Born to high-ranking elven nobility, he was reviled from birth by his parents. To avoid the scandal of having a cursed child, he was handed over to a temple to Pholtus, the Blinding Light, who agreed to raise the child for a handsome donation. Pholtus, being a very unforgiving deity, inspires a very fanatical doctrine in his followers, who seek out evil wherever it may be and crush it without remorse. He is a deity of endless contempt for evil, and the temple the child was sent to held all of devil-kind in the lowest regard. There, he was taught from the moment he could comprehend their lessons that he was an unholy abomination, and that the devils' blood in his veins doomed him to a life of eternal, and deserved, suffering. They named the child Sin, and tasked him to work as the lucifer of the church. Due to his ability to see in the dark, he was perfect for keeping the candles lit in the church all through the night, and spending the day locked away in his room. Growing up believing he was a monster, he resolved to become a paladin to try and at least somewhat redeem himself in the eyes of his god and his peers. He was allowed to take the Oath of Redemption by his teachers, who believed that if he wanted to buzz off and get himself killed by being an adventurer, then it would be for the best. Sin left the temple clad in armor that covered most of his body, and set out to spread good throughout the world to repent for his fiendish form.
Hopefully his character arc will have him learn to accept himself for who he is, and to exemplify that anyone can be a hero, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they've been through.
I also hope he doesn't seem like too much of a cliché, and while I did take inspiration from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, I wanted to make it just different enough to let my own story come about.
Barr'thokk, a young half-orc soldier (quartermaster)
Barr'thokk was assigned to a new company when they were ordered to escort a High Priest of [DM choice] to the city of [DM choice] in order to broker a truce between two rivalling organisations [DM choice].
However, the group was ambushed by a band of mercenaries. The High Priest was mortally wounded before anyone seemed to notice what was going on. Barr'thokk aided the dying priest by attempting to lay him down and stop the bleeding.
Mumbling something quietly under his dying breath, the high priest placed his holy amulet into Barr'thokk's hands*. As the symbol glowed brightly, Barr'thokk's vision turned red.
A few minutes later his senses returned. Barr'thokk was the only one present still alive. He sat down by the body of what seemed the leader of these mercenaries. He looked at the amulet, still in his bloodied hands and started drawing the symbol onto his shield in blood. When he finished, the shield glowed in a bright red light for a short moment. Barr'thokk took the leader's broken sword, gathered the bodies on the cart, and continued his way.
*Unknown to the character the priest placed a level 9 Geas ("Grow strong. Find the truth. Avenge me") on him that turned him into a Paladin of Vengeance. If this is removed (, or learns that he's placed under a one, or recognises the spell being cast) he'll have to go through a crisis of faith which, depending on how the story goes/what the DM allows, may change his oath (oathbreaker or redemption), or drive him away from the paladin path entirely (multiclass into Fighter or Barbarian and stop levelling as Paladin, or reclass as one of those), or merely change the focus of his vengeance. For this same reason he will not be able to learn this spell.
Kaoru, one of the most unusual concepts I've ever put into the game.
EDIT: Here's a picture.
He is a slightly effeminate boy who as a child always wanted to wear pretty dresses and other girly clothes. That's all there was to it, but he was met with resistance to the idea and told to drop it, even beaten up by other kids and bullied for being different. So to cope with the whole stress, he created a fake second persona named "Red" where he just pretended to be a girl, just so he could wear the clothes he liked in peace. Over the years, he was living a double life with the weaker personality Kaoru who was still struggling with being weaker and smaller than the other boys and Red, the fashionable and cool girl.
This all culminated however when he saw how much more brutal things get once moving from the playground into the real world. Bigotry, exclusion, biases. Kaoru hated all of it, that people couldn't be who they wanted to be. That laws and social norms dictated who can be what instead of themselves. So Kaoru swore the Oath of Vengence. Using the guise of his Red persona, he sweared that he will pursue all those who repress another's freedom and will not rest as long as there are still oppressed people in the world. Training himself in martial techniques and also subterfuge, he turned his Red persona into an avatar of Revenge, a lone vigilante standing for the rights of those who just want to be themselves.
OOCly, I was inspired to create a crossdressing character and I wanted to implement this in an interesting way to the character rather than just having it as side thing with no real relevance. So I put a twist to the whole Batman-Style Vigilante and made it into a bare-thighed defender of justice.
Half-Drow Conquest Paladin in training...before being turned and becoming a follower of Eilastraee.
Bred from human slaves by the wicked drow, Kreznik was nothing more than a shock trooper to serve the drow in their conquest of the surface realms. As a half-drow, Kreznik was immune to the harsh effects of sunlight, but considered disposable and lesser to other drow due to his half-human lineage. Had he completed his training and sworn an Oath of Conquest to Lolth, he'd have likely fought and died without ceremony on the surface.
As it turned out, he was shown a better path by a Moondancer...a priestess of Eilastraee, a surface drow who infiltrated the Underdark to aid other drow in turning away from evil. Her name was Seluna, and she offered Kreznik a brighter future. Suspicious, but tired of his treatment among the drow, he followed her back to the surface.
There, though he was treated with the same suspicion as most dark elves, he was able to live an existence free from pointless violence. Seluna introduced him to a wandering troupe she affiliated with, and gave him a job. There among the oddities and fringe races like tieflings or kenku, Kreznik fit right in.
Though he never swore an Oath to Lolth, he trained under Seluna to become a Sword Bard, suppressing his aggression so he could instead be a champion of Eilastraee and her ideals. He would combat evil, and protect joy and innocence.
His temper, a side-effect of living among the bloodthirsty drow, manifests occasionally as "smites", but he has learned to direct this rage towards the followers of evil. Though he is rough around the edges, he tries to be better than his dark elf lineage.
