This part will focus on the most common pitfalls and problems when creating a character, and will give a few ways to solve issues and present new ways to look at them.
Humble beginnings
In almost any case, a character with a humble beginning is more likely to be used in a game than a character that is already a renown hero with more accomplishments tacked on than he has years. Just think of most other roleplaying games out there (including video games)—they have you starting from the very beginning as well.
It's easy to get carried away in the view of what a character is. You may view her as the powerful captain of an army, or the leader of a band of raiders, or an accomplished assassin. It is important to realise that, if you put your character this far, there is no point to playing this game—you are already where you want to be: at the end. If you do insist on creating such a character, we advise you post your character's background in the History of the Druchii subforum, not in the Roleplaying section.
It's more fun to play a raid than to write your character has done one.
To further emphasize what we mean by humble beginnings, we'll go into a few often recurring character types and detail what the problem is.
Army general, slayers of dragons; will work for food
Without a doubt, this is one of the most recurring types. It's also a fairly broad definition, but there are a few criteria that such a character always has:
- the character held or holds an important position in Druchii society;
- the character has a quality that frightens even other Druchii;
- any downfall in the character's history is not the character's fault.
There is no plausible reason for this character to be on the adventuring path. Adventuring is an uncertain and dangerous profession, often with a reward that doesn't reflect the hurdles overwon. It's like Hollywood: only a few who go there actually make a good living; the rest survives at best.
We understand that few wish to play the average person, and we encourage uniqueness, but we do ask to make a distinction in areas other than world domination. Trust that we will treat you and your character as unique people to the extent of our possibilities, and that you will have opportunities plentiful to distinguish yourself from others.
Major characters
Try not to include major characters (e.g. Kouran, Sigmar, Malekith, Morathi) with a prime role in your background. There are many reasons why you shouldn't, but we'll go over only one of them; that should be enough so that people should see why it is a tool to be used with care.
Major characters are major characters and, keeping the previous comments in mind, you will not have a major character. To them, your character is not a unique person, but either a tool or collateral damage. They are unlikely to go out of their way to have anything to do with your character. If they do go out of their way, then either your character is not of humble beginnings, or she is in for a very short lifetime.
They got on top for a reason, and not because they are friendly, charitable mentors.
Heir to the throne
You are not Malekith's heir.
Advanced characters
The character you have in mind may be more powerful than the RPG allows you to start as. You may require more skills, more stat points, more equipment, or more of everything, but you're not allotted them. It's part of starting from humble beginnings.
One way to solve this issue is to try and envision the ways that your character could have progressed to the status you have in mind. Perhaps she started out as a law-abiding character, but became disillusioned at some point, or noticed that the law doesn't cover everything, and turns to a more hands-on approach. Perhaps the closest thing to a sword she ever held was a pencil or brush, but she had a talent for hacking and slashing into people more than onto canvas and ultimately becomes a swashbuckler of swords. Or perhaps she was simply militia before experience turns her into a whirling dervish of bladed destruction. The possibilities are endless.
Stick to it and you'll get there.
Conclusion
When characters aren't accepted into a group, the most recurring problem is that they are not of humble beginnings. We went over what humble beginnings mean, and how to spot and solve a few common variants of any trespassing against it.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact the author of this article.