This stuff is always fun, good thought! I no longer have time to really play the game anymore, but I do find time to playtest the Epic adventures with my only remaining active PC:
Azurescale of the Mithral Order; Knight Exalted of Cormyr; Blue Dragon Knight Commander and Honorary Knight of Myth Drannor. Proud member of the Champions of Thulbane adventuring company. Dragonborn Barbarian, Mithral Arm, Avatar of Io.
Who would have thought that an escaped convict from Wheloon (wrongfully imprisoned) would someday become a Purple Dragon Knight Commander in service to King Foril? After saving the life of the king, Azurescale was awarded the rank of Knight Commander of the Purple Dragon Knights, given command of a unit affectionately called the "Blue Dragon Knights," in light of the color of their dragonborn commander's scales.
Despite his short temper, Azurescale has a deep sense of honor and channels his rage towards just pursuits. His loyalty to the eladrin of Myth Drannor is unquestioned, second only to his trusted adventuring companions and the crown of Cormyr itself.
Dragonscale fills the primary striker/back-up defender role in any party, able to dish out healthy doses of damage as well as the occasional bursts of bloodshed that barbarians are known for. His strong defenses and escape mechanisms make him hardier than most characters, and with a teleport speed of 5 and the ability to teleport 8 squares after each skill, his mobility is nearly unparalelled (fly 8 with hover comes next level). His dragon breath is surprisingly effective (3d6 + 21/23, area burst 2), and he can often use it every round. He's a classic example of how successful a character can be when suitably diversified (rather than putting all eggs into a single basket).
FEATS Weapon Proficiency (Fullblade), Master at Arms, Silvery Glow, Student of the Sword, Superior Reflexes, Draconic Arrogance, Dragonbreath Warrior, Hurl Breath, Danger Sense, Superior Will, Heavy Blade Mastery, Second Skin, Overpowering Charge, Draconic Triumph
POWERS Howling Strike, Pressing Strike, Fast Hands, Combat Surge, Curtain of Steel, Oak Hammer Rage, Mighty Sprint, Storm of Blades, Ancestral War Band Rage, Spur the Cycle, Stone-Splitting Roar, Elder Tuskbrother Rage, Unexpected Clarity, Throw Back the Horde
ITEMS Chill Wind Fullblade +5, Shadowfell Blade Fullblade +5, Battle Harness Stalkerhide Armor +5, Raven Cloak +5, Arkhosian Scepter +5, Skyrender Javelin +4, Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor (paragon tier), Ring of Dimensional Escape (paragon tier), Golden Ring of Teros, Iron Armbands of Power (paragon tier), Belt of Breaching (paragon tier), Eladrin Boots (paragon tier), Helm of Able Defense (paragon tier), Gloves of Ice (epic tier), Siberys Shard of Merciless Cold (epic tier), Solitaire (Violet), Horreb Ritual Cube (paragon tier), Stone of Earth (paragon tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier), Keoghtom's Ointment (paragon tier), Frozen Whetstone (heroic tier) (38), Strongheart Dagger +1
Dave Kay LFR Writing Director Retiree dkay807 [at] yahoo [dot] com
I'm glad people are enjoying this so far. I have a few more characters I plan on adding soon.
Any thoughts on the formatting in the "table of contents" so to speak? I've just been putting character name, race and class. I didn't want to put level because I figure people might edit their posts, so level may change. Maybe I should include the player? Paragon path and epic destiny are technically subject to retraining, but maybe these?
Kelith came into being during some necromantic activity in Waterdeep (1st adventure WATE1-6). Without much memory to go on, he only had a strong urge to put an end to whatever force had disturbed his rest. So banding together with a group of others with similar purpose, he helped put an end to a troublesome necromancer. This however did not cause him to return to his final rest as he had hoped, and so he wanders the realms going wherever he can find danger in the hopes of once again finding peace. He uses his skills to draw harm to himself whenever possible, and recently ran into a cult of non-evil Loviatar worshippers who he took a bit of a liking to.
Amusing event: Near the end of one encounter of his carreer he had been dominated by an enemy and reduced to like -3 hp by another, but the dominating enemy was killed before Kelith's turn came up. Being dominated but without recieving any commands he just stood there still concious due to being a revenant, and he passed his death save but failed his dominate save. This went on for about 3 more turns until the combat was finally over, and he was taking almost no damage thanks to resist all from the Belt of Sonnlinor Righteousness, so he was just standing there with a blank stare but not quite tipping over.
