Character Creation Workshop

[Theomore Tullison]

This thread is for all those who want some sort of input on their character ideas. Whether they want hints and tips on backgrounds, what sort of house their idea fits best into, assistance with putting XP points together or simply can't find a portrait picture that you like...

Anything goes.

I myself are having difficulties finding a picture that fits my current idea of a 30-and-something knight with a bit of a charming, yet sinister streak.

[Dunstan Tullison]

http://postimg.org/image/etbowzoyd/202b3b1d/
Maybe this works?

[Theomore Tullison]

I prefer portraits close ups.

[Benedict Marsten]

Brother/sister cohort- Could drop the cohort, but I have some good roleplay ideas. Plus gives me more reason to interact with more pcs, something I was having trouble with in BITW.

Warrior/schemer - if cohort is dropped a generalized warrior probably

Adult

Was looking to be part of house Tullison as cousins or more distance relation through Blackwoods. I know Zorbeltuss you were looking to be related as well do not want to step on your toes though.

Motivation: possibly love
Virtue: Justice
Vice: ?

Background: Blackwood mother married to a Young low house(possibly an NC house from my old campaign) sworn to the Arryns. Squired/Lady in waiting House Marsten.
Earn spurs fighting against mountain clans in Lord Corbens last battle. Have more ideas just don't want to rush off in one direction just to switch after hearing input.

If it is a lost cause, I can always use Rykk but change background, goals, motivation, etc.

So let the Smackdown begin ... I mean constructive criticism Any thoughts welcome positive or negative.

[Baelon Drakeson]

Brother/sister cohort- Could drop the cohort, but I have some good roleplay ideas. Plus gives me more reason to interact with more pcs, something I was having trouble with in BITW.

Warrior/schemer - if cohort is dropped a generalized warrior probably

Adult

Was looking to be part of house Tullison as cousins or more distance relation through Blackwoods. I know Zorbeltuss you were looking to be related as well do not want to step on your toes though.

Motivation: possibly love
Virtue: Justice
Vice: ?

Background: Blackwood mother married to a Young low house(possibly an NC house from my old campaign) sworn to the Arryns. Squired/Lady in waiting House Marsten.
Earn spurs fighting against mountain clans in Lord Corbens last battle. Have more ideas just don't want to rush off in one direction just to switch after hearing input.

If it is a lost cause, I can always use Rykk but change background, goals, motivation, etc.

So let the Smackdown begin ... I mean constructive criticism Any thoughts welcome positive or negative.

Everybody loves the Tullisons :p Seriously though, having 3 PCs in a house should be the minimum, so as long as there is enough difference in characters I don't think it would be a problem.
I don't see any major problems, though some things should probably be clarified.

In particular, why are distant relations with the Tullison's now - In particular, if his family has lands elsewhere, it would seem odd for his sister to have gone to Mountain's reach with him. - unless they are distantly related enough for her to be a potential match for Dunstan? For that matter, it seems odd to me that she would have gone with him to House Marsten and then returned with him unless there was more to it than simply fostering.

Would it be problematic for the two siblings to have been separated for a while in the past? That might simplify matters. Perhaps the sister was sent to House Tullison instead, and now your knight has followed? Swearing his sword to the Tullisons would be awkward, as he would be jumping liege lords, but it's not unheard of;
Brynden Tully going to serve Jon Arryn is an example. Perhaps he has not sworn his sword, but rather just went to visit his sister, and became friends with Dunstan? Thus he would be more of a long-term guest (like Lord Brom) than a sword sword.

I am curious if he fought for his mother's house (the Blackwoods) or for the Brackens alongside the Tullisons &
Marstens. If the former I could see it leading to some interesting dynamics... especially if his sister was with the Tullisons at the time.

[Benedict Marsten]

Everybody loves the Tullisons :p Seriously though, having 3 PCs in a house should be the minimum, so as long as there is enough difference in characters I don't think it would be a problem.
I don't see any major problems, though some things should probably be clarified.

