Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 leliel Jul 13, 2008 14:37:28	To start with, the character in question: Basically, my human warlock in the making, Adria Chiaros (he's a guy, thank you very much) was raised by tiefling bandits who were of the opinion that Bael Turath (the nation whose nobility and aritocrats would go on to become the first tieflings due to a contract with Asmodeus), apart from the whole "diabolic pact" thing, was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. After being indirectly driven into the Underdark by a green dragon-indirectly, beacuse the not-very-intelligent adventurers who were dispatched to deal with the forest's corruption intially blamed the tieflings for it, and chased them off-they ran into a party of drow, who captured them...and found they should have put up wards against Far Realmers, since one who called itself the Seeker contacted Adria and gave him star pact powers in exchange for allowing the Seeker to implant a bit of it's being in him, and thus experience the mortal coil. After escaping from the drow, Adria was enraged to learn that it was adventurers' intolerance that drove his adopted family underground and nearly killed them, and vowed to create a land where no tiefling, or any other civilized creature, would have to experience discrimination...To bring back Bael Turath. As a person, he's rather snarky, never resisting a comment at other's expense, and also a bit amoral, putting praticality and logic over honor. Even so, he's quite kind and empthetic, having picked up those qualities from living with tieflings for the majority of his childhood. He also has a power-hungry streak, always wanting more arcane magic and political influence, but he has standards on how to gain it-no Hand of Venca for him, thank you. Now, this character is actually ment for a campagin setting other than Ravenloft (thus the tieflings being numerous enough to have their own settlement), but knowing my DM, there's an off chance that we will go through an adventure arc there. So, say Adria's in Ravenloft, and lets his ambiton get in the way of his conscience, and fails a powers check. What Terror Track should I suggest to my DM?
#2 rotipher Jul 21, 2008 11:51:34	Hmmm.... Well, ultimately a Terror Track is up to the DM, not the player. It should be based on the personal conduct of the character, not just their beliefs or past history. (A big part of Ravenloft's Gothic moral code is that why you do something immoral is never an excuse, although good intentions may slightly reduce the consequences' severity.) It should also reflect the offense which got the PC spanked by the Dark Powers, in the first place. So far as a choice of Terror Track is concerned, that should also depend on how long your DM plans to keep the party in Ravenloft. If your PC will only be there for a weekend-in-hell visit, any Terror Track ought to affect the character's physical capacity to complete the adventure, else it won't really be much of a factor in the game. Only if the characters will be in Ravenloft for the long term would a Terror Track that impairs a PC's social standing, for example, be appropriate. Given this PC's past willingness to make moral compromises in exchange for power, granting him a useful ability -- one that only works if he does something cruel and/or against his principles -- might be appropriate.