Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Smartest Lemming 10-21-05, 06:25 PM	This isn't a character creation/background development question, but an "I'm stuck," question. Gleemus is a Gnome wizard who lives in a city. In this city arcane magic is... restricted. Anyone can use it as long as they register themselves with the city. Registration means you have to pay taxes and fees to use your powers, which is not really much of a problem, the problem is that when you become registered you get a magical amulet attuned to your essence. Having this amulet means that if someone dies because of one of your spells, the authorities will know. Now normally that would not be a problem, but Gleemus has never really been a law abiding citizen. That is not to say that he is an evil man, but one that does not like to have his choices restricted when it comes to any given situation. So Gleemus is basically an renegade, unbeknownst to anyone else in the city. To everyone else he is the friendly one eyed ex con who runs an alchemist shop in the poor district, supplying anyone with anything they need. Right now he seems to be supplying everyone. The city in on the brinks of a possible change of power in both the underworld and the political landscape. So far Gleemus has been able to remain neutral and has not had to side with any organization, but he believes that is soon going to change. It is going to change because of his core group of acquaintances, all of which have separate agendas. His closest allies have similar interests to his own, to gain power, one, a bravo who seeks power through money and prestige, and the other a healer who seeks power through information. Neither have any real allegiances except to themselves, which because of the circumstances means the others they have loosely allied themselves with so as to stay alive long enough to have a chance at the power they so want. Other acquaintances of his include a monastic who does what is best for the city and those who live in her. As of now this man has done nothing wrong ethically or legally, and has nothing to hide, which could turn into a problem for his other associates. But Gleemus likes him because he is a good man, and dependable, which is a rare commodity among those who live in the city. Gleemus's two other associates are both scoundrels independent of the city's crime syndicate, which basically signs their own death warrant if the syndicate finds out. He knows the least about these two but it seems that more often than not they have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Up until just recently Gleemus has had a pretty good idea of what needed to be done: an enemy of his in the syndicate, He was shown it was not a good idea to mess with Gleemus. A plague that turns people into zombies is being spread around town, Gleemus helped halt the plagues progress and defeat those who were employed to spread it. Odd jobs around town needing to be done? Gleemus is on it. Everything that Gleemus has done until now have been focused towards two goals, getting enough money to establish himself in the city and keeping his neck and the necks of those he cares about/has interest in safe. So here is my problem, soon he will have collected enough money to buy his own building for his Alchemist shop and have enough to establish his apprentice (in alchemy only) in another part of town. After that he doesn't have any more goals other than keeping himself safe, which is the problem. A person's life is guided by goals and having personal safety as your only lifelong goal can get pretty boring. The problem is finding more goals for Gleemus. He has been to jail because of complications that arose in his youth, so he cannot become a noble. Joining the Syndicate is not really up his alley, and even if it were it's not the best time to join the organization, because some of the bosses seem to be starting a war among themselves. He has already become a pretty good merchant, and while I do plan to continue to increase his influence as a merchant it isn't something that he or I would want to focus his total attention upon. Aside from these I can't really come up with any really good goals for Gleemus to have in the city. I was wondering if anyone here on the forum would maybe have some advice or some suggestions for Gleemus.
erbmjw 10-21-05, 10:24 PM	"The city in on the brinks of a possible change of power in both the underworld and the political landscape. So far Gleemus has been able to remain neutral and has not had to side with any organization, but he believes that is soon going to change" And he want to keep himself and his friends safe - become known as a reliable third party neutral power broker/negotiator between the factions. You are saying he is a merchant - well does he have ranks in bluff, diplomacy, etc? AND/OR Safety through the accumlation of power can mean that he can also try to improve his part of the city - ie become a minor sugar daddy to the poor people in the district - not a noble, crime boss nor a political figure more a minor merchant prince that is generous to the lower classes. Small scale investments that pay off not in money but in reputation - schools, clinics, parks, small business loans. I would suggest that he keep his alchemy shop on the edge of the poor district. This would allow his richer customers to come to him without feeling too endangered and it would allow him to remain a viable member of this community. It would also give him a certain panache with his rich "cool" or "wanna-be-cool" customers. Try to make sure that there is a local tavern/inn near to your shop in the poor district where the rich can feel "dangerous" but make sure that they are protected from the worst elements. Petty crime should be encouraged so the rich feel dangerous - but murder and/or extemely violent robbery should be punished harshly and fairly publicly. I would invest in an inn that already has a good cook and/or beer/mead. Make sure that they have some sort of bard or performer on stage on - you could also use this as base for your third party negotiations ;) AND/OR He could also decide that he wants to help former criminals integrate back into the city without falling off the wagon and returning to a life of crime. Plus it gives him a small group of thugs and toughs to turn to when he needs a little protective muscle. -If he is feeling safer after any or all of those... why not have him fall in love or serious like with a suitable NPC or perhaps a PC? The monastic sounds like a possibile love interest