Shreeya Presents: Spicy DnD Class Backstories Part Two : Electric Boogaloo.

 

I know, I know. You're jumping for joy at the long-awaited sequel of my first blog post, "DnD Classes: Which Ones Could Have Spiciest Backstories". If you haven't read it, I recommend you to do so if you enjoy this. Also, here's a refresher. Dungeons and Dragons, also known as DnD, is one of the most famous tabletop RPGs. One of the best parts of it is that you are able to make your own character, with their own race, class (kind of like a job), and backstory. Today I'll be analyzing how much of a unique character can be born from the basic DnD classes. I covered the first 6 in my first blog post and will be covering the other 6 in this one. Now, let's jump into it.

Paladin: 7.5/10

Paladins are upholders of justice, given their abilities and magic by an oath that ties them to a god. Story-wise, they almost always live lives made of pure adventure, at least until retiring. Think of them as champions of gods. Now, I mentioned justice before, and that paladins are sworn to uphold justice. Though at first glance this may seem to limit story aspects of paladins quite a bit, it doesn't. Well, it does, but less than one would think. Upholding justice doesn't necessarily mean they have to be Lawful Good, as many people seem to think. It doesn't even mean they have to be good. The definition of justice can be different for everyone. For some, it simply means an eye for an eye. For others, it means thinking of all reasons and facts. However, it is a bit sad that it wouldn't make sense for an evil paladin to be running around, since that would be quite interesting to see. At most, I would say paladins could range from Lawful Good to Chaotic Neutral. 

Paladins are very simple most of the time, simply wanting to follow the laws and slap people with the hand of justice. However, I really like the idea of a paladin that, instead of slapping people with the hand of justice, uses it to rip their internal organs out. Okay, that sounded a bit gruesome but I basically think some sort of vigilante/assassin would be a cool type of paladin (even though that's kind of a rogue subclass but let's skim over that). Perhaps the god they made their oath with was someone like Aureon; a Lawful Neutral deity of law and knowledge. Although, maybe a Chaotic Neutral god would make more sense. Perhaps this individual was subject, or had witnessed many be subject to, the corruption of leaders and policers in their realm, and wanted to stop it, praying to their chosen deity for the power to create the change they so desperately wanted. You know what, I'm going to stop there. This example is getting too dramatic. If I spend any more time on it I'm going to start creating a character sheet, and I really don't have time for that right now.

Ranger: 8.5/10

Rangers are a class that usually stays away from most cities unless to restock on rare supplies or seek out offers of monsters to hunt. They tend to hunt all sorts of beasts, whether literal monsters such as dragons, or monsters such as raiding groups of individuals. They are almost as connected with nature as druids, drawing magic and strength from the flora and fauna around them. They have favored enemies and terrain, which are both very useful to connect to their backstory. Why do they hate this specific monster so much? Why are they so good at navigating this specific terrain? You of course can have backstory aspects like these in any character, but they usually don't play into the gameplay as it does with the ranger. Rangers are typically loners, which could easily be used as a method to create tension among the party in dull moments of a story/campaign. The fact that rangers are usually loners can also be used as an interesting backstory or insight. Why did they choose the group they did in particular? Perhaps they recognized someone, or the group reminded them of somebody that they used to know.

I would like to see a ranger, perhaps a kobold, that comes from a long line of rangers that hunt gnomes. Then, one day, they accidentally get saved by a gnome (perhaps one with the namesake of a pencil) and feel indebted to them. Of course, not wanting to be indebted to them, the kobold goes around with the gnome for a while as their bodyguard. The kobold saves the gnome. The gnome doesn't want to indebted to the kobold. The cycle continues and on the way, they pick up more gnomes and kobolds, eventually making a party of people whos races hate each other. Somehow though, they learn to put aside their differences, though the first kobold is still really good at tracking gnomes, so it's always easy to find the gnomes if they get kidnapped, lost, playing hide n seek, etc. 

Rogue: 8/10

Let me preface this by saying I'm almost 100% biased towards rogues, just because they have the dark, brooding, mysterious backstories most of the time.  Though, a bubbly rogue is a pretty interesting concept. I'll try my best to be objective, but they're still probably my favorite class. Anyway, rogues are essentially angst-masters when it comes to story building. More often than not, someone who wants an angsty backstory for their character will be drawn to a rogue at first. This makes sense because unfortunately, rogues almost always have to be some form of criminal. You could make your character a criminal, former criminal, or secret criminal, but for their skill set to make sense, you pretty much have to make them a criminal. because of this, I am forced to give this wonderful, angsty class a lower rating than my heart desires. I can feel the burning stares of my Rogue characters glaring through me for the treachery I have committed. Moving past that, rogues are another fairly simple class, with no insane abilities you can really utilize as symbolism or backstory, except for maybe their criminal contact. You could make them a friend, an unwilling enemy, lover, relative, etc, but it's always fun to think about. 

While rogues with convoluted backstories and reasoning behind why they became criminals are always fun to build and weave stories for, it's also fun to come up with rogues who are criminals just because they want to cause trouble. It's always fun coming up with a character that's literally just a chaotic gremlin. They're so fun to write and play because you can just let out the chaotic energy that is bound to build up inside everyone. Maybe they can even be the classic, 'Comic Relief Who Makes Others Laugh Because They Have A Tragic Past'. That way, you get the best of both worlds in one character. 

