rahimka
2017-09-27, 11:07 PM
What's the story of the favorite character you've played?
Mine was a Paladin/Bard (a legal if odd combo in Pathfinder), named Oran:
He started out around lvl7 (maybe 8, I don't remember exactly), as a replacement for a VERY chaotic Ifrit ninja I'd been playing (whose retirement, after the adventure arc that we'd started from lvl1, is another amazing story involving founding a secret society of ninjas within a bard college, a dual-identity as a super villain, and an elaborate counterfeiting operation that included several tomes of dangerous arcane/occult knowledge...)
He was a garuda-blooded Aasimar, with 2 levels of Paladin (Divine Hunter archetype), and the rest all Bard. In combat, he'd boost his allies with bardic performance, and then either add more buffs with his support magic or start pin-cushioning baddies with his archery. He was super fun mechanically, because there was ALWAYS a variety of useful or interesting for him to be doing in and out of combat.
He was my first attempt at a really LAWFUL character, so I rolled with that in his personality, playing up the conflict between his levels in Paladin and Bard. His nature was fairly Chaotic, he believed in the principles like freedom and self-determination, and longed for adventure and thrills. But he had grown up instilled with a strong sense of duty towards others and had decided to emulate the heroes of old by taking the oaths of a Paladin, and holding himself to a code of conduct befitting a true hero of legend (as he hoped to become).
When he was introduced to the game, he came in with two other new PCs (also replacing retiring characters), so our party was kind of half old and half new, with Oran as the unofficial leader of the new folks. Throughout the first adventure of the new group, he was constantly butting heads with the Chaotic Elven Fighter/duelist who considered himself the leader of the original party and didn't care to follow the lead of the new Paladin.
This conflict came to a head during a debate over what to do with a Drow prisoner that Oran managed to capture/save-from-certain-death during a skirmish unrelated to their main quest at the time. The debate turned heated (in-character), and eventually the Elven Duelist simply stepped over to the prisoner and cut the rope binding him. At which point all hell broke loose (after out-of-character confirmation that everybody was cool with some PvP) with the party members started fighting each other as some tried to recapture the Drow and others tried to help him escape. Eventually the prisoner got away, and though Oran would not condemn them for taking the actions they felt were right, his trust in some of his comrades was thoroughly shaken.
The next few adventures were not always easy, but over time, the party built up trust again and slowly came to look to him as their tactical and moral leader (though the Chaotic Elf mostly just stuck around for the thrill of the fights). But after one particularly difficult adventure, which ended with the reveal that a trusted and revered ally was not the moral bastion they'd believed him to be, Oran found himself increasingly unsettled by the ethical grey areas of life as an adventurer.
Then they met the necromancer...
On a rescue mission for an NPC friend they worked with before, the party found themselves essentially blackmailed by a powerful Necromancer into cooperating against the greater threat of a doomsday cult trying to unleash the literal Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The evil wizard was no fool, and in exchange for his help (and pledge to free their ally, his hostage) he forced Oran to swear an oath that he would retrieve the powerful book of evil knowledge being used by the cult in their sinister ritual. But even as Oran gave his word and agreed to the terms of (temporary) alliance, he knew how this must end.
The party fought their way through the cult's stronghold (duly aided by the evil Wizard's longterm buffs and the insight he'd imparted into the place's defenses) and managed to free the many prisoners gathered as sacrifices for the ritual. Eventually they made their way to the upper sanctum and ritual chamber, where they faced the cult's leaders and found the unholy tome , a profane relic of unspeakably evil knowledge and rituals, capable of untold horror in evil hands.
Oran cautiously insisted that his allies stand back as he approached the altar on which the book rested and, after magical inspection for traps and curses, picked it up. And then, with a sorrowful look back at his teammates, he simply said "I'm sorry" and leapt out the window with the book (activating his Winged Boots).
Because Oran knew the book must be destroyed, even if it meant certain death at the hands of a furious and deadly Necromancer, , even if it meant breaking his oath and FALLING as a Paladin for doing so.
But he could not stand to see his friends bear the Necromancer's wrath as well. So he took it upon himself to do what must be done alone. As he flew back to the evil wizard's lair, he began smashing every alchemical fire and flask of acid he had into interior of the book, burning and melting the pages. And so he returned to face the wizard alone, tossing the smoldering and wrecked shell of the tome at his feet.
"Here is your prize, Necromancer. Our bargain is finished."
