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I need some help with background motivations to bring some PCs together for RotRL.
So far I have a cleric of Abadar sent to Sandpoint for the dedication of the Temple.
A Wizard of Acadamae sent to do some field research in Sandpoint.
A Barbarian being sent south by his tribal shaman (druid) for a "vision quest." Ok not really a vision quest, but a coming of age type of quest.
Now, I have a sorcerer, a fighter and a rogue to deal with.
The rogue I am thinking is being sent to monitor the activities of the local Scarnzi (sp?) gang. Maybe.
No ideas yet for sorcerer or fighter.
Any help from the Pathfinder Gang?
...a cleric of Abadar sent to Sandpoint for the dedication of the Temple.
A Wizard of Acadamae sent to do some field research in Sandpoint.
A Barbarian being sent south by his tribal shaman (druid) for a "vision quest."Now, I have a sorcerer, a fighter and a rogue to deal with.
The rogue I am thinking is being sent to monitor the activities of the local Scarnzi (sp?) gang. Maybe.
No ideas yet for sorcerer or fighter.
The rogue could be traveling from Korvosa - one step ahead of the law. He (or she) doesn't have to be going to Sandpoint on purpose, just traveling with the first group (s)he could hook up with - which lets the rogue and wizard be traveling together from Korvosa.
Do you have any background information for the PCs? I gave my group a bunch of options, including some NPCs in Sandpoint that they could be related to. Some PCs could be visiting relatives - a few examples:
One PC could be related to the Hambly family (Hambly's farm, in the second adventure).
A Shoanti could be a cousin who is visiting the sheriff or (more likely) his brother (proprietor of the White Deer) - although that ends up sending that PC to stay there instead of the Rusty Dragon, which may cause issues with getting to know Ameiko.
A PC may have been orphaned (Chopper killed his parents), stayed in the orphanage for a while, then been adopted and moved away from Sandpoint.
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What our game master used in our story:
The Paladin went aso because of a vision, different one, but mixed him with the cleric
varisian bard... there is party in town... always a good place to get some coin
elven rogue... has a tatto went to investigate... and because he is an adventurer
gnome druid was jsut passing when the goblins attacked... hated the goblins she joined the band
another rogue or sorcerer... was an orphan inthe cathedral, when the old priest died he moved away and returned for the consacration
ideas that come to mind:
or maybe he is just a mercenary looking for job
Rogue... family member is in town, he is an orphan from the time of the Chooper... if he is a common rogue... well there is party in town, meaning easy coin... which can get him in trouble with the czerni meaning he needs all the help he can get
Sorceror, either he is related to someone (depending on the bloodline) or he is in the region investigating about the rune magic of the runelords... mostly lsot but maybe the monastery with information about the planes canhave soemthing lostin there that canbeuseful for hisquest
I see that a lot of PCs were "sent" for one reason or another.
Do yourself a favor and convince some PCs to be local. Sandpoint has an awesome depth to the NPCs, and it's useful to be able to use a PC for exposition sometimes ("we're hurt, we'd best get ourselves to Hannah's" ... "A new shield from Savah"... etc).
I managed to get 2 such PCs and it has been invaluable.
I second the local part.
Beyond that, a rogue doesn't have to be sent to Sandpoint. He can go there of his own accord. A big crowd of people intent on festivities, inebriated and slow from rich food - not very alert and in look for cutpurses. Add to that a backwater hillbilly sherriff and his yokel deputies who are probably deeper into their tankards than most of the revelers. Opportunities are golden, I tell you. Steal, swindle, con, and burglarise yourself to riches untold! And those culchie girls will probably just look for a charming city dweller for a dalliance.
Fighters might be hired escorts for revelers, or just want to enjoy the festival.
Same for sorcerers, plus maybe they have heard of the local monument and want to see whether it awakens some more of their mystic power.
Sandpoint need not be the destination for any traveler. It can be yet another waypoint for the PC's.
If the town is a port- he could be there while his ship resupplies while on the journey to (insert town name here).
