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View Full Version : [Backstory and Character Concept] Jaden Blackblade, Knight of Wrath



Lord_Gareth
2007-09-13, 07:59 PM
"Close the bar with -her- in here? Miss, you are some kinda stupid."


- Virrie Vlarion, to Rel Firehand

Imagine a noble figure in golden armor, lustrous blonde locks flowing in the wind atop her valiant stallion. She fights with honor and dignity, a prayer on her lips and the concerns of others put before herself. She believes in mercy, purity, and good. This is your typical paladin.

Jaden Blackblade is not your typical paladin.

At 6'2", Jaden is clad in black armor from neck to toe. A single, almost absurdly huge greatsword makes its home on her back, with twin shortswords hanging from her belt. A dark green pentagram on her left cheek stands out against her bone-white hair but matches nicely with her deep emerald eyes - eyes that almost always glitter with rage. Jaden's every movement is predatory, threatening - she's always throwing her weight around and not afraid to back it up with brute force.

When asked, many people, including her god Tyr, have trouble saying why the violent and tempermental woman remains a paladin. Some theorize that Tyr is forgiving her quirks in the face of her many years spent trapped in Ravenloft. Others believe that her piety is so great that her indescretions are ignored. Whatever the case, it is widely known that Jaden is a violent drunk prone to fits of rage that can and have inflicted massive property damage, using the unfortunate targets of her anger as weapons.

However, when not in a bloodlusted fury, the Blackblade has a deep and innate sense of justice, one that has never failed her. She honestly and devoutly believes in Tyr, and in the dark, where no one can see her, she prays to him to forgive her flaws and help her overcome them.

Jaden's signature feature is her ungodly strength, quite possibly the most muscle that has ever been present in one being in Faerunian history. She has grappled dragons and won, caused earthquakes with hammer blows, leveled buildings with her bare hands, and does it all without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, not much else about the paladin is special, except for her truly terrifying rages and uncanny skill with hurling her twin shortswords.

Crunch: Jaden is a 36th level character with levels in fighter, rogue, paladin, and Shadowbane Inquisitor. She makes use of such feats as Cheap Shot and Dirty Fighting. Her strength score is roughly 56. Instead of an Aura of Courage, she gained Rage as the barbarian class feature.

horseboy
2007-09-13, 08:10 PM
It's always fun to deconstruct icons. Righteous indignation inspired rages? I could see that.

Reel On, Love
2007-09-13, 08:34 PM
Bluntly, "really strong and angry paladin from Ravenloft" is a character concept, not an actual character.

Her attempts at self-betterment are the start of a personality--but why *is* she a paladin, anyway? Tyr is devoted to duty, obedience, and honor. Wanton property damage and beating people up doesn't really fit, here. There's bound to be a more appropriate god.

In any case, to be a fleshed-out character rather than a concept, you need to know more about her. Who were the important people in her life? What does she do when she isn't a) brooding, drinking, and beating people up and b) Delivering The Righteous Wrath Of God Yea Verily Forsooth? What does she do to try to conquer her bloodlust and fits of rage other than pray?
You can say that she doesn't have any friends, and she doesn't do anything other than smash-for-justice, but people are more complicated than that. Everyone has hobbies and ways in which they spend downtime. Maybe she likes to feel pretty sometimes and has a collection of flattering outfits for when she's out of fullplate (which is a crappy thing to wear all day every day, magical comfort enhancements or not). Maybe she reads escapist fiction.
Characters are people, and people have more than one side to them.

A 36th level character is a shaker and mover. Which Realms organizations try to work with her, which try to manipulate her, and which try to get rid of her?

tsuyoshikentsu
2007-09-13, 08:41 PM
Unfortunately, not much else about the paladin is special,

That's pretty much descriptive of this story as a whole.

She's supposed to be a defender of peace and justice -- but she's not! Oh my Pelor! It's not like this isn't a complete GENRE of paladins to the point where they've made a class (Grey Guard) and a feat (Heretic of the Faith) specifically to describe this! Not to mention that based on her behavior it's fairly impossible to understand why she hasn't fallen yet!

:smallannoyed:

You yourself admit that beyond the fact that she's a moody paladin who's good with a sword, there's not much to her. Didn't you ask yourself while writing that if that might, just possibly, be a BAD THING? I mean, for crying out loud, there's no history, no mention of other interests, and -- as the post above mine points out as well -- no mention of any friends or family if she has any. I cannot think of a more one-dimensional character history I've read in a long time.


Crunch: Jaden is a 36th level character with levels in fighter, rogue, paladin, and Shadowbane Inquisitor. She makes use of such feats as Cheap Shot and Dirty Fighting. Her strength score is roughly 56. Instead of an Aura of Courage, she gained Rage as the barbarian class feature.

