Boy and girl love each other, they're young and dumb, their ups are soaring in the clouds next to Mount Celestia and their downs are in the deepest, lowest caverns of the Underdark. And during one of their heated emotional fights she storms away with her lute - obviously, she's a bard, - and rides her black mustang into the darkness of the night. It’s dark, her eyes are full of tears and she can barely see where she is going. She notices the end of the road far too late and loses control of her horse and falls down a cliff, dying.
Years later, the boy (who will become the character), now grown up and realising how foolishly he allowed his love slip away, is constantly blaming himself for her death, haunted by the echoes of other lives, where he didn't make this mistake and tormented by visions of other realities where he tried to stop her but she still died, slowly getting driven mad trying to find the one timeline where it didn't happen.
— —
He is adventuring to find the magic or the technology or something, that will allow him to find the one reality where she doesn’t die and they live happily ever after. Or, at the very least, where she lives a long and happy life, even if it’s without him.
It was his grief at losing her that first caused him to “limit break” and his desperation to undo what he considers his greatest mistake, that pushed him beyond reality into the realm of the fantastical and allowed him to see other lives and other dimensions in the first place.
Oh, and every time he does something cool, his battle cry is either “are you watching Amaya” or, “this is for you Amaya.” His greatest treasure is a cheap worthless locket that has a picture of him and his love in one half and piece of her hair in the other. Every time he feels worried, or scared, or like he can’t go on, he squeezes this locket and remembers what he’s fighting for and it gives him the resolve he needs to get up, and keep going.
So, guys, what do you think? Is this thematic for an Echo Knight, and would you be happy to play with this character in your party?
I’m looking forward to what you all have to say.
Cheers
XD
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Its all party based so can't speak for everyone, for me I think as a fellow player I'd likely never learn half of that info so as long as it wasn't shoved down my throat when I wasn't asking I'd not mind playing with someone with this backstory, however that is dependant on how angsty you intend to be with it as too many 'moody' moments and screams of "this is for you Amaya" will end up looking pretty self-indulgent on your part. I personally prefer back stories with much less melodrama and angst but different strokes and all that, if that's common in your parties then go for it. From an entirely contextual perspective, that's certainly a suitable explanation for Echo Knight powers.
Yeah, like OhSinnerman mentioned, this is pretty angsty. This just screams Angsty Emo Anime protagonist. Even the battle cry is basically "Notice me senpai!" I also find it a bit stereotypical that the girl just cries enough to somehow miss a fracking cliff. I don't know, it's just both extremely angsty and emo while at the same time just being incredibly silly.
Personally, if I were to do something like this I'd do away with the whole angsty emo teenage drama relationship bit ( the "their ups are soaring in the clouds next to Mount Celestia and their downs are in the deepest, lowest caverns of the Underdark" part) and just say that boy loved girl, girl died (keep it simple, disease is quite common), boy keeps memory alive by manifesting an echo that kind of looks like her. Just describe your echo as looking like a young woman, don't go over the top with details, and if any of the other players ask just say "She was someone I loved. She died when she was young and this is my way of keep her with me." No need for anything more, no monologues, no swearing an oath to one day bring her back, no sudden rain clouds. Just a simple explanation for something that is actually quite a cool idea.
But hey, if the kind of angsty teen melodrama is what works in your group, go for it. But like ohSinnerman said, it's pretty self-indulgent and it could come of as attention grabbing.
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Hi, beyonders
Here is a backstory for an Echo Knight Fighter.
——
Boy and girl love each other, they're young and dumb, their ups are soaring in the clouds next to Mount Celestia and their downs are in the deepest, lowest caverns of the Underdark. And during one of their heated emotional fights she storms away with her lute - obviously, she's a bard, - and rides her black mustang into the darkness of the night. It’s dark, her eyes are full of tears and she can barely see where she is going. She notices the end of the road far too late and loses control of her horse and falls down a cliff, dying.
Years later, the boy (who will become the character), now grown up and realising how foolishly he allowed his love slip away, is constantly blaming himself for her death, haunted by the echoes of other lives, where he didn't make this mistake and tormented by visions of other realities where he tried to stop her but she still died, slowly getting driven mad trying to find the one timeline where it didn't happen.
— —
He is adventuring to find the magic or the technology or something, that will allow him to find the one reality where she doesn’t die and they live happily ever after. Or, at the very least, where she lives a long and happy life, even if it’s without him.
It was his grief at losing her that first caused him to “limit break” and his desperation to undo what he considers his greatest mistake, that pushed him beyond reality into the realm of the fantastical and allowed him to see other lives and other dimensions in the first place.
Oh, and every time he does something cool, his battle cry is either “are you watching Amaya” or, “this is for you Amaya.” His greatest treasure is a cheap worthless locket that has a picture of him and his love in one half and piece of her hair in the other. Every time he feels worried, or scared, or like he can’t go on, he squeezes this locket and remembers what he’s fighting for and it gives him the resolve he needs to get up, and keep going.
So, guys, what do you think? Is this thematic for an Echo Knight, and would you be happy to play with this character in your party?
I’m looking forward to what you all have to say.
Cheers
XD
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Its all party based so can't speak for everyone, for me I think as a fellow player I'd likely never learn half of that info so as long as it wasn't shoved down my throat when I wasn't asking I'd not mind playing with someone with this backstory, however that is dependant on how angsty you intend to be with it as too many 'moody' moments and screams of "this is for you Amaya" will end up looking pretty self-indulgent on your part. I personally prefer back stories with much less melodrama and angst but different strokes and all that, if that's common in your parties then go for it. From an entirely contextual perspective, that's certainly a suitable explanation for Echo Knight powers.
Yeah, like OhSinnerman mentioned, this is pretty angsty. This just screams Angsty Emo Anime protagonist. Even the battle cry is basically "Notice me senpai!" I also find it a bit stereotypical that the girl just cries enough to somehow miss a fracking cliff. I don't know, it's just both extremely angsty and emo while at the same time just being incredibly silly.
Personally, if I were to do something like this I'd do away with the whole angsty emo teenage drama relationship bit ( the "their ups are soaring in the clouds next to Mount Celestia and their downs are in the deepest, lowest caverns of the Underdark" part) and just say that boy loved girl, girl died (keep it simple, disease is quite common), boy keeps memory alive by manifesting an echo that kind of looks like her. Just describe your echo as looking like a young woman, don't go over the top with details, and if any of the other players ask just say "She was someone I loved. She died when she was young and this is my way of keep her with me." No need for anything more, no monologues, no swearing an oath to one day bring her back, no sudden rain clouds. Just a simple explanation for something that is actually quite a cool idea.
But hey, if the kind of angsty teen melodrama is what works in your group, go for it. But like ohSinnerman said, it's pretty self-indulgent and it could come of as attention grabbing.