Look for creative inspiration/motivation...

[Nefariis]

A friend and I are joining an Adventurers League and we are looking for help with a creative backstory and or motivation to be traveling together.

I am a Devotion Paladin and he is a Battle Cleric, and we are both followers of Tyr.

We love to play, but neither of us are very creative when it comes to backstories - so we were hoping that we could get some help from you guys with what our unifying mission should be.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Thank you

-N

[KorvinStarmast]

A friend and I are joining an Adventurers League and we are looking for help with a creative backstory and or motivation to be traveling together. I am a Devotion Paladin and he is a Battle Cleric, and we are both followers of Tyr.

We love to play, but neither of us are very creative when it comes to backstories - so we were hoping that we could get some help from you guys with what our unifying mission should be. By Battle Cleric do you mean a cleric in the War Domain? If so, then a very easy back story is:

You both came from the same county/shire/area/duchy/town, and were "discovered" by the same sponsor (or priest on a recruiting drive) who was related to someone at the temple. You were taken on by two different mentors in the same temple; one of whom was a Paladin and the other a Priest. Your mentors guided you each into your professions. You became fast friends as you learned your class by meeting after each day's lessons

... near the lake because you both liked swimming or fishing

... near the pastures since you both liked to play lacrosse(or similar field game)

... near the pub since you both liked to sneak off and try to grab a beer

... near the fountain in the city center since you both liked people watching

... near the waterfront since you had both grown up the sons of fishermen/sailors

... near the convent since you both liked to help some of the wilder gals there sneak out for a bit of fun one night of the week

... at the weapons smith since you liked to help out with the making of armor and weapons and such

... at the stables since you both liked to ride horses

Hope that helps.

[Hudsonian]

As a young urchin child you, the paladin, often went to the temple of Tyr as an informant. You did not feel bad turning your friends into the clerics at the temple because a) you were hungry, and b) they were being bad and shouldn't have gotten caught.

After about a year of good relations with the temple you found yourself consistently meeting with a young cleric. He was about 10 years older than you and always seemed happy to see you. Eventually he offered to teach you how to take care of some of these bad kids for yourself. You began to learn what the temple called, "The art of Justice". As you grew in training you became fast friends with your mentor, but realized you had different calling in your worship of Tyr. The "old man" wanted to worship, but you were really only interested so much as it helped you make the world a better and safer place (for law abiding citizens at least). There were growing pains, but eventually you and your mentor became friends and decided to set out together to see the world and make your mark to leave it a better world.

[Nefariis]

Nice! I am actually going to use a bit of both of those and I love the urchin idea.

Follow up question though - why did we leave the temple - what specifically are we crusading for?

(leaving to make the world a better place seems a little too vague)

Thanks again.

[Hudsonian]

The next step in your training was to go to work in other temples. You asked to be sent to the same temple, but the teachers said you needed to learn to depend on Tyr instead of each other. Rejecting that you convinced (the Cleric) to break out on your own. Eventually you would like to find a temple that would take both of you for the next stage of your training, but you know that will only happen if it is far away from here. might as well do good as you make your way.

[Hrdven]

Here is the background for my paladin of Torm, who is an half orc.

The orcs have been pillaging and invading the villages in the north for several years. During these incursions, they killed men and raped women. They are fiery and dangerous, and only a small army of paladins of Torm protected the kingdom.

You are the son of one of these orc incursions. After a particurlarly fiery battle near the city of Tarkh'na, a paladin rescued as a little kid among the survivors. Rather than letting you die, he decided to adopt you and bring you to the temple, even if you are the son of the enemy.

Since that day, you have grown up as an acolyte of Torm, and made your way towards being a true paladin yourself. You have friends and have earned the respect of your companions. However, deep inside something is bothering you regarding your orc side. You secretly wonder if there is a better solution than war, and always wonder what is motivating the orcs in their aggressiveness. You secretly dream of coming back to your home land, and open a dialogue between humans and orcs.