#he has a homebrew warlock class :+) such fun!

[peitalo]

it’s hard out there for bi genderfluid 18 year old warlocks with adhd but someone has to save/destroy the world

[ellimisms]

Concept: D&D homebrew oneshot based off Animorphs where you each play as one of the main characters of the Animorphs series.

The morphing system would be a modified Wild Shape mechanic, altered to two ends: first, to better fit the book's lore, and second, to make class factor into it more so each character is more unique. Probably each character would be able to use some of their class actions (just for an example, Action Surge for fighters or Rage for barbarians) while in morph, and morphing would restore hit points to 100%.

There would be a skill check associated with morphing--it'd be a Wisdom-based skill that you could gain proficiency in. Roll at advantage when using a familiar morph or becoming another human, disadvantage for things you're scared of or morphing while badly injured. Do a morphing check whenever you're in a new morph for the first time to see if you can get control of it; the actual number to beat is up to the GM based on what the animal is.

Also there would have to be some sort of mechanic to prevent TPKs--the main crew has a LOT of plot armor in the books because they can't die (until the end), so there'd need to be something to keep the PCs alive. Maybe if you "die" you don't actually perish, but instead something very bad happens to the party (you get infested, maybe?)

Infestation would be another new mechanic, though a pretty simple one; if a PC gets infested, the GM just starts controlling that character as the yeerk. The player can try to interrupt what the yeerk's doing, but has to roll a nat 20 with disadvantage (no bonuses from skill proficiencies)--it's supposed to be nearly impossible in the books so that's fairly lore-consistent.

In terms of the actual characters you can play:

Jake: Fighter, probably Battle Master subclass as that's more strategically focused. Not much else to say to be honest--I think he'd be proficient in persuasion, since he's supposed to be a good leader.

Marco: Rogue, maybe? Frankly his strengths don't match up with a specific class--maybe multiclass rogue/bard or fighter/bard because I know for a FACT he can and does cast vicious mockery.

Rachel: Barbarian for SURE, probably the Berserker subclass though I find the idea of her being a Wildheart pretty funny and thematically accurate.

Cassie: Probably a Druid or Beast Master ranger--I'm not sure where I stand on allowing caster classes since that doesn't exist in the real world but neither does morphing. Which one she is just depends on that.

Tobias: Who even KNOWS with this guy. Since he's stuck in morph it matters less, but I'd actually go with warlock--his patron is the Ellimist, since he's the one who seems to be able to argue with the Ellimist the most. It's either that or sorcerer, but he doesn't really gain any powers from his andalite bloodline so that seems less accurate.

Ax: Fighter, but it'd be different because he is an andalite. Just off the top of my head I'd make him be able to deal slashing damage on an unarmed attack (maybe just make his unarmed attack count as a sword attack) and increase his movement speed.

A group could also choose to discard these characters and play as a bunch of original characters if they so chose.

Anyways I'm probably the only person in the world that cares enough about both Animorphs and D&D to create this but oh well have fun.

[anonymous-dentist]

QSMP Characters’ DnD Classes

Cellbit- Half-elf Inquisitive Rogue/Pact of Order (Homebrew Federation warlock subclass)

Once upon a time he was actually a barbarian (his rage was fueled by hunger), then he shifted his levels into being an assassin rogue, and now he’s an inquisitive rogue who refuses to acknowledge his new warlock abilities. But sometimes he still feels the urge to rage

Roier- Changeling College of Whispers Bard

Haha no you’re crazy?? He’s literally a glamour bard? He definitely doesn’t have a crazy good insight score and he DEFINITELY doesn’t add 2d6 psychic damage to his weapon attacks once a turn? He absolutely doesn’t have the ability to spread dissonance and confusion and learn people’s secrets and keep his own? Definitely no secret magical shapeshifting ability that he gets from stealing people’s shadows?

Fit- Human Battle Master Fighter

This man is a variant human fighter with the skulker feat and you cannot convince me otherwise like?? Dude probably has the gladiator background straight out of 2B2T and all he does is Fight Good in his mind

Bagi- Half-elf Inquisitive Rogue

She’s an Actual Detective and she has a +3 Frying Pan signature weapon that she had custom forged the last time she was in Waterdeep, okay? She is thinking about multiclassing into wizard, though. It’d be fun!

Antoine- Great Old One Warlock

He is his own patron and he is not afraid to say this. Shame nobody believes him.

Baghera- Aarakocra Arcane Trickster Rogue/Pact of the Watcher (Homebrew Watcher warlock subclass)

She’s just a silly little guy who has acquired a depressing amount of bloodlust thanks to her new warlock patron! Technically, Cellbit should have the same patron as her, but Cucurucho always shows up at the wrong time and ruins everything!!

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells, Level 9

Disclaimers as per usual: If I said something incorrect or left out something significant, corrections are welcome and encouraged. If I simply did not expound upon every single possible choice open to a character; if my opinions on mechanics differ from yours; or if you have wild speculation, please make your own post.

Blood hunter info is taken from the D&D Beyond content, which is subject to change, so don’t @ me if it does.

Everyone's proficiency bonus is now +4, which affects skill checks, proficient saves, and attacks. Non-multiclassed full spellcasters (FCG and Imogen, assuming neither multiclass) get fifth level spells.

In general, ninth level is an important but not terribly exciting one, in that 5th level spells are a big leap up and it's a proficiency bonus increase level, but it's fairly quiet in terms of class or subclass features. The multiclassers are the most interesting part here.

