Archpaladin Zousha
2009-06-21, 01:42 AM
I am currently running the Scales of War adventure path for a group of players. One thing that I want to do with the campaign to add my own creativity to it is to incorporate the backstories of the PCs into the greater story of the campaign. The problem is, I'm not to sure on how well they'll integrate. Here are their stories:
Gareth Talbrook, Cloistered Priest:
The first thing Gareth Talbrook remembers is waking up in darkness as frigid rain pelted his wounded body. He had no idea who he was, where he was from, or anything from his past whatsoever. He only knew he was fated to die there.
Gareth, not wishing to accept this fate, began to drag his broken body across the field. He saw what he thought was a light in the distance, and crawled toward it's glow. By the time he reached the spot where he thought he saw the light, it had long since died out, having been replaced with a robed man. Gareth blacked out soon thereafter.
The next time he awoke he was in a monastery. The monk who had saved him, Brother Karamaz, told Gareth he had been praying in the fields when he, too, saw a light in the distance. He headed towards the light and found Gareth.
Upon asking Gareth his name, Gareth seemed dumbfounded. He thought he must have lost his memory at the same time he got his injuries. Judging from where he was found, it was most likely a battle that left him this way.
Six years have passed since then, and the monks have accepted Gareth as one of their own, and he has served the monastery faithfully. His namesake comes from the founder of the monastery, Gareth O'rasmus, and the name of the brook near the site where he was found, the Tal. The monastery is miles away from any civilization, surrounded by what seems to be an ocean of tall grasses with trees floating randomly atop.
The monks are certain that Pelor has a great destiny for Gareth, as they believe the light that saved him to be the intercession of Pelor himself.
On a mission to find who he is, Gareth has set off to find who he was. The monks gave him a starting amount of gold, a blessing, and a clue to his identity - a locket with the words "remember me" engraved in Elven (which Brother Karamaz, a master linguist, taught to him) and a strand of black hair in it.
Gareth left the monastery to find who he was. But if that was so, why did he wait for six years? The truth is, though he was planning to leave the monastery eventually, his plans were accelerated by another character in his life story.
Her name was Lady Eldry Amoriah, an elven paladin. The daughter of an elven smith, Lady Eldry heard the call of Moradin when she set off on her own. Three days after the Brother Karamaz discovered Gareth, she dropped by with supplies for the monastery (as her uncle, Brother Fathamir Amoriah, lived there). From the moment Gareth saw her he was attracted to her. She had wavy red hair and gorgeous eyes, the kind a man could stare into for hours and still be enchanted. It was she who honed Gareth's already formidable fighting skills, and showed him how to fake your opponent out with charisma rather than hit them with brute strength.
When Gareth's adventure began, he had fallen in love with Lady Eldry. When he told this to Brother Karamaz, he learned that she was married. Discouraged, Gareth decided he had put off the quest to find himself for too long and told the monks he would be leaving. The monks gave him their blessing, and Gareth, with no idea where to go, decided to follow the wind to the town of Brindol, where he used what little gold the monks gave him to buy supplies. Thirsty, he stopped at the local bar for a drink (only to remember he spent his last bit of gold on a suit of armor) and got quite a bit more than he bargained for.
Gareth has promised to write letters to the monks of Tornack monastery as often as he can, as they were the ones who taught him everything he knows (with the exception of fighting, which he was already amazingly adept at when they found him). He is especially fond of Brother Karamaz, as it was he who suggested that Gareth become a Paladin.
Armed with his skills and his training, Gareth is on a journey of discovery - both to find out who he is and what Pelor has planned for him.
Nolofinwe, Explorer:
In the forest of Gnarlthorn, Nolofinwe was born approximately 135 years ago. He was born into a small village of elves who focused in the studies of the arcane, an admittedly unusual choice for elves. When he was of age he decided to go to a grove inhabited by the Circle of Gnarlthorn and start focusing his studies toward the art of shape shifting and manipulation of the earth around him. The primal aspect of his studies began to control him though and he neglected everything else. It was then that he started shape shifting into beasts because it was more comfortable to him.
About 5 years ago his grove was attacked. Locals outside the woods got the idea into their heads that our village was going to use their magic to attack and start taking over other villages. This was a common fear of the people due to the fact that they never came into the woods and had never really seen the, before. They locals decided to set fire to the woods. It was dry and the fires they they were starting spread fast. Their spells did nothing but delay the flames, they were eventually either killed or driven out of the woods. Some of the unfortunate of the village escaped the flames right into the hands of angry locals. Nolofinwe was shape shifted and made it past just fine. A few months later he returned to the Forrest to find that there was nothing left.