In particular, why are distant relations with the Tullison's now - In particular, if his family has lands elsewhere, it would seem odd for his sister to have gone to Mountain's reach with him. - unless they are distantly related enough for her to be a potential match for Dunstan? For that matter, it seems odd to me that she would have gone with him to House Marsten and then returned with him unless there was more to it than simply fostering.

Would it be problematic for the two siblings to have been separated for a while in the past? That might simplify matters. Perhaps the sister was sent to House Tullison instead, and now your knight has followed? Swearing his sword to the Tullisons would be awkward, as he would be jumping liege lords, but it's not unheard of;
Brynden Tully going to serve Jon Arryn is an example. Perhaps he has not sworn his sword, but rather just went to visit his sister, and became friends with Dunstan? Thus he would be more of a long-term guest (like Lord Brom) than a sword sword.

I am curious if he fought for his mother's house (the Blackwoods) or for the Brackens alongside the Tullisons &
Marstens. If the former I could see it leading to some interesting dynamics... especially if his sister was with the Tullisons at the time.

Neither would be in direct line in their fraternal House, thus the fostering out, without need for them to return home. I was actually leaning for closer relation such as 1st cousins to create connection with Dunstan and Yve, but like I said don't want to step on Zorbeltuss' toes as I think he was looking to be and uncle. I think separation is a good idea and creates another connection to a different House. He would not be sworn to Marstens just squiring under possibly Ser Markus. Possibly getting swept out with Maester Leopold for knowing to much. Thus looking for a House to serve.

I was actually thinking Blackwoods for just that reason.

Thank you for your input. I can feel this beginning to flesh out.

[Theomore Tullison]

Eh, having a chivalrous brother or something would in fact be quite interesting for my part. Being Dunstan's uncle is just a tie-in with his character. I have a knight with a few black marks on his history, and he'll certainly be up to a lot of mischief. If his virtue is "
justice"
, then go ahead and make the nice brother with no fear of stepping on my toes. The less gallant variant may require more adjustment, because then your concept might be inching in on the niche I seek to carve out for myself, but hey, maybe it runs in the family?

[Baelon Drakeson]

I get the feeling that the Tullisons are going to be a bit darker in tone this time around. I look forward to seeing it play out.

Lordscross, I think there is interesting potential for linking our characters together...

[Benedict Marsten]

Eh, having a chivalrous brother or something would in fact be quite interesting for my part. Being Dunstan's uncle is just a tie-in with his character. I have a knight with a few black marks on his history, and he'll certainly be up to a lot of mischief. If his virtue is "
justice"
, then go ahead and make the nice brother with no fear of stepping on my toes. The less gallant variant may require more adjustment, because then your concept might be inching in on the niche I seek to carve out for myself, but hey, maybe it runs in the family?

Well since you are making a Tullison relative we would not be related as I would be related on the maternal side, Blackwood. Yes I was looking to go the chivalrous route.

I was interested to hear your take on the cohort idea as I saw in another thread you called for a change to it.

I get the feeling that the Tullisons are going to be a bit darker in tone this time around. I look forward to seeing it play out.

Lordscross, I think there is interesting potential for linking our characters together...

If I go with cohort then I may ad to said darkness.

Let me know what ideas you have Fendrin, it may help with the rest of my background design.

[Benedict Marsten]

With or without cohort I think I will stick with generalized PC with a lean towards combat for abilities and most specialty dice. I may have 1-2 specialty dice left any ideas?

Qualities: Here is my OOC weakness. I generally can't find the right mix. Although pious was my go to in BITW. Should I use them to bolster my weaker areas or further my lean toward combat.

[Baelon Drakeson]

Let me know what ideas you have Fendrin, it may help with the rest of my background design.

Well, that depends on a couple of factors. We could be former comrades-in-arms, either with the Marstens against the clans (if that was within the past couple of years;
I am unsure of the timing) or fighting for the Blackwoods, if I end up being associated with a House that supported the Blackwoods. Alternately, it is possible that his sister may be one of Gaerys' former lovers... but if she is your cohort that could end up with some awkward roleplay, so that is up to you and your RP comfort level. That could go in a number of possible directions, too: she wants to resume relations, is ashamed, or hates Gaerys now, and then there is the added question of whether or not your knight knows, and what he wants to do about it. In all, there are lots of possibilities...

