Character 102 - Vasuman Walia

I write the intro to these things after I actually write the character. It gives me a chance to comment on difficulties I may have had and my process. I say that specifically because I am going to point out that even I cannot tie everything together. As I was writing the background I thought I had hit on all the little tidbits, but upon rereading the random rolls post I realized I missed something. I liked what I had and I couldn’t see shoehorning another piece into it, so you will find that the influential person – the academic – has been left out. It just goes to show that this is not always easy and it’s ok if you miss a piece when creating your character.

As for character choices I went looking through the Advanced Races Guide for some information on Suli but there wasn’t a lot. I wanted to play on their natural ability as negotiators, his worship of the Empyreal Lord of communication and music, and his need for pleasure. Although charisma was not his best stat it was still good so I choose the celebrity bard archetype from Ultimate Magic.

Vasuman Walia

The nation of Katapesh has become a common home for Vudrani who seek a life outside of the caste system of their homeland. The people of The Impossible Kingdoms have spread through the region, finding homes not just in the cities, but in the towns and villages as well. The city of El-Fatar, where adventures come to plumb the depths of ancient ruins, is where the Walia family have made their home now on three generations.

VasumanWalia is one of nine children born to Bhupati, a farmer who inherited his land from his father before him. The boy was in many ways the most unremarkable of his brothers and sisters; not the strongest, fastest, or most attractive. And he most certainly was not the smartest, a fact that infuriated his father often.

The boy did have a good heart and a decent voice, and could often be heard in the kitchen singing as his mother prepared meals. His lack of critical thinking occasionally caused him to act out of bad judgment, even if he meant well. He once overheard his father complain about how a merchant “robbed him blind” and so he snuck into the trader’s caravan and stole a few mostly worthless trinkets to recoup his father’s losses. He would never understand why his dad was so mad, but he made him return the baubles.

Vasuman also had a tendency to literally get lost in his own thoughts. He desperately wanted to be famous. Seeing all the powerful warriors, wizards, and occasional scoundrels flock to his city made him dream of that kind of life. Often while practicing swordsmanship or pretending to learn spells he would find himself lost in the desert. Sometimes he could find his way home, other times his eldest siblings would have to search for him.

On one adventure among the dunes the boy ran into a man sitting under a palm tree. He was like no person Vasuman had ever seen before with bronzed skin and eyes that almost sparkled like stars in the night sky. The man at first seemed insulted by the interruption of his nap but he soon realized it was just a boy.

The two talked well into the night with both Vasuman and the man losing all sense of time. The being explained that he was a janni, a type of genie that lived on Golarion itself. The boy asked about wishes, which from a grown less innocent man would have been a grave breach of etiquette, but the janni let it slide with a few tactful words. Before the night was through he told the boy that he too would feel the pull of the elements and left him with that thought at the gates of his parent’s farmhouse.

Eventually, as he aged Vasuman began to see that his chance meeting may not have been by chance. His own blood seems to have been laced with that of the janni, and like the mortal genie he was blessed with the natural ability to understand the desires of people and play to their wants. With a honeyed word and a pleasant tune, the young Vudrani began to make a name for himself in his hometown.

Vasuman hopes to one day be known throughout Golarion for, well, anything really. But that day is not today. Today he starts his adventure in the deserts of Katapesh.

Did you come up with something similar to Vasuman? Which class did your suli gravitate to? What creature did he meet as a child? Why did he steal from a merchant? Who was her academic influence? If you haven’t written your background yet you still have a chance.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but helps you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to create, please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

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Random Roll 102 - The Randomness

This week’s character should prove interesting. A lot to work with in the stats especially an intelligence of five. An unlucky roll got me a seven and the Suli’s racial negative took it down even further. I personally tend to play skill monkeys and high intelligence characters so this kind of roll would definitely have force me to play outside of my comfort zone. So I’ll look over the background bits and see if I can’t make it all add up.

Gender:Male

Race:Suli

Human Ethnicity:Vadruni

Nationality:Katapesh

Age: 16

Height:5’ 7”

Weight:186

Alignment:Neutral Good

Str: 13

Dex: 16

Con: 11

Int: 5

Wis: 16

Cha: 14

Homeland: Town or Village

Parents: Both of your parents are alive.

