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Character background

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Nov 10, 2003 13:56:51 I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I'm looking for a little help with my character's Greyhawk related background.

I won't go into the whole background (brief synopsis below), but I want his parents to be fairly accomplished wizards, at least one of who teaches at a highly regarded school of magic (and no, I'm not necessarily envisioning a Hagwart's).

I looked through the DM's Greyhawk sourcebook he had (not sure the name of it), and couldn't find any city (except perhaps the main elvish city), that was described as having a school/academy/university what-have-you of magic. My question is, are there any such cities? Or any famous acadamies? I need to decide what race of human the character is, and in what city he was raised (not necessarily the same thing), but I just couldn't find enough details to come up with anything.

The character is human, descended through several generations of wizards who had turned their backs on their true heritage. He has learned that his family possesses dragon blood, and is following the path of the dragon disciple, something none of his forebearers dared to do.
#2
zombiegleemax
Nov 10, 2003 14:01:35 The Free City of Greyhawk has 3 such schools (colleges) alone.
#3
Brom_Blackforge
Nov 10, 2003 15:34:15 Indeed, Greyhawk has them, and if you want more information about Greyhawk, I'd recommend checking out a site called "Maldin's Greyhawk." I don't have the link handy, but it's easy enough to find if you use "maldin" as the keyword for your search. I'll try to post a link later, unless someone beats me to it. I'm plugging that site because there's a great map of the city there.

IIRC, there's also a magical academy in Verbobonc. There's another site with voluminous information on the city of Verbobonc, but again, I don't have the link handy. It might take more digging, but a search for "verbobonc" should turn it up. (In fact, there may be links to both sites in older posts in this forum. If you go to the search forums area, you may be able to find those older posts.)
#4
erik_mona
Nov 10, 2003 15:43:44 Here's a great article on the subject by Living Greyhawk Gazetteer co-author Gary Holian (written some years before that book).

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~monax002/Council/OJ3/sorcerous.html

There should be more than a few candidates available for you.

--Erik Mona
Editor-in-Chief
Dungeon Magazine
#5
zombiegleemax
Nov 10, 2003 19:29:09 Depending on how in-depth the DM is being with his Greyhawk campaign, there are different 'feels' and styles to each academy and the magic taught at them. The following are my general impressions and although some have been written about, most are just opinion.

For instance, Aerdi magi generally focus on destructive magics as they are an aggressive people, but many also work on summoning magics, since there is a LOT of extra-planar activity in the area.

I would say, though I don't think it's written anywhere, that the magi of Nyrond would be more defensive in nature, despite their Aerdi heritage, and would also concentrate on divination magics, mainly due to their constant need to defend against the (former) Great Kingdom.

Furyondian magi, I think, would be the most likely to be generalists, since they have to cope with so many different situations. Being strongly influenced by the Heironean and Raoan churches, and their conflict with Iuz, the magi also probably work at summoning goodly creatures and dismissing evil ones.

The magi of the Scarlet Brotherhood are known to use magic in controlling creatures of the sea and so are most adept at charms and also work at controlling the weather.

Just some thoughts.
#6
zombiegleemax
Nov 10, 2003 20:43:38 This is all great stuff folks. Thanks.

My GM doesn't really seem to use any of the historical backgrounds of realms he uses in his campaigns, so this is really more for my own peice of mind. Heck, of the 8 or 9 players in the campaign (we don't all play at the same time), I'm the only player who has even thought about background.

In any case, most of the names I'm reading in the descriptions don't mean anything to me, so I'm going to have to read up more information on Greyhawk's history.

Thanks again.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Nov 10, 2003 13:56:51	I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I'm looking for a little help with my character's Greyhawk related background. I won't go into the whole background (brief synopsis below), but I want his parents to be fairly accomplished wizards, at least one of who teaches at a highly regarded school of magic (and no, I'm not necessarily envisioning a Hagwart's). I looked through the DM's Greyhawk sourcebook he had (not sure the name of it), and couldn't find any city (except perhaps the main elvish city), that was described as having a school/academy/university what-have-you of magic. My question is, are there any such cities? Or any famous acadamies? I need to decide what race of human the character is, and in what city he was raised (not necessarily the same thing), but I just couldn't find enough details to come up with anything. The character is human, descended through several generations of wizards who had turned their backs on their true heritage. He has learned that his family possesses dragon blood, and is following the path of the dragon disciple, something none of his forebearers dared to do.
#2 zombiegleemax Nov 10, 2003 14:01:35	The Free City of Greyhawk has 3 such schools (colleges) alone.
#3 Brom_Blackforge Nov 10, 2003 15:34:15	Indeed, Greyhawk has them, and if you want more information about Greyhawk, I'd recommend checking out a site called "Maldin's Greyhawk." I don't have the link handy, but it's easy enough to find if you use "maldin" as the keyword for your search. I'll try to post a link later, unless someone beats me to it. I'm plugging that site because there's a great map of the city there. IIRC, there's also a magical academy in Verbobonc. There's another site with voluminous information on the city of Verbobonc, but again, I don't have the link handy. It might take more digging, but a search for "verbobonc" should turn it up. (In fact, there may be links to both sites in older posts in this forum. If you go to the search forums area, you may be able to find those older posts.)
#4 erik_mona Nov 10, 2003 15:43:44	Here's a great article on the subject by Living Greyhawk Gazetteer co-author Gary Holian (written some years before that book). http://www.tc.umn.edu/~monax002/Council/OJ3/sorcerous.html There should be more than a few candidates available for you. --Erik Mona Editor-in-Chief Dungeon Magazine
#5 zombiegleemax Nov 10, 2003 19:29:09	Depending on how in-depth the DM is being with his Greyhawk campaign, there are different 'feels' and styles to each academy and the magic taught at them. The following are my general impressions and although some have been written about, most are just opinion. For instance, Aerdi magi generally focus on destructive magics as they are an aggressive people, but many also work on summoning magics, since there is a LOT of extra-planar activity in the area. I would say, though I don't think it's written anywhere, that the magi of Nyrond would be more defensive in nature, despite their Aerdi heritage, and would also concentrate on divination magics, mainly due to their constant need to defend against the (former) Great Kingdom. Furyondian magi, I think, would be the most likely to be generalists, since they have to cope with so many different situations. Being strongly influenced by the Heironean and Raoan churches, and their conflict with Iuz, the magi also probably work at summoning goodly creatures and dismissing evil ones. The magi of the Scarlet Brotherhood are known to use magic in controlling creatures of the sea and so are most adept at charms and also work at controlling the weather. Just some thoughts.
#6 zombiegleemax Nov 10, 2003 20:43:38	This is all great stuff folks. Thanks. My GM doesn't really seem to use any of the historical backgrounds of realms he uses in his campaigns, so this is really more for my own peice of mind. Heck, of the 8 or 9 players in the campaign (we don't all play at the same time), I'm the only player who has even thought about background. In any case, most of the names I'm reading in the descriptions don't mean anything to me, so I'm going to have to read up more information on Greyhawk's history. Thanks again.