Viable background stories for higher point buy?

[RoboEmperor]

My DM is anal about details to roleplay (this isn't a bad thing i guess), and we've been playing with 25 point buy exclusively since it's "official".

Now some of us in the group want to try a higher point buy for some fun characters, and the DM finally agreed to allow higher point buy if and only if we can write background stories that justify it.

So... what are some background stories that justify higher point buy? (Specifically 32). I'm fishing for some ideas.

Banned backgrounds:
1. He/she was born a genius and therefore has more point buy.

Best I came up with was "Raised as a weapon" which isn't bad but I like to "research" before start spending hours (even days) on character backgrounds.

Thanks!

[paranoidbox]

After exiting the opera house, your character's parents were killed in a dark alley in front of you when you were a child. Ever since then, you've worked tirelessly to become a master of several martial arts disciplines, languages, science, investigation, and justice. Your family's wealth allows you to have the best custom designed equipment with which you can punish evil wherever it's hiding. You are vengeance. You are the night. You are... Well, you know.

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/116/1169048/batman-20110518035611976-000.jpg

[Geddy2112]

15 is standard fantasy, 20 is high fantasy, 25 is epic fantasy. At 32, you almost have to mary sue/marty stu your character to get that kind of godlike power. Even if you don't minmax, your character will probably be head and shoulders above their peers and just about everyone they were raised around. Renowned for one, if not two ability scores(the strongest, wisest, etc). With a 32 point buy, you can have the brain of Steven Hawking, the charm of Casanova, and the physique of an Olympic weightlifter in the same person.

Even if you were raised and trained specifically, that kind of raw ability can't just be made. You were born with the blessing of the divine, dragon blood, hero of prophecy X, hybrid, last of a great race, part alien, exposed to chemical X and made into a Powerpuff girl, or just born with the best freaking genetics and upbringing possible. Certainly it helps if you were seen with great potential off the bat and put into training, but even if Hawking grew up in isolation, he would still be intelligent. 32 point buy means you should be renowned before you reach adulthood.

Sure you might have been exposed to magic water giving you super strength and agility, but sometimes people are just born to become uber at something.

Edit: or be Batman, or any superhero for that matter. Tony Stark is a sorcerer with off the charts charisma and intelligence, and above average con.

[Muggins]

Though a 25 point buy should be pretty good for most builds, here are a few examples of the top of my head.

Descended from a long line of powerful nobles and sorcerers, and they know it.
The lone apprentice of a great bard or wizard, who learned everything they were taught.
The quickest foot and keenest shot in all the land, as proven by their numerous medals for speed and agility.
Wise beyond their years, and with vague memories of their past lives in tow.
Toughest of all their kin, having survived the fabled Death by Otyughs when sentenced for their crimes.

There are others, of course, but this is a start.

[RoboEmperor]

15 is standard fantasy, 20 is high fantasy, 25 is epic fantasy. At 32, you almost have to mary sue/marty stu your character to get that kind of godlike power.

I'm looking at the DMG right now an it says:

Standard is 25

Low-powered campaign 15 points
Challenging campaign 22 points
Tougher campaign 28 points
High-powered campaign 32 points

so i think you're wrong here.

[Geddy2112]

I'm looking at the DMG right now an it says:

Standard is 25

Low-powered campaign 15 points
Challenging campaign 22 points
Tougher campaign 28 points
High-powered campaign 32 points

so i think you're wrong here.

Whoops, I was reading the pathfinder point buy. 32 would still be the upper end of high/epic fantasy though.

[Extra Anchovies]

Here's a few that I just whipped up:

The blood of giants flows in your veins, an heirloom from your people's history of both war and peace with the Jotun tribes. The city-folk call you a mutt, a mongrel dog not worthy to scrub their boots, but their inbreeding and arranged marriages have left them with brittle bones and addled minds. Your robust heritage - and a youth spent in the northern wilds with your tribe - has given you a body matched in strength only by your spirit. Now the city-folk's king has enslaved your people, and it is time to show him how much his pedigree is really worth. You have only your father's broken sword and the strength of your ancestors in your heart, but that will be enough.

You don't recall much of your childhood, but what few scraps you can bring to mind make you shudder. Locked in a cage for days at a time, chained to tables surrounded with glowing sigils, wracked with agonies you cannot even begin to describe - sometimes they come to you unbidden, through your frequent screaming nightmares. A childhood spent as a magical test subject has left you with scars both physical and mental far deeper than anyone else could ever understand, but it has also left you... different. The first time you saw your reflection - pausing to drink from a stream on the night you escaped from that terrible laboratory - your eyes were glowing with silver fire of the same sort that came from seemingly nowhere to shatter your chains; strange flashes of insight come to you from time to time, revealing things you could not have possibly known. Until the day of your escape, the only face you had seen is the one that still lurks at the back of your mind, burned into your memory by the horrors it inflicted on you. You will find that face... and you will make it suffer.

The slums of this city are meaner than most - especially for a runt like you. Beaten down, kicked, your every possession stolen whenever someone bigger got the chance. Everyone was a bully out on the streets, and the only thing that mattered is who you were big enough to pick on. To survive, you had to play by your own rules: hide when you can, run when you can't, and always end fights before they start. Through talent, cunning, and more than a little luck, you got out of those twisting gutters and alleyways, and joined up with the watch only to find more of the same - the only difference was the bullies in the watch wore the badge of the city council and might leave you alone if you emptied your pockets for them. Taking it to the council ended up with you out of a job and with a bounty on your head, leaving you no choice but to skip town. Your first instinct is to go back there someday and burn that city to the ground, but you're better than that. You'll clean up that town, mopping up the scum wherever you find them - from the darkest back alleys to the ranks of the watch to the meeting hall of the city council.

[Muggins]

The issue with relating your point buy increase to a special heritage (such as having giant's blood) is that there are other races for that kind of thing (i.e. half-giant). It's a fine line between simply having an angel's charisma and being an Aasimar, and your DM may make rulings with that in mind.

[RoboEmperor]

Alright thanks for the input :)