Dwarf Problems

[MidgetMarine]

I am currently part-way into a 3.5 campaign in the Ptolus campaign, not that it really effects the problem, and I am playing a Dwarven Fighter. It was supposed to be just a for-fun session but it ended up evolving into every-other week sessions. Either way, we're getting more and more immersed in the campaign and the DM has stated that we should all bring in a written back story to our characters. Now, before this point, I did have a kind-of back story. My character's life is really driven by an oath made to his dying father. This oath, though i'd like to have it more specific, is pretty much to take up his father's role as a priest of Moradin and to protect those close to him. And, while this works for quick-reference RPing, I'd love to have a better and more immersive back story. So, I came to you guys for ideas. Here's some basic info.

Character
Name:Rorick Torunn
Class: Lvl 4 fighter
Race: Dwarf

Personality: He is loyal and protective but quite often hot headed and has a tendency to speak before he thinks. He often blames himself for faults and things quite out of his control.

But yeah, I dont really like what i have so far and hoped you could come with something better. :D

[MidgetMarine]

If you need additional info like feats, weapon, armor, etc. don't hesitate to ask.

[Particle_Man]

Multi-class into Cleric and become a priest of Moradin?

[Jeraa]

Multi-class into Cleric and become a priest of Moradin?

The OP isn't looking for build advice. He wants help with a more in-depth backstory.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Feats, ability scores, and books available would all be of great help.

The quick and dirty is to multiclass into Cleric, but that sets you behind. Other options include Divine Crusader (Complete Divine), Paladin (probably not worth it, in truth), or something psionic. With Psychic Warrior/War Mind, you've got some offensive stuffs and Expanded Knowledge easily allows for you to pick up some more healing/defensive-based powers.

[georgie_leech]

No reason to dismiss what you have, just expand on it. For instance, two big things that leap out at me:

1. What exactly was this oath made for? Was it made at his dying father's bedside? On the field of battle? Upon finding his father dead with a note from a band of assassins sworn to exterminate those dedicated to Moradin? etc.
2. Who was his father? Was he just someone important to the whole clan, or just to your dwarf? If so, why? Were they close? Did he inspire him? If he was important to everybody, what did he do to become that important?

The trouble is that in my experience, you have to answer these yourself. Playing a character, as oppose to a build, that someone else came up with is never as fun as playing one you've made yourself. Even if it's simple, a character you make will feel more important and alive than one someone else created.

[Particle_Man]

Well how did his father die?

Why didn't the son become a priest in the first place if that what what his father always wanted? Or did the father always want that?

Or was it a sudden death, and *someone* needs to be the priest in the family?

Is there another brother that was supposed to be the father's successor as priest?

Did the father get betrayed by the successor?

Did the father and successor die together, leaving a vacuum?

What does the mother think of all this? Is she alive? Are there other siblings?

What was the character's original long-term goal before making the promise to become a priest of Moradin?

Maybe answering these questions will help you flesh out your backstory.

But yeah, the more you tell us (crunch and fluff wise) the more we can work with.

[Aidan305]

Note that priest is effectively a job description. A cleric is someone granted divine powers by their god for the purpose of being, effectively, a minor avatar of that deity in the world.

A priest, however, does not have to be a cleric. If you look at some of the older material, and 3rd party stuff you can find that a number of priests out there have a couple of ranks in Expert at most. Stick a few skill ranks in to Knowledge (Religion) and grab yourself a holy symbol if you want to represent it mechanically.

Now, from your personality, the thing that sticks out to me the most is this line:

"He often blames himself for faults and things quite out of his control."

This is something you could really expand on. Why does he feel this way? Did something happen in his past that led to this? (Take for example Roy's feelings on the death of his brother in OOTS) How does this relate to his becoming a priest in the service of Moridin? Perhaps he feels his father's death was somehow his fault.

On to the death of the father itself. This seems to be one of the primary driving forces behind the character. How did he feel about his father? Did he loathe him? Did he love him? How did his father die? What work did his father carry out in the name of Moridin?

Hope these questions help a bit.

[Hyudra]

Dwarf society is lawful, that's a big thing. Tradition, expectations, goals, planning, arrangements, and so on, are pretty huge. A dwarf society is likely to be regimented, with castes, guilds, very strong family affiliations or the like. Religion may play a big factor.

Consider:
Is your character married? Or is the lack of marriage a bad thing? It might be common for dwarf parents to arrange marriages (a very lawful thing).
Has your character sacrificed anything as part of his oath? Love, a passion for a trade, friendship, other hopes & dreams?
Why is your character traveling to adventure? If this is part of the oath, perhaps he has some goal he's striving for. Vanquishing a specific foe? Finding a relic? Wiping a monster race off the face of the planet? Some combination of these?

[MidgetMarine]

I guess i should be a bit more specific and try to answer the questions you so kindly provided at the same time.

Regarding the oath itself:
Yes, the oath was made by his fathers deathbed, within the last seconds of his father's life as the disease 'the rotting fester' drained his father of the last of his life. The oath was not specifically to take up his role as the priest of Moradin because there were many other priests much higher up and more experienced than Rorick who could take his place. The oath was made to his father and pretty much meant 'I promise to protect those close to me, like i could not for you. I shall never again be helpless to give aid those who need it"

As for his fathers death: The prince of the empire had been struck down with an unknown disease. Clerics of deities of relevant domains, Moradin being protection, were called to attempt and heal him. But even through the most powerful magical attempts, no one could cure him. All but Rorick's father left him as a lost cause. his father stayed for many nights by the prince's bed, trying non-stop to heal him. Eventually the prince passed on in his sleep. However, Rorick's father had been so completely drained and exhausted that he left himself open to the disease. So it infected him and he knew that he could not stop death taking him. So he sealed the sickness within his own body and Rorick was forced to watch, powerless and unable to help this man who he so respected and revered, faded into death.

