D&D 5E DM advice, PC's backstory - Eberron draconic Sorcerer

[enbee75]

Have been going around in circles with this so would like to ask on here. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Just about to start a campaign in Eberron (first time!) and not entirely sure where the story will be heading, but want to try and get enough interesting hooks into the characters backstory as I can to be used down the road.

One of the PCs wants to play a half-elven sorcerer with a draconic origin, which is cool - I thought it could be tied in some how with the draconic prophecy. The characters are all going to start with Mark of the Prophecy from 4e Eberron Campaign guide, so will have the flashback to the Mournland happening.

The story she's come up with involves her parents being cult members (half-elf necromancers - probably Blood of Vol followers), who fed her dragons blood when she was young (in a sort of guinea-pig scenario). She then started to manifest crazy powers and ended up destroying her parents' house. She was then sent off packing to receive training from a wizard uncle, at which point she started to become involved in the war.

She's a first time player and she's put some effort into coming up with something, but wanted to offer a few more ties/goals just to be able to mine it later in the campaign.

I was considering these things:

- The experiments on her I thought could be some attempt at bringing back the Mark of Death - is this too far fetched? Especially since she's a half-elf and would have to be a descendant of Vol.

- The parents were trying to gain immortality - wanted to experiment on their daughter first?

- She wasn't fed dragonblood at all, but her parents did bake in some draconic powers in some sort of experiment.

- She was involved in one of the half-elf dragonmarked houses, has manifested the mark, which is the source of her sorcery - her parents may still be involved in the Blood of Vol. Though this is changing her ideas quite a bit.

TL;DR how would a half-elf become a sorcerer with draconic origin with parents involved in eberron cult of Blood of Vol

Thanks!

 

[Aldarc]

I don't think she necessarily needs to be "fed" dragon blood for her to become a draconic bloodline sorcerer in Eberron, though I do like the basic idea of her parents being cultists in the Blood of Vol. Thing is about the Blood of Vol and the Mark of Death is that almost none of the Blood of Vol actually know the true purposes of the Blood of Vol, its connection to Vol, or the Mark of Death. It's basically an upper echelons secret. Codeword classified almost. These necromantic parents could be just attempting to manipulate bloodlines with known draconic ancestors at the will of higher-ups.

 

[hbarsquared]

My thought? Do nothing, for now, and let the background she's developed sit. As a DM, I know world-building, having explanations, and working everything out beforehand is a huge temptation. But sometimes (often, actually) it's better to let ideas percolate and come to fruition organically.

So, see where the adventurers take the story. Perhaps you, or they, will be struck by inspiration within an adventure. Maybe the villain turns out to be the uncle who also has dragon blood. Or an NPC turns out to be a dragon in disguise, who also had given her parents the components necessary for the ritual.

Let a connection happen in the context of their adventures, instead of feeling the need to force it ahead of time.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

The story she's come up with involves her parents being cult members (half-elf necromancers - probably Blood of Vol followers), who fed her dragons blood when she was young (in a sort of guinea-pig scenario). She then started to manifest crazy powers and ended up destroying her parents' house. She was then sent off packing to receive training from a wizard uncle, at which point she started to become involved in the war.

She's a first time player and she's put some effort into coming up with something, but wanted to offer a few more ties/goals just to be able to mine it later in the campaign.

I was considering these things:

- The experiments on her I thought could be some attempt at bringing back the Mark of Death - is this too far fetched? Especially since she's a half-elf and would have to be a descendant of Vol.

It would be far-fetched. - but her parents didn't have to have actually known that.
Vol doesn't have descendants as such - although if any of her relatives survived the purge, they might have.

- The parents were trying to gain immortality - wanted to experiment on their daughter first?

Or wanted immortality for their daughter.
- Its worth remembering that the Blood of Vol isn't an evil religion as such: most followers seek to help each other. The parents might have been trying to kick-start the divinity within their daughter's blood by feeding her dragon's blood.
Or, an actual dragon might have infiltrated/been part of the cult and she ended up unwittingly drinking its blood as part of a ceremony.

Or a ceremony/ritual to awake the divinity within her blood managed to awaken the latent power of a forgotten dragon ancestor instead.

- She wasn't fed dragonblood at all, but her parents did bake in some draconic powers in some sort of experiment.

Made a pact with a dragon warlock-style perhaps.

- She was involved in one of the half-elf dragonmarked houses, has manifested the mark, which is the source of her sorcery - her parents may still be involved in the Blood of Vol. Though this is changing her ideas quite a bit.

TL;DR how would a half-elf become a sorcerer with draconic origin with parents involved in eberron cult of Blood of Vol

Does the sorcerer herself follow the Blood of Vol?

Which Draconic origin is the Sorceror? If its a lightning-based one, it would fit fine with the Dragonmark of Storms.

Likewise if the sorceror player doesn't necessarily want a definite tie to dragons and you're willing to do a bit of refluffing, the sorcerer could be getting their abilities from other sources. A good-aligned fire-based one could be a channel for the Silver Flame for example.

If she was caught in the Mourning, that could be another possible origin for her powers. She might have had no magic, or a completely different type of magic before being warped by exposure.
Maybe she was attacked and merged with a living spell created from a dragon's breath weapon rather than an actual spell?

 

[MarkB]

I'd say don't overthink it, and let the character grow awhile before trying to attach anything to her. It looks like she's put some thought into her backstory, and that probably means she has ideas of her own for the character, so take a little while to see which direction she wants to go in.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Just about to start a campaign in Eberron (first time!)

Congrats! Always great when a player moves into DM'ing, especially with a world as rich and awesome as Eberron!

