Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 gnolloferathis May 02, 2009 6:05:39	I am starting in a PbP 4e game set in Baldur's Gate. I haven't kept up with the Realms, and don't know what backgrounds, languages and deities would be appropriate for my character. He is a razorclaw shifter Rogue who has grown up in the seedier part of Baldur's Gate. His people ended up there after being driven off their native plains during the chaos after the Spellplague (unless someone has a better idea). Where might his people have been from originally? The CB demo is giving me a choice of languages, but I don't know which ones he would be most likely to know. I also would like a background. I could take the one for Baldur's Gate, which would give me an extra language, but I thought I could maybe take one for wherever his people are from - although he grew up in the city, he is proud of his heritage, and tries to integrate the old ways with the new ones (he has MC shaman, MAD as that is). He is unaligned, and if I were using the PHB deities, he would agree with some of the precepts of both Avandra and Sehanine. What would be a good Realms equivalent, if any? If anyone has any ideas, thanks in advance.
#2 borris May 08, 2009 4:27:02	Refugees is Baldur's Gate sure is a popular background nowadays, but with the thousands of people who moved there during and after the Spellplague, it certainly makes sense. And with the Werewoods (formerly Wood of Sharp Teeth) nearby, it makes sense that a group of shifters could have been found in the plains east of Baldur's Gate. The problem with regional backgrounds is that they're only given for 27 regions (compared to 54 regions on Faerûn in the FRCG). So many regions won't give you anything to work with. Your best bet is to find another region with a similar feel to what you're using. As far as "wide open plains" go, the closest thing I see would be Elfharrow. It gives +1 to Athletics and Nature checks as well as making both class skills. I'd say it certainly works for the plans of the Western Heartlands. As for languages, Baldur's Gate (and much of western Faerûn) has Chondathan as the most common human language. Regarding Deities, Avandra is pretty much a copy/pasted version of Tymora, the Faerûnian goddess of luck. Sehanine is also originating from the Forgotten Realms as the elven goddess of the Moon, though it was revealed in the past 100 years that Sehanine was really one aspect of the Moon goddess Selûne. Many elves still worship her, though, and some still use the name Sehanine. Selûne is also seen as a goddess of non-evil lycanthropes and outcats, and that could easily extend to shifters as well. As the goddess of wanderers, she could also be a natural choice for a group of refugees who sook shelter in Baldur's Gate but plan to leave as soon as it will be possible.