My friends elf duskblade has said that he would like to be hunted by other elves. Now I would like to make this true and have some motive for it other than sending a group of elves every now or then to harry them. Other thing is that he said that he didn't want to worship and honour his ancestors and would rather carve his own path to fame and fortune.
Another person is playing Warforged Fighter, who worships the ideals of Silver Flame. He too wanted some kind of plot element in his story, so I offered him to be on one side of the rift created by the Inquisition's maniacal hunting of lycans. Well, he agreed, but I'm at lost on how to bring it closer to my game.
Other characters feature Dwarf Artificer from Mror Holds, looking for adventure, Changeling Rogue, a spy from the Last War and a Dread Necromancer from Karrnath, whose motto is "Death is only the beginning."
They are halfway through with the Forgotten Forge adventure and are all level 1. They are in Sharn and have established some relationship with House Cannith and a neutral opinion of the Lord of the Blades.
I would like some ideas on how to make their backstories matter in my campaign.
Ok, so I'm first time DMing Eberron and again for the first time, my players have expressed interest in their connections with the world. (Finally!)
My friends elf duskblade has said that he would like to be hunted by other elves. Now I would like to make this true and have some motive for it other than sending a group of elves every now or then to harry them. Other thing is that he said that he didn't want to worship and honour his ancestors and would rather carve his own path to fame and fortune.
Tell him to make a backstory which would give a reason for him to be hunted. They would be disappointed that he does not follow tradition, but they are not going to hunt him across continents just because he wants to be the black sheep, so to speak.
Another person is playing Warforged Fighter, who worships the ideals of Silver Flame. He too wanted some kind of plot element in his story, so I offered him to be on one side of the rift created by the Inquisition's maniacal hunting of lycans. Well, he agreed, but I'm at lost on how to bring it closer to my game.
Maybe the player should have a goal he wants to accomplish. Once he decides on his goal, tell us about your campaign idea and someone should be able to help fit it in somehow
Other characters feature Dwarf Artificer from Mror Holds, looking for adventure, Changeling Rogue, a spy from the Last War and a Dread Necromancer from Karrnath, whose motto is "Death is only the beginning."
They are halfway through with the Forgotten Forge adventure and are all level 1. They are in Sharn and have established some relationship with House Cannith and a neutral opinion of the Lord of the Blades.
I would like some ideas on how to make their backstories matter in my campaign.
We need more info on the backstories. If a player gives me a good backstory I find it easy to fit it into the adventure, but if he says I am Bob the paladin, and I like strawberries I can't do anything.
Now if Bob is searching for the great strawberry of eternal wisdom because that is the only way to get rid of a curse that was placed on his family years ago then I may be able to help.
My point is the more details we have on the character's lives the easier it is to help.
This soul knows Something. Something that would shake the very foundations of (a nation, a religion, a noble family) but it hasn't yet been able to communicate with the character, except for cryptic images while he rests at night.
The organization which is threatened by the knowledge finds out that the forbidden idol is empty now. Some investigation lets them know (or suspect) that the character houses the soul now. So they need to either kill him or force the soul back into the idol without anyone knowing what they're doing or way they want the guy so bad.
They send assassins, kidnapers, summoned demons, all sorts of things. But cannot risk being directly linked to any of these actions for fear that a rival (nation, religion, family) will start to pay attention to the PC. So they are not able to really throw everything they have at him.
The PC doesn't get any real benefit from the soul except for the occational alien thought or memory (ie: plot hooks).
The truth is that this is all the background they have given me. Even this left me amazed, cause this is the first time they have expressed event the slightest interest. Do you think it's too late for me to ask for a backstory, now that they have played for 2 sessions?
if they can wait two sessions to suddenly want a personal adventure, then you can suddenly want a backstory.