Today he wanders from town to town mostly looking for survivors from the fire, but also he is looking for Information on who was responsible for starting the uprising.
Lucien Darius, Political Rebel:
Lucien is a first-generation half-elf, born to a human father and an elf mother. His father was a former thief who renounced his trade at his fiancee's behest, but he taught Lucien everything he knew, to prepare his son for if he ever was on his own and needed to live by his wits.
Lucien and his family lived on the land of a spoiled and corrupt noblewoman. Her exorbient taxes went mostly into her lavish personal spending, but most of her neighbors were either unaware or being bribed by her. Lucien's parents worked near to death to try and support themselves. Even so, Lucien's father eventually couldn't pay his taxes, and the noblewoman used what she knew about his past to imprison him.
Lucien was enraged at the injustice that his family had just suffered, so he decided to try and use what his father taught him to spring his father from prison. His mother was opposed to the idea, and the two parted on harsh terms. Lucien's attempted jailbreak was a failure. He only managed to get to his father's cell before he was discovered. Lucien's father told him to leave him behind and run. To run as fast and as far as he could.
This Lucien did, until he was far from the noblewoman's lands. Brindol was the nearest town, and he immediately located the nearest tavern to drown his sorrows in ale and try to figure out a new plan to save his father and give the noblewoman her just desserts. He was on about the third tankard when a pack of hobgoblins burst through the door and attacked the patrons. The rest is history...
Balthazar Saverel, Magic Scholar:
Balthazar was a mystical prodigy, one of the finest students of the Spiral Tower. He thought he had it made when he was offered an apprenticeship with Master Istari, one of the council of mages that governed the school. The two, however, almost immediately disliked each other.
The grounds of the conflict was originally philosophical in nature. Istari, a masterful illusionist, believed that everything was an illusion. An illusion that he could manipulate as he saw fit. Balthazar disagreed, believing both that there were such things as reality and truth, and that mages had a responsibility to avoid causing too much harm with their abilities. Despite the disagreements though, Balthazar still respected Istari as his teacher and superior, and swallowed his disagreements for the time being.
Eventually, the conflict came to a head when Balthazar witnessed Istari manipulating students through illusions, casually toying with their minds and lives. Such an unethical act, if brought to light, would result in Istari's exile. Despite every fiber of his being telling him to alert the council of this, Balthazar decided to confront his master personally. Perhaps there was something Balthazar didn't realize, or perhaps Istari could be persuaded to stop before his doings became more dangerous. Istari responded by firing off a powerful spell at Balthazar, trying to kill him and ensure his silence.
By some miracle, Balthazar survived the attack, and fled the Spiral Tower, wounded and ashamed. But Istari's cruel act did not go unnoticed...or unpunished. The council banished Istari, who brushed off their decision as meaningless. The council wasn't real to him anyway, and now he was free to do as he pleased without the figments they called rules.
Balthazar was changed by his experiences. He lost any respect he had for Master Istari for what he'd done, and all respect for the Spiral Tower and its mages for letting Istari's cancerous behavior go ignored for so long. The attack left him physically changed as well, as the attack left Balthazar with a spellscar.
Now Balthazar seeks any power he can earn. He works to master the elements with his spells, to harness the volatile energies of his spellscar, and to obtain artifacts of great magical power, all to hunt down Istari and put an end to him once and for all, proving not only that the council's mercy was wasted on him, but once and for all that there is an underlying truth to the universe and that none of Istari's deceptions can hide it forever.
Pippin Baggins, Assassin:
Pippin's player really hasn't given me any backstory to work with. He's a gnome bard who worships Corellon, is of Good alignment, and has the Assassin background.
Part of my issue is that I'm not sure how to incorporate these tales, each with very different narrative themes, into the broader narrative of Scales of War. I feel like they'd have to be "tacked on" at best or outright ignored at worst.
Furthermore, I don't know what would motivate them to put their own goals by the wayside to join in the greater conflict going on. Scales of War ultimately centers around the rivalry between the dragon gods Bahamut and Tiamat that has existed as long as those gods themselves have. None of the characters are dragonborn, the race that has the strongest connection to Bahamut, and none of the characters worship him or even show some sort of interest in him. What would motivate this group to stop Tiamat's plan to kill Bahamut once and for all?
