Character Profile: Xander

Xander
Race: Drow
Class: Warlock (Dark Pact)/ Multiclassed into Paladin
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Xander heard whispers early on in his life. Promises of power from unknown forces. Growing up in the brutal world of the Underdark, he needed any help he could get. Thus he began tapping into the arcane powers of the creatures of shadow. The female priestesses of Lolth thought VERY poorly of him. It was not his place to have power that wasn't granted by their goddess, and thus he was a threat that had to be eliminated. They chained him and tortured him, hoping to break him before his death. Imagine his surprise when, a young female paladin slaughter his jailers. For reasons he still does not understand, she freed him and the two escaped together.

Joining up with other adventures, Xander proved himself to be useful, if double edged, companion. Willing to drain the life energies of his allies, his magic carves devastating effects into his enemies. Often the paladin took the brunt of this damage, with a smile. Xander proved to be sadistic, twisted and most surprising of all... loyal. When ever the paladin was in danger he put himself in harms way to protect her, and unleashed the full fury of his might to protect her. While the rest of the party always felt uneasy by he presence, something Xander himself delighted in, the paladin always said she felt safer when he was around. He might never admit it, but he cared for her deeply. Already he had taken some of her teachings to heart... although it remains to be seen if it will be enough to turn him from the dark path he walks upon.



Author's Note
Xander was a short lived character of mine. Made in conjunction with Mary's paladin character, I was able to make an "evil aligned" character that was more then just the Black mage/Richard/ Belkar. He had a strong reason for being in the party and the chance for real character growth. Sadly the campaign he was in only lasted about 3-4 sessions, but I was able to do subtle but powerful bits of growth with him. The time that Mary's paladin was knocked down (which happened a lot to that character if I remember correctly...) He really did flip out and protected her relentlessly.

The other thing I enjoyed was I don't usually play the damage dealer... and Xander was a hell of a damage dealer. His build allowed for incredible amounts of damage for a low level character. It was fun to see an enemy and just say "no, you should not live" and make that come true in one standard action.

Also, naming him after a Buffy character was fun. If I remember correctly, some of the other party members did the same.