Within the framework of D&D 4E, “success” is achieved by having the appropriate mix of classes. Assuming the right number of players, you need at least one leader, one striker, one defender, and one controller, with additional characters expanding the striker or defender role. Leave out one of the roles, and an “appropriately constructed” encounter can become much more difficult than the math suggests. Very often, a campaign starts with players lobbying for their favorite role, with some having to settle for a second or third choice in order to maintain party balance.
But if you were given carte blanche with no concerns about balance, role, or power source, how would you decide what to play? Limits help us make decisions by removing options and conversely, expanding options paralyze some of us with indecision. I must confess I’m one of those people, staring endlessly at the 32 flavors of Baskin Robbins, unable to choose. I run through samples, mulling them over, trying to find one thing – anything – that catches my fancy, so I can narrow down my choices.
I need a character for my Monday night game, and the DM has removed all limits. I have ideas, of course, but the problem is I have too many. Because I mostly DM, I’m not overly attached to any one particular element of the game; I don’t always play spellcasters, or only create displaced elven nobles, or always monopolize the defender role. Different parts of all the elements appeal to me in some way, shape, or form, so I’ve decided to simply focus on the story first, and let the character develop from there.
Cuchulain
This gregarious bariaur grew up with a herd on Arborea and had a lot of exposure to both eladrin amd elven culture and the Society of Sensation. After demonstrating a talent with the harp and a flawless tenor voice, one of the eladrin houses sponsored his formal training in a bardic school, cementing his path as an entertainer. After several years performing at various house functions and eladrin gatherings, Cuchulain worked off his debt and decided to travel the planes. He joined the Sensates and set off for Sigil, hoping to capture fame and fortune with a more cosmopolitan audience, but also to expand his repertoire to include the musical stylings of other races. Still on good terms with his former masters, he often delivers messages or serves as an official envoy when the need arises.
Dagmara
Born on the Shadowfell, Dagmara grew up in Gloomwrought and fought a daily struggle against the soul-sucking forces of the plane. At the end of her rope and fearing a complete loss of self, she submitted to becoming a shade, hoping the relentless assault upon her spirit would lessen, if not cease. Of course, once the process was complete, the new Dagmara had no concerns about whether the old Dagmara was still intact. She joined a local coven and was initiated into its mysteries, wielding her natural charms and necrotic energy with deadly zeal. After a successful collaboration with a visiting Dustmen envoy, she was gifted with an undead familiar, a specter that now hovers disturbingly about her shoulders. Intrigued by the faction’s philosophy, Dagmara journeyed to Sigil and joined the Dustmen, hoping to establish a new coven in the City of Doors.
Fleabitten
Born on Bytopia, Fleabitten was a rat hengeyokai that scavenged on the outskirts of the city of Tatsukatsukai. Given his nature, he was always poking his nose into dark corners and hidden spaces, hoarding shiny objects and choice morsels of food. While rummaging around in a monastery of the Transcendent Order in human form, Fleabitten was caught. Rather than punishment, the monks offered membership, and Fleabitten concealed his true nature in exchange for what he considered a life of relative ease. He half-heartedly followed the training at first, but as time passed, he grew to embrace the philosophy and the peace it brought his restless spirit.
Sent with a delegation to the Great Gymnasium in Sigil, Fleabitten gave in to his animal nature and crept out one night to explore the Cage, promptly falling victim to a vampire. Fortunately his ability to transform into a rat allowed him to escape certain death. Unfortunately, the infection ensured he would not escape undeath. However, given that the City of Doors has no sun, Fleabitten had time to come to terms with his new thirst, strange powers, and the war between his animalistic mindset, undead nature, and philosophical leanings. No one at the faction headquarters treated him any differently, so he went back to being a monk, now with a penchant for licking his sparring partners clean.
Icespike
Born on Acheron but shunned because of his albino nature, Icespike fled to the Outlands at the first opportunity. He never knew any kindness or consideration; he was filled with rage due to the nature of his birth and his status as a pariah within bladeling society. He quelled that rage by indulging in bloodlust, tearing and chopping and gouging his opponents in the most violent ways he could imagine. Many people were willing to pay for his skills and didn’t care how he got the job done. There were even those who didn’t care that he was a bladeling with milky white skin and spikes that looked like ice. The more he traveled as a mercenary, the more he realized that the rules of one place didn’t apply everywhere else.
Of course, some people insisted their rules applied no matter where they were, and Icespike despised the Harmonium with such vehemence that he began siding against Hardheads whenever there was a fight, sometimes even when hired to fight alongside them. He earned a reputation as unpredictable and unreliable, except when it came to thwarting the Harmonium. People assumed he was a Xaositect because of his opposition to the Harmonium faction, and at some point the Xaositects considered him one as well, and soon he found he was one, without even trying.