Sorcerer: 9/10

Sorcerers are essentially the descendants of a bard who rolled a Nat 20 on seducing the big bad dragon boss at the end of a campaign (aka one of the sorcerer's ancestors did the frick frack with a dragon). It's either that or they simply are infused with wild magic from another realm, perhaps by overexposure or an encounter with a demon or god. I don't know about you but I like the last one more. Though, I must admit that the first one is far more entertaining. Essentially, sorcerers have magic flowing through their veins, which makes for interesting meals when feasted upon by vampires. They are powerful from young ages, rarely choosing lives other than adventure. One of the bad things about sorcerers, however, is that they are extremely weak. It doesn't take much to knock them out usually, and only a little more to kill them. Bright side, sorcerers are pretty powerful and have a good amount of long-range spells, so the chance of them getting into a situation where they would get beat up is lower than one would think. Backstory-wise, they're pretty flexible. You can really do almost anything with them as long as they either have an encounter with an other-worldly being that gives them magic abilities or have a dragon somewhere in their family tree.

I think it would be kind of funny if no one really knew the sorcerer had natural magic for a really long time until the sorcerer came across this dragon and the dragon was like, 'Hey you look familiar. Ohh, you must be ____'s descendant. By the way, I had relations with them, so I'm like your great grandparent! Isn't that great?'. Maybe the sorcerer would be an elf because elves are born with magic anyway so they could've just been passed off as really talented. Then, because elves live for a really long time, the descendant that had relations with the dragon would still be alive, and the sorcerer would just confront them like, 'Wtf gramps??'. It's a very small thing but I suddenly have the strong desire to just make up a few names and write something small describing this scene because it's absolutely hilarious to me. Just three generations of this family circled around the old dude and having an intervention with them about the dragon, and the old dude honestly wishing they had died before the draconic sorcery gene had taken form in one of their descendants. Just a very awkwardly funny situation all around.

Warlock: 8.5/10

Warlocks are pretty much clerics, but slightly different. They make pacts with otherworldly beings that are not gods, which is what separates from clerics. In return for the being giving the warlock power, the warlock is forced to do the bidding of the being, even if they don't want to. This is the main thing that separates clerics from warlocks. Clerics derive their power from their faith in their chosen deity, while warlocks may not even like their patron sometimes. They might not even know that they were making a pact util after its creation. The most interesting and unique part about a warlock's backstory is, in my opinion, the reason behind their pact. They could have created a pact with a demon lord to obtain incredible amounts of power and knowledge, or to save a loved one from eternal damnation. Maybe they created a pact with an alien being in an attempt to learn more about it or to get its help in revenge against an enemy. 

This is kind of basic, but I'm a sucker for that trope of someone making a pact with a dark being to save someone, instead offering themselves in their place. However, I am equally a sucker for the plot twist of a warlock making a pact to gain the strength to get revenge against someone who ruined their life/killed someone close to them/etc. I also love the dynamic between a patron with a warlock who essentially acts like a bratty toddler. The warlock does what the patron asks, but as badly, slowly, and with as much whining as possible. I would also love to write/create a warlock that wanted to be a cleric at first, casting a ritual to try and get in touch with a god, but accidentally opening an inter-dimensional portal and sucking a sort of alien in, then making a pact with the alien to apologize.

Wizard: 7.5/10

Wizards are the nerds of magic users. Instead of being able to weave magic from songs like bards or nature like druids, wizards must use their spellbook. Keep in mind, their 'spellbook' doesn't actually have to be a book. For a 21st century wizard, it could be a tablet. For another, it could be tattooed onto their body (which I think is a really cool element to add insight to a character's personality). They are not born with the ability to use magic (though once it's begun to be learned it comes more easily to some than others), but instead study the inner workings and complexities of it for decades. Though their magic may look like that of any other spellcaster, it is learned through much more difficulty. Because of the intense commitment and study needed to become a wizard, they are almost always near obsessed with knowledge, or it is at least one of their top priorities. This is probably their most trapping quality in terms of story-telling. They also need to have a large moment in their backstory that leads them to want to pursue a life full of magic, whether it be a cleric healing their village of a plague, or them accidentally coming across an ancient magical artifact that entraps their gaze and thoughts.

There isn't really any specific type of wizard I would like to write of, more just like some traits. For example, the tattooed spellbook idea is one that I love and think is a fantastic way to add variation into the physical aspects of a character and to make them stand out. I also think it would be kind of funny if a wizard had their spellbook formatted like those types of complicated and neat notes. Just look up "aesthetic notes" and you'll see what I'm talking about. I also think it would be a bit interesting to see a wizard that, when asked what made them want to pursue magic, say that when they saw a demon lord using fire spells to burn down their village, they knew they wanted the ability to cause that type of chaos and destruction.

And there you go. All of the DnD classes covered in two posts. This was really fun to do and I got a neat insight to them I didn't really have before. Hopefully, I got some brownie points with my DM from doing this.  Once again, feel free to start beef with my opinions because I welcome the free inspiration and hope you enjoyed this. BUT, before we leave off I want to thank our sponsor Lemon Lime Spine! Lemon Lime Spine is a multi-functional product, able to be eaten with brine and can be used to keep time. It can-