The drow have always loathed the surface dwellers, and have sought to conquer them and dominate them to their will. However, the inherent weakness that the drow have to sunlight has always weakened their incursions to the surface, making long-term campaigns almost impossible.
To that end, the dark elves bred with their captured human slaves, breeding half-drow to serve as shock troopers on the surface. As they were not full drow, they did not have weakness to sunlight. These half-drow are treated only marginally better than slaves...they are considered tainted, undeserving of the privileges of other full-blooded drow. They are, however, given extensive martial training, and infused with the violent power of Lolth, that they may smite their foes. Their purpose, the only glory they might have, is to fight and die for the drow.
Trent was bred to be such a killer, but during his first assault upon the surface dwellers, his unit was wiped out by a highly trained group of surface elves who had been tipped off by their ambush. Trent was mortally wounded, and was just barely able to escape the butchering of his half-drow brethren. Weakened and bleeding, he stumbled through the unfamiliar countryside of the surface world, until he passed out by a roadside.
He was found by a wandering caravan...a circus carnival. They treated his injuries, but this was no charitable group, though...they imprisoned Trent, and displayed him as a freak for their patrons to gawk at. Many surface races had never seen a drow before, half-drow or otherwise, and they paid good money to get a glimpse of him, chained up like an animal.
It was at this point in his life, Trent understood his place in the world...loathed by his own people, and hated by the surface races. He realized that as an outcast, he would only find some measure of freedom if he took matters into his own hands. He scorned Lolth and the dark elves, and took up an Oath of Conquest...he would become the master of this surface world, and the Underdark below.
But in order to do so, he would need power...and to rid himself of his human captors.
And so Trent, one by one, killed his way to freedom, executing his jailors and setting fire to the carnival that had imprisoned him. No longer would he be a pawn in another person's conquest...he would serve himself, and dominate any who dared oppose him.
He became a mercenary, and began a crusade to garner power and influence. His half-drow lineage did much to instill fear in his foes, and his fighting skills soon became heavily sought after. The people who paid for his services might fear him, but they reasoned that their enemies would, too.
In combat, he wears a "Smoldering Breastplate" and "Dread Helm" to give himself a nightmarish appearance...eyes that glow red beneath the helm, and armor that gives off thick black smoke.
While not entirely "evil", he is very self-serving...a consequence of refusing to ever be exploited by others ever again. He does, however, possess a soft spot for those who have been enslaved, or oppressed. Rather than simply aid them, though, he often will compel them to fight for themselves, believing that only the strong will survive.
He only respects power, and will not show mercy to a sworn enemy, believing it to be a disrespectful act. A worthy opponent, though, might be allowed to serve him, should they swear loyalty. They are not Trent's slaves; they become allies in his new vision for the world. Betrayal, though, is rewarded with a violent and brutal death.
A really fun character to roleplay...you can be "evil" simply by being "ruthless".
Born to a tinkerer and a now deceased soldier, Icarus and his twin sister Alianah had a fairly normal childhood. In fact, outside of an smithing apprenticeship with his mother's tinkering guild and Alianah's apprenticeship to a local bard, everything was kind of boring in the big city for the two of them until one night Icarus was woken up by the sound of hushed weeping and hissing from his sister’s room across the hall. Grabbing a hammer that was left to him by his dad, he went to the room to check on his sister and found a feral vampire spawn standing over her. He lunged to attack but was met with a swift claw strike across face and neck, knocking him onto his back where he fell unconscious. When he awoke, his sister was gone and his face was mangled.
After he was found, he was healed as best as he could, but the dark magic of the vampire ensured that his face would never look the same.
The coming months were hard for Icarus as both he and his mom blamed him for Alianah’s disappearance, eventually it and his failing apprenticeship became too much and his mother kicked him out. Unsure of what to do with himself now, Icarus was left wandering from town to town without a purpose until he was found by a half-orc by the name of Brother Jericho. Jericho explained that he represented a loose network of warriors settled in the mountain peak who were dedicated to taking in victims of monster attacks and giving them the skills to fight back, to avenge their loved ones and protecting others. He ushered the 16-year-old blacksmith to The Scarred Keep.
Using his strength from his time working the forge and his own desire for justice to be served keeping him committed, he spent years learning the skills of a warrior and when he was finally ready to commit to the life of a protector, of an Avenger…that is when he was able to take on the runic brand of a Scarred Warrior and thus cement his vow…uncovering the true power of a paladin.
Over the following years his vow has led him all over, protecting and avenging the innocents that have been hurt by monsters, no matter what species they might be.
Drake Alexsenl was Born the second son of the Lord Marquis of Snake River, and the Lady Jarl of Rowan-oak Hills [*a Privateer Jarl of the Grey-hills peaks], captured on a river bank raid and married before the Ransom was paid.
To the mutual hilarity of the Rowan oaks shire and Fanghead Castle shire. The first son inherited the Barony of Knob-hill parish, and Took druidic oaths of the circle of the land.
Lord Drake Alexsen; inherited the traditional second son's, Barony of Saltmarsh [No not that one]; at the Mouth of Snake-river the delta-swamp/marshland isles of Saltmarsh Barony so named because of the Cliff face bank on that river behind Saltlick Island contains a maze/catacomb complex that i the source of the shires Salt industry.
Lord Alex grew up on horseback [mounted combat], on keelboat [traditional commander of the river defenses against river keelboat pirates, buccaneers,and the grey hill privateers, and traveled the main and secondary river on the Heir of Saltmarsh Barony traditional war canoe "Blue Heron" commanded by Baronet Commodore Allenet Hasletdatter.
