Amnesic character(S)? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Amnesic character(S)? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
SSj3goblin
02-01-06, 12:00 AM Hello Fellow DM's.

I will soon start a new campaign with my players and I wanted to make of the character amnesic, starting the game with no memories, no informations of who he is or where he came from.
However, I want the party to (someday, late in the campaign) find out about the past of the character. Problem is, I don't know how to make that past realy surprising and unepexcted, I want to make it memorable.

My basic Idea was this: The player wakes up in a small boat tied to a dock (the campaign will probably start in a coastal city), with clothes, weapons and possibly a note (I don't know yet what it would say though) and/or a misterious tattoo (maybe that's too cliché). The character doesn't know where the boat came from or even who he is.
The explaination I had thought up was this one: He used to be a gard for some kind of king in a nation across that sea, he was seduced and possed/mind controlled by Grazz't's followers and as high ranked guard, being under their influence he managed to help them assassinate the royal family and the Grazz't cult turned that nation into a demonocracy (a state led by demonic forces).
To "reward" him for his unwilling help, they (the followers of Grazz't) let him live but removed him of any previous memmories.

What do you think about it? I think it's not surprising enough, although it provides a lot of plot hooks,I'd rather provide another starting point and explanation for the character's amnesia, something "better".
Any thoughts?

I had also thought about making all the party amnesiac, thus the players would have a real reason to band together as they try to discover about their pasts. But I feel it may be just too much.
Also, did anyone ever did this into a campaign(making characters start with no memmories)? Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks a lot.
Andorxor
02-01-06, 12:46 AM 1.The party was once Epic, but than deleted their memories and experience to protect the world from a terrible secrect that could destroy it.

2.The party was once evil and commited lots of crimes,when they where caught their memories where erased

3.The party sacrified their memorys and experience, with several others, to power a party of a uberpowerfull warforged to stop a almost unstoppable evil
Honored_Clan
02-01-06, 12:54 AM Why not post tramatic stress syndrome. The character went through something so terrible that he has suppressed his memory of his past.

He could also have been royalty in which his family was killed and their most trusted friend did it. The plan for him was to kill him as he went sailing the open ocean in search of a great sea monster which would prove his worthiness to the throne. But he was setup and only "few" survived. The boat came back in shambles and was no where to be found. Before they threw him to Davey Jones' Locker they marked him with a universal tatoo. The mark of a traitor, the mark of a criminal, understood in all lands round about...just incase his partial decomposed body washed up. They thought they got rid of him, but little did they know when they were wrecking the boat and throwing him into the sea while he was tied to heavy stones with rope, that there was a patch of reef about 75 feet down. The rope rubbed against this and set him free, but he passed out before he could make it to the surface (make whatever rescue scenario you would like...It could be they killed everyone else at that time and their bodies were floating in the water so they mistakenly thought his was one of them). The next thing he knows is he is bound on a ship he does not know, surronded by people he does not know. Due to his mark they treat him badly, but he does not understand this, he does not know where he got the tatoo. The lack of oxygen to his brain caused damage to his memory. He remembers very little in the way of details, but remembers much in the way of emotion. Therefore, he is haunted by his random and borken dreams as his body slowly repairs his damaged brain putting things together only to later make it known what really happened.

This gives you the role of where he can play bad boy trying to prove himself against society or where he can play servant/bondmen or vagabond due to being a "criminal." It would allow for some serious moral issues of Roleplay in how society treats him and how he reacts.

Hope that helps.

Honored_Clan
Mist of Shadows
02-01-06, 12:54 AM I would figure out what class/classes the player wants to play. For example if they want to be a warlock :) Then you simply say you have no memories but have some strange looking tattoo (a wizard's symbol from experimentation) or demonic branding, or some organization that was trying to ultimate power in a mortal but it failed. A lich looking for a ultimate body but something went wrong and rather then just killing the experiment he branded him so he could keep track incase he ever proved useful. Max in the evil lich offering help disquised as a kindly old wizard or something later.

The same could be said for any group. Maybe they were victums of some arcane version of the Elan (psionics book) ritual. And rather then just regenerate the body and reduce them to level 1 it wiped their mind. Perhaps offer them some rewards in the form of abilities or an extra feat for the hassle that you are going to inflict.

I would do a few people with no memories maybe having the one without memories be a dm plant. :) Basically find the one that can keep a secret and have them play the liches helper (if it's a lich as one of my first suggestions)
Elrin
02-01-06, 09:14 AM the way you go about it could depend on what type of campaign you want.. if you want them to meet npcs that remember them then many fo hte ideas already posted woudl be fine...

