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View Full Version : [4e] Integrating PC Backstory into Scales of War



Archpaladin Zousha
2010-02-14, 08:11 PM
I'm starting a PbP of Scales of War soon, and I want to make it a bit more immersive than just plunking the characters into the story with no thought and no emotional attachment to what's going on. So I've asked for all my players to provide me with some secrets and goals for their characters. I was wondering if I could call upon the collective wisdom of those who've DMed Scales of War before to see how I could best integrate the characters' backstories so that they remain engaged in the story throughout the whole campaign, and so it genuinely feels like their story. Here are brief snippets about the PCs:

Zernobog:
A tiefling paladin|warlock (hybrid), who worships Bahamut and whose horns and tail are reminiscent of a black dragon's. This guy's probably the easiest to get involved due to his connection with Bahamut, which becomes very important later in the campaign. I also discussed a plot hook with him where he has a mysterious dragonborn father whom he's never met. What I haven't revealed to the player is that his mystery father is in fact Tiamat's Black Exarch, which means there's going to be an Empire Strikes Back-like confrontation between them eventually. All in all, I think I don't need too much help with him.

Meepo:
Yup, a kobold named Meepo. How original. The player basically made Meepo as an homage to popular kobold characters like Deekin Scalesinger from the Neverwinter Nights series. Like Deekin, Meepo has attached himself to another character and refers to them as "Boss-man," ultimately deciding on Zernobog. The two of them will have been travelling together before the campaign starts. Meepo is a ranger who uses spiked gauntlets as his weapon of choice. While it should be pretty easy to motivate him, since he'll follow Zernobog everywhere, I want to provide him a little more emotional investment in the story. Two things that the player has mentioned is that Meepo believes blue dragons to be gods, and claims to be descended from one (though in actual fact he's the descendant of a union between a blue dragon AND a silver dragon). I thought, as Tiamat is the main villain, this could set up a conflict of interest idea between Meepo and the party. Also, Meepo is looking for his old tribe, from whom he accidentally got separated from. Not sure how to best integrate this.

Hana:
Hana is an elf shaman. She has a morally black and white outlook and doesn't like grey areas or the unknown. Because of this, she worships Pelor, since there's nothing hidden from him and he illuminates the darkness. She likes hanging out in the sun, which has given her a deep tan. Her main adventuring motivation is to track down her little sister, who was kidnapped years ago. On her journey to find her sister, she found an injured mourning dove and nursed it back to health. After she did, it started following her, and she named it Kuru. Obviously the player and I decided that Kuru is Hana's spirit companion. I figure I should throw in the kidnapped sister plot somewhere, but I'm not sure if I want to do it too early, like having her sister be one of the captives in Rescue at Rivenroar, since that would fulfill Hana's objectives before the plot got rolling. I also think doing something with Kuru might be interesting.

Stasi:
This is probably the most problematic character. Stasi is a human archivist (homebrew class based on the one from 3.5's Heroes of Horror). Her most defining characteristic is that while she is sixteen years old, she appears to be only ten years old, and has a childlike nature. She carries around a doll that she talks to and calls her "little sister." Despite this, she has a sharp mind, and she ran away from home a year or two before the campaign starts. Her father is a town Councilmember in Brindol, and was going to marry her off before she ran away, because she knew marriage would stifle her academic pursiuts. She eventually was taken in by a hunter named Ketch, and they have since become lovers, though they maintain a father/daughter act when they go out in public. Stasi is obsessed with collecting ancient religious texts, and steals them when she visits Brindol, but her parents are looking for her, as well as her old fiancee, now a man of twenty. I forsee two problems in motivating Stasi. First of all, the game is kicked off with the Brindol town Council asking the PCs for help, and there's a possibility she might be recognized. Secondly, her relationship with Ketch may be problematic, since simply killing him off feels kind of cheap. But if that happens, then there needs to be some compelling reason for Stasi to leave him and journey with the party, especially since she's developed feelings for him. Finally, one thing the player mentioned wanting to explore is that eventually Stasi WILL go through puberty. He wasn't sure whether he wanted Stasi's condition to be just some random genetic thing or the effects of a curse. And if it were a curse, who would inflict such a thing and why? I don't think Tiamat would do something like this.

There's also going to be a fifth member, who will be playing a druid|ranger hybrid. He hasn't developed a backstory yet, though.

So that's where it stands at the moment. Any advice on how to better integrate these characters into the overarching story of Scales of War? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time. :smallsmile:

Colmarr
2010-02-14, 10:50 PM
I'm not far enough through SoW to give you any truly useful tips about how to tie things in, but I will offer these:


You don't have any dedicated defenders. You might want to talk to your players about that (although maybe Zernobog can pull it off)...

Try to spread the links out. Having them all at the end will mean it's unlikely they ever see the light of day (remember that PbP games have a habit of coming to messy ends). Having them all at the start will mean that the big reveal happens early and then it's back to the vanilla adventure path.

Not all links need to come solely from the backstory. For example, having the Farstriders appear and help the PCs (or vice versa) with the Ogre Bombadier in Rescue at Rivenroar will pave the way for them to have more of an impact at Siege of Bordrin's watch. If you do this sort of interweaving through, make sure you have a reason for the NPCs being where they are. Eg. If the farstriders are at Brindol, why is it the PCs that get sent to Rivenroar?

Archpaladin Zousha
2010-02-15, 09:21 PM
I see. Any other advice?