#instead of drow lite

[gingerdusk]

Ahem.

Introducing Nanim, heir of House Exeltis of Baldur's Gate

AKA, if Larian isn't going to give us a nonbinary companion, I'm going to make one up myself.

Quick Class details:

Wild Magic Sorcerer with a noble background, half-drow, they/them

Meeting:

In the wreckage of the Nautiloid crash, you find them cornered by three sheep. As you approach, they warn you in a panic to stay back, and the sheep attack. The aforementioned sheep are actually polymorphed Intellect Devourers.

Starting Cantrips:

Minor Illusion

Mage Hand

Shocking Grasp

Ray of Frost

Dancing Lights (drow heritage)

Starting Spells:

Disguise Self

Color Spray

Skills:

History (noble background)

Persuasion (noble background)

Arcana

Religion

Personality:

Starting off by saying they're Lawful Neutral. They grew up nobility with strict rules about when and how to behave and what to do in regards to their Wild Magic surges, so they firmly believe that anyone who is in charge is in charge for a reason, and any rules they set are SET for good reason. You can sway their opinion on this by investigating into the people in charge; for example, initially, they're on the druids' side on the tiefling vs druid conflict, because it's THEIR grove, they're allowed to let in whomever they choose, the refugees are infringing on the rules they set by staying. However, when you find out Kagha's there because Halsin's gone and Kagha's been dealing with the shadows, Nanim's like "wait a minute. You aren't qualified to lead at ALL" and reevaluates their opinion.

They are VERY sheltered as to how the world works. Courtesy of their upbringing.

Very optimistic and charismatic, VERY loyal, and will judge you if you AREN'T loyal to the company you keep. Extremely eager to explore, with little regard to personal safety due to being a Wild Magic bomb all the time. On the more negative side, they're careless, naive, a bit insensitive and pompous due to their status, very impulsive, and hedonistic. They like luxury, they don't believe in challenging rules to help those affected negatively by them, they think they're greater than they are (sorcerous hubris at its finest) and that all their opinions are correct, and they chase novelty like an addiction.

They also zone out. A lot. Like, in the middle of a conversation, a lot. It's often filled with impulsive thoughts that they're sorting into "yes" and "no" piles (examples: "Should I ask Astarion if he's also part drow? If I smack Shadowheart's braid, will she kill me? I want to poke Karlach, just to see if she's REALLY on fire or if it's illusory.") an you can use the tadpole to listen in. Don't get caught!

They're genuinely afraid of confronting their negative traits or admitting they might be wrong about something, in denial about things that don't fit their pre-established idea of themselves. Unintentionally condescending at times. Craves friends and romance both, has no idea how either work (has been to brothels, sure, but hasn't ever had a genuine connection with someone). Likes music, plays the lute. Very vain. 

Approval:

Following pre-set rules (the druids want the refugees out of the grove, the refugees want your help, you refuse to challenge the druids)

Being willing to engage with your surroundings (Eilistraee's sword, the Blood of Lathander, touching the button in Withers' crypt)

Refusing to deal with rule-breakers (the Zhentarim)

Researching/being knowledgeable about religion/history/magic (successful dice rolls)

Staying out of problems that don't concern you (declining to get involved with Ethel vs the brothers)

Taking charge and standing up for your companions (telling the Gur that Astarion's under your protection, standing up for Gale when the others want him to leave, telling Mizora off when she comes to punish Wyll)

Literally anything positive to do with the drow twins at Sharess's Caress

Disapproval:

Defying the order of things (helping the refugees, telling Minthara you'll help her)

Picking the safe route/electing to leave something alone (non-confrontational dialogue choices, abandoning the Blood of Lathander)

Dealing with blatantly bad characters (the Zhentarim, the goblin camp, that paladin that wants to steal the gith egg, Viconia, Balthazaar, Mizora)

Being genuinely dumb (licking the spider, drinking Thisobald Thorm's brew, giving your blood to Araj, waving to Vlaakith, drinking Priestess Gut's potion)

Getting involved with other people's conversations when they didn't ask for you (convincing Rolan's siblings to stay at/leave the grove, interrupting Kagha vs Arabella)

Selling people out (Astarion, Isobel, Shadowheart)

Prying into other people's heads in your party on purpose (Gale, Shadowheart, themself)

Being rude to friendly characters

Being modest and/or humble (downplaying yourself or refusing finer things in life; they want luxury and rewards, damn it!)

Some general, non-personal-quest-related dealbreaker moments (ie, moments where Nanim will permanently leave your party):

Betraying the grove (you have to roll intimidation a few times to avoid this)

The Dark Urge kills a companion on purpose (non-combat, specifically by giving in to the Urges)

Goading Orin into killing whomever she has captive

This is a very long post, so I'll split the Nanim lore into multiple parts (their history, their quest, their romance, etc) and link them here when finished.

Part 2: Nanim's History

[pomrania]

Halloween monster races

Ever want to play as a monster? Of course you do, it'd be fun. But the statblocks you find for "monsters" aren't designed to work for player characters, and some of them are, well... "dumb as bricks" is one way of putting it. Here's a better alternative: reflavour the various PC races to get something that's nice and monster, and then stat up your monster character with class and background, as you wish.

This is specifically for D&D 5E; I looked at the mechanics of each race, to find ones that could fit well for the concepts. With different gaming systems, those exact things would probably not work; but hopefully this can provide inspiration.

Werewolf: shifter This isn't even sporting, as shifters are designed, both in mechanics and in flavour, as Lycanthrope Lite.

Ghost: eladrin or shadar-kai So they're not intangible, but teleportation can mimic that effect, somewhat; and the Dexterity bonus from elves also makes them harder to hit in general.

Zombie: half-orc You know how sometimes zombies get back up after you've killed them? Half-orcs have a thing that's pretty close to that.

Skeleton: any Listen, mechanics-wise, skeletons in D&D are pretty boring; pick whatever race you want, just say "and also this character has no flesh and their body is just bones".

Vampire: tiefling The "standard" tiefling gets Drama: The Cantrip at first level, which is great for any gothic mood-setting; but the different tiefling variants also fit with different vampire "focuses". Other races to consider, minimal-to-no reflavouring needed: changeling kenku tabaxi lizardfolk warforged Further details below the cut. Trans rights are human rights, and black lives matter.

((Also posted on Pillowfort, here.))

Werewolf (shifter)

The only thing difficult about using this, is getting the sourcebook; the shifter race is found in the Eberron stuff, and not the more setting-agnostic books. But once you have access to that, it's so easy it's barely worth going through. Depending on what type of "werewolf" you're basing this off of, it could be any of the subraces.

Suggested change/s: Maybe add something to the flavour, that the character looks barely humanoid while shifted? That's about it.

Ghost (eladrin or shadar-kai)

Both of these options are from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and they're elf subraces. Let's start with the "elf" bit first. Bonus to Dexterity makes them harder to hit, not sleeping is a pretty ghostly trait, and advantage on saves against being charmed could be played as "I'm dead, why would I care".

Both potential subraces have teleportation, but shadar-kai can only do that once per long rest while eladrin have it once per short rest. (However, shadar-kai resist necrotic damage, which is a very ghostly thing to do.) At third level, both of them get nice extras when they teleport; shadar-kai get more ghostly, with resistance to ALL damage, while for eladrin it depends on essentially their emotional state. It all depends on what type of ghost you want to play.

Suggested change/s: Swap the Elvish language proficiency for another language the character learned in life, or after death, if necessary. Describe the "teleportation" as going intangible and quickly moving.

Zombie (half-orc)

"Relentless Endurance" is the main mechanic draw to this race. Once per long rest, if they'd drop to 0hp, they can drop to 1hp instead. The bonus to Strength and Constitution also fit nicely with undead toughness. Proficiency in Intimidation is easily explained as being a creepy-looking dead thing.

Suggested change/s: swap the Orc language proficiency for any other languages that might fit better with the setting; if that happens to still be Orc, so be it. If you want to better represent how durable zombies are, swap the stat bonuses so it's +2 to Constitution and +1 to Strength.

Skeleton (any)

As stated above, skeletons in 5E are mechanically BORING. The only thing to distinguish them, really, is that they're vulnerable to bludgeoning damage, and that's not something that any race has, for the very good reason that it would make a character easy to kill at low levels. Focus on the descriptive aspects of this instead; describe how any blow resonates through the character's exposed bones.

Vampire (tiefling)

This one is a little involved, so bear with me here. As I said, Thaumaturgy is basically Gothic Drama in cantrip form; if you just want to use the PHB tiefling, this is a very good reason, and also the Charisma increase fits well with vampiric charm.

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes however has tiefling variants, some of which might fit better with the kind of vampire you want to play. The Fierna variant is what you'd want if your vampiric vision is more about controlling others; it swaps out Thaumaturgy for Friends, and its spells are Charm Person and Suggestion. The Baalzebul, Dispater, and Zariel variants all keep Thaumaturgy as their cantrip, and only change the non-Charisma ability increase and the spells at levels three and five; since those traits weren't very vampire-centric to begin with, they're all just as viable as the "standard" tiefling. As for the others... listen, there's a LOT of vampire fiction out there, I can GUARANTEE that someone has published a book where ANY of those abilities are given as "standard vampiric traits".

Suggested change/s: Alter Hellish Resistance so it gives resistance to cold, instead of fire, damage; the undead are more known for going out in winter without a coat, than they are for their ability to be set on fire and not harmed. (Both fire and cold are "elemental" damage types, so it shouldn't mess with the balance.) Instead of "dies in sunlight", take the drow Sunlight Sensitivity; and bring Superior Darkvision along with it, to keep it from being too much of a burden. Have the unarmed attack deal one point of piercing damage, as opposed to bludgeoning damage, from the character's fangs; those are for feeding on prey, not killing their foe. Adjust the "racial" languages as appropriate.

Other stuff

Now, onto the other player races that work quite well as "monsters", without having to really do anything to them. (I know that "shifter" probably belonged here, but werewolves are too iconic to relegate to "and also" status.)

Changeling: They can change their physical features whenever they want. Off the top of my head, I can think of three completely different movies which have that as the gimmick of the main villain, and I don't watch that many movies.

Kenku: Mostly this is just that their lore is Messed Up, and I think they would be really cool as an Igor type of mad scientist's assistant. Also there's that potential plague doctor aesthetic.

Tabaxi: ...listen. Cat-people weren't always considered to be PRIMARILY the vehicle of furry fetishes.

Lizardfolk: They look like lizards and they come from swamps, you do the math.

Warforged: Let's get one thing straight: warforged are not robots. However, they fill many of the same ROLES as robots. Created for a specific purpose, not needing to eat or drink or sleep or breathe, tough physical form.... There's also some similarities to Frankenstein's Monster, if you want to go that way.

[roll3d6inorder]

Str 9

Dex 14

Con 5

Int 10

Wis 6

Cha 9

I like the look of that Dexterity. Bad Con, bad Wisdom, never a good sign, but we’re used to that by now. 

Bugbear

Cleric

Okay, it is fascinating, I’ll give it that. 

Str 11

Wis 7

The amazing thing is, it’s not a disaster. Not even a little bit. With our Dexterity, we have ideal AC in medium armor, and we have okay attack rolls with a light crossbow or shortbow. The one thing we’re not competent with is anything relating to our actual class as a Cleric. Also, we have no health. This may be the closest we’ve ever rolled to the dreaded “Con 3″ that we all know is happening eventually. Some things to work on, but, again, not a disaster.