The history of the campaign area includes a mythic issue 500 years before where a gnomes action [reaction] triggered war between the Gods, ending in their withdrawal from the sphere, and issues with magic to follow. followed by a human society "temper tantrum" about losing the gods that wiped the gnomes. .
The main link to the campaign. . was an elderly hobbit traveller and master story teller that Lord Drake knew, and learned much from.
. . not long after lord drake was invested with the actual title Baron Saltmarsh; he received a message asking for assistance from his hobbit friend and mentor.
Lord Drake; took the Blue Heron to a foreign town of "lesser reput", for a two week "vacation", he had the March of Snakeriver's local factor hire out an apartment, saying he would supply his own servants. Then had a box shipped by cart to a little known settlement, then road along.
It turns out that the Halfling was actually the same gnome of legend.
And the this foreign kingdom's noble culture is somewhat different. Drake Alexsen is culturally unable to carry coin, he has carried a Saltmarsh Bank note that was for 20gp of Salt (Tradegoods) but nobody could figure out where this was. Both I and my DM know that this is because the call the area by a whole set of different names. so Drake not the sharpest tool in the shed couldn't cash it out. His party rolls their eyes every time the party gets money and he hands it of to someone else to carry.
The issue in this kingdom was a "Bandit lord", ["bandits take no Slaves, these filth are Brigands"] attacking settlements and capturing children. Drake actually grew up in the company of young "bandits" from the grey-hills [a local Sport] being held as hostage or ransom, for their shire good (dunious) behavior. He trained in arms, rode horse, and fished the river on keelboats, with them Bandits, and privateers are neighbors, Pirates and Brigands are major criminals.
At one point a deity whose holy symbol (of hope) asked him to quit leaving (signs; of Brigand: stake with waxed seal imprint of seal and the word Brigand + a "Fade to Red") for each such killed in combat.
Keira Threegleam, Oath of the ancients aasimar paladin of Lethandar
Keira was found as a baby in the ruins of her home village, with the only thing on her being a strange amulet no one could identify the meaning of. A terrible disaster had recently occured in the area, devastating the lands for miles and leaving the land a barren wasteland. To aid the people effected by the disaster the temple of Lethandar had sent out their followers to help in any shape they found, yet so far their efforts had been mostly in wane. The destruction had been too thorough, too devastating that up too this point they had only come across corpses. And yet, despite that, this young infant had somehow managed to live through all of that and had come out with nothing more than a small scar across her cheek. The priests who found her considered it to be a miracle, a sign that the child had been blessed by the gods, and they took her with them to be raised among them.
Many years passed in which Keira was raised by the temple, during which time she displayed great skills as a warrior, despite the temples best effort to lead her down a more peaceful and tranquil way of living, with little to no success. Soon Keira had become one of the most skilled fighters in the area, which caught the eye of the local order of paladins, who offered the child to be taught by them, an offer that Keira eagerly excepted.
Some more years passed, in which Keira was trained by both the temple and the order, yet, despite her newly found devotion to her new cause in life, there was still something that gnawed at the back of her mind. The question of what exactly had happened to her home, as well as if there might have been any one else from her village who might have survived the disaster, had been a constant companion throughout her life. No one really knew what the cause of the disaster had been and while she was aware that the temple priest had considered her survival a miracle, surely their must have been others who had been similarly fortunate. Yet those were thoughts that Keira never dared to openly address towards anyone. She owed the temple too much, she didn't want to burden them by bothering them with unnecessary question they didn't have any more answers too than they had already given her.
And so she repressed them, until one day, only a handful of days before her official initiation into the order as a fellow paladin, during a visit to a nearby city on one of her seldom breaks from training, she came across a traveling merchant. Upon seeing her the merchant let out a gasp, drawing her attention. When she asked the merchant why he had reacted the way he did, the man pointed to her waist. Following the man's direction, her eyes slowly traveled down towards her waist, where, tied to her belt, the amulet that she had been found with hang. Supressing the sudden feeling of excitement - or was it dread?- creeping down her spine, she asked the merchant to explain and he told her that during one of his travels he had been saved from a bunch of bandits by a human bearing the same symbol as her.
Keira listened with bated breath to the man's story and, after he finished, she only managed one question: "Where?"
CG Red Dragonborn Vengence Paladin of Sune. Order of the Ruby Rose
Beauty is more than skin deep” says Lady Fairhair. She, my goddess Sune, is right of course. And beauty can take many forms besides a pretty face and slim figure. The body of a warrior, perfectly sculpted for combat, can be beautiful. The artful strikes of a master swordsman can be beautiful. Even the scars a farmer has from defending his family from evil can be beautiful. Ive learned that many pretty smiles hide a silver tongue and many dirty clothes hide a heart of gold. Sune also teaches that “True love will win overall”. Real love is doing the greatest good for someone else; and there is no greater good than risking your life in the defence of the innocent and pure and other beautiful things. But Good does not always mean Nice, and real Love can often be Tough Love.
A wanderlust led me away from my home in Djerad Thymar. While exploring the strange new lands I came across a small temple of Sune besieged by fiends. Only a few of the priestesses were left alive and all were badly injured. I finished off the last of the demons and stood vigil in the temple for 3 days to protect the clergy. As the sun rose on the third day and the reinforcements arrived, I fell unconscious and was visited by Sune in a vision. We talked at length and as we finished but before I regained consciousness, she gifted me a golden hand mirror with her image embossed on the back. A Holy Symbol for her new devoted follower. When I awoke in the House of Beauty in Waterdeep a week later I was miraculously holding her gift. The heartwardens saw the boon Sune had given me and took it as a sign. They accepted me into the Order of the Ruby Rose. Now my mission is to defend the church and the beautiful things of Faerun, and to seek out and destroy the ugliness in this world (like fiends and undead) with furious vengeance and righteous anger.
