Wannabe Windwright Captain [Archive] - Wizards Community

Wannabe Windwright Captain [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
PaddyPaddyFool
09-20-06, 10:21 AM Hi people,

I wonder what you'd think of the following background for a Rogue who one day would like to become a windwright captain (if I can keep him alive, and my DM can keep the game going, for that long). It was all initially based off the one trait (dreams of flight); and as a result he was very nearly going to be a sorcerer or druid heading for Sharn skymage instead, until the story about the father convinced me to go with this option. What do you think? Also, were there windwrights 25 years before the present time? If not, I'll have to change that part of the background to a conventional sailing vessel.

---------------------
Background:

Kyr Tellyn just finished working his passage to Sharn on a small coastal trading vessel, and is suitably impressed by the place. Also, since he is a somewhat acquisitive rogue, he smells a lot of opportunity in the big city. A cheerful bloke, if a bit rough and ready in his manners despite his good looks, he'll be happy to meet new people although he probably won't have encountered the other party members before, unless they're fellow nautical types.

He claims to have no idea who or where his family might be, and to have been raised on board ship. Although he has the skills to prove it, in point of fact he is lying to protect his father, a one-time member of House Lyrander. At one time, before Kyr was even conceived, his father had been one of the top captains of House Lyrander, tasked with some of their most secret assignments and possessing an airship to match the task. Said airship was enchanted to prevent any attempt at scrying its position, and its crew were selected from those most loyal to the House.

But something went wrong. Kyr never got the full story from his father, but the upshot of it was that while carrying an especially valuable cargo, the ship and cargo were all lost, and Kyr's father plus a few surviving crew forced to go into hiding, declared excoriate or having death sentences hanging over their heads in absentia. Some of the crew have since been found by the House; the results of their interrogations are not, of course, known to Kyr.

Kyr's mother, on the other hand, is not known to him. He has no memories of her from even his earliest years. In truth, his father, uncertain if he could trust her, fled with the infant Kyr to the other side of the continent after she managed to put two and two together concerning his dragonmark.

Kyr himself, despite being born even after these events, currently chooses to disguise his appearance while around House Lyrander members so that he looks less like his father, and will not reveal the Dragonmark he carries if he can avoid it. However, Kyr does have a dream which sits in contrast to this: to fly in an airship of his own, as his father once did, and to this end he will seek to dig up the events of the past, prove his father's innocence, gain the favour of the house, and hone his skills suitably to a future captain's position.

Traits:
Primary:
Dreams of flight - Kyr wishes to someday sail the skies in an airship of his very own.
Secondary
In need of recognition - Being the son of a shamed exile, Kyr is doubly keen to make a name for himself. This can make him boastful, but can also provoke genuinely heroic acts.
Secretive - Raised by a father with closely held secrets, Kyr himself is in the habit of keeping them, and is most unwilling to tell the whole truth about his background.
------------------------

Paddy
Alakar
09-20-06, 12:03 PM It sounds very good. though, I wonder what cargo was lost that was so important that they would be hunted for losing it? Dragon Shards, illegal warforged, artifacts from the last war? I think mabey this area need to be elaborated a little more. DM's love plot hooks. Make a point to have your character shop for potions of flight, or if you use UMD, mabey scrolls and wands. Your character could often be found staring up at birds in flight, in quiet envy. You would also study airships and flight at any chance to gain more knowledge. There is a huge university in Sharn. Look to recruit an artificer cohort who can help you design and build your own airship. One day, the skies will be your domain.

Hope this helps

Good Luck.
PaddyPaddyFool
09-21-06, 01:48 AM Cheers!

I reckon my character would be very keen on wands of flight, boots of flight etc., but in terms of getting an airship he's likely to go the fairly legitimate way and try and get in the good books of the house (not all that hard whatever your parentage, if you have a dragonmark and are both skilled and charming). However, I was definitely thinking of taking Leadership later, both for the cohort (I was thinking that my character would have a fair bit in common with a caster of some kind building to Sharn Skymage) and for the followers (every ship needs crew).

As for the "lost treasure", I deliberately left that unspecified. My character wouldn't know, so I don't need to write it into his background, and it gives the DM a lot more scope to use this plot hook as he desires.

There's only been one problem - airships have only been around for 10 years or so, not 25, so I'm going to have to rewrite when all this happened or make the lost vessel a sailing ship. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it.

