Hey everyone, I'm currently in talks with my players for what kind of characters they want to play in an upcoming campaign. One of them has decided on playing a Lawful Good Magus, but is torn between which race he'd like to play. He really likes the idea the mechanics behind a Tiefling Magus, but he's currently stumped on a backstory and personality for the character - and he won't play a character unless the character is an actual character, and has a compelling backstory. I totally respect that kind of choice, but I'm stumped as well and can't seem to think of a good backstory for a Lawful Good Teifling Magus either, so if anyone has any ideas, please feel free to post them.
If it's any help, the campaign will likely be either Curse of the Crimson Throne or Shattered Star.
The only story a character has is what happens in game. Backstories are generally unimportant. Let it develope as the character progresses.
Do keep in mind that one man's compelling is another man's dull.
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A paladin of the church of bliddy blah grew arrogant after X number of victories over the forces of evil. Cursed by a fiend-blooded cult leader after demolishing their hidden temple beneath the city, their child was born with visible fiendish taint, and they came to the conclusion that their faith was being tested, and that they must renounce the child, a physical representation of taint within themselves.
It was a test of faith, but it wasn't in rejection, but in accepting and attempting to redeem the sin of pride growing within their own heart that they would find their own redemption.
Blaming the child for their own fall, instead of recognizing that the child's fiendish features were simply a symptom of their own sin, the paladin retired from public view, cloistering themselves in bitterness, unwilling to accept their own culpability, or accept their child as anything but a plague. The church was divided, with some equally embittered that their champion had fallen so, but the signs and portents from their higher power were quite clear, that only with the child's acceptance and redemption would the poison of pride growing within the hierarchy be purged. And so the tiefling grew up surrounded by clergy who alternately resented them and treated them like some sort of unwilling messiah, with even good treatment sometimes regarded as a box that must be ticked off to atone for previous misdeeds.
No longer willing to be scapegoat for the failings of an overproud church hierarchy, too full of those unwilling to admit their own straying from the humble path set before them, the child fled the church (which really wanted him to be a paladin, picking up the sword his parent could no longer bear in service to the faith), and instead embraced the arcane insights that came more naturally to their fiend-touched blood than the divine grace of the holy champion.
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"My father left a book behind, ordering my mother to give it to me when I came of age or he would quote "drag her soul into hell". You know. The normal ravings of a fiend of the underworld. The book he had left behind was partly charred and filled with all sorts of spells. I learned the spells as he intended, but I have no intention of using them as he intends. For destruction. For evil. No. He left me with a kind, good woman and she taught me more than that bastard ever could. She taught me that there are lines not to be crossed. That protecting the innocent is far more rewarding than annihilating them and that the laws of man, specifically the laws meant to keep evil at bay and protect the good are worth keeping. I will use the magic and all of the power given to me by the abyss to cut those who cross the line. I will prove that even those with blood tainted by hell can be just, good and noble people. Evil will fear me. That one promise I make now."
Just something off the top of my head. Perhaps a bit cliche. I dunno. I will say that it's best to find a personality trait that one can latch on to for RPing any character. So I find personally that it's best to find a way to work those into the backstory to sort of have a personality anchor of sorts. So if there's a personality type that the player wants, perhaps he builds a story around that.
Quick idea;
For decades, Golarion has had portals stretching across its vast empire. Most of these complicated magical devices have been created for convenience and efficiency. Hidden away in history, there have been a few unique portals that open up to different plains of existence. Sometimes the rituals that are required to open the most powerful of these gates involve the combining of things that otherwise would be virtually impossible to unite. In this particular case we are talking about the union of a pure of heart human with a deviant from the abyss.
This union could have many different possible outcomes. Maybe a human raised, lawful good child, that has the blood of a miscreant demon is possible. Possibly the child’s blood is the key to the portal. Maybe just the child’s presence is required. Either way, the union had to be pure of will and consummated with love.
What if he was a completely grown human magus to begin with? He comes across a demon in his travels and is physically cursed / transformed in a scuffle. Turned into a tiefling from a human as it were. Now he seeks justice and is hunting down any fiends he can while at the same time "tarnishing" the demon name by being himself (i.e. a lawful, good, noble citizen) and protecting those who need it.
Thanks guys! A lot of these are really good. I'll bounce them by him and see what he thinks. Thanks so much!