So, as I was looking around the site of a LARP I am interested in, I read a thread where someone was told they couldn't be a member, among the lowest rank, of an knightly order to start the game. The order had nothing to do with conferring in game status, but was a personal part of a proposed character history and it was rejected due to the games rules on beginning limitations and dealing with Knights and monastic orders. I thought it was an interesting idea, and allowed for enough experience to be a swordsman without a history behind them. The GM's decided it was flawed enough to deny.
However, this ties into a problem I now have with my proposed character. For this game, if I play, I have decided to theme my character on the classic Wandering Ronin or Yojimbo archetype seen in many old Samurai films. A stoic individual of few words who is keen on observing but has no qualms doling out what he perceives as justice with his sword arm if it is seen as the only course of action. I figured this would allow me to come in and be an observer as I acclimate to the setting, the players, and a return to LARP in general. The 'foreigner' status would also be beneficial in helping open some early dialogue and allow a means to cover up any mundane quirks I may inadvertently bring into the game as I shake off the rust.
The problem is that my character history, which sets up the basis for a quiet young swordsman who has enough skeletons in his closet to keep him moving into this new territory, is based on events that involve direct servitude to a minor lord in the games equivalent of Japan/China. The history, of which I had established a very rough draft of 4 pages, is based partially on my time in the Amtgard Household of Ravenscaw Manor. It was a group I held some status in (Fluctuating between the fighting second in command and bodyguard manservant over several years) and it eventually collapsed in on itself due to my former master being an ego-obsessed villain at his best; who drove away our followers in repeatedly vain quests for glory, both in and out of game. I thought the idea of a disgraced/failed bodyguard of a wannabe tyrant would be an excellent way to work myself into the game. It provides a treasure trove of background ideas, such as my very real conflicted loyalties from that time, and allowed my PC to have skill, without being a master. I would simply be a favored friend of a minor lord, who was then cast out/rebelled.
Now, I'm worried about whether or not even that would be an acceptable backstory. If the players are just starting their journeys, does it really entail not having any stint of military service or history with elements that would shape their class? Since I tended to play combat oriented games without concrete narrative restrictions, I am having some difficulty thinking of ways to be a 'new' adventurer and keep in step with the fact I'll most likely be mass murdering some sort of aberrations without much hesitation.
I'm trying to piece together how I can maintain the dishonored swordsman on the move angle without having a backstory tied to direct betrayal from higher authority. I was tossing around the idea of shaping the PC as a green militia member who was betrayed by his fellow soldiers or something similar if the "betrayal by the privileged friend" angle is denied.
Any suggestions from wandering souls who find themselves here?
I plan on running my ideas past the GM's, but want to aim for as acceptable as I can off the bat, instead of having to seek revision after revision.
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