D&D 5E How do you make a 'Soldier' interesting?

I like this a lot :) I do think she needs a hobby, I'll even put forward the idea of dancing because it'll really throw people off :) Yes, she'll be crap at it but I think Human does indeed have that concept of being a Minority and wants to distract herself from that :)

Because I am who I am, many of my characters wil have some kind of non-combat proficiency that is about self-expression, at least in part. So I've had sketchers, whittlers, caligraphers, poets, flautists, cooks, embroiderers, origamists, etc. among my rangers, mages, space marines, deckers, gunslingers and avengers of the night.

And yes, I do that even if I have to devote character building resources to do so.
 

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Ok.

You need to add some details to her. And you need to express those details at the table. The other players have to know her story somehow.

How old is she?
How does she dress? What's she look like?
Where is she originally from? What's her actual name? (even if she doesn't know these answers herself)
Is she concerned with returning to her home/name/etc? Why or why not. How does that effect her?
Add a few details about her human family.
How & when did she come to be fighting along side orcs?
Does she have any orc friends/family/allies/rivals?
How does she feel about orcs? Other races? Men/women/children?
What's she seen & done with the orcs?
What did she do that other orcs wanted to see "The Human" in action?
How/why did she leave the orcs?
Why is she doing whatever she's doing now?
And, other than fighting, what does she do? What would she like to do?

She's 23 If I remember correctly :)

She wears armour all of the time, Splint Armour at the moment. she doesn't actually have 'normal clothing'.

She's from a large island up to the north-west of Eberron :) She doesn't know her name. She went by "kid", "girl", "her" and "orphan girl" though she wasn't homeless.

She isn't all that interested in going home. She's very much a person who is all about "now" and "later" but not "the past" or "future". It kind of means she's going-in blind.

She didn't really have a family. She doesn't believe she's even from the Island she was raised in. She just got by with a bit of help from the other Villigers and the Orcs who visited the town.

Orcs were going around town to try and recruit half-orcs who lived there, instead they got a Human asking to join them. It seemed too funny to them so they just let her.

She doesn't exactly have friends . . . she kept things professional. If your life is work and if mucking up means death . . . well, she didn't muck about to say the least.

She knows that most people are biased towards them so she tries to give context as to what is wrong with their mentality e.g. have you ever tried to negotiate with an Orc before instead of just trying to kill it? She's also more . . . adjusted with killing people of other races (even Humans) because things are more black and white to her. It's an Enemy, it's dangerous and thats it. She's also disinterested in talking to people . . . joining an Orc army at the age of 17 and becoming a very serious Soldier kind of does that to you if you don't try to open up to people.

She has trained with Orcs, been trained by Orcs, learned how to speak and read Orc, she has eaten with Orcs, camped with Orcs, fought with Orcs, hunted with Orcs . . . pretty much everything with Orcs except for befriending them or love making . . .

She's not sure about what she did that was great. She grew strong enough to spar with them and when she came across other fighters who wanted to duel with her, many didn't see why the Orcs liked her either.

Her work was done, they let her keep her armour and weapons and told her to find something else to do. That's pretty much it.

She believes that she is a soldier and thus should function as one.

She has very much been about 'staying alive' and has thus made every effort to prepare for her work (e.g. exercise, buying supplies, sparing etc.) though I'm pretty sure that she feels there is something missing in her life and is kind of bored.
 

I was just thinking about Human's hobbies in the context of being a member of an Orcish mercenary troupe.

A talented cook would seem to be a pearl among swine...but possibly greatly appreciated and thus greatly missed when she left. They might even welcome her back as an ally should they cross paths again, "Weapons down! This is Human: she taught Cook how to make "chili..."

A percussionist might have been openly appreciated as livening up the marching cadence music with strikes, taps and rasps on weapons and armor, etc. And within her new party, she'd serve as a surprise "backup" to any true Bard during performances. Bards almost never get someone "aiding" them.

