Please help my character find a reason to be in Sandpoint


Rise of the Runelords


So we're playing RotRL in a couple weeks and the rest of the guys have already made their characters:

Half-elf summoner
Human fighter
halfling rogue
dwarf cleric

My guy is coming in at level 1 as another human fighter with the anticipation of going wizard and then eventually Eldritch Knight. However the other PCs all have backgrounds around Sandpoint or at least Magnimar. Here's my guy's background:

Gregor:
Born in Sirathu in northern Korvosa, Gregor is the broad-shouldered son of peasant laborers. He has zero personality, decent intellect and a quick temper. Once when his temper got the better of him he was punished with a stint in the Korvosan Guard as a grunt.

He was an outcast from his town. In the guard he was little more than a punching dummy. A few dwarves in the company, impressed with Gregor's endurance taught him to use his strength and constitution better. He became an armored ox learning to move freely even in heavy armor and sleeping in lighter gear so he was always armed.

The moment his term was up Gregor fled, leaving his homeland and past behind him. He'd heard of the wilder lands of Varisia to the west and sought the wonders of the arcane in Magnimar. Unfortunately for the Korvosan soldier there was only derision and scorn.

He even ventured to the Twilight Academy but even in this tolerant establishment his temper and size were a hinderance and he was asked to leave. So Gregor had been an outcast, a reject, a foreigner and now a washout as well. He has little but his gear and a desire to use the disciplines of martial and magical study to steady his temper.

So Gregor is a NG male human fighter (Unbreakable)1. Eventually he'll take 5 levels of wizard (transmuter) and then start into Eldritch Knight. For traits he's got Arcane Temper (reflects his inner wrath, the personal sin he'll struggle with during the campaign) and Armor Expert reflecting his time in the Korvosan Guard.

Is there any sort of tie in to the garrison in Sandpoint? Is the sheriff looking for guards to cover the festival at the start of the opening adventure or anything? Gregor's motivating goal is to find a place to belong and as my GM has told me if I play well I'll become a hero of the town. Since this lines up with Gregor's goals, I figured this is a nice synergy.

I just need to GET him there...

The Exchange

He is traveling from town to town looking for chances to fit in and happens to be in Sandpoint currently? He is hoping that there is someplace in a smaller town that he couldn't find in the larger ones? I don't see where you are having a problem with this, he is a wandering outcast who can't find a home....he wandered here.


Commence o Festival.


Travelling from town to town attached to a wandering merchant who needed a few extra goons to help protect his cart(s) on the roads between towns/cities. NPC could serve as a mentor / source of info for the party - he was the first to appreciate Gregor's ability to be ready for trouble at any time. For Gregor, the merchant was the first to give him a role and feel valued, and who didn't judge him too harshly when his anger flared. Maybe said NPC has a level or two of spellcasting (just a dabbler), but encouraged Gregor that he too could dabble in the path of magic, or more, if he had the will.

The NPC merchant is in Sandpoint for the Festival - Gregor's got the day off to go to the festivities and...

<queue the curtain to rise>


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He doesn't sound terrible sophisticated so this is very easy:

He's frustrated and unemployed but still has a some coin and heard about the Sandpoint Festival that's coming up and that its a great place to find hot women and get laid. Trust me, your DM will be able to tie this in very easily..


MattR1986 wrote:

He doesn't sound terrible sophisticated so this is very easy:

He's frustrated and unemployed but still has a some coin and heard about the Sandpoint Festival that's coming up and that its a great place to find hot women and get laid. Trust me, your DM will be able to tie this in very easily..

to be fair this could for any guy in their early twenties, sophisticated or not:) but yes good stuff, keep it simple!


So... I'm sensing there's no real hook needed to tie in characters specifically to the events of the first adventure. "There's a festival...you're there...ROLL INITIATIVE!" I suppose I'm overthinking. How uncharacteristic of me [/sarcasm]


Feeling the pain and rejection of his expulsion while in Magnimar, Gregor decides to leave. As he's preparing for his journey (to nowhere in particular) he hears of the Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint. Particularly of how the locals are known for their hospitality. Wanting to feel welcome again, even if only for a short time, he decides to journey there. On the road, he meets a half-orc who's traveling as part of a caravan who tells him that, although he is different, Sandpoint has always treated him as "half-man" instead of "half-orc." They trade stories of woe on the journey and part ways just outside the town. The caravan needs to wait for some stragglers before entering town. Feeling unusually upbeat, Gregor heads for the town square.

He finds that the merchants and locals are unusually friendly towards him and he begins to feel welcome among others; a feeling he's rarely had. He's even chatted up by (que other pc here) so-and-so and is very happy that he came here, feeling like perhaps he can find a niche for himself in this quaint little town, when during the festivities....


Mark, this AP is not like Carrion Crown (or from what I skimmed of Jade Regent) or others where there really needs to be a strong tie that everyone shares to make it work. As you guessed, you all just kind of fall in line together from being in combat together.


Just passing through. Sandpoint is a port, so he could be on a ship going from Riddleport to Magnimar (for example). The ship is carrying merchants and pilgrims going to the festival, so he's along for the ride. Could have been employed as a merchant's guard, or to protect the ship from pirates. Maybe his GF is a pilgrim and he's been dragged along.


