Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Laowai 11-09-05, 01:14 PM	I could use some help for my pirate character, he comes from a small village on a volcanic island (half moon shaped) and has always been the kid that everyone thinks is a delinquent, but everyone likes him nevertheless. The island he lives on is hundreds of miles away from any other island or main land and no one has seen anyone outside the native population for 200 years (pirate attack), he has recently saved his village from another pirate attck alongside his comrades and has gotten permission to leave the island and discover the world. Now, what id like som help with is expanding his background and give him some motivation for his adventures other than the money. I have seen some 20 question thing that was helpful but i can't seem to find the link. if anyone has it i'd be grateful since that would more or less give me what i need. Oh, and any qirks and secret agendas that he could have that you might think could fit him would be great too (and no parrots, the wizard already has one as a familiar :D )
Morka 11-09-05, 02:10 PM	Check the links in my sig: 1001 Quirks, Character Creation in 100 questions (your 20 questions are not enough! ;)). There's something strange in your basic background. Why haven't they see anyone in 200 years? Do they think they are alone in the universe? Or do they have a few sailors trading with other islands from time to time? If the former, just finding a pirate ship could be enough to awaken your troublemaker curiosity. If the later, I still think he might be the one who wants to see more than this little stone in the sea that is his island. Money shouldn't even exist on this small island, so it shouldn't be a good motivation. Or being the troublemaker he seems to be, he has perhaps enough of his elder who always prevent him from doing what might be funny. Or he could be following (or fleeing) his elder brother or his girlfriend, etc.
erbmjw 11-10-05, 09:55 AM	If the island is big enough it could host at least a few native villages, so most of the natives do not feel alone on their island. As for why they have not left before, both tradition and the great atoll that surrounds the island kept the natives from leaving. The waters inside the atoll are abundant with food, but getting the natives small boats past the atoll is both difficult and dangerous. The deep waters past the atoll also contain beasts large enough and nasty enough to swamp the small native boats but the beasts have litte ( no?) chance against something the size of the pirate ship that landed recently. They should have captured at least one pirate. I would suggest the navigator because he can help you all get to the mainland and train you and your crew as bettor sailors. Then when you get to the mainland the GM could have the navigator decide he wants to retire *** What more can you tell us about your character? LG LN LE NG N NE CG CN CE Have him be a much younger son of a large sucessful but not a noble family - he's hoping that with his sucess in the outside world he can return and move his family into a better standing { as well as give his sister a better chance to marry her love - a minor noble's oldest son}
Laowai 11-10-05, 11:29 AM	ok, sorry i missed out on a few things. The reason noone has left the island is the mages and druids that more or less say "travel is baaaad" and everyone listens to them. There is currency on the island (population around 2-3000) which is silver and copper. There are very few items made of gold on the island and all are in the possession of the mages. The reason why the mages and druids don't want anyone to travel is that 600 years ago when the original settlers came to the island, the rest of the world was warring with eachother and more or less everyone was involved in it. So they tell everyone to stay put because for alll they know the war could still be raging on. Since my character always has been the sneaky bastard he is, he has overheard more than one conversation talking about the pirate attacks and what few memories of the rest of the world that are still remembered. The waters around the island has been calm for as long as anyone can remember so should anyone want to leave they could, theoretically do so. But aside from a few youngsters (the group) no one wants to leave. They like their little island and their life on it. The island and it's population is largely self sufficient and as long as the druids complete the sacred ritual to Obad-Hai the sea stays prosperous and the woods stay full of life. My DM haven't told me much about the world in general, but it seems it is made up of thousands of islands of varying sizes. There might be mainland somewhere, but he won't disclose such information yet. there, i think i summed up most of the stuff i'd forgotten. I'll take a look at those 100 questions and post the result. =)
Morka 11-11-05, 11:39 AM	I love your island. Ever saw The Village by M. Night Shyamalan?
erbmjw 11-11-05, 12:52 PM	Hitting the 100 questions is a great way of starting and/or expanding a character and in advance thank you for posting the results. It's good of you to post more information on the world, it will help out but ... What more can you tell us about your character? ;) So far know he is sneaky, mischeveous, curious, authority questioning and charming. We could quess that he might have the Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, Hide, Move Silently, Gather Information, Profession sailor and/or Swim skills. Have you got anything more worked out for your character? If yes please let us know. Anything you completely need/want in the way of skills/feats/etc? What role are you interested in playing in this group/campaign? Will he be the leader? *** Who asked for the permission to leave the island and explore? Your character, another player character or an NPC? What rational was used to allow your party to leave the island? Was your group given a time limit, a "leave and you must never return" statement, a mission to explore and return with information from the outside world, or an {un}expressed "hey come back whenever you want"? *** Addressing these questions/issues should help with making a better background.
Laowai 11-13-05, 01:27 PM	About the characters real stats, he is a gestalt swashbuckler 1/rogue 1. so he gets more or less all skills he will ever need as a pirate. i'll probably go swashbuckler 10/Rogue 10. and then get into the Ninja Spy PrC for the acrobatics and walk on water abilities. I get ready stance from swashbuckler, and if i ever fall from the ship i can simply walk up to it again thanks to walk on water. The elders (about the time limit and such) that since we saved the village from certain destruction, we have proven to be able enough to survive whatever we should find in the world. We are supposed to come back some day, but for the next few years or so we have no plans of returning. A whole world to explore and so on. Mostly the elders figured that now that the pirates came back, everyone will have enough incentive to stay anyway, so allowing us kids to stay probably won't start a epidemic of migations. I have answered (for the most part) 90 of the questions. After i've answered the last 10 I'll sum them all up in a background and post it here within a week or so.