Ravens_cry
2011-07-11, 04:44 AM
Well, I am hoping to be in a new campaign soon and I have decided it would be awesome to play a half-orc wizard. In Pathfinder mind. As far as I know, anything in the PF-SRD (http://www.pathfindersrd.com/) is legal except third party material, I want him to be more then the social introvert of a typical wizard, we are starting level one with 20 point buy Pathfinder style (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/basics-ability-scores/character-creation) (its differant from 3.5, trust me) and I don't like summoning.
Universalist Wizard is the plan. Yes, I know it is good idea to a) specialize and b) summon. If I want to control more then one character I will play a war game or DM. I'll buy the spells, but I am a newbie at wizards so I don't want to overcomplicate things. From minor spoilers, I hear it is a horror based camopaign, which may mean lots of undead and aberrations, in that order.
Can you help me Playground? Here is an interpretation of my character in HeroMachine 2.5, and what I got of my back story. I warn you, the character is prone to sesquipedalian loquaciousness and it is written in the first person.
Art for Anton Zoyaichna
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5637/halforcwizard.gif
Backstory for Anton Zoyaichna
Halt, do not be alarmed by my bestial features. Despite my atavistic anatomy, I am just as much a civilized man of the world as any of you.
Thank you for not running me through just yet; I appreciate the kindness, though I would be most grateful if you would take that pitchfork away from my throat. Please? Thank you ever so much.
You must be most curious how a creature of such monstrous appearance could act and speak in the manner of a gentleman of education. My story, like most, begins with a mother. She was a kindly woman who spoke surprisingly wistfully of my departed father, whose racial origin should be plain to see to all. Eventually I came to discover that, contrary to the common practice, my father had actually loved my mother. His affection was coarse, and sometimes his temper would show in ways not conducive to peaceful cohabitation, but he loved her nonetheless and she in return. I believe they met by having chosen a common pool for bathing, though my mother told but scant details of this initial encounter.
Oh what a world it is that has such love in it.
But I digress.
Unfortunately, there were those of the village who found such love unnatural and tainted. And so one night, while my father was returning back to across the river that divided the orc lands from the kingdom the village resided in, he was attacked by villagers and off duty guardsmen. He broke many a head that night and made many a lifelong cripple of those who assailed him, but eventually he was overcome and taken to a high tree where they hanged him until he was dead. It was too late, however, to prevent my conception. My mothers family and some of the villagers tried to compel her to take a purging herb to divest herself of what they considered an abomination, but she refused as should be evident. In fact, she left home, village and kingdom, all she had ever known, walking much of the way. Eventually she found her way to Absalum, working as an assistant to the ships cook during the crossing, where she found work as a washerwoman, bar maid, anything she could get really. My birth was apparently a difficult one, but her gentle determination, not to mention stubbornness, pulled her through this difficulty.
It was not the last mind you, my mother worked many menial jobs not merely to clothe and feed us both sufficiently, but also to provide me with an education. Surprisingly to some given my heritage and appearance, I showed a most excellent talent for not only letters and sums, but also the more complex derivations, including wizardry and arcane lore. As the wolf hungers for the deer, as a man lost and wandering in desert heat thirsts, so I too hungered and thirsted for knowledge in all its myriad forms. I will not say my childhood was easy, prejudice is not unknown in even as cosmopolitan a metropolis as Absalum, but my fearsome visage kept most of the bullying sort at bay. Those that didn't, I dodged, and those I didn't dodge, well, let us just say my mother became well versed in the use of liniments and herbal remedies. I was lucky in another respect as a kindly old sage allowed me access to his limited supply of tomes. He was blind, as evidenced by the milky fog of his irises, but I prefer to believe that even if sighted he would have shown me the same kindness. I tore through the tomes like a feral beast among a herd of ungulates but forced myself to reread them slowly, to digest what I had learned. In time, confident in my knowledge, I applied for a sponsorship in the Arcanamirium, the greatest school of magic in not only Absalom but all The Inner Sea, if not the whole of Golarion.
I failed.
