Help Writing PC Background

[PunkManiak]

I’m working on a character for a D&D campaign starting at about level 10, with a band of seasoned and experienced adventurers as the party.

I briefly go into detail regarding my PC’s desired playstyle in this prior thread. http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?551748-Dual-Wielding-Barbarian

Getting down to brass tacks, story-wise he’d originally have been the child of a Noble family, their youngest son to be specific. Unfortunately while out in the countryside with his father, their caravan was attacked and his father murdered with him just barely surviving, being saved thanks to a kindly old Orc Woman.

In the time period of the game, he has been outcasted from the clan of Orcs that raised him and is now a Gladiator and Mercenary for Hire, with his class being Barbarian and Fighter Multi-Class. The only thing of any true value he owns is a single necklace that in truth had belonged to his father.

I think it would be interesting to have him be reunited with his mother and older siblings after having been lost at a very young age, only being reunited as he is now approximately 25 years of age. I also must admit, the image of a savage wild-born human, trying to interact with the local nobility while not making a complete ass of himself is also interesting. (Hopefully the 12 in Charisma will help.)

Any ideas on how I could execute this?

[tedcahill2]

I don't follow: "How do you execute this?"

If you're writing a background, as in things that happen prior to the start of the game, then you can make up anything you want to.

If you're looking for how to build your character I would say start barbarian then maybe class into fighter or knight or some other more formal fighter type to show that, after reuniting with your family you began formally training in combat.

If you're looking to have the reunion happen in game then you need to work that out with your DM.

If you're looking for ideas on how to play your character you might play him like he has some anger issues. Like he tries super hard to represent his noble birth by wearing nice clothes, being clean and bathed, and speaking well, but then when he's pushed to far or gets into an adrenaline inducing situation he flips his switch and goes full primal barbarian on them/it.

[inexorabletruth]

How about, rather than trying to use that 12 CHA to get his family to like him, the family uses their CHA to try to get him to act civilized and represent the nobility afforded him by right of birth.

Basically, the family tries to clean him up like Beast from the Disney adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

Only your character isn't so keen on the idea. The way he sees it, he doesn't need to change, and doesn't owe his family anything, because he has his own family now which totally did right by him.

He's willing to accept his birth family as they are, if they'll just quit trying to bathe him all the time.

[Goaty14]

You literally just wrote out a background, but now you need to rewrite it in first person and dramatically.


the child of a Noble family, their youngest son to be specific. Unfortunately while out in the countryside with his father, their caravan was attacked and his father murdered with him just barely surviving, being saved thanks to a kindly old Orc Woman.

When I was small man like you, I was noble man-son. Smallest son of all sons, I earned my weight in gold. When my father called, I went with him to <location> and big men wait for us. Not mere big men, but experienced warlords that favored swords and big gloves. Were it not for my <caretaker, godmother?,
etc> I would have died, like my father, that very day.


In the time period of the game, he has been outcasted from the clan of Orcs that raised him and is now a Gladiator and Mercenary for Hire, with his class being Barbarian and Fighter Multi-Class. The only thing of any true value he owns is a single necklace that in truth had belonged to his father.

Since then, my orcish caretakers have banished me, but were it not for their teaching, I would've been not much more than a street rat at this point. Today I rule the streets in my everlasting war to stay alive. Naught but my father's necklace keeps me who I am.


I think it would be interesting to have him be reunited with his mother and older siblings after having been lost at a very young age, only being reunited as he is now approximately 25 years of age. I also must admit, the image of a savage wild-born human, trying to interact with the local nobility while not making a complete ass of himself is also interesting. (Hopefully the 12 in Charisma will help.)

You should just tell the DM you'd like to see this sometime. @Low CHA: You probably won't need it unless you use the social skills (bluff, diplomacy, intimidate :smalleek:).

[denthor]

You have the back story already. Now personally does he snap be patient person

[Zaq]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking. It sounds like you have the backstory right there. What more are you looking for in particular?

[PunkManiak]

@zaq I’m more specifically wondering if there’s anything that will allow me to do this. If there’s a stat or feat associated with having a character of a Noble Lineage or if it’s all just a matter of Roleplaying and storytelling.

[inexorabletruth]

OOOHhhhhh! You want the crunch to reflect the Fluff. I can respect that.

