Here's my character, Aegir. Tell me if there's anything you want me to change.
Kajagath Harksen, Human Spellthief
Character sheet:
www.campaign-blog.com/view.php?id=1726Appearance: Kaj is devilishly good looking, with blond hair and blue eyes, which typically hold an evil twinkle in them. When not on duty, he wears the finest robes and always has a bit of jewelry. On duty, he wears more practical padded armor, with a dark blue tint. He carries a large staff that is ornate enough to look like an arcanist’s staff until one sees him use it as a quarterstaff in combat.
History: Kajagath Harksen was born to a pair of prominent Arcanists. Their positions brought them wealth, which gave Kaj a very spoiled upbringing. Everything Kaj wanted came to him very easily, either through his wealth, his remarkable looks, or his even more remarkable strength and speed.
At the age of ascension, Kaj took the Determinists’ test, and expected that he was destined for the life of the arcanist, as his parents were. Unfortunately, it was decided due to his physical abilities, that he was better suited for the military. This didn’t sit well with Kaj at all, and after a screaming match with his parents, the elders paid off people higher up to instead get Kaj a special tutor. This tutor could supposedly teach magic to anyone. This tutor was actually an elven slave named Telpe who taught Kaj how to fake magic: he was a Spellthief. He taught him how to steal spells from others, and also how to use magic items as though he was an actual arcanist (or cleric, or bard, or any kind of spellcaster). Kaj was told that the more spells he stole, the greater the chance he’d eventually wind up able to cast spells of his own (like say, when I’m 4th level).
In the years before reaching the age of majority, Kaj was extremely popular in school, and had many, many girlfriends. One high society teen girl, named Ravenia, became hopelessly infatuated with Kaj, who enjoyed her company, but no more so than he did any other girl. The girl had a brother, however, Landinal, who didn’t like the way Kaj treated her. The two young men became bitter rivals at first, then openly hostile to one another. Finally, Kaj gave him a beating that left his face a pulpy mess.
This set Landinal over the edge, and in a fit of revenge, while Kaj was spending an evening with his sister, he set off a series of fires on Kaj’s family estate. Kaj’s parents, although powerful arcanists, were caught asleep without their typical protections, and were consumed in the blaze, along with everything they owned. When Kajagath learned of it, a cold resolve fell over him. He thought of killing the boy, but decided the punishment needed to be worse.
He went to Ravenia and found that her brother had admitted his crime to her. It took a bit of convincing, but Kaj got her to promise to turn her brother into the authorities for the killing of Kaj’s parents. But that wouldn’t be enough for Kaj. He seduced her, promised her his eternal love, then used that love to get her to go farther than the truth with what she would tell. He convinced her to tell everyone that besides being an arsonist, Landinal had done things to her… very “inappropriate” things.
The accusations of incest destroyed Landinal’s and Ravenia’s high society family through scandal; Landinal was sent to prison for the rest of his natural life, and the family became destitute. And, of course, after a month or two, Kaj told Ravenia that being with her just kept reminding him of the horrible thing that happened to his parents. So he left her; the final punishment to Landinal was his sister’s broken heart.
No longer having a family to support him, and knowing he couldn’t pass as a full blown arcanist with much scrutiny, Kaj joined the military. And the tests had been correct… he excelled at combat, passing as a Fighter/Sorcerer. He worked his way up the ranks, but not as quickly as he probably could have; his spoiled nature and natural talents generally let him be lazy.
Recently, during some off time, he met Zeerina (waper9’s character) at a bar. She had just come back from Waterdeep, with new clothes and new ideas. Kaj didn’t really think that much of the clothes, but he liked her exuberance. He convinced her to have a private party with him back at his place with a bottle of the finest wine he could find.
The wine quickly went to Kaj’s head. He’s not sure why he did it, be it the wine or the girl’s sparkling personality or just a need to tell someone, but he wound up confessing to Zee what he had done to Ravenia and her brother. Unfortunately, apparently knowing what evil he was capable of turned Zee right off, because he woke up alone the next morning, and thereafter, Zee would have little to do with him.
Kaj is very unused to women resisting his charms. Even men would do what he wanted, if he worded it right. Something about her intrigued him… enough so that he found out what military unit she’s assigned to and got himself transferred to it. He’s not even sure what he wants from her, but he’s going to hang around her until he figures it out.
1. What is the character’s name? Does (s)he have any nicknames, either now or in the past? What is the origin of these nicknames?
“I’m Kajagath Harksen. ‘Kaj’ to my friends, ‘Harksen’ to my superiors. If you aren’t a friend or a superior… well, you probably won’t be talking long anyway, so I wouldn’t worry about it.”
2. What is the character’s history? What was childhood like for the character? Calm and peaceful, or turbulent and traumatic? What about the time just before the character joined the campaign?
