I need some sad and/or possibly gruesome backgrounds for some sorry-ass conscripts force-pressed into service of militant wing of Inquisition. Here's the worst generic shit I want to avoid:
- he raped someone, it was conscription or chopping block
- werewolves killed all of his family as a kid
- werewolves killed all of his family as an adult
- werewolves killed all of his family as a middle-aged balding man
Grim and sad, but definitely not edgy. That would be perfect.
thanks
A werewolf raped and killed his family when he was a kid, and later again when he had his own family as an adult. Framed for the crime, he's awaiting execution.
Why not- simple peasant experiencing the cruel world for the first time?
A family raped and killed his werewolf boyfriend, and then put him on the chopping block for being a furry.
werewolf infected his brother when they went hunting, had to kill his brother. Joined in order to hunt down the bastard that did it.
It was his father
his family raped and killed a werewolf and is now the entire family is now conscripted.
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Last survivor of an attack on a village is a good classic:
Could be a monster attack
Could be an attack by bandits/marauders
Could be one or more of the villagers killing everyone else
Could be a purge by the inquisition - the conscripts were deemed to be the only ones worth saving
Could be not just a survivor but the last witnesses to any of the above, making their knowledge an asset/liability.
The guy got cursed, the inquisition saved him, guess who's got a debt to pay?
You have psycho berserker rages occasionally/if injured in a fight - that's a talent the inquisition wants on their books. Hurting allies (and having hurt/killed friends in the past) may be a thing.
The inquisition is actually really stretched for resources by the crisis, if you've not got any dependants when they roll into town, you're getting conscripted
There's a kind of enemy the inquisition fights that leaves a mark/psychological impact on those who fight it - needing to limit the amount of people exposed, so if you fought it before (even by accident, if it attacked), you're getting called back to fight it again
Okay this one is quite edgy, so spoilering
As a boy, you were molested in some way by an authority figure. That authority figure then rose in the ranks of the church/guard/society, to an important post in the inquisition. When asked about good men, who won't reveal secrets, he names you. You only find out who recommended you after several missions for the inquisition, to you it seemed they just found you one day.
Ww1 got you covered for cruelty
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>spoiler
How is any of that edgy?
He poached a deer from the kings lands
His local Lord opposed the ruling Lord, him & his men are a tithe to punish the local Lord
The opposing army/bad guys attacked his village, a day or two after the Inquisition conscripts them because they know the land & maybe looking for revenge too
He was the Lords right hand man until he disagreed with his Lord, he was since banished to serve the Inquisition
He is a slave soldier to the people who conquered his village
I got more. Will post tomorrow
>grim and sad but not edgy
Talk about mincing words
fpbp
Conscription usually isn't a punishment for a particular crime. It's just something that happens to peasants because there's a war on. So just have people leaving various things behind - an undefended farm, a hungry family, a sick child, a dying parent - and not knowing how to get home.
He was forcibly melded into a warlock's bioconstruct and cut down just before he was fully assimilated, leaving him with a back full of scars and the psychic residue of a dozen anguished souls ringing inside his skull.
She would do literally anything to avoid the whorehouse
He is gradually dying of leprosy, but still has strength to fight.
He volunteered, wanting to be a hero
Rape as a backstory is fairly high on the edge-o-meter imo
why is leper martyr so kino?
Eh, it's overdone.
bored, isolated guy in shit-tier job like nightwatchperson 3rd class meets someone who works for an Inquisitor: gives info (gossip & suspicions) on someone/several folk out of spite/fear/being rewarded. Surprise for them: they get taken along to point folk out and told he works for the Church now as penance for not coming forward previously with the info.
They can't go home now as they'll get lynched by the friends/family of the folk they sold out & that's assuming their boss doesn't kill them if they try to leave before they've paid off their sins.
A petty criminal such as a poacher or thief, conscription was a way of avoiding jail
An ex student whose dissolute lifestyle got him kicked out of University - without any other means of support he joined up and now wishes for his old life back
The son of a camp-follower. The army is all he's ever known
A member of an oppressed class in the army's nation who had no choice but to enlist or starve due to famine
I don't know whether the Inquisition is a religious or government institution so
>enthusiastically devout/patriotic young man wants to serve his god/country so he signs up
>turns out it fucking sucks
>no, you can't just quit
person gooes to confession due to be guilt-ridden by 'unnatural urges' & is getting into lots of arguments & fights as they are hyper-defensive. Priest sends this person away to an Order who will fix the sinner through service... plus they'll get to see what happens to those who do sin.
Nice
>Character was dirt poor and joined so he could be fed and housed.
>Trusted the direction of a greasy as fuck local bishop who secretly gets a little kick back for each bunch of commoners he convinces to join.
>Character was career alcoholic at rock bottom, impressed into service when his regular drunken petty crimes one day turned into a major crime against the church.
He had to feed his kids somehow, so he joined the military and now sends all his salaries to them. Alas, they died to a plague a few years ago and he doesn't know.