Pard
2012-01-08, 10:03 PM
Hey Playground'ers!
I've rolled up a nice little history for this character I am working on. He is basically a cloister cleric 1 / paladin 2. And that is literally as far as I've got. The DM has no given us the rules for rolling attributes yet, so no go there. The initial progression is fixed in stone, because I am not going to be rewriting that history :smallbiggrin:
Any idea on what I should roll? I'm going for more of a build in tune with my character than a min/max, but I don't want to be a total waste of a party member! Ideally this guy would be a face and also a tank for the party, as that is his nature. To help I'll post the history below, if you want to read it...
Vilheim was born into a noble family. He was the only child of Lord Gart and Lady Evalyn MacHart of Trallchester. Like so many children of nobility, his childhood was an uneventful one, full of pampering and primping. He lived a life detached from his parents. His mother was to concerned with her social standing to be bothered over a child, and his father was to concerned about his finances to ever notice his only son.
Though unwanted by his parents, he was not unloved. He had a kind and loving nanny he knew as "Fe". Fe took good care of Vilheim, and over the years she imparted to him a devotion to the Hebdomad of Celestia. Between his classes aimed at teaching him proper manners and how to address others of nobility, Vilheim sought out Fe and demanded, in the kindest sort of way, her to read to him the stories of the Hobdomad.
With each passing year Fe became more and more like the mother Vilheim had, but never saw. He grew to love Fe in a way that he had never felt for any other person. Sure he loved his parents, but he loved them in the way Fe had taught him to love every person. The love for Fe was different, he felt calm around her, it was almost like she had an aura about her that made all things better. When Fe needed help Vilheim didn't even hesitate before jumping into action. He sought to help her without even a request for it. He wished only to make Fe happy, and he never wanted to see her sad. When she was angry Vilheim was angry at the object of Fe's only anger. Vilheim loved Fe like a mother, and so it caused all the more pain when she was one day not there to wake him.
The young Vilheim skipped all his classes that day and hunted high and low for Fe. He looked in every nook and cranny of the estate for his nanny, but she was no where to be found. When Vilheim began to press the help for answers to his missing Fe they immediately said that they had not seen her, but he knew that they were not telling him the whole truth.
The whole truth was that Fe has been fired from her position of Vilheim's nanny, and then had been banished from the lands of Trallchester. Her and her entire family was forced out of their home, and spirited away to the border without a moment's notice. All their worldly possessions were stripped from them, and they were left to fend for themselves in an alien land with only the clothes on their backs and the lint in their pockets.
But little Vilheim would not learn this truth for some years yet. He continued his classes, and his inquisition into the missing Fe. All the while he prayed to the Celestia lords to back his Fe, and he read the stories from the large leather tome that Fe had left behind. With time little Vilheim grew into a strapping teenage boy who had impeccable manners and a knowledge and respect for the Hobdomad of Celestia that rivaled that of many a priest. He kept his devotion to himself, though, never wishing to bring attention to his love. He feared that it would bring undo praise, and he wished not to become vain with praise.
Then one day Vilheim was invited to eat with his parents, a very uncommon occurrence for the boy. It was a chance to show them that their classes had been well used, and he aimed to please them. What Vilheim discovered at this dinner, however, was that his parents had no care for him, or for anyone else. They cared only for themselves. Vilheim was informed that he would be sent away to a boarding school where he would learn to inherit his father's estate. In the mean time he would be conscripted into his father's army forced to serve the father who never even acknowledged him. But Vilheim's despair at his pre-plotted fate was eclipsed by the idle chatter of his mother. She, for reasons unknown, brought up the long lost Fe and this perked Vilheim's ears. He listened and when the moment was right he asked what became of his dear Fe.
The answer would change Vilheim forever. Fe has been banished from the land for practicing a forbidden religion, and news was that she had later died from starvation. Vilheim felt an anger boiling within him that he'd never felt before in his entire life. He wished to see his mother and father dead. In fact he said something to that effect moments after being informed about Fe. He also remarked that he would disown his name and leave his family at once. With a chuckle his father said "We'll see," and then excused Vilheim from the dinner.
And see they did! Vilheim fled from his parent's estate that very night. He took with him clothing, an allotment of money, meager rations, and Fe's tome.
With the newly acquired knowledge that his own faith was not welcomed in his own lands, Vilheim fled for the closest border that he knew of. It was a land that Fe had talked of once in a while, and it was her home land. Vilheim desired to see his Fe again, and he pushed the rumors of her death aside. With great hope he marched onward for two days. Once across the border he sought the nearest city, but instead found but a small settlement of buildings.
