Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Tiarn Mar 19, 2015 6:49:46	One of my players is playing a sort of "Flesh-golem," extremely similar to Frankenstein's monster.  Composed of different body parts and all that.   The character in question was created to be a weapon by a necromancer.  The parts are all from killers who were very good at what they did (so the eye's from an exceptional archer, the hands from an exceptional stabby-assassin, etc).  The character escaped this situation and is now travelling with a group of adventurers to be a force of good in the world.   In addition, he also wants to track down the places his body parts are from, and make amends to the peoples that his parts have hurt or those whose family member's he had killed.   Now I have some ideas on this, but nowhere near the quantity that I need to make this character arc a good one.  Help me think of ways, aside from "you killed my husband so now I have no income" "here's 100g, that should do you for most of your life, k-thnx-bye"   I want to really make this a good story.   thanks!
#2 bawylie Mar 19, 2015 11:42:26	Cool character motivation!   Some thoughts in no order.    This is a B story, should fall under sidequest or limited spotlight & in no case eat up more than 1/3 of anyone else's time. Meaning unless the group agrees to let Frankenstein take the spotlight to pursue a personal goal, then you should handle this in small chunks only - not an entire session. Spread it out.    Obstacles. His goal and motivations are clear, so what stands in the way? -ID the "donors" of his body parts.  -ID the "wronged." -ID those who hired the owners of his body parts.  -Locate any/all.  -Maybe some harm is irreversible  -Some atonement is onerous, Requiring special effort.    FOIL. necromancer didn't stop at 1 golem. PC is maybe a prototype. 2nd golem is "perfected." Use 2nd golem as a warped reflection of PC. Does bad things. People can blame 1 golem when it's 2's fault.  2nd golem can be destroyed but comes back rebuilt, always with changes and adaptations. Recurring villain. Introduce after pc has made amends for stuff and is feeling good about where he is morally. Use him in B stories or as bait away from A story goals. Like "we're questing after whatever relic" but oh crap, golem 2 is lurking in this nearby town - don't know what he's up to. Pursue relic or chase 2?
#3 Nevvur Mar 19, 2015 12:13:26	A few ideas...   One of his donors framed someone for a crime he committed, or otherwise landed an innocent person in jail. He will atone by getting the person out of jail. A prison break may very well work, but the innocent person would then still be a fugitive. Try to clear the victim's name for true atonement.   Another donor stole something precious and hid it in a stash before he died. The item could be a priceless family heirloom from a noble, a piece of religious art from a church, or a magical item from a wizard. Regardless, it is the golem's job to return it to its rightful owner.   Another donor was responsible for starting an ongoing feud between two influential groups that had once been allies, or fracturing one group into bitter rivals. The golem must restore the peace and reunite them.
#4 Tiarn Mar 19, 2015 21:25:16	bawylie wrote:
#5 Nevvur Mar 20, 2015 17:03:41	A few more for you...   One of the donors was a slave master. When he died, his son inherited the slaves. The original slave master wasn't exactly a nice guy, but the new guy is extremely abusive. Free the slaves.   Another was planning to commit a terrorist act in a metropolitan area. His plans were interrupted by the necromancer, but the means to commit it are still in place. Perhaps there's a gunpowder cache beneath the governor's house, or barrels of poison poised to spill into the city's water supply. Disable the threat before another evil doer can activate it. Quest becomes time sensitive once the golem learns of it.   A donor had a partner in crime who is still at large. In fact, the donor was the only person able to talk sense to his overtly psychotic 'friend,' and stop him from perpetrating even more attrocious acts than they already did together. He must be stopped.
#6 BRJN Mar 20, 2015 15:43:58	- One "involuntary organ donor" was a member of the Eldreth Veluuthra (FR elven racial-supremacy group).  The golem might 'out' the family's use of insider political influence to give the perpetrator a 'Get out of Jail Free card' after he committed his deeds. - Does he have the brain of Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes' nemesis)?  He might be able to reverse-engineer somebody else's murder plans - and tell the PCs / the authorities how to interrupt their dastardly plot. - Appendix of a yuan-ti poisoner.  Has to concoct anti-venom.  (Allow him access to an Alchemist Kit and Poisoners' Tools, so he has something to work with.) - Achilles' Tendon of a fleet escaper.  Mess up somebody else's plans to escape 'across State lines', or pursue him there, and return him to original jurisdiction..
#7 Tiarn Mar 22, 2015 3:36:13	Wow, thanks guys!   Not that I'm dissuading you from continuing to throw ideas out there, but I'm confident that I have enough, for a while, at least, now.   Thanks again!