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senrath
2008-03-25, 07:18 AM
Alright, I need some help coming up with a backstory for one of my characters. He's a 30 year-old NG druid in the campaign Defend thy City! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75798)

Pretty much I need to explain how he came to be how he is, and where he is. He needs a reason why he's staying to defend a city that, unbeknownst to him, history says lost the battle.

Here is a link to his character sheet:
http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/view.php?id=46943

And although it isn't mentioned on the sheet, here is his personality:
Zemdrias is taciturn to the extreme. Given a choice between talk and action, he will choose action (unless it would actively harm the environment). He can be quite persuasive if he needs to, but he hardly ever feels so.
He is loyal to the extreme, more than willing to fight to the death to protect those he feels loyalty towards. That said, he's not the most trusting of people, and gaining his trust and loyalty is a feat unto itself.

Oh, and I'd prefer not to make his backstory depressing and angst ridden. It doesn't have to be happy, but I don't really want it to be sad either.

Mr. Friendly
2008-03-25, 07:41 AM
Is the city large enough to have a large park and/or zoo?

Perhaps his Druid grove (or his masters, that he swore to continue keeping up after he/she/it died) was located near the city and city expanded around it and encompassed it.

Perhaps in exchange for friendly ecological policies (no clear-cutting, no excessive hunting/fishing and no strip-mining) he keeps up the city parks and water system and/or aids with the crops.

Tempest Fennac
2008-03-25, 07:46 AM
Mr. Friendly's ideas are all good. I've got 1 question: considering how his only level 1, shouldn't he be a bit younger then 30? (I would have thought that he would have picked up at least a few levels between him finishing his training and reaching that age).

hewhosaysfish
2008-03-25, 08:13 AM
You says he is fiercely loyal to his friends but don't mention any actual loyalty to the city... So why not combine this:


He is loyal to the extreme, more than willing to fight to the death to protect those he feels loyalty towards.

... with the ideas from this....


I don't think anyone reading this has never spent the night doing something they'd rather not because a friend asked.
(http://www.giantitp.com/articles/tll307KmEm4H9k6efFP.html)

... and have you're druid be standing alongside a friend (or friends) who happens care more deeply for the the city than he himself does.
Whether that friend is an PC or an NPC really depends on the rest of the party.

senrath
2008-03-25, 08:39 AM
Mr. Friendly's ideas are all good. I've got 1 question: considering how his only level 1, shouldn't he be a bit younger then 30? (I would have thought that he would have picked up at least a few levels between him finishing his training and reaching that age).

Not necessarily. Who says he was doing anything that would warrant him gaining a level?

And I like those ideas. It probably is pretty big, since the city is apparently a vital point on multiple trade caravan's routes.