The Hobdomad had led Vilheim to one of their temples! It was here that Vilheim sought shelter from his travel and here that Vilheim would ultimately reside for the next two years. The priests of the temple welcomed the amazingly knowledgeable Vilheim with open arms and rejoiced in his coming. With hesitation they offered him a place among their ranks, as an apprentice to their librarian.
The work entertained Vilheim, but it didn't challenge him or bring him a sense of fulfillment. He soon grew tired of the cloistered life of a librarian priest. He wished to bring the word of Hobdomad to the world, and he wished to vanquish the evils that prevented people from finding goodness. And so, after two years, and with great sadness, Vilheim said goodbye to his new home and his new friends. He traded his robes for armor, and his stylus for a sword. And though he kept Fe's tome as a defense, he also took up the shield. Before leaving his friends he vowed to go out into the world and defend the helpless from the wicked, and to seek out and destroy evil where ever it may be. As a final gesture of his devotion to both the Celestia plane and his vows, Vilheim abandoned the name of his wicked parents. His master, in turn, gave him the new moniker "The Gentle".
With great joy Vilheim the Gentle set off and went into the wilds.
Vilheim went from town to town. In each town he stayed for maybe a week or two. During that time he acted a priest for anyone wishing to speak to him as one. He also helped anyone who needed it, no task was too big or too small for the him to take on. He did everything from helping a widow re-thatch her house to helping one town rid themselves of a minor ghoul infestation. He was finally in his element, helping other. He truly found this work uplifting. Vilheim would continue with this, and he grew a reputation that did, indeed, proceed him.
People began to mark the day when Vilheim the Gentle would come to their small outpost in the wild and bring to them a little faith and a lot of help. After a year of this Vilheim widened his area of travel, in fact he completely moved onto a new land. He found that the villages began to grow in size until they finally became small cities. It was in one such city that Vilheim sought his next few weeks of proselytizing. What he had learned by this point was that most of these larger settlements had their own temples and their own faiths. Instead of taking up residence and having people flock to him, he had to go to the people in need. As luck would have it, most of the lost and downtrodden people seemed to congregate in taverns. And so it was in one such tavern, The Happy Harpy, that Vilheim was directed to a man sitting in the corner.
With a coin and a few kind words to Billy the bartender, Vilheim turned to the man at the table.
“Billy said you might have some skills that I could use” the man starts out. "How about you tell me what you can do?”
I've rolled up a nice little history for this character I am working on. He is basically a cloister cleric 1 / paladin 2. And that is literally as far as I've got. The DM has no given us the rules for rolling attributes yet, so no go there. The initial progression is fixed in stone, because I am not going to be rewriting that history :smallbiggrin:
Any idea on what I should roll? I'm going for more of a build in tune with my character than a min/max, but I don't want to be a total waste of a party member! Ideally this guy would be a face and also a tank for the party, as that is his nature. To help I'll post the history below, if you want to read it...
Vilheim was born into a noble family. He was the only child of Lord Gart and Lady Evalyn MacHart of Trallchester. Like so many children of nobility, his childhood was an uneventful one, full of pampering and primping. He lived a life detached from his parents. His mother was to concerned with her social standing to be bothered over a child, and his father was to concerned about his finances to ever notice his only son.
Though unwanted by his parents, he was not unloved. He had a kind and loving nanny he knew as "Fe". Fe took good care of Vilheim, and over the years she imparted to him a devotion to the Hebdomad of Celestia. Between his classes aimed at teaching him proper manners and how to address others of nobility, Vilheim sought out Fe and demanded, in the kindest sort of way, her to read to him the stories of the Hobdomad.
With each passing year Fe became more and more like the mother Vilheim had, but never saw. He grew to love Fe in a way that he had never felt for any other person. Sure he loved his parents, but he loved them in the way Fe had taught him to love every person. The love for Fe was different, he felt calm around her, it was almost like she had an aura about her that made all things better. When Fe needed help Vilheim didn't even hesitate before jumping into action. He sought to help her without even a request for it. He wished only to make Fe happy, and he never wanted to see her sad. When she was angry Vilheim was angry at the object of Fe's only anger. Vilheim loved Fe like a mother, and so it caused all the more pain when she was one day not there to wake him.
The young Vilheim skipped all his classes that day and hunted high and low for Fe. He looked in every nook and cranny of the estate for his nanny, but she was no where to be found. When Vilheim began to press the help for answers to his missing Fe they immediately said that they had not seen her, but he knew that they were not telling him the whole truth.