I, however, went a different route. Namely since it was my first time DMing and I insisted on running a homebrew world I didn't want my players to feel lost despite their characters having whatever area knowledges or whatnot... so I woke them up facedown on a beach plagued by scavengers with only their weapon(masterwork :), clothes(Onys w/ silver embrodieries) all the same cut, and a ring with a dragons head on it and the roman numerals IX with II, crossing perpindicular, underneath it. It let me flesh out the world as I go and because the players didnt' know anythign abotu the world it overall made the characters more fun to play. The great thing about it is that their memories are returning(blows to head so far :). They've figured out that they "might" be a part fo a military force but they dont' know that they were an advanced scout force for an empire thats been isolated and forgotten by the world and it is VERY VERY militant(they keep a small continent populated wiht rebels and barbarians so that their legions recruits can have some type of real battle experience). But to sum it up, my way noone recognizes them except by what they do in my world. It has allowed them to learn about the world(so next characters will have an idea of where they are)
SSj3goblin
02-01-06, 11:12 AM Thanks a lot for the suggestion, I will probably use and mix some of them.

And an Idea just struck me, the Characater may have (as the lich that was proposed) a patron like Gordon freeman and Gman in the Half life series. He was sent there to be "the right man in the wrong place", his memory was removed so he would not have any other motivations (maybe he had a lover, a family, etc.).
That could work out.

