Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 waxdragon Jul 02, 2008 23:20:56	Alright, so basically I've been playing a lot of D&D lately, and my friends have been pressuring me to start DM'ing a little instead of playing all the time. I haven't DM'ed since 2nd Ed., but seeing as how I'm a huge fan of the way 4th works, I thought I'd finally hop back into it. I read the Hook, Line, and Sinker article from Dungeon, and I decided that his origin idea would be an excellent way to start up a variety of characters to induce role-playing. Yet I'm a little shaky on the DM skills, so I thought it would be best if I started it off with a pre-made campaign. What I came up with was this: Use the origin approach to character building, but tie it all into Keep on the Shadowfell so I can get help at the beginning, but once it's done I'll have enough character built up to continue on my own...hopefully. So after hours of trying to come up with interesting and varied origins, I finally have seven different ones completed, all with a rough out-line of where their story can go (I'm not posting that in case my players read this). I was hoping you more experienced DM's and forum-dwellers would have advice on tweaks I could make to the origins to make them more interesting, whether you think this idea is good (or blows entirely), or even entirely different origin concepts that I may be able to add so my players will have more options when they choose an origin for their character. Read on, and any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated! Oh, and as you should be able to tell by all the references to Douven Staul, I decided to tie all origins to the 'Missing Mentor' Hook. Orphan: Eladrin, Elf, Human, Halfling Your town was razed at an early age, and you and your family were taken as slaves by Hobgoblins. You lived through most of your childhood as a slave until one day your parents managed to plot your escape. Unfortunately, they were unable to join you as they were the diversion that allowed you to get away. You have no knowledge of their fate. Once free you wandered to the nearest city, yet no one was willing to help you, if they even believed you. So you were left to be a street urchin for the rest of your adolescence, despised by most citizens as a blight on their city. That is, until you met Douven Staul. He offered you the chance to learn the ways of an adventurer, so you may be able to one day free your parents, get revenge on the slavers, and perhaps discover what trickery allowed the slavers to penetrate your town’s defenses so easily. You work tirelessly, driven by the thoughts of revenge. Outcast: Dragonborn, Tiefling, Half-elf You lived happily through the early stages of your life with your foster parents, unaware of your dark secret. However, you eventually learned who you really were. The bastard child of Mayor Hargrove, birthed under controversial circumstances. When you went to confront the mayor about the issue, you were stopped by the guards and told that you could see him tomorrow. Then, the next morning, you awoke bound, gagged, and in a wagon headed to some unknown destination. You can only assume the mayor is the man behind your abduction, trying to cover whatever secrets lay behind your birth. Your destination however, was never reached. Your cart was attacked by a rag-tag group of bandits, and you were left for dead with an arrow in your chest. Luckily, a man named Douven Staul stumbled upon your body and nursed you back to health. Realizing this man was an adventurer, you begged him to mentor you in the ways of the world. You now train diligently in the hopes that you can earn enough honor to one day allow your father to be able to look upon you with respect and pride instead of shame. Seer: Dwarf, Eladrin, Elf, Half-elf, Human You were your everyday citizen, just like everybody else. That is until you hit puberty. You started to have very short nightmares, where you would see horrible things happen to people. Your parents thought these dreams were telling you to do things, so they tried to have you exorcised, but to no avail. Your nightmares continued. Years later when you witness a man being run over by a runaway cart, you realize that you saw this in one of your nightmares. Your nightmares were coming true. Eventually, you realize that some of your non-nightmares come true as well. Perhaps all your dreams are visions of the future? Unfortunately, there is one nightmare that repeats itself. It is you, willingly standing there while a mysterious figure slowly pushes a dagger through your chest. Sometimes you can see their face, but it is never the same twice. In an effort to avoid your fate, you turn to the clergyman. He points you to an old friend of his, Douven Staul, the most experienced man he knows. When you reach Douven, he agrees to look into your problem, but advises you to prepare for the worst. So you begin to train yourself in hopes of being able to avoid your dark fate. Mercenary: Dragonborn, Dwarf, Halfling, Human, Tiefling Must be unaligned You were once a child, traveling with your parents and a large number of settlers to strike out and build a new town in the Lancewood Forest as a strategic point in case war ever broke out with the elves. Before your convoy reached its destination however, it was attacked by a very large group of bandits-for-hire. Even mercenaries have some morals, and some of them objected to killing a child. So instead you were brought on as their slave. Years later, you had been completely inducted into their lifestyle. You can hardly remember a time when you weren’t a part of this camp, and parents are a foreign idea to you. The leader of the mercenary camp, Doug Buckler, had finally deemed you fit to join their ranks as an official mercenary. After years of training, and a couple on-the-job practices, Doug has decided to give you your first official job: Assassinate Douven Staul. It’s an anonymous client, and you know little about Douven except where he lives. When you arrive however, you find he is missing, as his wards have not seen him in months. You pretend to be the child of an old friend of Douven’s who needs his help and join in the search, hoping his wards can lead you to your quarry. Wild Child: Eladrin, Elf, Human, Halfling Must be trained in Nature You can’t remember a time before the woods. As far as you know, your life started there. You lived off the animals and plants. You took shelter in the trees. You never dreamed of a world outside. That is until your world was invaded. You don’t know what by, you never saw it so much as felt it. But the feeling was strong enough to make you, for the first time, flee the comfort of your home, as it no longer felt like home. While you were sprinting from this evil, you stumbled upon a man walking along a path. As soon as you saw him, you felt safe again and immediately clung to him for safety. The man was