Need Help Making Some Lore

[Off]

Hi guys,

I am about to start a D&D campaign with a few friends and i am fairly new to the game. I really enjoy playing the game but am not so big on the lore/fluff side of things, however i don't want my lack of imagination to affect the other players. I will still role play as i prefer to but i am not big on background. The DM wants to know the sort of background my guy has to include it and so we can role play around it. So i need some help coming up with a story. Character is a human cleric, trickery and travel domains, with a great-sword. The land that we are playing in is majority run by the church.

Any thoughts?

[Xalos]

Hi guys,

I am about to start a D&D campaign with a few friends and i am fairly new to the game. I really enjoy playing the game but am not so big on the lore/fluff side of things, however i don't want my lack of imagination to affect the other players. I will still role play as i prefer to but i am not big on background. The DM wants to know the sort of background my guy has to include it and so we can role play around it. So i need some help coming up with a story. Character is a human cleric, trickery and travel domains, with a great-sword. The land that we are playing in is majority run by the church.

Any thoughts?

alignment? anything that you want specifically?

[Off]

Most likely true neutral but i would happily be lawful neutral or chaotic good if that's easier/cooler. And i would like to have some sort of story around traveling a lot when i was younger either as an orphan or with parents, but its awkward as i would also like to include trickery in there somewhere.

[Xalos]

Most likely true neutral but i would happily be lawful neutral or chaotic good if that's easier/cooler. And i would like to have some sort of story around traveling a lot when i was younger either as an orphan or with parents, but its awkward as i would also like to include trickery in there somewhere.

As a young child you grew up in a small isolated cottage... But one day it was raided by a group of bandits and they killed your parents and burned it to the ground. You started to wander after that and you eventually met a strange man who you eventually found out was a diety of trickery.... (You can choose which one) and he brought u to one of his churches and the clerics there raised you to be one of them.

[Off]

As a young child you grew up in a small isolated cottage... But one day it was raided by a group of bandits and they killed your parents and burned it to the ground. You started to wander after that and you eventually met a strange man who you eventually found out was a diety of trickery.... (You can choose which one) and he brought u to one of his churches and the clerics there raised you to be one of them.

Thanks that's actually pretty good, can you think of a way to explain my great-sword? I like the idea of being raised by clerics but am unsure of where i would pick up the sword.

[Xalos]

Thanks that's actually pretty good, can you think of a way to explain my great-sword? I like the idea of being raised by clerics but am unsure of where i would pick up the sword.

It was one of the few things you were able to grab from the ashes of your cottage

[sideswipe]

Thanks that's actually pretty good, can you think of a way to explain my great-sword? I like the idea of being raised by clerics but am unsure of where i would pick up the sword.

as a cleric you receive all manners of martial training, you must be taught to defend your faith. and when you were receiving it your teachers found that you were naturally better with a great sword over other means. whilst unorthodox for a cleric they trained you with it and pronounced you a cleric of your faith.

[Xalos]

as a cleric you receive all manners of martial training, you must be taught to defend your faith. and when you were receiving it your teachers found that you were naturally better with a great sword over other means. whilst unorthodox for a cleric they trained you with it and pronounced you a cleric of your faith.

That's better than mine

[sideswipe]

That's better than mine

i don't pride myself on rules lawyering, knowledge of the D&D fluff, a master optimiser or a great DM.

i do pride myself on ADHOC story writing and on the spot back stories. I usually create mine as I'm speaking and introducing my character, with no previous thought. and nobody ever says my back stories lack imagination or thought.

[Xalos]

i don't pride myself on rules lawyering, knowledge of the D&D fluff, a master optimiser or a great DM.

i do pride myself on ADHOC story writing and on the spot back stories. I usually create mine as I'm speaking and introducing my character, with no previous thought. and nobody ever says my back stories lack imagination or thought.

Lol same I didn't rly try on the sword part :P

[VoxRationis]

I personally think "my home was burned by bandits" is a wee bit over-done. There's nothing wrong with your characters having living family members running about somewhere.

[sideswipe]

I personally think "my home was burned by bandits" is a wee bit over-done. There's nothing wrong with your characters having living family members running about somewhere.

how about, my father was devoured and my mother was impregnated by an eldar evil to have a ithallid baby? much better?

[VoxRationis]

I can't say I've heard it before.

Edit: I'm sorry for giving offense.

[Off]

So after a little thought i've got:

-Village destroyed by bandits, become an orphan and travel the roads
-Fend for myself, usually cooking vermin and small animals, discover a flare for cooking (one of my professions)
-Get a job in a small town with the local kitchen as an apprentice, and live in the local orphanage
-Have to start stealing little bits from the kitchen to feed my friends
-Not enough, orphanage is getting desperate, start hustling and distracting passers by for money for the orphanage
-Try it on a guy who turns out to be a god of trickery, sees potential in me and my friends
-Get taken to local trickery temple place to be trained as a cleric, where me and my friends are drained to defend our faith
-Being the most confrontational of the lot i am trained with a great-sword, others trained with minor, more trickery related weapons

It needs work but its a good base. Any ideas, i'm still a little sketchy on being given a great-sword by trickery clerics. I also need a reason to leave the temple.