The whole truth was that Fe has been fired from her position of Vilheim's nanny, and then had been banished from the lands of Trallchester. Her and her entire family was forced out of their home, and spirited away to the border without a moment's notice. All their worldly possessions were stripped from them, and they were left to fend for themselves in an alien land with only the clothes on their backs and the lint in their pockets.
But little Vilheim would not learn this truth for some years yet. He continued his classes, and his inquisition into the missing Fe. All the while he prayed to the Celestia lords to back his Fe, and he read the stories from the large leather tome that Fe had left behind. With time little Vilheim grew into a strapping teenage boy who had impeccable manners and a knowledge and respect for the Hobdomad of Celestia that rivaled that of many a priest. He kept his devotion to himself, though, never wishing to bring attention to his love. He feared that it would bring undo praise, and he wished not to become vain with praise.
Then one day Vilheim was invited to eat with his parents, a very uncommon occurrence for the boy. It was a chance to show them that their classes had been well used, and he aimed to please them. What Vilheim discovered at this dinner, however, was that his parents had no care for him, or for anyone else. They cared only for themselves. Vilheim was informed that he would be sent away to a boarding school where he would learn to inherit his father's estate. In the mean time he would be conscripted into his father's army forced to serve the father who never even acknowledged him. But Vilheim's despair at his pre-plotted fate was eclipsed by the idle chatter of his mother. She, for reasons unknown, brought up the long lost Fe and this perked Vilheim's ears. He listened and when the moment was right he asked what became of his dear Fe.
The answer would change Vilheim forever. Fe has been banished from the land for practicing a forbidden religion, and news was that she had later died from starvation. Vilheim felt an anger boiling within him that he'd never felt before in his entire life. He wished to see his mother and father dead. In fact he said something to that effect moments after being informed about Fe. He also remarked that he would disown his name and leave his family at once. With a chuckle his father said "We'll see," and then excused Vilheim from the dinner.
And see they did! Vilheim fled from his parent's estate that very night. He took with him clothing, an allotment of money, meager rations, and Fe's tome.
With the newly acquired knowledge that his own faith was not welcomed in his own lands, Vilheim fled for the closest border that he knew of. It was a land that Fe had talked of once in a while, and it was her home land. Vilheim desired to see his Fe again, and he pushed the rumors of her death aside. With great hope he marched onward for two days. Once across the border he sought the nearest city, but instead found but a small settlement of buildings.
The Hobdomad had led Vilheim to one of their temples! It was here that Vilheim sought shelter from his travel and here that Vilheim would ultimately reside for the next two years. The priests of the temple welcomed the amazingly knowledgeable Vilheim with open arms and rejoiced in his coming. With hesitation they offered him a place among their ranks, as an apprentice to their librarian.
The work entertained Vilheim, but it didn't challenge him or bring him a sense of fulfillment. He soon grew tired of the cloistered life of a librarian priest. He wished to bring the word of Hobdomad to the world, and he wished to vanquish the evils that prevented people from finding goodness. And so, after two years, and with great sadness, Vilheim said goodbye to his new home and his new friends. He traded his robes for armor, and his stylus for a sword. And though he kept Fe's tome as a defense, he also took up the shield. Before leaving his friends he vowed to go out into the world and defend the helpless from the wicked, and to seek out and destroy evil where ever it may be. As a final gesture of his devotion to both the Celestia plane and his vows, Vilheim abandoned the name of his wicked parents. His master, in turn, gave him the new moniker "The Gentle".
With great joy Vilheim the Gentle set off and went into the wilds.
Vilheim went from town to town. In each town he stayed for maybe a week or two. During that time he acted a priest for anyone wishing to speak to him as one. He also helped anyone who needed it, no task was too big or too small for the him to take on. He did everything from helping a widow re-thatch her house to helping one town rid themselves of a minor ghoul infestation. He was finally in his element, helping other. He truly found this work uplifting. Vilheim would continue with this, and he grew a reputation that did, indeed, proceed him.
People began to mark the day when Vilheim the Gentle would come to their small outpost in the wild and bring to them a little faith and a lot of help. After a year of this Vilheim widened his area of travel, in fact he completely moved onto a new land. He found that the villages began to grow in size until they finally became small cities. It was in one such city that Vilheim sought his next few weeks of proselytizing. What he had learned by this point was that most of these larger settlements had their own temples and their own faiths. Instead of taking up residence and having people flock to him, he had to go to the people in need. As luck would have it, most of the lost and downtrodden people seemed to congregate in taverns. And so it was in one such tavern, The Happy Harpy, that Vilheim was directed to a man sitting in the corner.
With a coin and a few kind words to Billy the bartender, Vilheim turned to the man at the table.
“Billy said you might have some skills that I could use” the man starts out. "How about you tell me what you can do?”