With or without cohort I think I will stick with generalized PC with a lean towards combat for abilities and most specialty dice. I may have 1-2 specialty dice left any ideas?

This depends on what you want your secondary role to be. If he is a leader of men, then perhaps one of the Warfare specializations. If he is political/social, perhaps one of the persuasion specialties. If he is secretly a bit of a schemer or rogue, maybe Deception(bluff). Think about what your character might be reputed to be good at, and spend points on that. Looking at Gaerys' blurb on the character list, you can probably guess that he has some points in Fighting(long blades) and Persuasion(seduction). I always find it easiest to imagine the character, then build the mechanics to suit that imagining rather than the other way around.

Alternately, use those specializations to bolster his combat capabilities and define his secondary role using qualities. In fact I would suggest picking qualities first, and then going back to spend your remaining specialty XP. You may end up with a quality that functions based on specialty bonus dice or requires some prerequisites, so it's good to have some free to assign to those areas.

Qualities: Here is my OOC weakness. I generally can't find the right mix. Although pious was my go to in BITW. Should I use them to bolster my weaker areas or further my lean toward combat.

With Symon I split my benefits;
one social, one combat, and one general: Attractive, Expertise(spears), and Wealthy resepctively. Of course, I had also spent my attribute and specialty points fairly balanced between them as well. With Gaerys I have split it up differently;
more attribute/specialties to one area and more benefits to the other. There's no one right way to go about it. I would suggest going through the list and making note of anything that seems to fit, then paring it down based on effectiveness, requirements, and theme until you get the right number. If you feel you have ended up with too much focus on combat or intrigue or whatever you can always adjust your attributes/specialties to re-balance between your areas of specialization how you see fit.

[Baelon Drakeson]

From the cast page...

Background
Ser Jorah is an oddity in House Coldbrook.
His family are Northerners, but his mother was from Dorne, having travelled with his father Ser Symon Holt, a hedge who served House Tully for a while. His father was caught up the fighting against the Faith Militant and earned a place at House Coldbrook.

So, I was trying to do research coats of arms and discovered that there are two different House Holts. Get this - [url=one is from the north][/url], and [url=one from Dorne][/url].
It looks as though the Dornish Holts have been an extinct house since the Andal Invasion, but it's not clear.

Trained as his father’s squire, but he suffered a broken leg before they went to face the Ironborn at the Stepstones.

I'm guessing you mean the Stoney Shore? The Stepstones are the remainder of the land bridge that ran from Dorne to Essos. Daemon Targaryan led a war in the stepstones from 106-115 AL, so it's possible you and your father were there, but that was against [url=The Kingdom of the Three Daughters][/url], not the ironborn.

Arms - not designed this yet if anybody has any suggestions.

Hmm. Neither House Holts have had arms described yet, so you are free to make your own. Holt is derived from "
hold"
in the sense of a castle or settlement, so perhaps a tower? There have been a number of houses with towers or similar though, so colors would need to be picked carefully.
Blue on silver/white/grey would look similar to the Freys.
Orange and black would be similar to the House Halloway.
White on grey would be almost identical to House Hightower.
Red on white are the colors of House Redfort.
House Vance of Atranta has a white tower on black quartered, so you if you used white on black people might think you were related to them.
There are others that are different enough (using a gate, or having multiple towers/forts) that similarity wouldn't be too bad.

There are plenty of other things you could do to make yours distinctive;
such as using a divided field or an ordinary (see pg 115 in the rulebook for some examples) behind a tower or castle.

[Colin Corbray]

Hello people!

Just gonna throw in that I'll be going for the Marstens with a young knight looking to earn glory for himself and longing for a war to prove his valor and win glory.He thinks that tournaments are good, but a war would be something. Its not impossible that he'll aim to win the admiration of the Marsten heir and that way become a lord, but I'm not sure about it.