Playstyle: Ruthless Efficiency gives him the full ruthless ruffian class feature, and Righteous Fury lets him make his MBA rattling in exchange for -2 to hit, so he gets to add his str bonus again to damage. Arena Battle Rhythm lets him do dex mod damage on a miss, so they take the rattling penalty even on a miss because the rattling keyword only requires that damage be done, not a hit. Group Rattling gives his allies +1 to hit against rattled enemies. Lastly, Rakish Swashbuckler gives allies CA against any enemy marked by him. Hounding Assault and Executioner's Mien add rattling to other attacks for 2 encounters per day. Stacking mark with rattling makes it more difficult to hit anyone, and various other powers add further stacking penalties, like glowering threat or menacing surge. Shield Edge Block is handy to turn a hit into a miss against him, and Staggering Challenge lets him stop an enemy from shifting if desired. He has a slight leader feel with the ally attack buffs and enemy debuffs, and he even grants a minor init bonus with his Helm of Battle. Eventually I want to add various other half-elf ally aiding feats like goup insight for another init bonus, and combine group assault and tactical insight in epic to give allies +3 to damage against his marked enemies.
ITEMS Diadem of Acquity, Elven Cloak, Finbemail of Resistyance, Lunia's Bracelet, Harsh Songblade +1, Flute of the Dancing Satyr, Melora's Blessing, Ritual book
LANGUAGUES
Common, Nar, Supernal
'Samantha' was born as an alu-fiend (half-devil) in ancient Narfell, and acted as the brutal commander of a small group of armed men in the war that lead up to the Great Conflagaration.
Unlike her men, who all died, Samantha managed to escape death by accepting servitude in the armies of Graz'z't, joing that demon's army of succubi in the Abbyss.
Transformed into a devil, she survived for centuries, doing evil and in the process manipulating and betraying whoever she worked with, confident that she could get away with it in the everlasting chaos of the Blood War.
She finally was imprisoned in a magic circle in a dungeon under the Giant Mountains and left there for over a hundred years, until she as finally discovred and taken captive by a priestess of Sune.
Cut of from existence for decades, Sam discovered to her horror that the world had changed. The Blood War was over, and now, a great many devils and demons wree out for her blood.
In desperation, she made a bargain with Sune when chained to the goddess altar awaiting judgment. If the devil would truly repent, Sune would allow her into the Gates of the Moon, where she would find sanctuary against her enemies.
To show the truth of he rintentions, she was stripped of most of her powers, and sent into the world to perform Sune's will.
Now, she finds herself thrust in situations that confront her with acts of evil - acts in a long list she herself has once performed - with the mission to set things right.
As she performs these deeds, her power slowly returns.
But despite her many deeds, the truth is yet unclear. Does she truly seek redemption, or is every kind word a lie, and every good deed only a trick?
Remarkable vents:
- helping deliver a child
- getting sold into slavery
- taking a hit for a prisoner when another party member tried to kill him
- winning a contest in Chult with an all-girl team by seducing their opponents
- dating Leaflow Carver
- meeting the leader of the Creel in Narfell (a descendant?)
Carn never felt like he fit in among his minotaur bretheren. First of all, he was much, much smaller than they were - he couldn't even lift his greataxe. His lack of horns was disturbing as well. Carn also noticed that, perhaps because he was small, the other minotaurs kept licking their lips and saying something about delicious livers whenever he was around; that's when Carn got good at hiding.
Then came the day when some of his larger cousins cornered him. They brought seasonings and butter. That was the day that Carn first heard The Voice. It told him to yell as loudly as he could, and his cousins would begin to respect him. Carn didn't understand why The Voice thought that yelling would be of any help against superior numbers, superior size, and butter, but who was he to argue? After all, The Voice had capital letters in its title, so it must have some sort of importance.
Sure enough, The Voice was right. The other minotaurs were terrified when he yelled at them. The Voice told Carn that if he wanted to avoid retribution that would be feared even by the Abolethic Sovereignty in Xxiphu, he should run to Myth Drannor as quickly as possible. Carn did not understand at least five words in the previous sentence. However, Carn did understand running - he always excelled at it, even though he felt like some bizarre rule of the universe should prevent him from being able to run as quickly as the other minotaurs. At least, he would if he knew what "bizarre" meant - The Voice used strange words sometimes. He thought it had something to do with shopping, but that didn't seem right given the context - whatever a "context" was.
Along his journey, Carn learned many important lessons from The Voice. He learned how to yell even louder than before. He learned how to run even faster. He learned how to make things fall down before he killed them. Perhaps most importantly, he learned that whenever The Voice told him to ask a question, he got an important answer, even if the person being asked the question seemed as confused as he was. He even learned that the best questions didn't even use real words - that was when he and The Voice got the most interesting answers of all!
