So there is this half elf named Aliza who likes to pretend to be an elf here and there, and likes to wear this weird echidna mask sometimes so no one can see her human-like face which is a giveaway that she is in an half elf. I also have a tiefling, who's also important somewhere down the line, which I thought could secretly be her brother. You know... A plot twist.
Why?
I did come up with a couple reasons, which both came out mediocre. So here's where your guy's opinions come in... I can't come up with a satisfying reason for her like my other important NPCs, so if y'all can help me with her backstory, along with my tief boy... I will gladly appreciate you, and if you want, add an easter egg or what not in.
Yes, she gives info, and some land/kingdom history. She is probaly gonna be the the kind of NPC they'll come across more commonly than your average NPC... But she still isn't like, "Hello! I'm here now!"
I guess the interesting question is on which side of the family is the brother from, or more importantly are they full siblings or half siblings. It would be easier to explain away a half sibling not being known about, but it might be more interesting for a full blooded sibling. Perhaps some terrible event happened to their family and she assumed he was dead, when perhaps his devilish side started to manifest and he... burned the house down or something with the parents in it. Ran away in fear and shame, to live life as an outcast. She would presume him dead with some of the rest of the family and have moved on (maybe).
Things I would wonder about is which side of the family did the tiefling come from, was it on the elven side or the human side... Would she recognize him as her brother at all or maybe he changed significantly when his devil blood manifested physically. Does he know who she is, or does she wear her mask often enough that he doesn't realize who she is still? Could be an interesting moment when he sees her face and has to decide whether to run from her, confront her, or just let things play out as it were.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Very interesting! I thought of them as just half siblings but... Dang man! I was planning on having this differnt dimension where outcasts and exiles usually go to live when they feel like they no longer belong in the world the originally lived in, so he would fit in well. She does wear her mask often, so her human heritage is less obvious, (unless there is another human-like feature, please tell me).
So basically, the story should be this; Aliza and Tief child, who looked like a normal child at the moment, lived a normal middle classed life with their mom and dad. Aliza most likely performing with her high athletics and performance for money... When tief child loses control of his devilish powers, burning down the house, killing both parents. He is ashamed of himself, and runs away at age 13, to an outcast dimension. Aliza still holding a grudge, starts wandering around the world at 20 for the killer and kidnapper of her family, crossing the PCs path, with her mask on because one of tge PCs is a drow. Not knowing her brother, is the brother caused it all to go down.
I think I will add simaler physical features too, it would be a neat hint. Thanks a lot!
Eye color, or hair color might be the easiest. It would make sense for the Tief to just end up in the outcast zone just by pure happenstance, kind of a place you find because you are looking to get away (Room of Requirement-esque, or Tanelorn from Michael Moorcocks book series). Maybe have a good thought about what devilish characteristics he will have and then pick their common trait from there. Is it a physical trait they share or is it a personality quirk of some sort, make the same jokes, mispronounce the same words, sing the same wrong words to amazing grace? Or a combination, enough tidbits that the players get to make the connection for the two. Could be a fun Roleplay segment.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
It can be physical simalarities, and maybe they both like to pretend to not understand a language to avoid unwanted contact. Also, maybe he could know some of her old songs, or is that a little easy to guess that they are related.
Well I hope it all gives you some good ideas for making the characters, good luck and have fun.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Perhaps instead of half-elf and Tiefling, they're parents are both fey'ri ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey'ri ) but Aliza's blood runs free (mechanical half-elf) of the abyssal influence, while it runs strong within her brother (mechanical Tiefling). Perhaps they are even twins.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Perhaps instead of half-elf and Tiefling, they're parents are both fey'ri ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey'ri ) but Aliza's blood runs free (mechanical half-elf) of the abyssal influence, while it runs strong within her brother (mechanical Tiefling). Perhaps they are even twins.
That seems unnecessarily complicated. Like really.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Perhaps instead of half-elf and Tiefling, they're parents are both fey'ri ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey'ri ) but Aliza's blood runs free (mechanical half-elf) of the abyssal influence, while it runs strong within her brother (mechanical Tiefling). Perhaps they are even twins.
That seems unnecessarily complicated. Like really.
having siblings of different races is a complicated problem.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Perhaps instead of half-elf and Tiefling, they're parents are both fey'ri ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey'ri ) but Aliza's blood runs free (mechanical half-elf) of the abyssal influence, while it runs strong within her brother (mechanical Tiefling). Perhaps they are even twins.