Also: now that level ups are done as separate little bits rather than teasers at the end of episodes, I'm introducing a "Looking forward" note at the end to speculate on L10 and beyond, since, for example, the version of this post in my drafts had my recommended ASIs for Chet and Fearne but no one got to see them until after the fact.

Chetney: By taking a level in blood hunter - his 8th in that class - he gets an ASI, which Travis took as stat bonuses to INT and STR. This is honestly what I would have recommended; he's now got a +3 to intelligence, easily the smartest in the group; and a respectable +4 to strength, his main attack stat. Looking forward: Honestly, who knows what the story will bring narratively...but blood hunter is a really good class and higher level rogue abilities just don't do a ton for Chet. Anyway, Blood Hunter 9 gives you one of my favorite abilities ever, Grim Psychometry, in which you have advantage on knowledge checks (and possibly even cool visions) for places and objects with tragic or dark pasts.

Laudna: Laudna took a level in sorcerer, which means she gets a Hound of Ill Omen, a dire wolf-like beast of darkness she can summon to attack a particular person. She also learns 2 more spells and gains another sorcery point. I would strongly advise she take Counterspell, given that she tends to lean more towards low-level utility than Imogen's attacks (and, let's face it, eldritch blast is better than most sorcerer damage spells). Looking forward: Personally, from a purely mechanics perspective, I think leveling in warlock would be more interesting from here on out. Sorcerers just...don't get much outside of spells from levels 7-14, and Laudna's feats and existing metamagic and the fact that there's another sorcerer in the party mean some variety would be fun and welcome (and warlock levels 4-6 are really good), but I get the appeal of Hound of Ill Omen for sure.

FCG: FCG gains access to 5th level spells and can prepare one more spell! Greater Restoration and Raise Dead are now available to them, which is pretty game-changing, and I'd love to see Sam try out Commune to get some actual answers from the Changebringer. He also gets two domain spells, which are unknown since it's a homebrew class. Looking forward: Cleric's just a really solid class! I'm interested to see how divine intervention works on a cleric who is still finding their god, and please get that WIS score up to a +4 at L12.

Fearne: Fearne leveled in druid, which means she also gets an ASI and has maxed out her casting stat of wisdom - this in turn means she can prepare two more spells than before (one from the higher druid level and one from the higher casting stat). She also gets the ability to wildshape into flying creatures, up to challenge rating 1. Looking forward: I would really not pursue rogue any further; Wildfire druid is just such a great class. Things to look forward to: at L9 druid (L10 overall) she'll get 5th level spells including Mass Cure Wounds as a circle spell; at L10 druid she'll get a cool bonus to damage or healing as a class feature; and at L11? Pick a tree.

Imogen: Imogen learns one new spell, which can be up to 5th level, and gains a 5th level spell slot and a sorcery point. She gets Telekinesis and Rary's Telepathic Bond as subclass features. As for her new spells: given the loss of the skyship, teleportation circle would be a good one to have on hand. Greater Invisibility would also be a strong choice. Looking forward: As noted with Laudna, there's not a ton going on until L14, but she does get a new metamagic ability next level (subtle spell feels very thematically appropriate), and I would in fact enjoy seeing Imogen cast Chain Lightning very much when she gets 6th level spells at L11.

Orym: Orym gets Indomitable, which allows him to reroll a failed saving throw and use the new number. Looking forward: 9's a quiet level for him but the next few are big ones. He gets two more battle master moves and his superiority dice go up to d10s from their current d8s; 3rd attack is at L11; and he gets another feat at L12, and I would love to see Mage Slayer.

Ashton: Ashton gains brutal critical, meaning that they can roll an additional weapon damage die when they crit. Looking forward: level 10 is a subclass level, so who knows, but I'm excited to find out!

[lilliancdoodles]

heyo me again with the dnd egg ideas

I found some of my notes

the most ambitious was a vague draft of a homebrew paladin oath for Chayanne sdjkfhkgkas

other than that, I found a one shot that I wrote as a proof of concept and a few lines for class ideas so here goes:

Chayanne paladin

Tallulah druid (Shepard circle)

Pomme & Richas bards

Dapper sorcerer/warlock (Dapper has to be a minmax character he just has to)

Ramon artificer (I had notes about a cannon, so I have to think he was gonna be artillerist XD)

Leo warlock (possibly also barbarian? I may have been flip-flopping on that one)

Sorry I took so long to respond got caught up in other things. This is super cool!! I do not have the power to try to make a homebrew oath, good on you for trying that. I think I settled on Oath of Glory for Chay. I was going to go conquest, but I thought about it more and that was more Techno than Chay. So I thought about it more as Chayanne's oath with his god being techno and thought that Glory was a good fit. I also have Tallulah as a druid, though I had her as circle of spores due to the death connection + mushroom vibes, but i decided that at like 1 am. Looking at Shepard that would really fit with the being able to hear spirits thing she's doing.

I have Richas as a bard, but I think Pomme would be a better paladin or a fighting class, but paladin was the first thing that popped into my head. I currently have her as Oath of Devotion, but if I look again (at not 1 am) I might change my mind.

For Dapper I put him as a necromancy Wizard (at again 1am) but He 100% needs to be involved with death somehow. And I would totally min max them if I knew how. I play/design for character loyalty So whatever feels most character loyal is what I go with. But i'll see what i can do. Though question for you, If you remember were you designing these as them making the characters or them being the characters? like a qsmp dnd game v. qsmp dnd au? Genuine question im really curious.

