Character Development: CotCT

[whitewolve202]

Basic situation is as follows:

Me and a group of my friends just recently started up the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. Before this, we've had no exposure to the Pathfinder set of rules and understandably, it took forever to get our characters together.

In the end, I ended up playing a human rogue. Being rushed, I didn't have time to look through the Player's Guide or the Guide to Korvosa, but now that I've looked through it, I have an actual idea for my character's backstory, which I will list below.

My request is for comments and other such stuff on the history so that I can make any changes before I confront the DM about all this, because implementing this background would require a number of changes on the character sheet I first submitted.

Lyra is the first of three daughters born to Caelyn and Neesa Selinor. Her sisters are Elizabeth, 12 and Dawn, 8. Caelyn was a member of the Sable Company, but he died a year after Dawn was born. Lyra and Neesa were 8 and 3 at the time. For three years, their mother strove to raise them as best she could, but one day she was killed, stabbed to death on her way home from the market. Over the years, Lyra did her best to keep all of their spirits up by constantly singing and telling stories of the heroes of old.


At the age of fourteen, Lyra attempted her first burglary.

One day, whilst singing for money, the young girl caught sight of a woman wearing a beautiful necklace. Dawn's birthday was coming up and Lyra didn't have enough money left over to afford a suitable present. And so a rough idea formed in her head. When the woman left, Lyra ceased her singing soon after with a bow and a smile, disappearing down an alleyway and moving up onto the roofs that were her path around the ward.

From her advantageous height, she followed the woman home to a well-off suite. For the next few days, Lyra continued to sing at the same corner, waiting for the woman to come and go. Each day she would follow her home and study the place. Finally, days before her sister's birthday, Lyra chose to break in.

Things were going well, but someone else had chosen the building as their target. Needless to say, the two were both surprised to find the other attempting to steal the same thing, and in the resulting chaos, the guards caught on. Forced to flee, the two strangers worked together to escape unscathed. This is how Lyra Selinor met Erica Themys.

Breathless, Erica commended Lyra for her agility amongst the rooftops and went on to point out some things that she'd noticed while running alongside the younger girl, offering to teach her what she knew. Eventually, Lyra warmed up to the idea and agreed to become something of an apprentice to Erica. Over the course of the next year, Lyra learned all Erica had to offer, singing in the market by day and roaming the rooftops by night, but always making sure her sisters were safe.

As her fifteenth birthday approached, Erica became increasingly absent from Lyra's side. By this time, the two were nigh inseparable, spending as much time as possible together. Even Elizabeth and Dawn knew her by name and had come to view the girl as just another member of the family. To say the least, her absence worried the girl. Then, on the day of her birthday, when she became an adult, Erica popped the question. She was a member of the Catsdew Lofties and had been looking over Lyra to see if she was worthy of joining the prestigious, all-female gang.

Erica concluded that she was and offered membership to the stunned youth. If it meant spending more time with Erica, she would gladly take up the offer, but she was afraid it would mean neglecting her sisters, and so, with a heavy heart, Lyra declined; all the while expressing a wish to at least remain friends. To her great joy, Erica was fine with that and the two went their separate ways for the time being.

Lyra doesn't mind talking about her year with Erica, if the subject ever comes up, but she will often gloss over details, especially when specific dates come up. If pressured, she bottles up and a pensive look comes into her eyes. These are her most precious memories of her time with the older female.

Up until this time, thoughts towards her mother’s murder had been far from her mind. Lyra returned to her old routine of singing and telling stories in hopes of passerby sparing a few coins for her, but she knew this could not continue. Her sisters were growing up and soon they would need better care than she could provide. Whilst browsing the market one day, an item caught her eye. Closing in, recognition dawned upon her like an electric jolt. Her mother’s ring; missing from the body she’d been asked to identify. Fervently, she asked the merchant where he’d acquired and he told a man named Gaedren Lamm had sold it to him a few weeks back.

Mind made up, Lyra placed her two sisters, now 11 and 8, into the Pillar Hill orphanage and reaffirmed her promise to always be there for them. Before she left, Elizabeth gave her the charm bracelet she always wore. It was a gift from their father and Lyra carries it with her at all times, allowing no one else to touch it. Lyra makes a point to visit the orphanage at least once a week to make sure the matron’s are taking proper care of her sisters.

