Hi all, thanks for the feedback. I changed it up to be simpler, because Im told I shouldn't multi class for my first time. I'm also worried I'm pushing too much story on the DM. How much can I presume when it comes to making ongoing story in backstory?
Trea K'ia the Half Elf Ranger
I come from a family of druids and hunters. Our ancestors lived amongst nature as one. Then one day my ancestor took the wrath of a God and cursed my family's bloodline. Never shall our families souls pass onto the other side, they will dwell in the ethereal plane for eternity. Through extensive research and sheer will, they constructed an amulet that could hold the souls of our fallen bloodline until we could find a solution.
I was born in the village of _____ to a middle class family. My father was a bowyer, and arguably the best in the region. My mother was a healer/alchemist, she was also an incredibly strong druid. Also my sister who was an aspiring druid, and making great steps for being so young. I prefer the bow, and the stealth. One day our village was attacked by rampaging bandits, my mother and father fought and killed many, but fell. In her last moments, she told us she loved us and muttered an incantation and in a red glowing light she disappeared seemingly into the amulet. Knowing our history we knew we were the only chance for our ancestors.
After seeing our village pillaged and parents slaughtered by bandits, me and my sister fled into the forest. Lost in the forest, me and my sister used every ounce of knowledge and will to survive in the wilderness. Reluctantly the first time my sister kills an animal she hears it's screams. She can communicate with nature, it's not perfect but she's practicing. Months of hunting with my bow, we come across an injured panther, near death. My sister calms it with whispers of reassurance, under whimpers of compassionate tears that seem to bring life back to the animal. A bond is created between her and the animal and over time we are accepted into the family. We hunt together and play together.
One day the den is attacked by humans, we use everything we can to defend but the casualties are many. Our pack becomes three, me my sister and the one surviving cub. It's with that my sister tells me she wants to go back to civilization. She wants to learn more of her abilities, to become stronger to fulfill our destiny. I begrudgingly go along, worried because humans are what caused our pain. We go from city to city, hunting for trade, then using that money to help my sister gain knowledge and power.
Through these travels I learn to adapt to bartering, socializing, and most importantly I learn to cook. Apprenticing under a great chef, I learn all about spices, sauces, and the perfect cuts of meat. So with every new town, my sister would learn more arcane arts and I would learn more culinary arts. Almost obsessive with the cutting, the timing, the spicing. I start splitting my income between hunting, then cooking and setting up small stands that grow slightly famous in the region.
One day when traveling between cities we ran across an incredibly fancy caravan. The main cart has no wheels, it's hovering while guarded by many unusual soldiers on horses. My sisters natural curiosity and thirst for arcane knowledge lurches her forward to ask how it is done. As she runs up, a guard goes to kick her away and she mutters to the horse to buck him off. All this commotion got the attention of the person in the main cart. She runs up and apologizes and asks to please teach her. To which he replies with a unnerving grin, "so you want to learn". A bad feeling boils up in me and I go to call out to my sister to come back. But in that moment I black out and wake up in the forest. Just me and Bagheera, no sign of my sister anywhere. I must find her..... END
I wanted to play something a bit more complicated with a multi class. I thought it would be cool if my sister through magic unlocked the power of the amulet but in turn she was absorbed by it. Then she could cast her druid spells through my body when I wore it. Kind of Ranger/Druid. Am I getting anything fundamentally wrong, I'm not great with the ecosystem yet.
To be honest I’m not a fan of long backstorys but yours is good. Your character has a personal connection to the villain. The only problems I think it poses is how/why you end up working with your party
I do wonder from the story what level character you are making? You talk of having a pet panther, so I'm guessing you're a beast master, but you only gain a pet at level 3...
Also one of the biggest hooks is the family curse and yet that is brushed pass with hardly a mention. "the wrath of a god", how? Who? For a god to care and to curse an entire family line is quite unjust, so maybe an evil god? Are they trying to appease the god? I'm guessing a divine curse is too powerful for a normal remove curse spell to have an effect?
Starting from that point of the story doesn't then work into a standard adventure. Being hired as part of a party to guard/investigate/kill etc doesn't fit the immediate panic of your sister having been kidnapped. You would be questioning witnesses, investigating the unique mode of transport, and hunting down clues. If the DM says they are running Mines of Phandelver, it will be quite strange for your story to stop caring and wander off into the hills for 6 months.
Along the lines of what Wertbag said, make sure the backstory matches what the group is running. Personally I dislike running modules because it limits the player that way. I'd rather have several PCs with backstories like yours that I then weave together to create the plot, but that's me.
This input actually helps a lot. I actually wrote a lot more down, especially about the God situation, but I thought it was becoming cumbersome to read. I don't know what is the important parts to embellish but I definitely will flush out that part of the story in more detail. I will definitely try and tailor the backstory to the module. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any huge flaws in my logic, like the level 3 beastmaster thing is a big problem. So there's no way to have a history with your beast if you start at lvl 1? Could I have it so I met up with them again when I reach level 3, or is that too coincidental.
And the "how do you end up working with a party/sense of urgency" I'll say that he has been traveling a long time trying to find answers that no one seems to have. Knowing this entity is way beyond my capabilities, I need to make money to hire mercenaries to help me return my sister. Or maybe a group of like-minded adventurers. I could also just kill her off and just be looking to unlock the mysteries of our curse.
I will definitely tweak it and hopefully work it into the world I'm in, or I'll just roll a random character lol. Thanks again everyone :D
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Hi all, thanks for the feedback. I changed it up to be simpler, because Im told I shouldn't multi class for my first time. I'm also worried I'm pushing too much story on the DM. How much can I presume when it comes to making ongoing story in backstory?
Trea K'ia the Half Elf Ranger
I come from a family of druids and hunters. Our ancestors lived amongst nature as one. Then one day my ancestor took the wrath of a God and cursed my family's bloodline. Never shall our families souls pass onto the other side, they will dwell in the ethereal plane for eternity. Through extensive research and sheer will, they constructed an amulet that could hold the souls of our fallen bloodline until we could find a solution.
I was born in the village of _____ to a middle class family. My father was a bowyer, and arguably the best in the region. My mother was a healer/alchemist, she was also an incredibly strong druid. Also my sister who was an aspiring druid, and making great steps for being so young. I prefer the bow, and the stealth. One day our village was attacked by rampaging bandits, my mother and father fought and killed many, but fell. In her last moments, she told us she loved us and muttered an incantation and in a red glowing light she disappeared seemingly into the amulet. Knowing our history we knew we were the only chance for our ancestors.
After seeing our village pillaged and parents slaughtered by bandits, me and my sister fled into the forest. Lost in the forest, me and my sister used every ounce of knowledge and will to survive in the wilderness. Reluctantly the first time my sister kills an animal she hears it's screams. She can communicate with nature, it's not perfect but she's practicing. Months of hunting with my bow, we come across an injured panther, near death. My sister calms it with whispers of reassurance, under whimpers of compassionate tears that seem to bring life back to the animal. A bond is created between her and the animal and over time we are accepted into the family. We hunt together and play together.
One day the den is attacked by humans, we use everything we can to defend but the casualties are many. Our pack becomes three, me my sister and the one surviving cub. It's with that my sister tells me she wants to go back to civilization. She wants to learn more of her abilities, to become stronger to fulfill our destiny. I begrudgingly go along, worried because humans are what caused our pain. We go from city to city, hunting for trade, then using that money to help my sister gain knowledge and power.
Through these travels I learn to adapt to bartering, socializing, and most importantly I learn to cook. Apprenticing under a great chef, I learn all about spices, sauces, and the perfect cuts of meat. So with every new town, my sister would learn more arcane arts and I would learn more culinary arts. Almost obsessive with the cutting, the timing, the spicing. I start splitting my income between hunting, then cooking and setting up small stands that grow slightly famous in the region.
One day when traveling between cities we ran across an incredibly fancy caravan. The main cart has no wheels, it's hovering while guarded by many unusual soldiers on horses. My sisters natural curiosity and thirst for arcane knowledge lurches her forward to ask how it is done. As she runs up, a guard goes to kick her away and she mutters to the horse to buck him off. All this commotion got the attention of the person in the main cart. She runs up and apologizes and asks to please teach her. To which he replies with a unnerving grin, "so you want to learn". A bad feeling boils up in me and I go to call out to my sister to come back. But in that moment I black out and wake up in the forest. Just me and Bagheera, no sign of my sister anywhere. I must find her..... END
I wanted to play something a bit more complicated with a multi class. I thought it would be cool if my sister through magic unlocked the power of the amulet but in turn she was absorbed by it. Then she could cast her druid spells through my body when I wore it. Kind of Ranger/Druid. Am I getting anything fundamentally wrong, I'm not great with the ecosystem yet.
To be honest I’m not a fan of long backstorys but yours is good. Your character has a personal connection to the villain. The only problems I think it poses is how/why you end up working with your party
Mostly nocturnal
help build a world here
I do wonder from the story what level character you are making? You talk of having a pet panther, so I'm guessing you're a beast master, but you only gain a pet at level 3...
Also one of the biggest hooks is the family curse and yet that is brushed pass with hardly a mention. "the wrath of a god", how? Who? For a god to care and to curse an entire family line is quite unjust, so maybe an evil god? Are they trying to appease the god? I'm guessing a divine curse is too powerful for a normal remove curse spell to have an effect?
Starting from that point of the story doesn't then work into a standard adventure. Being hired as part of a party to guard/investigate/kill etc doesn't fit the immediate panic of your sister having been kidnapped. You would be questioning witnesses, investigating the unique mode of transport, and hunting down clues. If the DM says they are running Mines of Phandelver, it will be quite strange for your story to stop caring and wander off into the hills for 6 months.
Along the lines of what Wertbag said, make sure the backstory matches what the group is running. Personally I dislike running modules because it limits the player that way. I'd rather have several PCs with backstories like yours that I then weave together to create the plot, but that's me.
This input actually helps a lot. I actually wrote a lot more down, especially about the God situation, but I thought it was becoming cumbersome to read. I don't know what is the important parts to embellish but I definitely will flush out that part of the story in more detail. I will definitely try and tailor the backstory to the module. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any huge flaws in my logic, like the level 3 beastmaster thing is a big problem. So there's no way to have a history with your beast if you start at lvl 1? Could I have it so I met up with them again when I reach level 3, or is that too coincidental.
And the "how do you end up working with a party/sense of urgency" I'll say that he has been traveling a long time trying to find answers that no one seems to have. Knowing this entity is way beyond my capabilities, I need to make money to hire mercenaries to help me return my sister. Or maybe a group of like-minded adventurers. I could also just kill her off and just be looking to unlock the mysteries of our curse.
I will definitely tweak it and hopefully work it into the world I'm in, or I'll just roll a random character lol. Thanks again everyone :D