There are a number of other questions I have about these sorts of things too, but I can't think of them all right now.
Gareth Talbrook, Cloistered Priest:
The first thing Gareth Talbrook remembers is waking up in darkness as frigid rain pelted his wounded body. He had no idea who he was, where he was from, or anything from his past whatsoever. He only knew he was fated to die there.
Gareth, not wishing to accept this fate, began to drag his broken body across the field. He saw what he thought was a light in the distance, and crawled toward it's glow. By the time he reached the spot where he thought he saw the light, it had long since died out, having been replaced with a robed man. Gareth blacked out soon thereafter.
The next time he awoke he was in a monastery. The monk who had saved him, Brother Karamaz, told Gareth he had been praying in the fields when he, too, saw a light in the distance. He headed towards the light and found Gareth.
Upon asking Gareth his name, Gareth seemed dumbfounded. He thought he must have lost his memory at the same time he got his injuries. Judging from where he was found, it was most likely a battle that left him this way.
Six years have passed since then, and the monks have accepted Gareth as one of their own, and he has served the monastery faithfully. His namesake comes from the founder of the monastery, Gareth O'rasmus, and the name of the brook near the site where he was found, the Tal. The monastery is miles away from any civilization, surrounded by what seems to be an ocean of tall grasses with trees floating randomly atop.
The monks are certain that Pelor has a great destiny for Gareth, as they believe the light that saved him to be the intercession of Pelor himself.
On a mission to find who he is, Gareth has set off to find who he was. The monks gave him a starting amount of gold, a blessing, and a clue to his identity - a locket with the words "remember me" engraved in Elven (which Brother Karamaz, a master linguist, taught to him) and a strand of black hair in it.
Gareth left the monastery to find who he was. But if that was so, why did he wait for six years? The truth is, though he was planning to leave the monastery eventually, his plans were accelerated by another character in his life story.
Her name was Lady Eldry Amoriah, an elven paladin. The daughter of an elven smith, Lady Eldry heard the call of Moradin when she set off on her own. Three days after the Brother Karamaz discovered Gareth, she dropped by with supplies for the monastery (as her uncle, Brother Fathamir Amoriah, lived there). From the moment Gareth saw her he was attracted to her. She had wavy red hair and gorgeous eyes, the kind a man could stare into for hours and still be enchanted. It was she who honed Gareth's already formidable fighting skills, and showed him how to fake your opponent out with charisma rather than hit them with brute strength.
When Gareth's adventure began, he had fallen in love with Lady Eldry. When he told this to Brother Karamaz, he learned that she was married. Discouraged, Gareth decided he had put off the quest to find himself for too long and told the monks he would be leaving. The monks gave him their blessing, and Gareth, with no idea where to go, decided to follow the wind to the town of Brindol, where he used what little gold the monks gave him to buy supplies. Thirsty, he stopped at the local bar for a drink (only to remember he spent his last bit of gold on a suit of armor) and got quite a bit more than he bargained for.
Gareth has promised to write letters to the monks of Tornack monastery as often as he can, as they were the ones who taught him everything he knows (with the exception of fighting, which he was already amazingly adept at when they found him). He is especially fond of Brother Karamaz, as it was he who suggested that Gareth become a Paladin.
Armed with his skills and his training, Gareth is on a journey of discovery - both to find out who he is and what Pelor has planned for him.
Nolofinwe, Explorer:
In the forest of Gnarlthorn, Nolofinwe was born approximately 135 years ago. He was born into a small village of elves who focused in the studies of the arcane, an admittedly unusual choice for elves. When he was of age he decided to go to a grove inhabited by the Circle of Gnarlthorn and start focusing his studies toward the art of shape shifting and manipulation of the earth around him. The primal aspect of his studies began to control him though and he neglected everything else. It was then that he started shape shifting into beasts because it was more comfortable to him.
About 5 years ago his grove was attacked. Locals outside the woods got the idea into their heads that our village was going to use their magic to attack and start taking over other villages. This was a common fear of the people due to the fact that they never came into the woods and had never really seen the, before. They locals decided to set fire to the woods. It was dry and the fires they they were starting spread fast. Their spells did nothing but delay the flames, they were eventually either killed or driven out of the woods. Some of the unfortunate of the village escaped the flames right into the hands of angry locals. Nolofinwe was shape shifted and made it past just fine. A few months later he returned to the Forrest to find that there was nothing left.
