Conflicting Character Concept/Background

[Allistar]

Last week my friend decided to run a 1 shot of an island adventure, and we actually ended up loving it so much that we're probably going to continue it as a full campaign! This kind of left me in an awkward position as to what I wanted to do with my character, and I figured why not post about it.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, a charming Italian sailor who's quick with a joke and the jab of a rapier. Yeah I went with a rogue, but I wanted put a little spin on it by making him a bit of the classical braggart with an aura of swagger to him. Also since my alignment I decided to be a bit of a generous man, still a bit snarky and whatnot but a kindhearted underneath it all. The only thing is I rolled pirate for his background rather than sailor, and I think that's running a bit against how I played him throughout the session. I can't really change it since it's kind of cannon now since I rode in on a rowboat with them. I however did lose them pretty quickly by pulling a bit of a Jack Sparrow and completely ignoring the dock marshal and letting the rest of them handle it, meanwhile I slip away to mingle at the festival in town meeting up with the other party members while I'm enjoying the sights of this new foreign land. I never used my background feature and from the way I want to play my character I don't think I ever really will, so how can I RP around it?

My first thought is having him try to escape it and pursue his own journey (Twas one of his ideals). Trying to shake the bad reputation and become a captain in his own right seems like a neat way for me to go. Only problem I see here is the fact that he doesn't really have anything to run from. The islanders are nice, and he's nice to them, the other pirates are pretty much the only ones that know about it, and it's not like he's proving anything by giving them a middle finger. It changes nothing in the eyes of the navy or the islanders, but it would be so unbelievably true to the character. Perhaps I can work with the DM and develop a bit of a reason behind this, but what do y'all think?

[Tawmis]

Last week my friend decided to run a 1 shot of an island adventure, and we actually ended up loving it so much that we're probably going to continue it as a full campaign! This kind of left me in an awkward position as to what I wanted to do with my character, and I figured why not post about it.

Stop me if you've heard this one before, a charming Italian sailor who's quick with a joke and the jab of a rapier. Yeah I went with a rogue, but I wanted put a little spin on it by making him a bit of the classical braggart with an aura of swagger to him. Also since my alignment I decided to be a bit of a generous man, still a bit snarky and whatnot but a kindhearted underneath it all. The only thing is I rolled pirate for his background rather than sailor, and I think that's running a bit against how I played him throughout the session. I can't really change it since it's kind of cannon now since I rode in on a rowboat with them. I however did lose them pretty quickly by pulling a bit of a Jack Sparrow and completely ignoring the dock marshal and letting the rest of them handle it, meanwhile I slip away to mingle at the festival in town meeting up with the other party members while I'm enjoying the sights of this new foreign land. I never used my background feature and from the way I want to play my character I don't think I ever really will, so how can I RP around it?

My first thought is having him try to escape it and pursue his own journey (Twas one of his ideals). Trying to shake the bad reputation and become a captain in his own right seems like a neat way for me to go. Only problem I see here is the fact that he doesn't really have anything to run from. The islanders are nice, and he's nice to them, the other pirates are pretty much the only ones that know about it, and it's not like he's proving anything by giving them a middle finger. It changes nothing in the eyes of the navy or the islanders, but it would be so unbelievably true to the character. Perhaps I can work with the DM and develop a bit of a reason behind this, but what do y'all think?

Well, you said you already played him a bit like Jack Sparrow for a moment... so you could go for the friendly, dashing, quick jab pirate rather than the ruthless pirate. A sailor is just one bad luck moment from a pirate anyway. :smallwink:

[Man_Over_Game]

He's familiar with pirates, mercenaries, and anyone needing to make ends meet using any methods possible.

You could talk to your DM, but I'd just have it be "Advantage on Charisma Checks when interacting with roguish individuals for the first time". This could mean that you're good at intimidating people who know your infamy, or you're good at buttering up the right people in the black market.

This channels both the intimidating factor of the Pirate background, the charisma of your new persona, and has a direct tie to your past. This also leaves your ability more open-ended, so you can decide how you'd like to use it as the story unfolds.

[Particle_Man]

Maybe you can switch out the background feature with that of the folk hero, if you and the islanders get along so well?