Siblings: You have 8 biological siblings.

- biological younger sister

- biological older sister

- biological older brother

- biological younger brother

- biological older brother

- biological younger sister

- biological younger sister

- biological younger brother

Circumstance of Birth: [Middle-Class Birth] You were born to the middle class, which includes merchants, artisans, and tradespeople. You likely grew up in a good-sized settlement, and one of your parents is likely associated with a guild or other trade organization. As a free person, you don't experience the bondage of serfdom or peasantry, but you also lack the privilege of the nobility.

Parent's Profession: Yeomen

Major Childhood Event: [Met a Fantastic Creature] When you were only a child, you made contact with a magical creature, such as a dragon, unicorn, genie, pixie, or similar creature. You learned a powerful lesson or a magic trick from that creature. This meeting changed your life and made you different from the other children.

Influential Associate:[The Academic] One of your associates had such a lust for knowledge that she could never be satisfied with simple answers or obvious solutions. This desire for knowledge frequently exceeded her need for companionship, but you were the single exception. Through this association you developed a keen appreciation for numbers, geometry, logic, hard study, and problem solving.

Conflict: [Minor Theft] You stole several small or inexpensive items that belonged to someone else.

Conflict Subject: Merchant.

Conflict Motivation: Money.

Conflict Resolution: [Denial] You feel little if any regret, and deny the event mostly so others won’t judge you. Few if any know of your part in the conflict, and your constant denials are meant to keep it that way.

Deity/Religious Philosophy:Seramaydiel

Romantic Relationship(s):[One Significant Relationship] You had a true love once, but that time has passed.

Drawback:[Pleasure] You crave luxury, entertainment, and pleasure. You might indulge in every passing fancy or hold strong against a temptation that constantly eats at you.

(Trait) Artisan

(Trait) Empyreal Focus

(Trait) Gifted Adept

(Trait) Kin Guardian

(Trait) Mathematical Prodigy

(Trait) Merchant

(Trait) Militia Veteran

(Trait) Savanna Child

(Drawback) Hedonistic

In the comments give us your ideas for how to make this into a fully realized character? What class would this character gravitate towards? What fantastic creature did he meet as a child? Why would an academic take interest in a child who wasn’t at all bright? Who are all of his eight siblings? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character 64 - Amunaltalu Smokehole

The toughest thing to overcome in this week’s random rolls was the dexterity of seven, but there was a lot of other great information to work with. Tying in the death of his father with his divine birth was difficult. I had to find a love that he could have and meant the world to him that was not an actual lover. Choosing a class, however, is always the hardest part. This week I went with straight up fighter.

Amunaltalu Smokehole

Born in the nation of Thuvia, Amunaltalu took his name from one of the small volcanic pockets that spewed smoke near his family’s estate. His father was a well-respected sculptor, show pieces were sought after by every noble and merchant prince. But behind the façade of master artisan lurked a dark and violent man.

Throughout his childhood Amunaltalu’s father despised him. One of the local seers always said he was destined for greater things and although his father was a great success, he could not stand the thought of his own son outdoing him. When he was born the priest said that Amunaltalu was touched by the gods,  that divine energy had been infused in him. For this reason his father took out his anger on his mother and occasionally his older sister.

All through his childhood he watched his father’s hidden violence, but being chosen to be mentored by the very seers that said he would amount to greater things meant that he could turn a blind eye. He spent his life training for his purpose, to fight. Living and breathing the acrid smoke of the very holes from which he took his name. Ensconced in heavy armor as the fumes both poisoned and hardened him.

One night his mother had too much. She confided in her son her pain, begged him to use his power to free her. Amunaltalu loved his mother very much, but he only knew one way, violence. When his father was asleep he murdered him. He crushed his progenitor’s skull with the shield bought for him by the very same man. But murder is murder and although he felt no guilt his mother bid him to flee.

The young warrior ran through Thuvia and across Rahadoum to the land of the lost and forgotten, The Shackles. He settled into the city of Neruma, which was not on the coast but deep on the mainland. He was one of the few to realize that this was the land of the lizardmen and that their strange beliefs permeated the land.