Today he wanders from town to town mostly looking for survivors from the fire, but also he is looking for Information on who was responsible for starting the uprising.
Lucien Darius, Political Rebel:
Lucien is a first-generation half-elf, born to a human father and an elf mother. His father was a former thief who renounced his trade at his fiancee's behest, but he taught Lucien everything he knew, to prepare his son for if he ever was on his own and needed to live by his wits.
Lucien and his family lived on the land of a spoiled and corrupt noblewoman. Her exorbient taxes went mostly into her lavish personal spending, but most of her neighbors were either unaware or being bribed by her. Lucien's parents worked near to death to try and support themselves. Even so, Lucien's father eventually couldn't pay his taxes, and the noblewoman used what she knew about his past to imprison him.
Lucien was enraged at the injustice that his family had just suffered, so he decided to try and use what his father taught him to spring his father from prison. His mother was opposed to the idea, and the two parted on harsh terms. Lucien's attempted jailbreak was a failure. He only managed to get to his father's cell before he was discovered. Lucien's father told him to leave him behind and run. To run as fast and as far as he could.
This Lucien did, until he was far from the noblewoman's lands. Brindol was the nearest town, and he immediately located the nearest tavern to drown his sorrows in ale and try to figure out a new plan to save his father and give the noblewoman her just desserts. He was on about the third tankard when a pack of hobgoblins burst through the door and attacked the patrons. The rest is history...
Balthazar Saverel, Magic Scholar:
Balthazar was a mystical prodigy, one of the finest students of the Spiral Tower. He thought he had it made when he was offered an apprenticeship with Master Istari, one of the council of mages that governed the school. The two, however, almost immediately disliked each other.
The grounds of the conflict was originally philosophical in nature. Istari, a masterful illusionist, believed that everything was an illusion. An illusion that he could manipulate as he saw fit. Balthazar disagreed, believing both that there were such things as reality and truth, and that mages had a responsibility to avoid causing too much harm with their abilities. Despite the disagreements though, Balthazar still respected Istari as his teacher and superior, and swallowed his disagreements for the time being.
Eventually, the conflict came to a head when Balthazar witnessed Istari manipulating students through illusions, casually toying with their minds and lives. Such an unethical act, if brought to light, would result in Istari's exile. Despite every fiber of his being telling him to alert the council of this, Balthazar decided to confront his master personally. Perhaps there was something Balthazar didn't realize, or perhaps Istari could be persuaded to stop before his doings became more dangerous. Istari responded by firing off a powerful spell at Balthazar, trying to kill him and ensure his silence.
By some miracle, Balthazar survived the attack, and fled the Spiral Tower, wounded and ashamed. But Istari's cruel act did not go unnoticed...or unpunished. The council banished Istari, who brushed off their decision as meaningless. The council wasn't real to him anyway, and now he was free to do as he pleased without the figments they called rules.
Balthazar was changed by his experiences. He lost any respect he had for Master Istari for what he'd done, and all respect for the Spiral Tower and its mages for letting Istari's cancerous behavior go ignored for so long. The attack left him physically changed as well, as the attack left Balthazar with a spellscar.
Now Balthazar seeks any power he can earn. He works to master the elements with his spells, to harness the volatile energies of his spellscar, and to obtain artifacts of great magical power, all to hunt down Istari and put an end to him once and for all, proving not only that the council's mercy was wasted on him, but once and for all that there is an underlying truth to the universe and that none of Istari's deceptions can hide it forever.
Pippin Baggins, Assassin:
Pippin's player really hasn't given me any backstory to work with. He's a gnome bard who worships Corellon, is of Good alignment, and has the Assassin background.
Part of my issue is that I'm not sure how to incorporate these tales, each with very different narrative themes, into the broader narrative of Scales of War. I feel like they'd have to be "tacked on" at best or outright ignored at worst.
Furthermore, I don't know what would motivate them to put their own goals by the wayside to join in the greater conflict going on. Scales of War ultimately centers around the rivalry between the dragon gods Bahamut and Tiamat that has existed as long as those gods themselves have. None of the characters are dragonborn, the race that has the strongest connection to Bahamut, and none of the characters worship him or even show some sort of interest in him. What would motivate this group to stop Tiamat's plan to kill Bahamut once and for all?
There are a number of other questions I have about these sorts of things too, but I can't think of them all right now.