My group will be finishing Worldwound Incursion shortly and I'm finalizing my notes on everyone's background stories. I've altered most of the backstories to be as epic as I can make them, but I have one that I'm still working on. I'm okay with a little bit of... handwaving on strict rules (you'll see what I mean), but I want some gameplay mechanics to work with as well.
As an example of what I mean, here's what I have so far.
Riftwarden Orphan: Our oracle (aasimar) and sorcerer (cold dragon bloodline) are actually twin sisters. Their mother was the dragon Terendelev, their father was an aasimar cleric (the one they will find information of later on). I should add that the sorcerer PC has always wanted to go dragon disciple, so while technically they should be half-dragons and they aren't (if they ask, my response is that the ways of ancient silver dragons is a mystery), there are still connections to their draconic mother.
Touched by Divinity: Our paladin and fighter are soulmates, though not blood relatives. Both of them lost their parents to the Stormking during the previous attack on Kenabres, and were taken in by the church of Iomedae. I'm working on a plot where they are both godlings, blessed by Iomedae herself. It's powerful and epic, but not game-changing, since they are mythic already, and the godling options are included in the rules for mythic characters.
Chance Encounter: Our rogue is getting dreams from Desna and will receive a visit from one of her heralds shortly, all to build up to his discovery of Arueshalae. In addition, our rogue chose both Chance Encounter & Stolen Fury, so he and our second warrior built it into their backgrounds they they were a part of the same ritual. Which brings me to my dilemma.
Stolen Fury: The human fighter in question wrote in his background that his parents were cultists who had a child specifically for that ritual. I've already decided that Jerribeth (as an elven woman) was in charge of that ritual, but I want to add something else. Here are some of the thoughts I had:
*Possible that Jerribeth is his mother, and he has demon blood in him that he doesn't know about.
*Could be that he was blessed by Baphomet or Deskari at conception and is actually a godling of the Demon Lords.
*He could have some residue of the ritual left on him and start seeing unexpected affects (not quite Hulk-esque, but close).
*Lastly, I considered pulling Desna into it since both he and the rogue worship her. It could be he was blessed by the Demon Lords, but she has been protecting him for some reason.
So... thoughts? And most importantly - what kind of small gameplay mechanics would you use to pull it out? My group isn't really big into RP, so if I can give them something concrete to work with in their characters, it helps. Nothing that would be a game changer, but... you get the idea. Thoughts?
*edit: Child of the Crusades should have been Touched by Divinity. Fixed.
|
First thing, your rogue couldn't have both of those background traits (cannot have two traits of the same "type," in this case "campaign"). And considering how powerful they get, I wouldn't let both upgrade to their mythic versions if you do want to allow it (only the background tied to their mythic path?). While the back story hook of being part of the same ritual is just that, back ground, actually benefiting from it (through a trait) should probably not be allowed since campaign traits are typically pretty potent, are supposed to help make a single strong reason for the character to be a part of the campaign, and...
As for the fighter with Stolen Fury...
So, my advise, go with the Desna thing, plague the player with nightmares, and maybe if they really fumble a will save, they can all edge towards being a CE dickbag for a second before snapping back to normal until they complete their trial in Demon's Heresy. I'd maybe even say if they take the Deific Obedience feat (Inner Sea Gods) for Desna, that this further holds the dark thoughts at bay for those days they perform the Obedience.
That's my two CP, hope there's something you can use in there!
Thanks!
To clarify, I made an adjustment for my group that their background story didn't have to match the trait. In other words, each player chose a background concept (the story behind each trait) and a trait (for the gameplay mechanics). The reason was that I didn't want to restrict a player who really wanted a given story simply because it wouldn't correlate with a mythic path for his character. So, for the rogue, he incorporated both Stolen Fury and Chance Encounter into his background, but he ONLY has the Chance Encounter trait, mechanics-wise.
Edit: I think that will probably confuse everyone, so let me just say this.
Technically, the rogue only has one trait - Chance Encounter. But he and the fighter wanted to integrate their stories, so he also incorporated the Stolen Fury trait into his background, even though he didn't take the trait.