Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Gunrock 05-25-05, 02:46 PM	Hello all. I've decided to play a human Bard, emphasis on being a scholar, for an Eberron game that is starting soon. I was originally planning to be a native of Aundair but then my GM told us that we'd be based out of Karnath. I've been unable to reconcile my mental images of Aundair and Karnath enough to have my character be based out of there (in a mercenary sense) so I was hoping that one of you fine folks could help me do one of the following. 1) Decide on a solid backstory to reconcile the animosity between his native home and his current residence. 2) Choose a different homeland. 3) Another suggestion that would reconcile the above issues. All constructive input is desired and welcome.
Cloud Divider 05-25-05, 03:18 PM	Hello all. I've decided to play a human Bard, emphasis on being a scholar, for an Eberron game that is starting soon. I was originally planning to be a native of Aundair but then my GM told us that we'd be based out of Karnath. I've been unable to reconcile my mental images of Aundair and Karnath enough to have my character be based out of there (in a mercenary sense) so I was hoping that one of you fine folks could help me do one of the following. 1) Decide on a solid backstory to reconcile the animosity between his native home and his current residence. 2) Choose a different homeland. 3) Another suggestion that would reconcile the above issues. All constructive input is desired and welcome. I don't think that it's impossible to justify that character... A few options... 1) He's an expatriate. Maybe he fled the country rather than be conscripted. Maybe he just doesn't really have that much personally invested in the international ill will. As far as he's concerned, the war's over... 2) He's a scholar - Rekkenmark is _the_ place for military scholarship. 3) Maybe he's a defector - it'd make for some very interesting controversial backstory and would pave the way for future conflict. Perhaps he was a double-agent during the Last War, and part of his "escape clause" was to have a new ID waiting for him in Karrnath after the war. 4) Perhaps he's got other ties to Karrnath. Perhaps there's a Karrnathi Juliet to go with his Aundairian Romeo. 5) Perhaps he's got some "mutual friends" in Karrnath. Perhaps at one point they were on opposite sides of a small skirmish, but then a third side appeared, and they had to team up. 6) He's currently a spy. He's Aundairian, but nobody knows it. Everything you've told us about the character is merely his cover... Maybe he's just pretending to be an expat... 7) He's a foreign correspondent for an Aundairian newspaper. 8) He's a visiting professor at Rekkenmark (...he just happens to be one of the foremost experts on such-and-such military history). 9) Aundairian diplomatic envoy, or member of same? If he's a merc, then pretty much everything but the last two would work (mostly because they might tie him down too much). If he's openly Aundairian, he can look forward to nationalistic racism. But who's to say that he's open about it? But y'know, maybe it's like being East German vs. West German, or growing up in the Alsace-Lorraine (e.g. French and German border cities that have been fought over for so long that the French places are more German, and vice versa...if they don't just think of themselves as outright different). Being from a Aundair/Karrn border town could give that kind of situation. Rekkenmark on it's own is probably fairly cosmopolitan, due to the nature of the Deneith extranationality (so Brelish, Thranish, Cyran, and Aundairian Deneith have studied there).
Gunrock 05-26-05, 01:53 PM	That is some interesting advice and I shall consider it all. Thank you. Does anyone else have any good ideas?
Naudachu 05-26-05, 02:40 PM	As far as being from Aundair and moving to Karrnath, looks like that's been explored pretty well. As far as the other ideas: - He could be a scholar from anywhere (Morgrave University, etc.) - This has quickly become cliche, but he could be a Cyran native escaped to Aundair. He travels from university to university with no particular ties. - Another way to make him neutral nationally is to tie him into a Dragonmarked House. He doesn't have to actually possess the dragonmark. He could just work for the house. This could really be any house in any country. - He could be a "rogue scholar" aboard ship seeking out rare documents in various seaports. Something led him to Karrnath... - He could be doing some field work studying the Talenta halflings near the Karrnathi border. Overall, as a bard, he probably doesn't spend as much time in libraries as out in the field gathering data or searching for lost artifacts which may only have scholarly value or may be hidden among riches attracting treasure hunters. A bard is a jack of all trades and PCs are adventurers. I'm not knocking the scholarly pursuits, but he's got to have a reason to be out and about.
Gunrock 05-27-05, 12:48 AM	Thank you both, this has been most useful.