Noble Lineage... my first thought was Aristocrat, but that's strictly an NPC class and really only a vaguely important level tax in 3.5. In 4E can just sort of add it to your back story, and in 5E, back story is actually a mechanic of the game. Take the Courtier background to gain Insight and Persuasion, 2 languages, some fancy duds, and a little extra gold in your pocket.

In 3.5, I'd talk to your DM about a little WBL boost for taking Aristocrat at Level 1. Some DMs are impressed enough the hit you take to CharOp for this to grant you bonus cash, or circumstance bonuses in social settings involving Nobles your character would know.

As another 3.5 option, take ranks in Knowledge: Nobility and take 1st level in the class which has the highest starting gold to reflect noble sponsorship.

[Zaq]

What effect do you want that to have on the game world? Relatively few feats simply say "you're associated with a given group" and don't do much else. I guess there's the "Favored" feat in Cityscape that basically makes you somewhat more of an "active and valued member" of a given organization? The "Favored in House" feat in Eberron Campaign Setting is similar, though that specific feat is very tightly tied to Eberrron fluff (but it might be inspiration for you and your GM to homebrew something related, if you want.)

Or, I mean, I guess you could take your first level in Aristocrat, if you're really determined to accept some kind of build-related cost for being a lost noble son. You could say that your formative years taught you a bit about the ways of the nobility but not much that was practical, so you got your real class levels after the traumatic event you're talking about. That seems totally unnecessary, to be honest. Especially since you seem to want this character to not fit in with the nobility, so you don't necessarily need the kinds of courtly skills that you can't get from your Barb levels.

Unless your GM is demanding that you sacrifice something major for your backstory (and it's not like you seem to be asking for too much), I don't think that you'll be able to roleplay the character better or otherwise have more fun with them by taking Aristocrat levels or by lighting feats on fire just so that you can say that you're really from a noble bloodline. Basically, if you write that into your backstory and your GM accepts it, it's true. You don't need a feat or whatever to prove it. If your GM demands a feat or whatever as cost, then work with your GM to determine what kind of cost they will find to be acceptable.

"Long-lost noble son" is about as typical a PC background as there is, so it's not like you're asking for "I'm actually a well-connected mob boss with a massive shadowy organization at my beck and call" or "I am the incarnation of a god, born into mortal form, with memory of my deific affairs and portfolio" or "as a result of my noble upbringing, I have received rigorous training in all sorts of things that most common folk know nothing about, including arcane knowledge and esoteric fighting styles" or anything like that. Those are the kinds of "backgrounds" that I'd understand needing to invest build resources in, because they come with rather significant and concrete benefits. What you described really isn't something that is much of a benefit.

[Sejoran]

Fluff-wise you're golden, if you are looking for a feat or something to help tie it in, it would probably depend on your DM. If you are in the Forgotten Realms setting there are some regional feats, but those don't really tie in. And in Ebberon there's the House feats.

Best bet is to talk to your DM and see if there is something he would allow or add for your character to have. Maybe the necklace was your fathers item of station, the thing that had his house symbol and had significance and weight in noble circles. Perhaps when he goes back into one of the cities that has his old family lives in a good portion of the populace notice it and react depending on the families standing. It could be a part of a mini-adventure.

[inexorabletruth]

Ooh! The House feats! Seconding this!

Read through Eberron Campaign Setting and sink your teeth into their fluff. Dragonmarked House feats in Eberron tend to require a bit of cooperation with your DM to make full use of, but if played true, they can be very helpful. You wouldn't need to sacrifice as much in crunch to tie in your back story, and you open up a floodgate of potential plot hooks for your DM.

Fluff-wise I think Aberrant Dragonmark fits your back story most accurately. But it doesn't exactly mesh with the rest of your character concept. Favored in House works almost like a nerfed wish spell, and is a great way to play into The Prodigal Son parable/concept, but it suffers from highly unregulated DCs, so how likely it is to actually work in any given scenario is up to the DM.

And... it's been a long time since I've used a Dragonmarked house in a campaign, but if I recall, belonging to a house doesn't require a feat. You can just belong to it. However, that largely just grants you social connections and fills in the gaps of the back story. As a DM, I tend to reward setting tie-ins in back stories like that, but not every DM does. You'll have to have a conversation there to figure out if simply belonging in the house is enough to make an integrated back story.

[PunkManiak]

I’m figuring the name he would go by and be best known by in the beginning of the story would be Ugguk the Mighty. However his birth name, would be Jaime of House Cannith.