I am a newbie and planning to play in a group that puts a lot of emphasis on RP. I'd love some feedback from the community! I tired to keep it brief:
"In his youth as a former slave, Erwin Nox felt abandoned by the so-called gods he fruitlessly prayed to. Out of sheer desperation Erwin sought out the power to break free of his bondage at any cost. In doing so he struck a deal with a mysterious demon lord.
Using his new found powers he rose from slavery and ended the lives of his captures, but his new master ordered him to prove his loyalty by killing his fellow slaves who were his only friends. Disgusted by his own actions but forced to comply, Erwin now realizes he merely traded one master for another.
Now he seeks out greater power. Power enough to break his new shackles, and perhaps even take revenge on his current master. But for now, Erwin plays the part of the loyal servant.
A chaotic neutral human warlock, Erwin dislikes hurting the innocent or making trouble, but he will do whatever he must to free himself of his infernal bondage. He is Pragmatic and a utilitarian but has an irrational dislike of Cleric and Paladins and other similar “holy” folks for their faith in what he feels are dispassionate and cruel deities. He also abhors slavery and will attempt to kill slavers and free any salves whenever he gets a chance, even if that causes trouble for other or himself.
Outside of that, he is a friendly person who loves interacting with people, learning history, good food and theater. He gets nervous and flustered around elves that resemble Link from BotW.
He stands at 5’8, 200 lb, with a muscular build from manual labor during his time as a slave, and scars from being whipped. Has black hair, a neatly trimmed beard, olive skin and green eyes. He wields a simple staff and dresses in comfortable brown robes. "
My goal was to give him a serious backstory but not make him edgy. I also wanted to give the DM room to make certain events happen using my character if he should like (you see a band of slavers or my patron wants to call in a favor).
Not to start an alignment thread, but to me this reads more chaotic good than chaotic neutral. (Which is good, CN characters are usually headaches, and CG plays better with others.) But check with your DM. Alignment definitions, and if it even matters at all, can vary from table to table.
Paladins aren’t necessarily “holy.” Again, check with your DM because different tables run them differently.
Otherwise you did a good job on not overwriting it. It’s a reasonable, level 1 background, and you avoided many common first time mistakes.
Your backstory is great. Just a few things stand out to me as things you may be wanting to consider as the game goes on. Firstly, are you sure you even know who you made the bargain with? If a specific demon lord came forth and introduced himself, then you probably do. But it may be just as fun to tell the DM that you were in such a hopeless and broken state that you basically just sent out some Last Desperate Prayer... and you got an answer. But all it said was, "I will free you, but I will own you." And you were just like, "Yeah, sure, whatever!" And maybe it was only after you were (relatively) safe that you had the time and the presence of mind to wonder, "Hmm... what the F did I just get myself into?" I mean, sometimes it's fun to keep a part of our characters hidden even from ourselves so the DM can surprise us later.
Also, how are you dealing with the guilt of killing your fellow slaves? Of course there's going to be some ongoing shame and contrition. That's understandable. And that will probably be the guiding force in your personal narrative. But maybe you try to justify your actions by claiming that, as bad as it was, you actually did them a favor by releasing them from the horrible curse of slavery. They are now "free", like you. This may lead you down a path of "the ends justify the means" kind of thinking. And that's sure to get you into trouble at some point, so that'll be fun!
Thirdly, as Xalthu said, I don't want to turn this into a thread on alignment, but the named alignments don't really come into play very often. You are who you are. You think and act the way you think and act. In four decades of gaming no one has ever asked me my alignment. People see your actions, they see your decisions, they hear your words. That's enough to tell them who and what you are. Alignment is like the quadratic equation, or quicksand. Something that, when I was a kid, I thought would be very important later in life, but that I really have never encountered since the first time I learned about them.
Finally, think about how your Patron communicates with you. How do you know what it wants you to do? This can be a really fun way to flavor your campaign with a little personal touch. Do you simply hear a voice echoing deep inside your mind? Sure, that's a classic, but it's really been done to death. Maybe you sometimes wake up from a long rest to find a scrap of paper in your pocket, and when you read it you find it's your Patron's instructions, and as soon as you finish reading it, it bursts into smoke - very Mission Impossible-ish. Or maybe you'll be at the tavern looking at the menu, and suddenly the letters start to rearrange themselves and form a message from your Patron, but only you see it happen. Just saying, there's room there to have some fun and to make that element of the game more personal. And speaking of instructions... you made a deal. You do the Patron's bidding and the Patron grants you the power you need to get the job done. But... what happens when the Patron gives you an order that you cannot or will not obey? What happens when you're told to burn down an orphanage or kick a puppy? You already know you're tied to a really bad dude, so there must be at least a part of your brain that's wondering how and when this will all hit the fan.
Anyhoo.... whatever you do, have fun. That's what matters!
Thank you! I will check in on CG. I picked neutral because he will do whatever he can to break free of this bonds, but good may just work better. I appreciate the advice!
I love all these ideas, especially the I have no idea who my patron is because I was so desperate. I will probably chat with the DM a bit (he is very helpful with new players) and incorporate these ideas. Thank you for your feedback.
That is kind of what I figured when drafting him, but I do like the clash between LE/CE of the patron and CG. That being said CN seems to fit the "do whatever to break free" motif.
