A PCs background. Help me be nasty!

Inconsequenti-AL said:

He was a poor city boy.

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working on this one. already proposed one idea.

His sister was brutally murdered - method unspecified...

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The sister/mother was working for a living. One of the oldest professions. years had gone by. and time was not good to her. so by the time her son was .... age: lets say 12. she was getting to the end of her wiley beauty. the men of money wanted young girls. fresh young girls. so now she was struggling. any method of income was tried. eventually she tried blackmail. she blackmailed all of her customers. some paid. most never showed up again. the young brother and the older brother reacted differently. the young one proposed marriage. the older one planned to leave town. but after hearing about his younger brother's plans to marry the strumpet. he changed his plans for a slight detour. He slew the sister/mother by dragging her behind his family's carriage in the street. Eventually her body gave out and was left in the gutter. The older brother continued on to his destination.

He found out who the murderer was - the only son of a moderately wealthy trader.

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The family disinherited the older son. And claimed from that day on they only had the one son. the younger brother.

He tortured and killed said son.

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the younger brother begged for mercy. claiming he was to marry the sister/mother. but he didn't get the chance to say it was his brother who had done the killing. the PC was so upset with the outrageous claim of marriage he killed the younger brother.

Then went on the run and ended up working as a mercenary.

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the merchant family knows the truth. they have placed a reward for his return. in truth they want to see their grandson.

Unfortunately, he was wrong about the identity of the murderer. He has killed an innocent (albeit unpleasant) young man.
At the start of the campaign, he's a pretty well rounded guy but feels guilty for what he did.

I've got the players permission to do what I want with this one... What would you do?

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he has been carrying the guilt of killing the younger brother. he thinks he avenged his sister. but he is second guessing the dieing words of the victim.

diaglo said:

and the person who killed her was.. the father of the PC.

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I know. And he runs around with that black armour with full visor, is a powerful psion, and has a cheesy name that means "father" in elvish.

KaeYoss said:

I know. And he runs around with that black armour with full visor, is a powerful psion, and has a cheesy name that means "father" in elvish.

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actually i was thinking he should be some other profession. not psi warrior. but maybe wizard or sorc.


starts his own trading company with a similar logo and banner. and competes against his family's company overseas. eventually driving them into ruin.

give the trading/merchants an accent and froglike features

Thanks for the ideas here!

Diaglo, I like where you're coming from with this... Thanks.

Street kids would sit well with both the character and the player. Think it's what he had in mind, but I'll check...

Having him not know that he murdered the wrong person is a good starting point. Makes what's likely to happen more of a suprise.

The person he thought was his mother is actually his older sister... It's all good!

I really like the idea that she started blackmailing her clients. Definitely muddies the waters enough to fit in here.

The two brothers scenario is an excellent one. Going to cast the one he killed as the more pleasant younger brother, who was actually in love with the sister. Older son is his father and has been disowned by the family. Not decided whether he killed the sister or not.*

I'm going to go with the idea that the family are in the know and want to meet their grandson... partly to assess him as a potential heir to their trading enterprise.

The older son feels they'd be left with no choice but to take him back if his son was a)On his side (with the emporer!), b)Discredited, c)As a last resort, dead. In his exile, he's been studying hard... Think to make him a successful magically gifted criminal, as it would fit with some other plot elements I'm considering.

A black full face helm might be going a little too far. A different distinctive feature might be needed? Hissy breath, perhaps?

It's looking good! Byzantine stuff... Gives two groups of powerful and ruthless NPCs who don't want him dead.

* - And the sister... Not sure whether to make her dead. The thought crossed my mind that the blackmail might not have been entirely for money. Starting to smell like she may have been a member of a sinister cult... Faking her own death to throw off the authorities.

Hand of Evil - I hadn't really considered the idea that he might have other brothers and sisters he knows nothing about... good one to put aside for later use. The child slave ring is very tempting. My only worry is that it might be a little too strong for one of the other players... Might change it to an adult slavery ring - think that'd sit better with him. Implicating the rich and famous would be good though.

alsih2o - That lottery idea is fun! I'm going to use it, but possibly with another character. Ought to fit well, the initial idea for my campaign is that the players unwittingly tangle in the powerplays of several nasty organisations. These organisations want something they think the PCs have - they assume the PCs are working for the other groups. Hopefully, they'll be threatened, cajouled and harassed for some time before they work out what happens. That's a great red herring to throw in there. (10 bonus points for spotting which WFRP campaign I've decided to 'sincerely flatter'...)

LeapingShark - I like the ghost idea... unfortunately one of the PCs in this campaign DM'd a 5 rings game about a year ago - one of the PCs had almost exactly the same thing going on with his character. Crabby and judgemental ancestor spirit...

Ok, Here goes.

1. Sister was never killed, She was actually a fiend (alu-fiend is the easiest fit here, but anything with shapechange will do). Oh, and she's actually only his half-sister. You see they have the same dad (insert favorite devil here), but different mothers (one fiendish, one human). After his mortal mother died the alu-fiend's duty was discharged & she was finally free to leave the mortal plane & stop acting as a human (why was she charged with protecting his mom? Who knows, maybe the mother had made some sort of infernal pact).