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
Varis and his brother lived in a village which was predominantly made up of humans, elves and half elves. They were raised by their uncle and aunt as it was said that our father and mother were lost in an ill-fated adventure.
Whilst wandering in the nearby woods Varis came across a Sprite who was being harassed by a poacher. Rescuing the sprite and overpowering the poacher, Varis spared the mans life only to have the poachers appearance shift into the form of a beautiful Archfey Queen. Varis had been observed all his life, seeing whether he was worthy enough to take up the mantle of a Fey Knight. He was blessed by the Archfey, in a sacred grove, surrounded by various Fey spirits.
Varis took to his training well, his tutor a powerful, horn helmed woman who kept her face a mystery. She taught him of blade techniques and how to channel his newfound powers. She taught him of the oath, an oath as old as the rituals of druids and the elven people, and how to battle darkness with light and life.
One day, he was told it was now time for him to spread his light, to battle the shadow and darkness and foster life and light.
Adorned in armor with symbols of life and growing things, Varis set off to his old village, hoping to see his family and friends again before he took up his quest. What he found instead, was a scene of madness and death.
Cultists and fiends had set upon the village, and Varis feared he had arrived too late.
A group of fiends encircled him, wicked claws and teeth ready to tear him apart. Varis spoke aloud words that pained the creatures, and they turned tail.
A cultist had snuck behind Varis, ready to impale him only to have their head severed by a wicked looking blade. Varis turned around and found himself face to face with his brother.
Together , they hunted the remaining cultists and fiends, dispatching them with powers born of light, life...and also shadow. His brother had obtained a pact Blade. He had found power he had sought. He wished for more. Varis hopes to save him from this dark path, perhaps even convince his brother to instead take up a pact with the Archfey.
The remaining village survivors, recognising the armor as that of a Horned Knight, Varis was hailed as a Folk Hero. His brother was acknowledged for his part in rescuing the town, but were wary of his blade and powers.
The brothers decided to adventure together, despite they both now were two sides of a coin, and came across a village being wracked by an unnatural blizzard.
A devout human cleric of pelor and a mischievous gnome wild magic Sorceress soon became their party members and they set out to investigate the source of the unnatural blizzard. A Night Hag and a green hag had defiled a temple of the Morninglord. The group managed to kill the green hag, the night hag escaped and vowed to kill us for the death of her sister. And she tried. Many many times 😂
My paladin is J.o.h.n, (Juggernaut Optimized for Hostile Neutralisation)
A oath of conquest(3) / great old one bladelock(5) warforged , created for war, he was stuck in storage but after a few decades a foreign mind took contact to offer free will and a new purpose. Now he is free upon the surface to spread destrunction and lamentation upon his enemies.
And last session he rolled a critical for a ridiculous 18d8 + 4d6 + 8 (pactweapon with thunderous smite and divine smite and eldritch smite)
Fallen Aasimar, Oath of Devotion, Knight of the Order of the Ruby Rose
Tempted at a young age by Asmodeus, Kelvin entered his service. He was granted the power he was promised and began to doubt his actions but was told they were necessary.
A couple of decades went by and somehow Asmodeus was able to capture Sune. While he was preparing a ritual to sacrifice her and steal her powers, Sune saw my doubts and convinced me that it wasn't too late to make right what I've helped make wrong. She was incredibly beautiful and very convincing. I helped her escape and swore my devotion to her.
While she despises war and violence, I was able convince her that The Order needed to be stronger because if Asmodeus got what he wanted it would mean bloodshed and the destruction of so much that is beautiful.
She gave me leave to bolster the ranks of the order with the caveat that any who join must use violence as a last resort. My task will be a difficult one.
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Kelvin is very confident. Think Austin Powers without the accent. He's very outgoing and confident. He constantly lets people know if he thinks they're attractive and consistently gives people unsolicited advice on how to make themselves more beautiful.
He makes sure to spread love as often as possible. (I think he misunderstands what that means) His escapades may lead you to think he's a bard.
He still struggles with avoiding violence. He holds back as much as he can and tries to talk his way out of every situation but when he loses his temper his bone wings sprout from his back, his eyes glow red, his weapon attacks deal extra necrotic damage and he strikes fear into the heart of his opponents.
He's always remorseful and penitent after an outburst like this and looks forward to the day that he might be restored to protector instead of fallen.
I come from a time when the realm was young(1st Edtion D&D), when I have found many creatures and defeated many evil masters of magic(Strahd from I6 Ravenloft). I have fought many adventures, one such was a long campaign of the Borderlands.
I was simple lad from a human village who became a soldier. I fought many battles and was converted by a warrior priest of Helm. He taught me all about combat that I know. He prayed and bestowed the blessing of me becoming a paladin. Since then I had many friends who has fallen to the great mysteries of life(getting married and moving away).
Years later, I retired to my cabin in the mountains with my chain mail and my 2 handed sword. I still carry my faith of Helm with me. Then one night while sitting on my porch, everything went black.
Now I found myself currently being pulled out retirement and fighting the creatures in the Underdark. Will this old paladin survive? We will have to wait and see.
Now been traveling the Underdark with many different folk. Some are very colorful. But I acutally got a Steed! It is a Carrion Crawler.. lol
Gravollus Wood was always an adventurous, inquisitive sort, even from the first months of his life. Born into a roving band of Goliaths, Gravollus proved to be more eager to see the world than even the tent-mothers had anticipated. As his tribe slept within the limited shelter of a wood in the foothills, he slowly crawled away from camp, marvelling at the strange foliage all around him. That he had not been set upon by predators was nothing short of miraculous, until he found himself in the path of a Tyrran priest named Philip, who had been out foraging. Gathering the little Goliath in his arms, Philip brought him back to Granidore, the secluded Fortress Monastery of Tyr.