[Allistar]

Well, you said you already played him a bit like Jack Sparrow for a moment... so you could go for the friendly, dashing, quick jab pirate rather than the ruthless pirate. A sailor is just one bad luck moment from a pirate anyway. :smallwink:

That was the idea from the RP standpoint, the problem was the feature from the pirate background made no sense for the character. Bad reputation and getting away with small crimes isn't quite what I envision the friendly pirate doing. Although I suppose someone like One Piece's Luffy is also a (relatively) nice dude that still gets flack for being a pirate, even though it's much more of a freedom thing for him..... so maybe I roll with it and do a personal freedom thing with him and casting off his old captain/going his own way ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

*Full disclosure I'm not too far into One Piece, so my information could be wrong with current information*

[Contrast]

I can't really change it since it's kind of cannon now since I rode in on a rowboat with them.

You do not need the pirate background to have been a pirate. If I was DMing I would be totally fine with you swapping your background to sailor. It wouldn't change the fact that you sailed into town with pirates and had been a pirate in the past of course.

Backgrounds are there to help you flesh out your character, not put you in boxes. The PHB actively encourages you to work with your DM to create a custom one if none of the example ones fit.

[Man_Over_Game]

Backgrounds are there to help you flesh out your character, not put you in boxes.

Dealing with this problem right now where some 3.5 veterans, new to 5e, have a hard time imagining their character concept beyond the concepts the game has already come up with. They treat backgrounds and classes as part of a multiple choice answer, as opposed to creating a story. Kinda frustrating, to be honest, to get any kind of world-making contributions from them. Feels like trying to squeeze water from a stone.

[Allistar]

Backgrounds are there to help you flesh out your character, not put you in boxes. The PHB actively encourages you to work with your DM to create a custom one if none of the example ones fit.

For me it's just about making a consistent character flavor/concept. The basic idea is to have him be a snarky yet nice dude that gives to those in need, but because of his past as a pirate he is kinda hated even though he's tried to leave that time in the past. That's why I don't think the feature fits, and also why I'm trying to homebrew a new solution up/find a feature that would make sense for that kind of character story.

[Man_Over_Game]

For me it's just about making a consistent character flavor/concept. The basic idea is to have him be a snarky yet nice dude that gives to those in need, but because of his past as a pirate he is kinda hated even though he's tried to leave that time in the past. That's why I don't think the feature fits, and also why I'm trying to homebrew a new solution up/find a feature that would make sense for that kind of character story.

Why not just talk to your DM about using the Sailor feature, then swap out the proficiencies to match with your Pirate experience (picking up skills like Intimidation, Athletics or Sleight of Hand)?

Customizing a background is an official, non-variant thing that anyone can do (unless your DM decides you're not allowed to for some reason). The rules for it are just before the pre-written backgrounds in the PHB.

It basically boils down to this, though:

Pick 2 skill proficiencies. Pick 2 of any combination of Language proficiencies or Tool proficiencies (so you can have 2 languages, 2 tools, or one of each). Pick a background feature that suits your player concept.


Don't just focus on what happened, focus on how you plan on playing. Because that's how you're going to feel rewarded for your choices, and how you're going to add theatrics for the rest of your party. The fact is, the only people who care about your past is you and the DM, and the DM only cares because it's his job to make it relevant for your entertainment. So focus on what you want to DO. And between the Sailor and the Pirate features, which one do you see coming up more often for you?

[Maelynn]

For me it's just about making a consistent character flavor/concept. The basic idea is to have him be a snarky yet nice dude that gives to those in need, but because of his past as a pirate he is kinda hated even though he's tried to leave that time in the past. That's why I don't think the feature fits, and also why I'm trying to homebrew a new solution up/find a feature that would make sense for that kind of character story.

This is what the PHB says about the Pirate background:


If you decide that your sailing career involved piracy, you can choose the Bad Reputation feature (see sidebar) instead of the Ship's Passage feature.

Doesn't say you must. So just go ahead and keep Ship's Passage, and have your background be one of the slightly reluctant pirate who didn't feel good about the plundering and murdering.

[Phhase]

Nawh, you're totally ok. Think of "Pirate" as meaning "Robin Hood with a boat" in your case.