Much of my hopes rode on this application as I did not wish to burden my mother any longer. More to the point, I desired to learn. Not merely magic and arcana, but knowledge for its own sake. I suppose one could say it was a kind of addiction. It was quite a severe disappointment to say the least to not have received a sponsorship, but I found a way to cope and work toward my goal. Seeking gainful employment, I heard tell of an opening as a Librarians Assistants Aid at the library of the Arcanamirium. By showing to my prospective employers a rapid understanding of the arcane sorting system used by the resident bibliographers as well as basic hygiene, the position was mine. The pay in coinage was, well it was worse then pitiful, but it provided for most of the basic necessities, and delivered unto me furtive access to the greatest collection of knowledge and lore in the Inner Sea. I say furtive as we were worked near constantly restocking shelves, sorting books, even repairing small damages to the tomes entrusted to our care, and as staff we were not allowed to remove them for our own use. Still, during hastily swallowed lunches and dinners and by long hoarded candle stubs late at night I was gradually able to assimilate the merest drop of the knowledge contained within those walls.
A year passed. My small hoard of knowledge had granted me a greater wisdom, for now I knew what I lacked. Still, without proper training my arcane abilities had but only progressed in the theoretical sense. Once more the time came for exams and tests for a sponsorship at the Arcanamirium. This time I passed, and my entry was secured in that hallowed place of arcane learning. Now I had to say goodbye to my dear beloved mother. It was tearful on both our parts I am not ashamed to admit. In her honour I took her name Zoya as a matronymic, for I knew not my fathers name and had been rejected by my mothers household.
My teacher and master in my newfound role of apprentice was an elf by the name of Master Lucien Longaeva. In contrast to the reportedly unearthly beauty of the elven kind, his face was a twisted mass of scars with a body equally twisted. When I developed such courage as to ask him of it, he told me with candor that in his youth he had taken part in an experiment that had failed most violently. His body had been buried deep in the wreckage and had started to heal by that time which he had been discovered, so the healing magics of priest and cleric did little to aid him in returning his continence to its former state, though they did heal him of his wounds. In my personal opinion, I found him to be a wise and patient teacher.Though troth, he was one well blessed with an acid wit and tongue, never slow to point out shortcomings and failings of his apprentices and others, and yet he had little of the arrogance said to be common to his people. I love him dearly as mentor and friend.
Universalist Wizard is the plan. Yes, I know it is good idea to a) specialize and b) summon. If I want to control more then one character I will play a war game or DM. I'll buy the spells, but I am a newbie at wizards so I don't want to overcomplicate things. From minor spoilers, I hear it is a horror based camopaign, which may mean lots of undead and aberrations, in that order.
Can you help me Playground? Here is an interpretation of my character in HeroMachine 2.5, and what I got of my back story. I warn you, the character is prone to sesquipedalian loquaciousness and it is written in the first person.
Art for Anton Zoyaichna
http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5637/halforcwizard.gif
Backstory for Anton Zoyaichna
Halt, do not be alarmed by my bestial features. Despite my atavistic anatomy, I am just as much a civilized man of the world as any of you.
Thank you for not running me through just yet; I appreciate the kindness, though I would be most grateful if you would take that pitchfork away from my throat. Please? Thank you ever so much.
You must be most curious how a creature of such monstrous appearance could act and speak in the manner of a gentleman of education. My story, like most, begins with a mother. She was a kindly woman who spoke surprisingly wistfully of my departed father, whose racial origin should be plain to see to all. Eventually I came to discover that, contrary to the common practice, my father had actually loved my mother. His affection was coarse, and sometimes his temper would show in ways not conducive to peaceful cohabitation, but he loved her nonetheless and she in return. I believe they met by having chosen a common pool for bathing, though my mother told but scant details of this initial encounter.
Oh what a world it is that has such love in it.
But I digress.