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I am a newbie and planning to play in a group that puts a lot of emphasis on RP. I'd love some feedback from the community! I tired to keep it brief:
"In his youth as a former slave, Erwin Nox felt abandoned by the so-called gods he fruitlessly prayed to. Out of sheer desperation Erwin sought out the power to break free of his bondage at any cost. In doing so he struck a deal with a mysterious demon lord.
Using his new found powers he rose from slavery and ended the lives of his captures, but his new master ordered him to prove his loyalty by killing his fellow slaves who were his only friends. Disgusted by his own actions but forced to comply, Erwin now realizes he merely traded one master for another.
Now he seeks out greater power. Power enough to break his new shackles, and perhaps even take revenge on his current master. But for now, Erwin plays the part of the loyal servant.
A chaotic neutral human warlock, Erwin dislikes hurting the innocent or making trouble, but he will do whatever he must to free himself of his infernal bondage. He is Pragmatic and a utilitarian but has an irrational dislike of Cleric and Paladins and other similar “holy” folks for their faith in what he feels are dispassionate and cruel deities. He also abhors slavery and will attempt to kill slavers and free any salves whenever he gets a chance, even if that causes trouble for other or himself.
Outside of that, he is a friendly person who loves interacting with people, learning history, good food and theater. He gets nervous and flustered around elves that resemble Link from BotW.
He stands at 5’8, 200 lb, with a muscular build from manual labor during his time as a slave, and scars from being whipped. Has black hair, a neatly trimmed beard, olive skin and green eyes. He wields a simple staff and dresses in comfortable brown robes. "
My goal was to give him a serious backstory but not make him edgy. I also wanted to give the DM room to make certain events happen using my character if he should like (you see a band of slavers or my patron wants to call in a favor).
Not to start an alignment thread, but to me this reads more chaotic good than chaotic neutral. (Which is good, CN characters are usually headaches, and CG plays better with others.) But check with your DM. Alignment definitions, and if it even matters at all, can vary from table to table.
Paladins aren’t necessarily “holy.” Again, check with your DM because different tables run them differently.
Otherwise you did a good job on not overwriting it. It’s a reasonable, level 1 background, and you avoided many common first time mistakes.
Welcome to the tables!
Your backstory is great. Just a few things stand out to me as things you may be wanting to consider as the game goes on. Firstly, are you sure you even know who you made the bargain with? If a specific demon lord came forth and introduced himself, then you probably do. But it may be just as fun to tell the DM that you were in such a hopeless and broken state that you basically just sent out some Last Desperate Prayer... and you got an answer. But all it said was, "I will free you, but I will own you." And you were just like, "Yeah, sure, whatever!" And maybe it was only after you were (relatively) safe that you had the time and the presence of mind to wonder, "Hmm... what the F did I just get myself into?" I mean, sometimes it's fun to keep a part of our characters hidden even from ourselves so the DM can surprise us later.
Also, how are you dealing with the guilt of killing your fellow slaves? Of course there's going to be some ongoing shame and contrition. That's understandable. And that will probably be the guiding force in your personal narrative. But maybe you try to justify your actions by claiming that, as bad as it was, you actually did them a favor by releasing them from the horrible curse of slavery. They are now "free", like you. This may lead you down a path of "the ends justify the means" kind of thinking. And that's sure to get you into trouble at some point, so that'll be fun!
Thirdly, as Xalthu said, I don't want to turn this into a thread on alignment, but the named alignments don't really come into play very often. You are who you are. You think and act the way you think and act. In four decades of gaming no one has ever asked me my alignment. People see your actions, they see your decisions, they hear your words. That's enough to tell them who and what you are. Alignment is like the quadratic equation, or quicksand. Something that, when I was a kid, I thought would be very important later in life, but that I really have never encountered since the first time I learned about them.
Finally, think about how your Patron communicates with you. How do you know what it wants you to do? This can be a really fun way to flavor your campaign with a little personal touch. Do you simply hear a voice echoing deep inside your mind? Sure, that's a classic, but it's really been done to death. Maybe you sometimes wake up from a long rest to find a scrap of paper in your pocket, and when you read it you find it's your Patron's instructions, and as soon as you finish reading it, it bursts into smoke - very Mission Impossible-ish. Or maybe you'll be at the tavern looking at the menu, and suddenly the letters start to rearrange themselves and form a message from your Patron, but only you see it happen. Just saying, there's room there to have some fun and to make that element of the game more personal. And speaking of instructions... you made a deal. You do the Patron's bidding and the Patron grants you the power you need to get the job done. But... what happens when the Patron gives you an order that you cannot or will not obey? What happens when you're told to burn down an orphanage or kick a puppy? You already know you're tied to a really bad dude, so there must be at least a part of your brain that's wondering how and when this will all hit the fan.
Anyhoo.... whatever you do, have fun. That's what matters!
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Thank you! I will check in on CG. I picked neutral because he will do whatever he can to break free of this bonds, but good may just work better. I appreciate the advice!
I love all these ideas, especially the I have no idea who my patron is because I was so desperate. I will probably chat with the DM a bit (he is very helpful with new players) and incorporate these ideas. Thank you for your feedback.
That is kind of what I figured when drafting him, but I do like the clash between LE/CE of the patron and CG. That being said CN seems to fit the "do whatever to break free" motif.