i made this hexblade a while back but i don't know the best way to create the backstory. please help me and mykiel(the warlocks name). his patron is also a bound babby tarrasque that is decently smart.
Well, lets start with the Background character trait. Is there any particular one that you're interested in? What's your character concept, beyond Aasimar Hexblade? Are we talking about a fallen angel, or we looking at something else? Is there any particular setting you're playing in - FR, Dark Suns, Planescape, etc?
With a warlock, one of the important things to consider is how you met your Patron and what it wants from you. Since we're talking aasimar, can I ask what kind of Aasimar - the Volo version is much different from the DMG version.
i am doing a fallen aasimar w/ 2 cleavers (handaxes) and not sure what to do for my PotB. my original idea was criminal but i am no longer sure which i want. my idea is that they lost their memory (partially) after being attacked (not sure by whom) and kicked into a pit in th forest. that pit contained a portal to the shadowfell and that led me to a pitch black desert. after i landed a large claw rose and heaved the beasts whole body out, thus revealing a youngish tarrasque . the tarrasque was black as coal and had some intelligence (12 or so) it offered me power and freedom in exchange for me to wreak havoc every now and then.
If you want an amnesiac teleporter character, that's going to really restrict what you can have as a background. You wouldn't remember anyone in order to make contact with the criminal underground, or have functionaries. You basically are heavily restricting what kinds of bonds and ideas you can have. If anything, I would say you can take Far Walker or Inheritor.
If you're talking about making a secret history for the character, then that really should be handled by the DM.
With partial memory loss, we can assume he might recognize his attacker by sight, but perhaps little more than that, and might have some vague idea of why, but perhaps not. Overall the background is something the character will remember bits of. Fragments of memory, but not necessarily exact details. In time he/she, (it's really best to think of your character in 3rd person rather than 1st person narrative when ooc), might be able to piece those fragments together, but currently it is a mystery.
I would suggest a Noble background. The character can have been from a distinguished family, and perhaps while on a hunt have been ambushed by a member of a rival faction/family, and left for dead. It's also possible there were festivities involved, and the character was drunk at the time, wandering away from a party in the forest, and was attacked from behind. They may or may not know their attacker; but suffice to say they have been left for dead, and never found.
The location of those events is going to provide the character with fragments of memory, as is the area around. Their homeland, town, maybe even estate. Either way, it's best if the exact details are left up to the DM, and played out over the course of a campaign; with small revelations that provide you clues given through dreams, at moments of conflict, (flashbacks), or when something might trigger a memory, such as local wildlife, or a particular type of architecture. You may not even know which of these is real, and which is simply a strange moment of deja vu.
Either way, your primary clues will be the outfit you were wearing at the time you arrived on that plane, the accent of your character, and playable indicators might be the way you present yourself and speak in character. At some point, when the GM feels you have gleaned enough fragments of knowledge, they may bring you back to where it began and allow you to discover the mystery of your origins during gameplay with your party, or perhaps even alone.
The last thing I would consider, is the shock of entering that plane so unexpectedly might be part of the cause of the characters fragmented and partial memory. Such an event, coupled with being the victim of an attempted assassination/murder, could very well cause enough trauma to break the characters mind a little. Especially with a Tarrasque popping out of the ground like that. Very unsettling.
Certainly, the Game Master could also throw a twist in there and leave you expecting one thing, and getting quite another as well.
You could also lean in to the "fallen angel" aspect. Started out as a do gooder (folk hero, noble, urban bounty hunter) but maybe after a loss or significant event turned to darker powers. Maybe to bring someone back. Maybe someone that was taken from him. Could use the traditional "deal with the devil" template....but instead sought out death and darkness itself. You could also stick with a more insidious background (criminal, charlatan, etc.) but maybe he was just an "average" criminal exploiting his racial charisma and powers. Nothing too terrible but, again, some catalyst causes him to seek darker powers. Like getting in trouble with a the "mob" (thieves guild, etc) and, in desperation, he turned to something he didn't quite fully understand.
Sounds like you're aiming for a reluctant bargain, so maybe when he got the shadowfell and it wasn't what he thought. It was a bit too much. But after wandering in the darkness for a period of time it was his only way back. And now he's dealing with the repercussions.
Or if it's not a reluctant deal, it could be that he was always a bit drawn to the darkness. This was something he kept hidden since it's not exactly expected (or likely accepted) of an Aasimar. But the seed grew until he sought it out and is a willing participant. Not necessarily "evil". Just someone with a more chaotic (chaotic neutral?) persuasion that will do what they need to do, even if it means exploiting darker powers to do it.
I also agree that memory loss doesn't necessarily restrict background and it could give your DM some great RP opportunities by creating elements of your backstory you aren't even entirely familiar with. You'll suddenly meet someone who recognizes you and have to figure out who they are and what they want. Friend or foe? Go full Memento! Similar to FeriteKnight's point, maybe you witnessed something out there in the dessert that "broke" your mind but you don't know what it is. Maybe there is something the patron wants to keep hidden from you and deliberately wiped it from your mind, but was a bit overzealous and took a few other things with it. If you're a fan of Critical Role, think about Fjord. Their hexblade doesn't even remember his pact. He was washed overboard and woke up on the beach with a magic sword and new powers. The DM is filling in the details and revealing more and more every few sessions.
thanks this will help. how im thinking he got to become a fallen is that since the shadowfell corrupts creatures (i.e sorrowsworn, shadow dragons) it could have turned him into a fallen aasimar. would that work?
i made this hexblade a while back but i don't know the best way to create the backstory. please help me and mykiel(the warlocks name). his patron is also a bound babby tarrasque that is decently smart.