[video=youtube;HCLTA-H_Xjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCLTA-H_Xjc&sns=em[/video]
 
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The character, or you on her behalf, is having an identity crisis. Maybe you can start of with that. Play to the soul searching and lack of direction.

Maybe start visiting temples and shrines every chance you get. Try becoming a drunkard, or tell tall tales in taverns. Find a hobby as a previous poster suggested, or go for ambition. What will your character's legacy become?

It might be worthwhile to widen the scope of things your character can do. The role in combat seems well defined, but there are also social interactions and exploration. With a high wisdom or charisma you might find role there as well.

What I would look for would be a long term plan or possibly how Human copes with the expectation to die in combat any day now. If she thinks she'll die tomorrow, how does that influence her actions today? Or if she expects to live for many years yet, what is her goal in life? Does she want to serve and protect for the rest of her life, or would she want to accomplish something​ more?

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I think she is having an Identity crisis. Not because she doesn't know herself but because she feels inadequate. I will get her to look for occupation but I'm pretty sure she'll be staying off the drink since she's a bit of a health nut.

As for long term goals, she doesn't know. I don't know. She's just been put forward into things and just realised that things feel off.
 

Come up with a brief story about her experiences in the orc Wars that show something different that her normal day-to-day activities. Maybe it was a time when she had to make a choice and there was no right choice to be made. Maybe it was a time when she had to put her duty aside to do the right thing, but still doesn't feel comfortable with what she had to do. Maybe it was something else entirely. Share these stories with the DM and tell him or her that you'd like to incorporate more elements like this into the game to give your character some depth.

I think she is . . . uncomfortable with Dwarfss being present. She has killed Drarfs, they were violent and yet they are walking around. It's like she has two seperate realities to deal with. The whole "you're killing Dwarfs" thing was normal to her until they became "normal" and Orcs became "bad" in society.
 


I was just thinking about Human's hobbies in the context of being a member of an Orcish mercenary troupe.

A talented cook would seem to be a pearl among swine...but possibly greatly appreciated and thus greatly missed when she left. They might even welcome her back as an ally should they cross paths again, "Weapons down! This is Human: she taught Cook how to make "chili..."

A percussionist might have been openly appreciated as livening up the marching cadence music with strikes, taps and rasps on weapons and armor, etc. And within her new party, she'd serve as a surprise "backup" to any true Bard during performances. Bards almost never get someone "aiding" them.

[video=youtube;HCLTA-H_Xjc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCLTA-H_Xjc&sns=em[/video]

I like the Drumming Aspect . . . It's just she doesn't have a Drum xD So I guess cooking isn't such a bad aspect to aim for :)
 

I don't remember what the original question was and since I need to get up in 4h I won't check. That said:

I do hope that you play up the "weird around dwarves" flaw during the game. This especially if there is a dwarf PC or lots of dwarf NPCs.

Since it's Eberron I think she should also find some kind of Warforged support group. I think Warforged may also have some "soldier without a war" issues.

Sent from my Huawei P10 plus
 


I like the Drumming Aspect . . . It's just she doesn't have a Drum xD So I guess cooking isn't such a bad aspect to aim for :)

You don't need drums to be a percussionist. There are all kinds of options- bottles/canteens full of pebbles as rattles, tapping on helms & shirlsds, etc.
[video=youtube;FqJdzYY_Fas]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqJdzYY_Fas&sns=em[/video]

[video=youtube;JK6d8wKfKGA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6d8wKfKGA&sns=em[/video]

[video=youtube;TSqJdaBYa0I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqJdaBYa0I&sns=em[/video]

[video=youtube;lBKTXzHqXiE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBKTXzHqXiE&sns=em[/video]

[video=youtube;HaMcOwWUNWI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMcOwWUNWI&sns=em[/video]

And of course...
[video=youtube;8Kx9MdYYx7o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kx9MdYYx7o&sns=em[/video]
 
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