Playing a monster character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Playing a monster character [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
WolfHati
11-29-05, 04:36 AM I'm currently playing a campaign set in Eberron, which from what I've read so far seems to be a pretty neat world. At any rate, the DM suggested the possibility of playing a monster race, so I thought it would be interesting to create such a character.

Now, I really don't want to go with the "seen the light and now fights for the cause of good" backstory, it's overused and would be a waste of an opportunity, so I decided on making a gnoll from the monster nation of Droaam. While he is more cunning and intelligent than most of his kind, I want to play him with mindset as more or less typical for a gnoll, but perhaps with a bit more of a calculating and cautious mindset.

As far as Felgar (the gnoll)'s background goes, he's been for the most part a mercenary, fairly common for the gnolls in Droaam. To make a long story short, the leader of the mercenary ban he was fighting for was assassinated in human lands, more specifically the Kingdom of Breland, he left to avoid the resulting infighting, as he cared more for his own skin than to be involved in the struggle. I have a more in depth character background written up, but that's the important part.

So at any rate he's ended up in the capital of Breland, Sharn, penniless but horribly beweaponed--after all if you come from a race that enjoys hunting and killing and make a living by fighting, sharp pointy things are bound to make one feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Now, Breland occupied his homeland until very recently, so his view of the human nations in general is hardly favorable. Well, and there's also the fact that he, being a gnoll, sees most other humanoids as edible. Nonetheless, he follows the law pretty closely (at least when his actions would be known, which is more or less all the time) simply because he likes keeping his head connected to his neck, and while he could probably take out several human soldiers, he's not stupid enough to think he could stand alone against an army.

So pretty much his motivation for joining an group of adventurers is because he's broke and alone in hostile lands, and needs money and some manner of protection from belligerent humans who could cause more trouble with guards than he really wants.

My problem however, is that I'm finding it difficult to come up with a plausible reason to stay with the group after accumulating some degree of wealth and security instead of heading back to Droaam. Especially since he would be far more interested in a good meal (i.e. nice juicy halfling) rather than great magic or wealth. I really want to play from the opposite perspective of the typical adventurer, but from a roleplaying perspective it seems short lived. So if anyone has ideas, they'd be welcome.

Also any thoughts or suggestions on playing such a gnoll or monster character in general would be appreciated.
Morka
11-29-05, 09:06 AM What kind of character are the other PCs? If there is no human amongst them, you could join some other creatures hated by the society to help protect yourself.

Otherwise, you could play a cruel but honorable gnoll; perhaps one of the other PC saved your life, and you swear to serve him.

Or you could join some other adventurer who are already fighting against your own enemies. Perhaps is there some former mercenaries who are searching you for the leader murder.
nihility
11-29-05, 09:58 AM Two words: retirement money. Sure, you might get enough cash after an adventure or two to head home and munch on a few halflings, but, if you adventure more, you could be set for life. If the money's rolling in, you might as well stick with it until you've got more than you'll ever need. Even if wealth isn't a big motivating factor for this guy, he clearly knows he needs it to some degree.

Beyond that, note that his reason for leaving home had a lot to do with safety: the infighting might have resulted in his death, right? Well, an obvious way to avoid having to do that again is to amass more power.
WolfHati
11-29-05, 03:51 PM I don't think swearing an oath would be at all in character considering the chaotic nature of gnolls. I decided on a neutral alignment instead of chaotic not because Felgar has any respect for law or order, but because he is more cunning than impulsive.

As an aside, I don't think a gnoll would see itself as cruel or evil. I think that rather than seeing the killing of sentient beings as cruel, they would rather see it as arrogant that creatures would consider themselves above the natural order of predation. And they'd have trouble seeing why taking pleasure in killing something painfully is worse than killing something quickly, after all, killing is killing, it is necessary for any predator to survive, and somebody might as well enjoy it.

Anyway, he's wise enough not to get into a position where he needs rescuing very often. Ironically, his main contribution thus far has been to use his healing skills to save one of the dwarves from dying of poison. The party consists of two dwarves, a shifter and a human. Well, actually there's two parties in the same campaign, so there's also a party of a human, a warforged, a kalashtar, and a gnome that's affiliated with the current group.

