Creating two PCs! Read more :).

[Cullasdir]

Hey, I'm the DM in a small group of on average 3 people. There's a fourth but family issues tie him up a lot recently. We're getting a new person though, and one of the current players has had a long running habit of switching characters frequently because he can't find a character that's right for him. I thought it would be a good idea to create brothers and sisters so that the new player can jump right into the campaign and see how she likes it and to give the other some kind of substantial reason to stick with the character.

Of course they could decide they don't like this idea at all and refuse it but what the hey, these were going to be NPC's anyway.

The backstory of these characters is that they lived in a village that sacrificed children born on certain days of the year to a dark deity who then blesses the village's well, giving it healing properties. The brother was born on one of these days, and usually the villagers raise the child to a certain age telling that child of how one day it would be his duty and honor to be sacrificed. The child was unwilling. This has happened on occasion, so the villagers simply locked him in a cave and tortured him for weeks in an attempt to make him into a willing sacrifice. Death would be a release and the only way out they would assure him.

The boy had a surprisingly strong resolve, and for the first time the villagers ended up slaying an unwilling sacrifice. When offered to the deity, the dark being did not respond. An ancient curse that had long been held back by the healing properties of the well began to ravage the people of the village and they turned spiteful and desperate. In some crazed reasoning, they decided to try and sacrifice the girl as well, who had been prevented almost every day from seeing her brother. Now, with her brother dead and the village people looking to kill her to, she made a pact with the dark deity. She cared little for herself, she cared only for the fact her brother had not lived a full life.

Her prayer was answered; she wished to bring her brother back and offered herself in his place. However (Of course *roll eyes*) he did not come back truly himself. The dark deity resided in his body - not hers - and slew the entire village, before her brother came to consciousness. She had watched her own brother kill their mother and father but she felt no remorse. What pity did they deserve? They left the village to find what life they could together beyond this hell, and to find some way to rid the brother of his demon.

So the question is: based on this backstory and the sort of personalities you could expect, what race and classes would you make these two siblings? I'd like the two to characters to have really cool synergy with each other. (We currently have a Sorcerer, Paladin and Rogue in the group.) Any suggestions are appreciated :smallsmile:. Also, the group and campaign is very role play oriented. No one's too interested in making optimized characters and I'm pretty decent at balancing things so weak characters aren't a problem as long as they're cool to play.

[Unoriginal]

That backstory could fit any race or class. Guess humans would work.

The brother or the sister could be a Cleric and "deity destroying the village while possessing the boy, then bringing him back to life" could be interpreted as a successful use of the Divine Intervention feature.

Warlock wouldn't really fit, though. At least not for the sister.


So I guess Cleric for the sister and Warlock for the brother?

Dunno if it's the best backstory for a beginner, though. What are their reasons for sticking with the group?

[Cullasdir]

That backstory could fit any race or class. Guess humans would work.

The brother or the sister could be a Cleric and "deity destroying the village while possessing the boy, then bringing him back to life" could be interpreted as a successful use of the Divine Intervention feature.

Warlock wouldn't really fit, though. At least not for the sister.


So I guess Cleric for the sister and Warlock for the brother?

Dunno if it's the best backstory for a beginner, though. What are their reasons for sticking with the group?

Well I have my own campaign setting and it happens that in my campaign there are no half-orcs, or at least there aren't supposed to be any. The party is following a trail of clues to find the supposed only half-orc child known. If I wanted to fit them in directly to what the party is doing I could have them hear rumors of some sort of a half-orc girl with the power to work miracles, and perhaps they meet the group chasing down similar clues in order to find this child and rid themselves of the demon. Alternatively they could be seeking out Angela the Witch, an NPC the party is currently tracking down, to ask her about their problem. Fates would collide then, as she can send the siblings and the party in the same direction for what they want. Ultimately they want to rid themselves of a demon and the party has earned a good reputation so far in areas nearby so I think they would see them as valuable allies to travel with if nothing more.

Also, the new player isn't a beginner. I meant she was new to the group, sorry. She's been playing for about half a year now in a different group but we've invited her since that group is falling apart.

[CTurbo]

I like the idea of the sister being a Cleric of Life or Light, and the brother being a Fiend Warlock.

Does the brother care about his sister?


I've played the brother sister thing before and it adds a fun element to gameplay. I was a Wood Elf Archer Fighter and my sister-in-law was a Wood Elf Thief Rogue. I played him as the over the top protective big brother and my combat decisions were largely based on where she was or what she was doing at the time.

[Cullasdir]

I like the idea of the sister being a Cleric of Life or Light, and the brother being a Fiend Warlock.

Does the brother care about his sister?