Unfortunately, there were those of the village who found such love unnatural and tainted. And so one night, while my father was returning back to across the river that divided the orc lands from the kingdom the village resided in, he was attacked by villagers and off duty guardsmen. He broke many a head that night and made many a lifelong cripple of those who assailed him, but eventually he was overcome and taken to a high tree where they hanged him until he was dead. It was too late, however, to prevent my conception. My mothers family and some of the villagers tried to compel her to take a purging herb to divest herself of what they considered an abomination, but she refused as should be evident. In fact, she left home, village and kingdom, all she had ever known, walking much of the way. Eventually she found her way to Absalum, working as an assistant to the ships cook during the crossing, where she found work as a washerwoman, bar maid, anything she could get really. My birth was apparently a difficult one, but her gentle determination, not to mention stubbornness, pulled her through this difficulty.
It was not the last mind you, my mother worked many menial jobs not merely to clothe and feed us both sufficiently, but also to provide me with an education. Surprisingly to some given my heritage and appearance, I showed a most excellent talent for not only letters and sums, but also the more complex derivations, including wizardry and arcane lore. As the wolf hungers for the deer, as a man lost and wandering in desert heat thirsts, so I too hungered and thirsted for knowledge in all its myriad forms. I will not say my childhood was easy, prejudice is not unknown in even as cosmopolitan a metropolis as Absalum, but my fearsome visage kept most of the bullying sort at bay. Those that didn't, I dodged, and those I didn't dodge, well, let us just say my mother became well versed in the use of liniments and herbal remedies. I was lucky in another respect as a kindly old sage allowed me access to his limited supply of tomes. He was blind, as evidenced by the milky fog of his irises, but I prefer to believe that even if sighted he would have shown me the same kindness. I tore through the tomes like a feral beast among a herd of ungulates but forced myself to reread them slowly, to digest what I had learned. In time, confident in my knowledge, I applied for a sponsorship in the Arcanamirium, the greatest school of magic in not only Absalom but all The Inner Sea, if not the whole of Golarion.
I failed.
Much of my hopes rode on this application as I did not wish to burden my mother any longer. More to the point, I desired to learn. Not merely magic and arcana, but knowledge for its own sake. I suppose one could say it was a kind of addiction. It was quite a severe disappointment to say the least to not have received a sponsorship, but I found a way to cope and work toward my goal. Seeking gainful employment, I heard tell of an opening as a Librarians Assistants Aid at the library of the Arcanamirium. By showing to my prospective employers a rapid understanding of the arcane sorting system used by the resident bibliographers as well as basic hygiene, the position was mine. The pay in coinage was, well it was worse then pitiful, but it provided for most of the basic necessities, and delivered unto me furtive access to the greatest collection of knowledge and lore in the Inner Sea. I say furtive as we were worked near constantly restocking shelves, sorting books, even repairing small damages to the tomes entrusted to our care, and as staff we were not allowed to remove them for our own use. Still, during hastily swallowed lunches and dinners and by long hoarded candle stubs late at night I was gradually able to assimilate the merest drop of the knowledge contained within those walls.
A year passed. My small hoard of knowledge had granted me a greater wisdom, for now I knew what I lacked. Still, without proper training my arcane abilities had but only progressed in the theoretical sense. Once more the time came for exams and tests for a sponsorship at the Arcanamirium. This time I passed, and my entry was secured in that hallowed place of arcane learning. Now I had to say goodbye to my dear beloved mother. It was tearful on both our parts I am not ashamed to admit. In her honour I took her name Zoya as a matronymic, for I knew not my fathers name and had been rejected by my mothers household.
My teacher and master in my newfound role of apprentice was an elf by the name of Master Lucien Longaeva. In contrast to the reportedly unearthly beauty of the elven kind, his face was a twisted mass of scars with a body equally twisted. When I developed such courage as to ask him of it, he told me with candor that in his youth he had taken part in an experiment that had failed most violently. His body had been buried deep in the wreckage and had started to heal by that time which he had been discovered, so the healing magics of priest and cleric did little to aid him in returning his continence to its former state, though they did heal him of his wounds. In my personal opinion, I found him to be a wise and patient teacher.Though troth, he was one well blessed with an acid wit and tongue, never slow to point out shortcomings and failings of his apprentices and others, and yet he had little of the arrogance said to be common to his people. I love him dearly as mentor and friend.