I'm picturing him with a tattered Red Wizard's robe, with his leather armor poking out from tears, and slits a long the actual robe. I was thinking of buying a basic clothes set from the shop, and saying that is his Red Robe that he is wearing over his Leather Armor.
Is there anything mechanically I can do to show this ? I don't plan on enchanting it or anything game breaking.
You can wear what you want dude... It's a mundane red cloak...
As to purchasing clothes, there is no real mechanic for it like there was before, one of my PCs spent 200 Gold on clothes before the Masquerade ball in a certain module though... (And also hired a stretch carriage)
I guess I was trying to ask if it would be ok if I bought some normal clothing as a representative element for a mundane red robe. I guess I already knew it lol =/ Bah!
But if you want a Thayan Wizard, all you need is to be a Wizard... from Thay.
If you want to be a "Red Wizard" you also need to be a Human... a Mulan Human (check the Thay entry in the FRPG to see why).
...oohh! Wear a red hooded cloak and robe too, shave your head and get some tats on it... that should do the trick!
Hope that helps.
Having said that, I assume your intent is to portray your PC as somehow connected with the "old Red Wizards of Thay" which might be hard to do.
First, assuming the DM is up on changes to the Realms, the NPCs might assume you are a random vagabond (clothing in poor condition) or perhaps a former seller of magic items who fell on bad times. Most NPCs should not associate your PC's appearance with the long gone group of wizards from Thay.
Second, if you explicitly associate your PC with Thay, then I would think more informed NPCs might wonder what relationship you have to the undead there. (You might want to read trilogy that is 2/3s out.)
Third, if your PC often talked about being a Red Wizard of Thay, then I would expect you might be perceived as delusional.
If one of the above was your aim, then proceed onward. Otherwise, you might not get the reaction you were hoping for.
Remember, the world has moved on with this 100 year jump. If your PC is portrayed as stuck 100 years in the past, what does that make them?
Keith
I truly doubt he would care if someone looks sideways due to him wearing a relic of an honored tradition.
What is the name of the trilogy you speak of ? Something to help me swallow all the changes to the realms would be welcomed. Not too many of them see very logical, or lore oriented.
Something to help me swallow all the changes to the realms would be welcomed. Not too many of them see very logical, or lore oriented.
The idea behind the changes seems to be to provide a "blank slate" from which to build again... the "Red Wizards" you speak off attempted to stop Zzass Tam when he assumed total control of Thay... they were either destroyed or fled... either way those "Red Wizards" are gone.
However, you have an interesting proposal there is no reason one of your ancestors could not have been one of the Red Wizards to escape Zzass Tam's purge and this individual could have passed down family stories of "the old ways" in Thay.
You could quite legitamately espouse an interest in "returning to the old ways" in Thay, few would know what you meant, even fewer would be interested.
However, those that would, would not in the least way be pleased with what they heard... a perfect reason to go adventuring!
If you wanted to throw in some ancestral "tie to the undead" the Damphyr feats, or the feats from the Acererak article in Dragon would be perfect for that sort of thing... Ghost Touched would be a fine choice for magic missiles that affect the incorporeal!
The undead flavor would be nice, too bad it doesn't seem very suited to a non-physical character too well.
So if I was to sit down at a table with a character's description as a very tall, slender human. Completely bald, with only eyelashes and brows as the only visible spots of hair. Archaic tattoos are etched on his skin, seemingly shunning hair for ink in its stead.
A long, deep red robe is drawn over a set of leather armor tucked underneath. The robe at first glance is well manicured, however upon further investigation rogue threads, and subtle tears make themselves apparent throughout the garment.
Would that be too much of a assumption for my character to be able to know the ancient traditions, and dress according to his interpretations ?
I'm not sure what would the limitations on that be for RPGA. I know the LG rules were almost suffocating when it came to personalization of characters outside of very established rules.
Would that be too much of a assumption for my character to be able to know the ancient traditions, and dress according to his interpretations ?
Not at all. I'd probably make sure to get training in History to be able to back up his 'knowing the ancient traditions' but other than that sounds good.
Just be aware that at this point in history most NPCs think of Red Wizards as just magic item salesmen, and will react as such. They might have heard that the Red Wizards were really bad in the past, but won't necessarily connect that past to the present day RWs.
I'm not sure what would the limitations on that be for RPGA. I know the LG rules were almost suffocating when it came to personalization of characters outside of very established rules.
Oh, I dunno about that. My main PC for much of the LG campaign was a druid that walked around most of the time in the form of a talking pug dog.
One of the few times he was forced to be in human form, for a high society party, he made his appearance in his finest loincloth and feathers. (he was Olman)
I had another LG character that was a pop star. Bubbly, slightly ditzy, took the (auto-maxed out) Perform Check for money every adventure to justify her presence in the area. ("Oh, have a flyer. I'm having a concert in the area, hope to see you there!")
You could get pretty damn flexible in LG as long as you didn't actually try to use background to fudge or get around the rules.
-karma
Thanks for the insight PGC.
The undead flavor would be nice, too bad it doesn't seem very suited to a non-physical character too well.
So if I was to sit down at a table with a character's description as a very tall, slender human. Completely bald, with only eyelashes and brows as the only visible spots of hair. Archaic tattoos are etched on his skin, seemingly shunning hair for ink in its stead.
A long, deep red robe is drawn over a set of leather armor tucked underneath. The robe at first glance is well manicured, however upon further investigation rogue threads, and subtle tears make themselves apparent throughout the garment.
Would that be too much of a assumption for my character to be able to know the ancient traditions, and dress according to his interpretations ?
I'm not sure what would the limitations on that be for RPGA. I know the LG rules were almost suffocating when it came to personalization of characters outside of very established rules.
Under the LFR rules, what you propose is fine.
All you have to realise is that no matter how much you insist that you are a "Red Wizard", most NPCs and characters will assume you mean a Thayan Merchant Mage.
Inside Thay, your insistence may be enough to draw the wrong kind of attention and those who recall any of the "old traditions" of Thay will probably find it "unwise" to be associated with you, given the current political climate and regime.
Outside Thay no one is really going to care, to them you are a Thayan Wizard and if any of them know anything about thay, you will more likey be judged on the "dubious" merits of your homeland rather than your character... until you prove yourself a hero of course...
Just on one last note... the "Red Wizards" you are modelling yourself on were a pretty evil aligned bunch. You may find you have to deal with some players and DMs who are suspicious that you are trying to create a character who is Unaligned, but is using their background to be "evil".
You may also find that you encounter undue scrutiny when trying to RP your character, you might be well advised to play down the negative aspects of the Red Wizards, make your version a "rose-tinted glasses", idealistic take on what the Red Wizards actually did... were there was tyranny you see effective government... where there was injustice, you villify the victim (they all deserved it type of thing)... just be careful that your character doesn't become an apologist for acts that real-life players might find offensive.
That's when the play invites start to dry up.
Enjoy...
PGC
You've described amlost exactly how I'd plan to play him. He doesn't believe he is a Red Wizard, he is on an quest to actually become a "real" one.
He recalls in his readings that people were very jealous at the marvelous magic first civilization thayans were able to carve out of this impossible land!
So he knows that discretion is the better part of valor, well at least in this case.
The aglorandites were treachrous, dubious beings uncapable of trust, or compacts. Those who didn't adopt a magicly "pure" civilization couldn't understand its implications.
Seriously, I don't think it would be an issue. I won't be like well if you don't respect my heritage I won't tag along. mostly he will drool over any thayan relics, and might be iffy when he encounters his first merchant wizard.