Ramon 100% Artillerist artificer I already have his sheet made.

and I just put down leo with her race last night (im making all the eggs Dragonborn so picking their species of dragonborn). But I'll look into those for her!!

(also if you have any ideas for ANYONE in universe send them my way. I'm probably not going to make sheets for all of them (I don't have that much time) I would love to hear them. I've already thought of some fun races for people who are non human in cannon. Might make a post about them after this, probably will. But If you have thoughts on classes for anybody I would love to hear them)

[choicesmc]

okay because i still have tabletop gaming on the brain (and I know you play now hehe):

would any of your MCs/OCs ever join a D&D campaign? (or something more niche like Ars Magica?) What would their classes be? What parts would they most enjoy?

ty sunshine! 💖

thank you for dropping by o/

Rin -> funny enough I actually headcannon that Rin starts a rival D&D club after trying to join Edgar’s table. She thought it’d be fun. Anyhow, she’s usually DM but on the rare occasion the group’s playing a one-shot, Rin’s often a barbarian. Though she’s dabbled with fighters and warlocks, barbarian is the only one that really sticks xD I think she really enjoys playing a character that’s just allowed to feel, who’s allowed to use and acknowledge intense emotions to the team’s benefit rather than their detriment, if that makes sense? When it comes to campaigns, she leans more towards ‘dungeon’ mechanics (<- ie getting quest after quest with less importance on fleshing out a character/role play) over anything else! (Also: she is a dice-hoarder, what can she say? Dice are pretty)

*Rams -> really wanted to play D&D but couldn’t find time for it… now, xe would join a campaign (if offered) but doesn’t go out looking for one. Out of all my MCs, co’d be the most open to other ttrpgs though just know co will almost always be the healer. In D&D, ze splits between cleric and druid with a mean lean towards druid. Rams is very much a roleplayer, ze doesn’t mind lots of battles but they take last priority to really getting in character and playing out a story.

Fiona -> I think he plays on the off chance if he happens to have the time + the energy. Like, you might find him wandering into a dice store and dropping in on a game every couple of months. But also, Fiona is the type whose character is a self-insert. The only difference between Ivo and Fiona is that Ivo is a traveling bard and, arguably, Fiona is not. I’d say, Fiona tends to prefer non-homebrew campaigns because 1) they are familiar and he can really focus on knowing his party members even if for just one night and 2) homebrew campaigns make him feel more bad about not being a consistent party member. (Also: only has the beginners’ pack blue dice)

Jiahao -> never played. Would play to satisfy her curiosity if a friend really wanted her to play with them. If she did ever play, his character would be a rogue. Like fallen noble turned crooked criminal type!

*Wanted to add: in Rams’ universe, there’s a D&D equivalent called Immortal Realms in which the BOLAS characters are part of a pre-made campaign kit

[wilchur]

A mod for a homebrew Durge sorcerer subclass dropped today on nexus and ho boy, I am having so much fun with it.

It doesn't really fit Ezra that well because the weapon you're supposed to use with it is a special dagger that uses your spellcasting modifier for attack rolls instead of str/dex (he's a longsword+shield guy thanks to the paladin training), but the gameplay mechanics of a cross between rogue and sorcerer work SO well for Durge. I love it.

My absolute fave are the little rp flavour abilities like Dance of Death that gives you a AC bonus when threatened because fighting up close is Durge being 100% in their element, blood spraying everywhere so they would not get hit as easily 😖 I dunno how it'll hold up balance-wise later on, but so far honour mode has not really been that much easier? I usually multiclass the hell out of Ezra because I feel like he'd be really versatile as a fighter and I find it hard to just confine myself to one class so I'm hoping that this time I'll be able to stick with just sorcerer instead of my usual paladin/sorcerer/warlock or paladin/rogue/sorcerer crazy person combo 😂

(mod link)

[m0nochromem0use]

tell me everything about monster of the week it sounds interesting i want a paragraph please please please

WONDERFUL monster of the week is a powered by the apocalypse ttrpg. that means it’s based off the monster of the week genre where there’s a different monster or antagonist for every arc (think buffy, supernatural, the x files) and the driving force behind every plot is the apocalypse (which can mean a bunch of different things, but usually translates to the monsters killing a whole bunch of people). the players are various types of monster hunters who have to work together to investigate the monster or antagonist of each arc, find their weakness, and then stop them from killing a whole bunch of people. you only use 2d6, and rolling works on a success, mixed success, or fail system- 1-6 is a fail and you don’t do what you wanted to do, 7-9 is a mixed success and you do what you wanted to do but there’s consequences or you only do some of what you wanted to do, and 10+ is a success and you get to do what you wanted exactly how you wanted to, sometimes with added bonuses. there’s a whole lot more mechanical stuff i could explain but it’s a very simple system especially compared to d&d, and it’s easy to find free pdfs of the rules online which i implore you to do if it interests you because it’s super fun!! it’s a mystery focused game so there’s a lot more roleplay and investigating than combat, which is part of the reason i like it so much lol. also, similar to call of cthulhu, the game master is called the keeper!

NOW what i was talking about in that post. the different types of monster hunters are the classes of this system, called playbooks. they’re what determines the skill sets, moves, and general vibe of each player character. some are professional or experienced investigators, some are magic users with funky powers, and a couple are straight up otherworldly beings or monsters themselves! i’m sticking to the classic playbooks and the playbooks from the tome of mysteries expansion for my picks for the jrwi boys, but there are also a ton of awesome homebrew playbooks out there. you can find a huge masterlist of them by just looking up “motw playbooks”. ANYWAYS here’s the playbooks that i think the jrwi guys would pick:

charlie

the mundane: charlie seems to love a good just some guy character and that’s literally what this playbook is. they have no special powers, no expertise on monster fighting, NOTHING they are just a dude. i think he’d find that extremely entertaining and also figure out a way to make it incredibly angsty

the initiate: basically a cult member and the closest thing you can get to being a warlock in motw, which was in my head because i listened to the suckening rolled earlier today and charlie mentioned how regardless of what setting he’s in in a game he’s always looking for a way to make a pact with something LMAO. the playbook also has a lot of built in dubious morality on the side of the cult, which i think he’d have fun with

the chosen: this one feels obvious, with how often he plays characters who are chosen ones. the chosen playbook also tends to be quite tanky, at least every time i’ve seen it played/played it, which i think he’d like. plus you get to customize your own weapon and i think he’d have fun making a sword that can kill god

grizzly

the gumshoe: a classic detective type. i honestly have no proper reasoning for thinking grizzly would pick this playbook but the vibes are right for some reason. i’m picturing arthur style brooding with a noir detective vibe, a juno steel type character yknow

the divine: in terms of aesthetics, this is rumi if she was a monster of the week character. the playbook comes with a cool divine weapon that does a shit ton of damage but the move set is geared way more towards support, and i think it’d be interesting to see grizzly play a support character

bizly

the crooked: bebo plays a lot of criminals what can i say. the crooked playbook has specific backgrounds, and i think he’d have fun with the charlatan or fixer options. this is also one that you can take in a much more cartoony direction if you want which i think suits him

the wronged: the thanatos of motw playbooks babeyyyy. the wronged is all about losing someone you cared about to a specific type of monster and dedicating your life to hunting them down. again, very thanatos, but a lot of bizly characters have the theme of searching for someone they lost or attempting to make up for not being able to save those people, which is one of the most common routes i see played with the wronged

the flake: the timothy rand of motw playbooks! bebo loves his paranoid conspiracy theorists! this one i picked because i think he’d find the move set funny there is a move that rewards you for doing the opposite of what someone advises you to do, and one that’s literally called crazy eyes. very chip very rand i think he’d have fun

condi

okay condi is the hard one because he doesn’t really have a “type” the way the other three do. i honestly think that out of all of them he could take any playbook and make a really interesting and character out of it. my top picks would be the spellslinger (cool magic user) the spooky (little freak), and the searcher (little freak but without supernatural influence), but more for vibes than anything. again i think he could pull off any playbook

thank you for coming to my extended monster of the week ted talk hope you enjoyed

[fallen-chances]

Hello there!

So, Zadril. Warlock pact. As a warlock appreciator, tho admittedly gravitating more towards neutral to mildly benevolent patrons, I would love to know more about this side!

Also hope you are doing okay! And having fun! And may your dnd group be able to meet together without scheduling issues.

Neyeehehe! (cw for mention of torture)

Zadril's patron is a very ancient vampire named Vardel (Zadril is an undead subclass warlock) who runs a spy organization trying to restart a war for funsies after it cooled down into a cold war. (dms homebrew world)

Him and his boyfriend Jarryne joined up with Vardel not long after they made their daring escape from the Underdark, and were taking under his wing as little baby warlocks. They did jobs for him indiscriminately. They knew nothing about the Overworld and had no stakes in the war Vardel was trying to restart. All they cared about was making sure they were getting food in their bellies and a warm bed to lie in together at the end of the day.

Vardel, unfortunately, is a terrible guy who likes a regular rotation of casual torture to keep his spys loyal. Unfortunately for Vardel, Zadril grew up in Menzoberranzan as a lower class citizen (being both poor and male in a matriarchal society whos patron goddess loves torture and domination). There is no torture Vardel could do to him that he hasn't already experienced on a casual basis growing up. So they were planning on running away together because they did NOT sign up for this.

Unfortunately it all goes to shit when Zadril dies on a job. Jarryne drags hm back to Vardel and begs him to bring him back, he would do anything.

When Zadril wakes up his memories are all fuzzy and he doesn't know what's going on but there was a dead body infront of him that was achingly familiar. something in him cried out but he didn't know why until later when all his memories returned and he realized Jarryne sacrificed his life to bring back Zadril.

Now Zadril is bound to Vardel in a way he can't escape. His heart was removed for the ritual and used in the new pact to bring him back from the dead and Vardel holds it. And he can control him through it.

Unbeknownst to him, because Jarryne died for his pact, the pact is technically just bound between Zadril and his own heart. It is whoever holds his heart that controls him. He's not even bound to Vardel anymore and he doesn't even know it. Vardel lies to him and tells him he needs to hold onto his heart to occasionally refresh his life force to ensure he doesn't die again.

As it stands, Zadril has no intention of escaping Vardel because 1. he physically can't with him holding onto his heart. and 2. Vardel finally found a method of torture that works on him. Squeezing his still beating enchanted heart in his hand.

but yes! evil patron mwahaha. I can't wait to see what my DM has planned with him, they said they're thinking up some gooood stuff.

[faithfulcat111]

Not me just building DnD profiles for the Stranger Things characters because I have so many thoughts on what their classes and races should be when translated to 5e. Like take a look at my thoughts for the party:

Will - Warlock - Half-elf - Haunted One

-Not a willing change to Warlock, but following the whole incident of being taken by the Demogorgan, he definitely has changed. Before he was probably still cleric.

Mike - Paladin - Aasimar - Oath of the Watchers

-I did want to keep the party as is where I could and Mike does fit the role. Watching for otherworldly threats sounds like an Oath he'd take following Will's initial disappearance (see season 2). Although he may struggle keeping it sometimes.

Lucas - Ranger - Human - Sage

-This boy is definitely a ranger, but he is also a nerd so seemed like a good mix of the two sides of him. He also tends to most easily blend in so he is one of the few humans.

Dustin - Artificer - Dwarf - Artisan

-Not sold on this background, but while Dustin is a bard in the show, I feel with him being the builder and science-obsessed guy of the party, Artificer fits him far better in 5e.

El - Sorcerer - Dark elf - Acolyte

-Hers is inherited (see season 2 once more) but the Acolyte is a little more in flux. Recently broke off from the lab, she is looking for new purpose with the party.

Max - Barbarian - Tiefling - Far traveler

-Probably from a long line of tieflings and recently arrived from the far off world of California. This is the closest I felt was to zoomer as I didn't want to homebrew that role, but her focus is definitely on speed and protection.

I have like legit character sheets for these guys and am building a bunch more for the other main characters. Like I'm having serious fun with this. Haven't loved an AU idea like this in awhile

[bloodyshadow1]

so for fun just guessing the classes for the new season of d20, using their fairy tale names, not their real names. no multiclassing or subclasses for now

Zac -Puss in Boots- rogue based off the story of puss in boots, but is holding a cane so I’m thinking a spellcaster.  maybe a wizard or darker cleric sublclass to fit the genre of the campaign.  Fitting the story of making other people great, I could also see him being an artificer, which I don’t think we’ve seen in the dome before and it would fit a tricky character like puss in boots is supposed to be.

ally- Mother goose- based on the book being the only thing we hear ally talk about in their little short, I’m going to say warlock, probably pact of the tome if it’s obvious.  I could also see a wizard who has a cursed spellbook with an order of scribes subclass

Murph- Frog Prince- has a sword in his picture, so I’m thinking paladin or fighter, even though Murph has played those classes before in the dome, I think he likes them. Maybe a totem barbarian who got his totems reskinned like Kugrash got his shepherd spirits fitted to new york.

Emily- Red Riding hood- She seems halfshifted or at the very least has wolf ears so I’m thinking bloodhunter, since Matt is a friend of Brennan and some of the other cast members I could see them using his homebrew class.  She has an ax which isn’t the biggest hit of anything, but I could also see her playing a cute but psycho barbarian little red riding hood

Lou- Pinocchio- not much to go on, Pinocchio was a naughty child in the original story and the only thing we have to go on is him stealing from a witch so I’m going to say rogue.  I also think warlock with a fey patron given the story behind his creation with the blue fairy, though I also feel like that could be any character in a horror fairy tale setting.  I wouldn’t put artificer out either, it could be a creation where Gepetto was an artificer and Pinocchio took after him.

Siobhan- sleeping beauty- because she’s the princess and they’re usually associated with beauty as either good or bad, I’m going to guess charisma caster.  Like a sorcerer or warlock, both would fit the fucked up fairytale horror genre. Since she’s sleeping beauty though I could also see druid as a twist on the thorns that grew in her sleep.

I’m excited for the new season, even though it sucks we have to wait until november 30th.  That’s more than a month away.  I know they deserve time time to rest and recharge their batteries, but it feels like it should have been an october game, since at the end of november will lead them to christmas time and beyond which doesn’t really fit the mood.

[themetaisfutile]

How do you go about creating a new character?

Literally anything can start it, from the simple concepts to jokes to memes to subversions of archetypes or the archetypes themselves.

CptTritium: There’s a couple of processes. Oftentimes I think of an archetype. Thorne, one of my favorites, was going to be the horny bard, but that ended up being a drow tiefling and she ended up being more nuanced than that. But Thorne was supposed to be the horny bard, but with discussion with other table members, it went from that to “What if he’s on a quest for love?” Very upbeat, very passionate, bright side of life, super happy all the time; he could find a redeeming quality in a Balrog. Golden retriever. Then Rose said, “why not make him an artificer”. That’s how he got his gun, Commitment, and a sniper rifle attachment, Long Distance Relationship, and then he has the undocumented feat where he can just, tuxedo-mask a rose out of nowhere. But for an NPC, that can be either super planned out, or like. Cutter, for example, exists because I have this scar on my neck. Scourge of the seas, he was mutinied against, did they not cut deep enough or did he crawl back out of hell. He was going to be a Halloween costume but I ended up making him the villain for Axia and charting out his wants and needs and motivations. Then there’s off-the-cuff NPCs. Most comes organically, others require thought, I listen to music and come up with ideas.

RosexKnight: I sometimes make my characters around the builds! Character creation just works like this, literally any prompt can spark a new character. I’ve made entire families for a character based on a bit, or for a ship, or literally any spark!

Jademod: A combination of things, really? If I get an adopt design, how do I build the character around this design; other times we design the characters ourselves from scratch. That’s a combination of what I think would be an interesting thing to do or not done before, like a take on a class or combination of classes. Now that the world’s getting more fleshed out I try to come up with things that tie to something we know in the world.

Ry: Monkey brain; throw things at a wall and see what sticks/people like. I wanna make a character that jives with everybody, and has some level of chemistry with the group. Like Ezraan was just made to be a scaredy-cat who just wants to help everybody and heal people; he’s the voice of fear, not the voice of reason, but I’ve had a lot of fun with playing him. It’s not that he won't do something, he will, he just won’t be happy about it. He is easily frightened, can see the odds are completely overwhelming but still chooses to go help everyone out. He could just cower in fear but something in him propels him forward.

Bluebrush09: I go through my horses and figure out which I feel like doing. Making new characters is very prone to whimsy. Like Quentin, it was 2am and he just, never left. Hecked off for a while, had to do stuff with Flick, who was out of spite because too many horny kobolds… I just make whatever works.

ZenAquaria: Like the other artists at the table, it varies! Like, for Vess, with her creation, I am obsessed with vampires and I wanted to do the take on the reluctant vampire, but also accepts what she is. With her, it was just a matter of bringing her from her original writing in a roleplay some 6 years ago to a more contemporary character build. She was already designed and fleshed out, I just applied the classes that fit her abilities the best, as opposed to someone like my homebrew gryphonfolk, the Toraion. Ash was crafted entirely out of a concept I nicked out of Blu’s server for a general premise based on Percival du Rolo from Critical Role with the whole warlock plague doctor aesthetic. So how can I take that premise and make it so that it works? It was a focus on acid and poison with necrotic but the limitations of warlock made a pure warlock difficult. Ended up going alchemist artificer with it, which has the abilities for the bonuses to those damage types, as well as feats like Metamagic Adept, for Transmute Spell, turning a fireball into an acidball. And artificer also for the firearm proficiency so I didn’t have to grab another feat for it.

[outeremissary]

OC Tag Game

Tagged by @mountainashfae. I'm not sure who has or has not been tagged for this, so if it hasn't reached you and you're interested, @turbulentpumpkin43, @silversiren1101, and @bearvanhelsing.

Favorite OC: My dearest and most special boy Caina Lilindel. Definitely one of my peak "working some things out through this one" characters. Special mention to Balthazar as well. Working some things out through that one as well.

Newest OC: I haven't needed to create a character for anything recently... The character I remember fleshing out most recently was Theodora, although her initial concept was from 2021. Theo is a sweet hearted but spoiled young princess who has begun to take a deeper interest in the mystery of her mother's identity as she stands on the cusp of adolescence. Her two dreams are to learn who her mother was and go to a normal school. The truth is that she has no mother, although that's only the first of many things her father has kept secret about his past that come up in her search for answers. Ultimately there's probably not much that will ever come of Theodora's story; you could say she's the non-canonical child of another character.

Oldest OC: That I remember the name of? My first D&D 3.5 character, an elf rogue I made when I was eight years old for a family game. When originally created her name was Nijeera the Swift and she was supposed to be in an AD&D 1e game. It was converted to 3.5 before starting because my dad thought it was a more accessible system for kids and I changed Nijeera's name to N'jira (that pointless fantasy apostrophe...) and eventually gave her the surname Amastacia (one of the default elf surnames). N'jira was a rambunctious young woman who ran away from home for a life of adventure with her half-sister after years of increasing bitterness towards her father after he remarried and moved the family into a new city. She was sassy, reckless, and glory-seeking- a kid's idea of what a fun, cool rogue was like. My sibling played the half-sister, a ranger named Crysta.

I used her as an NPC in a lot of things when I started DMing in high school and college, updating the name to Nadia Amastacia and changing her class to warlock. Nadia is really a more or less entirely different character though. As a warlock, Nadia was born to an elvish aristocratic family that had strong hereditary pride in their magical abilities, with sorcery and more conventional studied magecraft thick in the family tree. Nadia, however, was an absolutely hopeless study with no natural talent. No matter how much she wanted to meet her parents' expectations, she failed again and again until a malicious fey took advantage of her desperation to offer her power at a price: that one day when she reached the height of her beauty, he would come to take her away. The power didn't make her as happy as she had hoped: everything felt off and unearned, and she was driven to conceal the source of her new abilities. And as she aged she began to realize the terrible implications of her pact, leaving home to find a way to break it- ideally killing her patron along the way.

The last time Nadia was played in something it was actually a Madoka Magica homebrew my friend was working on in 2019, where she was the group's mean girl genius whose talents all came from her wish.

Meanest OC: It feels like kind of a cheat to say Balthazar but at the same time as far as developed characters from things I actually work on go... Yeah. Certainly the most actively spiteful and cruel. I have a fondness for characters with a mean streak though, so I think many of my characters wind up mildly unpleasant to be around.

Softest OC: I'd give the award to Melanthius, my pacifist life cleric from 5e. Despite being in their early 30s, Mel is incredibly sheltered, having lived all their life in the temple their parents had dedicated them to. They had always been told that they were especially blessed and favored by their goddess, and they had a strong belief that they owed it to the world to care for others and act as a conduit bringing that blessing to the less fortunate who sought aid at the temple. Despite being kidnapped by conquering general attempting to lay claim to their power and later being held captive by a cult, Mel isn't the kind of person who can hold grudges. They hold no ill will towards anyone and are gentle to the point of fault (despite their inflated ego as the "chosen one"). They struggle to recognize when they are being mistreated- they are quick to blame themself for anything and afraid to confront the abusive nature of their upbringing. Because they struggle to believe anyone is intentionally cruel, they have a way of trying to talk it out with everyone- and had an astounding penchant for diplomancy despite their 9 Cha that broke half the encounters in the adventure and drove the DM insane. Truly, friendship is magic.