Within the halls of Granidore, Gravollus was raised by the clergy of Tyr, given his first name in honour of a Goliath who had aided a Tyrran hero, and his surname for where he was found. Under their care, he grew into a boisterous, friendly young ward, fit and strong, and soon began helping to maintain the upkeep of the fortress. He mostly hunted, foraged and gathered wood, travelling far and wide from the environs of Granidore and returning with a great bundle of branches under one arm, the carcass of a bear under another arm, a bulging backpack of berries - many of them squashed - on his back, and a massive grin on his lips. As a student of the priests, he was eager to learn of Tyr, the Book of Lawgiving and the principles of justice, fairness and law. His natural strength made him a natural pick for the Knights of Holy Judgement, and, sure enough, he soon found a place within their ranks. Accepting his responsibilities and taking the Oath of the Ancients, Gravollus Wood emerged from his home and ventured out into the world, with his mighty maul in one hand and a massive grin on his lips, eager to join the hunt for those who have perpetrated evil, and serve as the instrument of the Heavens' most definitive and implacable judgement.
Gravollus Wood is a loud, boisterous and optimistic presence, always eager to prove himself the best there is at any challenge and to find people in need of the Justice of Tyr.
My paladin is called Aeke Ibod she is a drow paladin. Her family is very kind and very intrested in the surface so, they sent her out she was just a regular explorer with Drow commoners until she found a hidden shrine. The shrine of Seluna the Moon Goddess. Seluna made her a paladin and trained her. So, there and then on Aeke did good things for everyone learned about multiple diffrent cultures and, became a folk hero in one small town.
My 8th level Vengeance Paladin Tielfing: Akanis Reita (Working on getting some actual art for her. This is the picture I found on google that gave me the idea for her originally.)
Akanis Reita wasn't much different than most Tieflings in her village. The thing that did set her apart were her wings. They seemed to catch a lot of attention, most of it unwanted. And like most Tieflings, she learned to steal. Though with her dark blue skin and bright white hair, Akanis stuck out too much to be unseen. So she would distract those around her and her friends so they could steal. But one day they were caught. She fought off many guards so her friends could escape, She was eventually subdued and to her surprise, she wasn't killed on the spot. The captain of the guard gave her a choice, serve one of the lords of the area, or be killed. So Akanis quickly agreed to serve this lord. She was expecting to be a maid or something far more degrading, but was again surprised to see she was to be trained as a part of an all tiefling unit. Over the next few years, Akanis trained hard and slowly rose through the ranks. By her 23rd birthday, she was promoted to captain.
This is when they were sent on their first campaign. Another lord had threatened a city across a large body of water. So Akanis and her unit charted a boat to cross. When they had almost reached the opposing shore, a deep chant rose over the sound of the crashing waves. Using a spyglass, the young tiefling spotted a large group of cultists on the shore. With little time to react, she began to move. Just as she reach the commander of the ship, a large sea creature attacked the ship and killed almost everyone on board. She barely escaped on a piece of debris. After about a day of drifting, she landed on the shore. She was found by a group of paladins that took her in. She sent word back to her lord about what happened and that she would be training under the paladins for some time. A little over ten years later, she was ready to continue her journey.
Lord Borus Wynn Human Noble 16th-level Vengeance Paladin
Borus escaped from his lands when his uncle Lothar "Two-Faces" razed his ancestral castle. He joined a mercenary company called "The Company of the Tower". After several years with the Company, he returned to his home to face Lothar. He now rules on the city of Gotham.
This is the character I play in a shared campaign called "Marche Occidentali", set in the world of Critical Role, with a lot of homebrew added (yeah, Gotham). There's TONS of background on our Facebook group, but it's all in italian, so not sure how much use it would be here ^^
Glamour, my 1st level Tiefling Oath of the Ruby Rose (homebrew of mine, approved by the DM, found here) Paladin of Sune, which I'm about to start playing soon
My backstory, which is pretty long, and written as if Glamour themselves were telling the story:
"My story begins twenty-two years ago, on the eve of Greengrass. A young servant woman, my mother Aldreda, gave birth to a small child, me, the bastard child of the lord of Malgrave Keep that she was serving at the time. The midwives cheered for her successful birth, unaware of the conditions of my birth, but my mother was scared for my safety. Not because I was a bastard child, but because I looked up at her with solid dark red eyes.
Later that night, whilst everyone else was fast asleep, she fled to the countryside keeping my identity a secret. See, she didn't care who I was or the implications of giving birth to a tiefling meant, she loved me just the same. It was one of great things about her to be honest. Just her pure love and kindness towards her child, whom a lot of others probably would have outright killed.
She took a few years learn medicine under the doctor of Linview, the small community we joined, and became the new doctor after a while. She cut my horns off, and shaved them down as close as possible to my head. It was dreadfully painful, although I understood why she did it. She just wanted me to live a relatively normal life, which is hard with curving horns coming out of your forehead. Not to mention my eyes or pointed teeth, which she couldn't do much about. But I digress.
We lived happily for years, I went to school and she kept the townsfolk healthy. The townsfolk themselves were pretty tolerant of me, though I'm not sure if it was because they didn't care that I was a tiefling or out of respect for my mother. The children I grew up around found me fascinating however, and constantly asked me questions. It was good times... simpler times. But alas, good times have their ends. I just wish mine didn't end the way it did.
It was a day like any other. Quiet, peaceful, everyone going along their lives as they've had for years. I was eight at the time, enjoying life like any other eight-year-old should. I remember that it was the middle of winter, and I had just finished school for the day. The snow was coming down hard, and I heard strange noises off in the distance. I thought nothing of it and continued walking home.