I've played the brother sister thing before and it adds a fun element to gameplay. I was a Wood Elf Archer Fighter and my sister-in-law was a Wood Elf Thief Rogue. I played him as the over the top protective big brother and my combat decisions were largely based on where she was or what she was doing at the time.

Well my idea of it is that the brother would find it difficult to care for anyone, but feels some sort of responsibility to try because of what his sister has done for him/to him. Caring for him might be the constant battle to enjoy life, despite was he has and is still going through. So I think he does care for her, but in an unconventional way that might come off as abrasive.

So what races do you think would be fun to roleplay for this? The most important thing is that it fits thematically and is fun. I can see how Wood Elf works well for what you and your sister-in-law had going in this regard and it complements the classes mechanically as well.

I'm thinking of making them Dragonborn, Lizardfolk or Tabaxi because any of these races can have some pretty interesting roleplay moments in my setting and racially tie in one way or another to what direction the campaign is taking. All three can be tribal, the majority of Dragonborn are living in poverty and turned to dark ways having recently lost a large war over territory, the lizardfolk are pretty ruthless and strange in their religions and the some tabaxi tribes can be very malevolent depending on who rules them. This means the backstory is plausible with all of these races.

[CTurbo]

Well my idea of it is that the brother would find it difficult to care for anyone, but feels some sort of responsibility to try because of what his sister has done for him/to him. Caring for him might be the constant battle to enjoy life, despite was he has and is still going through. So I think he does care for her, but in an unconventional way that might come off as abrasive.

So what races do you think would be fun to roleplay for this? The most important thing is that it fits thematically and is fun. I can see how Wood Elf works well for what you and your sister-in-law had going in this regard and it complements the classes mechanically as well.

I'm thinking of making them Dragonborn, Lizardfolk or Tabaxi because any of these races can have some pretty interesting roleplay moments in my setting and racially tie in one way or another to what direction the campaign is taking. All three can be tribal, the majority of Dragonborn are living in poverty and turned to dark ways having recently lost a large war over territory, the lizardfolk are pretty ruthless and strange in their religions and the some tabaxi tribes can be very malevolent depending on who rules them. This means the backstory is plausible with all of these races.


I think Lizardfolk are supposed to be nearly emotionless. I think Dragonborn, Tabaxi, or even Goliath would be great, or for mechanical reason, you could go Variant Human or Half-Elf so you can add the stat boosts where they are relevant for both classes.

[Consensus]

Sounds like two warlocks, both human. The brother could be a hexblade/fighter from his (albeit possessed) slaying of the entire village and the sister could be a GOOlock, maybe shadow sorc multiclass for more creepy spell casting? It's kinda strange that you're making another player's backstory to me, I've never really heard of a player doing that, just DM's.

[Cullasdir]

Sounds like two warlocks, both human. The brother could be a hexblade/fighter from his (albeit possessed) slaying of the entire village and the sister could be a GOOlock, maybe shadow sorc multiclass for more creepy spell casting? It's kinda strange that you're making another player's backstory to me, I've never really heard of a player doing that, just DM's.

I'm the DM, not the player. If it's strange, I think perhaps you missed the reason that I'm making these PC's.

"one of the current players has had a long running habit of switching characters frequently because he can't find a character that's right for him. I thought it would be a good idea to create brothers and sisters so that the new player can jump right into the campaign and see how she likes it and to give the other some kind of substantial reason to stick with the character."

Anyway, I'm not forcing them to play the characters. We only play about 4-5 hours a session and the group takes their time with things so I have a lot of time to prepare. I don't mind spending time to try and make PCs that these two might like if they're too busy or are having trouble. I like having premade PC's that fit my campaign setting already written up so that if we ever get someone who is interested in playing or new to D&D they can just grab a premade that is relevant to the campaign (As an option, they can always make their own).

[Consensus]

I'm the DM, not the player. If it's strange, I think perhaps you missed the reason that I'm making these PC's.

"one of the current players has had a long running habit of switching characters frequently because he can't find a character that's right for him. I thought it would be a good idea to create brothers and sisters so that the new player can jump right into the campaign and see how she likes it and to give the other some kind of substantial reason to stick with the character."

Anyway, I'm not forcing them to play the characters. We only play about 4-5 hours a session and the group takes their time with things so I have a lot of time to prepare. I don't mind spending time to try and make PCs that these two might like if they're too busy or are having trouble. I like having premade PC's that fit my campaign setting already written up so that if we ever get someone who is interested in playing or new to D&D they can just grab a premade that is relevant to the campaign (As an option, they can always make their own).

I am not a thorough reader it seems :smallsmile: