D&D 5E How do you make a 'Soldier' interesting?

[ccs]

A Human fighter who just kept the name of "Human" because that is the name she is used to from fighting alongside the Orcs.

Ok.

You need to add some details to her. And you need to express those details at the table. The other players have to know her story somehow.

How old is she?
How does she dress? What's she look like?
Where is she originally from? What's her actual name? (even if she doesn't know these answers herself)
Is she concerned with returning to her home/name/etc? Why or why not. How does that effect her?
Add a few details about her human family.
How & when did she come to be fighting along side orcs?
Does she have any orc friends/family/allies/rivals?
How does she feel about orcs? Other races? Men/women/children?
What's she seen & done with the orcs?
What did she do that other orcs wanted to see "The Human" in action?
How/why did she leave the orcs?
Why is she doing whatever she's doing now?
And, other than fighting, what does she do? What would she like to do?

 

[Al2O3]

The character, or you on her behalf, is having an identity crisis. Maybe you can start of with that. Play to the soul searching and lack of direction.

Maybe start visiting temples and shrines every chance you get. Try becoming a drunkard, or tell tall tales in taverns. Find a hobby as a previous poster suggested, or go for ambition. What will your character's legacy become?

It might be worthwhile to widen the scope of things your character can do. The role in combat seems well defined, but there are also social interactions and exploration. With a high wisdom or charisma you might find role there as well.

What I would look for would be a long term plan or possibly how Human copes with the expectation to die in combat any day now. If she thinks she'll die tomorrow, how does that influence her actions today? Or if she expects to live for many years yet, what is her goal in life? Does she want to serve and protect for the rest of her life, or would she want to accomplish something​ more?

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[jgsugden]

Come up with a brief story about her experiences in the orc Wars that show something different that her normal day-to-day activities. Maybe it was a time when she had to make a choice and there was no right choice to be made. Maybe it was a time when she had to put her duty aside to do the right thing, but still doesn't feel comfortable with what she had to do. Maybe it was something else entirely. Share these stories with the DM and tell him or her that you'd like to incorporate more elements like this into the game to give your character some depth.

 

[Satyrn]

A Human fighter who just kept the name of "Human" because that is the name she is used to from fighting alongside the Orcs.

That is awesome. I may steal it one day.

 

[LegionError121]

Maybe they are having a hard time figuring out what you are trying to ask.

Tell us a little bit about your/her backstory:
- Why are you an ex-Soldier? What happened to the rest of your unit? Were you the sole survivor of Somebody's Last Stand? Did you leave the battlefield just before the fighting started because you had orders to go somewhere else? Were you drummed out for too many drunk-and-disorderly's? Are you of military age / older / too young?
- Why did you join the unit? What kind of unit was it? Local self-defense militia =/= mercenary battalion =/= feudal levy. Were you running away from home? Proving you were a competent adult? Teenage thrill of Adventure? Getting away from an unwanted marriage (ancient cliché I know)? Seeking revenge for a previous loss / injury? Protecting house / home / loved ones?
- Are you a local to the adventure area? Does the general public know you, by name or by reputation or by Bardic tale? Are you visibly not from around here? Can you blend in easily with the great masses?
- Is your character an Orc or a Human (or both: Half-orc?) or some other race? Did you pick the race for mechanical advantage - in which case you can fluff it as something else - or did you pick the race first and the mechanics came second?
- How old are you? My Ancients Paladin is 40 and has gotten into a duel with a jerk noble teenager and cried out "Who's your daddy! You're gonna get a whippin'!" At age 60 you can be "a tough old bird" who offers advice and life lessons whether wanted or not. At age 20 you can be the Tank because you are young and heading towards your physical peak and think you are ten feet tall and bulletproof.

Why is she an Ex Soldier? - Because the Orc Army won against the Dwarfs. With that, the Humans and Orcs continued to coexist on their island and "Human" was just out of the job as there wasn't anything to conquer.

Why did she join the Orc Unit? - Her farther taught her to fend for herself should the Orcs ever turn on them, Ironically, they didn't and she decided that joining them would be the next step forwards in her life.

Is she a local to the adventure area? - No she is not. You could say that her being in Eberron is like bringing someone over from Newzealand to the UK. Her reputation hasn't carried over and she doesn't look all that different from any other human. She's quite normal and well built.

Is she a Human? - Yes. As she is my first character and I was joining what you may call a 'drop in' group, I wanted to have a character whoose being didn't require me to know a whole lot about his or her race.

How old is she? - She's 23 and stands at an average 5'2. Though she is clearly capable and bears dangerous weaponry, she is not intimidating in the slightest.

That should cover everything Eltab.

 

[LegionError121]

As a person playing a character whose background is also Soldier here's a few ideas to maybe help you out. You see there's two kinds of Soldiers: Fighters and Warriors. A fighter is someone who fights for a reason. Perhaps find that reason why they fight, is it for an ideal or perhaps something more tangible? Fighters also fight so they can live, if your character is pragmatic than that further reinforces the idea.

Or perhaps you want to eventually shape them into a warrior? Warriors are driven by purpose, a mere reason does not suffice. The also live to fight, these are the kind of people who would go to the ends of the Abyss and back if it meant fulfilling their purpose. So in conclusion, find a reason or purpose for your character to hold onto. Let it be the thing that defines them, cause even in my group with its clerics, barbarians and a rogue/monk/warlock my character's drive to seek out and build his Haven is not only his idea, but that passion inspired the others to try to do and be better.

