Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Drag0nUL 09-25-07, 03:52 PM	I am preparing a cleric for an upcoming Eberron game (in 1-2 weeks). What I have in mind so far: human, aged 32. He grew up on the streets of the capital, in the middle of the Last War (for those unfamiliar with Eberron, the Last War was a succession war that lasted for almost 100 years and ended without any conclusion after the complete annihilation of one of the fighting countries in a magical accident of epic proportions). Driven by propaganda, he decided to join the army and fight for the king and country, which he did for more than 20 years until the end of the war. Seeing the continuous shift of alliances, the fact that the guys he fought today were tomorrow's allies, he grew more and more doubtful of the fact that this war was worth fighting. The conclusion (tens of thousands of dead, a country obliterated and still to final resolution to the conflict) made him realize that he had wasted the better part of his life to achieve almost nothing. So, after the war ended, he left the army, decided to find a real 'meaning' in life. He first tried to find a job in his home city, but nobody had need of a retired army man who knew nothing but swing a sword. So he decided to leave for another city. While on the road, one evening he found shelter in the house of an old priest. To his many questions,that man had answers. So he decided to stay as an apprentice for this old man and so he became a cleric. After a few moths the old priest died and the community proclaimed him the new village priest. The background is pretty OK, I think, but I have problems building an actual personalty for this guy. What would make him to start adventuring again? What would he really be like? How much has the war and his new found religion influenced him? Any suggestions welcome.
Rathmun 09-25-07, 07:49 PM	I can think of a reason for him to start adventuring again, but it only makes sense if the starting level is 5 or so. Quite simply, the church of (whoever) needs someone with a bit more power than an acolyte to take care of some problems for them, while the village really only needs someone to lead services and cast the occasional CLW. So they send an acolyte to take over the position in the village and have you take care of the bigger problem.
Uberwoot 09-26-07, 12:27 AM	I have two sticking points. First and foremost, was the character aged 32 before or after his 20-year stint in the army? This one's more of a minor discrepancy (and easily fixed), but it bothered me and I had to bring it up. Secondly, something more useful. I find it hard to believe that a few months' training qualifies this character to be a village priest. Maybe if you were to make this stretch into a few years (at a point where the old priest would be much more satisfied with this character's devotion to his god) it would be a bit better (perhaps along with shortening his military career). To build on Rathmun's feedback, this sounds great, especially if you account for the fact that the church knows of your newfound zeal and, more importantly, your extensive previous military experience; it has the upside (and downside) of making your character an agent of the church, which gives easy adventure hooks for your DM, but also can be a drag for party members. One other thing I have to say is that it seems a little bit odd that one night's conversation can make someone drop everything and become a priest's assistant. The thought I had is that perhaps he found the village church on his way home from the war, and came back to it after discovering a few more disheartening things about his hometown (they don't appreciate him as much as he had thought, for example- even if it's only in his head). As for personality, act religious. Your character has found god, so to speak, so your newfound zeal should show through. Quote dogma. "My god teaches that bananas are actually pink, and only our flawed mortal eyes cause us to perceive them as yellow." Inserted at appropriate times in conversations, it indicates sensible application of your religion to life; inappropriately, it demonstrates a slightly overzealous fervor- take your pick. Act like a soldier would, too; ogle women and curse; if your god forbids cursing, all the better- it's an old habit you're trying to break. Really, that's all I can think of for the moment. Let me know what you come up with, this could be interesting. /woot
Drag0nUL 09-26-07, 04:32 AM	Thank you all for your suggestions. About the 20 years part. Math can be a little tricky sometimes;). The guy joined the army aged 16 and served for 14 years until the war ended(which was 2 years ago). The idea with the church needing somebody more powerful than the average priest can work even if he starts at level 1. In Eberron PC classes are really rare. Most priests (of this church) are experts, aristocrats and even commoners, with the occasional adept. So being a cleric or paladin is already a sign of great favor from the gods. Also, he didn't intend to 'qualify' as a village priest so soon. But he had already made a good impression on the villagers,as his mentor was nothing more than a wise and knowledgeable expert, while he had the ability to use divine magic. And in this church is not uncommon for smaller communities to pick their own religious leaders. The church as a whole has neither the organization nor the interest to regulate things outside the larger cities.