As for retirement money, that's good up to a point, but in D&D your characters are going to amass what would be a fortune to anyone else over a few levels. And being away from anyone who looks or thinks like you is bound to wear on anyone after awhile, and I think would soon outweigh any sort of material compensation. Power might be a different story. But perhaps I need to clarify that Felgar did not leave Droaam after the assassination, the assassination occured while the mercnary company was pursuing a lucrative offer inside of Breland, which basically left Felgar stuck in unfriendly waters so to speak. At any rate, the problem with pursuing power is that it is a means, not an end. Power is good, but power to do what? So far Felgar has been focused on aspects of survival, once those needs are well taken care of, what then? What would a gnoll see as the good things in life? What would he want the power to change or to do?
sleepwalker_
11-30-05, 07:23 AM He'll have great adventures with his companions, he'll amass lots money, and of course, he'll spend more. At first maybe on weapons and armors. Then he'll need a safe house (just to store his collection). Companions are great to fight with but he might want to recruit old friend mercenaries or just build a small army (way to spend money). To do what? Well, at that point he'll feel comfortable, not stressed anymore about survival, he'll go into early mi-life crisis. He might not necessarily seek power to go to war and build an empire but enough power for comfort. Becoming some kind of lord could become a sweet retirement idea.
You can still go on adventures with you closest partners but at that point, you bring back the gold to reinforce your palisade, train fighters and guards, equip your forge (gnoll style)...

That's what we did, my friends and I. We pretty much all started like small time adventurers with no big goals from different backgrounds and races then after a while we saved a village from slavery (don't know why, mid-life crisis I guess) and we sponsored pretty much everything in there to have it rebuild so each of us could have a safe place. Lots of money spent, lots of fun. We still go on adventures but we have that place where we can "place/invest" our money.

