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Thread: backstory ideas
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2007-06-25, 12:08 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Location
- under your floorboards
- Gender
backstory ideas
i'm creating the backstory of a character, and i was wondering if other people had any ideas that might be interesting for it.
this isn't a thread for people to complain in... about anything.
the character is a kobold LE scout (the lighter side of evil, nothing like killing people in their sleep, i'm talking about being a bit selfish). concentrating on archery.
any ideas, incomplete, or cliché are welcome, as long as it can lead to a character that suits the mechanics. i have all of the feats skills and abilities done allready.
10str, 16dex, 12con, 14 int, 8wis, 12cha.
remember no complaints and have funI'm back... possibly... any minute now... brb.
Horny Halfing Avatar by Anna Molly
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2007-06-25, 12:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
- Location
- Indiana
- Gender
Re: backstory ideas
Starting at level 1? Fed up with life in the warren Character X has left to find his way in the world. Underdark ranger would be a nice twist.
After level 1? Reincarnated ranger from another race learning to cope with racial stereotyping would be fun.
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2007-06-25, 12:28 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Location
- cocoa beach, fl
- Gender
Re: backstory ideas
OMG! Not another kobold Scout!!!
Seriously though.
He was part of a defeated kobold army left behind enemy lines and is now trying to make his way in the world alone. He will jump at the chance to join a group that will give him some protection.
Or he wants to become the chieftan of his tribe, but he knows he is not strong enough to challlenge the current chieftan yet. He has left the tribe to gather experience and allies so that he may return later and take control. For a twist you could say that unknown to him, the tribe was destroyed or driven off after he left.
He is a n orphan adopted by a scout from a human army. He would have joined the army, but they wouldn't have him, so now he makes his way as a mercenary.DMs don't cheat, they just change the rules.
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't" -Margaret Thatcher
"Celebacy is no match for a natural 20!" -RandomNPC
"If you're so goth, where were YOU when we sacked Rome?" -Swordguy
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2007-06-25, 12:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
Re: backstory ideas
Have you ever watched Invader Zim? Well, kobolds actually do that all the time. They figure, "Hey, if he dies we're rid of him; if he founds another warren or something, then praise be to Kurtulmak!" Seriously, it's in Races of the Dragon.
Last edited by Inyssius Tor; 2007-06-25 at 12:31 PM.
Diamond Mind avatar provided by Abardam.
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2007-06-25, 02:11 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2006
- Location
- England
- Gender
Re: backstory ideas
O.k. lets see now...seeing as you haven't given us anything but his basic stats, lets start there shall we?
Str: 10, Dex: 16, Con: 12
This Kobold is significantly buff in comparison to the standard for his race, but it's a lithe strength rather than a butch one (less Conan, more Tyler Durden). This sets him apart a bit, it's probably what made him an 'adventurer' over anything else...he's a cut above the rest, not the norm, etc.
Int: 14, Wis: 8, Cha: 12
This guy's sharp, if a little ditsy. Probably a bit too curious for his own good, but at the end of the day he's probably quite likeable (if a little selfish, given his alignment...but bear in mind that 'selfish' for a Kobold means that he's racially selfish...as in he wants what's best for the tribe, not neccesarily himself).
Scout class
O.k. so he's well trained (high skill points) and prefers guerilla (spelling?) warfare (skirmish). He's got a brain (Int: 14), so he probably likes his hide to stay in one piece, which makes him look like a coward, but this is a trait that is condoned by Kobold society, so nothing unusual there.
Could you tell us what feats and foci this dude has (what skills he focuses on, what weapons he uses, etc.)? It might help in building his background. Oh, a name might help too (I'll call him X for now).
Anyway, without the aid of any further information, here's what I've got:
X was always bigger and stronger than the others of his clutch and it was always expected that he would make one of the best miners the tribe had seen for a long time. X had other ideas though and spent a lot of time daydreaming about wild adventures where he would save the tribe form certain doom, when he should have been concentrating on where he was putting his pick or whatever it was he was doing at the time. The tribal elders decided that he needed focus if he was to be put to best use for the tribe and it needed to be something that would occupy his mind completely so that he didn't keep daydreaming. To that end, he was apprenticed to the tribes scouts, the people that go out into the world to contact other tribes and look for warning signs of any danger to the tribe. Surely, they thought, that would be enough to stop these wild dreams of 'adventure'.
X enjoyed learning the secrets of the tribal scouts. He never particularly took to combat, preferring to learn more about stealth and observation than the intricacies of fighting the tribes enemies. His training took him outside of the tribes mines on many occasions and he learnt much about how to survive both on and under the surface. On one such outing to the surface, his patrol was ambushed by [Insert another race here]s and it was only by luck that X managed to escape. The rest of his patrol were killed.
X holed up for a few days, fearing to hunt or gather in case he was discovered. He relied on his temperature enhanced metabolism to sustain him, he was lucky it was summer or he might well have starved. When he was pretty sure that the [other race] were long gone, he came out of hiding and high-tailed it back to his tribes mines, only to find devastation. It turned out that the [other race] had been looking for his tribes mine to loot it for the new ores they had so recently discovered and they had done just that, killing almost three quarters of the tribes population in the process.
Only one of the elders still survived and almost all the tribes warriors lay dead. Fearing further attacks, the surviving elder ordered the mines to be evacuated and collapsed and for the tribe to move out and find somewhere new to live. X, as one of the few remaining scouts, was immediately dispatched to another tribe with a plea for help...
1)X reaches the other tribe, but in return for their assistance, they demand that he goes on some quest for them.
2)X is waylaid on the way to the other tribe and discovers some greater threat to all of kobold-dom and diverts his mission to avert it.
3)X gets to the other tribe, they promise help, but by the time he gets back to his own tribe they've all been slaughtered, leaving him tribeless. So he decides to follow his childhood dreams of being an adventurer.
Kind of stereotyped, but without details, it's the best I could do...hope it helps.I apologise if I come across daft. I'm a bit like that. I also like a good argument, so please don't take offence if I'm somewhat...forthright.
Please be aware; when it comes to 5ed D&D, I own Core (1st printing) and SCAG only. All my opinions and rulings are based solely on those, unless otherwise stated. I reserve the right of ignorance of errata or any other source.
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2007-06-25, 03:28 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Location
- under your floorboards
- Gender
Re: backstory ideas
thanks for all of these, they're great!
having seen invader zim (and having frequently wished it hadn't been cancelled), i'm definately useing that point.
if I didn't mention before, this is an archery character, so it will have point blank shot etc. aiming for shot on the run (although i'm trying out the dodge variant from races of the wild "expiditios dodge", move 40ft in 1 round to get +2 to AC untill your next round).
what I have so far is that he was part of a force of kobolds who had angered the kobold authorities (á lá operation impending doom http://youtube.com/watch?v=nD47lwLxwWY ) and were sent out to scout (or more acurately be sacrificed to) a local monster/army/the tarrasque. he is the only survivor and becomes a hermit, or "wild man".
this character will start off at or above lvl 3
p.s. i surpose he would be a wild kobold instead of wild manI'm back... possibly... any minute now... brb.
Horny Halfing Avatar by Anna Molly
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2007-06-25, 03:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
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2007-06-26, 09:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
- Location
- under your floorboards
- Gender