Well, my group experienced character death for the first time last week, with both our paladin and wizard meeting their end. That leaves a druid and rogue holed up in Dark Mountain Pass with the NPCs making their way to Farshore in "Here There Be Monsters." One of my players is going to play a fighter with the Kensai prestige class from Complete Warrior for his new character. My question is this: a primary feature of the Kensai is an oath that he swears to a powerful Lord of his alignment, a deity, an ideal, etc, that guides him as a warrior. At this point in the Savage Tide, what should his oath be? I want something with a nice roleplaying hook for the campaign. The player is playing the Kensai as a former gladiator who abandoned arena combat to pursue his oath. Lavinia is the obvious choice, but with her already in farshore and the PC's wandering through the jungle, it would seem a stretch storywise. I'm really just looking for ideas. Anybody feeling creative?
Perhaps his father owed Lavinia's father a debt; and having just heard of her parents deaths is now coming to fulfill whatever it is.
Just a thought.
The player is playing the Kensai as a former gladiator who abandoned arena combat to pursue his oath. Lavinia is the obvious choice, but with her already in farshore and the PC's wandering through the jungle, it would seem a stretch storywise. I'm really just looking for ideas. Anybody feeling creative?
One idea is to use the affiliations of Sasserine, altering them if needed. Zelkarune's Horns, changed to a lawful organization, would make a great fit with the character's background and the exotic monsters give a ready explanation of why the character is wandering around the IoD.
If affiliations aren't your thing, use religion. A kensai who swears his oath to Kelanen is almost a stereotype, but any lawful deity would do. Justifying the character's presence on the IoD may need to be a bit more heavy-handed, but "divine prophecies/visions" can provide a reason.
This can cause problems, but if your group is up to it, the kensai may have sworn his oath to a rival noble (even Manthalay, if you want to add extra tension in ToD). Lavinia's project to develop Farshore would be of interest to most of the noble families of Sasserine. It's only natural that they would send some agents to report on its progress (and maybe get an inside track on any trade opportunities).