In time, Carn and The Voice arrived in Myth Drannor. At first, Carn was not impressed by these "elves". They didn't even know how to kill bugs. Then they needed him to kill things that were already trapped in a tower. Then they lost their own children in a stupid dungeon with an old man who yelled at Carn to get off his lawn. Carn showed the old man, though. He got off the old man's lawn, but only after he stole the old man's shiny purple sword - The Voice told him it was important. Lastly, the silly elves wanted him to go fight a tower with a purple thing that had tentacle face. Carn couldn't attack the tentacle face thing, but he got to kill lots of fire dwarf things, a ghost with a really long metal rope, and as many bony hand things as he wanted. It was just like a party back home, only the things he was killing were already dead.
After all this fun, Carn took a vacation. On the vacation, he met some of his cousins. They wanted to attack him with seasoning and butter, too, but when Carn listened to The Voice and yelled at them, they stopped attacking him with butter (except the dog-faced one, but Carn taught him a lesson) and gave him the title Friend Not Food. They also gave Carn a hat with horns on it so he could look more like the minotaur he knew he was.
Sadly, the vacation ended early when the elves wanted Carn to come back. This time, the elves wanted him to help with some kind of entertaining gentlemen in a castle. Carn was not sure why the elves wanted him to attack the Fun Guys, and when The Voice told him to ask about it, the elves looked confused again. Maybe they were just boring. Anyway, Carn and his friends went to the castle and killed lots of mushroomy things, but they did not see the entertaining gentlemen the elves told them about; maybe The Voice warned them to leave. After Carn came back, the elves seemed happy, and even gave him an honorary knighthood for it!
During a party to celebrate his knighthood, Myth Drannor was attacked - again - and Carn helped to kill evil demon-things, even though one elf threw a really big rock at him (he missed). But while he was ducking the rock, The Voice told him one more thing - that if he listened to The Voice, he would grow to be the same size as the other minotaurs and be able to fight with his cousins back home.
And so it is that Carn, Knight of Myth Drannor, Friend Not Food, continues to travel and adventure with The Voice, the Great Horned Society, and the Knights of Myth Drannor, to find a way to restore him to his proper size and girth.
John du Bois Living Forgotten Realms Writing Director, Netheril story area
Follow me on The Twitter: @JohnduBois Follow my presence on The Intertubes: johncdubois.wordpress.com
Brudabon, Damphyr Warforged Earthstrength Warden/Fighter, Breach Warden, member of the Fallen Adventuring Company
This is a tale not oft told of when Brudabon awoke amongst new companions, all of whom were, if not so much living impared as been given an abundance of unlife.
"So many names for those who fly like a flame in the wind. Though now that I consider you, I see you folks seem a bit more steady." The booming voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Suddenly the ground shifts as the husk of a burned tree lurches from the soil and shakes off a rusted fence that had become entwined in it. "I think you folks endure, as I do. Maybe it would be good to travel with others who take their time and endure, and not those quick ones, they don't seem to like me very much."
Upon consideration of no doubt startled fellows, the tree man continues, "A name? Well that would be a long tale. My very own name would tire even your enduring ears. But it begins like Booomgrrrraaash-tch-tch-tch-tch." A long sonorous thundering voice seems to echo around the trunk of the tree and finish with the sound of the whispering wind and clattering branches. "The quick fellows seems to call me, when they remember to talk about me at all, they call me the Blood Tree, or Brudubon. I admit, I've lost the lively green that once filled me with sap and when I thirst I find it not from the sun but the little suns inside warm bodies. But I try to think of the lost lady and just endure."
"Who is the lady? Long ago, before I was as I am now, I was, I grew. I was a home and was loved. A great lady was in me and I in her," the great tree man spoke wistfully. Suddenly anger took his voice as he belched, "Then came the cutters and the burners and all the friends of the forest departed. I hardly knew that it was so, but I knew. The lady in me knew. She punished the cutters and burners and made war with them." His voice eases as he continues, "She did not win, but did not lose, for I am here, she made me more, made me endure and gave me life and voice. She is still in me, but departed. Now I walk around looking for her with my little light. I've been walking for a very long time, but then I found this soil. It was nice and black and loamy, just the kind of place to take a nice long sit." The tree man seems to relax and you can almost feel again warm summer breezes.
"Here I weathered wind and storm, waiting. I walked so much I thought to wait for myself to catch up. And now I see that you all are gathered here as well. I will go with you and if you need some shelter I will attempt to provide as best I can."