I have too many ideas, I just can't choose.
AntiDjinn
02-01-06, 11:23 AM Mechanically, here is one way to handle an amnesiac character: Make the initial character sheet for him (after discussing what type of character the player). Make a full character sheet for yourself and a partial for the player. On the player's sheet list all stats (he knows if he is physically fit or not, cleaver or not) and hit points, race, gender, other physical traits that will be obvious. List which skills he has ranks in, but not how many; the character might know that he can ride but not know how well until he tries. Do not list a name unless that is a detail the character can remember; he will pick up a nickname soon enough. If he is a wizard then he should start with a spellbook, but have no idea how he got it. It contains only spells, no dedication from a mentor or other notes. Feats other than purely physical ones such as Toughness he will have to discover on his own. As the character begins to recover his memories reveal more of the character sheet to the player.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SSj3goblin 02-01-06, 12:00 AM	Hello Fellow DM's. I will soon start a new campaign with my players and I wanted to make of the character amnesic, starting the game with no memories, no informations of who he is or where he came from. However, I want the party to (someday, late in the campaign) find out about the past of the character. Problem is, I don't know how to make that past realy surprising and unepexcted, I want to make it memorable. My basic Idea was this: The player wakes up in a small boat tied to a dock (the campaign will probably start in a coastal city), with clothes, weapons and possibly a note (I don't know yet what it would say though) and/or a misterious tattoo (maybe that's too cliché). The character doesn't know where the boat came from or even who he is. The explaination I had thought up was this one: He used to be a gard for some kind of king in a nation across that sea, he was seduced and possed/mind controlled by Grazz't's followers and as high ranked guard, being under their influence he managed to help them assassinate the royal family and the Grazz't cult turned that nation into a demonocracy (a state led by demonic forces). To "reward" him for his unwilling help, they (the followers of Grazz't) let him live but removed him of any previous memmories. What do you think about it? I think it's not surprising enough, although it provides a lot of plot hooks,I'd rather provide another starting point and explanation for the character's amnesia, something "better". Any thoughts? I had also thought about making all the party amnesiac, thus the players would have a real reason to band together as they try to discover about their pasts. But I feel it may be just too much. Also, did anyone ever did this into a campaign(making characters start with no memmories)? Any comments or suggestions? Thanks a lot.
Andorxor 02-01-06, 12:46 AM	1.The party was once Epic, but than deleted their memories and experience to protect the world from a terrible secrect that could destroy it. 2.The party was once evil and commited lots of crimes,when they where caught their memories where erased 3.The party sacrified their memorys and experience, with several others, to power a party of a uberpowerfull warforged to stop a almost unstoppable evil
Honored_Clan 02-01-06, 12:54 AM	Why not post tramatic stress syndrome. The character went through something so terrible that he has suppressed his memory of his past. He could also have been royalty in which his family was killed and their most trusted friend did it. The plan for him was to kill him as he went sailing the open ocean in search of a great sea monster which would prove his worthiness to the throne. But he was setup and only "few" survived. The boat came back in shambles and was no where to be found. Before they threw him to Davey Jones' Locker they marked him with a universal tatoo. The mark of a traitor, the mark of a criminal, understood in all lands round about...just incase his partial decomposed body washed up. They thought they got rid of him, but little did they know when they were wrecking the boat and throwing him into the sea while he was tied to heavy stones with rope, that there was a patch of reef about 75 feet down. The rope rubbed against this and set him free, but he passed out before he could make it to the surface (make whatever rescue scenario you would like...It could be they killed everyone else at that time and their bodies were floating in the water so they mistakenly thought his was one of them). The next thing he knows is he is bound on a ship he does not know, surronded by people he does not know. Due to his mark they treat him badly, but he does not understand this, he does not know where he got the tatoo. The lack of oxygen to his brain caused damage to his memory. He remembers very little in the way of details, but remembers much in the way of emotion. Therefore, he is haunted by his random and borken dreams as his body slowly repairs his damaged brain putting things together only to later make it known what really happened. This gives you the role of where he can play bad boy trying to prove himself against society or where he can play servant/bondmen or vagabond due to being a "criminal." It would allow for some serious moral issues of Roleplay in how society treats him and how he reacts. Hope that helps. Honored_Clan
Mist of Shadows 02-01-06, 12:54 AM	I would figure out what class/classes the player wants to play. For example if they want to be a warlock :) Then you simply say you have no memories but have some strange looking tattoo (a wizard's symbol from experimentation) or demonic branding, or some organization that was trying to ultimate power in a mortal but it failed. A lich looking for a ultimate body but something went wrong and rather then just killing the experiment he branded him so he could keep track incase he ever proved useful. Max in the evil lich offering help disquised as a kindly old wizard or something later. The same could be said for any group. Maybe they were victums of some arcane version of the Elan (psionics book) ritual. And rather then just regenerate the body and reduce them to level 1 it wiped their mind. Perhaps offer them some rewards in the form of abilities or an extra feat for the hassle that you are going to inflict. I would do a few people with no memories maybe having the one without memories be a dm plant. :) Basically find the one that can keep a secret and have them play the liches helper (if it's a lich as one of my first suggestions)
Elrin 02-01-06, 09:14 AM	the way you go about it could depend on what type of campaign you want.. if you want them to meet npcs that remember them then many fo hte ideas already posted woudl be fine... I, however, went a different route. Namely since it was my first time DMing and I insisted on running a homebrew world I didn't want my players to feel lost despite their characters having whatever area knowledges or whatnot... so I woke them up facedown on a beach plagued by scavengers with only their weapon(masterwork :), clothes(Onys w/ silver embrodieries) all the same cut, and a ring with a dragons head on it and the roman numerals IX with II, crossing perpindicular, underneath it. It let me flesh out the world as I go and because the players didnt' know anythign abotu the world it overall made the characters more fun to play. The great thing about it is that their memories are returning(blows to head so far :). They've figured out that they "might" be a part fo a military force but they dont' know that they were an advanced scout force for an empire thats been isolated and forgotten by the world and it is VERY VERY militant(they keep a small continent populated wiht rebels and barbarians so that their legions recruits can have some type of real battle experience). But to sum it up, my way noone recognizes them except by what they do in my world. It has allowed them to learn about the world(so next characters will have an idea of where they are)
SSj3goblin 02-01-06, 11:12 AM	Thanks a lot for the suggestion, I will probably use and mix some of them. And an Idea just struck me, the Characater may have (as the lich that was proposed) a patron like Gordon freeman and Gman in the Half life series. He was sent there to be "the right man in the wrong place", his memory was removed so he would not have any other motivations (maybe he had a lover, a family, etc.). That could work out. I have too many ideas, I just can't choose.
AntiDjinn 02-01-06, 11:23 AM	Mechanically, here is one way to handle an amnesiac character: Make the initial character sheet for him (after discussing what type of character the player). Make a full character sheet for yourself and a partial for the player. On the player's sheet list all stats (he knows if he is physically fit or not, cleaver or not) and hit points, race, gender, other physical traits that will be obvious. List which skills he has ranks in, but not how many; the character might know that he can ride but not know how well until he tries. Do not list a name unless that is a detail the character can remember; he will pick up a nickname soon enough. If he is a wizard then he should start with a spellbook, but have no idea how he got it. It contains only spells, no dedication from a mentor or other notes. Feats other than purely physical ones such as Toughness he will have to discover on his own. As the character begins to recover his memories reveal more of the character sheet to the player.