Hey everyone! So my gaming group and I recently began a new D&D campaign using the 3.5 rules. This is sort of a side-campaign which takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting, at the same time as another long running (around 2-3 years now I think) campaign that we've been playing. We've had a few players leave the group due to schooling and a career change, so this campaign is sort of an introduction to D&D and our way of playing for a few new players.
My character is a Human Soulknife (a sort of psionic light fighter/rogue) of noble blood, and after the first session, I'm really enjoying it. I'm planning on writing out the story of this campaign in the form of journal entries from the perspective of Romek, but I won't be starting that until at least after the next session, as the character doesn't really have access to his journal yet. In the mean time, here is his backstory and some of his character traits.
Character Name: Romek Serpenthelm
Race: Human
Class: Soulknife
Background
Romek Serpenthelm was born the first son to the noble Serpenthelm family, a powerful noble family who rose to prominence due to their unique and powerful psionic abilities. From a young age, Romek displayed some of these abilities himself, though in a less prominent fashion then most of his relatives. Instead, of focusing on the more mental aspects of his abilities, his tutors decided to focus more on his physical abilities, teaching him to manifest powerful mind blades.
Apart from his training, Romek's upbringing wasn't a whole lot different from any other noble child's. He played often with the children of his servants, and his cousins on his massive estate. In particular he enjoyed playing hide-and-seek, as he found himself naturally adept at sneaking and hiding. Like any child, he and his friends enjoyed playing pranks, particularly on the cranky groundskeeper, Henry.
As he aged, his abilities became more pronounced, and his mental training was joined by physical training. He learned to move unencumbered in light armours, and wield a shield alongside his mind blades. He grew strong, and graceful, his physical muscles enhanced by his staggering mental will. He also grew handsome and charming, and found himself to be a popular and charismatic bachelor at the many balls and parties enjoyed by the upper class. With his family's power still on the rise, it seemed that his life would be a comfortable one.
All this was to change one fateful night. Spurred by their distrust of the psionic powers wielded by his family, a number of the noble houses united under the banner of Lord Gilbert Weston III in open warfare against the Serpenthelms. Though the Serpenthelms maintained amongst the more formidable garrisons of personal soldiers in the city, boasted by their family's considerable psychic might, the intruders had weight of numbers, and slowly but surely, the Serpenthelm garrison was pushed back. Roused from his slumber by the fighting outside, Romek donned his armour and shield, a magical Mithril chainshirt, and a fine Darkwood shield, and ventured out into the halls of his manor to bolster the defense. Pushing his way to the front lines, Romek rallies his troops, smashing into the foe with his dazzling blue mindblade, releasing pent up psionic energies to blow giant holes in torsos and sever limbs from bodies. Despite his impressive abilities, however, the press of enemy bodies began to wear down his guards, and one by one they began to fall. As his numbers dwindled further, Lord Gilbert's son and Romek's long time political rival, Vincent Weston stepped forwards in his shining plate armour and challenged young Romek to an honour dual to the death. All fighting in the area stopped as the two noble sons circled each other, with hate in their eyes, their supporters forming a ring around their champions. Vincent had sheer size, and thick armour plating, as well as a massive greatsword, but Romek had speed, skill, and his psionic blade. Vincent went on the offensive first, hoping to overpower the smaller Romek quickly, but Romek dodged and parried too quickly for the heavily encumbered man. Taking his time to focus his mind, just as his tutors had taught him, Romek slowly began to channel his psionic energies into his blade, As the fight dragged on, Vincent had scarcely stopped his relentless assault, but Romek had yet to retaliate in any way. As Vincent began to slow and tire, Romek's eyes blazed with a fierce blue light. With a bellow that caused all watching to take a step back in surprise, Romek ducked a swing intended to decapitate him and rammed his mind blade up under the chin of Vincent Weston, before releasing the pent up energies in the blade, detonating his head spectacularly.