obviously startled by your sudden appearance and clinginess, but after failing at extricating you from his robes he decided to bring you along. Over the years he taught you the common language of the outside world, so you learned his name was Douven Staul. He also taught you many things about the world, teaching you how to build on your natural gifts. You have now gotten used to the city, but you still feel more at home outside walls than in. Douven had promised to help you ascertain the source of the evil feeling that caused you to run to him, when you were ready for the challenge. You are eager to solve this mystery, as well as the mystery surrounding your birth. Twin: Any Race (x2) Must be same race & 2 DIFFERENT roles The gods had determined that you were to be a twin. However, this did not translate into the physical world. Instead you were born two very different people inside the same body. This was not realized by anyone else of course, until after you began to speak. Not realizing the source of your split personalities, the villagers all assumed that you were possessed and as a result you were feared, even slightly by your parents. You were very aware that you were two people, as you both shared in the experiences of the other, yet no villagers would believe the truth, and there were no local clergy to perform exorcisms. You both have a strong desire to walk down different paths despite your shared body. Unfortunately, you have no control of who inhabits the body at any time. It only seems to change when you awaken, although not every time. Having no attachment to your home village you left as soon as you were able to try and find a way to separate yourself from your twin. The first man you found that was willing to help you in your cause was one Douven Staul. While he couldn’t solve your problem outright, he did promise to give you the training you needed to find a solution to your problem. Right before you were to set off in search of a way to split from your twin, Douven has gone missing. Royalty: Eladrin, Elf, Half-Elf You have the esteemed honor of being the eldest child of Aelar Moonweaver, the ruler of the elven lands in Lancewood Forest. You’ve had everything handed to you your whole life, and in turn are spoiled rotten. Realizing how this may negatively effect the realm if you were ever to rule, Aelar decides to act while he still can. He decides to send you to one of his human contacts: Douven Staul, an avid explorer and adventurer. Your mission: learn how to survive in the outside world. What this means exactly is not clear to you, when you asked Aelar, he simply replied with “the stars will guide you.” You just know you’re supposed to report to Douven for your initial employment. As you start to go on your way to Douven’s home, Aelar’s final words to you are, “We will be watching you. If you return before we deem you ready and send for you, you will be considered as an enemy. Choose your paths wisely and may Melora guide you.” Then to make matters worse, Douven is nowhere to be found when you arrive. Now it is up to you alone to figure out how to win the favor of your father and be allowed back home. Thanks for reading!
#2 Mosestrotsky Jul 03, 2008 9:52:25	If it was me I when you let the players choose one get them to participate. They will have their ideas of their own - the more involved they feel the easier it will be to organise. The rough outline you have is the best way to go. When you play the game you will start to get an idea of what it is the players want for their characters. That will then enable you to play around with what you have planned for the characters. Also don't be afraid of changing everything. An example I was using a bad guy who had been harrassing the players and starting to get on their nerves but they started questioning how he was getting to the various locations before them. A mistake on my behalf but I decided to resolve that by making the villain into villains - twins. How it helps a little bit
#3 waxdragon Jul 07, 2008 19:56:49	Yeah, I decided to show it to the players in its rough-draft stage, and they had more ideas to add of their own. One of them seemed slightly offended saying, "I could make my own origin. I've done it before you know." Still, when I told them that they could create their own, as long as they would allow me to review and modify if necessary they seemed okay with it. One even came up with five additional origins I could add to the pool. Another one whined that there was no playable monster origins. I'm not sure if I want to delve into the realm of the monsters, but I guess we'll see how it turns out. He was very stubborn so I added this one: Convert: Bugbear, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, Minotaur, Orc You were raised among one of the most fierce tribes of your kind. Your tribe is infamous for its brutal raids on settlements that can hardly defend themselves, since they make easier targets. During one such raid, as you watched your allies toss around the head of a small human child, you decided you needed to walk along a more honorable path. Upon return to your camp, you informed your chieftan of your epiphany, and in turn became exiled from your former home. In order to end your shame, you decided to go out honorably. So you attacked the nearest well fortified town as a form of assisted suicide. Yet things did not turn out that way. As a town guard was about to deliver your final blow, he was stopped by someone named Douven Staul. But that didn’t stop him from knocking you unconsciouis. You awoke in a cell, shackled to the wall. Days later, you were finally visited by Douven. After much prodding, you told him your story, and he decided to help you. Your days were marked by Douven’s visits, where everyday he would teach you about right and wrong, civilization in the wild. Eventually you began to see the evil of your old ways, and began to appreciate the lives that those in the cities must lead. You yearned to be a part of their world. Yet the villagers still did not trust you, and would not let Douven set you free. Then Douven tells you he’s leaving on an investigation and will return. Months go by. Finally, you are visited by someone you do not know who tells you he is a ward of Douven’s. Douven has gone missing, and they request your assistance in finding him. If you prove yourself here, when you return to town you won’t be placed back in your cell. You will be free. Free to live a new life, and perhaps spread the light to your past friends who still live in the darkness. Anyways, so my final verdict is that pre-making everything isn't worth the time it takes to make them all. It may work better if I was playing with a less experienced group that really needed to get into role-playing, but with a group like I have it's probably best to let them make their own and go from there. Ah well, DM'ing is nothing but a learning experience.