He can be playing caravan guard. Doesn't really care about Sandpoint, just passing through.
You can combine themes, just to have more fun.
(maybe he's escorting a caravan to a waiting ship for over-seas travel.. or whatever).
Mainly though- have the rogue make up his own reason for being there. Maybe he's just checking out where the road leads, and it happens that Sandpoint is on the way.
-S
I second the local part.
Beyond that, a rogue doesn't have to be sent to Sandpoint. He can go there of his own accord. A big crowd of people intent on festivities, inebriated and slow from rich food - not very alert and in look for cutpurses. Add to that a backwater hillbilly sherriff and his yokel deputies who are probably deeper into their tankards than most of the revelers. Opportunities are golden, I tell you. Steal, swindle, con, and burglarise yourself to riches untold! And those culchie girls will probably just look for a charming city dweller for a dalliance.
For the record, 2 of my four players came for the festival in this manner. The other 2 were locals. It has worked quite well.
For the sorcerer how about making them a Varisian tattooist heading for the festival to ply their trade? Could tie it in with the Varisian Tattoo feat an/or Craft: Tattoo?
The fighter... how about a soldier/merc heading home to the family farm after a year or two - only to possibly find it abandoned or in peril with regards the goblin threat? Would give them a major axe to grind throught the whole campaign...
My 2cp worth
Came back from the big city with all these new skills hoping to impress that angelic girl from his youth, whom he's carried a torch for all these years...
Came back from the big city with all these new skills hoping to impress that angelic girl from his youth, whom he's carried a torch for all these years...
Muhaha.
he's carried a torch for all these years...
That worked out well...
"Ooh, a torch, hand me that."
"Of course, my love."
"Let me just put this torch to this church, uh, this church to the torch, uh, torch and church into one place, and we can catch up to things." *whooosh*
I also agree with giving the PCs strong ties to Sandpoint.
Our tie-ins were
1. Ranger whose parents were killed by Chopper. He had not been back since, but took a job guarding a group of priests heading to the festival.
2. A rogue/wizard student of Ilsoari at the orphanage/academy.
3. Varisian priest of Desna interested in the festival and seeing some place new.
Looking back, I wish I would have suggested some of the following to create more ties to some of the local NPCs.
* A shoanti relative of Hemlock who is visiting.
* A upcoming member of the town guard who has a strong interest with the locals and sometimes does guard-duty jobs for the Kaijitu family.
* An aspiring Thassilon scholar who has an interest in Brodert Quincks off the wall theories.
* A great great great grandchild of Niska who has decided to give up wandering to learn from the old matriarch.
Maybe one of these ideas could work for your fighter or sorcerer.
Backgrounds from my party:
Human (Chelaxian) Cleric of Pharasma: Worked as a kind of funeral director at the chapel, before it bacame the cathedral. As such, he had lot of background knowledge about the Late Unpleasantness, and the many deaths that resulted from it.
Halfling Rogue: She is Bethana's (from the Rusty Dragon) daughter, so knows Ameiko as well.
Elf Wizard: I also went the "Thassilonian scholar" route - she is studying the Old Light with Brodert.
Gnome Sorcerer (Fey Bloodline): She is an herbalist and has travelled with Varisians, so she is acquainted with Madame Mvashti.
Human (Chelaxian) Paladin: He's the only non-local, but is from Magnimar, and knows the Foxglove family.
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I need some help with background motivations to bring some PCs together for RotRL.
Now, I have a sorcerer, a fighter and a rogue to deal with.
The rogue I am thinking is being sent to monitor the activities of the local Scarnzi (sp?) gang. Maybe.
No ideas yet for sorcerer or fighter.
Any help from the Pathfinder Gang?
ROGUE
I would have the rogue be a member of the Scarnzi gang. After the raid in which he became a local hero, have him/her be their eyes and ears in the group. When something is found and not immediately taken, have the Scarnzi come behind and loot the place.FIGHTER
The fighter is one of Sheriff Hemlock's recruits. He/she does not have to be a native of Sand Point, but has been around long enough (a year or two) for the townsfolk to know him/her. He/she now loves the place as his/her home, and would like to protect it. This person is probably the organizer of the party.