@Aidan305
and for "He often blames himself for faults and things quite out of his control"
This of course stems from his fathers death. Ever since, when a friend or an ally, or even just someone around him, is harmed, he regards it as a failure on his part, and upon his fulfillment of the oath. He wishes to protect everyone around him at once. He would much rather take a storm titan's axe to the stomach than watch a member of his party do so. (Except for maybe the bi-polar winged bard. She creeps the **** out of him)

Wow. this is really starting to flesh out

[Aidan305]

As for his fathers death: The prince of the empire had been struck down with an unknown disease. Clerics of deities of relevant domains, Moradin being protection, were called to attempt and heal him. But even through the most powerful magical attempts, no one could cure him. All but Rorick's father left him as a lost cause. his father stayed for many nights by the prince's bed, trying non-stop to heal him. Eventually the prince passed on in his sleep. However, Rorick's father had been so completely drained and exhausted that he left himself open to the disease. So it infected him and he knew that he could not stop death taking him. So he sealed the sickness within his own body and Rorick was forced to watch, powerless and unable to help this man who he so respected and revered, faded into death.
Now, this is a very interesting plot hook. A noble, nay, a ruler-in-waiting died of a disease in a world where that doesn't generally happen.
I advise chatting to your GM about this because it's something that could become very relevant to your character at some point in the future. Perhaps a BBEG or an LBEG created it for the purpose of this assassination in order for some political intrigue, or perhaps they had it made. What would happen if your character were to find this out?
Of such thing campaigns are made.

[MidgetMarine]

What do LBEG and BBEG mean?

[Aidan305]

Sorry, BBEG stands for Big Bad Evil Guy; usually the final villain of a campaign while LBEG stands for Little Bad Evil Guy; generally more of a side-quest villain.

[MidgetMarine]

I have thought of this and might talk with my GM about it. As for the question of what he would do if he found out? First thought would be go bat-**** crazy on them. storm the castle, smash down the door. But he'd probably view it as empty justice when given the chance to kill the assassin or the organizer. Viewing it as the classic "I won't sink to your level"

[MidgetMarine]

We're painting a nice, full picture here. :D

[fergo]

And the funny thing is, it's all stuff you came up with yourself :smallbiggrin:. It's much better that way.

[MidgetMarine]

yes, I did have some of these ideas but other people can really come up with questions that make you think of things that you wouldnt usually.

[fergo]

With all due respect for the excellent help you've been given, they were still your ideas :smalltongue:. Don't discredit your own imagination.

[MidgetMarine]

Point taken. But what i meant is that other roleplayers help a lot. that's how we brainstormed our party's psycho bard.

[Particle_Man]

Glad to be a facilitator.

Sounds like your dwarf might want to do some research on that disease or hire a loremaster to get on it.

[MidgetMarine]

I agree and I've talked to the DM and it may play into it but he also told me (to keep as player knowledge only) that unless we infiltrated a secret cult, we would never find any other example of that disease, because it was a custom bred, unstoppable, targeted illness.

[Particle_Man]

Well maybe the aforementioned loremaster can help with the secret of the disease being caused by a secret cult, and where and what the secret cult was. After that, then you could try to get the party on board for infiltrating the secret cult.

[Aidan305]

I agree and I've talked to the DM and it may play into it but he also told me (to keep as player knowledge only) that unless we infiltrated a secret cult, we would never find any other example of that disease, because it was a custom bred, unstoppable, targeted illness.

Then the task is to find who bred it, and why.

And also consider, (out of character) if it was a targeted illness, then your character's father was made a target as well for some reason. Something the prince told him? Who knows (Ans = the GM)

If your GM's good, he'll drop a hook at some point and you'll get to find out.

[MidgetMarine]

Oh, yeah, i completely agree. And our GM probably will. But for now, my character is left with a dead-end research wise. Because it only existed once, for a week.

[georgie_leech]

Ah, but that's the beauty of it. The backstory is the illness, but what your character does in universe doesn't necessarily have to be planned by you. That's what the DM is for. Perhaps you'll find another important person suffering from the same disease; the lair of those assassins you just beat might contain records about the proper time and place, indicating an unusual amount of attention on the area; the mad cultists you fight could babble about a coming plague, and that you're "tainted." A well-crafted backstory gives possible plot hooks, but it shouldn't be your entire plan for the character, otherwise it will only distract from the overall campaign.

[BerronBrightaxe]

Ah, but that's the beauty of it. The backstory is the illness, but what your character does in universe doesn't necessarily have to be planned by you. That's what the DM is for. Perhaps you'll find another important person suffering from the same disease; the lair of those assassins you just beat might contain records about the proper time and place, indicating an unusual amount of attention on the area; the mad cultists you fight could babble about a coming plague, and that you're "tainted." A well-crafted backstory gives possible plot hooks, but it shouldn't be your entire plan for the character, otherwise it will only distract from the overall campaign.

Very true..

Rorick can decided (he has the time considering his hotheadedness) he currently isn't too high level isn't not experienced enough so he needs time and training to get there... While going there he can decided to take some appropriate classes, skills and/or feats.. He can visit the various temples/libraries/dungeons to find information, he can talk to sages and priest from far way, etc. It is up to your GM how to roll with this.

I mean he wants to find out what has happened, but he isn't stupid enough to jump in without knowing what he's getting himself into. A dwarf's live is long, so he has time enough to forfill his oath and there are several other takes in which he can gain honor for himselves and for his clan.

I usually leave several hooks in my backgrounds for the GM to play with. Some might be used, some might not be. But that is ok, for in live all questions don't get answered either.

[Particle_Man]

He might be interested in taking enough paladin levels to be immune to disease . . .