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Jaeger
05-20-2004, 04:36 PM
Draeden the Outlander
LP: Born noble, Apprentice, Man at arms, Scout
Age: 25

Stats: Per B5, Will B3, Agi B5, Spe B5, Pow B4 Fort B4

Attributes: Health B3, Steel B6, Reflexes B5, Mortal B10

Skills: Inconspicuous B2, Brawling B2, Stealthy B3, Calligraphy B1, Read B2, Scribe B2, Brawl B2, Intimidate B1, Etiquette B2, Persuasion B1, Falsehood B1, Throw (knives) B2, Sword B6
Mounted Combat
Shield
Armor
Observation

Traits: Skulking, Sucking up, Affinity - Sword

Contacts: Countess half sister – Former sword master

Gear: Superior weapons, clothes, shoes, travel gear, superior padded armor

Beliefs: Never fight fair; Revenge is a dish best served cold; Stand up for your friends

Instincts: Know where your enemy is; Have what you need; Watch out behind you

Background

Lord Aerich Von Klett had three legitimate children; Young Aerich was not one of them. Although close to his half sister, his two older brothers always referred to him as "That little bastard". What was there father thinking after thier mother died? And with a maid! Thank goodness she died giving birth!

But his father loved him (even gave him his name!) He tried to make life easy for him, and gave him an apprenticeship with the steward. An easy life at court and his fathers love made young Aerich into a happy good natured boy. Or rather they would have if it wasn’t for his older brother’s unceasing torment. And when Lord Aerich suddenly died in Young Aerich’s 15th year, things changed.

His oldest brother Hans was made Lord, with Karl his younger brother acted as his military advisor. No longer was he to continue as an apprentice to the steward. You can’t have the little bastard follow the man into and out of court! Other nobles might see him, and what would people think!

No, no. He must be put in his place. He must be taught discipline! What was the old man thinking, having his bastard raised in the castle? The humbling of Aerich was put in Karl’s capable hands. Let the bastard stand on the wall, let him guard the gates, and most importantly keep him out of sight! Karl made sure he was given every humiliating and unwanted task a man at arms could have.

But to be a man at arms you had to be trained in the martial arts…. An indifferent apprentice, Aerich actually liked being a man at arms. While no longer being allowed near the court, he was still able to see his older sister regularly, and while he got to do every low task that came along, in the end it was all worth it. The sword made it worth it. For the first time in his life Aerich found something he was truly good at.

His sword master Gunther was strict but also recognized the talent, and took him under his wing as his protégé. And despite all the low tasks, and all the mocking he endured when he was younger, Aerich had found a life.

Things changed when his sister was to get married. Ursula was in love with a young man destined to be a Count. However, he was #2 on the list of rich people Hans would marry his sister off to. #1 was a young man destined to be a Lord, and he was an egregious ass. Aerich’s sister wept tears of joy when a bandit killed him in the forest while he was seemingly on his way to the castle. His family still wonders why he left with just one man as an escort that day. Aerich’s sister asked him no questions except to be sure that he burned the lurid invitation he had her write.

Hans was furious and Karl was pissed; a lot of money was lost. And wasn’t the little bastard acting a little too smug lately? Hans realized that he had been far too indulgent of his sister, and with Ursula now gone it was time to get rid of the little bastard for good.

Was not the King requesting fighting men of his vassals to raise an army to fight the five Duchies? Aerich was made a scout, and fought at the battle of the oaken plains, the twin bridges, and was wounded at the battle of the blue falls. The face of war hardened young Aerich, and he does not look the same as the young man who left for war four years ago

The battle of the three fords was a disaster. Over two thirds of the second army was lost. And sensing his opportunity Aerich hid under a corpse, and slipped off the battlefield at night. Although the war was won two months later, all think him dead.

The old steward died just before Aerich went to war, but filled with guilt on his death bed; he told the secret of his old Lord's sudden death. Aerich has vowed revenge, but he knows he does not have the skills or resources he needs to face his brothers, yet.

But Draeden the Outlander is a patient man.

Kublai
05-20-2004, 05:05 PM
Congratulations! You're one of us! :D

Draeden the Outlander
LP: Born noble, Apprentice, Man at arms, Scout
Age: 25

:) Born Noble! Ah, is any first character not Born Noble? Don't take this the wrong way, please, but as a GM, my first warning sign that something is amiss is a Noble without a Noble Affiliation. And, which Apprentice did you take: Sorcerer's? Craftsman's? If he was an apprentice to the noble Steward, perhaps Squire or Student might have been more appropriate? That being said, there is nothing wrong with your choices, of course! Do this age account for Leads? I wish I had the book at work... actually, I don't! :wink:

Stats: Per B5, Will B3, Agi B5, Spe B5, Pow B4 Fort B4

Fine Stats! You are like me! I always go for High Reflexes over high Power and Forte. :)


Skills: Inconspicuous B2, Brawling B2, Stealthy B3, Calligraphy B1, Read B2, Scribe B2, Brawl B2, Intimidate B1, Etiquette B2, Persuasion B1, Falsehood B1, Throw (knives) B2, Sword B6
Mounted Combat
Shield
Armor
Observation

I realize your character is defined as a sword master, but even a BW master only has a skill of B5. The problem with starting with such a high skill is that it'll take forever to go up, and you might end up feeling bad about that. A great starting exponent is 4, in my opinion. The only good thing about having skills at 1 and 2 is that they might go up quickly! :roll:

Traits: Skulking, Sucking up, Affinity - Sword

Affinity for Sword is a powerful trait. It should be reflected in your Beliefs and Instincts. Remember, if you fail to roleplay out your affinity, the GM has a right to remove it.