The story she's come up with involves her parents being cult members (half-elf necromancers - probably Blood of Vol followers), who fed her dragons blood when she was young (in a sort of guinea-pig scenario). She then started to manifest crazy powers and ended up destroying her parents' house. She was then sent off packing to receive training from a wizard uncle, at which point she started to become involved in the war.

She's a first time player and she's put some effort into coming up with something, but wanted to offer a few more ties/goals just to be able to mine it later in the campaign.

First of all, kudos on having a player that wants to be creative, and good on you for working with the player to make it happen.

My first thoughts are that while the Blood of Vol is a fairly common religion in some places, and not all are necessarily fanatical cultists, even those within the cult are unlikely to know the true origin of Vol, let alone that fact that she was half elf, half dragon. So that would be one of the obstacles that would need to be worked out.

The second part is how would these parents get access to dragon's blood? Dragons are incredibly old, powerful, and secretive creatures. In Eberron, those dragons that might travel Khorvaire may be seeding things to bring about aspects of the Prophecy or at least studying it.

However, the act of a dragon mixing with an elf was so anathema that it actually completely stopped a vicious war and turned brutal enemies into allies to obliterate the House of Vol from existence. Any dragon willing to give away its blood likely would know how it was meant to be used, and if any Dragon or Aerenal Elf were to discover this, it would lead to a sudden and massive response from Argonnessen and Aerenal.

Given the current state of Khorvaire in general and the 5 Nations in particular, not only would it likely start a literal World War that would make the Last War seem like a joke, but would likely be the final nail in the coffin that destroys the legacy of Galifar. This is serious stuff. The player's very existence could create all-out war, were their history to become known. This is just my take, but I would be very careful in how this is handled. Not to say I would tell a player they couldn't do this, but I would make them aware of the potential consequences of creating such a character.

- The experiments on her I thought could be some attempt at bringing back the Mark of Death - is this too far fetched? Especially since she's a half-elf and would have to be a descendant of Vol.

This is not too far-fetched. While dragonmarks typically are more likely to manifest in specific bloodlines, a dragonmark can appear anywhere. Some dragons consider the dragonmarks upon the mortal races as some manifestation of the Prophecy. If the Prophecy needs the Mark of Death to return, it will find a way.

- The parents were trying to gain immortality - wanted to experiment on their daughter first?

This is possible, but for what purpose are they looking to become immortal? Are they both half-elves, of is one an elf and the other a human? Could it be that the elven parent does not want to lose their human partner due to their shorter life span? Is there some longterm goal they wish to achieve that would require them more time than their normal lifetime would suffice? Immortality for the sake of avoiding death is ok, but I think there are so many more interesting reasons that one could seek immortality. And for the drive to be so strong that one would sacrifice their own child, it must be something very important.

- She wasn't fed dragonblood at all, but her parents did bake in some draconic powers in some sort of experiment.

Perhaps blood magic awoke some aspect of the Prophecy within the child, which created some kind of connection to abilities associated with dragons.

- She was involved in one of the half-elf dragonmarked houses, has manifested the mark, which is the source of her sorcery - her parents may still be involved in the Blood of Vol. Though this is changing her ideas quite a bit.

Sounds like this is the option that intrigues you least.

TL;DR how would a half-elf become a sorcerer with draconic origin with parents involved in eberron cult of Blood of Vol

-Draconic patron
-Was born in in an area of a manifest zone while the plane was coterminus with Eberron. If a classic fire dragon, could be Fernia. If another heritage, could be a plane that is more closely associated with that energy type.
-Perhaps the power and magic of dragons exists within a matrix that all dragons draw strength from. She may have inadvertently or purposefully found a way to tap into it.
-Her powers may resemble that of dragons, but it is actually not related at all to dragons.

Hope these ideas help!

 

[Guest 6801718]

It sounds like your player has really put a lot of thought into her character, which is great. If you want to give her a few surprises and play more with The Blood of Vol, I had an idea. Perhaps she thinks she got her powers from consuming dragon blood but in reality, one of her parents is actually a dragon. If she's a half-elf, there is nothing that says the other half necessarily has to be human. This dragon sired a child to create a bloodline more similar to Vol's in an attempt to bring about the Mark of Death.

 

[enbee75]

All fantastic ideas, thank you for giving them! We had our first session this eve, but though it was somewhat shakey beginnings (the first combat lasted quite a while!) as soon as the mourning happened there was a definite shift in tone, as the people of Cyre were wiped out and the players were on the outskirts stuck in a tower, very nervous about heading outside! I'll certainly think about all the ideas here...though there's obviously a balance with how much I should reveal to/guide the player in their own backstory, and then how much to write into the campaign focused on it. She is definitely focused in on the prophecy already, so I'd definitely like to reveal more of that down the road. I think figuring out what the reason for the mournland happening may be a part of that too.

Anyway, thanks for the advice! Mucho appreciated

 

[enbee75]

Love the idea of one of her parents actually being a dragon by the way, but these group of adventurers are now going to Sharn to set up a low rate detective agency. If she was 'sired' in such a fashion, how would have she been left alone for so long? I guess it's possible that there are spies waiting...to see if some sort of mark reveals itself!

 

[enbee75]

My thought? Do nothing, for now, and let the background she's developed sit. As a DM, I know world-building, having explanations, and working everything out beforehand is a huge temptation. But sometimes (often, actually) it's better to let ideas percolate and come to fruition organically.

So, see where the adventurers take the story. Perhaps you, or they, will be struck by inspiration within an adventure. Maybe the villain turns out to be the uncle who also has dragon blood. Or an NPC turns out to be a dragon in disguise, who also had given her parents the components necessary for the ritual.

Let a connection happen in the context of their adventures, instead of feeling the need to force it ahead of time.

This is something I have possibly been overthinking! So I think your post very wise...it's collaborative story telling after all right?