Unfortunately, resolve does not equal results. Though the teen searched long and hard for clues that pointed to Lamm’s location, she was unable to succeed. Only with outside help did she find the right path. That help came in the form of a familiar voice whispering in her ear and a Harrow card detailing where she could get information on Lamm.

It was time to put this five year old ghost to rest.

This is what I came up with using the Orphaned Trait described in the Player's Guide. And if I left any information that would make this easier, please let me know.

This is my first post here, after all.

 

[Dark Mistress]

I am guessing Lamm is the suspected killer. I would also explain how she got the card. I assumed the PC doesn't know who wrote it. I would make that clear as well.

But good short history.

 

[whitewolve202]

Thank you.

Indeed, Lamm is the suspected killer and Lyra does not know who sent the card. As to how she got it... I'll give that some thought. I may expand the history at some point, but I think what I have now covers it fairly well.

I want Lyra to have the Acrobatics and Shingle Runner feats. Should I include something in the history, however brief, to explain that aspect of her?

I feel I should note that we've gone through the first encounter in the Fishery. Lamm is dead and we just exited to find the city in chaos.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Personally I would, but then I tend to give histories that explain how and why my PC's learned what they did. I don't require it but as a GM I love it when PC's do that, I personally tend to always figure out ways to work their history into the game in the future at some point to make it more personal.

Like if I was the GM of your game and you explained you learned a lot of your thief skills from some other young orphan boy. Then he might show up later, either as a bad guy, or a love interest or just someone involved in the plot. Letting the PC then use their past relationship with said NPC effect things.

I find players love that, but it starts with the player giving me enough of a history to work with. Of course no clue what your GM is like.

Also you might want to post this question up over on the paizo forums as well. You might get some different feed back there. Well other than me, since I post there too.

 

[whitewolve202]

Will do then.

One or two sentences should be enough to explain her feats I think.

However, I have high hopes for the GM, as my friends have had him as one before and they say nothing but good things about his ability. And I would love to have some part of my character's history come back to haunt her, whether that's in a good or bad way, but I don't know if the Adventure path is open enough for that.

As I said, this is a first time for me in a Pathfinder campaign and my experience with 3.5 and 4E aren't in-depth enough for me to guess. I will say this: roleplaying is the foremost reason why I find this game so interesting.

EDIT: Which subforum or whatnot would you suggest I post in? The different categories seem a bit vague and I'm not sure as to which is best.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Most GM's adjust the adventures a bit to fit their group regardless. So he should have no problem doing it, if he wants to.

I would say your best bet would be in either Pathfinder RPG forum group, General Discussion. would be where you would likely get the most feedback. Or in Pathfinder Adventures Paths forum groups, Curse of the Crimson Throne forum. where you might get replies by people that know it better but likely fewer replies.

With luck more will post here, but I have found it is better posting on paizo than here about Pathfinder stuff as I see much better responses there.

 

[whitewolve202]

Perhaps some stats for this character I've talked about?

My DM was generous in our stat generation, allowing us to roll 4d6 and reroll any ones that show up on the table. Because of this, our characters are far above what might be considered normal. At least, that's what I think, not having generated a character before for something like this.

Str 12
Con 14
Dex 18
Int 16
Wis 13
Cha 16

Lyra's human bonus was applied to her Cha of 14, which brought it up the 16 that it is.

Class skills are:
Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Perception, Perform (sing and oratory), Stealth, Disable Device, Sleight of Hand, and Knowledge (local)

Feats, as mentioned, are Acrobatic and Shingle Runner.

Lyra carries a rapier and a shortsword. Though she cannot wield them together effectively, she hopes to one day be able emulate her hero, Blackjack. (who dual-wields, as I understand it. If I'm wrong then... Please say so.)

She also carries around a shortbow and wears leather armor.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Not sure who Blackjack is or at least the name doesn't ring any bells with me. As for the stats it varies from group to group on how they do it. So for some groups that would be high and for others normal.

 

[whitewolve202]

Ah, how foolish of me to assume familiarity with the character.

Blackjack: One of the city’s most beloved and reviled heroes, Blackjack is more of a symbol than anything else—a legendary masked hero who has fought for Korvosa’s downtrodden for hundreds of years.

 

[Dark Mistress]

Ah ok, I know who you mean now. It has just been a long time since I read those books now. Almost 2 years since the last one of that series came out.