Even better, the alu-fiend has had this planned for a long time. In fact she took the physical appearance of a young girl from a distant city. So, when she can finally leave, she teleports away grabs her good 'twin', teleports back & kills her in the most brutal fashion possible, yet very distinctive. Say rips her face off & folds it into a certain shape.

Now, thinking little brother is a softy, she arranges for the merchant's son to set up to take the rap. She also eggs the PC on, using telepathy & Emotion spells so that he will slay the merchant's son the way any good (well, evil) half-fiend should, as violently & painfully as possible.

Now comes the fun stuff (remembering your Warhammer reference):

The mother: She was a successful midwife in the country side. Envy & anger that she would never be seen as more than a servant to those rich women whose children she brought into the world caused her to curse the gods & ask for vengeance. And some Pit Fiend responded. All she had to do was lie with him (typical devil thing) & sacrifice the occasionally infant. She did a good job (on both accounts). She saw to it that several 'stillborn' babies went to his dinner table & she went to his bedside. She provided him with several Half-fiend children (won't the family reunion be fun!) The PC was the last son born of the union between the devil & her. She got caught sacrificing babies & only escaped with her life due to the intervention of the Pit Fiend. Thus she made a new life in the city among the poorest elements where 'stillbirths' would not be second guessed at. Eventually she was slain by a paladin as she attempted to sacrifice a baby girl. She is still 'alive' she exists as the undead concubine in the Pit Fiend's harem.

The Witchhunter: Remember the 'caught sacrificing babies' well this cleric is one who had two of his children 'stillbirthed' & wants revenge. He's been seeking all those 'tainted' by the PC's mother & killing them (after they admit their wrongs of course). He's finally got a lead on the PC & is racing to catch up with him & interrogate him until he confesses that he's the spawn of Satan.

The Paladin: It's the mommy killer! Killed his mom, took the baby about to be sacrificed & she now serves as his squire. He's trying to track down all the evil the PC's mom did & guess what? He's found out about the PC & even knows he's a half-fiend. He's been saving up those Smite Evil's for a while.

The Sister (I): The girl killed? Well, she'd gotten into the good graces (see bed) of a prince in the city where she’s from. After her disappearance, he hired diviners to track her down & had her Raised from the Dead. Now, she is his de-facto wife as his marriage is one of uniting royal lines & they both hate each other. The fake-sister has proven to be very good & now serves as an ambassador to a neighboring land (the one the PCs are in). She has no clue, just knows she was kidnapped, tortured & killed (she still represses those memories). Now, if someone suddenly runs up to her & says "Sister, I thought you were murdered" She'll have some very interesting questions for this schmuk she's never seen before. Plus she might tell her boyfriend (see below)

The Angry Wife: Remember the marriage of convenience above? Well, the wife hates that tart who's sharing her husband's bed (even though you couldn't convince her to get near it with a +5 Adamantine Chastity Belt), and wants that bi*** dead. She's even found out who can do it. See, apparently she was kidnapped & killed by this monstrous devil-kin who also killed some merchants kid as well. She thinks the devil-kin would make a very willing assassin & is trying to locate him so he can finish the job. She's hired a group of adventurers to hire so he can kill her. Again.

The Prince: Somebody killed his girlfriend. Found out his wife found out who. Now he has to get to the 'devil-kin assassin' before his wife does. So he's hired a group of adventurers to kill him before his wife can hire him. Cool thing is both groups are being hired by the exact same house, exact same royal seal, same treasury. Thus, it looks like some noble is trying to kill him & hire him to kill somebody else at the same time!

Celestial Guardian: Wandering Celestial who has made a pact to kill all of Pit Fiend's infernal spawn. Prefers to use summon monster (any celestial) to get the job done. Imagine the party's reaction when celestial dire badgers appear out of thin air, attack 1 PC only then vanish. Have this happen on a weekly basis, preferably begin it with the line: "So you go to relieve yourself, when....."

Sister (II): This is the real one. Despite being evil, she is lawful. Feels little bro has a chance to be good an' evil after all. Did a good job killing that kid after all. She watches over, aiding him discreetly when she can. Say summoning a bunch of Fiendish Hyenas when he gets attacking by those darn celestial badgers.

Papa: Embarrassed that boy is his son. Why his older brother has but three whole villages to the torch by the time he was that kid's age. That boy'd better straighten up & be EVIL Damn it or his reputation is going to suffer. Thus, he's trying to lure the boy to evil. Keeps putting temptation in his path. Young, innocent woman all alone bleeding to death. Case of gems next to her. Unholy weapons just lying around. Dang it boy, start killing people already!