Well, you're going to die VERY quickly, that's all I'm going to say.

My advice? Scrap and start over.

Lord_Gareth
2007-09-13, 08:47 PM
Good questions. I just gave the gist of her here - the deeper things I left out mostly because I don't know the character limits on these posts. So -

Jaden actually tries very hard to control her temper, but it's a lot stronger than her will is. Several lifetimes' worth of exposure to mind-affecting magics has left her more or less permanently incapable of controlling her anger, sadness, or joy, which is part of the reason she drinks so much - to kill her emotions.

Jaden actually does have plenty of friends - including the two characters in that quote, of which Virrie is her son. It's just that most of her friends can't really stop her if she gets going - they just hope she deals only nonlethal (which she typically does, much to the relief of drunken commoners everywhere).

The Church of Tyr accepted her before she became all messed-up - pre 'Loft. Why Tyr keeps her is a mystery that my DM won't tell me about.

Jaden is actually an established character that has been played in campaigns before - I'm posting her to see what you guys make of her. And no, she didn't die quickly - she has this rather nice tendency to come through in a clutch, with such fights as the Dracolich Warmage (she blew him up by destroying an artifact and survived with one hit point).

As to what organizations are associated with her - more or less just the ones who want her dead. The others consider her too much of a wild card to allow membership, which is understandable.

Lord_Gareth
2007-09-13, 09:05 PM
Not sure on this site's policy on double-posting, so I'm just gonna pray -

Jaden's hobbies are few, mostly because she's too hammered to have them most of the time. However, when (mostly) sober, she usually is found at a blacksmith's forge, or else she's reading to prisoners out of the holy text of Tyr. Like her nightly prayers for forgiveness, that second activity is generally kept a secret - she's terrified of being considered "soft" by her enemies.

tsuyoshikentsu
2007-09-13, 09:47 PM
Good questions. I just gave the gist of her here - the deeper things I left out mostly because I don't know the character limits on these posts. So -

Oh, that is SO MUCH BETTER. Now I'm really interested in this character. A great bit here is her being terrified of people finding out about her "softness" -- most people might justify her insane drunkeness with that kind of activity, but few indeed would think about how that affect her emotional state.


Jaden is actually an established character that has been played in campaigns before - I'm posting her to see what you guys make of her. And no, she didn't die quickly - she has this rather nice tendency to come through in a clutch, with such fights as the Dracolich Warmage (she blew him up by destroying an artifact and survived with one hit point).

Oh, looks like someone fixed the rules on Epic spellcasting, then. That just makes it a case of "I'd do this differently" versus "Danger, Will Robinson!"

skywalker
2007-09-13, 11:06 PM
Not sure on this site's policy on double-posting, so I'm just gonna pray -

Jaden's hobbies are few, mostly because she's too hammered to have them most of the time. However, when (mostly) sober, she usually is found at a blacksmith's forge, or else she's reading to prisoners out of the holy text of Tyr. Like her nightly prayers for forgiveness, that second activity is generally kept a secret - she's terrified of being considered "soft" by her enemies.

I have, in fact, never encountered a character limit on GITP(although, I don't often venture outside gaming, so don't quote me on that.) As for double posting, there's a handy dandy "edit" button, right down at the bottom of your post.

As an aside, it might be better if you went and read the forum rules(which are linked at the top of every page), and possibly even watched a few threads develop without commenting, just to learn the feel of how GITP tends to flow.

Renegade Paladin
2007-09-14, 12:04 AM
The upper limit on posts is something I've never reached, and I've made some really big (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26753) posts (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29422).

Anyway, from the look of it I'd say Hoar would be a better fit than Tyr. Just an offhand opinion from the sketchy information in the thread, mind.

Gralamin
2007-09-14, 12:17 AM
The Upper limit is about 50,000 Characters.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about Faerun's gods, but I suggest listening to Renegade Paladin.

Renegade Paladin
2007-09-14, 12:39 AM
Hoar is a lawful neutral demipower of vengeance and poetic justice. He sponsors paladins, but why is beyond me. The fact remains, though, and she seems to fit him better than any of the Triad members.

Lord_Gareth
2007-09-14, 05:27 AM
Hey, the suggestion would be -great- if I were just statting her up now, but she's already attached and devoted to Tyr. Mind you, her own church doesn't like her too much, but when she does good by them, she usually does it really well (at level 36, you're gonna, regardless of what you actually do).

Tsuyo, call me paranoid, but it took me a couple reads to realize that you weren't mocking me >.> When you spend a lot of your life arguing, it gets to ya.

For those who are interested, I recieved no less than three infractions yesterday - St. Jude doesn't play games.

Keep an eye out - more characters, played or not, may be popping up. I certainly plan on exposing you all to Endeca. No one should be without 'Deca ^_^