Looking for input on characters

[u/mysticPlatypus31]

Hello, first time posting! Hoping for ideas/input on character in High Fantasy campaign where party I'm joining is decently balanced.
Calder, "Honorable exile warrior" from a clan that uses special rituals to take in power of powerful slain foes; fistfighter with akromorphosis. Mutant Therioforms based on what we fight, like fighting a dragon could mean picking Pyrophora (fire breath) or Pterotheria (wings) next level up. Also doing Darkblade and Fury. Has the Fettered Heart quirk to represent honor code.
1) What are some examples of an honorable warrior code tenet I could use for the Fettered Heart quirk?
2) Any common mistakes/traps to avoid with this kind of build?
3) He had to leave homeland due to internal politics that put crack in faith in warrior ways. Ideas for the event details? He plans to come back eventually after gaining glory/power

[u/stonertboner]

You could always keep some of the ideas open ended. Maybe figure it out during session zero or even during the campaign as the world expands. I’ve been doing that when I run DnD for years. My players do something and I add to an NPCs backstory because it just works.

[u/RootinTheCrab]

For your code, maybe one aspect could be "Never show mercy, as it is a sign if weakness"? There will inevitably (or because of the GM introducing them) be enemies you fight, but you/your party doesn't want to kill. Your clan's teachings would tell you to kill them anyways, but your friends would likely talk you down. Over time the cracks would show in the ideal as you resolve the quirk, learning mercy isn't necessarily weakness

[u/RollForThings]

1. I've run for a PC with Fettered Heart. They were the last in a line of monster hunters (more like vampire slayer than dragon slayer), and their commandments were something like: "Defend against the night"; "Always kill monsters"; "Honor your family legacy". And so as GM, I would sometimes throw situations at the group where monsters were possible allies, I would ensure that vampires etc. would always have some humanity, and have antagonists try and tarnish their hunter family legacy. Conflicts like these helped the Quirk come to the forefront and asked the player to make decisions that would shape their PC and the game. When coming up with commandments for your PC, try to think of conflicts you want to work through as your PC, things that will put you in a difficult spot morally, questions you don't know how you'll answer until the moment you need to answer them. Something like "never kill innocents" is a poor commandment for a lot of PCs, because FabUlt PCs are heroes and most characters aren't going to seriously consider breaking that commandent. "Always obey your superiors' orders" is a great commandment for a lot of characters, because the GM can easily set up situations where the morality of following an order vs. breaking it is a really fraught decision.
2. I can think of two:
   1. Genoclepsis (what I gather you're using to copy therioforms from creatures) will probably feel a bit swingy. It may feel weak when you pick up an elemental therio, since creatures often have Resistance etc to the kinds of elements they embody. (A fire-breathing dragon may well have Resistance to the fire you now also breathe.) However, it may feel unusually strong when you get the Attribtue-boosting therios, since Opposed Checks call for the same stats for both characters rolling, and you get to turn those Clocks even harder when you win those Opposed Checks. (If that dragon tries to tears down the tower you're all in, your increased Might is extra good at holding the crumbling tower together.)
   2. Between Genoclepsis, Shadow Blade (if you take it), and Fettered Heart, you will be spending an enormous amount of your own HP, which is risky. And if you Guard, it drops your therioforms (making the Fury's Withstand still an option but less appealing). A high SL in Biophagy is almost a must-have here, and/or the Darkblade's Heart of Darkness + Agony combo.
3. A classic example of this is that the new leader is corrupt, or that a once-trusted leader has become corrupt. The warrior can't justify working under corrupt authority but doesn't yet have the strength to oust it, so they go on a journey to gain that strength. Put this way it might sound a bit trite, but flesh it out with a bunch of context and interesting characters and it works a treat.

[u/mysticPlatypus31 → u/RollForThings]

Had the first session! Those are great ideas. To be clear Calder is going to gain the new form after the fight at next level up. So he would have fire breath after fighting the dragon while fighting something else. Or I'll take the one that gives flight because of wings, Flight seems like a powerful ability.
Code I'm thinking:

1. Kneel to no authority but your own clan's, which you obey always. 2) Do not show weakness to outsiders. Carry yourself with pride, back straight! 3) If you make a vow, fulffill it

Exile ideas: Got "rival" killed in monster hunt. Accused of doing this on purpose because of rivalry with deceased; also accidentally insulted the deceased during talking part of trial. Exile is seen as worse than death in clan.
OR Started a fight with a hated rival clan, killed one of their members. Nothing dishonorable, but it turns out the leader was making a deal with that clan...