In the deep caverns below the land Amunaltalu found solace. Here the same thick smoke that came from the belly of the earth that he knew from childhood rose up. The boy felt a calling that opened up not just his mind but the history of his genes. For the first time the blood of his Jann manifested and called out to the old ones that inhabited this plane even before the gods. His blood called to the fire and the volcanic smoke that flowed under The Shackles.

Although the boy could now channel the elemental fire in his blood and could hear the voices of the elder god known as Mhar, he was never granted power by his god. Instead he was tasked with defending the caverns and volcanic flow for the time when his master may rise again. Alone in body, but not in spirit, Amunaltalu now waits and defends his master’s realm.

From the fires of the core of Golarion these bits of information took shape, but what was your character? What class do these stats and background coalesce into in your mind? How did this suli’s father die? Where did the great old one Mhar sneak into his mind?

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Character 64 - The Randomness

Suli, children of the elemental Jann, is the race for this week’s character. Massively strong and incredibly tough our character was infused with divine energy at birth. Born in one of the few large cities in the shackles, he worships Mhar, the great old one of caverns and volcanoes.  But who is this character? Why is his father dead? And who is it that he loves?

Gender:Male

Race:Suli

Human Ethnicity:Garundi.

Nationality: The Shackles

Age:  21
Height: 5’ 3”
Weight: 206lbs

Alignment:Chaotic Neutral

Str: 18

Dex: 7

Con:  14

Int: 12

Wis: 14

Cha: 11

Homeland: City or Metropolis

Parents: Only your mother is alive.

Siblings: You have 2 biological siblings.

- biological older sister

- biological younger brother

Circumstance of Birth: [Energy Infused] During your birth you were exposed to potent source of divine energy.

Parent's Profession: Artisans

Major Childhood Event: [Mentorship/Patronage] A mentor or patron took an interest in your development and volunteered to train or sponsor you. This creature's motives might not be entirely clear, but without its influence you would not be who you are.

Influential Associate:[The Seer] You were close to a person who claimed to see the future—perhaps an oracle, seer, prophet, or merely some festival charlatan. Whether they're true or a trick, you've seen visions of distant places and of times that may come to pass. The seer's influence either made you into an optimist with a drive to change the future or a fatalist resigned to accept it.

Conflict: [Murder] You killed someone.

Conflict Subject: Family member.

Conflict Motivation: Pressured or Manipulated.

Conflict Resolution: [No Guilt] Either guilt is for the weak, or you know you made the right decision. You might not openly brag about your part in the conflict, but you don’t deny it when confronted either.

Deity/Religious Philosophy:Mhar

Romantic Relationship(s):[Experience but No Substantial Relationships] You’ve had a fling or two, but have so far shied away from any ties or commitments.

Drawback:[Love] Your love for someone motivates you. When this person is in danger, you’re prone to feel weak, powerless, or angry.

(Trait) Artisan

(Trait) Civilized

(Trait) Unspeakable Bond

(Trait) Kin Guardian

(Trait) Mentored

(Trait) Sacred Conduit

(Trait) Sacred Touch

(Trait) Scholar of the Great Beyond

(Trait) Vagabond Child

(Drawback) Lovesick

In the comments please tell us what character you would make with these disparate pieces information? What class would this Suli naturally gravitate towards? What was the divine energy he was infused with? Who did he kill? And why?If he’s had now substantial relationships, what is the love that motivates him? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct contribution to my Paypal. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character Sixteen: Marluk Denbrauth

Life in a small town can be very daunting for anyone let alone the youngest child of a Merchant family. Brother already being groomed as the heir to the family business. Sister being shopped around the upper classes to marry more wealth into the family. Left to your own devices, the forgotten youngest child can lead to all the wrong things.

The Denbrauth trading company had a thriving business through the small towns and villages of Brevory. Marluk Denbrauth was never interested in any of this. He spent much of his childhood running around with some of the older boys who were constantly getting themselves in trouble. Many times Marluk would find himself sitting in the kitchen with his father scolding him after he and his best friend got caught stealing, or cheating people out of their money at games of “chance.”

