Arrrgh... player plot hook advice needed

[Olive]

Hi...

one fot he players in my campaign is a half elven orphan in an area where there are very few elves. the player has sieved upon this part of her heritage in a way i never expected and i can't seem to come up with any ideas on her background!

any one out there have any advice? preferably, i want to use it as a way to steer the party as well...

 

[Drakmar]

um.. well.. lets see.

the mother could be one of the older girls...

and the (cliche) father was a elven bard that wooed her...

or the mother was an elven woman that died in childbirth, and the father is somebody important.

probably need some more information.. what info has the player given you exactly?

 

[wighair]

Not sure how useful this is to you, but one of my players (an orphan too) recently discovered some of the history of his parents. He is an asimar from the FR, but somethings may be useful with tweaking...

Candella was a fair young maid from a noble house of Cormyr. She travelled throughout the fiefs of her father's and surrounding lands and fancied herself one day as a bard, perhaps serving the King, Azoun. She had a love of poetry and music and story. She would speak with the old, the wise, the funny and the strange always in search of a new tale or song.
One day she met a group of adventurers who were passing through her village en route to Suzail, capital of Cormyr. They told her of their adventures and a quest that lay ahead of them. So taken by their tales was she that she decided there and then that she would have time enough to tell tales of others when she was older; now she wanted to make her own tales and adventure herself. She was still young, little more than fourteen summers when she left her home, stealing away in the dark of night and following the group who's tales had changed her destiny.
At first they group tried to return her home fearing that she was too young and had been too cosseted by the easy life to survive long on the rough road of adventure. However, it soon became apparent to them that she was no shrinking little girl and could indeed hold her own within the group. And thus her adventure began.
It came to pass that she fell in love with the leader of the group: Telidor, Paladin of Mystra. He was a great and handsome man, brave and virtuous. But sworn to his goddess he was chaste and true. She was still young in the ways of the world and would have Telidor to herself, but his restraint was strong and unknown to her he bore the blood of angels and was chosen by Mystra for some other great purpose.
Time passed and Candella's unrequited love turned into lust. Telidor possessed a mighty sword and rumour amongst the group said that it could grant wishes. One night as he slept she crept to his side and wished for them to lie together for one night "as man and woman" and to save Telidor's anguish she asked for him to remember nothing of the deed.
And so it was.
As the months passed however, it became apparent the she was with child. At last after great torment she admitted to him what had happened so many months before. Hoping he would forgive her she was shocked when he disappeared into the night in a rage. By the light of dawn they found his body, fallen upon his own sword. His spirit rose before them. "Fear not for me my friends, I shall pass back unto my father's home. But my quest here has failed". They buried him in the field of green barrows and there the company parted with heavy hearts. His sword was buried with him, but Candella took his dagger to remember him by. Telidor had often said that it guided him upon his quest and somehow Candella hoped she could carry on the quest herself.
But Candella lived a sad and lonely existence, birthing her child in the woods. She could not go on with the guilt in her heart so she sought a safe refuge for her young babe. Eventually Candella came upon DaggerFalls and therein the Blue Skies orphanage. She passed the child to Yarris along with his birthright: The Dagger, The eye of the Dragon.
She died shortly after the birth and was buried in the cemetery of Lathander in Dagger Falls.

Mel.

 

[incognito]

What are the rest of the player character doing? What are their races? classes?

What is the class of the 1/2 elf? Do the people in this region liek elves, or dislike them? Are they seen as fairy tales? How are mixed race births viewer (1/2 orc, etc).

Is this a low magic world, or a high magic world?

are the players low level, mid level, or high?

All these things will help determine backstory.

I typically liek role reversal. So, have the elven father, who lives in the realm of the farie, take advantage of a series of human women, perhps with the Aid of other Fey (quicklings, etc). The result of one of these coupling was the PC<--- who has recived mixed messages about the father from the mother. on the one hand, she is still very much in love with the scoundrel, on the other hand she is fels utterly deserted by him.

And to a ncie twist...make him unspeakably....eeeeeviL!

Perhaps sneaking abck into town in the night hoping to kill the mother and child becasue he does not want any bastard child mucking up his claim to farie kingdom lands or maybe he does not want farie to know that he slept with 'measly' humans

 

[Hand of Evil]

Build the background. Ask yourself or someone other than the players a number of questions and apply their answers to the characters background.

Does the orphan have any family still alive? Yes or no? If yes, who are they, and what happened? If no, what happened?

Is there a paper trail to lead the orphan to the family? Clues, you seem them all the time in book and movies. The old woman with the locket who was waiting to give it to the kid but died unexpectly, the letter, found in the back of a book.

Can you tie in the other party members to this trail? Say, grand father knew them and told stories of them living in said town.

Is there any birthmarks?

Just ask yourself these questions or someone else and see where they take you.

 

[Tonguez]

A character I once played was 'apparently' a half-elf.
His mother lived in a rual village and during the annual Bonfire night Harvest festival had been chosen as the Autumn-Queen

That night during the festivities she had a tryst with a stranger who was visiting the village for the festival (many strangers from the surrounding hills and forest gather during the festival) she became pregnant which is a good sign - as the Autumn-Queen she symbolically repesents the Spring according to local folklore

Child is born and although 'different' is welcomed as the Child of the Autumn-Queen.

Okay back story commplete

However I had worked it with the DM that the child was not in fact half-elf but half-fey his father was infact a Leshye (imc Spirits of the Green Forest) a sort of NG Outsider Mega-dryad thingy.

my characters heritage was not revealed until much later in the campaign in which the PCs got involved with a plot by Lord Autumn (an Erl-King) to take over the Realm of Dreams and through them control the worlds!