You're right, after a while, if you really wanna roleplay well, you gotta think, "what's next for this guy?" especially when they start without some noble super quest.
Archangel_Arcanis
11-30-05, 10:35 AM as stated before you want to be safe how much safer can you be than behind 20' high walls that you own. also another reason that used when i had an NPC that was an Illithed with the party for a time. You want to taste new and exotic peoples. why go home and have halfling again its like eating chicken everyday, try a different form of halfling or a dwarf, not the party member preferably, or svifnevlin(??) underdark gnomes, ect... There are thousands of differnt races that inhabit the material plane eat one of each then start plane hopping to find more. mmmm tarasque tastes so good with butter.
Airsucker
11-30-05, 10:58 AM Could it be that he finds something amongst the humanoids that he likes, so that he might stick around to get more retirement money?
JohntheDM
12-01-05, 10:55 PM Perhaps he finds someone in the party that he can respect as a sort of "pack alpha" or that he continually attempts to out do (similar to the way dogs or wolves play fight to achieve dominance). Don't kill anybody...that would disrupt the pack (the party) but maybe Felgar will end up doing it to get into the position of a pack alpha-heck maybe he's even thinking about seeking out a strong mate! How would you suppose gnoll courtship is? Or Gnoll romance? :eek:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WolfHati 11-29-05, 04:36 AM	I'm currently playing a campaign set in Eberron, which from what I've read so far seems to be a pretty neat world. At any rate, the DM suggested the possibility of playing a monster race, so I thought it would be interesting to create such a character. Now, I really don't want to go with the "seen the light and now fights for the cause of good" backstory, it's overused and would be a waste of an opportunity, so I decided on making a gnoll from the monster nation of Droaam. While he is more cunning and intelligent than most of his kind, I want to play him with mindset as more or less typical for a gnoll, but perhaps with a bit more of a calculating and cautious mindset. As far as Felgar (the gnoll)'s background goes, he's been for the most part a mercenary, fairly common for the gnolls in Droaam. To make a long story short, the leader of the mercenary ban he was fighting for was assassinated in human lands, more specifically the Kingdom of Breland, he left to avoid the resulting infighting, as he cared more for his own skin than to be involved in the struggle. I have a more in depth character background written up, but that's the important part. So at any rate he's ended up in the capital of Breland, Sharn, penniless but horribly beweaponed--after all if you come from a race that enjoys hunting and killing and make a living by fighting, sharp pointy things are bound to make one feel warm and fuzzy inside. Now, Breland occupied his homeland until very recently, so his view of the human nations in general is hardly favorable. Well, and there's also the fact that he, being a gnoll, sees most other humanoids as edible. Nonetheless, he follows the law pretty closely (at least when his actions would be known, which is more or less all the time) simply because he likes keeping his head connected to his neck, and while he could probably take out several human soldiers, he's not stupid enough to think he could stand alone against an army. So pretty much his motivation for joining an group of adventurers is because he's broke and alone in hostile lands, and needs money and some manner of protection from belligerent humans who could cause more trouble with guards than he really wants. My problem however, is that I'm finding it difficult to come up with a plausible reason to stay with the group after accumulating some degree of wealth and security instead of heading back to Droaam. Especially since he would be far more interested in a good meal (i.e. nice juicy halfling) rather than great magic or wealth. I really want to play from the opposite perspective of the typical adventurer, but from a roleplaying perspective it seems short lived. So if anyone has ideas, they'd be welcome. Also any thoughts or suggestions on playing such a gnoll or monster character in general would be appreciated.
Morka 11-29-05, 09:06 AM	What kind of character are the other PCs? If there is no human amongst them, you could join some other creatures hated by the society to help protect yourself. Otherwise, you could play a cruel but honorable gnoll; perhaps one of the other PC saved your life, and you swear to serve him. Or you could join some other adventurer who are already fighting against your own enemies. Perhaps is there some former mercenaries who are searching you for the leader murder.
nihility 11-29-05, 09:58 AM	Two words: retirement money. Sure, you might get enough cash after an adventure or two to head home and munch on a few halflings, but, if you adventure more, you could be set for life. If the money's rolling in, you might as well stick with it until you've got more than you'll ever need. Even if wealth isn't a big motivating factor for this guy, he clearly knows he needs it to some degree. Beyond that, note that his reason for leaving home had a lot to do with safety: the infighting might have resulted in his death, right? Well, an obvious way to avoid having to do that again is to amass more power.
WolfHati 11-29-05, 03:51 PM	I don't think swearing an oath would be at all in character considering the chaotic nature of gnolls. I decided on a neutral alignment instead of chaotic not because Felgar has any respect for law or order, but because he is more cunning than impulsive. As an aside, I don't think a gnoll would see itself as cruel or evil. I think that rather than seeing the killing of sentient beings as cruel, they would rather see it as arrogant that creatures would consider themselves above the natural order of predation. And they'd have trouble seeing why taking pleasure in killing something painfully is worse than killing something quickly, after all, killing is killing, it is necessary for any predator to survive, and somebody might as well enjoy it. Anyway, he's wise enough not to get into a position where he needs rescuing very often. Ironically, his main contribution thus far has been to use his healing skills to save one of the dwarves from dying of poison. The party consists of two dwarves, a shifter and a human. Well, actually there's two parties in the same campaign, so there's also a party of a human, a warforged, a kalashtar, and a gnome that's affiliated with the current group. As for retirement money, that's good up to a point, but in D&D your characters are going to amass what would be a fortune to anyone else over a few levels. And being away from anyone who looks or thinks like you is bound to wear on anyone after awhile, and I think would soon outweigh any sort of material compensation. Power might be a different story. But perhaps I need to clarify that Felgar did not leave Droaam after the assassination, the assassination occured while the mercnary company was pursuing a lucrative offer inside of Breland, which basically left Felgar stuck in unfriendly waters so to speak. At any rate, the problem with pursuing power is that it is a means, not an end. Power is good, but power to do what? So far Felgar has been focused on aspects of survival, once those needs are well taken care of, what then? What would a gnoll see as the good things in life? What would he want the power to change or to do?
sleepwalker_ 11-30-05, 07:23 AM	He'll have great adventures with his companions, he'll amass lots money, and of course, he'll spend more. At first maybe on weapons and armors. Then he'll need a safe house (just to store his collection). Companions are great to fight with but he might want to recruit old friend mercenaries or just build a small army (way to spend money). To do what? Well, at that point he'll feel comfortable, not stressed anymore about survival, he'll go into early mi-life crisis. He might not necessarily seek power to go to war and build an empire but enough power for comfort. Becoming some kind of lord could become a sweet retirement idea. You can still go on adventures with you closest partners but at that point, you bring back the gold to reinforce your palisade, train fighters and guards, equip your forge (gnoll style)... That's what we did, my friends and I. We pretty much all started like small time adventurers with no big goals from different backgrounds and races then after a while we saved a village from slavery (don't know why, mid-life crisis I guess) and we sponsored pretty much everything in there to have it rebuild so each of us could have a safe place. Lots of money spent, lots of fun. We still go on adventures but we have that place where we can "place/invest" our money. You're right, after a while, if you really wanna roleplay well, you gotta think, "what's next for this guy?" especially when they start without some noble super quest.
Archangel_Arcanis 11-30-05, 10:35 AM	as stated before you want to be safe how much safer can you be than behind 20' high walls that you own. also another reason that used when i had an NPC that was an Illithed with the party for a time. You want to taste new and exotic peoples. why go home and have halfling again its like eating chicken everyday, try a different form of halfling or a dwarf, not the party member preferably, or svifnevlin(??) underdark gnomes, ect... There are thousands of differnt races that inhabit the material plane eat one of each then start plane hopping to find more. mmmm tarasque tastes so good with butter.
Airsucker 11-30-05, 10:58 AM	Could it be that he finds something amongst the humanoids that he likes, so that he might stick around to get more retirement money?
JohntheDM 12-01-05, 10:55 PM	Perhaps he finds someone in the party that he can respect as a sort of "pack alpha" or that he continually attempts to out do (similar to the way dogs or wolves play fight to achieve dominance). Don't kill anybody...that would disrupt the pack (the party) but maybe Felgar will end up doing it to get into the position of a pack alpha-heck maybe he's even thinking about seeking out a strong mate! How would you suppose gnoll courtship is? Or Gnoll romance? :eek: