I am about to start playing D&D again as a player for the first time in years. Well, not D&D specifically, so much as Pathfinder. It's a bit jarring -- having run a 4E campaign for a while -- going back to the Vancian magic system that characterized D&D all the way through to third edition.

On my plate for this campaign are two things; one is to develop a character that I can play and enjoy, and two -- this is much geekier -- to determine the changeset between D&D3.5E and Pathfinder; there have to be some differences, but I'm not sure what they are.

I can do the character part without research or expending much in the way of energy (at least initially) so I'm going to do that here, first.

I picture a fortyish man; he's used to having his own way, and has a history in local politics. I'm thinking he was perhaps the mayor -- or fantasy equivalent -- of a small village, a fairly peaceful one. He's not a strongman, he's an academic, and a bit distant but well-organized.

He would have been ousted. Not willingly. Possibly over a scandal. Maybe a real one, maybe one manufactured to drive him out. In any case, he's not welcome back home. He is adventuring because he can't stay home and he needs to find a new place to settle down.