Najila Al-Siq
As a sandsoul genasi born on the Elemental Plane of Earth, Najila knew only of the power of stone and the constancy of earth. She drew upon the arcane power of her home plane, learning the mysteries of earth magic and how it interacted with the other elements. Spared during a raid by dao because of her arcane talent, Najila was wisked away as a slave to attend the whims of her dao master as he journeyed to the Material Plane and throughout the outer planes. She was traded to a human merchant in the Outlands, who in turn gave her to a madam in Sigil to pay off an old debt. As an exotic and beautiful entertainer, Najila commanded praise and was showered with gifts, all the while despising the creatures that lusted after her. One of her clients, a member of the Sign of One, “expired” during a session, and a clause in his will bought her freedom, as well as sparking in her a curiosity about the Signers. The self-centered philosophy appealed to her, and she vowed that no one would ever be more important to her than herself.
Ribbit
Ribbit was just a tadpole when he was inadvertently summoned to Oerth, where he was kept on display by a bizarre cult that worshipped Wastri the Hopping Prophet. Isolated from his fellow slaadi and the chaotic forces of Limbo, Ribbit didn’t develop as one would expect. The strange rituals performed by the cult invested him with divine power, and their teachings brainwashed him to forsake his race and champion the human demigod. When the cult was discovered and destroyed, magic used during the battle banished him back to Limbo, and from there he set about spreading the word of Wastri the Hopping Prophet throughout the planes, using Sigil as a base of operations.
Zaulgrym
This goliath’s tribe suffered hard times on Ysgard, sandwiched as it was between gates that allowed the Blood War to spill onto their plane. The gods of Ysgard ignored the conflict, and the goliaths’ prayers fell on deaf ears. The baatezu were triumphant, and they took the surviving goliaths as captives. Zaulgrym quickly learned that absolute obedience and a merciless nature earned him favor, and he moved up the ranks from slave to guard to (somewhat) trusted envoy. His hatred of the Norse gods never subsided, and he personally brokered a deal with the Athar that fortified supply lines through Ysgard, using firsthand knowledge of his former home to further advance his position with both his devil masters and the Athar faction.
Based on these backgrounds, which one would you choose and why? I’ve made my decision (with the help of my group), but I’m curious about what other people think, especially without knowledge of what the other party members may be. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, please.
But if you were given carte blanche with no concerns about balance, role, or power source, how would you decide what to play? Limits help us make decisions by removing options and conversely, expanding options paralyze some of us with indecision. I must confess I’m one of those people, staring endlessly at the 32 flavors of Baskin Robbins, unable to choose. I run through samples, mulling them over, trying to find one thing – anything – that catches my fancy, so I can narrow down my choices.
I need a character for my Monday night game, and the DM has removed all limits. I have ideas, of course, but the problem is I have too many. Because I mostly DM, I’m not overly attached to any one particular element of the game; I don’t always play spellcasters, or only create displaced elven nobles, or always monopolize the defender role. Different parts of all the elements appeal to me in some way, shape, or form, so I’ve decided to simply focus on the story first, and let the character develop from there.
Cuchulain
This gregarious bariaur grew up with a herd on Arborea and had a lot of exposure to both eladrin amd elven culture and the Society of Sensation. After demonstrating a talent with the harp and a flawless tenor voice, one of the eladrin houses sponsored his formal training in a bardic school, cementing his path as an entertainer. After several years performing at various house functions and eladrin gatherings, Cuchulain worked off his debt and decided to travel the planes. He joined the Sensates and set off for Sigil, hoping to capture fame and fortune with a more cosmopolitan audience, but also to expand his repertoire to include the musical stylings of other races. Still on good terms with his former masters, he often delivers messages or serves as an official envoy when the need arises.
Dagmara
Born on the Shadowfell, Dagmara grew up in Gloomwrought and fought a daily struggle against the soul-sucking forces of the plane. At the end of her rope and fearing a complete loss of self, she submitted to becoming a shade, hoping the relentless assault upon her spirit would lessen, if not cease. Of course, once the process was complete, the new Dagmara had no concerns about whether the old Dagmara was still intact. She joined a local coven and was initiated into its mysteries, wielding her natural charms and necrotic energy with deadly zeal. After a successful collaboration with a visiting Dustmen envoy, she was gifted with an undead familiar, a specter that now hovers disturbingly about her shoulders. Intrigued by the faction’s philosophy, Dagmara journeyed to Sigil and joined the Dustmen, hoping to establish a new coven in the City of Doors.