Then I saw it, billows of smoke rising up in the distance. I saw strange men grabbing people out of their homes, and burning them to the ground. I ran home as fast I could, and slammed the door shut behind me. My mother was there looking out the window, wide-eyed and on the verge of tears. She took me by the hand, and led me inside a hidden room. She told me to be quiet, and not to make any noise. She smiled as she turned away and shut the room up behind her, before walking towards the door where two men suddenly burst through. That was the last time I saw her smile.
The men made way for a lord to walk in, my father Varik. He demanded to know where I was, but she all she said was that she didn’t know. He order the two men to ransack the house, and so they did, though they did not find me. Angry, he took my mother away and set my home on ablaze. The last thing I could hear before passing out, was the sound of hooves running off into the distance.
When I awoke, I found myself surrounded by debris, and, in the distance, the ruins of my community. Everyone was scavenging through the rumble, looking for; family; heirlooms; and anything else that didn’t burn up with their homes. The moment I’ll never forget, was how they glared at me when I had managed to get free. The hatred in their eyes, the coldness of their expressions, and before I knew it I was chased out of Linview.
Without my mother, and without my childhood home, I walked out towards who knows where. Eventually, after what seemed like weeks, I stumbled upon the city of Waterdeep. The city was grander than anything I had ever seen before. The people there... well... I tried to stay away from them. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened back in Linview, though most of them just ignored me.
I took to scavenging and theft to survive. I was never particularly dexterous, though the city itself had a lot of places you could run and hide. It wasn’t a great life. I did this for many years, more than I had ever wished to do. I was always just scraping by, and it never felt like I was actually surviving in this world.
My day came to me when I was about 15 years old. I had just managed to get away from a group of guards after stealing some food, and found myself in the middle of the sea ward. It was around noon, and I decided to eat my bounty and take a small nap. I ended up sleeping until it was nighttime.
When I woke up and gathered my bearings, I saw that I was in front of the Temple of Beauty. There was one lone guard standing watch over the temple, which I didn’t think much of at the time. Just as I shrugged and was about to head off, I saw a rather attractive woman go up to the guard. They exchanged a few words, and the last I saw of the guard was as he looked around before heading off with the woman.
I looked up at the temple, it was pretty magnificent. I did think for a moment that, since the guard was gone, I could take everything inside and be set for life. But something stopped me, I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was weariness from living like this for so long, maybe it was a sign from the gods themselves, or maybe I just felt it was wrong. But for whatever reason, I thought that the temple needed a guard... so why not me? I sighed and ended up guarding the entrance of the temple throughout the night.
I continued guarding until daybreak, standing vigil against possible thieves. As the sun broke off the horizon, I saw a priestess and paladins approaching me. The paladins drew their swords, as the priestess demanded to know who I was and where the guard was. When I went to explain, it happened. It was sudden, a quick flash of light which momentarily blinded everyone near me.
After regaining their vision, the paladins went in to attack me and I stumbled backwards in my attempt to dodge. I closed my eyes, and after a moment I open them back up. The paladins were stopped dead in their tracts, and were looking down at my neck. As I looked to see what they were looking at, I saw an amulet mysteriously appeared. It was the holy symbol of Sune, who had apparently just shown me her favor.
The paladins quickly retracted their swords and helped me to my feet. I managed to explain myself to them, and what had happened. They brought me inside, gave me some food, and drew up a bath for me. That was the best bath I've ever had. Which I know that it doesn't seem like much, but I haven't had one for years. After I finished cleaning up, I was led to an inner chamber.
It was there that I first met the other paladins of the Order of the Ruby Rose. They told me that since I stood guard throughout the entire night, and that Sune had shown me her favor, that I was invited to join the order. Not having anything to lose, I promptly accepted and my training began immediately.
It was rough, I'll admit that. Between all of the learning, training, and the strict routine they had set for me, there were days where I thought about running away in the middle of the night. But I endured, and because of that I have the knowledge of all the tenets of my faith and the training to keep myself alive in a fight. So I don't regret it. Six years pass, thoughts of my mother flood into my head.
I wanted to save her, if she was still alive. I knew my soul would likely not rest easily if I didn't. I went up to the priestess and ask her if I could embark on a long quest to rid the world of the ugliness that I experienced when I was younger. She thankfully agreed, and I prepared myself for the long journey ahead.
I embarked on my birthday, on the eve of Greengrass. I decided the best way to go about this was to get some practical combat experience, train, and hone my skills to eventually be able to confront my father and save the person who protect me enough to get me where I am today. My mother, the young servant woman of Lord Varik of Malgrave Keep, Aldreda."
Ankor Iton Might. Goliath, Oath of Conquest Paladin, Level 6 right now. having a really difficult time with backstory and art. Choosing a god or even playing him through PBP here on DNDbeyond. Need some suggestions. thank you
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Killian Greycastle Lv3 - Human Wild Magic Sorcerer - Lost In The Endless Tower, DM Pokepaladdy
Onyx Greyscale Lv3 - Human Ranger - Hanging out at The Rest in the Quest
Fiven - Wood Elf Monk 3 / Rogue 2 - Private Campaign - Seeking a new adventure
Rokas Lv7 - Wood Elf Rogue - D&D Origins @ Local Game Store, Hex & CO, NYC
my paladin is Kerris Dawnhammer, a teifling, born to a Dwarven clan. The clan for generations raised their children to be master craftsmen and defenders of the weak. As a clan, they were very closely tied to the worship of Moridan. Kerris was never taught to craft. never taught to recognize stonework. It was not active abuse, it was neglect. he was less important, less a part of the clan to the clan elders. The only time he got attention was when he got in fights. Normally he was disciplined for being too violent or breaking things, but when he took on a recruit preparing to take Paladin oaths and held his own ground, he was recognized as "perhaps good for something". With this little bit of praise he took to combat training with a fervor. he would be the greatest warrior that the service of Morridan knew. he would subjugate all his enemies. Evil would fear justice. and his Strength would protect the weak. He is very aggressive for a paladin, but also fanatical in his worship of Morridan and the Dwarven ways. However, despite his Oath of conquest, anyone who looks closely at the holy symbol that Kerris wears, will notice it is not a symbol of Morridan as warrior or conqueror, but as Morridan as crafter of clan, as god of family. That is truly was Kerris desires, to be accepted by his clan. to have his deeds and name carved upon the walls as one of the clan.
