Re: some help please (druid)

On Jan 31, 10:08 pm, "Nicole Massey" <n...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Eric P." <eric...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:ericp06-EA1A47.17382831012007@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > In article <1169862606.088035.67...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> > "Davo...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
" <Davo...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >> I was hoping some people could give me some leaping off points for a
> >> druid characters background? Ive already established her personality
> >> (vis a vis character flaws, achiles heel, and other 'weaknesses') but
> >> comming up with a good history is proving difficult.
>
> The big question I keep coming to is her atheism.

Me too.

Unless she's atheist in
> the sense that she doesn't believe in gods, and believes she gets her
spells
> from nature, this can be complex.

Druids getting their spells from an unpersonalized nature isn't such a
big stretch but

 (I've played atheist characters before,
> and they tend to really shake up other players, especially priests)

When playing an atheist, how do you deal with the rather common
deistic intervention in typical fantasy setting?. Even if it is just
the clerical "spells," they are supposed to be miracles coming from
the gods. If you regard them as simply another kind of magic, you can
get around that. However, the other players would have to be
softplaying you, as a fellow-PC, if they didn't take strong exception
to your expressing your lack of belief.

Of course, some sets of gods can simply be regarded as very powerful,
possibly physically large (although that isn't necessary) and
extremely dangerous people. Some of the Greeks eventually came to
think of their pantheon that way. However, it would be exactly that
kind of god who might be petty enough to smite an unbeliever.

Will in New Haven

--


>
> What was the culture like that she came from? How were different races
> viewed? In my game, the druids have some faction between two large
sects,
> and the more militant sect runs a very large forest where all races of
> creatures live side by side. Even lycanthropes live in harmony as
they're
> not allowed to bit others without provocation. The druids hold sway over
all
> the people, and civilization doesn't encroach because of the militancy
of
> the druids. A character from this culture might be on friendly terms
with
> all manner of creatures, including the local chimera spawn, and since
the
> environment is so regulated against predation for anything besides
survival,
> might be shocked at the less civilized  behavior of creatures outside
her
> home territory.
>
> I often find that getting a feel for the character's values will help
flesh
> out the character's background with the application of the word "Why" to
> each of her views.
>
> Good luck. This is something I never have trouble with.