Well, lets start with the Background character trait. Is there any particular one that you're interested in? What's your character concept, beyond Aasimar Hexblade? Are we talking about a fallen angel, or we looking at something else? Is there any particular setting you're playing in - FR, Dark Suns, Planescape, etc?
With a warlock, one of the important things to consider is how you met your Patron and what it wants from you. Since we're talking aasimar, can I ask what kind of Aasimar - the Volo version is much different from the DMG version.
i am doing a fallen aasimar w/ 2 cleavers (handaxes) and not sure what to do for my PotB. my original idea was criminal but i am no longer sure which i want. my idea is that they lost their memory (partially) after being attacked (not sure by whom) and kicked into a pit in th forest. that pit contained a portal to the shadowfell and that led me to a pitch black desert. after i landed a large claw rose and heaved the beasts whole body out, thus revealing a youngish tarrasque . the tarrasque was black as coal and had some intelligence (12 or so) it offered me power and freedom in exchange for me to wreak havoc every now and then.
If you want an amnesiac teleporter character, that's going to really restrict what you can have as a background. You wouldn't remember anyone in order to make contact with the criminal underground, or have functionaries. You basically are heavily restricting what kinds of bonds and ideas you can have. If anything, I would say you can take Far Walker or Inheritor.
If you're talking about making a secret history for the character, then that really should be handled by the DM.
With partial memory loss, we can assume he might recognize his attacker by sight, but perhaps little more than that, and might have some vague idea of why, but perhaps not. Overall the background is something the character will remember bits of. Fragments of memory, but not necessarily exact details. In time he/she, (it's really best to think of your character in 3rd person rather than 1st person narrative when ooc), might be able to piece those fragments together, but currently it is a mystery.
I would suggest a Noble background. The character can have been from a distinguished family, and perhaps while on a hunt have been ambushed by a member of a rival faction/family, and left for dead. It's also possible there were festivities involved, and the character was drunk at the time, wandering away from a party in the forest, and was attacked from behind. They may or may not know their attacker; but suffice to say they have been left for dead, and never found.
The location of those events is going to provide the character with fragments of memory, as is the area around. Their homeland, town, maybe even estate. Either way, it's best if the exact details are left up to the DM, and played out over the course of a campaign; with small revelations that provide you clues given through dreams, at moments of conflict, (flashbacks), or when something might trigger a memory, such as local wildlife, or a particular type of architecture. You may not even know which of these is real, and which is simply a strange moment of deja vu.
Either way, your primary clues will be the outfit you were wearing at the time you arrived on that plane, the accent of your character, and playable indicators might be the way you present yourself and speak in character. At some point, when the GM feels you have gleaned enough fragments of knowledge, they may bring you back to where it began and allow you to discover the mystery of your origins during gameplay with your party, or perhaps even alone.
The last thing I would consider, is the shock of entering that plane so unexpectedly might be part of the cause of the characters fragmented and partial memory. Such an event, coupled with being the victim of an attempted assassination/murder, could very well cause enough trauma to break the characters mind a little. Especially with a Tarrasque popping out of the ground like that. Very unsettling.
Certainly, the Game Master could also throw a twist in there and leave you expecting one thing, and getting quite another as well.
oooooooooooooooooooh!!!!!! thats amazing thanks. ill definitely have to use this thanks.
You could also lean in to the "fallen angel" aspect. Started out as a do gooder (folk hero, noble, urban bounty hunter) but maybe after a loss or significant event turned to darker powers. Maybe to bring someone back. Maybe someone that was taken from him. Could use the traditional "deal with the devil" template....but instead sought out death and darkness itself. You could also stick with a more insidious background (criminal, charlatan, etc.) but maybe he was just an "average" criminal exploiting his racial charisma and powers. Nothing too terrible but, again, some catalyst causes him to seek darker powers. Like getting in trouble with a the "mob" (thieves guild, etc) and, in desperation, he turned to something he didn't quite fully understand.
Sounds like you're aiming for a reluctant bargain, so maybe when he got the shadowfell and it wasn't what he thought. It was a bit too much. But after wandering in the darkness for a period of time it was his only way back. And now he's dealing with the repercussions.
Or if it's not a reluctant deal, it could be that he was always a bit drawn to the darkness. This was something he kept hidden since it's not exactly expected (or likely accepted) of an Aasimar. But the seed grew until he sought it out and is a willing participant. Not necessarily "evil". Just someone with a more chaotic (chaotic neutral?) persuasion that will do what they need to do, even if it means exploiting darker powers to do it.
I also agree that memory loss doesn't necessarily restrict background and it could give your DM some great RP opportunities by creating elements of your backstory you aren't even entirely familiar with. You'll suddenly meet someone who recognizes you and have to figure out who they are and what they want. Friend or foe? Go full Memento! Similar to FeriteKnight's point, maybe you witnessed something out there in the dessert that "broke" your mind but you don't know what it is. Maybe there is something the patron wants to keep hidden from you and deliberately wiped it from your mind, but was a bit overzealous and took a few other things with it. If you're a fan of Critical Role, think about Fjord. Their hexblade doesn't even remember his pact. He was washed overboard and woke up on the beach with a magic sword and new powers. The DM is filling in the details and revealing more and more every few sessions.
So many opportunities. Hope this helps.
thanks this will help. how im thinking he got to become a fallen is that since the shadowfell corrupts creatures (i.e sorrowsworn, shadow dragons) it could have turned him into a fallen aasimar. would that work?
Totally.
thanks.