Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Reverend_Chaos 07-07-03, 05:49 PM	I started a new campaign the other night, as a level one fighter. I will be building him as an archer. Now I was sort of unprepared with my background, and one of the other players, (who is our normal DM) kept asking questions (in character) about my character, who showed up in the middle of their current campaign. I did not have a house name for my moon elf, and so I told him that I did not have a house, that I was an outcast, and now I need to come up with either a reason why i was outcast (most of the players are elves in this campaign, so this is fairly important for role playing reasons) or a reason why I would "claim" to have been cast out..... I also made the claim that I was the descendant of a silver dragon, which may or may not be true in game. Pretty much up to the DM if it is or not, but my character claims that it is true regardless. (I get no bonuses either way, but I thought that it would give my character a sense of eccentricity, as none of the other characters believe it.) any ideas would be most welcome.......
Silvertongue 07-07-03, 06:36 PM	Why not allow them to be lies, come up with a few more whoppers and say you have been cursed, which may or may not be a lie. Be sure to cross all your stories so as to totally confuse everyone, including your self This way you need not ever write your background as no one is going to believe it if you actually did tell the truth. I once had a deadlands character who was a compulsive liar, to the point that, when one of the other characters had a heart attack he stood over the doctor who was desperately trying to administer first aid and said "You know I had a heart attack once." No one believes a word that comes out his mouth now but due to the unknown(to the other characters) part of his background this is a lucky thing. Just an idea. :D
Talmariel 07-09-03, 10:42 PM	I suppose it depends on what kind of character you're after. Clearly, you've already established some ill-will in your past. I tend to lean towards what the last poster said, although not to that extent. Maybe your exile is voluntary? What if your house was doing things you didn't entirely agree with? It could be something the likes of a big adventure (like trading with demons, or something on those lines), or something simpler (they didn't want a son to throw his life away on a warrior's trade). It could even be simple family arguments gone too far. As for the silver dragon decent, I'd run with it. Either make it true in the long-term, such as your family house was founded by a half-dragon, or make it symbolic. Perhaps you would have some reason to drop a hint as to your true family name that the other poor players didn't catch (your family name could mean "silver dragon" in elvish, for instance, or have some other relevance like your coat of arms having a silver dragon). You could step it into another direction and have your family as part of something larger, and you're some kind of scout. The silver dragon reference could be code to locate contacts. Anyway, just a few thoughts. There's always the bold-faced lie angle. I had a character who was an elvish prince, second son so he wasn't to recieve the crown. He decided to see the world without the royal baggage, so to speak, and traveled in similar fashion, claiming no family name. He did that until about 4th or 5th level, then found his kingdom decimated by drow. Unlike the archetypical "so-and-so killed my family" routine, he was trying to rebuild his lost kingdom. Turned up in one of my own games as an NPC, and he never did manage it. Poor fellow...