A long while back, when ACG came out, I put together a sweet build for an arcane bloodline bloodrager with the primalist and untouchable bloodrager archetypes, designed to be a nasty mage slayer.
I have an opportunity to play such a character now, at tenth level, and I figured who better than a duergar, mechanically speaking, to top off all the mage slayer abilities?
Only now, I need to make this guy make sense. Magic is literally in his blood, via the arcane bloodline, and yet he is superstitious, a witch hunter, etc, via rage powers, and has specific training to kill spellcasters, via feats like disruptive. (He also has many sundering feats to compliment spell sunder, but they're useful in the traditional manner too, so there's that to think of). He can't cast spells himself, due to the untouchable archetype, which makes sense. So how would he have ended up this extremely focused magic hating wizard killer, given he's probably descended from a family of casters?
Also, there's the duergar thing. They don't exactly have a lot of fluff text. Their entire culture is based around working your butt off until you die, and they seem to be jerks. Other than that it's not really detailed like, say, standard dwarves, or the other "dark version of an otherwise good race", drow. They don't seem to adventure often, and are not exactly often on the surface.
I was planning on having this guy be lawful evil, or a hard-line lawful neutral at most, because I'm not into making him Drizzt with a beard, the lone exception to his people, blah blah blah, garbage.
Also, it's for skull and shackles, and we're up to
So, yeah, um...help?
His training could be from Drow witch hunting. His exile could be caused by an enemy caster, an attempted gate or summoning could have gone sideways and the character is lost in the multiverse.
If he's alien he wouldn't know where to go to find his way home...Farscape is a good example.
Or Terra Nova, the trip was one way, even if the character wants to go home he has no idea in hell where home is or how to get there. If he helps take this island then he has a place to search from.
His quest home could be used by a morally questionable character to control him to a point. An only friend you've got con. This island has a ruin with some ancient dwarven markings and maybe a secret lost dwarven vault that could help lead him home.
Or you could have been exiled by a rival, sent to perform an assassination unaware that the spell that sent you was one way and irreversible. The character knows the ritual he just needs a few things...things that he can find on this island...he hopes.
That help any?
Raised in toil, pain, agony. A family who believe him destined to become the next mighty mage.
They push. They sweat. Day in and day out, practice. It burns his mind. It burnt him.
he killed them all, and ran as his kin sought to end his life.
Now? Those who cast spells will die. They will not force another to suffer as he did.
Those days of his prime are gone, now, but the lessons he learned still remain.
Actually, him ending a mage and being forcefully teleported onto an island in the middle of nowhere, being stranded for months or years explains that.
I don't suppose I can see your stats?
Growing up in a family keep with a strong military background is a lot of work, especially for a young boy trying to prove himself to his peers. He trained for most of his life, honing his skills with a blade and learning all he could about the finer points of combat. One day his chance finally came - bandits raid a nearby town and his group is sent out to keep the peace. Just when they arrive they see a merchant being robbed in broad daylight, and the thieves start running away!
His blood boils as he breaks out into a sprint, passing his teammates one by one until he catches up. With a shout he cuts down one, then two, then three criminals. When he finally calms down and checks his surroundings he finds all the would-be bandits are dead or surrendering. He looks to his peers expecting approval and congratulations, but instead they all stare at him, shocked. He starts walking over to his best friend to ask what's wrong and they fearfully step away.
The walk back to the keep is silent, and many people keep a hand on their swords as if escorting him to a trial. They are met at the gates by the paterfamilias, who reads out his deeds like he would crimes, and tells him he is an abomination and a danger to his family. He then exiles the young soldier, permanently. Shunned and scorned by his relatives and closest friends, he gathers his belongings and sets out.
You never asked for this power, to be feared and hated. Even so, the magic is in your blood, and the only satisfaction you get from it is in tearing apart those who weild magic, something that happens to come just as naturally as your anger...
Pennywit - That's a cool idea, but a little more...chaotic...than I envisioned this guy. I didn't want to go with vile evil, just...ends justify the means, anti-villain kind of guy.
Fishy - I like the idea that his anti-magic abilities are a result of training to fight drow. Considering their common homeland and racial enmity, and the drow's dependence on magic in everyday life, it all makes sense. The "oops, I just got teleported here, I wanna go home" means of arrival certainly could have happened in battling those folks...
Iron Vagabond - That's actually pretty cool, too. It gives him that justified villain angle that's fun with lawful evil characters, like Magneto. Especially since he's far too dumb and not charismatic enough to be a genuine mage, no matter how much training.
As for stats...pre-magic-items levels and racials, he's 16, 14, 14, 7, 13, 7 (lousy 15-pt buy). After racial and levels, he's 18, 14, 16, 7, 15, 3. Feats are power attack, improved sunder, combat reflexes, disruptive, greater sunder, sundering strike, and improved initiative. Bloodline power so far is disruptive rage, and I traded the level 4 and 8 powers for superstitious, witch hunter, spell sunder and sunder enchantment.
Lunias - The scenario you describe probably would work for a regular dwarf, but the duergar are deep dwarves that live in the darklands. They don't really encounter bandits, because everything down there is incredibly deadly, and thus they have extremely secure perimeters. Plus, like most dwarves, survival of the group's paramount, so I don't see why they'd exile him for taking out attackers.
