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View Full Version : Build needs believable backround.



Zephyros
2010-02-17, 12:48 AM
One of my players in an Eberron campaign I am running lost his character due to a fatal case of death :smallamused: (long story short: he tried to stand in melee versus two dominated hill-giants and after he got smacked around a bit the dominator-drow shaman promptly disintergrated him, what's more fun is the fact that the fight took place during stormy weather... :smallbiggrin: )

I just received an e-mail from him, with his new character's sheet attached. And he wants to play a Rogue/Wizard/Unseen Seer. With the Arcane Disciple: War feat. And with a big: "I haven't thought about my backround yet, can you help me out?" at the end of his mail.

I'm really not sure how to make all of this work.
First he is a rogue/sneaky/talky/skillful dude...then he finds an interest in wizardry and divination...and in the meanwhile he is a really loyal follower of a god/ideal of War???

One of my ideas...went like... Drow (0 LA version from Tome Series) that believes in their warlike scorpion god and somehow ended in Morgrave University where he studied and somehow he ended up in a mission to Xendrik (where the party is currently located).

drengnikrafe
2010-02-17, 12:56 AM
Because he's starting at a non-1 level, you can probably play it as though he gained his rogue and wizard levels at almost exactly the same time. He was living a double life. Caster by day, a hard worker and extremely talented individual at the local wizard's guild. Thief by night, stalking out prey and robbing houses in the dark, working with the local thieves guild. Neither side knew about the other side of his life.

I'm not entirely sure how to work in the Arcane Disciple feat, maybe it was... a prerequisite for that particular wizard's guild to study something as a side project, and he took the path of war? In any case, at some point, his secret slipped out, and both sides assumed he would side with the opposing side, so they went on the attack and he skipped town, soon thereafter becoming more wary of what people know and how much they are learning. Or maybe they haven't figured it out yet, and he's worked his way into leading this double life with divination style things?

cupkeyk
2010-02-17, 01:07 AM
Vulkoor?

Instead of Dol Dorn maybe have him worship Shargon, the Devourer by his real name. In this aspect, he is neutral instead of evil. He is the natural culmination of the natural cycle. Where the Devourer rewards those who destroy, Shargon rewards those who withstands and survives. A wizard/rogue/unseen seer uses his divine inspiration to see threats behind veils and exterminates them with the swiftness of his hand and spell.

Tiktakkat
2010-02-17, 01:17 AM
That is basically a James Bond assassin/spy type.
He discovers the clues, finding some literally by magic, charms the ladies, and kills the bad with a quick knife to the vitals. The War domain reflects his military background, and the additional spells for when he has to stand toe-to-toe with some bad guy.

Temotei
2010-02-17, 01:27 AM
Huh. That's essentially one player's build in my game. Weird. :smallcool:

I_Got_This_Name
2010-02-17, 01:51 AM
First, you don't need to justify being a rogue. Most fantasy literature heroes are rogues. Most action heroes of any genre are rogues. Sneak attack kicks in whenever you have the enemy distracted, which basically means (from a story perspective) whenever its dramatically appropriate, and from a game perspective whenever you can hit the weak spot for massive damage, so rogue is a good match for generic heroes. They also get enough of the basics of spellcasting (via scrolls) to be able to manage that when the plot demands it in novels or when they have to in games. Plus their skill selection lets you be level-appropriate in whatever array of side-tasks you need to. Very few people in the (modern) stories use heavy armor all the time, so they don't really need the armor proficiency feat.

I'm not familiar with the Unseen Seer class, so I can't write anything for it. It sounds like a Diviner PrC, so I'm going to assume that it is. So you're looking at a generic action hero with more magic, especially divinations and war magic.

Let's see, a few possibilities:
A street orphan, raised by none, fed by theft. Smarter than his peers, he managed to gain a position as a shadowy advisor to a gang of thieves, planning heists from the shadows. One day, he managed to steal a wizard's travelling spellbook, and use it to teach himself magic. He had a natural aptitude for divination, and became quite good at it. Later, one of his people got caught by a press gang for the Last War. He ran off to get him back, and ended up having to sign on to take his place. During the war, he turned to the war god out of desperation and learned some magic from there.

An archaeologist from the heights of society, who has the resources to dabble in magic, but primarily likes to get her hands on her work. She's had to study specific spells to get what she's after often enough that she's developed a sizable repertoire of magic. She was accepted as an honorary member of a tribe of war-worshipers while on an expedition after she did something heroic, and learned the war domain from them.

A war wizard, trained intensively during the Last War. At the end of training, he greatly feared going to war, and so fled the academy in the dead of night as a deserter. To keep a low profile and avoid being caught, he learned subtle skills and avoided using his magic to support himself, while at the same time continuing to practice his divinations and used them to keep one step ahead of the press gangs. Maybe he fled across borders (battle lines) into an enemy nation, possibly more than once.

Godskook
2010-02-17, 02:01 AM
I'm really not sure how to make all of this work.
First he is a rogue/sneaky/talky/skillful dude...then he finds an interest in wizardry and divination...and in the meanwhile he is a really loyal follower of a god/ideal of War???

I'm not sure what the deal is here. This seems like an obvious choice set to me. A combat-oriented spy-type caster who has religious connections. Imagine if Constantine was more subtel and could cast spells, and you'd have it.

Tavar
2010-02-17, 02:10 AM
Unseen Seer is a divination focused Rouge/Wizard PrC. Really, the classes line up perfectly. The trickiest part is working in the devotion to war, and I_Got_This_Name gave a couple good ideas for that route.

Personally, having a rogue get into magic has always seems really obvious, and WotC seems to agree; Bards, Spell Thief, UMD, the list goes on. I think the last one of I_Got_This_Name's prompts works best. Try sending it to the player and see what comes out.

Occasional Sage
2010-02-17, 02:24 AM
This was a character from the Thieves' World series, though I don't remember the name. He was a mercenary scout and assassin with mystical monk-esque powers. He was seen to follow aura-trails when in a light trance, and remove his awareness from his body to resist torture... and to slit throats or sever spines from behind, if he wasn't fighting in the line of battle.

ETA: not remembering that character's name is driving me up a wall!

EETA: Nikodemos, called Stealth.