Contacts: Countess half sister – Former sword master
What? No hated brother contacts?

Gear: Superior weapons, clothes, shoes, travel gear, superior padded armor

Superior Padded Armor will stop knives and that's about it. It's probably not worth it at all, I think, to be able to reroll those dice.

Beliefs: Never fight fair; Revenge is a dish best served cold; Stand up for your friends

Fine Beliefs, but perhaps one should reflect your affinity for your sword?

Instincts: Know where your enemy is; Have what you need; Watch out behind you

Instincts are always the hardest for a new Burner to get a solid handle on. The ones you've taken are very vague and quite hard to implement fairly in gameplay. For instance, the first one - how do you use that? Maybe it should be something like "I always assess before entering combat?" The second one is abusive - unless you have a magic sack or something. Imagine being kidnapped and tied up - your instinct would mean that you would automatically have a knife in your sleeve or something. That's right out! :lol: However, the third one has possibilities. If played over time and using artha, this might develop into the Aware trait.

Also, consider changing one of your Instincts to reflect your affinity for your Sword. Perhaps "Always sleep with my sword," "Never go anywhere without my sword," "Clean and oil sword immediately after each combat," or "When engaged in conversation, I bring up the topic of swordplay?"

A good rule of thumb for instincts is to use the "If/then" statement method. Can you fit your current instincts into such a mold?

Finally, a fine and good story.

Jaeger
05-20-2004, 06:04 PM
I wasn't too sure what to make of the traits & beliefs so your suggestions really make lots of sense. (and clear things up)

From what I read of the affinity it seemed I really need to roleplay it out in game, (and I have several ideas along that line that can't be summed up in a one sentence belief)

How's this though:
Instincts: Don't drop your sword; I always assess before entering combat; Watch out behind you

And I haven't played a combat yet, I was wondering if i put his sword higher than was needed
The idea was - make him easily be able to survive combat so that his other skills will have time to catch up...

From what I got from the skill learning rules - I'd rather have lots of skills already open, and try to raise them quickly, then go through the trouble of learning new ones that I want later. ( there are still 3 or 4 skills that I still want for this guy - all non combat.)

as far as advancing my sword skill, i'd be happy to just let it sit. I was thinking more towards turning it grey eventually than advancing it.

How faulty is the above logic based on actual play???

the age is due to the leads... Oh and it just says -apprentice- under the noble LP - but after checking, it is the same as sorcerers apprentice under the city LP - damn editors....

Maybe I'll change steward to sorcerer in the story and the sorcerer kept him around as a favor to the lord even though he wasn't gifted.

This guy is kinda my count of monte cristo ripoff - the idea was that his brothers wouldn't really know it was him when he finally showed up to claim revenge... and that only after he had aged at least 5 more years and i was about to retire him as a PC. I only had so many rp left for contacts :D

Satisfied customer 725

luke
05-20-2004, 09:08 PM
Hi Jaeger,

Cool character. I'm going to back Pete about 99% on his comments. Trust him, he's an amazing burner and always come up with some cool stuff.

He's also a fantastic game-player, so his advice about your exponent's is spot on. Having B6 + 1D for Affinity is, well, a little munchkiny. You're stuck, and if you're using the new artha rules (which I highly recommend), you probably won't gray that skill so easily. A B5 +1D for Affinity makes a kick ass fighter, trust me.

It's your last comment that I wanted to comment on though. Even brothers that don't recognize you or hate you are contacts. You ran out of resource points because you blew it all on SQ Arms and Armor. If I were the GM I'd nix the SQ stuff, upgrade your armor and get you some decent contacts. Finding the SQ stuff in play is much more gratifying than starting with it.

thanks for posting!
-L

Jaeger
05-20-2004, 10:38 PM
Sword now down to 5D...

I'd much rather "aquire" superior equipment in game.
I got the good stuff due to my paranoids fear of stingy GM's - but having normal equipment does fit in more with the type of stuff he'd have access to.

I'll take those extra rp's and add the two evil brothers and try and make the sister and sword master loyal...

what would you think of leaving a few rp's for the GM to make a contact for the character to tie him into a campaign??

luke
05-21-2004, 10:01 AM
Sword now down to 5D...

I'd much rather "aquire" superior equipment in game.
I got the good stuff due to my paranoids fear of stingy GM's - but having normal equipment does fit in more with the type of stuff he'd have access to.

I'll take those extra rp's and add the two evil brothers and try and make the sister and sword master loyal...

what would you think of leaving a few rp's for the GM to make a contact for the character to tie him into a campaign??

I think leaving an opening for the GM like that is a great idea.

And don't worry about stingy GM's. Push your character toward the ideal concept and try not to react to all the bad shit that has happened in the past. This is a new age!

Anyway, you might also think about revising your BITs.

"Never Fight Fair" leans more toward instinct, than Belief. How about, "A fair fight is a fool's dream; I do what is necessary to win."? and the third is good, but should be stated from the perspective of the character, "My friends are my greatest assests, I would defend them with my life." Lastly, I don't know if you made this character as an example or if you plan on using him in play, but just like you left a few RPs open to the GM to play with, you should make sure that at least one of your Beliefs ties directly into what is about to happen in the story. The Belief should succintly described why this character is here now. What's he going to do about it?!

So where did you put that other point that you snipped from Sword?
-L

ps you're right about starting with low skills and advancing them, it's a viable strategy in the game, but it does take time! However, learning skills in game really isn't that hard. Happens nearly every night in our games.