Most aloof/standoffish OC: Hmmm. I guess to me these words mean different things, but taking them together it must be Carmen Regis, the fighter I played in Ghosts of Saltmarsh who was later adapted to a cavalier KC for Wrath. Carmen was originally conceived as a 3.5 ranger for a campaign about fey and mysterious wishes that never got off the ground- she was a mounted archer there, a kind of intermediary stage from the two older OCs she was adapted from. But none of that is relevant. The aloofness is pretty clear in her cold, unpersonable demeanor. She's naturally quiet, blunt, and not very expressive unless deeply agitated (and usually angry). She doesn't mean to come off as an ice queen, but she really does... It doesn't bother her much not forming many social connections though. More than any other character of mine, she's married to her job.

Dumbest (affectionate) OC: Absolutely Altin Wastelander, my orc dhampir gunslinger for Outlaws of Alkenstar. She's not even /actually/ dumb. She has 14 Int, I'm pretty sure. And yet despite that, she's an idiot. All she cares to use brainpower on are guns and mechanical contraptions of interest. There's no space in her brain for anything else. She shoots first and remembers she was supposed to ask questions about an hour later. Her idea of stealthily relocating a person involved a sandwich cart and bombing a public square (girl that's terrorism...). She once fired a box of fireworks on a dense crowd trying to inconvenience one guy. She has been repeatedly bringing up the fact that the party has been asked by their employer not to kill civilians just because she's worried that if she doesn't she'll forget. She's convinced a woman she's never seen for more than thirty seconds is her personal rival. She's mad there's a bounty on her head because she was arrested for the wrong crime, where the wrong crime was a high profile heist and the correct crime was holding up a fantasy 7-11. Clown ass CN dhampir. She means so well she just hasn't even stopped to think about the Ethical Issues with her actions.

Smartest OC: Cailo Suncatcher for sure. Despite behaving like a fool and a terrifying penchant for recklessly endangering herself (she is the wizard who refuses to stay out of melee), Cailo is a genius. They taught themself all of the magic they know, and have constantly found ways to innovate with that knowledge. Never content with the knowledge that's already available in the world, she constantly pushes for new understanding of the workings of the arcane and the metaphysical nature of the world. Cailo's foolishness is half facade and half others misunderstanding them: they're happy to present themself in a way she thinks others will underestimate, and believe that there is no situation they can't find a way out of. The confidence isn't unearned. Cailo also wins the title "Most Likely to Ascend to Godhood."

Horniest OC: Character I never did much with named Johannes who was a very, very repressed generic fantasy priest. Not going much deeper into this one since this isn't an nsfw account; Johannes was made to prove a point to someone about my capacity to think up erotica characters.

In terms of characters I have spent more than three days on, I'd give the award to Balthazar simply for being sexually motivated enough that I have to occasionally imagine what it's like to have libido. Truly an alien mind.

OC you’d be best friends with irl: Cailo or my dear obnoxious drow witch boy Olin Foundling. There is some kind of shared neurodivergence between us I think. I want to hang out and talk about interests for hours. I want to hear Olin's blood magic infodump.

[captainkingsley]

My favorite dnd setting is Eberron and now I'm thinking up an Eberron au for the Nein for the fun of it. Some get a class swap, too, but I guess that just comes with the setting change.

There would obviously be a whole different plot, and while I don't want to undertake the ordeal of writing an entire fic, here's my ramblings for the Nein and how they'd fit into the Eberron setting.

Molly, a Risian tiefling with ice coating his horns. Blood hunters in Eberron have their own suggested lore, and with it I could see him being a part of the Order of the Silver Night. For every cut to himself, a part of his soul seeps out of him, making room for Lucien — the original owner of the body, and possibly attached to the Lords of Dust, having defected from the Order? Molly hopes to break the connection between them before all nine of the eye tattoos open.

Caleb, formerly a student of the floating towers of Arcanix, now a very accomplished artificer, with his steel defender, Frumpkin. After uncovering that one of his teachers has a connection to the evil bound and whispering under the towers, he's been on the run and learning how to use the new post-war technology to topple the heirarchy of the school.

Veth, who made a deal with one of the daughters of Sora Kell to get her family back, now a warlock. Still a rogue, as well, which I think some botched thievery led to her losing her family and becoming indebted to Sora Teraza. She was promised that once she fulfilled her debt, she'd get Yeza and Luc back — but Veth isn't sure how much the hag wants.

Fjord, a former member of the Diresharks, running from the Lhazaar Principalities out of his fear of the agreement his Prince made with the Emerald Claw. At first he tried sailing with another crew, but after Vandran's ship was attacked by one flying the colors of the Diresharks, Fjord fled to the mainland in hopes of severing his connection.

Jester, also a planetouched tiefling, but one with influence from Thelanis, carrying with her the stories from the Fae plane. There are some stories that have unwritten endings, and she's going to find them — even if one of them is her own.

Beau, the only one getting a race change, though her appearance stays the same: a kalashtar monk, whose quori helps her still despite the tension between her and her family. Her quori does their best to help her cope with her struggles after she left on bad terms, while training her to control the abilities she never finished studying in her time at the monastery.

Caduceus, a druid following the ancient ways of the Gatekeepers, living in a secluded area of the Shadow Marches. Firbolgs aren't common in Eberron, at least in Khorvaire — so the strange, ancient magic he uses to bar the dead from entering the material plane is shrugged off as just a part of what he is.

