I like my characters to be unique and I also like working with the mechanics and attempting to optimize, but I am not the best at it. Unfortunately these builds usually don't fit well in my DM's world, but happily for me he usually let's me play what I want anyway.
The hardest part that I see for some of these builds isn't making them, although that's usually pretty complicated and difficult to track. The most difficult bit is explaining how these characters came to be. Those builds that are truly screwed up I call Platypus Builds.
My current character was just recently introduced into my DM's Rise of the Runelords campaign at level 7 as a Paladin of Iomadea.
Race: Aasimar
Trait: Magical Knack
Starting Stats: Str 15; Dex 12; Con 15; Int 11; Wis 10(+2); Cha 17(+2)
Feats and Stat Bonuses:
1Pal1 Skill Focus (Planes)
2Pal2
3Sor1 Eldritch Heritage (Abyssal, Claws), Eschew Material
4Sor2 Str+1
5Sor3 Arcane Strike
6DrgDsc1
7DrgDsc2 Str +2, Arcane Armor Training, Power Attack
8DrgDsc3 Cha +1
9DrgDsc4 Str +2, True Dragon Claws
10DrgDsc5 Toughness
11DrgDsc6 Con+2, Str+2 (Inherent), Improved Eldritch Heritage (Strength of the Abyss)
12DrgDsc7 Con+1, Form of Mixed Blood
13DrgDsc8 Int+2, Heavenly Radiance
14DrgDsc9
15DrgDsc10 Str +4(Inherent), Improved Natural Attack (Claws)
16Sor4 Cha +1
17Sor5 Dragon Wing Attacks
18Sor6
19Sor7 Str+6 (Inherent), Dragon Wing Shield, Energized Dragon Wing Attacks
20Sor8 Cha+1
I chose Silver Dragon for the Lawful Good alignment and so that the dragon claws were the opposite in element to the demonic ones. In essence my problem with this characters backstory is that racially she was a human/angel/dragon/demon. If I had known about the crossblooded trait I probably would have added that in too.
I also had the problem that I had decided to give her human parents and when I make these choices I stick to them no matter what. Imagine my shock when I decided to roll random age/height/weight and found out that an Aasimar does not start training in a class till age 60 minimum. All of the sudden, this characters parents were dead.
So how was I supposed to explain how this person came to be and who this person was? Here is what I came up with...
Ya wanna know about the Fairchild’s? Thar is just one thing ya need to know. Thar ain’t anything on this world that a Fairchild hasn’t f@#$^%.
Powerful and old family they are. Legend has it that they have always been so beautiful that it has caught the attention of several powerful enti..peo..spiri…ah dammit THINGS over the generations. Now thar blood is so f@#$^% thay can’t be considered human anymore. Think thay care though? One thing I can tell you about a Fairchild is that thay love power. Doesn’t matter how they come by it or how good or bad thay are they all love it; and want it; and need it. Thar addicted to it. You catch my meaning? It doesn’t matter if thar good or evil thar desire for power is the one common streak in the lot.
Mainly thay be sorcerers. You know how sorcerer’s draw power from their blood or at least that is what I hear tell from people smarter than you and me. Usually a family will have just one thing from which to draw. Not the Fairchild’s. Some of them get magic that be from the dragons, spewing out ice from thar mouths, others be demons, growing claws of fire and still others gain their powers from the angels themselves.
Angels. I guess you were asking about ole’ Evlynne Fairchild specifically that you be wanting to know about. The Fairchild’s be human; but not all of tham have human children. Some of tham will spit out a teifling or, as in Evlynne’s case an Aasimar.
I be 10 years old when I first started working for the Fairchild’s as a kitchen boy and first set eyes on Lady Evlynne. When I first saw her she looked to be about 2 years old. It wasn’t till later I found out that she was mah same age. Ya see Evlynne be both blessed and cursed with growing up slower than the rest of us ‘mere’ mortals. Even back then she was a sight to see. She had golden eyes like the sun and fine blonde hair and she radiated a kind of light. I watched her grow up I did; served their family all my life. You only realize she be aging over a long, long time. Growing up with her it hardly seemed she changed at all. She outgrew her parents she did. When they passed she was cared for by her youngest sister. She be luckier than most, she never wanted for anything, the family be stinkin’ rich.
She’s the eldest of three; but you’d never know to look at her. She also had a brother that no one ever dares to talk about. Marcus Fairchild; was a wizard and was jealous of his sister’s immortality. Took the dark paths to obtain forbidden magics and became a lych. He was an evil bastard. Pissed off and double crossed both the evil and good sides of the family; made a lot of enemies and then disappeared. No one has seen him for many years; but he’s rumoured to still be around. Lyches are a tough lot to kill.
Now I be 60; served the Fairchild’s faithfully for me entire life. Evlynne looks to be just about 15 now. She’s been going up to the temple of Iomedae for about the last 20 years, they wouldn’t take her at first cuz she looked to be about 10 and could barely lift a sword. Figure they’d take her now. Say what you might about the Fairchild’s, they be a stubborn lot. That little girl has decided that she’s going to be a soldier of Iomedae for whatever reason and I be thinking that thar may not be anything in this world that can stop her.
Have you ever had a crazy build that you had to explain/create a back story to? What was it? How did you explain it?