Oran died that day, but he did not fall...
Mine was a Paladin/Bard (a legal if odd combo in Pathfinder), named Oran:
He started out around lvl7 (maybe 8, I don't remember exactly), as a replacement for a VERY chaotic Ifrit ninja I'd been playing (whose retirement, after the adventure arc that we'd started from lvl1, is another amazing story involving founding a secret society of ninjas within a bard college, a dual-identity as a super villain, and an elaborate counterfeiting operation that included several tomes of dangerous arcane/occult knowledge...)
He was a garuda-blooded Aasimar, with 2 levels of Paladin (Divine Hunter archetype), and the rest all Bard. In combat, he'd boost his allies with bardic performance, and then either add more buffs with his support magic or start pin-cushioning baddies with his archery. He was super fun mechanically, because there was ALWAYS a variety of useful or interesting for him to be doing in and out of combat.
He was my first attempt at a really LAWFUL character, so I rolled with that in his personality, playing up the conflict between his levels in Paladin and Bard. His nature was fairly Chaotic, he believed in the principles like freedom and self-determination, and longed for adventure and thrills. But he had grown up instilled with a strong sense of duty towards others and had decided to emulate the heroes of old by taking the oaths of a Paladin, and holding himself to a code of conduct befitting a true hero of legend (as he hoped to become).
When he was introduced to the game, he came in with two other new PCs (also replacing retiring characters), so our party was kind of half old and half new, with Oran as the unofficial leader of the new folks. Throughout the first adventure of the new group, he was constantly butting heads with the Chaotic Elven Fighter/duelist who considered himself the leader of the original party and didn't care to follow the lead of the new Paladin.
This conflict came to a head during a debate over what to do with a Drow prisoner that Oran managed to capture/save-from-certain-death during a skirmish unrelated to their main quest at the time. The debate turned heated (in-character), and eventually the Elven Duelist simply stepped over to the prisoner and cut the rope binding him. At which point all hell broke loose (after out-of-character confirmation that everybody was cool with some PvP) with the party members started fighting each other as some tried to recapture the Drow and others tried to help him escape. Eventually the prisoner got away, and though Oran would not condemn them for taking the actions they felt were right, his trust in some of his comrades was thoroughly shaken.
The next few adventures were not always easy, but over time, the party built up trust again and slowly came to look to him as their tactical and moral leader (though the Chaotic Elf mostly just stuck around for the thrill of the fights). But after one particularly difficult adventure, which ended with the reveal that a trusted and revered ally was not the moral bastion they'd believed him to be, Oran found himself increasingly unsettled by the ethical grey areas of life as an adventurer.
Then they met the necromancer...
On a rescue mission for an NPC friend they worked with before, the party found themselves essentially blackmailed by a powerful Necromancer into cooperating against the greater threat of a doomsday cult trying to unleash the literal Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The evil wizard was no fool, and in exchange for his help (and pledge to free their ally, his hostage) he forced Oran to swear an oath that he would retrieve the powerful book of evil knowledge being used by the cult in their sinister ritual. But even as Oran gave his word and agreed to the terms of (temporary) alliance, he knew how this must end.
The party fought their way through the cult's stronghold (duly aided by the evil Wizard's longterm buffs and the insight he'd imparted into the place's defenses) and managed to free the many prisoners gathered as sacrifices for the ritual. Eventually they made their way to the upper sanctum and ritual chamber, where they faced the cult's leaders and found the unholy tome , a profane relic of unspeakably evil knowledge and rituals, capable of untold horror in evil hands.
Oran cautiously insisted that his allies stand back as he approached the altar on which the book rested and, after magical inspection for traps and curses, picked it up. And then, with a sorrowful look back at his teammates, he simply said "I'm sorry" and leapt out the window with the book (activating his Winged Boots).
Because Oran knew the book must be destroyed, even if it meant certain death at the hands of a furious and deadly Necromancer, , even if it meant breaking his oath and FALLING as a Paladin for doing so.
But he could not stand to see his friends bear the Necromancer's wrath as well. So he took it upon himself to do what must be done alone. As he flew back to the evil wizard's lair, he began smashing every alchemical fire and flask of acid he had into interior of the book, burning and melting the pages. And so he returned to face the wizard alone, tossing the smoldering and wrecked shell of the tome at his feet.
"Here is your prize, Necromancer. Our bargain is finished."
Oran died that day, but he did not fall...