Daxen 09-27-07, 09:56 PM	To avoid the stickiness of working for the church so directly. His reasons for taking up the mantle of adventure could be a bit more altruistic. He spent 14 years causing pain and rending flesh for a cause he believed to be just, but later questioned. With his new found priestly powers he may see an oppurtunity to mend some of the damage the war has done, and to some extent that he himself has done. This would be a world weary character, who is now doing pennance or service to assuage some level of guilt. I too would recommend atleast a year of ecclesiastical training. Now for the questions. Will he have atleast 1 level of Fighter/Warrior or something? 14 years of military service does not skate buy without an increase in BAB, a rank in survival, armor proficiency or something. I like the story but it is inconsistent with a 1st level character. Depending on the level of his involvement in battle I would say this guy is atleast 2/1 if not 4/1 Fighter/Cleric. As far as personality or mannerisms, this is a man who laughs so that he does not cry. He does not rush anywhere, especially to conclussions. Rash idealism is what got him stuck in 14 years of fruitless military service, and he has gained more as a person in one year of contemplation, than in over a decade of war. He does not fear combat, but no longer relishes the clang of steel on steel. Eberron is a tough place, and faith sometimes is all that gets a man through, he should lean heavily upon his faith and in times of great duress turn begrudgingly back to his sword. Just my 2cp. Have fun, Dax
Drag0nUL 09-28-07, 06:37 AM	Thanks for the suggestions. I really would have liked to start at a higher level, but the DM is keen on starting at level 1, so I try to deal with what I have. This is what I came up with. This guy joined the army as a lvl. 1 warrior. He did gain some experience, but most of it was about large scale tactics and fighting as part of an organized unit, not very applicable to adventuring. Not very good, I know, but is the best explanation I can come up with regarding him being still lvl. 1 after 14 years of war. Now I got to adding divine abilities on top of a lvl. 1 warrior. HD and armor proficiencies coincide, so no problem here. I used War domain not because the character's devotion to such principles(in fact he won't be preparing any war domain spells for a few levels at least) but rather to 'simulate' some abilities my character would have. Weapon proficiency: Longsword to reflect his martial training (flavor-wise he can handle most martial melee weapons, but he chooses longsword) and Weapon focus:Longsword to simulate the warrior's +1 BAB.
Uberwoot 09-28-07, 11:07 AM	This might seem unreasonable to you, depending on how badly your party needs a healer, but given favorable circumstances, I would strongly favor trying to get my DM to allow fighter 0.5/cleric 0.5. Something like half max first-level hit points for both classes, half the cleric's normal first-level spellcasting ability (with no domains), and +1 BAB, with all warrior proficiencies, but not bonus feat; all this would be later upgraded to fighter 1/cleric 1, getting the mess out of the way. One level of fighter seems like it would fit this character extremely well, because, as Daxen mentioned, it's hard to swallow 14 years of military service without a bit of an aptitude increase. It's interesting to note that your 14-years-seasoned soldier will have less basic combat ability than a level one warrior. I really don't consider the war domain a good coverup for military training, because the war domain indicates that you're drawing divine power. Flavorwise, it just seems to fit. Alternatively, another thought occurred to me. You could ask your DM to trade (on the basis of flavor) one cleric domain for +1 BAB at first level, then progress with the cleric table, receiving your domain at level two instead (when your BAB matches the normal cleric progression again). This would represent your relatively high amount of combat experience compared to your clerical training, and your focus on the divine in your continued career. Come to think of it, I like that second idea better. /woot
Daxen 09-28-07, 03:40 PM	Thanks for the suggestions. I really would have liked to start at a higher level, but the DM is keen on starting at level 1, so I try to deal with what I have. This is what I came up with. This guy joined the army as a lvl. 1 warrior. He did gain some experience, but most of it was about large scale tactics and fighting as part of an organized unit, not very applicable to adventuring. Not very good, I know, but is the best explanation I can come up with regarding him being still lvl. 1 after 14 years of war. Now I got to adding divine abilities on top of a lvl. 1 warrior. HD and armor proficiencies coincide, so no problem here. I used War domain not because the character's devotion to such principles(in fact he won't be preparing any war domain spells for a few levels at least) but rather to 'simulate' some abilities my character would have. Weapon proficiency: Longsword to reflect his martial training (flavor-wise he can handle most martial melee weapons, but he chooses longsword) and Weapon focus:Longsword to simulate the warrior's +1 BAB. That is a decently solid answer most soldiers would only really use one weapon well. And it does add to the feeling of wasting his youth. I think this guy would be very driven, he is held together by his new found zeal. "I used to feed the flames of War now I feed the true(silver) flame and it is all that warms me against a world gone cold." It would be fun to play the one character I have thought of for Eberron. A favoured soul of the traveler. Though we run favored souls a bit differently. There are some more changes but the mainstay is lose the wings gain access to one of the Patron Gods Domains. Have fun man. Now honestly why 32? I am assuming that is the church you were speaking of, I am not an Eberron player.