Fleabitten
Born on Bytopia, Fleabitten was a rat hengeyokai that scavenged on the outskirts of the city of Tatsukatsukai. Given his nature, he was always poking his nose into dark corners and hidden spaces, hoarding shiny objects and choice morsels of food. While rummaging around in a monastery of the Transcendent Order in human form, Fleabitten was caught. Rather than punishment, the monks offered membership, and Fleabitten concealed his true nature in exchange for what he considered a life of relative ease. He half-heartedly followed the training at first, but as time passed, he grew to embrace the philosophy and the peace it brought his restless spirit.
Sent with a delegation to the Great Gymnasium in Sigil, Fleabitten gave in to his animal nature and crept out one night to explore the Cage, promptly falling victim to a vampire. Fortunately his ability to transform into a rat allowed him to escape certain death. Unfortunately, the infection ensured he would not escape undeath. However, given that the City of Doors has no sun, Fleabitten had time to come to terms with his new thirst, strange powers, and the war between his animalistic mindset, undead nature, and philosophical leanings. No one at the faction headquarters treated him any differently, so he went back to being a monk, now with a penchant for licking his sparring partners clean.
Icespike
Born on Acheron but shunned because of his albino nature, Icespike fled to the Outlands at the first opportunity. He never knew any kindness or consideration; he was filled with rage due to the nature of his birth and his status as a pariah within bladeling society. He quelled that rage by indulging in bloodlust, tearing and chopping and gouging his opponents in the most violent ways he could imagine. Many people were willing to pay for his skills and didn’t care how he got the job done. There were even those who didn’t care that he was a bladeling with milky white skin and spikes that looked like ice. The more he traveled as a mercenary, the more he realized that the rules of one place didn’t apply everywhere else.
Of course, some people insisted their rules applied no matter where they were, and Icespike despised the Harmonium with such vehemence that he began siding against Hardheads whenever there was a fight, sometimes even when hired to fight alongside them. He earned a reputation as unpredictable and unreliable, except when it came to thwarting the Harmonium. People assumed he was a Xaositect because of his opposition to the Harmonium faction, and at some point the Xaositects considered him one as well, and soon he found he was one, without even trying.
Najila Al-Siq
As a sandsoul genasi born on the Elemental Plane of Earth, Najila knew only of the power of stone and the constancy of earth. She drew upon the arcane power of her home plane, learning the mysteries of earth magic and how it interacted with the other elements. Spared during a raid by dao because of her arcane talent, Najila was wisked away as a slave to attend the whims of her dao master as he journeyed to the Material Plane and throughout the outer planes. She was traded to a human merchant in the Outlands, who in turn gave her to a madam in Sigil to pay off an old debt. As an exotic and beautiful entertainer, Najila commanded praise and was showered with gifts, all the while despising the creatures that lusted after her. One of her clients, a member of the Sign of One, “expired” during a session, and a clause in his will bought her freedom, as well as sparking in her a curiosity about the Signers. The self-centered philosophy appealed to her, and she vowed that no one would ever be more important to her than herself.
Ribbit
Ribbit was just a tadpole when he was inadvertently summoned to Oerth, where he was kept on display by a bizarre cult that worshipped Wastri the Hopping Prophet. Isolated from his fellow slaadi and the chaotic forces of Limbo, Ribbit didn’t develop as one would expect. The strange rituals performed by the cult invested him with divine power, and their teachings brainwashed him to forsake his race and champion the human demigod. When the cult was discovered and destroyed, magic used during the battle banished him back to Limbo, and from there he set about spreading the word of Wastri the Hopping Prophet throughout the planes, using Sigil as a base of operations.
Zaulgrym
This goliath’s tribe suffered hard times on Ysgard, sandwiched as it was between gates that allowed the Blood War to spill onto their plane. The gods of Ysgard ignored the conflict, and the goliaths’ prayers fell on deaf ears. The baatezu were triumphant, and they took the surviving goliaths as captives. Zaulgrym quickly learned that absolute obedience and a merciless nature earned him favor, and he moved up the ranks from slave to guard to (somewhat) trusted envoy. His hatred of the Norse gods never subsided, and he personally brokered a deal with the Athar that fortified supply lines through Ysgard, using firsthand knowledge of his former home to further advance his position with both his devil masters and the Athar faction.
Based on these backgrounds, which one would you choose and why? I’ve made my decision (with the help of my group), but I’m curious about what other people think, especially without knowledge of what the other party members may be. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, please.
