TLDR: What kind of character/class do you imagine when you hear "Trained to be the Saint of the God of War, but was rejected for unknown reasons?" What kind of gear do you imagine they have? They would be around level 10 and a few years ago would have had substantial resources for magical items but are now broke.
In my campaign, there are 7 gods of differing domains. Through differing cultural lenses, the gods are viewed differently. For example, in a more industrial city Tempest is a God of War. If you were to grow up in a culture more in tune with nature, you'd see him as a God of Growth.
In truth, Tempest is a kind of guy who loves training montages and seeing people become better versions of themselves. Combat is an area people can improve, and he does really like seeing people get stronger, but if you were to practice cooking and get good at it, he would love that just as much. The thing that would turn him off of a person is if they believed they reached perfection, or stagnated as a person.
There are Saints in this world: mortals that best personify each god's qualities. There are people who actively want to be the Saint of whatever god. There are people that want sway over people who become a Saint, so they attempt to "manufacture" a Saint. I want my players to meet one such person that was a contender for Sainthood then was rejected (Unbeknownst to him, because he only cared about getting stronger in one area and had no intention of doing anything else besides being the best fighter). That person went on to be a bandit leader.
When I make major NPCs for my campaign, I like to give them the same starter stats as my players then level them up to wherever I need them to be. It makes scaling much more interesting and consistent to me, and I get to build all the characters I never get to play because I'm DMing.
If it helps, my thought process while reading as the new context was absorbed was "Paladin! No, Cleric. Wait, Paladin is good. Oh, a Paladin/Cleric! Ooooohhh, I see. Fighter? Hey, how about Paladin/Cleric/Fighter? Huh? He's a Rogue now?"
I didn't start considering race until after I had written the above and then reread your post a couple of times. Although this can still apply to any race, you could have a human, half-elf or half-orc who had something to prove. Because this person was unaware of being "manufactured" they felt that all of their accomplishments came of their own volition, eventually finding out of the behind the scenes influence, and this causing a rift and having to rethink their direction, who to trust and whether or not they are even worthy.
I could imagine this as a Paladin who switched Sacred Oaths, possibly as Conquest or Devotion before swearing new Oaths as Redemption, Vengeance or even Oathbreaker depending on what fits best. I could even see a similar situation with Cleric Domains though sticking with one would still work. It's just flavor for the history of the character anyways as long as the final class features feel right. For my brainstorming build, I've even added 2 Fighter levels and 1 Rogue level.
Without knowing the details of the Bandit Leader role, I chose an Urchin background to help ties into both the "something to prove" motives "unknowing contender for sainthood" and sort of giving a connection back into the shadier parts of the city he resides in. I also think this opens up any playable race to fit the character a bit more, though I think Criminal, Gladiator, Inheritor, and Noble fit as well.
TLDR: What kind of character/class do you imagine when you hear "Trained to be the Saint of the God of War, but was rejected for unknown reasons?" What kind of gear do you imagine they have? They would be around level 10 and a few years ago would have had substantial resources for magical items but are now broke.
In my campaign, there are 7 gods of differing domains. Through differing cultural lenses, the gods are viewed differently. For example, in a more industrial city Tempest is a God of War. If you were to grow up in a culture more in tune with nature, you'd see him as a God of Growth.
In truth, Tempest is a kind of guy who loves training montages and seeing people become better versions of themselves. Combat is an area people can improve, and he does really like seeing people get stronger, but if you were to practice cooking and get good at it, he would love that just as much. The thing that would turn him off of a person is if they believed they reached perfection, or stagnated as a person.
There are Saints in this world: mortals that best personify each god's qualities. There are people who actively want to be the Saint of whatever god. There are people that want sway over people who become a Saint, so they attempt to "manufacture" a Saint. I want my players to meet one such person that was a contender for Sainthood then was rejected (Unbeknownst to him, because he only cared about getting stronger in one area and had no intention of doing anything else besides being the best fighter). That person went on to be a bandit leader.
When I make major NPCs for my campaign, I like to give them the same starter stats as my players then level them up to wherever I need them to be. It makes scaling much more interesting and consistent to me, and I get to build all the characters I never get to play because I'm DMing.
Thanks for your input!
If it helps, my thought process while reading as the new context was absorbed was "Paladin! No, Cleric. Wait, Paladin is good. Oh, a Paladin/Cleric! Ooooohhh, I see. Fighter? Hey, how about Paladin/Cleric/Fighter? Huh? He's a Rogue now?"
I didn't start considering race until after I had written the above and then reread your post a couple of times. Although this can still apply to any race, you could have a human, half-elf or half-orc who had something to prove. Because this person was unaware of being "manufactured" they felt that all of their accomplishments came of their own volition, eventually finding out of the behind the scenes influence, and this causing a rift and having to rethink their direction, who to trust and whether or not they are even worthy.
I could imagine this as a Paladin who switched Sacred Oaths, possibly as Conquest or Devotion before swearing new Oaths as Redemption, Vengeance or even Oathbreaker depending on what fits best. I could even see a similar situation with Cleric Domains though sticking with one would still work. It's just flavor for the history of the character anyways as long as the final class features feel right. For my brainstorming build, I've even added 2 Fighter levels and 1 Rogue level.
Without knowing the details of the Bandit Leader role, I chose an Urchin background to help ties into both the "something to prove" motives "unknowing contender for sainthood" and sort of giving a connection back into the shadier parts of the city he resides in. I also think this opens up any playable race to fit the character a bit more, though I think Criminal, Gladiator, Inheritor, and Noble fit as well.