He is the phylactery tree for a Thicket Dryad Lich, and is searching for the drayd who left, being driven off by adventurers who nearly completed their quest, but left enough alive for the phylactery to survive. Perhaps the spellplague gave the tree un-life and intelligence, it does have a haunting light and occasionally when angered fire forms into new foliage on his branches and vines.
He's addressing a group of vampires and revenants (to be the Fallen Adventuring Company), hense them "enduring" like him.
Notable accomplishments: Nearly failed at not assassinating the Coronal of Myth Drannor by coughing up the plague carrying victim of a fungal super plague in her presence. Scared the crap out of the Zhents so much, they made him one. Infiltrated Undumor as a Vampire - big stretch. Was dressed up as a Dark Moon festival tree and smuggled into a room of brainwashed kids, thought eating one would shut the others up (coughed him back up safe and sound). Puppeted a nobleman's corpse around a graveyard via ropes from his branches. Currently has eaten (and so is hauling around): an Evil Book, tainted Iomic Crystal, an Immolith Skill, Dracolich Bones, a Mindflayer's Brain, several green dragon eggs, and a mile of rope. He immediately eats any payment he recieves and many mission critical items.
He is both offically a Vampire Lord (of Impultur) and worshiped as a God there (critically intimidated a certain idol in an abandoned temple). Mated with some sentient moss and created a child who has gone on to spread the word of a new Tree God to the people, and have quite the paragon career itself (Primal Seed, an 11th level startup character - probably even crazier than Brudabon).
The wildly shifting portal had finally closed. The crazed wizard was defeated, and Aglarond was safe for the time being, but not without a toll. Marcus and Korrigan lie dead, and Shale, the priest of Tymora, could not reach through the beyond to their souls. He and his wife, Lizbet, Sune’s heartwarder, were the only survivors of the battle. But there was another presence. The cries of a newborn child were heard. Shale immediately found the babe…not quite human, but not inhuman either. The child’s cord had been severed by the portal. The wizard’s magic had claimed one last tragedy – separating this child from another world from her family.
“Shale, this is a sign,” said Lizbet. “Our friends are dead, and this child needs someone to raise her. Let us retire from this life, before it takes us as well. Sune will smile on our love.”
“Aye. Though we bury our friends, Tymora’s blessing shines on us and this child, sparing us from the worst of the wizard’s vortex. Let us name her…Serendipity.”
10 years ago
Serendipity had grown into quite the warrior of Sune, just like her adopted mother was; stunningly beautiful, but with a force of will all her own. She had discovered she was never alone…a voice in her mind always calmed her. When she fought, the voice lashed out, guiding her sword. It was as though her muscles did not guide the blade – her will did. She was ready to begin her travels, carrying on in her mother’s mission to the glory of Sune.
5 years ago
Serendipity had traveled the lands, but never really put her blade to much use yet. The fellow Sunites she had met were…different in their worship. She was not a hedonist as they were. While she found the act of lovemaking to be beautiful, it seemed as though many only celebrated its physical rapture. There was something missing. So she traveled on.
4 years ago
It was in Impiltur that she met him. Camden. He was like she was, and he could answer so many questions. His people, known as the kalashtar, the quori, both and yet never simply one, had come here during the ravages of the spellplague. A small village was ripped from its home in Reidra and brought here, as part of the strange events that accompanied the shattering of the Weave. He was a beautiful and wise young man, a devoted healer. She fell strongly in love with him. Their bond wasn’t merely physical – the quori they carried bonded as well, and they were joined by thought in a bond few mortals could grasp.
As they married, she renounced her vows to Sune, and joined him in the worship of Ilmater, the Crying God, as they planned to devote themselves to washing away the pain of others. But Sune had other plans for the young couple. She struck a blow and changed their bond. Whenever one felt pain, the other would feel it magnified tenfold. A nick of a sword or a glancing blow in battle would knock the other unconscious.
Serendipity would never have what her parents, Lizbet and Shale, experienced, a life of adventure from the one they loved. So they adventured separately. But their love yet persevered. The distance of nations could not destroy it, and the precious moments they spent together stayed always close in their hearts.
1 year ago
It was after a raid into Thay that Serendipity returned to the home of her parents. Lizbet had passed on, but Shale still tended his flock in a village in Aglarond. She and Camden had spoken of what she would do, and both agreed it was what was right for her. Visiting her mother’s shrine, she spoke to Sune, openly, for the first time in years.