That seems unnecessarily complicated. Like really.
having siblings of different races is a complicated problem.
It can be. However, it has precedent in Greek Mythology. Hercules had a twin brother who was mortal. This is a fantasy world and what we view as modern genetic science does not necessarily hold sway. Magic after all can do things science can't explain. It's Magic.
So there is this half elf named Aliza who likes to pretend to be an elf here and there, and likes to wear this weird echidna mask sometimes so no one can see her human-like face which is a giveaway that she is in an half elf. I also have a tiefling, who's also important somewhere down the line, which I thought could secretly be her brother. You know... A plot twist.
Why?
I did come up with a couple reasons, which both came out mediocre. So here's where your guy's opinions come in... I can't come up with a satisfying reason for her like my other important NPCs, so if y'all can help me with her backstory, along with my tief boy... I will gladly appreciate you, and if you want, add an easter egg or what not in.
What is the purpose of the NPC? Is she just background flavor? Does she have information the PC's need? Is she politically important?
Yes, she gives info, and some land/kingdom history. She is probaly gonna be the the kind of NPC they'll come across more commonly than your average NPC... But she still isn't like, "Hello! I'm here now!"
I guess the interesting question is on which side of the family is the brother from, or more importantly are they full siblings or half siblings. It would be easier to explain away a half sibling not being known about, but it might be more interesting for a full blooded sibling. Perhaps some terrible event happened to their family and she assumed he was dead, when perhaps his devilish side started to manifest and he... burned the house down or something with the parents in it. Ran away in fear and shame, to live life as an outcast. She would presume him dead with some of the rest of the family and have moved on (maybe).
Things I would wonder about is which side of the family did the tiefling come from, was it on the elven side or the human side... Would she recognize him as her brother at all or maybe he changed significantly when his devil blood manifested physically. Does he know who she is, or does she wear her mask often enough that he doesn't realize who she is still? Could be an interesting moment when he sees her face and has to decide whether to run from her, confront her, or just let things play out as it were.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Very interesting! I thought of them as just half siblings but... Dang man! I was planning on having this differnt dimension where outcasts and exiles usually go to live when they feel like they no longer belong in the world the originally lived in, so he would fit in well. She does wear her mask often, so her human heritage is less obvious, (unless there is another human-like feature, please tell me).
So basically, the story should be this; Aliza and Tief child, who looked like a normal child at the moment, lived a normal middle classed life with their mom and dad. Aliza most likely performing with her high athletics and performance for money... When tief child loses control of his devilish powers, burning down the house, killing both parents. He is ashamed of himself, and runs away at age 13, to an outcast dimension. Aliza still holding a grudge, starts wandering around the world at 20 for the killer and kidnapper of her family, crossing the PCs path, with her mask on because one of tge PCs is a drow. Not knowing her brother, is the brother caused it all to go down.
I think I will add simaler physical features too, it would be a neat hint. Thanks a lot!
Eye color, or hair color might be the easiest. It would make sense for the Tief to just end up in the outcast zone just by pure happenstance, kind of a place you find because you are looking to get away (Room of Requirement-esque, or Tanelorn from Michael Moorcocks book series). Maybe have a good thought about what devilish characteristics he will have and then pick their common trait from there. Is it a physical trait they share or is it a personality quirk of some sort, make the same jokes, mispronounce the same words, sing the same wrong words to amazing grace? Or a combination, enough tidbits that the players get to make the connection for the two. Could be a fun Roleplay segment.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
It can be physical simalarities, and maybe they both like to pretend to not understand a language to avoid unwanted contact. Also, maybe he could know some of her old songs, or is that a little easy to guess that they are related.
Well I hope it all gives you some good ideas for making the characters, good luck and have fun.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
Have a great day! I appreciate your help!
Perhaps instead of half-elf and Tiefling, they're parents are both fey'ri ( https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey'ri ) but Aliza's blood runs free (mechanical half-elf) of the abyssal influence, while it runs strong within her brother (mechanical Tiefling). Perhaps they are even twins.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Interesting, though I don't really 100% get what a mechanical half-elf would act.
It would act however you want it to.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
Ok thanks(:
That seems unnecessarily complicated. Like really.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
True, but thanks for trying to help at least hawk.
having siblings of different races is a complicated problem.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
It can be. However, it has precedent in Greek Mythology. Hercules had a twin brother who was mortal. This is a fantasy world and what we view as modern genetic science does not necessarily hold sway. Magic after all can do things science can't explain. It's Magic.
Exactly.