Pennywit - That's a cool idea, but a little more...chaotic...than I envisioned this guy. I didn't want to go with vile evil, just...ends justify the means, anti-villain kind of guy.
Fishy - I like the idea that his anti-magic abilities are a result of training to fight drow. Considering their common homeland and racial enmity, and the drow's dependence on magic in everyday life, it all makes sense. The "oops, I just got teleported here, I wanna go home" means of arrival certainly could have happened in battling those folks...
Iron Vagabond - That's actually pretty cool, too. It gives him that justified villain angle that's fun with lawful evil characters, like Magneto. Especially since he's far too dumb and not charismatic enough to be a genuine mage, no matter how much training.
As for stats...pre-magic-items levels and racials, he's 16, 14, 14, 7, 13, 7 (lousy 15-pt buy). After racial and levels, he's 18, 14, 16, 7, 15, 3. Feats are power attack, improved sunder, combat reflexes, disruptive, greater sunder, sundering strike, and improved initiative. Bloodline power so far is disruptive rage, and I traded the level 4 and 8 powers for superstitious, witch hunter, spell sunder and sunder enchantment.
Lunias - The scenario you describe probably would work for a regular dwarf, but the duergar are deep dwarves that live in the darklands. They don't really encounter bandits, because everything down there is incredibly deadly, and thus they have extremely secure perimeters. Plus, like most dwarves, survival of the group's paramount, so I don't see why they'd exile him for taking out attackers.
I had completely forgotten you chose the Duergar race already, my mistake. The story was just something I wrote up in the last few minutes closing up where I work so I didn't think it through too much, but the premise is simple enough to modify.
This came as a surprise to everyone, and though some posts were filled a few defensive positions were left unmanned for just a few hours. In this time monsters attack the keep, and though only minor losses were sustained somebody close to you is severely injured (or killed, even). The duergar in charge decide the deserters must be held accountable for the danger they put the keep in and send out a group to retrieve them. You manage to convince the soldier in charge of the expedition to let him come along for "training purposes".
Upon finally catching up with the deserters, you lose your temper and attack the duergar responsible for *close NPC*'s injuries/death - you kill a few before being restrained by your superior. Appalled by your actions, he takes you back to the keep to be tried, and you are found guilty of murder. Your loss of control proves that you are a danger to others and, in accordance with the laws of the duergar, you are exiled (they won't keep the PC locked up, as that would take resources they simply cannot waste on a criminal). Shunned and feared by your family, you are (ironically) taken in by one of the deserters who sees your true potential.
Same idea, different details and motivation. Still hates magic for "ruining his life", and taking responsibility for his crime would be an interesting character arc.
What if this duegers homeland has a huge aversion to magic - an exceedingly strong hatred of it. One day, a bunch of unfortunate events start happening to the underground tribe, and they suspect a magician is the root cause. They go on a huge witch hunt, and the person they lay the blame upon is your character. They do this because they (wrongly or rightly) believe your blood is cursed with magic. Maybe it became cursed by an actual Mage you killed before - his last words were to curse your blood of the one thing you hated most. Whatever it may be, your tribe believes that you're the cause of their misfortune and have banished you to the surface.
Once on the surface, you've devoted yourself to your hatred of mages and hunt them for sport. Yor own cursed blood has given you an advantage over your old tribe, and you use it to prove to them that you weren't the cause of their misfortune. When all mages have been killed, you can return with their deaths as your proof.
Captured by drow, magically tortured/experimented on by a wizard who wanted to use certain creatures as "batteries" to power his nefarious projects. (Arcane Bloodline)
One day, the experiment goes wrong and a feedback surge of magical energy breaks the binding spell (Untouchable Rager).
The duergar breaks out of his containment cell and uses one of the rent bars to impale the wizard, which causes the teleportation spell he was preparing to fail and shunt the duergar into the terrible sunlight and warmth of the tropical island.
Iron Vagabond - That's actually pretty cool, too. It gives him that justified villain angle that's fun with lawful evil characters, like Magneto. Especially since he's far too dumb and not charismatic enough to be a genuine mage, no matter how much training.As for stats...pre-magic-items levels and racials, he's 16, 14, 14, 7, 13, 7 (lousy 15-pt buy). After racial and levels, he's 18, 14, 16, 7, 15, 3. Feats are power attack, improved sunder, combat reflexes, disruptive, greater sunder, sundering strike, and improved initiative. Bloodline power so far is disruptive rage, and I traded the level 4 and 8 powers for superstitious, witch hunter, spell sunder and sunder enchantment.
Alright, with that low inteligence, you'd hace been knocked out of the sentient range by a third level spell, whwhich yoir character was forced to cast. You were thrown away like trash, since you could no longer work.
But a savior came in the form of a racial enemy- the dwarves. a dwarf ddrowslayer took him in, and taught him her ways, despite your unnerving nature.
She died three years ago. Killed by your kin. And you were returned to your family, six years and hundreds of drow deaths later, the hatred of the arcane fueling your mothers death.
You killed the damned.
And you left, drinking a potion your mother made, stating that it would end those who drunk it's life.
And you awoke.
Apologies if it Isn't that great, wrote it on mumy phone.