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Sin, the Levistus Tiefling.
Born to high-ranking elven nobility, he was reviled from birth by his parents. To avoid the scandal of having a cursed child, he was handed over to a temple to Pholtus, the Blinding Light, who agreed to raise the child for a handsome donation. Pholtus, being a very unforgiving deity, inspires a very fanatical doctrine in his followers, who seek out evil wherever it may be and crush it without remorse. He is a deity of endless contempt for evil, and the temple the child was sent to held all of devil-kind in the lowest regard. There, he was taught from the moment he could comprehend their lessons that he was an unholy abomination, and that the devils' blood in his veins doomed him to a life of eternal, and deserved, suffering. They named the child Sin, and tasked him to work as the lucifer of the church. Due to his ability to see in the dark, he was perfect for keeping the candles lit in the church all through the night, and spending the day locked away in his room. Growing up believing he was a monster, he resolved to become a paladin to try and at least somewhat redeem himself in the eyes of his god and his peers. He was allowed to take the Oath of Redemption by his teachers, who believed that if he wanted to buzz off and get himself killed by being an adventurer, then it would be for the best. Sin left the temple clad in armor that covered most of his body, and set out to spread good throughout the world to repent for his fiendish form.
Hopefully his character arc will have him learn to accept himself for who he is, and to exemplify that anyone can be a hero, no matter who they are, where they come from, or what they've been through.
I also hope he doesn't seem like too much of a cliché, and while I did take inspiration from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, I wanted to make it just different enough to let my own story come about.
Barr'thokk, a young half-orc soldier (quartermaster)
Barr'thokk was assigned to a new company when they were ordered to escort a High Priest of [DM choice] to the city of [DM choice] in order to broker a truce between two rivalling organisations [DM choice].
However, the group was ambushed by a band of mercenaries. The High Priest was mortally wounded before anyone seemed to notice what was going on. Barr'thokk aided the dying priest by attempting to lay him down and stop the bleeding.
Kaoru, one of the most unusual concepts I've ever put into the game.
EDIT: Here's a picture.
He is a slightly effeminate boy who as a child always wanted to wear pretty dresses and other girly clothes. That's all there was to it, but he was met with resistance to the idea and told to drop it, even beaten up by other kids and bullied for being different. So to cope with the whole stress, he created a fake second persona named "Red" where he just pretended to be a girl, just so he could wear the clothes he liked in peace. Over the years, he was living a double life with the weaker personality Kaoru who was still struggling with being weaker and smaller than the other boys and Red, the fashionable and cool girl.
This all culminated however when he saw how much more brutal things get once moving from the playground into the real world. Bigotry, exclusion, biases. Kaoru hated all of it, that people couldn't be who they wanted to be. That laws and social norms dictated who can be what instead of themselves. So Kaoru swore the Oath of Vengence. Using the guise of his Red persona, he sweared that he will pursue all those who repress another's freedom and will not rest as long as there are still oppressed people in the world. Training himself in martial techniques and also subterfuge, he turned his Red persona into an avatar of Revenge, a lone vigilante standing for the rights of those who just want to be themselves.
OOCly, I was inspired to create a crossdressing character and I wanted to implement this in an interesting way to the character rather than just having it as side thing with no real relevance. So I put a twist to the whole Batman-Style Vigilante and made it into a bare-thighed defender of justice.
Trent Kreznik
Half-Drow Conquest Paladin in training...before being turned and becoming a follower of Eilastraee.
Bred from human slaves by the wicked drow, Kreznik was nothing more than a shock trooper to serve the drow in their conquest of the surface realms. As a half-drow, Kreznik was immune to the harsh effects of sunlight, but considered disposable and lesser to other drow due to his half-human lineage. Had he completed his training and sworn an Oath of Conquest to Lolth, he'd have likely fought and died without ceremony on the surface.
As it turned out, he was shown a better path by a Moondancer...a priestess of Eilastraee, a surface drow who infiltrated the Underdark to aid other drow in turning away from evil. Her name was Seluna, and she offered Kreznik a brighter future. Suspicious, but tired of his treatment among the drow, he followed her back to the surface.
There, though he was treated with the same suspicion as most dark elves, he was able to live an existence free from pointless violence. Seluna introduced him to a wandering troupe she affiliated with, and gave him a job. There among the oddities and fringe races like tieflings or kenku, Kreznik fit right in.
Though he never swore an Oath to Lolth, he trained under Seluna to become a Sword Bard, suppressing his aggression so he could instead be a champion of Eilastraee and her ideals. He would combat evil, and protect joy and innocence.
His temper, a side-effect of living among the bloodthirsty drow, manifests occasionally as "smites", but he has learned to direct this rage towards the followers of evil. Though he is rough around the edges, he tries to be better than his dark elf lineage.
Trent Kreznik - Half Drow
Oath of Conquest
The drow have always loathed the surface dwellers, and have sought to conquer them and dominate them to their will. However, the inherent weakness that the drow have to sunlight has always weakened their incursions to the surface, making long-term campaigns almost impossible.