“Eh, things were pretty easy growing up. Until they weren’t. But you deal. After you clean up whatever caused the mess.” (See history above)
3. Does or did the character have any role models? Describe them.
“*chuckling* Hmmm… let’s see; haven’t met anyone stronger or faster. Sure, there are people who know things I don’t know, but I can usually convince them to let me in on their secrets.”
4. Who trained your character in his current class(es)? What was the character’s relationship with this teacher like?
“The would be Telpe. He was alright, for an elf. Once or twice during training I had to give him a fat lip, but I think he was pretty used to that. By the end of my training, we got along well… I guess he taught me how useful lying can be. No idea where he’s at now… probably training someone else.”
5. What are the character’s moral, ethical, and/or religious beliefs?
“As a kid, I didn’t think about religion very much. My parents pretty much just worshipped power. But after my… loss, I see why Shar is worth worshipping. There’s a lot of darkness out there; and in here. I generally live in the moment; the more you have, the more you can lose. And that’s the greatest way to hurt someone, make them lose as much as possible.”
6. Does the character have any unusual habits or physical traits?
“Blond hair and blue eyes are a bit unusual for a shadovar, but I think it’s what attracts the ladies. I guess my habits depend on whether I’m on duty or not; I’m fairly serious when it comes to the ‘job’, whatever it might be. Off time, though, I like to have my fun. Typically with company. Nothing more pathetic than a man leaving a party alone.”
7. What kind of relationships does the character currently have? Any close friends or bitter enemies? Describe the history of the relationship.
“No one too close. Sure, lots of ex’s; sometimes they remember me fondly, sometimes not. Always looking for the next conquest, however. And then there’s Zee. Not sure what the hell she is to me. Something, though.”
8. Does the character have any mental problems or phobias? If so, from where do they stem?
”I’ve heard womanizing is a mental problem. ‘Course, the ones saying that never have my looks, oddly enough. Not too fond of fires, but they don’t freak me out or anything.”
9. What is the character’s normal daily routine? How does it differ in civilized areas as opposed to when traveling?
“On duty, I do my job. I’m not a fanatic about it, but I get the job done, whatever it is. I never wake up early if I can help it, though. Off duty, I keep my place livable; comfortable bedding, of course, full-size bath, some knock-off artwork to impress company. With traveling, I expect to sleep in a nice enough place, so I always keep spare money for that. Always bring some wine with me too; you never know how uncivilized a place will be.”
10. How does your character feel about each of the other PCs?
“Well, there’s something about Zeerina. I know, deep down, she wants me, but hell, who doesn’t? That doesn’t explain why she gets to me. Might just be a nagging in my head that says she really knows me better than any woman should.”
11. How close of friends do you consider the other PCs to be to you? What would need to happen for your characters to become stronger allies?
“To be allies with me, just don’t betray me. I can tolerate just about anything else. Well, you might get a beating, but that would be it.”
12. What are the character’s short-term goals? What sort of adventures is s(he) looking for? What sort of rewards does (s)he care about? Treasure, fame, information, personal power, political power, doing good works?
”Doing good works? Who wrote these questions?!? Right now, I just care about making a name for myself and maybe finding enough gold to keep myself in the manner I deserve. As for adventures, I like interacting with people (usually by lying), as opposed to kicking some monster’s ass. Money, fame, any kind of power all sound good.”
13. What are the character’s long-term goals? Do you expect the character to multiclass, and if so, into to what other classes, and when? What do you hope your character will accomplish by, say, 10th level? Will your character want to join (or form) any organizations, such as a guild, church, or political group?
“In the long-term… get up in the ranks, mainly just to prove to myself I can. Whether I stick with Spellthief will probably depend on how many spellcasters I wind up opposing. By 10th level (or higher), I imagine I’ll be the go-to guy for one of the Princes, the one they call on when ‘standard military’ isn’t going to cut it. If I’m involved in politics, it’ll probably because I’ve quit the military and found some high-up high society woman to shack up with.”
14. Does the character ever want to have a family of his/her own? If so, who with, or with what type of person?
“Me, with a family? Hard to imagine. Oh, I probably have some kids out there somewhere already, but anyone who knows me knows I’m not the ‘settling down’ kind of person. Not like, say, Zee is. The way she treats her stuffed critters, I imagine she’d make an OK mother.”
15. What sort of NPCs would you like your character to interact with in the near future? Would you like to meet a mentor, a patron, a follower or companion, interesting allies, interesting enemies, interesting monsters, political movers and shakers, people who need your help, people of your race, people with similar beliefs to you, or something different?
”I’m open to meeting anyone, as long as they don’t cross me. But if they do cross me, they better have something worth losing; money, power, loved ones, anything like that. Nothing more satisfying than making an enemy lose what he cares about the most. And women with power; there’s something very enticing about women with power. I hear outside of our dark city there are actually women rulers... now that would be a conquest.”
16. Write down as many one-word adjectives that strongly describe your character’s personality as you can.
Self-indulgent, womanizer, greedy, bully, flamboyant.