The Glade 4.0

So I am creating a barbarian for a campaign a friend is going to be running. He has been working for months on his story for the game, and he promises it to be quite epic.

The barbarian's background:

I am having him come from a arches national park/goblin valley type of environment, instead of the cliche'd frozen north. In my lore, there are going to be multiple barbarian tribes that generally don't get along with each other, but have by now found an equilibrium with their territories (wars over territory aren't as common as they used to be). The tribe will be EXTREMELY close-knit. Bringing honor to your tribe is of top priority in every barbarian's mind, bringing honor to one's self a close second. If a barbarian falls, the whole tribe picks up the slack and will take turns helping out the fallen brother's family. The whole tribe treats each other as one big family.

Honor to one's tribe, again, is of extreme importance. Kord is their favored deity, but they do not worship him. They more view him as a distant tribal chief that watches over them from afar. Their spiritual belief is more attune to how honorable you were, and if you did bring honor to your tribe that you will be able to continue to contribute to your tribe after death. Whether it be your spirit helps out the tribe's shamans or that your spirit is reincarnated in the form of a magical weapon. I'm not talking sentient artifact, no they believe that even a +1 sword of flame contains the spirit of an honored ancestor and that nothing is more honorable than being reborn/reincarnated of steel to help slay the tribe's enemies (doesn't break game mechanics, just a different viewpoint of the afterlife). And that even the honored ancestral spirits are what help grant a barbarian his rage.

Conversely, dishonor means spending the afterlife forever lost and ashamed, and that you are exiled in the worst possible way. Your name stricken from and never spoken again by your tribe. Extreme hell for a society so close.

The problem:

The campaign will take place starting at level 10, and far, far away from the region my character is from. I have to think of a good reason why my barbarian would leave such a close-knit society and why he would travel that far. I don't have a lot of information except that it used to be once a great civilization where all the main races worked together, but is now mostly lost to time.

I've thought about a hook where the tribe is in peril and only some macguffin can save them. However, this puts a sense of urgency on my character and I likely won't be back to see the tribe for a very long time. It would not be fun to roleplay an irritated barbarian who is upset he cannot return home anytime soon.

I am leaning more towards being exiled due to being framed for something he didn't do. I like the idea of roleplaying a person who is an outcast, where being an outcast is the worst possible thing one could be. And I like the idea of roleplaying having extreme rage, hatred, and vengeance against the person who is responsible and should be in his place instead. But the problem with this is: why would he travel so far away to this new area?



Any thoughts or new ideas are most welcome. I will say that I am too keen on a "prophecy" being the reason for leaving. If my character is ignorant of the prophecy, I'd be more open to it. But I am looking for some hooks/flaws that would be interesting/fun to roleplay. Characters with (what I call) flaws are the ones that engage me most.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

You are the chief's oldest son. Your jealous younger brother framed you for some great act of dishonor and shame in order to clear the line of succession for himself. You have traveled so far from home to find a macguffin not to save the tribe from peril, but to prove your courage and honor so that you may challenge your brother.

It's cliche, sure, but a classic.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I like it.

But I think I may make the who, how, and why's of the betrayal unknown to him. All he knows is that he was exiled (and the reasons for it) and no matter how much he protests, he cannot gain favor. Extreme hurt would be a great reason to get as far away as he could to bury the sadness (without giving him an immediate reason to return). Gives him the same roleplay hooks I like, without the sense of urgency to return. Hmmmmm.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

It also leaves vague the nature of just what it is you're questing for. The macguffin in question could be rather nonspecific. There's nothing in particular you need, so long as it required sufficient heroism to acquire it. In essence, some battle trophy that would allow you to return home with your head held high.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

I was gonna suggest exile, since that is the only reason I can see that you would be adventuring anyway(aside from the cure for your people thing, but like you said, it is kinda urgent). Another thing you could do that would be equally cliche but classic is to have your village destroyed while you were out on a hunting mission or some kind of rite of passage quest and now you could be out for revenge. Investigation has led you to the area of the world you are in now to find the killers of your village. Blah blah blah.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

How about some foreign travellers in time past helped your tribe defend against an attack and where accepted as honorary family as a result. Now they or their descendants need help, and you, the son of the chief are just the very man for the job.

Too bad you're not in Eberron, I could come up with some good ideas =D

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Kord's Domains:

Athletics - Olympics?

Sports - see above

Storms - it could be that he was sent as diplomat and guard to the gift for a foreign chief for a alliance with another tribe against the naga and was blown off course or kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Brawling - perhaps he was exiled for manslaughter, but the mead for his competitor was poisoned to get him out of the tribe for a usurper, AKA Loki.

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Once, I was a ranger
Then, I was a warlock
And a mage
And a paladin
Now, I seek to be myself

As an alternative consider this.