Always feeling his Brother and Sister had everything to look forward to Marluk felt like an outcast in his own home. When he turned twelve and puberty set in this was even further exacerbated what his Jann blood emerged and his Suli heritage was revealed. His family was further horrified at the stigma this might bring to them and sought to keep their youngest child locked away at home.

While he was being hidden away his parents gave birth to a new youngest child. At first envious of the boy, his heart softened as the child grew and was the only member of the family not afraid of him. The two youngest of the Denbrauth clan had a strong friendship even with their many years apart. When the youngest of the clan caught the pox and died at age four Marluk was heartbroken.

His brother’s death infuriated Marluk who broke from the family. Leaving his life in exile to rejoin his childhood best friend on the streets. Having moved up from petty thief to a member of what passes for the biggest gang in a small town, the young Suli was quickly swept up in things that would sully is parent’s reputation. Not the brightest of the toughest of thugs Marluk was quick, of both fingers and wit, and transitioned nicely into a life of crime.

One fall when the nearby villages were bringing their harvests to the market square all this changed for the Suli thief. Travelling among the farmers, vintners and goat herds was a holy man, a paladin of old one eye, the god Erastil. The man looked the part of a woodsman selling his own furs at market but flashed a little too much coin for his own good. Marluk and his troupe made to relieve him of his riches one night. The fight was quick, none expected the resistance they got and Marluk lay unconscious as his fellows ran off.

When the Suli child awoke he was in a comfortable bed being tended to by the woodsman. He wasn’t restrained but he still didn’t run. The follower of Erastil had seen the pain in the young boy’s eyes even during the battle. The Paladin offered to take him away from the town and show him a better life. He wished to show him the bounties of the world through the one good eye of his god. With nowhere left to turn Marluk left that day with the Paladin.

Years later Marluk returned to his home, bow in hand, symbol of Erastil around his neck. He met with his father who hand since retired, leaving the business to his brother as expected. He sat at a table through the night and much of the day, the same table at which his father scolded him as a child. The teachings of the stag god put family first and on that day Marluk reconciled. He was now not just a paladin but he was once again a member of the Denbrauth clan.

Remember the first person to post a race (Core or featured), that will be the race I use for my next randomly rolled character.

Character Exploration Sixteen-The Randomness

This week we're going off the rails. Our friend Ian who posted his character last week wants me to do a Suli and so I'm going to do a Suli. 25pt buy and a difficult character to make. Not all that bright and not all that tough.

Suli

Str 15
Dex 18
Con 7
Int 9
Wis 14
Cha 14

Age: 19
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 150 lbs.

Homeland: Town or Village
Parents: Both of your parents are alive.
Siblings: You have 2 biological siblings.
- biological older brother
- biological older sister

Circumstance of Birth: [Middle-Class Birth] You were born to the middle class, which includes merchants, artisans, and tradespeople. You likely grew up in a good-sized settlement, and one of your parents is likely associated with a guild or other trade organization. As a free person, you don't experience the bondage of serfdom or peasantry, but you also lack the privilege of the nobility.
Parent's Profession: Merchants

Major Childhood Event: [Death in the Family] You were profoundly affected by the death of the relative closest to you—a parent, grandparent, favorite sibling, aunt, uncle, or cousin. This death affected you profoundly, and you've never been able to let go of it.

Influential Associate: [The Criminal] One of your associates committed crimes regularly. He regaled you with many stories of daring robberies and break-ins—and perhaps even murders. You learned most of what you know of the criminal element from him, and he trusted you as a friend.

Conflict: [Malign Associates] You allied with a destructive creature, organization, or individual. CP: 4
Conflict Subject: Adventurer. CP: 0
Conflict Motivation: Pressured or Manipulated. CP: 2

Romantic Relationship(s): [No Experience] You have never experienced any kind of romantic connection whatsoever.

Drawback: [Attachment (Person)] You are attached to a particular person—a friend, family member, or loved one—who means more than anything or anyone in the world. Your thoughts always return to this person.

It's a tough one but what would you do. How would you make this character?