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<blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 8358113" data-attributes="member: 6704184"><p>Right. For the most, bifts are fun to look through, and help me clarify early on who the character is. Sometimes a flaw will clarify in my mind based on a negative reaction I have upon reading one of the listed flaws for a given background, or a Bond will based on an Ideal, etc. </p><p></p><p>Other times, I'll read "I have an obligation to those beneath me" or whatever in the noble background, look at the flaw I already chose about being contrarian and reckless, look at the personality trait that the character is empathetic and idealistic, and suddenly the character shifts from well-meaning noble who nontheless supports the continuation of the inherently oppressive system of aristocratic oligarchy, into an anarcho-socialist whose life's mission is to break the monopolistic power of the 12 Houses by inventing and funding the invention of viable alternatives to their technologies, while also undermining the aristocracy and writing under a pen name about the foibles of the nobles of the Sharn social scene. </p><p></p><p>That was actually an NPC, but since he was going to be fighting alongside the PCs, and was introduced in a flashback adventure where he was working as a wartime spy near the front and the group saved him from emerald claw necromancers, and I love building characters I built him out as an artillerist artificer with a custom background. The group is in the climactic showdown in a factory/lab in upper Sharn, having gotten there at the end of chase wherein the used Brenn's experimental flying machines powered by dragonshards and alchemy to chase a customised sky coach crewed by a sniper and two regular archers, while being pursued in turn by the enemy's emerald claw allies (a wing of griffon knights eventually helped sort out the pursuers on their soarsleds, because I didn't want the chase battle to drag on too long and it introduced potential complications down the road). </p><p></p><p>Having arrived at the warehouse lab, shooting the door mechanisms so they could close, and sending their summoned allies (a quetzacoatlus and two dryads) to chase down the pilot of the skycoach and the sniper, both of whom had successfully ditched the rig as it went down, they entered to find a modified warforged titan, and more humanoid enemies, waiting for them inside. </p><p></p><p>This being the third fairly large battle without any rest or even a few minutes to heal up or anything, I gave them the benefits of a short rest, and the ability to regain spell slots as if they had the Wizard's Arcane Recovery feature. The wizard in the group got this on top of his normal recovery. Thus still depleted a good bit (most of them had nearly no slots left, and had used most limited class features as well), we broke for the evening there for an easy pickup point next time. </p><p></p><p>But the whole adventure started because a witch warned them that a friend close to them was on a path that could end in their own death, and in a great deal of desctructive besides, if they didn't intervene. They found him at his townhouse in upper Tavick's Landing, told him what the witch had said, and he explained that he had made enemies in the 12 Houses, as well as amongst the noble families, as well as poking his nose into a conspiracy that the group had just recently found out about between the Emerald Claw, and the Cult of The Black Flame (dragonic cult that is seeking to bring new dragonmarks into the world via abberant magics and necromancy.) So, the first fight of the day was with assassins sent to kill Brenn during that conversation, then the chase battle through the air, then the warehouse. </p><p></p><p>One of the most fun adventure's I've mostly improvised in a long time, that came out of ideas I had for the character while messing around with background stuff. Sure, I can and do come up with wild adventures with hooks that I came up with on my own or that a player did, or that came out of gameplay moments, but I'm not about to dismiss the value of inspiration from a list of prompts related to a theme.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="doctorbadwolf, post: 8358113, member: 6704184"] Right. For the most, bifts are fun to look through, and help me clarify early on who the character is. Sometimes a flaw will clarify in my mind based on a negative reaction I have upon reading one of the listed flaws for a given background, or a Bond will based on an Ideal, etc. Other times, I'll read "I have an obligation to those beneath me" or whatever in the noble background, look at the flaw I already chose about being contrarian and reckless, look at the personality trait that the character is empathetic and idealistic, and suddenly the character shifts from well-meaning noble who nontheless supports the continuation of the inherently oppressive system of aristocratic oligarchy, into an anarcho-socialist whose life's mission is to break the monopolistic power of the 12 Houses by inventing and funding the invention of viable alternatives to their technologies, while also undermining the aristocracy and writing under a pen name about the foibles of the nobles of the Sharn social scene. That was actually an NPC, but since he was going to be fighting alongside the PCs, and was introduced in a flashback adventure where he was working as a wartime spy near the front and the group saved him from emerald claw necromancers, and I love building characters I built him out as an artillerist artificer with a custom background. The group is in the climactic showdown in a factory/lab in upper Sharn, having gotten there at the end of chase wherein the used Brenn's experimental flying machines powered by dragonshards and alchemy to chase a customised sky coach crewed by a sniper and two regular archers, while being pursued in turn by the enemy's emerald claw allies (a wing of griffon knights eventually helped sort out the pursuers on their soarsleds, because I didn't want the chase battle to drag on too long and it introduced potential complications down the road). Having arrived at the warehouse lab, shooting the door mechanisms so they could close, and sending their summoned allies (a quetzacoatlus and two dryads) to chase down the pilot of the skycoach and the sniper, both of whom had successfully ditched the rig as it went down, they entered to find a modified warforged titan, and more humanoid enemies, waiting for them inside. This being the third fairly large battle without any rest or even a few minutes to heal up or anything, I gave them the benefits of a short rest, and the ability to regain spell slots as if they had the Wizard's Arcane Recovery feature. The wizard in the group got this on top of his normal recovery. Thus still depleted a good bit (most of them had nearly no slots left, and had used most limited class features as well), we broke for the evening there for an easy pickup point next time. But the whole adventure started because a witch warned them that a friend close to them was on a path that could end in their own death, and in a great deal of desctructive besides, if they didn't intervene. They found him at his townhouse in upper Tavick's Landing, told him what the witch had said, and he explained that he had made enemies in the 12 Houses, as well as amongst the noble families, as well as poking his nose into a conspiracy that the group had just recently found out about between the Emerald Claw, and the Cult of The Black Flame (dragonic cult that is seeking to bring new dragonmarks into the world via abberant magics and necromancy.) So, the first fight of the day was with assassins sent to kill Brenn during that conversation, then the chase battle through the air, then the warehouse. One of the most fun adventure's I've mostly improvised in a long time, that came out of ideas I had for the character while messing around with background stuff. Sure, I can and do come up with wild adventures with hooks that I came up with on my own or that a player did, or that came out of gameplay moments, but I'm not about to dismiss the value of inspiration from a list of prompts related to a theme. [/QUOTE]
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