[PF] Backstory help - RUNAWAY CHARACTER!

[Silus]

So I've got this character that seems to be taking on a life of her own, and I need a little help wrangling her backstory into something that explains WHY she's acting the way she is.

The tl;dr version is that she's a slavery hating rage gypsy dervish with a slight case of pyromania.

The long version is that she's a Neutral (with Chaotic tendencies) Varisian Half-Elf Dawnflower Dervish 2/Urban Barbarian 1/Unarmed Fighter 1. She's heavily (or was) inspired by Esmerelda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She worships Sarenrae (a fire/sun goddess of all things) and, as a Pathfinder Society member, sides with Andoran, if only out of her absolute hate for slavery (seriously, it almost borders on evil territory how much she hates slave traders). Her pyromania mostly manifests itself as "Ok, there are bad guys in there. Why not just burn the building down?" (seems practical to her). Also is developing a slight case of paranoia, likely due to an instance where she died via decapitation (Greataxe crit on a surprise round. She got better). Also has a hatred for fey and goblins (fey are jerks and goblins are idiotic pyro jerks).

(Further traits and such upon request)

A prototype backstory has emotional and mental trauma from her parents (or village/caravan) getting captured by Hobgoblin slavers and her witnessing not only her home (house or wagon/village/caravan) burned to the ground with the weak or infirm still inside. She also witnessed her parents struggle against the slave takers, only to be murdered, cooked and eaten. Such trauma was too much for her young mind to handle, and she sorta "rebooted" as a coping mechanism (like dissociative identity disorder and multiple personality disorder all rolled into a neat little ball). Essentially, she convinced herself that it all either never happened, it happened to someone else/in a story, or it was all a horrible dream. So great was this "reboot" that she became a whole other person mentally, but the scars of that night still linger. Rage at the slavers (and a lingering hatred for goblinoids), a morbid fascination with fire and a zeal for righteous retribution rarely seen in worshippers of the Dawnflower (let alone any sort of Paladin order).

Also, yes, I'm aware of the silliness of the aforementioned prototype backstory regarding her pyromaniac tendencies and her worshipping a sun/fire goddess.

Tips and suggestions would greatly be appreciated. (Also, please feel free to point out any plot holes in the prototype)

Edit: Also, amusing aside, I'm planning on making a Peri-Blooded Aasimar Wizard with the Fire School (and +Fire Resist) to channel my (as a player) pyromaniac tendencies. 'Cause nothin' works better than fire.

[Larpus]

I might not be on the right track or anything, but I don't think that seeing her people get burnt alive (and hearing them scream) would give her pyromaniac tendencies, if anything she'd have pyrophobia or si=- instead.

What may give her pyromania instead, is if in order to escape, she either had to burn the hobgoblins alive or simply had the chance to do so and did it out of spite, in which case her mind would most likely link fire to salvation, which would also explain her choice of deity.

Other than that, rebooting her mind and dissociating herself with the event seems plausible, at least as far as fictional and discovery channel knowledge go.

[Silus]

Ah yes, makes more sense than what I was going for. :smallbiggrin:

*Jots down notes*

[Roguenewb]

I can see why a wandering Varisian would hate slavery very, very much, but Pyromania is pretty rare. The disorder, IRL, is primarily based on attention seeking IIRC. So, being in or near fires and fire type events isn't what really causes pyromania. Maybe a huge caravan family, nobody ever paid attenttion to this girl, so she uses fire to get people to pay attention to her.

Fun fact: "Gypsy" is apparently racially insensitive language. I got banned from a forum once for describing a halfling rogue as gypsy-like =(

[Silus]

I can see why a wandering Varisian would hate slavery very, very much, but Pyromania is pretty rare. The disorder, IRL, is primarily based on attention seeking IIRC. So, being in or near fires and fire type events isn't what really causes pyromania. Maybe a huge caravan family, nobody ever paid attenttion to this girl, so she uses fire to get people to pay attention to her.

Fun fact: "Gypsy" is apparently racially insensitive language. I got banned from a forum once for describing a halfling rogue as gypsy-like =(

It's less of a "I wanna watch the world burn so pay attention to me" thing, but rather a "kill it with fire" kinda thing. Fighting fey in the forest? Burn it down, catch the invisible winged buggers in the inferno. Baddies in a basement with only one exit, and the party is battered after the last encounter? Set fire to the building, leave and cut down any that try to escape. She's got a pretty PC mentality regarding fire.

Also, I'd use "Romani" but alas, there are not Roma people in PF, and I don't want people to think "Sczarni" when I mention she's a Varisian.

[Slipperychicken]

If she's all into being a gypsy/romani ripoff, then maybe the fire-use is partly born of a more broad/racist belief that non-nomad lifestyles are "unclean" and must be purged with fire. They need to burn because they're enemies to her culture and way of life, and have persecuted her people for countless generations. Every standing structure is an insult to her way of life, and a reminder of the danger posed by the "civilized" monsters who destroyed her family, so they must be destroyed in payment for their crimes.

[Silus]

If she's all into being a gypsy/romani ripoff, then maybe the fire-use is partly born of a more broad/racist belief that non-nomad lifestyles are "unclean" and must be purged with fire. They need to burn because they're enemies to her culture and way of life, and have persecuted her people for countless generations. Every standing structure is an insult to her way of life, and a reminder of the danger posed by the "civilized" monsters who destroyed her family, so they must be destroyed in payment for their crimes.

While I like this idea, it seems to head over to the "evil" side of the alignment spectrum, which in Pathfinder Society (Where this character is mostly used) means I have to retire my character.

[MulletMonk]

Also has a hatred for fey and goblins (fey are jerks and goblins are idiotic pyro jerks).

Quick question. When did she run into Fey? Is this a necessary component of your character, or something that distracts from a more concise, elegant character background.

[Silus]

Quick question. When did she run into Fey? Is this a necessary component of your character, or something that distracts from a more concise, elegant character background.

A few missions back (Tide of Twilight I think) so it's a relatively recent character development. Thing took place in a large bramble compound type thing and it was almost all fey as enemies. A pair of Timberjacks ambushed us and dropped a pair of us and she was knocked down to single digits. Then there was the Spriggin that just would not die and the pair of pixies that tried to knock out our Fighter (one got squished by a lucerne hammer). The whole endeavor pretty much ruined fey for her, be they good or bad. So as opposed to giving, say, a Dryad the trust that a good creature ought to receive, she's likely to deal with said fey with quite a bit of mistrust, expecting some trick at either her or her party's expense).