Papa's rival: Pit Fiend number 2. "What the nine hell's he complaining about!? Not like any of his seed decided to go Paladin? I mean I lost a lot of face after that. Papa even displaced me after that. The only way I could get into Lucis's good graces again would be if...." Thus Pit Fiend 2 decides the only way this is going to go down is if the PC becomes the ultimate embodiment of good. Needs to convince him to go LG (preferably some levels of cleric or paladin). Thus he is sending his demonic hordes to occasionally beg the PC to turn his back from the path of evil & join the celestial choirs. Now that's a random encounter!

"You see a spiked devil along the road. He throws down his weapon at (PC's) feet and begins to beg of him: 'Please leave your wicked ways behind. May no more widows curse your name! Please let your vile vengeance be sated! Repent! Repent before it is too late! Seek thee out the worship houses of the most noble spirits! Seek thee the paladin's monasteries! Beg for forgiveness! Tell them you have seen the error of your ways! No longer will you kill just because of the lust it stirs in your loins! No longer will the blood of innocents be your favorite vintage! Leave now! Seek out those who can lead you from this path of vile wickedness you have chosen!' The Spiked devil then disappears."

Rest of party: "OK, that’s the third time that's happened! Do you have something you want to tell us? And what's with all the celestial badgers & fiendish hyenas every time you go to take a crap?"

The merchant's son: He got raised from the dead. He's not happy. Doesn't like how long its taking dad to track the PC down. So one day, after breakfast he takes an axe & chops off daddy's head. Tells servants that dad had an 'accident' and those wishing to avoid a similar 'accident' had better shut up. He is now obsessed with finding the little sh** that killed him and torturing him to death. Wait, just go with torture for now. Say 5 or six years, then the death part can happen. To this end he's hired some adventurers to go track this SoB down & bring him back, alive. Wait, he an raise dead, so dead is ok too, just get him back before he has to spend the cash for resurrection.

Then of course you have all the supporting characters:

His 13 other siblings (mom got busy a lot).

His Good Twin.

His Evil Twin.

His Construct Twin.

The Elven Princess whose seen his face in a vision.

The ogress shaman who wishes to give birth to his child so she can have some fiendish ogres running around.

The awakened steer that's really pissed about those mountain oysters he ate & wants some 'eye for an eye style' revenge

The tribe of kobolds that have mistaken him for a god.

The deranged sorceress who believes he's the suitor that left her at the alter.

The celestial badger that's really getting tired of this.

And many more, tune in next week!

Vraille Darkfang that was a thing of beauty!!
Organized Chaos at its finest.

Vraille Darkfang - Wow! That's too cool. Thanks!

There's enough there for some great stuff. Think I'm going to loot and pillage those ideas.

The 2 father demons is going to be stolen for one of the other PCs - the one from the start of this thread played the unwitting half fiend in another campaign, wouldn't want to force that on him twice. However, it's too good not to use. It's going to find a place in this campaign - if possible, for one of the PCs... If not, it's a definite for an NPC! I love the idea of a fiend trying to tempt someone onto the straight and narrow.

Killer midwife is also very fitting! I think she'd make a fantastic villan. That's properly horrible.


And these are things that really need to make an appearance:

celestial badgers & fiendish hyenas every time you go to take a crap?

The ogress shaman who wishes to give birth to his child so she can have some fiendish ogres running around.

The tribe of kobolds that have mistaken him for a god.

The deranged sorceress who believes he's the suitor that left her at the alter.

The celestial badger that's really getting tired of this. - in particular. Summoned. Again. Bastard!

LeapingShark said:

She constantly reminds him of her presence by causing little annoyances; such scaring away farm animals, causing sudden winds to blow out candles, wilting flowers, untying shoelaces, bending spoons, etc...

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Heh.

-Hyp.

Get out of my head...

The murdered sister was actually a willing sacrifice in a dark ritual designed to *whatever evil thing floats your boat*. The brother actually completed the penultimate step in the ritual when he (A blood relative of the willing sacrifice) murdered an innocent victem in the correct manner. (The correct torture having been planted in his subconsious by a cultist psion.) The PC is now a component for the final step of the ritual.

The Merchant knows this though divinations performed to find out why he could not raise his son. (The sons soul is bound to the PC until he dies or the ritual is completed, as is his sisters.) He has started leaking information to paladins and other power groups to ensure the PCs destruction so he can get his son back.

In the meantime the PCs dreams have been haunted by the spirit of the son, although he does not yet know it is more than guilt. His sisters soul also speaks to him in dreams, telling him to go back to the city to repent for his crimes. Actually she just wants to lure him within reach of the cult so the ritual can be completed.

Of course rival evil cults may want to prevent the ritual or make use of him themselves.

Andor said:

The murdered sister was actually a willing sacrifice in a dark ritual designed to *whatever evil thing floats your boat*.

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For some reason, "whatever evil thing floats your boat" triggered a thought for me.

What if the ritual serves no actual purpose apart from demonstrating just how evil the mastermind is? He's a finalist in the "Who's Evilest?" competition, and this is his entry.

Rather than other evil cults interfering, the other finalists will take steps from time to time to try and prevent things happening, thus making the overall scheme's effect Less Evil.

-Hyp.