Appropriate bonus "stuff" for a PC's backstory?

[Cozod]

Starting a new campaign in Eberron at lvl 3. I'm giving each player a bonus for back story (feat, item(s), skills or some other benefit). The problem I'm having is balancing the "bonus". Of the four players that have given me their back story, I have figured out bonuses for three of em. Half elf that wants to be a Windwright captain - Mark of Storm, dwarven debt collector from house Kundarak - mark of warding (i know this doesn't help debt collecting at all), halfling barbarian from the plains - wild cohort feat.

The fourth PC I'm at a loss for. Dragon Fire Adept from a tribe of seren barbarians. His story has his entire tribe being obliterated by another tribe and he is the lone survivor. He has since made his way to Khorvaire but seeks vengeance on that tribe. I can't think of a feat to give him, but I was thinking he doesn't get the -10 to listen while sleeping, needs 6 hours of sleep and 25% less food and water; to represent surviving alone and making it to Khorvaire (how he got there over nearly 3k miles of sea is another issue i'd love some input on). It seems underwhelming to me compared to dragonmarks and a dinosaur "companion".

Any suggestions/comments on how to give him a bonus on par would be great. Also, how would he get to Khorvaire? Him and I are ok with DM fiat on that part, but i'd love an actual story. Maybe a Thunder Guide found him and saved him after he drifted at sea for a week or so?

[Nettlekid]

Perhaps give him the non-feat benefit of allowing a DFA's breath weapon to count as having a recharge time for the purpose of qualifying for metabreath feats? That's a big deal for DFAs. Or, to go with the Dragonmarks that the other players got, an Aberrant Dragonmark? They're pretty cool for flavor. Or perhaps some kind of Tremorsense, to represent his caution and newfound fear of being ambushed. (In his sleep, a foe steps on the ground twenty feat away. His eyes bolt open.)

As for getting to Khorvaire, it wouldn't be all that hard. If he takes Frost Breath at level 2, which I expect he will because that's a good Breath Effect, you could have him blast 30-foot lines of ice in the seas every twelve seconds and have him walk breath by breath to Khorvaire. Imagine it: A bloodied follower of dragons, dark red marks of Khyber pulsing with hidden strength, striding determinedly between the choppy waves. Occasionally he lashes his hand into the surf or chisels out a fish, frozen in his icy path, and roasts it in an instant with his fire breath, eating what he needs to sustain himself on this trek.

That's pretty cool, right? What race is the DFA?

[Flickerdart]

Getting to Khorvaire is as easy as taking 10 on a Survival check every day to feed himself, mechanically.

As for rewards, give him Karmic Strike, provided that he takes its prerequisites.

[Cozod]

Perhaps give him the non-feat benefit of allowing a DFA's breath weapon to count as having a recharge time for the purpose of qualifying for metabreath feats? That's a big deal for DFAs. Or, to go with the Dragonmarks that the other players got, an Aberrant Dragonmark? They're pretty cool for flavor. Or perhaps some kind of Tremorsense, to represent his caution and newfound fear of being ambushed. (In his sleep, a foe steps on the ground twenty feat away. His eyes bolt open.)

As for getting to Khorvaire, it wouldn't be all that hard. If he takes Frost Breath at level 2, which I expect he will because that's a good Breath Effect, you could have him blast 30-foot lines of ice in the seas every twelve seconds and have him walk breath by breath to Khorvaire. Imagine it: A bloodied follower of dragons, dark red marks of Khyber pulsing with hidden strength, striding determinedly between the choppy waves. Occasionally he lashes his hand into the surf or chisels out a fish, frozen in his icy path, and roasts it in an instant with his fire breath, eating what he needs to sustain himself on this trek.

That's pretty cool, right? What race is the DFA?

I'll take a look at the metabreath feats. He already has exhausting exaltation, which seems powerful at lvl 3, don't know if i want to make his breath even better. (If i'm wrong in my assumption of how powerful it is, please, let me know)

How would Dragons react to a seren barbarian having an aberrant dragonmark? If they knew they had it of course.

Tremor sense seems a bit much too me. Or do you mean only while sleeping?

I love the idea of how to get to khorvaire. i'll find out what breath affects he has.

He's a Human.

[Cozod]

Getting to Khorvaire is as easy as taking 10 on a Survival check every day to feed himself, mechanically.

As for rewards, give him Karmic Strike, provided that he takes its prerequisites.