His background is that he'll be a Corbray from a lesser branch who has kind of found a place with the Marstens after deciding that he didn't want to stay and be overshadowed by his better born relatives.

[Reader]

Hello people!

Just gonna throw in that I'll be going for the Marstens with a young knight looking to earn glory for himself and longing for a war to prove his valor and win glory.He thinks that tournaments are good, but a war would be something. Its not impossible that he'll aim to win the admiration of the Marsten heir and that way become a lord, but I'm not sure about it.

His background is that he'll be a Corbray from a lesser branch who has kind of found a place with the Marstens after deciding that he didn't want to stay and be overshadowed by his better born relatives.

Welcome to our ambitious young knight, good to have our first confirmed Marsten! They've proved popular in previous games and hopefully will again.

[Ser Jorah Holt]

From the cast page...

Background
Ser Jorah is an oddity in House Coldbrook.
His family are Northerners, but his mother was from Dorne, having travelled with his father Ser Symon Holt, a hedge who served House Tully for a while. His father was caught up the fighting against the Faith Militant and earned a place at House Coldbrook.

So, I was trying to do research coats of arms and discovered that there are two different House Holts. Get this - [url=one is from the north][/url], and [url=one from Dorne][/url].
It looks as though the Dornish Holts have been an extinct house since the Andal Invasion, but it's not clear.

Trained as his father’s squire, but he suffered a broken leg before they went to face the Ironborn at the Stepstones.

I'm guessing you mean the Stoney Shore? The Stepstones are the remainder of the land bridge that ran from Dorne to Essos. Daemon Targaryan led a war in the stepstones from 106-115 AL, so it's possible you and your father were there, but that was against [url=The Kingdom of the Three Daughters][/url], not the ironborn.

Arms - not designed this yet if anybody has any suggestions.

Hmm. Neither House Holts have had arms described yet, so you are free to make your own. Holt is derived from "
hold"
in the sense of a castle or settlement, so perhaps a tower? There have been a number of houses with towers or similar though, so colors would need to be picked carefully.
Blue on silver/white/grey would look similar to the Freys.
Orange and black would be similar to the House Halloway.
White on grey would be almost identical to House Hightower.
Red on white are the colors of House Redfort.
House Vance of Atranta has a white tower on black quartered, so you if you used white on black people might think you were related to them.
There are others that are different enough (using a gate, or having multiple towers/forts) that similarity wouldn't be too bad.

There are plenty of other things you could do to make yours distinctive;
such as using a divided field or an ordinary (see pg 115 in the rulebook for some examples) behind a tower or castle.

Cheers for the input.

Then he could be distant relations of the Holt family. Would explain why they have ended up serving a Northern house.Would be pushing it to link up both houses I think

Misread the background, so it would be at the Stepstones that House Coldbrook took most of their forces. It would be raiders and Ironborn that Ser Jorah has fought during that period.

Maybe a yellow gate on a black background. Does anybody use Fleur de Lis in the setting?

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Something I noticed that makes things interesting with character choices is that currently Houses Coldbrook and Tullison both are leaning to support the Blacks, but might not get along particularly well because of Theomore Tullison

[Baelon Drakeson]

Then he could be distant relations of the Holt family. Would explain why they have ended up serving a Northern house.Would be pushing it to link up both houses I think

Well, and the Dornish Holts have been extinct for thousands of years would make it difficult as well. :p

Misread the background, so it would be at the Stepstones that House Coldbrook took most of their forces. It would be raiders and Ironborn that Ser Jorah has fought during that period.

Huh, yeah, the background kind of goes back and forth between the stepstones and the Ironborn, first in talking about the conflicts Lord Tomas was involved in, then talking about the glory he earned in them. I had not even remembered that the Coldbrooks were involved at the Stepstones. That's pretty far away, Lord Tomas must have been desperate to go that far for a fight.

Maybe a yellow gate on a black background. Does anybody use Fleur de Lis in the setting?

Hm. I don't think anyone has a yellow gate on a black background.
I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere that GRRM avoided using Fleur de lis because they are often associated with the French monarchy, and he wanted to avoid such comparisons (though they get made anyway). I don't remember where I read that or how authoritative the source was, so it should be taken with a few dozen grains of salt.