Thoughts?

[sideswipe]

So after a little thought i've got:

-Village destroyed by bandits, become an orphan and travel the roads
-Fend for myself, usually cooking vermin and small animals, discover a flare for cooking (one of my professions)
-Get a job in a small town with the local kitchen as an apprentice, and live in the local orphanage
-Have to start stealing little bits from the kitchen to feed my friends
-Not enough, orphanage is getting desperate, start hustling and distracting passers by for money for the orphanage
-Try it on a guy who turns out to be a god of trickery, sees potential in me and my friends
-Get taken to local trickery temple place to be trained as a cleric, where me and my friends are drained to defend our faith
-Being the most confrontational of the lot i am trained with a great-sword, others trained with minor, more trickery related weapons

It needs work but its a good base. Any ideas, i'm still a little sketchy on being given a great-sword by trickery clerics. I also need a reason to leave the temple.

Thoughts?

beer and bi**hes beckon, the life of an adventurer is sweet. :smallwink:

[Off]

beer and bi**hes beckon, the life of an adventurer is sweet. :smallwink:

A man with a plan, i like it. Got any help with why in the hell i would be given a great-sword?

[sideswipe]

A man with a plan, i like it. Got any help with why in the hell i would be given a great-sword?

that would come with the martial training as a cleric. all clerics get taught how to fight. its part of the class. then they get given their chosen weapon to help them against the forces of evil/good/things their god does not like.

[Off]

Thanks guys, just a quick one. My party currently consists of myself (cleric), a ranger, and a paladin. If you had to pick a 4th npc to round out the party, which class would you pick and why? (PHB only)

[sideswipe]

Thanks guys, just a quick one. My party currently consists of myself (cleric), a ranger, and a paladin. If you had to pick a 4th npc to round out the party, which class would you pick and why? (PHB only)

well the ranger will want to try and specialise in ranged combat and skills. since its magic is exactly overshadowed by both you and probably the paladin. and the paladin will do melee better.

i would suggest a wizard. you are missing a lot of mundane utility that a rogue or a bard would bring from finding traps and stuff. the only skills you should have so far are a few knowledges, talking from the paladin, and survival ones and senses from the ranger. so you need someone who can fill all the gaps. you can fill some of the gaps as a cleric, but the best one for it is the wizard,

the wizard can learn any wizard sorcerer spell if he has the money. and he can add them when he wants. so have someone be a utility wizard. and use spells like grease and colour spray at low levels for his offence. maybe burning hands if he likes fire, but you have 3 damage dealers in the party with a great sword cleric, a great sword paladin (the only weapon a paladin should use) and a ranged fighting ranger most probably. so his job would be to make sure the enemies can do nothing, or that you guys get advantages. this way he can be powerful but not make anyone feel useless.
and the rest of the spells can be to overcome obstacles.

[ComaVision]

Thanks guys, just a quick one. My party currently consists of myself (cleric), a ranger, and a paladin. If you had to pick a 4th npc to round out the party, which class would you pick and why? (PHB only)

Wizard because you don't have an arcane caster and they can do whatever they want pretty well.

[Daishain]

I find it helpful to write up four lists, details on each list should mesh with the rest, but explaining everything is not necessary

Appearance - the way they dress, look, any distinguishing features, scars, tattoos, etc. Where and how they carry gear, how they carry themselves, the emotions commonly displayed to others that kind of thing.
Personality traits - go beyond alignment, are they humorous, kind, or indifferent? If lawful, is duty a way of life for them, or just something they feel is necessary? If evil, do they not care about the suffering of others, or do they revel in it?
backstory - here we get to the why of things. Who your character is is often bound up in elements of their past. Personally, I find that tragic origins are badly overused, and most of the most interesting characters I've made and encountered had a reasonably normal childhood and/or parents that were doing quite well. Of course, their current occupation often caused issues when it comes to family life...
secrets - this section would go to plot elements of your character that are not well known. This can be things your character deliberately hides from others, or things your character isn't aware of himself. (One of my guys had left behind a bastard child he didn't know about who developed her father's talent for sorcery, DM later wrote her in as a plot critical NPC)

Try to add at least three short paragraphs into each category, and don't be afraid to go back and forth and make edits to each list as you go along. you will likely find that everything will start to come together as you paint a clearer picture in your own mind of just who this person is.

When I do this, I usually end up having to pare things down to keep it under three pages of material, and often feel like I could turn it into a short story if I kept going.