Advice on PC backgrounds playing a role in the story

[Dizn]

Hey guys!

I'm currently at a loss on what to do with my PCs backstories and how to link them together with the Rise of the Runelords.

Half-Orc (Bard) – Born to an Orc mother and a Human father, he was mainly raised by his peace-loving kind farmer father while the more-heavy-handed mother spent most of her time roaming the lands satisfying her burning desire for adventure. Father is a follower of Desna, and the character himself is a pacifist.

Human (Cleric/Armiger) – Cleric of Asmodeus that grew up in Korvosa. An orphan who was taken in by the Hellknights of the Nail.

Azlanti (Rogue) – Immortal human "weapon" created by the runelord of Greed. However, unbeknownst to Karzoug, immortality came with a cost. When killed, you always return, but lose part of your identity. After the fall of Thassilon, memories of your master were lost. What little remained you wrote in a journal. Over the years you’ve lived many lives and the more you died, the less you remembered. All that remains of your past is your journal, ancient Thassilonian ruins etched onto your body, and a Sihedron ring that you carry with you.

Elf (Sorcerer) – Professional bodyguard and duelist. Mother is an Aldori swordlord, has three sisters (quadruplets), fey bloodline, father is a Feysworn diplomat and a planer travel spending most of his time on the First World. Was raised by her stern mother in an unknown city. As far as I understood, it wasn't an elven city, but someplace were Aldori swordlord could be present.

Azlanti character I've already figured out, since he has the most tie-in with the story. Cleric can be the child of either Viorian or Jakardros or perhaps both? His around 20 years old, so hopefully timeline wise it makes sense.

Currently have no idea what to do with the half-orc, since there are no relevant NPCs of said origin. He does have an orc brother who's a bloodthirsty mercenary, though.

The elf's father is a follower of Magdh, who was blessed with triplets or so he thought. I don't think RotR has any relevant fey creatures that could have done something to her father or mother? Perhaps a Night Hag, or witches who are after Karzoug's soul? Land of Linnorm Kings and Irrisen is full of Fey ties. Brevoy is way too far, so it doesn't make sense to use. Forgot to mention that she acted as a bodyguard to Kendra Deverin, but the job went south and has now been sulking in Sandpoint trying to figure out how to explain her failure to her mother. Her other three sisters are Aldori, magically gifted cold-assassin (been thinking Red Mantis), charismatic soldier.

Any modules, society or tales I could take a look at to help me figure this one out would be appreciated.

Best regards,
Dizn

[Sunderstone]

1) Concerning your Elf...
In my Runelords game, one of my players made an Elven Witch who was abducted as a child and brought to Irissen (your elf reminds me of this character for some reason). In my Golarion, Niska Mvashti is half-sister to Old Bedame (iirc the name of the hermit witch from Kingmaker).

What we came up with for an origin together:

Razula was born in Crying Leaf, an elven village in the southwestern tip of the Mierani Forest. Her father fell to Drow while patrolling the haunted ruins of Celwynvian when she was two. Her mother was an accomplished Alchemist and infrequently travelled to the city of Riddleport to sell minor potions. On one such trip when she was eight years old, a stranger broke into their room at the local inn. The man, known only as Ghrathis, was trying to convince her mother to use her talents to make poisons made from rare elven ingredients. When she refused, he killed her and took Razula with him over the Kodar Mountains and into the Hoarwood Forest back in the northern land of Irrisen. Razula and another stolen child, a young May (Changeling), would be a gift to his cruel and incestuous sister, the White Witch Anelisha. Anelisha was forming a Coven.
Despite years of abuse, some at the hands of her wicked "stepsister", she learned witchcraft and became adept in the usage of dark magic. Fearing this path would consume her as it did her stepsister, she rebelled and refused to follow Anelisha’s instruction any further. As punishment, she was to be sacrificed for her refusal but she had managed to escape using the very craft she was forced to learn.
Razula fled south into the Kodar Mountains where she nearly succumbed to the elements. She was eventually found by a dwarven Druid and brought to the town of Sandpoint for safety. Niska Mvashti, a retired practitioner of magic in her own right, adopted her despite being able to sense the taint of the Winter Witches on her. For years, Niska mentored Razula in Sandpoint, teaching her how to deal with the Patron of Winter as well as practice her craft safely.
Razula remains hesitant to reveal her skills to any commonfolk because of the negative perception she believes Withcraft receives. She strives to use her magic for Good and hopes for acceptance someday.