[Colin Corbray]

Hello people!

Just gonna throw in that I'll be going for the Marstens with a young knight looking to earn glory for himself and longing for a war to prove his valor and win glory.He thinks that tournaments are good, but a war would be something. Its not impossible that he'll aim to win the admiration of the Marsten heir and that way become a lord, but I'm not sure about it.

His background is that he'll be a Corbray from a lesser branch who has kind of found a place with the Marstens after deciding that he didn't want to stay and be overshadowed by his better born relatives.

Welcome to our ambitious young knight, good to have our first confirmed Marsten! They've proved popular in previous games and hopefully will again.

Thanks. I take it as that's there no problem in the backstory and will thus try and get the mechanics approved.

[Dunstan Tullison]

Something I noticed that makes things interesting with character choices is that currently Houses Coldbrook and Tullison both are leaning to support the Blacks, but might not get along particularly well because of Theomore Tullison

Actually the Riverlands supported the greens in Dance, Aemond One Eye went on a burning streak with Vhagar in the Riverlands in TpatQ. Dont know how much we stray from canon, but if the NPC Lord Paramount decides to support Rhaenyra i doubt the Dunstan would do anything but comply.

[Reader]

A few things to remind people of:

1) Several factions might switch sides (due to player actions/things I've scripted, although your actions can prevent scripted changes!)
2) It's a civil war, with many switching sides/playing both sides. Lord Kermit (or Dermot in my Westeros!) Tully supported the Blacks, like his father Elmo. This was a change in policy for Riverrun - as Dunstan points out, Elmo's father had been a supporter of the Blacks.

- TLDR: civil wars are messy. Who knows what path ours will take?

[Colin Corbray]

Something I noticed that makes things interesting with character choices is that currently Houses Coldbrook and Tullison both are leaning to support the Blacks, but might not get along particularly well because of Theomore Tullison

Actually the Riverlands supported the greens in Dance, Aemond One Eye went on a burning streak with Vhagar in the Riverlands in TpatQ. Dont know how much we stray from canon, but if the NPC Lord Paramount decides to support Rhaenyra i doubt the Dunstan would do anything but comply.

To be annoying, the Riverlords supported the Blacks HOWEVER things were not as clear as that. I recall early Black victories being mentioned at place in the Riverlands, for example Stone Hedge, and the old Lord Tully wanted to go Green but his heirs kind of fucked him over and went Black instead. As I see it, its more of a matter of the Black Riverlords quickly smashing the Green ones, rather than all of them thinking that Rhaenyra is awesome.

[Reader]

I'll repeat my post from the previous page in case anyone missed it! Point 2 elaborates on House Tully specifically - this was a period of fluid allegiances.

"
A few things to remind people of:

1) Several factions might switch sides (due to player actions/things I've scripted, although your actions can prevent scripted changes!)
2) It's a civil war, with many switching sides/playing both sides. Lord Kermit (or Dermot in my Westeros!) Tully supported the Blacks, like his father Elmo. This was a change in policy for Riverrun - as Dunstan points out, Elmo's father had been a supporter of the Blacks.

- TLDR: civil wars are messy. Who knows what path ours will take?"

[Gwyneth Drakeson]

So, in making a character would it be better for the game if I looked at making someone from a currently unpopulated House? Or should I join a House that already has folks in it?

[Dunstan Tullison]

So, in making a character would it be better for the game if I looked at making someone from a currently unpopulated House? Or should I join a House that already has folks in it?

House Tullison is a way to go:)
But seriously, i would like it more if we populated a few houses rather than have a bunch of Houses with fewer players. Just throwing in my opinion.

[Reader]

So, in making a character would it be better for the game if I looked at making someone from a currently unpopulated House? Or should I join a House that already has folks in it?

Marsten would be ideal (populated already, but not as many as some others), but if you've got a great concept for another house then go ahead. Plenty of time for other houses to fill up.

Appreciate your flexibility, but make sure you'll be playing in a house you'll enjoy.

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