the_rooster 09-28-07, 03:58 PM	The storyline is nice. If you want to simulate war experience without mucking up your classes, etc. and without choosing war domain (which really messes with his flavor, since domains are all about what the cleric chooses to focus on) I would suggest just making sure his physical stats are high. A high strength can be explained as war-time training. Clerics aren't THAT far behind warrior classes in BAB. Alternatively, take some ranks in Knowledge: [insert appropriate war skill, e.g. Tactics] and say he was primarily an officer/tactician and "fought" from the tents. It wasn't until his position was overun and he had to start hitting real people with sharp objects that he realized that it wasn't just about strategy...real people were being killed and maimed and butchered. That along with Cyre getting blown up made him want nothing to do with the life. As far as motivation to adventure...you could work with the DM to make the first few adventures involve stopping a plot (or at least the rumors of a plot) to restart the Last War. He will do anything to stop that from happening. After 3 levels of this plot hook, he will be loyal enough to his companions to stay for their sake.
Drag0nUL 09-28-07, 08:07 PM	Thank you all for your answers and suggestions. @Daxen: 32 because I wanted him to have taken part in certain events that happened during the last war (namely the aftermath of the Darguun rebellion) an d 32 was about as low as I could go. The fact that he fought: against goblins, with goblins against Thrane and with Thrane against Cyre strengthened his beliefs that this war was going nowhere. And it's not the Silver Flame, it's the Sovereign Host. @Uberwoot: I really like your second solution. I'll have to talk with my DM but I don't see any problem in that. @the_rooster: I agree with the fact that War domain is not exactly the best choice for this character, but it was the only way I could find to get a martial weapon proficiency, which his background requires. Still, I am thinking now: I might ask my DM if he will allow keeping the War domain granted powers as bonus feats, but swap the spell list for another domain.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 09-30-07, 12:08 AM	If you really are worried about his time in the military have taken him too long to be at 1st level why not consider a series of lucky promotions. If he got promoted before gaining much battlefield experience he could have wound up a supply sergeant of some similiar role where he didn't really do much actual fighting and it would give him an even clearer insight into the changing alliances. As far as the bit about being proclaimed the villiage priest I dunno. After a few months? It seems more likely that he took on the role while they sent out for another from the church and, with the help of some paperwork snafu or the like the replacement simply never arrived. People eventually started accepting him as more or less a permanent replacement as they forgot that someone else was supposed to show up. This also helps with why he would be adventuring as paperwork snafus sometimes clear up and a proper (and more importantly official) replacement may have suddenly appeared.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 09-30-07, 12:21 AM	Oh yeah. In Eb it makes a lot of difference so you were in which capitol. That is to say which nation's army did you join. Truth be told with the note on propoganda I'd say it sounds like Karnath. Though the last post would seem to indicate Breland if I recall correctly.
Alodar_Advo 10-01-07, 04:04 PM	I've been reading the thread, and it's nice to see that your campaign is going to be so involved with the history of Eberron. With that knowledge comes a great appreciate of setting, and with that a richer gameplay experience.. but I digress because everyone here (in development) knows that... I like your character idea, but if he was mine, I'd knock him about the head. Perhaps he signed up, and got put in with a bunch of front line guys, diehard fellers who never took to greenies in the ranks because they rarely lasted very long, and because they were typically taking the place of a fallen comrade. Perhaps your guy was the exception, and one of the leaders of this group took a liking to your guy... This leader was a deeply religious soldier and did what he could not only to educate you about his deity, but also to keep you out of danger (front line fighting is no place for a 0-level fighter)... this was successful until you watched as something killed your mentor in a very brutal manner... you rushed to aid only to be beat about the head yourself, but luckily left alive. When you awoke it was months later under the care of healers. Being wounded so, physically and mentally the army kept you around for supply work and you mostly stayed out of combat from that point on. On the way home from the war, you realize things aren't the way they were when you left...word had gotten home that you were killed, and the town/village seemed disappointedly satisfied with that... and you continued to wander.. finally getting surprisingly lost you stumble into a shelter. There, within that shelter you find your calling.. hungry, disillusioned... lost; you see the visage of your previous war buddy... Telling your character that he has been given gift from the God (being left alive) and that it was his responsibility to spread the word. (Remember being a cleric or a paladin is a calling, not a profession) With this you can include your feelings about the waste of life in the war, and chose your path. I have included great ideas from Terjon and others. I know this is quite distinct from your original concept, but I add it here with the hopes that some aspects of it could be used for your or other characters. I hope that helps.