Help with character background, please?

[Kiyona]

Hello all,

I FINALLY get to play again after almost a year of no roleplaying whatsoever and am really excited. But the long break seems to have broken my sense of character making and so I come to you looking for help. :smallcool:

For a while now I have been wanting to play a squire to another PCs knight of some sorts, and DM thought it was a good idea. I have this image of a young idealistic and generally positive girl, dressed as a boy, with short curly hair, that really and honestly looks up tp the knight and wants to serve him. This is an interesting change from my normal cynical characters with nothing but disdain for the nobility. ^^ I also picture her as a magic user, but an unsure one (we start at level 1) with not enough self esteem to really test her limits.

She has been in my mind for a while, even before I found this group to roleplay with. But for some reason I am having big trouble coming up with a suitable background for her.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. :smallsmile:

[Shpadoinkle]

Just throwing out some ideas:

Where she comes from, magic might be viewed as evil or with suspicion, so her natural talent would obviously make her an outcast. The person she takes on the role of squire to could be the first person to show her acceptance or kindness after being exiled.

Or, maybe her natural talent for magic makes her realize that there's a lot more to the world than just what she knows and what the people around her think they know, driving her to strike out on her own to discover as much as she can.

She could come from a town under the thumb of a brutal tyrant (or some other kind of oppressive ruler) and be seeking power to overthrow him.

[Kol Korran]

first of all, welcome back to the game. i wish you happy gaming! your idea sounds interesting. i have a few ideas, but before that i suggest two steps:

1) talk to your DM, learn a bit more about your campaign setting, what area you start in, customs, culture and so on. this may spring up lots of ideas.

2) since you're going to be some other PC's squire, i think it is vital that you talk to them all, and find an agreeable player, and a character to have great interactions with. this will affect the sort of background and roleplay you choose greatly- you choose a knight of some order, you most likely admire his/ her honor, values, dedication and so on. you revere a cleric of some faith? maybe you're attracted to their wisdom, simplicity, complexity, unwavering faith and so on. (and the religion itself may become an aspect) a mage? you admire their keen intelect, mastery of unknown powers and so on. a rogue? their cleverness and wit.

these are all simplified personas, but you see how whomever you choose affects whomever your character is as well.

now to some background ideas:
- you're from a low social status, and your parents and community have always expected you to stay at home. you however aspire for greater things, perhaps lured by tales of grandeur or more. one day you decide to change your fate (think knight's tale as an inspiration), and somehow manage to "hook" yourself unto another noteworthy figure. this might be because you sought them out (applied as squire at a night's academy), found him/her by chance (his/ her squire ran away/ died), or were recruited (if the campaign details a war or whatever) you begin believing that you're only fit to help greater people, while later you'll realize you ARE one of them.
this is especially good for spontaneous casting classes (sorcerer, favored soul, warlock, or bard. bard by the way, is in my opinion a kick ass role for a squire)

- you were actually training to become a caster (good for wizards and such), but you had made quite a blunder, and were thrown out of the teaching establishment. unsure of what to do, you decide to join with someone whom you admire, and maybe learn enough and grow enough so as to overcome the "rotten blundering nincampup personality!" (your teachers had such kind words) you "have".

- you have done something bad, broken some law and so you either: a) decided to join some knight in order to hide your identity, or b) were sentenced to serve your country by serving under the knight for a period of X years. these two options may lead to quite a few interesting roleplay situations, either with the world or with the knight.

i hope this helps, and once again- good luck with your game!

[Kiyona]

Thank you so much! I am happy to be back. :smallcool:

The campaign will take place in forgotten realms I think. I have no great knowledge of the place, but I have borrowed some books to read up.

The other PC is a first time player, which is great! Love to see more people take up this fantastic hobby! :smallsmile: But I have not yet had a chance to speak to him, since this is a completely new group. (The DM have though so he is in on the idea) My hope is that we will make our characters together, so we can coordinate our backstories.

All of your ideas were great! The first is perfect for the character I had in mind I think, but the third seems to have lots of room for fun roleplaying opportunities. I will consider both of them together with the other player.

[Kol Korran]

one more little thing, if you're going to be a squire, remember Sancho Pancho- the squire of legend. :smallbiggrin: or not, but i think he can be an inspiration!

oh, and if you can, tell us what characters you decided upon. i'm curious :smallwink:

[Honest Tiefling]

Forgotten Realms, which edition? And who does this knight serve?

