AM	<snip>What are good themes to go with? i guess illusion stuff sounds fun to me messing with peoples head but then again is too much fun and i want to play a rather more serious character. <snip> Who says illusion has to be fun? I don't think many people will think of a phantasmal killer as fun ... :P The good thing about illusion is that if you go shadow evocation/conjuration etc, you will have a lot of versatility (which is always good for a sorcerer) although it'll be less effective than the real thing. Also, you can still pick other spells beside illusion. :) Put in some defensive spell, some offensive spell you can't double with illusion and some spells that will also help your allies and you're good to go. :) edit: and you might actually have created an illusion of your dead parents :)