I used the Irissen sourcebook for the lore and I planned to send out some creatures to track her down from time to time and culminating with the other abductee coming to kill her for abandoning her when she ran (sometime around book 4 to 5 as I was going to use some of Giantslayer Book 4 Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen, specifically Berkvildr the Night Hag). Maybe your elf is fleeing from her family which is why she's in Sandpoint to begin with. A Red Mantis coming for her would be kind of fun.

2) concerning your half-orc...
The Half-Orc is easy. He could be a bastard sired by Father Zanthus during a time when he questioned his path. This could have been a catalyst as to why he adopted Nualia, as he never knew what became of his son. Sort of a second chance to do things right. Your half-orc could have tracked him down to Sandpoint to finally meet his father.
It makes it more impactful when Zanthus dies and he finds out Nualia is sort of a sibling that has killed him.

Your Cleric/Armiger is harder to integrate for me, but I'm sure I could out something with enough time. For now, he might just be wanting to start his own order somewhere in Varisia. The hinterlands of Varisia might be remote enough to not attract unwanted attention, etc. Not an idea I would probably end up using though.

Hope some of this helps the creative juices flow for you.

[Yakman]

i always make my players fill out a "10 Minute Background" [search for "10 minute background character"]

that way they develop most of the plot points and relevant NPCs. you can then connect them [or not] as you see fit.

for your elf, i'd have that unnatural fertility be tied to a more benign aspect of lamashtu.

[Dizn]

Sunderstone wrote:

1) Concerning your Elf...

In my Runelords game, one of my players made an Elven Witch who was abducted as a child and brought to Irissen (your elf reminds me of this character for some reason). In my Golarion, Niska Mvashti is half-sister to Old Bedame (iirc the name of the hermit witch from Kingmaker).

She has settled on playing a melee fighter with support magic who is from Brevoy, Restov—which is on the other side of the map... At this point I'm thinking on doing something with her sisters rather than the character herself. To give her an arc of defeating, redeeming or rescuing her sisters during the course of the campaign. She has not seen her family for at least five years.

Sister 1:

Cold, calculated, sweet talker, and magically gifted diplomat.
I'm thinking a winter witch, hagbound, or seducer archetype. Half-Succubus or Changeling would also be interesting. She would be the "evil" character of the three. However, there aren't any spellcasters I could proxy in RotR, as far as I can see, so if anyone has any ideas. Red Mantis assassin is anther option.

Sister 2:

Tomboy, rough and tumble soldier type, charismatic. (Tagline for her was sitting in a barracks somewhere)
Could be a ranger and being part of some kind of military organization. This one could be the one to rescue. The main rangers we have in the storyline are Black Arrows. However, as far as I know, none of the members are female?

Sister 3:

Determined, strict, perfectionist, quiet.
She is an Aldori Swordlord like her mother who stays by her side. I'm thinking of changing Viorian into her who perhaps killed their mother or left her mortally wounded. This would make changing her back an interesting storyline. I don't necessarily see why her families household couldn't have stored the Sword of Greed, so hopefully its not as big of a retcon.

Sunderstone wrote:

2) Concerning your half-orc...

The Half-Orc is easy. He could be a bastard sired by Father Zanthus during a time when he questioned his path. This could have been a catalyst as to why he adopted Nualia, as he never knew what became of his son. Sort of a second chance to do things right. Your half-orc could have tracked him down to Sandpoint to finally meet his father.
It makes it more impactful when Zanthus dies and he finds out Nualia is sort of a sibling that has killed him.

