So in two days I'm playing pathfinder for the first time, so I'm not very familiar with the world. I'm hoping someone could take some of the ideas I have for my characters backstory, and turn it into a full backstory. I'd really appreciate it.
My character is the 19 year old son of a minor noble from the River Kingdoms. He's a wizard. Do to his upbringing, he often looks upon "peasants" with distaste. He has a half orc bodyguard hired by his father to protect him (and carry his things). his father was a military man that was given a small piece of land for his long service, so the son was brought up in a household where organization and such was important. His alignment is Lawful Neutral
Things I dont know: Where he learned magic, his reason for adventure, etc.
If anyone could help me make or make me a backstory, that'd be great. I know I'm asking a lot.
Where/how he learned magic could depend a lot on his class. Which class are you?
I'm currently playing a noble-born. His reason for adventuring was actually an unspoken banishment. An influential noble family visited my family, and when their son made an overly assertive pass at my sister, I challenged him to a duel and accidentally landed a killing blow. My family was able to patch up any long-term political damage, and for good measure, decided I should disappear for a while, and signed me up for the exploration of the Green Belt.
This Background Generator is a helpful tool for generating interesting backgrounds, or just fishing for inspiration
Cuup wrote: Where/how he learned magic could depend a lot on his class. Which class are you?
Wow, I forgot to include the class. Thanks for pointing that out. Editted.
Aah, Backstory. I love it.
Just tossing some ideas out there, as I've also toyed with the idea of creating a noble-born wizard (but never actually came around to it). None of them are terribly original mind you, just putting them out there.
Let's start with the learning magic:
I like to imagine that nobles have court wizards in the same way that medieval nobles had chaplains or that the Lords in The Song of Ice and Fire have Maesters.
So, your character's father could have realised, that his son does not show a lot of martial prowess, so he asked his court wizard (who wouldn't have to be particularly high level) to tutor the boy.
Alternatively your character is the second or third son and was sent away to a wizarding academy to make something out of himself (the same way that real-life second sons were sent to become priests), possibly with an eventual goal of serving as his elder brother's court wizard.
Or maybe a close family member or friend (mother? uncle? old comrade-in-arms of the father?) was a wizard and took to teaching the boy, you showed quite an aptitude for intelectual capacity.
Going on to a slightly more exciting scenario, maybe the father lost some kind of feud and your character was, as a kid, sent as a hostage (or "ward" as it would be called) to the rial family, where he recieved that training; that could very well result in some torn loyalties and mistrust in the family (again, think Ice and Fire, especially the character of Theon Greyjoy).
Those are some admittedly very basic concepts about this, but I find them entirely plausible, if not particularly unsual or exciting.
Moving on to the matter of the reason for adventuring:
Again, I'm just gonna toss some pretty generic ideas.
The most obvious one is probably revenge. Someone wronged your family and now you're hunting them down. This can get very fun, if the DM agrees to imcorporate it in his campaign, but I tend to find it quite disappointing, if the DM does not. Also, it is a bit of an overused trope in my opinion.
The other obvious one would be curiosity. The young wizard spent his youth reading in dusty old tomes and listening to his father's war stories about exciting adventures and now he wants to see all these things for himself. He wants to see Dragons and meet fairies and use his spells in useful and exciting ways. He does not have some great goal except for some high-risk sightseeing. could go well together with a spoiled noble brat.
The slightly more driven version of the above, is that the young wizard craves power and knowledge, seeking old artifacts and forgotten magical secrets. Also very generic, but could do in a pinch.
As a more specific apporach, tying in with the hostage-idea above, when relations improved and he came back home to his family, he was greeted with a lot of cold and distrust. Feeling treated unjustly, he left his family to find his fortune elsewhere (though I wouldn' know why his father would then pay for the bodyguard. Maybe your char acquired him elsewhere?)
Your character could have discovered some shameful secret about his father or mother. For family's sake he agreed to keep quiet about it but doesn't feel comfortable staying under the same roof as them.
Maybe he has a rather strained relationship with his father, because the old man is an accomplished warrior and might be disappointed, that his son is a squishy academic and your char wanted to escape the father's constant pressure. Possibly the father had expectations for his heir which your char didn't feel he could match (certain kind of ruthlessnes or social graces).
Do you know, what your (first) adventure will be about? Maybe there could be a story-specific reason to adventure. Maybe he heard about some menace to the realm and being the lawful character he is rose to defend his homeland and his king. Or his wizard mentor told him on his deathbed to seek out a specific relic lest it fall in the wrong hands or some souch.