Yasha, a planetouched aasimar of Shavarath, as strong as the steel and iron that are associated with the plane. Bound to pursue one side of the conflict, but she doesn't know which one. One day she feels the pull from the devils, and the next the celestials pull her toward a path of justice. The Silver Flame has an interest in her helping to unlock her full potential — maybe that's where she met Mollymauk.

Any of the Nein could wind up Dragonmarked, as well — I know official Eberron lore suggests that they're connected to race, but my own personal homebrew of Siberys Dragonmarks will manifest on anyone of any race or family, so.

[ettawritesnstudies]

you're in an eberron campaign too?!

I was! Unfortunately it won't be finishing because we had a few players drop out (the game was great, but both players were computer-science-business double majors and 3rd year classes are murder). It was a lot of fun while it lasted though! I really love the setting and we had some fantastic inter-party intrigue going on!

I pitched the idea of playing Min, a changeling arcane trickster rouge trying to set themself up as a crime lord. "Larua the Liege of Theives" was really Min just wearing several different alter egos. None of the party knew this, even though Larua was employing all of them. They had personal beef with the Deneith house. (all of the alter ego's names were also puns, I had a whole list, I was quite proud of it)

The Totally Human Fighter literally named "Manny" was actually a bronze dragon called Ishmael who forgot who he was after PTSD in the great war, and he was just currently a goofball hoarder stuck in human form. Also the patron to the party's warlock but had no idea.

Marlowe was the party warlock, but before he made the pact with Ishmael, he was a member of the Deneith house but got kicked out. He also had no clue Manny was his patron and they bickered all the time, it was absolutely hilarious.

P1L07 (Pilot) was a warforged artificerwho wanted to learn how to fly again after the Great War ended and he lost his purpose. Bonded with Manny over war truama. Played by my IRL artificer mad scientist friend who consistently brought neat trinkets to every game, like 3D printed clear resin prescription lenses and a working light up LED lightsaber that could be programed with different glow patterns.

And last but not least, Aewin d'Thuranni - an elven wizard who solved all his problems with murder and was best friends with one of Min's alter egos, while bickering constantly with Min's other alter ego, and actively trying to assassinate the 3rd alter ego.

The gist of the plot was that we were all chaotic neutral theives who would be doing heists but we accidentally tripped into heroics by trying to stop people who were trying to restart the Great War and position themselves on top by getting ahead of the fighting.

I'm sad we'll never finish that game because I have a soft spot for those sessions, since they were the first in person games I played with my uni friends when we got back from lockdowns, and the first time I'd ever played with them in person. But the same DM has started a new game in a homebrew world called Nexia and I'm super excited to see where he takes us with that!

sorry that turned into a ramble sldkjsdlkjdfsljkfs. What's your game about?????? I love the setting of Eberron so much, I want to hear about your experience with it!

[bramblepatch]

where can i find more about your ocs tho I wanna know more before i ask...

OK SO I'm terribly disorganized but a few of the highlights:

#bramble's adventures in tabletopping is my TTRPG tag, recent/long term PCS include:

Tally Goodbobbin, halfling warlock of the archfey, homebrew 1910s setting (D&D 5e). Shiftless youngest daughter of an affluent merchant family, made a pact with the Fourth Bride of Winter while blackout drunk on absinthe at a party and now travels the countryside with her friends in a stolen model T doing good deeds because it's easier than dealing with consequences. Won the parentage of a two-year-old in a fairy riverboat casino and recently failed to prevent the assassination of Fantasy Archduke Ferdinand.

Bastiaan "Much" Eikenboom, gnome druid of spores, Waterdeep Dragon Heist (D&D 5e). Perennial grad student in applied mycology who accidentally initiated himself into the Circle of Spores and is now on indefinite medical leave from the school. Not a necromancer, he insists, as he uses niche necromancy knowledge that he learned in his theoretical necromancy classes to solve necromancy problems.

[the sound of a stone hitting a bandit's shitty helmet], or Plunk, kenku scout rogue, Rime of the Icemaiden (D&D 5e). Grew up in Ten-Towns, is now investigating the whole "eternal winter" thing on behalf of her family's powerful contacts from Luskan. The only adult in the party.

Kit September, antiquarian darkling of the autumn court (Changeling: the Lost). Snarky, perpetually on its phone, uses it/itself pronouns. Put a party member on a magical baby leash and has more or less adopted its own fetch.

My main original cast right now is my Goblins of Hillock House, major characters are:

Notorious highwaygoblin Rose o' Roads - successful and extremely flamboyant bandit, a bad influence but in a fun quirky way, Has A Motif And They're Sticking To It (it's roses).

Jenny Leech, doctor at Hillock House Hospital - no-nonsense, generally wears a vaguely plaguedoctor-like mask, very enthusiastic about disinfecting things although she may or may not have a working understanding of germ theory.

Alfred the Poisoner, alchemist and apothecary - would like to remind everyone that it was one time, ok, he hasn't poisoned anyone in years, stop laughing Rose he knows you're the one who convinced everyone to call him that. Fussy and a bit of a softy.

Jenny Little, apprentice apothecary - Alfred's student, her parents sent her to study at Hillock House after like the third time she accidentally poisoned herself in the hope that she'd learn what not to put in her mouth.

Also I have like a zillion fantrolls, I'm not gonna list 'em but you can ask about anyone who shows up in the fantroll tag on my artblog.