All 3 were badly injured and recovery was very difficult in the Mournland as they trucked through the caverns looking for escape. After several close calls the trio became close friends, trading ideas and discussing the nature of the world. After almost a month wandering blindly through the darkened caverns of Kyber they came upon an opening guarded by a beholder (or other monster). The pc's companions both fell in the fight, the cleric sacrificed himself to insure the forged's escape.
After his ordeal he could not bring himself to return to the Lord of Blades and his words of hate and war. Instead he sought out those who shared the faith of his lost friends. He may have lived happily ever after, except that once you side with the Lord, you are always in his family. If any warforged from his old life recognizes him then his life might get complicated.
?
. Then, when the party is ambushed by a certain elf faction, your elf will be satisfied.The Elf Duskblade: Unbeknownst to him, he is descended from a family - thought to be dead for centuries - that bore the Mark of Shadow before House Phiarlan was officially formed. Dragonmarked elves are hunting him, but not to kill him. Each of the two Houses hopes to capture him alive and bring him under their control, because studies of the Prophecy suggest that a descendant of his family will soon begin to manifest the Mark again.
The Warforged Fighter: I'm not exactly sure how this character could be on one side of the Purge, since that ended long before the first Cannith Warforged was ever cast. However, your Warforged could certainly have sympathy for Shifters, knowing that they are often treated as second-class worshippers by many members of the Church, just as "soulless" Warforged are. Give him opportunities to stand up for Shifters and other Warforged who are being ignored by the local Church.
The Dwarf Artificer: What you can say, this is a pretty basic character set-up. If you decide to run the rest of the official "Xulo" adventure path (Shadows of the Last War, Whispers of the Vampire's Blade, Grasp of the Emerald Claw), then you could probably give him some opportunities to experiment with the schemas, but they would ultimately turn out to be fruitless. Schemas are designed to be used by much more powerful artificers... if he wants to make use of them, that might be an impetus for his adventuring.
The Changeling Rogue: This character could accidentally rediscover lost memories, things that were learned as a spy and supposed to have been forgotten. These things are, naturally, state secrets, and if anyone finds out that he/she has remembered them, could draw a lot of unwanted attention from the various governments of Khorvaire. (If you ever want to "explain" the Mourning, this Changeling's rediscovered memories could be a good way to tell the story in "mini-flashbacks.")
The Dread Necromancer: If this character learned his art from the Karrnathi military, it should be noted that the practice of creating undead for military purposes is now forbidden in that country, despite the fact that the commanders at Atur have maintained their program in secret.
My initial ideas on each of these characters:
The Elf Duskblade: Unbeknownst to him, he is descended from a family - thought to be dead for centuries - that bore the Mark of Shadow before House Phiarlan was officially formed. Dragonmarked elves are hunting him, but not to kill him. Each of the two Houses hopes to capture him alive and bring him under their control, because studies of the Prophecy suggest that a descendant of his family will soon begin to manifest the Mark again.
According to the House Phiarlan Dragonshards by Keith Baker, House Phiarlan (and, subsequently, House Thuranni) were formed from several different Aereni families, all of which manifested the Mark of Shadow. These families were bounded together into the House of Shadow, named Phiarlan after the elven messengers/diplomats/spies of the revolution against the giants, which were called phiarlans.
According to the House Phiarlan Dragonshards by Keith Baker, House Phiarlan (and, subsequently, House Thuranni) were formed from several different Aereni families, all of which manifested the Mark of Shadow. These families were bounded together into the House of Shadow, named Phiarlan after the elven messengers/diplomats/spies of the revolution against the giants, which were called phiarlans.
I am well aware of this. I am encouraging animunculi to assume that a family was missed along the way, as an easy plot device. So unless you are just giving background info on my suggestion, what is your point?
Then let him be a worshiper of the goof god: The Keeper!
The selfless god who has taken uponm himself the battle for the mortals souls!
The god who singlehandedly treis to give meaning to the deaths of millions of mortaks, by saving the souls from the wastes of Dolurrh.
The god who is endlessly toiling to provide a paradise to the faithfull...
or is this too farfetched? ;)