SO, there are some basic ideas. Again, probably not the most creative and original ones, but some are quite general and I think they can be applied to most games.
P.S. Of course, independently of that, you could put some sibling rivalry in your story, which is always a good trope for nobles. And, depending on how ruthless the sibling actually is, it could be a story hook, if the DM is willing.
Alright, thanks for everyone suggestions. This is what I'm thinking.
Backstory: I am Endram Serpenthelm, son of the late Lord Elgram Serpenthelm. Brother to Lord Elban of Arnhold. My father was a soldier in the armies of the Duke of Melcat. He served him a long time, fighting against the other river kingdoms. For his long service, he was awarded a small piece of land that he had helped to capture from Cordelon. He named that land Arnhold. Years later he retired from the military and met a woman he fell in love with, by the name of Taiere, my mother. They married and made a proper holding of Arnhold. They built a small keep, and had peasants that lived on and worked their land for food, a guard of around 50 to keep the peace, led by guard captain Renn, my father's best friend, and a court wizard by the name Baltev. They weren't rich, but they had what they needed.
Two summers had passed, and Taiere had bore Lord Elgram two sons, myself and my younger brother, Elban. My father was overjoyed. The gods had not granted him one son, but two. It was then that Razmir chose to come. My father never spoke of Razmir much, but claims while he wasn't happy about accepting him as his new ruler, he didn't want to risk harm to his wife or children, so he went along with Razmir reluctantly. When he learned what had been done to the Duke and the capital, he was overcome with rage, and would have gone to try to kill Razmir himself had it not been for Renn, who locked him in a cell to prevent him from doing something rash. I'm glad he did. What could my father have done against a living god?
When my brother and I were young enough to start learning the ways of the world, my father always advised us that Razmir was evil, that he was no true god, only a pretender. I didn't listen. How could one that was so evil bring so much good to Razmiran, as the land had been called. He tripled the lands once held by the kingdom, and the other river kingdoms feared to attack. At Arnhold, we no longer had to worry about bandits, or other River Kingdoms coming to attack. And his power, how could his power not be that of a god? His skills amazed me, and from a young age, I did not play with swords or pretend I was a knight like my brother did, like my father wanted. I sought knowledge. I wanted to know the ways of the planar, of the lands outside of the River Kingdoms. Most of all, I wanted to know about magic.
My father saw that I was not to become a fighter such as he wanted, and although he wasn't happy about it, he tasked the court wizard Baltev to do his best to teach me what he could. Not just about magic, but about engineering, geography, everything a proper heir should know. My father hired a half orc, Grolaar, to try to teach me the ways of combat, but I was never really interested in that, preferring to study a good book, and I was always more proficient with a crossbow than a sword.
Magic was not as easy to learn as I had hoped. It seemed like I spent hours upon hours learning the smallest of spells. It took me months to learn to move a pound, but I endured. Meanwhile, my brother was ever becoming more the fighter, much to my father's pleasure, but he was not content. Elban saw the way that my father looked at me, and knew that even though Elban was everything my father wanted in an heir, he still favored me as his firstborn. But, Elban was the one loved by the people, he was dashing, he was strong, and they fueled his ego more than they knew. Through them, he felt he should be the ruler after my father passed.
My education ended early before I could learn anything very useful. My father was dying, my brother and I both knew it. My brother and I were not close, but I did not expect what came next. I was studying with Baltev when all of a sudden, the door opened. It was not uncommon for the old man to have visitors, but usually they were unarmed. Before I knew what was happening, I heard the familiar slam of a crossbow, the bolt striking him in the chest. Using what I had learned, I slammed the door closed, holding the man out, before going to the old man. "Endram..my life's work... the book...you have to find.." He didn't get to finish what he was saying as he had lost too much blood. I never spent enough time learning how to heal, and it was at that time I regretted it, as I couldn't save one of those I cared about most. It was then that the shouts began.
"The lord is dead! Endram is trying to sieze power!" I recognized the voice as one of my father's guards. Then I realized the truth of things. How could I argue that I was not the one to kill my father and Baltev? The only one who could confirm my story was dead, killed by my crossbow seemingly, which I had brought with me and left against the wall. I grabbed my crossbow, my spellbook, and what gold I could find and fled through a window into the forest.
One of the few people to not like my brother was Grolaar, who happened to be in the woods hunting as I was escaping. I quickly explained the situation to him, and together we fled, never to return to my home. It is now ruled by my traitorous brother Elban. I do not know what happened to guard captain Renn, but I Endrahm Serpenthelm pledge that one day, I will return and avenge the deaths of my father and mentor.
