On of my characters put a TON of work into his backstory, so I want to give him something special. The (quick version) story goes that PC and bro were training with a mage their parents hired. Bro showed talent. Mage turned out evil, said 'you're wasting his talents!', set the house on fire, and peaced out with bro to further his apprenticeship. PC is now on a mission to find him and bring him home.
We're playing SKT, and have connected the mage with the Fire Giants, so they'll find the mage tower nearish the Fire Giant area. I may use/alter Manshoon's Wizard Tower from Dragon Heist, just to keep things easy (this is my first campaign).
PC also used a scry to see his brother studying at a table, and recognized that he has their father's (burnt and melted) wedding ring hanging on a chain. Showing that bro misses family, but is there studying, at least in part, b/c he has been corrupted and wants to learn power from the mage.
When they meet I think it should be separate from the Mage (When they meet the mage I'll have him see the (new) power in PC and offer to have him join his brother to study and gain more.). They can find/fight him at a different time. But when the find bro, any tips on how to RP it? Bro likely won't just be like 'ah hey! let's get out of here!', but also wont want to fight. He'll be conflicted no doubt, though likely leaning towards staying with the Mage.
This scene will need some gravitas, as it'll be the culmination of the PCs story, so any places for inspiration, or ideas themselves, would be great~
What could happen is that the brother went initially as a means for revenge. Let the evil mage train him as much as possible before he turns on the mage to avenge his father. However, at some point this turns and the brother becomes a willing student. The fathers ring has become cursed by the evil wizard - the one possession that your brother holds on to as his last memory of the father. As long as the ring exists, he is under the effect of the curse and has no desire to leave his studies. This curse is not a traditional curse and the only way to be rid of it is for the owner to willingly destroy his father's ring. If the wearer of the ring has his mind controlled through magical means, the curse is so strong by now that attempting to damage or remove the ring by any means is something that the wearer is unwilling to do.
While under the effects of this curse, the brother, against all logic and evidence, sees the Wizard as his only hope to get stronger so this is something he must endure. He must obey for the sake of power, even though he knows the Wizard is evil. He will not listen to reason and instead uses his own internal (cursed) logic to justify why he stays.
Make the bro stay with the mage, or the mage dies, and the brother supplants him.
Maybe the PC remembered it wrong, and the brother actually wanted to go with the mage. Could be he respected him, or the mage offered him something, or the brother is actually power hungry and saw the mage as a way to reach more power, or even he had a crush on his teacher. The brother could be researching or searching for something that has nothing to do with the main plot, but it makes him turn up occasionally.
I had a character who found his long lost sister in in old campaign. She was actively working against him (and had a party of her own) we got into a few fights, but neither one was actually willing to kill the other. She was a magnificent recurring villain/frenemy. It was super fun, and I bet it’s not at all what your player is expecting
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On of my characters put a TON of work into his backstory, so I want to give him something special. The (quick version) story goes that PC and bro were training with a mage their parents hired. Bro showed talent. Mage turned out evil, said 'you're wasting his talents!', set the house on fire, and peaced out with bro to further his apprenticeship. PC is now on a mission to find him and bring him home.
We're playing SKT, and have connected the mage with the Fire Giants, so they'll find the mage tower nearish the Fire Giant area. I may use/alter Manshoon's Wizard Tower from Dragon Heist, just to keep things easy (this is my first campaign).
PC also used a scry to see his brother studying at a table, and recognized that he has their father's (burnt and melted) wedding ring hanging on a chain. Showing that bro misses family, but is there studying, at least in part, b/c he has been corrupted and wants to learn power from the mage.
When they meet I think it should be separate from the Mage (When they meet the mage I'll have him see the (new) power in PC and offer to have him join his brother to study and gain more.). They can find/fight him at a different time. But when the find bro, any tips on how to RP it? Bro likely won't just be like 'ah hey! let's get out of here!', but also wont want to fight. He'll be conflicted no doubt, though likely leaning towards staying with the Mage.
This scene will need some gravitas, as it'll be the culmination of the PCs story, so any places for inspiration, or ideas themselves, would be great~
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Feel free to use any or none of this.
What could happen is that the brother went initially as a means for revenge. Let the evil mage train him as much as possible before he turns on the mage to avenge his father. However, at some point this turns and the brother becomes a willing student. The fathers ring has become cursed by the evil wizard - the one possession that your brother holds on to as his last memory of the father. As long as the ring exists, he is under the effect of the curse and has no desire to leave his studies. This curse is not a traditional curse and the only way to be rid of it is for the owner to willingly destroy his father's ring. If the wearer of the ring has his mind controlled through magical means, the curse is so strong by now that attempting to damage or remove the ring by any means is something that the wearer is unwilling to do.
While under the effects of this curse, the brother, against all logic and evidence, sees the Wizard as his only hope to get stronger so this is something he must endure. He must obey for the sake of power, even though he knows the Wizard is evil. He will not listen to reason and instead uses his own internal (cursed) logic to justify why he stays.
Make the bro stay with the mage, or the mage dies, and the brother supplants him.
Maybe the PC remembered it wrong, and the brother actually wanted to go with the mage. Could be he respected him, or the mage offered him something, or the brother is actually power hungry and saw the mage as a way to reach more power, or even he had a crush on his teacher.
The brother could be researching or searching for something that has nothing to do with the main plot, but it makes him turn up occasionally.
I had a character who found his long lost sister in in old campaign. She was actively working against him (and had a party of her own) we got into a few fights, but neither one was actually willing to kill the other. She was a magnificent recurring villain/frenemy. It was super fun, and I bet it’s not at all what your player is expecting