It's such an obvious connection, how did I manage to miss it?! Anyhow, he didn't want this option, so I'm back to square one. I either don't give him anything or figure out how to bring in orcs to the campaign, perhaps via the BBEG who wants more hands on deck. If his father is neither Father Zanthus nor Father Tobyn, I don't think he is interesting enough to have a role in the story, so its back to his orc-ish side.

Sunderstone wrote:

Your Cleric/Armiger is harder to integrate for me, but I'm sure I could out something with enough time. For now, he might just be wanting to start his own order somewhere in Varisia. The hinterlands of Varisia might be remote enough to not attract unwanted attention, etc. Not an idea I would probably end up using though.

I've decided on the Commandor of the Black Arrows to be his father who was exiled from Hellknights, but left his newborn at the hands of the organization. However, not yet certain what "crimes" one would have to committee to get that kind of treatment and not a death sentence. Could have been a higher ranking officer perhaps.

[Dizn]

Yakman wrote:

I always make my players fill out a "10 Minute Background" [search for "10 minute background character"]

that way they develop most of the plot points and relevant NPCs. you can then connect them [or not] as you see fit.

Okay, this concept is great for creating PCs. Will probably start using it myself when I get to play as a character again. Thanks for sharing!

Yakman wrote:

For your elf, I'd have that unnatural fertility be tied to a more benign aspect of lamashtu.

Elves generally don't see many children indeed, so the fact they got 4 is definitely not normal. Did not think about a Lamashtu connection, but there are multiple paths here, I think that could work. Could I change a PC into a Changeling or a half-demon without them knowing about it? I can do whatever with the sisters, but the PC herself is set on being an elf sorcerer, and not really the evil kind.

[Sunderstone]

Some cool ideas you have there.
Sister 1) Great idea and she could possibly be Nualia's lover and seduced into being another follower of Lamashtu.
Sister 2) Nothing wrong with the Black Arrows having female members.

The father Black Arrow angle is great....
He could have indeed fled a death sentence and wound up with the Black Arrows under an assumed name. The player could be hunting him to restore his own honor or the assumed name is something only he could possibly recognize from his past (like a nickname his father used to call him) and he might be fleeing the order himself for fear of retribution by proxy.

[Yakman]

Dizn wrote:

Yakman wrote:

I always make my players fill out a "10 Minute Background" [search for "10 minute background character"]

that way they develop most of the plot points and relevant NPCs. you can then connect them [or not] as you see fit.

Okay, this concept is great for creating PCs. Will probably start using it myself when I get to play as a character again. Thanks for sharing!

Yakman wrote:

For your elf, I'd have that unnatural fertility be tied to a more benign aspect of lamashtu.

Elves generally don't see many children indeed, so the fact they got 4 is definitely not normal. Did not think about a Lamashtu connection, but there are multiple paths here, I think that could work. Could I change a PC into a Changeling or a half-demon without them knowing about it? I can do whatever with the sisters, but the PC herself is set on being an elf sorcerer, and not really the evil kind.

sure. she wants to be a sorcerer, then you tell her that ... cool and that you'd like her to take the 'Abyssal' bloodline, because you have a story you want to tell with that.

She doesn't have to be evil to have the bloodline. But that's the source of her power.

Alternatively, she might present as an elf, but be a tiefling (possibly a Pitborn/demonspawn).

Of course, and this is the option you don't have to necessarily discuss with your player, if you really, really, really want to have fun, slap the Corruption 'Demonic' on her when they descend into the caves beneath Sandpoint... the closeness to the Lamashtan energy causes the corruption to emerge.

When the PCs return to Sandpoint late in the AP, she can cleanse the temple and remove the corruption... if she chooses...

[Yakman]

Dizn wrote:

Human (Cleric/Armiger) – Cleric of Asmodeus that grew up in Korvosa. An orphan who was taken in by the Hellknights of the Nail.

#1 - what are they doing in Sandpoint? Do they know their real parent - is that why they've returned?

#2 - Do they want to stay in the order of the Nail?

i think understanding a PCs goals is really important to helping flesh out what you want to do with them. Right now, you need more to work with if you want a collaborative story.