Sorry for double post, couldn't figure out how to multi-quote.

I agree mechanically food isn't an issue, but is he going to swim there? What would Karmic Strike do for him? Can you breath weapon as an AoO?

[Nettlekid]

I'll take a look at the metabreath feats. He already has exhausting exaltation, which seems powerful at lvl 3, don't know if i want to make his breath even better. (If i'm wrong in my assumption of how powerful it is, please, let me know)

How would Dragons react to a seren barbarian having an aberrant dragonmark? If they knew they had it of course.

Tremor sense seems a bit much too me. Or do you mean only while sleeping?

I love the idea of how to get to khorvaire. i'll find out what breath affects he has.

He's a Human.

The breath weapon has the potential to be quite strong, but giving him the ability to do Metabreath feats would just give him more versatility with the breath (instead of just breathe every turn, he now has to decide what the best thing to do is, since he'll have to deal with the recharge time.) It's also a good way to actually LIMIT the power of his breath, since using Metabreath feats means he'll have to recharge the breath, which might be good if you don't want to have him just entangle everyone every turn.

I don't know how the Seren Barbarians would react to an Aberrant Dragonmark...I mean, do they count as part of the Draconic Prophesy, the words of Khyber as opposed to those of Eberron and Siberys? If so, then maybe the character would be acknowledged, if slightly mistrusted. Maybe the power offered by the mark is astounding, and the tribe admires and/or fears him. Maybe they mistake it for a new kind of true Dragonmark. I dunno. You're the DM, you decide the history.

Ehh, all things are relative. Tremorsense is pretty strong, not extremely so, but you can get it out of items. And of course, the DFA's lesser invocation Voidsense gives Blindsense, which is probably better in most cases anyway. You can't get feats out of items, like the Dragonmark feats and Wild Cohort that you're giving the others. You could also give him like, Darkstalker or something to reflect how careful he's become. What's his race and build? What skills is he focusing on? What does he plan to do when he's not breathing fire?

[Cozod]

The breath weapon has the potential to be quite strong, but giving him the ability to do Metabreath feats would just give him more versatility with the breath (instead of just breathe every turn, he now has to decide what the best thing to do is, since he'll have to deal with the recharge time.) It's also a good way to actually LIMIT the power of his breath, since using Metabreath feats means he'll have to recharge the breath, which might be good if you don't want to have him just entangle everyone every turn.

I don't know how the Seren Barbarians would react to an Aberrant Dragonmark...I mean, do they count as part of the Draconic Prophesy, the words of Khyber as opposed to those of Eberron and Siberys? If so, then maybe the character would be acknowledged, if slightly mistrusted. Maybe the power offered by the mark is astounding, and the tribe admires and/or fears him. Maybe they mistake it for a new kind of true Dragonmark. I dunno. You're the DM, you decide the history.

Ehh, all things are relative. Tremorsense is pretty strong, not extremely so, but you can get it out of items. And of course, the DFA's lesser invocation Voidsense gives Blindsense, which is probably better in most cases anyway. You can't get feats out of items, like the Dragonmark feats and Wild Cohort that you're giving the others. You could also give him like, Darkstalker or something to reflect how careful he's become. What's his race and build? What skills is he focusing on? What does he plan to do when he's not breathing fire?

Good point on metabreath, the whole increasing the time between breath weapon went over my head when i first read em.:smallredface: Probably going to let him qualify for them as long as he has the other prereq's, and I'll give him some other random perks. This should excite him, thanks for the suggestion.

as far as his build goes, I haven't gotten the exact details yet (we're playing in another session tonight and i'll find out), but i know he's maxed UMD and his characters tend to spend as many skill points as possible on knowledge skills and spellcraft.

[Big Fau]

Despite the names used, the connection between Khyber, Siberys, and Dragonmarks is only implied and up to you how they influence one another (it's entirely plausible that Siberys Dragonshards are not actually related to the progenitor dragons at all, and that Dragonmarks themselves are similar to a dragonblooded sorcerer's spellcasting).

As for the backstory benefit, a bonus Invocation known wouldn't hurt (especially if he doesn't have the one that protects teammates from his BW).

[Cozod]

As for the backstory benefit, a bonus Invocation known wouldn't hurt (especially if he doesn't have the one that protects teammates from his BW).

I was looking at that one actually, it gives them endure elements as well which kind of seems fitting for his backstory to me. Thanks for the input. I'll talk it over with the PC and see what works for both of us.