Dagdalolth was a slave and slave-keeper for a Drow kingdom in the Underdark. He followed the orders of his Drow masters, hunting down escaped humans or dwarves. Until, one day, he caught a human, Heimskr, sneaking out, only to pray to a shrine he had constructed. What could it be that Tyr was giving this selfish human being to keep coming back to him instead of trying to escape? As time went on, Dagdalolth allowed the cleric to continue his worship, even to bring more followers. He created distractions to aid in their venture. He listened to their sermons. He even testified to the hope that the stories of Tyr had given him, of someday seeing the sun, and having freedom. To the congregation, he asked to be called “Dagdatyr,” a new name to signify his faith. Then came the inevitable: the Drow publicly executed Heimskr. The hope had to be snuffed out. And yet, it only fanned the flames within Dagdatyr. He called the congregation together. He organized them, not as a church, but as an army. Together, they slaughtered the other guards and set the cities of the dark elves alight with a blinding fire. When it was done, he lead the former slaves out of the Underdark, as if guided by a celestial hand. They hailed him as the new cleric of Tyr, Dagdatyr of the Exodus! Together, they founded a new free society and named it Tyrheim. 

Level 1

Cleric 1

War Domain

Bless

Cantrips

Guidance

Spare the Dying

Light

Level 2

Cleric 2

Level 3

Cleric 3

Level 4

Cleric 4

Dex 16

Shield of Faith

Cantrip

Thaumaturgy

Level 5

Cleric 5

Enhance Ability

Level 6

Cleric 6

Animate Dead

Level 7

Cleric 7

Death Ward

Level 8

Cleric 8

Dex 18

Meld Into Stone

Level 9

Cleric 9

Mass Cure Wounds

Level 10

Cleric 10

Control Water

Cantrip

Mending

So, not complicated. We had some levels where we couldn’t pick any spells at all because our ability score was so bad. Not going to be a big list of spells to choose from. You’ll notice we picked no healing spells until late in the game. Early on, it’s just not going to be worth it when every roll gets a -2 modifier attached. With bigger rolls, the modifier becomes less important, so we can help out as, at least, a secondary healer. 

I decided to focus on what we can do rather than obsess over where we’re lacking. Our Constitution is still very bad, but our offense is genuinely descent, and our AC is good enough that we don’t have to worry too much about it. We still don’t get extra attack even as a War cleric, but we do have a lot of accuracy and a bit of extra damage, both from War cleric and from our race on a situational basis. We’re kind of a Rogue-lite, if you’ll excuse the pun, and that’s exactly how we have to play it if we don’t want to get stomped. Use your stealth for ambush tactics, rely on your party to be the front line while you Bless them and provide supporting fire. You should know when to stay silent and in the shadows and when to bring out the Light and the Thaumaturgy. Do Tyr proud out there!

Very happy to back with D&D where a build takes a few hours for 10 levels instead of a few days for 2. Might be my fault, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks it’s simpler. Maybe I will give Pathfinder one more shot, but I need to put some limitations on it.

Until then, Happy Rolling! And a late Happy Valentines Day!

[whois-this]

3rd D&D night. I got a text at 2am a week ago by the DM pleading for me to show, so I did. He didn’t seem to realize that my choice of missing the last game was for practical reasons. 

Anyways, the party is now a barb/druid/ranger/monk/druid?/thief/sorceress/paladin/gunslinger. We made better progress this time, although it was combat-lite all the way around. After initial meeting fuckery we quested to get inside a local drow stronghold. The party decided to pretend to pose as prisoners with a few handlers, which slipped us past security highly reminiscent of where eagles dare with the trolly cars. Once inside the typical kill the guard-kick the doors-free the prisoners routine happened for my group (barb, monk, druid, druid?, ranger). No resistance and basically a boring exposition. 

The second group decided to hunt down the evil boss and got deterred by the DM. So instead they blew up a munitions crate with their wand of wonder and nearly all died in the process, but a distraction was caused. 

Sounds kind of exciting, right? But honestly, the session was slow and boring as fuck and most of what happens now is character fuckery. A few people monopolize speaking encounters because they have no manners, and the rest are just waiting. Group is too large and DM too new to know it. I’ll probably drop out after the next game honestly