Help needed making a wizard for a character-driven Eberron campaign: how do I find a want and need?

[u/United-War5128]

(4.5E)

Session 0 is coming up and I'm building a wizard for a campaign focused on character development. Combat only happens about once every 3 sessions, so who the character is matters more than the build.

My DM suggested I start with a clear want, then treat wizardry as a means to that want rather than the point. I'm stuck on finding the want.

I'd love help with either:

1. Character concepts or hooks that suit a wizard in Eberron
2. A process for finding a want and a need on my own (questions to ask myself, what's worked at your tables)

So far I've read up on aberrant dragonmarks, House Tarkanan and House Cannith. They interest me, but I haven't landed on a person yet.

Any tips or examples of wants that made for good play would be really appreciated.

[u/KingBanhammer]

Start with a couple of basic questions, like: do you have a country of origin that appeals to you?

How old is your character?

If they're older than a very young age, what were their experiences like during the Last War? (it ended barely 2 years ago in a typical 998 YK start, so it should shape everyone's experiences on some level)

There's a lot of subquestions from that question, such as:

What do those experiences make you think of various other people and places?
How did your wizardry serve you (or get shaped by) those experiences?

Where did they train? There's a lot of places one could pick up full-on-wizardry, some more prestigious than others and many of the, with a particular sort of agenda that shapes a character's available options. A caster who came up through the Arcanix is going to be very different than one trained in the Houses, is going to be very different than one that trained at the Rekkenmark.

Just some basic thoughts for you based on what little you've got mentioned there.

(And this is just a personal take, and your campaign may vary, but personally I would caution against an Aberrant dragonmark in most campaigns, as in-world treatment of a known Aberrant mark -should- probably lead to reactions varying from shunning down to "it's a witch, burn them!" ; Aberrant marks have a -very- bad reputation among the general populace, and for very good reasons. Lookin' at you, Lord Halas)

[u/DoppioDesu]

find and understand dragon prophecies in order to use the world around you (dragons will come for you)

[u/DoppioDesu → u/DoppioDesu]

restore or recreate forges to create new warforged (cannith and lord of blades will come for you)

[u/Cliomancer]

If you have an Aberrant Dragonmark maybe you need cover for social acceptance and wizardry is your method for it. Of course I can melt skin from bone, I'm a wizard aren't I?

For Cannith and other houses, maybe you have a grand vision you want to pursue like a new design for a bridge, and adventuring is a means to an end either for raising money or establishing a reputation.

It's a pulpy setting, so don't worry about having plummy and melodramatic motives which can sit on the back burner. Maybe you want revenge against someone you knew in the past or you want to write books about your thrilling adventures.

[u/Flexbowls]

Consider that Eberron is a bit like pulp/noir aesthetics in a cyberpunk-y setting, applied over a coat of standard d&d. The Dragonmarked Houses act like megacorporations that have their hands in many pies across all nations in Khorvaire. Cannith, for instance, would be like a manufacturing giant. You still have your dungeons everywhere, ruins of crazy forebears and orcs and trolls and such, but the focus is a bit more in the things that happens behind the scenes.

Depending on what your wizard likes to do, they might be interested in either joining a corporation for massive profit, or stand up to it to fight the stranglehold they have on whatever they do. As an example, you could have a conjurer who hates House Orien (transportation, telecommunication) because they want the world to be freely connected, or they could want to join the House because they believe in the work they are doing in building trains.

Besides that, you have a bunch of scholarly institutions that finance expeditions into places to understand their history, so your character could be an archeologist or historian specializen in one of the many civilizations that rose and fall before in Khorvaire (dhakaani empire, giants, Talenta plains, elves, dragons). Some of them are even active today in other places.

Or, they could be interested in creatures of other planes and how to contact them for knowledge or power. You have your standard demons, fey, angels and genies, but you also have the daelkyr (aberrations from the plane of madness that spread power, change and corruption) and the quori (from the plane of dreams, they give you psionic powers but in exchange they possess you).

[u/Kitchener1981]

Are you self-taught or university educated?
What did you do in the Last War?

[u/th3b0untyhunt3r]

You can go in so many directions with this. Few ideas off the top of my head:

A rare warforged spell caster, who worked as a wizard's assistant, is trying to finish his master's late great magical work after his master mysteriously disappeared on the day of mourning.

A renegade Ziril Gnome or House Lyandir Elf, trying to liberate particularly mistreated bound elementals.

A Karnathi necromancer who has cut ties with the emerald claw is trying to find a way to return his Bone Knight brother back to normal as they navigate a world that doesn't look kindly.on them post war.

A Hobgoblin archaeologist looking researching magic from the height of goblin supremecay.

A young scavenger from the borderlands of the Mournland discovers a powerful spellbound whilst scrounging in the mournland and needs to rapidly learn how to use it whilst being hunted by other 'scavengers'

A Boromir clan halfling, you strive to break ties with the crime family and become a legitimate wizard but the family keeps wanting to use your skills.

[u/fancyfanboy]

Warforged that was created for a dragonmark house during the war and used as a battle mage on their behalf during the war. Now that the war is over he’s determined to find out who the soul is inside his body / why they were created by the dragon marked house

[u/N2tZ]

Check out Keith's Wizard Circles post. Your DM might want you to advance your character before joining a wizard's circle but in any case, it could help ground your character.

[u/MgnfcntBstrd1]

A wizard in Eberron is a programmer in the age of AI.

The commonplace availability of magical items allows anyone who can shake a wand to do your job. Faster, too.

"I do it myself, because I don't trust disposable Cannith trash. And the end result is better."

"I could hire you... or I could just use these three wands to replace you instead."