Some basic ideas that popped in my head:
- (accidental) heir to the family stash of artifacts
- <insert job> stumbling upon a hidden collection 'just before' the CoT got there
- CoT ritual disrupted, you (the victim) forgotten and left to wander the (for now) empty halls of the magi
- Collector of antiques finds some stuff magical
@ShadowGhost & @Ghostie
The Grav Mistress, Mistress of Gravity
If you have nothing useful to say, you have two choices: Say something useless or stay quiet.
if the bow / gauntlets etc are magic artifacts ..try thinking how and why they work ..ya magic but what sort
..do the always function for anyone or just him
..do they provide the skill or just the power
..are they natural objects made magic ..enchanted thus there was an enchanter/tress OR .. are they magic by their nature ie material is the bow from a branch of some magic tree .. if so who carved and shaped it ...
..or is the bow only made real by magic ..ie conjured from some where else ..where is that ?
.. was the bow for your character or does it have a history leading up to today ?
once you have the bow /gauntlets sorted you can start on the man .. 
good luck breaing the block ....
Hello,
@ShadowGhost
Thanks for the suggestions, expanding them a little;
- (accidental) heir to the family stash of artifacts
Maybe a family member was some kind of legendary hero. He now has to try and (reluctantly?) live up to the impossibly high standards set by his predecessor. Or the family are 'Lara Croft' style relic hunters, (which he has no interest in), and he ends up using the relics rather than safeguarding them.
- <insert job> stumbling upon a hidden collection 'just before' the CoT got there
"insert job" made me think of an interupted robbery. They could be MAGI artifacts being stolen by CoT, with him "borrowing" them in the confusion. Hmm, I quite like the idea of CoT involvement ...
- CoT ritual disrupted, you (the victim) forgotten and left to wander the (for now) empty halls of the magi
... Especially the victim left wandering the halls. I suppose I could add in some form of side effect via the interupted ritual, or some other form of 'curse'. How about a 'Magical Supersoldier' ritual, bonding artifacts to a victim.
Rock_Powerfist
Not a bad idea to focus on the artifacts, although my initial idea was to leave them 'generic' and add them at a later date.
Ok, so they were all pre-existing and not created for him. They have all been enchanted by some means and are not 'natural' items. The bow is separate from the armour, they have different origins. The bow is 'attuned' to him, which gets round it appearing in his hands when used 
, the armour works for whoever wears it. They both provide the power and the skill to use them.
Thanks for the ideas guys, gives me something to think about.
Any other suggestions are very welcome.
Mike.
Heya, one thing you can do is to look at the Handbook of the Union Uni. (theres a post with link at the top which is sticky). That may give you a little ideas to where others have got the ideas for where and how their backstories formed, and like magical items where and how they came to have it.
I'll use one of my character has an example:
Drade: Grandmaster Hunter mage from The Hunters Guild, has magical powers and weapons.
Weapons: The shinng Blade, magical sword with a bright white blade it can only harm those of darken hearts or evil. Was given it after he found out the turth about who is greatest enemy was, by the Guild's High council.
The Shadow Blade, magical sword with a pure black black, it can like it's sister blade only harm evil however instead of setting the soul free it absorbs the darkness and imprisons it within the blade. Was given it when he became a Hunter in the Guild, and was made a team leader.
His Hunters outfits, they all have been enchanted for him via the mages at the Guild, they never dull nor age yet seem to stronger than steel.
He was given a magical potion which has allowed him to stay at the age of 22 in body and fitness, however he is infact 422 years old or possibly older.
Powers ie spells: These all come from two sources first there is his trainning from the guild, many of his sword skills and basic spells came from this. Secound is the crystal like growths on the backs of his hands, these give him a major boost to everything he does, they are from a magical curse that was put on him long ago in his family, however they have become a bless since they give power if covered with specaily enchanted gloves.
Now thats a very quick break down of him, of course he now has a new form but this is just an example of it.
I usually end up looking around wikipedia for this kind of thing. Relate them with mythology and culture.
For instance.. and archer with mystical items like this can be native american. Sacred items from several tribes handed to him. Throw in names of tribes... and show some indepth knowledge of the way they lived. Mythological names and such.
And youre having a nice toon to roleplay too.
Ofcourse there are more archers over the ages... The Huns where famous archers for instance.
Or.. check roman mythology...
Diana, godess of the hunt is an archer. Strenghth could be from Gauntlets by Atlas... Speed from Mercury sandals.
Would give you a good excuse to later on implement some Roman clothing parts...
or...
Oh well you get the way I think.
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About the <insert job> bit, it can be any job, really... a fireman falling through a floor into a stash as he's fighting fire. A reporter investigating a smuggling ring (hellions seem to like them). A garbage disposer accidentally activating a teleportation piece of garbage. A cop finding the artifacts after months of following clues, finding himself in a situation where he has to use them instead of bag and tag.