Enraged by the loss of their champion, Vincent's men set themselves on the Serpenthelm soldiers with renewed vigor and ferocity, and though a great many more were killed, the garrison was wiped out completely, leaving and exhausted Romek alone. Just as the killing blow was about to land, a powerful, commanding voice ordered a halt. Pushing his way roughly through the crowd came Lord Weston himself, his anger a nearly tangible force in the air. As the nobleman looked upon the mutilated remains of his son, he calmly commanded his soldiers to restrain Romek. Leaning close, Lord Gilbert brandished a long, serrated dagger, cursing Romek for murdering his only son, and cursing his family for their mysterious psionic ways. Deftly, Gilbert cut a pair of long deep lines into Romek's gaunt cheeks, whispering to the helpless Serpenthelm that he would die slowly for killing Vincent. Something struck Romek from behind and the world went dark.
Romek awoke to a muffled thump followed by the sound of jangling keys. In an instant he had risen and taken stock of his surroundings. He was chained in a small brick cell, with only a few tiny shafts of light to provide air. In front of him was a heavy iron door, that soon swung open, revealing a shadowy, hunched figure. The figure approached and threw back his cowl, revealing himself to be the old groundskeeper, Henry. Quickly, Henry unlocked Romek's chains. When Romek attempted to ask how he survived the massacre at the estate, the elderly man simply shushed him and moved on. They made only one stop during their stealthy journey through the dungeons in order to retrieve Romek's shield and armor from a nearby storage room. Each time they encountered a guard, Romek would ready his mind blade, only for Henry to wave him down and continue walking, right past the guard. After a short time, the pair exited the dungeon, walking as casually as if they were leaving their own homes, and stole a pair of horses before riding off into the dawn light.
They rode for weeks, keeping off the main roads, for fear of attracting the attention of Lord Weston's spies. Along the way, Henry began answering many of Romek's questions. Henry revealed to the young noble that he was actually a distant cousin of Romek's father, and as such, had psionic powers of his own, though his were self taught. They also discussed their plans for how to reclaim their noble titles. Eventually it was decided that they would split up, in order to more easily find allies for their cause. Vowing revenge, the two of them split up and began the long road to reclaim their nobility and their estate.
Appearance
Romek Serpenthelm is of noble stock, and as such takes great pride in his appearance. He wears his black hair short and well groomed, and keeps his thin, angular face cleanly shaven. Running along his jaw line are two razor thin scars. Rather than try and hide these marks, he uses them as constant reminders of what he's lost. His eyes are a piercing blue that almost seem to glow when he's focused.
His dress is always immaculate and clean, and he tends towards simple yet elegant clothing and jewelry, always in the latest styles. When on the road, he wears his travel clothes, which while still fashionable and finely cut, are more hardy and durable. Underneath his travel cloak, he wears a fine, and magical Mithril Chainshirt, with his Darkwood Shield emblazoned with his family crest slung across his back. He carries no physical weapons, making him seem like an easy target to bandits and marauders. The truth, of course, is far different.
Personality
Romek is proud, noble, disciplined, and driven. His psionic background gives him extreme mental fortitude. While these may seem to be all good traits, he is not without his flaws too. His pride and noble upbringing often cause him to seem arrogant, and snobbish to commoners and those of "lesser" races. While most of the time, this arrogance manifest in subtle ways, when it comes to the more savage races, his disdain often becomes even more apparent.
He is also a natural leader, more than ready and capable of directing his allies in and out of combat. While some may see this as annoying and bossy, his decisions are usually sound, and unclouded by his emotions.
Tactics
In battle, Romek prefers to take measure of his enemies before committing fully to a fight, using his keen eyes and mind to pick out fighting styles, weapons, and vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, he'll use his mental focus to empower his mind blades, before exploiting the weaknesses in an enemy's defenses and unleashing devastating attacks. He also works well with other front line fighters, maneuvering himself to get into ideal flanking positions, and allowing his allies to wear down the enemy before finishing them off with a precision attack.
Whenever possible, Romek tries to use a fallen foe's mental energies to re-energize his mind blades, but this can only be done if the enemy is slain, or knocked unconscious. Because of this, he'll often hold back the true power of his weapons in order to weaken his opponents, before finishing them off.
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