The only thing you know about this far off society is legend and folk tales. There are some mighty powerful sounding McGuffins in these tales and your dear close personal friend or relative has run off to get the McG to take their revenge on the witch/shaman that abused or humiliated them. You aren't after the McG, your dear close personal friend or relative is. Whether the McG is real or exaggerated myth you have no clue, but you suspect the latter. In your growing wisdom see that their quest of revenge will destroy them as a person and you want to stop them before they go too far.

To keep them from this mortifying shame you are willing to do anything, even kill them if you have to. You know without a powerful McG they have no chance against the villain back at the village.

You have a totem of some kind that will always point to your dear one. You don't know how far away they are, but you know what direction they are in. Part of your strategy is to stay between them and the tribe's valley if possible.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Another alternative: Selection of the next chief is occuring since the current chief is aging, and it is desireable to have a successor in mind before he dies. Succession is not by bloodline but by deed, and those warriors already known for valor and strength (say, 5th level and higher) who wish to be considered are to venture forth into the world and vring back trophies of great deeds and wisdom to prove themself best worthy to be the next chief.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

The drive to be chief is a solid hook no matter how you slice it.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

On the night before your wedding, the shaman examined the entrails of the bear you had killed as part of the bride-price. Usually, the next day the shaman would say that the ancestral spirits had shown him through the entrails that the couple would be blessed with so many children, yadda yadda, and the partying would commence.

Instead, the shaman awoke you in the middle of the night, and told you that Kord had shown him through the entrails that you were to venture forth, immediately, right-this-very-minute to fulfill an ancient Obligation placed upon your tribe. He pressed some sort of amulet he'd found in the bear's stomach and told you that you must leave, now, and seek out and fulfill this Obligation for the honor of the entire tribe. The amulet would be your only clue, and that you had to seek (in this direction). There would be no wedding for you, and you could not explain to your fiancee or her family or anyone why you had to leave. Your family's honor would not suffer, however, since your brother would be able to marry your true love in your stead...but your personal honor would seem to sullied. The shaman could tell no one of your quest, leaving no explanation for any of the tribe. No one could know of your sacrifice, or that your honor was not sullied, until the Obligation was fulfilled.

You stole away in the middle of the night, without a word to anyone, because Honor demanded it, just hours before your wedding to the most important person in your life.

Only you, the shaman, the ancestors, and Kord know that your honor is pure. Honor, both your own, as well as the tribe's, demands that you fulfill this Obligation. Yet the price is hard, for until you can return with the Obligation fulfilled, you will be but dust in the wind to all that you love. And the Shaman was old, and sure to be summoned to join the ancestors at any time when you left. It's been a long few years now, yet there has been little progress in your quest, and you yearn for the life, love, and land you've turned away from so long ago...because Honor demanded you obey the summons of a cold and disinterested god. And Honor has become so heavy...

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Women are from Hoboken, men are from Trenton. ~ Jimmy Kimmel

You could go the Conan route, and be an escaped slave. Stolen from your home as a young man, perhaps in the midst of your coming of age ritual, you were enslaved to so-and-so. You could develop that relationship however you wished. but you would still be seeking your rite of passage.

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It feels like all the people who want limited government really just want government limited to Republicans.
---The Daily Show

I like this.

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Raell Kromwell

*Cough* Olympics *cough*

(That way, you force the GM to have a sports tournament which opens up political intrigue, skill checks, market(s) with exotic goods, and could be used to introduce plot hooks and present a greater map of the world, assuming they have one.)

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Once, I was a ranger
Then, I was a warlock
And a mage
And a paladin
Now, I seek to be myself

You can't force a DM to do anything. If you write something into your character background and he doesn't want to deal with it all he has to say is "that doesn't work in this campaign" (which is usually the reason not to deal with it.

Not that there's anything wrong with the Olympics idea; players should just never get the idea that the DM is going to design entire campaign segments around their character background unless they discuss it beforehand.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

On top of that Numbuk said the character is going to be far from home. The DM could say ok there is a tourny going on right now...to bad you are here.

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Raell Kromwell

The Olympics as a reason to be far from home is the point that I wanted to drive home.

Why have the contest for the honor and pride of the barbarian tribes so far from home? Why, intimidation, of course!

If you can show that your weakest man cub is capable of feats of strength the likes of which the more civilized sorts have only heard of...

If you can show that your tribe is the strongest and bravest and most powerful...

If you can show that a single warrior from your tribe is capable of rage that would make the sky darken with fear...

Well, let's call it a +2 circumstance bonus to an intimidate check (diplomacy is not the barbarian way).

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Once, I was a ranger
Then, I was a warlock
And a mage
And a paladin
Now, I seek to be myself

There's nothing wrong with the Olympics idea. It should just be worked out with the DM in advance, not dropped into one's history and then the DM told "you need to make this event happen".

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Thank you all for the great ideas. It's given me a bit to think about. I appreciate it!

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!