[edit] To elaborate, I seem to lean towards 'accidental' rather then "relic hunter" because that also explains why that's that. Otherwise, why did he stop looking? why didn't he also get a sword so sharp you can cut yourself by just looking at it?
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I usually end up looking around wikipedia for this kind of thing. Relate them with mythology and culture.
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Ah, so that's why you seem to be ripping off so much 
@ShadowGhost & @Ghostie
The Grav Mistress, Mistress of Gravity
If you have nothing useful to say, you have two choices: Say something useless or stay quiet.
Play nice :P
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About the <insert job> bit, it can be any job, really... a fireman falling through a floor into a stash as he's fighting fire. A reporter investigating a smuggling ring (hellions seem to like them). A garbage disposer accidentally activating a teleportation piece of garbage. A cop finding the artifacts after months of following clues, finding himself in a situation where he has to use them instead of bag and tag.
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I actually like the garbage man idea. Average Joe, going through the motions at work early one morning, grabs something on the side of the street that looks like a piece of [censored] ornament, and then, BAM, suddenly teleported into a magical realm where he's filled with magical mojo.
*Nabs the idea, pays his thanks and runs off to roll a new toon.*
Had a similar idea for a mechanic who finds one of his wrenches is actually an ancient weapon in disguise, sorta a low key "Thor" type guy
There was an old (ancient) American stcom based on the idea that Merlin survived until now and was now running a garage in LA (or similar). He was looking for the next Arthur so he could train him, and the Sword in the Stone had now become... a crowbar set in a bucket of concrete.
(And then some teenager comes along and pulls the crowbar out. Much hilarity ensues. Yadda.)
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Hmmm don't remember that? What was it called?
You wouldn't believe the pain I had to go to to get this for you, so I expect a 50 mil Inf drop on my main by tomorrow.
It was called Mr Merlin and set in San Francisco. You'll find an IMDb listing here. It ran for two seasons during 1981 and '82, which puts me in my late teens (probably) when it was airing in the UK. It was kind of Sabrina the Teenage Witch before its time.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
I wasn't even born then.
That was a whole 10 years before I even existed.
Yet I really want to watch it now...
Not as much as I want to get the old Get Smart series on boxset though.
Yeah cause War Crow needs Inf
First off, thanks for all the ideas and opinions.
Liz_Bathory
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Or.. check roman mythology...
Diana, godess of the hunt is an archer. Strength could be from Gauntlets by Atlas... Speed from Mercury sandals.
Would give you a good excuse to later on implement some Roman clothing parts...
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I often Wiki for potential character names . I like the Roman idea though, I think I'll base the armour on Roman/Greek myth. It also helps that the boots are winged boots so they've already got that Mercury theme going. Shame Valentines is so far off, although I'm not sure how the sandals would look with the rest of the spandex . I popped into Cimerora last night with a different character, and I think one of the breastplates would really work with the rest of the armour too.
ShadowGhost
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About the <insert job> bit, it can be any job, really... a fireman falling through a floor into a stash as he's
fighting fire. A reporter investigating a smuggling ring (hellions seem to like them). A garbage disposer accidentally
activating a teleportation piece of garbage. A cop finding the artifacts after months of following clues, finding himself
in a situation where he has to use them instead of bag and tag.
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I really like the emergency services professional background, I may go with one of these. Maybe not the cop though, a bit
too Witchblade. Probably a fireman, in Steel Canyon fighting the Hellion fires, or something similar.
Merrow_
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Had a similar idea for a mechanic who finds one of his wrenches is actually an ancient weapon in disguise, sorta a
low key "Thor" type guy
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I like this one too, I might be 'inspired' by it in the future. Although I have plenty of lowbie tanks to work on first.
Ravenswing
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There was an old (ancient) American stcom based on the idea that Merlin survived until now and was now running a
garage in LA (or similar). He was looking for the next Arthur so he could train him, and the Sword in the Stone had now
become... a crowbar set in a bucket of concrete.
[/ QUOTE ]
Sounds like 80's TV at it's finest . That's not bad idea though, although not quite what I'm after this time round. It would fit well with Merrow's idea.
Well thanks again folks, you have all given me some great starting points. Time to get Lucky Shot written up.
Cheers,
Mike.
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Yeah cause War Crow needs Inf
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You'd be amazed.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Hello,
I'm after a bit of brainstorming to help me write up a character background.
I'm currently enjoying playing a Trick Arrow / Archery defender and I'd like to write up his background. The trouble is, I can't come up with anything I'm happy with. So I was wondering if any of you could give me some ideas to clear the "writers block" I've got?
I've gone with a magic origin, with the idea that all his powers come from artifacts or relics. So he's armed with an arcane bow, hasten from gauntlets etc. The thing I'm stuck on is where relic/artifacts come from, or how he got them. I don't want him to be some kind of magic using type, in fact I'm certain he's going to start off fairly ignorant as far as magical things go.
So do you have any ideas where they could have come from?
Cheers,
Mike.