“My Lady, Sune, hear my prayer. My husband’s devotion to easing the suffering of others became my own, and I will never let that pass. But I understand now the lessons you have taught me. While my insights may not match those of all of your worshipers, it was my love, my deep love for Camden, that always kept me whole, kept me fighting. The blows of many foul things have come to me, and my love has always given me the strength to stand in the face of them. Let me serve you again, for the love of anyone must be defended. Let me be…your Heartwarder.”
A few weeks ago.
Serendipity’s travels since embracing her role as Heartwarder had led her here…a raging battle in the before the Throne of Cormyr. A voice cried into the minds of her and her allies. “Welcome, my friends. I see you received my invitation. Thank you for responding so promptly. So, what is your answer? Will you serve my Queen?” Serendipity spoke no words as she drew her sword, but her minds lashed out at the telepathic intrusion.
“WE SERVE ONLY THE LADY SUNE, AND THE LOVE SHE PROTECTS. WE ARE SERENDIPITY. WE CANNOT BE DEFEATED.”
Mechanically, Serendipity was my attempt to defy the prevailing wisdom that you in D&D4E, you simply couldn't make the equivilent of an MMO tank, who takes every attack and survives it. Frequently, Serendipity does exactly that. She has numerous ways of multi-marking lots of foes, punishing them all for violating her mark, and still surviving the incoming pain.
She layers every mechanism possible to survive incoming damage. High defenses? Check. High hit points and surges? Check. Temporary hit points? Check. Resistances? Check. Status shrugging? A little bit...perhaps not as much as I'd like, but effectively free Superior Will from kalashtar is nice.
Initially mobility was an issue, but not any more. Double-speed move adjacent to an enemy? Teleport adjacent to a marked enemy? Fly 8 squares? Trained in Athletics? You bet...it all helps.
She has a strong secondary in leader, with six Lay on Hands a day, and spending a surge gives an adjacent ally temps. Want to spend your action point? Do it near Serendipity for a huge damage bonus that makes warlords jealous, since Resourceful Leader and Bravura Leader stack.
Rebuilt her to take more advantage of her new Ring of Radiant Storms at 18th level...but haven't had a chance to try it yet.
Note: I've cribbed part of Tiernan's history from the true history of Michael Faraday.
Born incredibly poor on the streets of Luskan, Tiernan spent his first seven or eight years not knowing whence his next meal would come. Some theft and some scrounging was definitely involved. As a way to be able to earn a few coppers to buy some bread or meat, he started running errands for a bookbinder in Tradesman's Row, and eventually proved himself competent enough that he was taken on as an apprentice. He learned to read quickly (having been illiterate beforehand), and was soon making copies unsupervised. One task with which he was entrusted was a history of the gods of the Realms, making mention of some now dead and including some theoretical notes on a ritual that was believed by the author to have the possibility of bringing a dead god back to life.
Impulsive, Tiernan made an additional copy of the ritual and spent the next two years gathering the necessary components. Although he had no control over the entity summoned, and his casting of the ritual was imperfect, it left him with some boons nonetheless. He has since continued to serve the goddess he originally summoned and seek new fragments of dead gods to barter with for more powers.
Of middling height, with a shock of red-brown hair, he has tattoos of holy symbols for various forgotten deities tattooed in assorted places. Three points of a seven-pointed star peek out from underneath his collar, and when he can be seen without gloves one palm bears and eye and the other a hammer.
When I get to play him via MapTool (whence I get to do most of my LFR play, rare as it still is for me), I've refluffed all of his power names to reflect assorted dead Realms gods. I've tried to note my re-namings in the sblock below.
POWERS Basic Attack: Melee Basic Attack Basic Attack: Ranged Basic Attack Warlock's Curse Power: Warlock's Curse Warlock Attack 1: Hand of Blight [Grimjaws' Hand] Warlock Attack 1: Eldritch Blast [Cerulean Bolt] Warlock Attack 1: Eyes of the Vestige [Gaze of the Seven-Pointed Star] Warlock Attack 1: Life Bind [Darkbringer's Consumption] Warlock Attack 1: Vile Brand [Reaper's Lash] Warlock Utility 2: Ethereal Stride [BAMF!] Warlock Attack 3: Fortune Binding [Watcher's Reversal] Warlock Attack 5: Vestige of Xandor [Overwhelming Insight]
FEATS Level 1: Heart of the Blade Level 1: Versatile Expertise Level 2: Superior Implement Training (Accurate dagger) Level 4: Dual Implement Spellcaster
ITEMS Adventurer's Kit Thieves' Tools Darkleaf Leather Armor +1 x1 Magic Ashen rod +1 x1 Elven Cloak +2 x1 Climber's Kit Pact Blade Accurate dagger +2 x1 Siberys Shard of the Mage (heroic tier) ====== End ======