This is definitely one of the better character stories I have read in my (admittedly not overly long) Roleplaying Career, both content-wise (good old classical themes are considered good and classical for a reason) and in terms of expression. Thumbs-up, the character sounds pretty cool. Seems you didn't need any help from us :D
Note, I couldn't say anything about the historical names and the like; I assume your setting is Golarion and I've played very little in that setting.
A few things, which I hope are not understood as nitpickings but as suggestions, where to elaborate.
What happened to your mother? Did she pass away during Endrams youth? Or is she still in the castle now held by the evil son? Or is she even (secretly) in league with him?
It is a little convenient that Grolaar just happened to be hunting, unless of course evil Elban waited exactly for that moment as he feared the half-orc's opposition. Maybe you could strengthen the bond between the two by having Grolaar warn Endram of the plot and helping him escape. Just as a question of interest, is this guy a fellow player or some sort of NPC cohort?
As I've said, good work.
DonLouigi wrote:
Note, I couldn't say anything about the historical names and the like; I assume your setting is Golarion and I've played very little in that setting.
What happened to your mother? Did she pass away during Endrams youth? Or is she still in the castle now held by the evil son? Or is she even (secretly) in league with him?
It is a little convenient that Grolaar just happened to be hunting, unless of course evil Elban waited exactly for that moment as he feared the half-orc's opposition. Maybe you could strengthen the bond between the two by having Grolaar warn Endram of the plot and helping him escape. Just as a question of interest, is this guy a fellow player or some sort of NPC cohort?
As I've said, good work.
Thanks for the positive feedback, and what people replied with gave me ideas that I used, so I did in fact need you guys haha.
I've researched the names and decided my character will be Gareth, son of Gawne and brother to Gauvain. I guess my thinking behind the alliteration is Aragorn from lord of the rings haha. "Aragorn, son of Arathorn." I researched medieval names and came up with more accurate ones, as listed above.
I like the idea of the mother being in league with the brother, though I will have to come up with reasoning for that.
Good point about it being very convenient. I'll think on that. And yes he's another player.
Neinty Nein wrote: So in two days I'm playing pathfinder for the first time, so I'm not very familiar with the world. I'm hoping someone could take some of the ideas I have for my characters backstory, and turn it into a full backstory. I'd really appreciate it.
My character is the 19 year old son of a minor noble from the River Kingdoms. He's a wizard. Do to his upbringing, he often looks upon "peasants" with distaste. He has a half orc bodyguard hired by his father to protect him (and carry his things). his father was a military man that was given a small piece of land for his long service, so the son was brought up in a household where organization and such was important. His alignment is Lawful Neutral
Things I dont know: Where he learned magic, his reason for adventure, etc.
If anyone could help me make or make me a backstory, that'd be great. I know I'm asking a lot.
The River Kingdoms are a pretty rough and tumble place; kingdoms rapidly come and go, and kings/nobles tend to be the sort of men who can keep what they hold by force. With your character's dad being a military man, I imagine there being some tension between a strong, martial man and his bookish, studious son who relies on a muscular half-orc to protect him.
Perhaps the boy's mother was a stronger influence on him during his childhood? With his father away from home defending their king's lands from the aggressions of their neighbors, it would follow that the mother would traditionally run the house and see to the child's education. She would see herself as a civilizing influence on the militaristic culture of the area, and likely imported art, furniture, and even tutors from a more posh location, such as Absalom or Taldor. She also seems likely to be the person who hired the bodyguard, and gave the young man his snobbishness.
She has always been concerned for his safety, and was unwilling to let him go off to study magic, for fear that he might be attacked on the road by their rivals and held for ransom. Instead, she hired a foreign tutor to see to his magic studies. Probably someone she would see as exotic...an Osiriani magical scholar, or an expatriate from Minkai. This would also explain where your high-INT Wizard learned those extra starting languages. The tutor is likely a positive father-figure for the boy.
So why would this son of privilege leave his ivory tower, where everything he wants is brought to him?
Because of his father. His father, a self-made man, who earned everything that your character has ever had with the sweat of his brow and the blood of his enemies. His father, who seldom hides his disdain for his son's foppishness. His father, who thinks that skill with steel is what defines a man, more than any eldritch power that can be gleaned from dusty tomes and foreign teachers.
You adventure to prove, as much to yourself as to him, that you can survive beyond the walls of his protection. That you can build, with your own wits, a life even greater than what he has made with mere strength of arms. You will go out into the world and make a name for yourself, until even your father must admit that you are a worthy...no, superior, son.
EDIT: I see that I am too late. Nice work on your own backstory, hope this was at least an entertaining read.
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