No doubt a number of merchants are traveling to town from Mangimar and other outlying areas with the intention of taking advantage of the festival to sell their wares. Serving as a guard is an easy way to get in and it makes sense that the Sheriff might hire extra guardsmen to keep an eye on the crowds (more to deter would-be pick-pockets and break up the occasional drunken brawl than anything else).

From there its a pretty easy lead-in into the AP.


You could have him book passage on or stow away on a ship out of Magnimar... any ship. The one he chose at random was a coaster that stops at Sandpoint, wherein he gets kicked off the ship for stowing away or not being able to pay to travel further.

Or perhaps he has a run of "bad luck" and decides that he needs to get the favour of the goddess of luck (Desna) somehow. When he hears about the swallowtail there he heads to Sandpoint to see if his luck will change.

Maybe he gets waylaid by a bunch or wandering Varisians, and believing that they left via the lost coast road he decides to try to follow them. He has probably lost the trail but ends up in Sandpoint.

Overall the party is simply expected to be present during the Swallowtail festival. It's mainly a "right place, right time" situation. They need no other obligations to start the adventure.

Peet


Take a look at that RotRL Anniversary edition player's guide and the Campaign Traits in there. Even if your GM isn't using traits (though I personally recommend he do) the fluff parts of the traits give motivation for being in Sandpoint. The sample Campaign traits in the APG are also tied to Sandpoint. You can give those a look as well. (Though some of them refer to post-RotRL Sandpoint, work with your GM.)

For my own campaign, the party's reasons for being in Sandpoint were as follows: (Being vague to avoid spoilers)

Half-orc fighter: grew up in Sandpoint after being found as a child by his adopted ex-adventurer mother. Apprenticed to the town blacksmith.

Half-orc alchemist preservationist: Worked in Magnimar providing "discrete services" for the city nobles. Was hired by a nobleman to assist with a rat problem at his estate near Sandpoint.

Human Fighter: Disowned son of a noble family out of Magnimar with a summer home in Sandpoint. Grew up friends with one of the town innkeepers and her brother.

Halfing Oracle: Wandering fortune-teller "adopted" by the Sczarni. Came into town with a Varisian caravan.

Human Wizard: Son of a disgraced noble family out of Korvosa. Came to Sandpoint seeking the assistance of one of his father's former business partners in getting his family back on their feet.

Half-elf Rogue: Former freedom-fighter who was out of place once his home was at peace. Sent to Sandpoint with a stipend and a message for the town Sheriff with a strong hint of "don't come back" from his superiors.


Hi, Mark!

I didn't realize you spent time on the player's side of the GM screen!

Sometimes the simplest reason for being somewhere is the best--

Gregor was on the Lost Coast Road and heard from other travelers about the Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint. It sounded fun, he didn't have anyting else to do, so he thought he'd check it out to take his mind off his troubles.

When I ran Runelords, my initial party's reasons for being there were...

Lady Charrone of Kintargo (female human (Chelaxian) paladin of Iomedae): Stopped in Sandpoint for the Swallowtail Festival while en route to Windsong Abbey on a quest of personal discovery.

Halfred Egilsson (male human (Ulfen) barbarian): Sone of a wine merchant from Magnimar, Halfred came to Sandpoint with his father to deliver wine and ale for the festival.

Brother Declan of the Dawnflower (male human cleric of Sarenrae): Native of Magnimar, he was in town to assist with the dedication of the Sandpoint Cathedral.

Larissa "the Swift" (female half-elf rogue): On the run from Riddleport gangsters (her former employers), in Sandpoint to see if this town would be a good place to lay low for a while.

Ted Waters (male human wizard(transmuter)): On a semester leave from the Stone of the Seers college of wizardry in Magnimar, and came to see the Swallowtail Festival.


My backgrounds are less-than-helpful (and I spent two weeks writing them up for the players so they didn't have to), but since Kalshane and Haladir are doing it, I gotta do it too. I'm just a joiner:

Drow Paladin of Sarenrae: Sent by the temple in Absalom as a token gesture to the re-opening of the cathedral; the head priest expects her mission to be a disaster so he can hide her away in the temple for another 100 years.

Kitsune Bard: Thrown out of his father's house in Minkai for singing instead of merchandising, then accused by being a raksasha by a misguided Vudran and rescued by a traveling paladin of Sarenrae from Absalom (coincidence? I think not.) Joined the paladin's party and ended up in Absalom just as the drow is leaving. Curious, he follows her.

Gnome Sorcerer: Crafts fireworks for a living while traveling with Varisian caravans. Arrives in Sandpoint to manage the fireworks for the festival.

Human Barbarian (Lyrune Quah): Bodyguard of his grandfather, an ancient shaman who loves the festival and its worship of Desna.

I like many of the ideas above, and I have to agree with the statement, "This AP doesn't need you to know the town or anyone else in your party. You're drawn together by events within the AP, rather than outside of them."

Good luck! Have fun!

Grand Lodge

I just wanna say how refreshing it is to see a player choosing to prestige into a eldritch knight instead of just being a magus. Nothing against magi, I just love seeing that older options aren't made obsolete.

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