So I love my players for each having ridiculous characters that are all genuinely fun to play with
1. A huntress trying to improve herself, hunt evil, grow stronger and find(or build) a better weapon. She's a fighter that specializes in magic weaponry.
2. A rich noble, captain looking to find and seek revenge on her uncle for making their escape with all the families gold.
3. A bard/rogue, who is genuinely fun to play with but never shares much and doesn't seem to have any goals or aspirations. (This ones tricky, I'm probably gonna save them for last)
4. A former assassin, Bladeslinging Wizard, who is trying to learn not to kill and lead a better life, be a better friend, make burritos and share them with his friends.
Mostly I'm looking for ideas on the first two and I'm hoping the next two will follow.
1. Have the character find or hear rumor of a magic weapon. You can either make it in pieces and have them reforge it, or have the weapon be whole but have a list of magical upgrades they need to find in order to vanquish some ancient evil. I like the upgrade option because the weapon can grow with the character.
2. Investigate rumors that lead from town to town until the final confrontation takes place. The uncle dies, but they find a map on the body that leads to the families gold. The gold has already been found by pirates. Find the pirates but they have spent all the gold on rum. Give the characters a rediculous amount of rum as a reward.
3. Some people just aren't into big character story arcs and that's ok. You could just create a problem that only a bard or character with his unique skillset could solve.
4. Create grey areas where the character could choose to assassinate or not and let them RP their choice. Have them invest in a local burrito shop?
1. an NPC joins the characters on some sort of quest too difficult for one person alone. this NPC is a lot like the huntress but a little older, a little more experienced. they can take a liking to the huntress and play as a role model. later NPC betrays the values they claimed to stand for and instead makes off selfishly with the prize. "hey, i told you not to trust anyone but yourself. good luck, kid." *steps on fingers* (with inspiration from 2018 movie Solo)
2. the uncle is found doing dirty work in noble circles under an assumed name. he has many contacts (and no actual skills to fall back on) so the lords of this province took 'pity' on him. ostensibly so that a fellow noble would not be seen fallen so low as to resort to begging or worse: common labor. catching up with him and perhaps foiling some of his dirty plots for hire, the group learns that he doesn't have the money. he lost it gambling in nearly one lump. he whines that it was only fair since that's how the captain's grandfather became a noble himself. they can track down the merchant lord who fleeced him. but what then, rob him? the uncle has an idea: set him up as a rival merchant and ruin the merchant lord by leading him legitimately into a bad deal (ala the 1983 movie Trading Places).
3. woman walks up to rogue with a bundle. "aha. i've found you. i've finally found you. THIS is yours!" hands rogue the bundle. the bundle is a baby. is it true? is it mistaken identity? is it a con? is it a message? is it... dun dun dun... their time traveling twin (probably not)?
4. would this former assassin make a bet with a shady individual? if they're really repentant then perhaps they wouldn't shy from a pledge to Eldath, goddess of peace, in a binding oath to become a pacifist for one week or else suffer themselves the scars they inflict upon others. surely they could do that for a week and if their intentions were pure it would strengthen their resolve to continue that way forever. if they win this bet then they get some lovely reward. if they fail, they must do a favor for this shady individual. they won't tell the favor immediately, but they'll be in touch. the shady character would likely be a warlock in service to a devil or dark fey patron. after a few days of suspiciously difficult and seemingly random interactions to handle nonlethally the stranger shows up again to check on their bet. they let drop in private that the favor, the very binding favor, will be to assassinate the local priestess of Eldath! if it works for you, perhaps you could spice it up by revealing that the priestess herself is mediating that oath. so blindly faithful is she in this otherwise unknown adventurer's newly-turned-leaf that she has pledged herself to take also every injury they (the former assassin) takes. how could the player win a sword duel with the stranger on the last day without giving or taking any cuts? neither killing nor dying? and what's keeping their friends from intervening, i wonder, because that seems a likely thing to occur??