Asmodeus is a god of pride and slavery, a.k.a., Illusion and Enchantment. I'd tell the player that maybe they want to focus on those types of spells as the game progresses, and the tremors of the returning runelords begin changing the magical world.

[Yakman]

Dizn wrote:

Azlanti (Rogue) – Immortal human "weapon" created by the runelord of Greed. However, unbeknownst to Karzoug, immortality came with a cost. When killed, you always return, but lose part of your identity. After the fall of Thassilon, memories of your master were lost. What little remained you wrote in a journal. Over the years you’ve lived many lives and the more you died, the less you remembered. All that remains of your past is your journal, ancient Thassilonian ruins etched onto your body, and a Sihedron ring that you carry with you.

while this is a cool backstory, by allowing a player to choose Azlanti, they are mechanically much more powerful than the rest of the party.

Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe tell the player that the idea is cool, but for party balance they need to have a human PC, or that they need to rebalance their ability scores.

[Dizn]

Yakman wrote:

Dizn wrote:

Azlanti (Rogue) – Immortal human "weapon" created by the runelord of Greed. However, unbeknownst to Karzoug, immortality came with a cost. When killed, you always return, but lose part of your identity. After the fall of Thassilon, memories of your master were lost. What little remained you wrote in a journal. Over the years you’ve lived many lives and the more you died, the less you remembered. All that remains of your past is your journal, ancient Thassilonian ruins etched onto your body, and a Sihedron ring that you carry with you.

while this is a cool backstory, by allowing a player to choose Azlanti, they are mechanically much more powerful than the rest of the party.

Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe tell the player that the idea is cool, but for party balance they need to have a human PC, or that they need to rebalance their ability scores.

PCs background was a collaboration. Player wanted to have a character who was resurrected without memories and this is what we came up with.

The character itself is using human ability scores for balance sake, I just trapped their ancestry as Azlanti. Its pure background flavor. His curse of immortality on the other hand means he doesn't have to change characters upon death, but has to learn to deal with memory loss or amnesia.

[Yakman]

Dizn wrote:

Yakman wrote:

Dizn wrote:

Azlanti (Rogue) – Immortal human "weapon" created by the runelord of Greed. However, unbeknownst to Karzoug, immortality came with a cost. When killed, you always return, but lose part of your identity. After the fall of Thassilon, memories of your master were lost. What little remained you wrote in a journal. Over the years you’ve lived many lives and the more you died, the less you remembered. All that remains of your past is your journal, ancient Thassilonian ruins etched onto your body, and a Sihedron ring that you carry with you.

while this is a cool backstory, by allowing a player to choose Azlanti, they are mechanically much more powerful than the rest of the party.

Are you sure you want to do this? Maybe tell the player that the idea is cool, but for party balance they need to have a human PC, or that they need to rebalance their ability scores.

PCs background was a collaboration. Player wanted to have a character who was resurrected without memories and this is what we came up with.

The character itself is using human ability scores for balance sake, I just trapped their ancestry as Azlanti. Its pure background flavor. His curse of immortality on the other hand means he doesn't have to change characters upon death, but has to learn to deal with memory loss or amnesia.

do you think that a 'get out of death free' card might be a challenge in play - particularly w/ a rogue?

it might be problematic and encourage excessively risky play:

"oh, i'll go get in close with a giant [bad idea] and oh well, i'll just be back next session, whatevs."

[Dizn]

Yakman wrote:

do you think that a 'get out of death free' card might be a challenge in play - particularly w/ a rogue?

it might be problematic and encourage excessively risky play:

"oh, i'll go get in close with a giant [bad idea] and oh well, i'll just be back next session, whatevs."

Well the consequence of dying, is he loses his memories and won't know the party members, who he is fighting or why. Total amnesia after each death. He keeps a logbook to track information, but that can get damaged, stolen etc. Most of the information written has already faded. After resurrection, he can only trust his book, but not necessarily anyone else. I personally think that dying becomes enough of a hindrance that he wouldn't want to exploit it.