She's very much about Duty and fulfilling her Career as a Soldier. If she has work, she belongs. If she fights as Infantry should, she gets paid.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Why is she an Ex Soldier? - Because the Orc Army won against the Dwarfs. With that, the Humans and Orcs continued to coexist on their island and "Human" was just out of the job as there wasn't anything to conquer.

Why did she join the Orc Unit? - Her farther taught her to fend for herself should the Orcs ever turn on them, Ironically, they didn't and she decided that joining them would be the next step forwards in her life.

Is she a local to the adventure area? - No she is not. You could say that her being in Eberron is like bringing someone over from Newzealand to the UK. Her reputation hasn't carried over and she doesn't look all that different from any other human. She's quite normal and well built.

Is she a Human? - Yes. As she is my first character and I was joining what you may call a 'drop in' group, I wanted to have a character whoose being didn't require me to know a whole lot about his or her race.

How old is she? - She's 23 and stands at an average 5'2. Though she is clearly capable and bears dangerous weaponry, she is not intimidating in the slightest.

That should cover everything Eltab.

At 5'2" she's decidedly not average. She's petite! Lol I like it, though. Sounds like fun.

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[LegionError121]

Useful things you can do:

1) Call out suggestions during battle ("cover this area" "nuke that caster" etc)
2) Organize Camp (determine watches, set a perimeter, assign chores, etc.) to show your discipline/training
3) Purchase long term items for travel (wagon, horses, salted meats, etc)

Fun things you can do:

1) Call out battle formation from your old unit, forgetting you're no longer with them ("elven wishbone" "dwarf skull formation" etc)
2) Go carousing every time you get into town (because that's what soldiers generally do when off duty)
3) Add your rank to your name, (Sargent Human, Corporal Human, etc), and get irritated when someone doesn't call you by your rank.

I believe her rank is "Human" and "Infantry" Orcs are never about promoting people

 

[S'mon]

"What does she put her life on the line repeatedly?" - It's kind of her Job. She has good armour, a good shield and she's a soldier by trade.

"Does she feel guilty about hiding from danger at some point in her past, which led to the death of a mentor/loved one?" - Not really. She does however wonder why she even became a Soldier in the first place though as the allies she fights by have far greater 'power' than her. I guess you could say that she isn't quite clear on why she is valuable.

"was she small and weak growing up and feels she has something to prove?" - Not really though the people in her home country often felt disapointed after meeting her as they expected more from 'The Human of the Orc Army'.

"Does she feel, for some reason, beholden to the others, or like her life is worth less than theirs?" - Perhaps. She believes her reason for fighting is because she is getting paid to work but she doesn't understand why she is in the position she is in. Afterall, she's not some sort of battlemaster. She's just a fighter amonst wizards, warlocks and clerics.

"Is she just sworn to defend anyone weaker than herself? If so, why? And to whom did she make the oath?" - She is committed to doing her best . . . she's often the first to step into battle or to try and save people. As for some sort of Oath . . She sees being a soldier and her duty as a way of life. She isn't exactly part of an army right now either so she's like very sturdy fodder for a bunch of people she doesn't know . . .

This is one of the best realised, most interesting PCs I've ever seen. I have a really good mind's-eye vision of her.

I think the problem might be just that she's a bit introverted, and apparently doesn't have a strong relation with another character to bring her out of her shell.

 

[LegionError121]

By your responses to comments in this thread, I get the impression that she is a very well-conceptualized character. She's like a staple food, nourishing but nothing to get your taste buds all a-tingle, and you're looking for some spice.

She is stolid and dependable, a salt-of-the-earth type, which we all depend on, whether in a game or the real world.

She also sounds lonely. Her time in the orc army surrounded her with like-minded comrades, united in a focus on gaining success in battle.

Now she's amidst allies who apparently take her for granted, and (through your agency) she's experiencing something of an existential angst. Her new comrades have different world-views, different confirmation biases. She has become a minority, adrift in a mainstream culture (to the extent that the party is the whole of the culture).

Lyrics from the late singer Peggy Lee's hit song come to mind:

"Is that all there is?
Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friend,
Then let's keep dancing.
Let's bring out the booze
And have a ball."

In Human's situation, one could substitute the word "fighting" for "dancing".

Her natural reticence keeps her from acting out, practiced at tamping down her own feelings and deflecting any inner resentments.

I think she needs a hobby.

If you're just looking for something to give Human more "living color", maybe she could add some new pastime to her repertoire, something outside of her usual activities. Bird-watching? Collecting some class of items?

Maybe, in her downtime between adventures, she could become an instructor for a local militia. That would be more in keeping with her lifetime of focus, but ... let's start from there and give it a twist ...

All that melee training has given her a lot of experience with the importance of footwork (especially with her enduring leg injury).

Can you see her parlaying that into an appreciation for dancing? Depending on the culture, it would likely be in the line of folk dance, and might be limited to festivals and/or celebrations. It would keep her physically active, and provide that lift to the spirits that exercise, even moderate, is so good for. Her stubbornness to overcome the problems her bum leg presents could be a part of it.

Seems I've come back around to Peggy Lee. Sheeesh!

I like this a lot I do think she needs a hobby, I'll even put forward the idea of dancing because it'll really throw people off Yes, she'll be crap at it but I think Human does indeed have that concept of being a Minority and wants to distract herself from that