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So I love my players for each having ridiculous characters that are all genuinely fun to play with
1. A huntress trying to improve herself, hunt evil, grow stronger and find(or build) a better weapon. She's a fighter that specializes in magic weaponry.
2. A rich noble, captain looking to find and seek revenge on her uncle for making their escape with all the families gold.
3. A bard/rogue, who is genuinely fun to play with but never shares much and doesn't seem to have any goals or aspirations. (This ones tricky, I'm probably gonna save them for last)
4. A former assassin, Bladeslinging Wizard, who is trying to learn not to kill and lead a better life, be a better friend, make burritos and share them with his friends.
Mostly I'm looking for ideas on the first two and I'm hoping the next two will follow.
1. Have the character find or hear rumor of a magic weapon. You can either make it in pieces and have them reforge it, or have the weapon be whole but have a list of magical upgrades they need to find in order to vanquish some ancient evil. I like the upgrade option because the weapon can grow with the character.
2. Investigate rumors that lead from town to town until the final confrontation takes place. The uncle dies, but they find a map on the body that leads to the families gold. The gold has already been found by pirates. Find the pirates but they have spent all the gold on rum. Give the characters a rediculous amount of rum as a reward.
3. Some people just aren't into big character story arcs and that's ok. You could just create a problem that only a bard or character with his unique skillset could solve.
4. Create grey areas where the character could choose to assassinate or not and let them RP their choice. Have them invest in a local burrito shop?
1. an NPC joins the characters on some sort of quest too difficult for one person alone. this NPC is a lot like the huntress but a little older, a little more experienced. they can take a liking to the huntress and play as a role model. later NPC betrays the values they claimed to stand for and instead makes off selfishly with the prize. "hey, i told you not to trust anyone but yourself. good luck, kid." *steps on fingers* (with inspiration from 2018 movie Solo)
2. the uncle is found doing dirty work in noble circles under an assumed name. he has many contacts (and no actual skills to fall back on) so the lords of this province took 'pity' on him. ostensibly so that a fellow noble would not be seen fallen so low as to resort to begging or worse: common labor. catching up with him and perhaps foiling some of his dirty plots for hire, the group learns that he doesn't have the money. he lost it gambling in nearly one lump. he whines that it was only fair since that's how the captain's grandfather became a noble himself. they can track down the merchant lord who fleeced him. but what then, rob him? the uncle has an idea: set him up as a rival merchant and ruin the merchant lord by leading him legitimately into a bad deal (ala the 1983 movie Trading Places).
3. woman walks up to rogue with a bundle. "aha. i've found you. i've finally found you. THIS is yours!" hands rogue the bundle. the bundle is a baby. is it true? is it mistaken identity? is it a con? is it a message? is it... dun dun dun... their time traveling twin (probably not)?
4. would this former assassin make a bet with a shady individual? if they're really repentant then perhaps they wouldn't shy from a pledge to Eldath, goddess of peace, in a binding oath to become a pacifist for one week or else suffer themselves the scars they inflict upon others. surely they could do that for a week and if their intentions were pure it would strengthen their resolve to continue that way forever. if they win this bet then they get some lovely reward. if they fail, they must do a favor for this shady individual. they won't tell the favor immediately, but they'll be in touch. the shady character would likely be a warlock in service to a devil or dark fey patron. after a few days of suspiciously difficult and seemingly random interactions to handle nonlethally the stranger shows up again to check on their bet. they let drop in private that the favor, the very binding favor, will be to assassinate the local priestess of Eldath! if it works for you, perhaps you could spice it up by revealing that the priestess herself is mediating that oath. so blindly faithful is she in this otherwise unknown adventurer's newly-turned-leaf that she has pledged herself to take also every injury they (the former assassin) takes. how could the player win a sword duel with the stranger on the last day without giving or taking any cuts? neither killing nor dying? and what's keeping their friends from intervening, i wonder, because that seems a likely thing to occur??
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!