SORCERER
The sorcerer is a local who had now idea of his/her powers until they suddenly manifested themselves during the raid. In order to learn more spells, he/she decides adventuring is the best way.
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I need some help with background motivations to bring some PCs together for RotRL.
Now, I have a sorcerer, a fighter and a rogue to deal with.
The rogue I am thinking is being sent to monitor the activities of the local Scarnzi (sp?) gang. Maybe.
No ideas yet for sorcerer or fighter.
Any help from the Pathfinder Gang?
ROGUE
I would have the rogue be a member of the Scarnzi gang. After the raid in which he became a local hero, have him/her be their eyes and ears in the group. When something is found and not immediately taken, have the Scarnzi come behind and loot the place.FIGHTER
The fighter is one of Sheriff Hemlock's recruits. He/she does not have to be a native of Sand Point, but has been around long enough (a year or two) for the townsfolk to know him/her. He/she now loves the place as his/her home, and would like to protect it. This person is probably the organizer of the party.SORCERER
The sorcerer is a local who had now idea of his/her powers until they suddenly manifested themselves during the raid. In order to learn more spells, he/she decides adventuring is the best way.
I like those too, especially the rogue... that would drive the other PCs nuts. "Why does our rogue always leave 10% of the plunder behind?"
Your players can not come up with motivations?
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Your players can not come up with motivations?
Well, lets see... one guy plays a cleric... least I think he is a cleric, says so on his charcter sheet. He likes to use his crossbow a lot.
One guy is a rogue. At least it says so on his sheet. He stays around the edge of combat hiding and looting what everyone else kills.
The others are fine. Problem was they were coming up with really weird outrageous background ideas since they don't know much about the game world. When a player starts thinking maybe he's a gnome sorcerer because he's half alien, well, ya just gotta step in and give them some direction.
Right now only one person has "Officially" written a background. The others, well, they need help sometimes. They are good players when it comes to the actual game, but backgrounds... nope. Hell, I have a hard enough time just getting them to have a name besides Cleric, Rogue, Sorcerer!
I am one of those namby-pamby Drama Queens, so I do not see how they could be ‘good players’ during the actual game if they can not be bothered to put any effort into their character.
If they just want to hack-n-slash, save everyone a lot of time and drop them in the dungeon without any silly back story. Let’s just get with the killin’.
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I am one of those namby-pamby Drama Queens, so I do not see how they could be ‘good players’ during the actual game if they can not be bothered to put any effort into their character.
If they just want to hack-n-slash, save everyone a lot of time and drop them in the dungeon without any silly back story. Let’s just get with the killin’.
You silly Poodle...
Because most people are not one dimensional. The ones unable to put on a character and play the social parts of the game still enjoy interesting plots and story hooks.
And if I dropped them in a hack n slash dungeon then the ones who do get into the character will be put off by combat all the time.
No black and white, more gray...
No black and white, more gray...
Fair enough.
I need some help with background motivations to bring some PCs together for RotRL.
So far I have a cleric of Abadar sent to Sandpoint for the dedication of the Temple.
A Wizard of Acadamae sent to do some field research in Sandpoint.
A Barbarian being sent south by his tribal shaman (druid) for a "vision quest." Ok not really a vision quest, but a coming of age type of quest.
Now, I have a sorcerer, a fighter and a rogue to deal with.
The rogue I am thinking is being sent to monitor the activities of the local Scarnzi (sp?) gang. Maybe.
No ideas yet for sorcerer or fighter.
Any help from the Pathfinder Gang?
Don't forget about all the farms around Sandpoint. To the people living there Sandpoint is the big city. The ranger in my party was a farm boy who had traveled to Sandpoint for the big festival and he stuck around because being a hero is better than being a farmer.
The rogue could be a ne'er do well son who HATES the farm and is looking for an excuse to get away.