Paddy

EDIT: Character sheet now updated, in the light of the 10 versus 25 year gap since windwrights were invented and one or two other things I wasn't quite happy with. Only problem now is that it's a little long. You can read it with the rest of the character sheet here if you like: http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=37138 (character was built on 25 points buy).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
PaddyPaddyFool 09-20-06, 10:21 AM	Hi people, I wonder what you'd think of the following background for a Rogue who one day would like to become a windwright captain (if I can keep him alive, and my DM can keep the game going, for that long). It was all initially based off the one trait (dreams of flight); and as a result he was very nearly going to be a sorcerer or druid heading for Sharn skymage instead, until the story about the father convinced me to go with this option. What do you think? Also, were there windwrights 25 years before the present time? If not, I'll have to change that part of the background to a conventional sailing vessel. --------------------- Background: Kyr Tellyn just finished working his passage to Sharn on a small coastal trading vessel, and is suitably impressed by the place. Also, since he is a somewhat acquisitive rogue, he smells a lot of opportunity in the big city. A cheerful bloke, if a bit rough and ready in his manners despite his good looks, he'll be happy to meet new people although he probably won't have encountered the other party members before, unless they're fellow nautical types. He claims to have no idea who or where his family might be, and to have been raised on board ship. Although he has the skills to prove it, in point of fact he is lying to protect his father, a one-time member of House Lyrander. At one time, before Kyr was even conceived, his father had been one of the top captains of House Lyrander, tasked with some of their most secret assignments and possessing an airship to match the task. Said airship was enchanted to prevent any attempt at scrying its position, and its crew were selected from those most loyal to the House. But something went wrong. Kyr never got the full story from his father, but the upshot of it was that while carrying an especially valuable cargo, the ship and cargo were all lost, and Kyr's father plus a few surviving crew forced to go into hiding, declared excoriate or having death sentences hanging over their heads in absentia. Some of the crew have since been found by the House; the results of their interrogations are not, of course, known to Kyr. Kyr's mother, on the other hand, is not known to him. He has no memories of her from even his earliest years. In truth, his father, uncertain if he could trust her, fled with the infant Kyr to the other side of the continent after she managed to put two and two together concerning his dragonmark. Kyr himself, despite being born even after these events, currently chooses to disguise his appearance while around House Lyrander members so that he looks less like his father, and will not reveal the Dragonmark he carries if he can avoid it. However, Kyr does have a dream which sits in contrast to this: to fly in an airship of his own, as his father once did, and to this end he will seek to dig up the events of the past, prove his father's innocence, gain the favour of the house, and hone his skills suitably to a future captain's position. Traits: Primary: Dreams of flight - Kyr wishes to someday sail the skies in an airship of his very own. Secondary In need of recognition - Being the son of a shamed exile, Kyr is doubly keen to make a name for himself. This can make him boastful, but can also provoke genuinely heroic acts. Secretive - Raised by a father with closely held secrets, Kyr himself is in the habit of keeping them, and is most unwilling to tell the whole truth about his background. ------------------------ Paddy
Alakar 09-20-06, 12:03 PM	It sounds very good. though, I wonder what cargo was lost that was so important that they would be hunted for losing it? Dragon Shards, illegal warforged, artifacts from the last war? I think mabey this area need to be elaborated a little more. DM's love plot hooks. Make a point to have your character shop for potions of flight, or if you use UMD, mabey scrolls and wands. Your character could often be found staring up at birds in flight, in quiet envy. You would also study airships and flight at any chance to gain more knowledge. There is a huge university in Sharn. Look to recruit an artificer cohort who can help you design and build your own airship. One day, the skies will be your domain. Hope this helps Good Luck.
PaddyPaddyFool 09-21-06, 01:48 AM	Cheers! I reckon my character would be very keen on wands of flight, boots of flight etc., but in terms of getting an airship he's likely to go the fairly legitimate way and try and get in the good books of the house (not all that hard whatever your parentage, if you have a dragonmark and are both skilled and charming). However, I was definitely thinking of taking Leadership later, both for the cohort (I was thinking that my character would have a fair bit in common with a caster of some kind building to Sharn Skymage) and for the followers (every ship needs crew). As for the "lost treasure", I deliberately left that unspecified. My character wouldn't know, so I don't need to write it into his background, and it gives the DM a lot more scope to use this plot hook as he desires. There's only been one problem - airships have only been around for 10 years or so, not 25, so I'm going to have to rewrite when all this happened or make the lost vessel a sailing ship. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it. Paddy EDIT: Character sheet now updated, in the light of the 10 versus 25 year gap since windwrights were invented and one or two other things I wasn't quite happy with. Only problem now is that it's a little long. You can read it with the rest of the character sheet here if you like: http://www.sylnae.net/3eprofiler/view.php?id=37138 (character was built on 25 points buy).