[Treblain]

An idea: try to come up with a hook or character detail that will test the relationship between the two characters. Give her some secondary motivation that will build over time, giving her a conflict of loyalties. I'm not saying this should lead to player vs. player conflict; it's just interesting if the character has room to grow and discover her own independent desires.

[Togath]

Wearing a tabard with the symbol of the knights order/clan/kingdom could help tie your character to the knight, another option would be--in addition to those mentioned-- that she views the knight as an older brother figure an clings to him, or the opposite, viewing him like a younger brother and feeling a need to protect him, also a fluff and crunch element, at least in 3.0/3.5 there are a few magic banners/pennants/flags that your character could carry into battle with the knight in order to both show comradeship and provide aid to the party, at least once you gain a few levels, also a crunch/fluff aspect, a bard could be a good class for a squire who has some skill at both combat and spellcasting

[LansXero]

one more little thing, if you're going to be a squire, remember Sancho Pancho- the squire of legend. :smallbiggrin: or not, but i think he can be an inspiration!



Sancho was actually quite cynical, even though he was very loyal he was always lamenting the rotten day he decided to become a squire xD.Well then again the Quixote wasnt quite a knight...

Regardless!

1. Does she actually dress to try and pass off as a boy, or is she just boyish in her dress? Because then you should try and keep the party (except maybe your knight) unaware of it if you want it to be an important development further on.

2. Maybe the knight is your brother / neighbour. He is mildly skilled and trains quite a bit but his family pushes him harder than they should because of their name / status and what they expect of him or what his god says he should be or whatever. So you help him out, keep him grounded and help him pass his knightly trials (If your character is a cleric or some sort of support character, that means you get cantrips and the like for small bonuses, which means he does the heavy lifting and you provide that little extra push that makes things happen :D). You do this because you believe he can actually some day become the guy everyone is expecting him to become, but not just yet.

Maybe you are also afraid of people finding out you have magic talent, because people with magic talent are a gold mine, and so you would be in the express bus cart to MagicalAcademy. So you just pretend to be this little simple girl-boy and let him shoulder all the pressure and expectations and be the one who everyone pesters about behavior and being all proper. . . while they leave you alone. Would make for a nice dynamic,

3. Village got overrun by a raiding band of orcs monster of the week. They got most everyone but you and your baby brother. So you had to carry him somewhere safe, enduring winter and wolves and sleeping in caves. But since your little brother couldnt see you scared, you learned to displace everything bad waaay deep and make a ball off it and tie it all good and put on a big smile and trudge on. Eventually you get to a town and you get a job at a workshop, while little bro is out playing the knight and being a child. But you dont let it get to you, you are used to pushing it all down and smile smile smile. Then when bro is all grown up he tries for cleric/paladin/knight school. You help him practice, send him all buffed, are deathly afraid he may get hurt, but cheer on regardless with a big happy smile, because its all youve ever learned to do. And so he passes and he doesnt want to leave you behind, so you cut off your hair and pick up a spear and follow him around. Because he is your world, and that nasty ball of nastyness threatens to go loose when he isnt around. But as long as he is happy, you will always smile :D

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvSqk4bNnTQ
The story around 5:40 could fit if you want it to. She is very devoted of the guy and, at the points where they are doing well at least, very optimistic and hopeful, despite the rather... messy start. Not sure if you are familiar with the series, it is very good.

[Kiyona]

Oh my god, I love you guys! Freshly baked internet cookies for all of you!

I can't decide on what background to go on until I've spoken to the other player, but now I have some great suggestions.

Honest Tieflling, we're going with 3,5 this time around. And I don't know about the knight yet unfortunatly.

Treblain, that's a great idea. I'll will have to think about that. All opportunities for roleplaying are good ones. :smallsmile:

LansXero
1. I don't know yet. When I first thought of her, she was posing as a boy, but since we're only gonna be two players (and the game will take place in a world were theres really no difference if you are a boy or a girl) I've been rethinking the ieda.

2. This one is great! Especially if I decide on playing a sorc. (Choosing between sorc and bard now.) Even better if the other player wants to play a reluctant knight.

3. Another great idea! This one will be awesome if I go with bard, and the other player wants the "knight in shining armor" thing going.

