Quote Originally Posted by GrimWaffle View Post
So far your backstories look amazing! I have to admit, I also made an account just to reply to this thread. Would you be able to write just a short and quick backstory for my character?
Name: Otto Glittergear
Gender: Male
Race: Forest Gnome
Class: Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Age: 35
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Otto grew up in a small Gnomish forest village named Undercreek. He inherited his power from his ancestor who helped build some of the first Modrons. He is not only part of an adventuring group but also a Sorcerer's Guild, and he is paid to cast spells for people (like casting Lesser Restoration on a poisoned villager). He has a younger brother named Percy who lives in the same kingdom as him but in a different city. They visit each other (typically) once a year.
I only really need a short backstory, so it doesn't need to be essay-length.
Thanks!
You have a good short summary already!
But to really get a feel for your character - I had to step back further, to how you mentioned an ancestor working with a Modron.
I wanted to see how that came to be - and from there - built forward.
It became easy as I looked up Clockwork Soul Sorcerer (never played one, myself, so I had to check) - and the pieces feel into place.
Some fun notes - the mention of "Kwint Stormbellow" - and the saying - comes directly from the book that the Clockwork Sorcerer is in. :)
You ancestor being named "Bhaut" is a reference to your character's name. Otto + Bhaut. Autobot. Transformers.
Anyway! I had fun writing this - hope it's just the right length!
Would love to hear feedback in the thread as it helps keep it bumped and alive!
Enjoy!
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There are rumors – and rumors that the dwarves quickly dismiss – that the innate desire in so many gnomes comes from their direct relationship to Dwarves, who enjoy the forge. Dwarves are quick to explain that there is absolutely no relation between Dwarf and Gnome; though many would argue that both enjoy creating things, their stout size, and their pride in the work that they do.

Otto’s ancestor – too many generations to even remember now – supposedly worked on the Modrons. According to legend, Otto’s ancestor, Bhaut Glittergear was out with his best friend Kwint Stormbellow, who was also a gnome – but a rock gnome, when a malfunctioning Modron crashed near them from the sky. The two rushed over to see what had crashed – and discovered the malfunctioning Modron that was repeating the words, “Anarchy… Chaos… Urgent… Mission… Damage… Murder… Comet… Diagnose… Critical… Trajectory altered… Location… Unknown.” It repeated the same message over and over. The two friends looked at each other and without saying a word began to lift and carry the Modron towards their mutual tinkering shop that was at the base of the mountain.

“I swear,” Bhaut Glittergear growled. ““Every 289 years, the entire multiverse goes mad. Like clockwork.” (As a side note – his best friend Kwint laughed so much, he constantly repeated the phrase and became the one who is quoted as having originally said it).

Together, the two relentlessly worked on the Modron, until it suddenly reset – sat up, and said, “Running diagnotics… repairs… completed. Mission parameters can still be met.” Without so much as a thanks, the Modron quickly exited the shop and departed into the heavens.

Little did either Bhaut or Kwint realize, that the long hours that they’d spent working on the Modron, day in and day out, was infusing their body with magical energies that altered their very genetic being. Every couple of generations someone on each side of their family was born able to inexplicably channel magic effortlessly.

Growing up not far from where his ancestor had worked on the Modron; Otto grew up in Undercreek, a forested village, whose forest grew right up against the Undermountain, where the lab was. The lab, over the generations (and the ever-expanding story of Bhaut and Kwint working on a Modron) was now much larger, and home to many gnomish artificers who constructed various objects and created new potions (both of which, had the occasional explosive, but rarely lethal results).

In Undercreek, life was much simpler. When Otto first surfaced his magical abilities, his family wasn’t at all surprised. It’d been quite a long time since someone in the family exhibited magic; even his younger brother, who saw Otto develop magic had hoped he too would also be able to do what his brother had done. Unfortunately, Percy, like many others before him, was not born with magical abilities. While Percy moved to Undermountain to study to become an artificer, Otto remained in Undercreek for quite some time being employed by the developing Sorcerer’s Guild that answered to the needs of the people, providing services such as Lesser Restoration for the occasional gnome who consumed the questionable mushroom found around Blooming Lake (named for the numerous plants and vegetation that grew around the lake due to the amount of nutrients the lake provided, undoubtedly from the depths – which had not been fully explored – of the lake).

While Otto was content in Undercreek, being near his people, his brother, and feeling useful around the town, providing services and being a part of an ever-growing guild – there was still something else he longed for.

Deep inside, there was something gnawing away at him. Something beyond Undercreek or Undermountain. Something beyond the walls of the forest or even the mountains. There was an entire world out there to explore and see. And yes, there was dangers to also be considered – but something about it – called to him.

One night, while visiting Percy at Undermountain, Otto explained that it might be a while before he sees him again; and that he was going on “an adventure.” When Percy asked where, Otto shrugged his shoulders and simply said, “I am not sure to be honest. But look to the moon as it moves across the skies, like seconds on the clocks; and know I will be watching the same moon. We may be far apart, Percy, but we will always be watching the same moon.”