4. The show is new to me, but I'll check it out when I get home and have access to a computer with working sound. ^^

[Serpentine]

First of all: squires were usually knights-in-training. So your character would, presumably, be learning similar skills as her knight, as well as probably being a lower level - at least in those relevant to knighting.

Secondly, have you read any of Tamora Pierce's stuff? A female-dressed-as-male squire with some magical talent reminds me of the Lioness series. I'd probably either give her spellike abilities, or give her a level or two in Cleric or somesuch, if I were trying to stat up Alanna... But in any case, Pierce could be a source for some ideas.
Lets see now... The first, Alanna, had some natural healing ability, and was somewhat a tomboy. She wanted to learn to fight instead of being a lady, so she swapped spots with her twin brother and went off to become a knight. She spent several years hiding her sex to do so, and finally became the realm's first lady knight.
The second, Kel, was also a tomboy, devoted to protecting the weak. Thanks to Alanna, the restrictions on female knights had been relaxed. Kel was the first to take advantage of that. She spent her training years getting bullied by peers and teachers alike, and not putting up with hazing. She also went out of her way to remind people she was female - she cut her hair short for practical reasons, but she wore a dress when she could.
Umm... The others weren't squires. But anyways.
Kel and Alanna both came from noble families. Usually knights and their squires were nobles - knighting is very expensive, after all - so you'd need a good reason for her to come from a poor background. She could've been taken on by the knight as a matter of charity, though. Perhaps he owed her parents, or (cue the old "poor orphan" background...) felt responsible for their deaths, or maybe she was a foundling.
Remember you can multiclass. Maybe she started out as a sorcerer, but now has a few levels in whatever the knight has because she's learning from him.

[LansXero]

Remember you can multiclass. Maybe she started out as a sorcerer, but now has a few levels in whatever the knight has because she's learning from him.

If the knight is a Paladin I think sorc/paladin is even mechanically effective, right? Is there a feat/prestige to combine Bard with paladin/knight/cleric though?

[Xanmyral]

Stat-Wise
You could make a Battle Sorcerer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/variantCharacterClasses.htm#sorcererVariantBattleS orcerer) and call it a day, to take care of the knight training thing. Since you are campaigning with a first timer, I doubt optimization would really matter so being a Battle Sorc probably won't hurt you as bad. No front lineswomen but can take a punch, and dish one out, when needed. Just make sure to pick the good spells, and it should be fine.

RP-Wise
Plenty. Charity case, failing noble house, perhaps you disguised yourself as his old, disgruntled squire who left without him knowing. As a squire though, you will have to clean his stuff a lot though. Shouldn't be a problem if you can sneak in a prestidigitation without him looking.

[Kiyona]

Serpentine

I haven't read any of her books actually, but I am in the middle of "Song of Ice and Fire" and got lots of squire inspiration from there. ^^ Are the books any good? Should I check them out?

Well, she wont be a knight in training, more of a servant with a squires job if that makes any sense? But since she admires him she probably will pick up some of his skills.

The class for the knight is not yet decided, so for now he could be anything from a rogue to a paladin.

There's gonna be just the two of us, so what spells I pick is gonna be cruical for our survival in the beginning. Any suggestions for the first two levels?

Battle sorcerer sounds like a good idea, lossing spells sucks, but maybe for this concept it is worth it. How are the rules on variant classes btw? I was thinking of giving up my familiar for the metamagic thingy. Can I still do that?

[Serpentine]

I haven't read any of her books actually, but I am in the middle of "Song of Ice and Fire" and got lots of squire inspiration from there. ^^ Are the books any good? Should I check them out?Well, I like them, and I think all teenagers - especially teenage girls, and especially teenage girls at risk of getting sucked into Twilight - should read them. But they are Young Adult books, so probably below your reading level. But I still like them...

Well, she wont be a knight in training, more of a servant with a squires job if that makes any sense? But since she admires him she probably will pick up some of his skills.Ah, that's a somewhat different thing, then. My ideas can still fit, though.

[Hatchet91]

She is was child who was often shunned for reason she never understood. her father would constantly put her down and explain to she was good for nothing, as she grew up the old man who ran the local inn saw the potential in her to become a sorceres he tought her much of what he knew on agreement she would go to serve as a squire to his young nephew who was arrogent and underestimated the power of magic, and help him grow an appreciation for its uses as well as possibly help him from keeping him out of trouble.