To that end, the dark elves bred with their captured human slaves, breeding half-drow to serve as shock troopers on the surface. As they were not full drow, they did not have weakness to sunlight. These half-drow are treated only marginally better than slaves...they are considered tainted, undeserving of the privileges of other full-blooded drow. They are, however, given extensive martial training, and infused with the violent power of Lolth, that they may smite their foes. Their purpose, the only glory they might have, is to fight and die for the drow.
Trent was bred to be such a killer, but during his first assault upon the surface dwellers, his unit was wiped out by a highly trained group of surface elves who had been tipped off by their ambush. Trent was mortally wounded, and was just barely able to escape the butchering of his half-drow brethren. Weakened and bleeding, he stumbled through the unfamiliar countryside of the surface world, until he passed out by a roadside.
He was found by a wandering caravan...a circus carnival. They treated his injuries, but this was no charitable group, though...they imprisoned Trent, and displayed him as a freak for their patrons to gawk at. Many surface races had never seen a drow before, half-drow or otherwise, and they paid good money to get a glimpse of him, chained up like an animal.
It was at this point in his life, Trent understood his place in the world...loathed by his own people, and hated by the surface races. He realized that as an outcast, he would only find some measure of freedom if he took matters into his own hands. He scorned Lolth and the dark elves, and took up an Oath of Conquest...he would become the master of this surface world, and the Underdark below.
But in order to do so, he would need power...and to rid himself of his human captors.
And so Trent, one by one, killed his way to freedom, executing his jailors and setting fire to the carnival that had imprisoned him. No longer would he be a pawn in another person's conquest...he would serve himself, and dominate any who dared oppose him.
He became a mercenary, and began a crusade to garner power and influence. His half-drow lineage did much to instill fear in his foes, and his fighting skills soon became heavily sought after. The people who paid for his services might fear him, but they reasoned that their enemies would, too.
In combat, he wears a "Smoldering Breastplate" and "Dread Helm" to give himself a nightmarish appearance...eyes that glow red beneath the helm, and armor that gives off thick black smoke.
While not entirely "evil", he is very self-serving...a consequence of refusing to ever be exploited by others ever again. He does, however, possess a soft spot for those who have been enslaved, or oppressed. Rather than simply aid them, though, he often will compel them to fight for themselves, believing that only the strong will survive.
He only respects power, and will not show mercy to a sworn enemy, believing it to be a disrespectful act. A worthy opponent, though, might be allowed to serve him, should they swear loyalty. They are not Trent's slaves; they become allies in his new vision for the world. Betrayal, though, is rewarded with a violent and brutal death.
A really fun character to roleplay...you can be "evil" simply by being "ruthless".
Icarus Darkglint, Paladin of Vengence
Born to a tinkerer and a now deceased soldier, Icarus and his twin sister Alianah had a fairly normal childhood. In fact, outside of an smithing apprenticeship with his mother's tinkering guild and Alianah's apprenticeship to a local bard, everything was kind of boring in the big city for the two of them until one night Icarus was woken up by the sound of hushed weeping and hissing from his sister’s room across the hall. Grabbing a hammer that was left to him by his dad, he went to the room to check on his sister and found a feral vampire spawn standing over her. He lunged to attack but was met with a swift claw strike across face and neck, knocking him onto his back where he fell unconscious. When he awoke, his sister was gone and his face was mangled.
After he was found, he was healed as best as he could, but the dark magic of the vampire ensured that his face would never look the same.
The coming months were hard for Icarus as both he and his mom blamed him for Alianah’s disappearance, eventually it and his failing apprenticeship became too much and his mother kicked him out. Unsure of what to do with himself now, Icarus was left wandering from town to town without a purpose until he was found by a half-orc by the name of Brother Jericho. Jericho explained that he represented a loose network of warriors settled in the mountain peak who were dedicated to taking in victims of monster attacks and giving them the skills to fight back, to avenge their loved ones and protecting others. He ushered the 16-year-old blacksmith to The Scarred Keep.
Using his strength from his time working the forge and his own desire for justice to be served keeping him committed, he spent years learning the skills of a warrior and when he was finally ready to commit to the life of a protector, of an Avenger…that is when he was able to take on the runic brand of a Scarred Warrior and thus cement his vow…uncovering the true power of a paladin.
Over the following years his vow has led him all over, protecting and avenging the innocents that have been hurt by monsters, no matter what species they might be.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/Toddy_Shelfungus/characters/11407690
Drake Alexsenl was Born the second son of the Lord Marquis of Snake River, and the Lady Jarl of Rowan-oak Hills [*a Privateer Jarl of the Grey-hills peaks], captured on a river bank raid and married before the Ransom was paid.
To the mutual hilarity of the Rowan oaks shire and Fanghead Castle shire. The first son inherited the Barony of Knob-hill parish, and Took druidic oaths of the circle of the land.
Lord Drake Alexsen; inherited the traditional second son's, Barony of Saltmarsh [No not that one]; at the Mouth of Snake-river the delta-swamp/marshland isles of Saltmarsh Barony so named because of the Cliff face bank on that river behind Saltlick Island contains a maze/catacomb complex that i the source of the shires Salt industry.
Lord Alex grew up on horseback [mounted combat], on keelboat [traditional commander of the river defenses against river keelboat pirates, buccaneers,and the grey hill privateers, and traveled the main and secondary river on the Heir of Saltmarsh Barony traditional war canoe "Blue Heron" commanded by Baronet Commodore Allenet Hasletdatter.
The history of the campaign area includes a mythic issue 500 years before where a gnomes action [reaction] triggered war between the Gods, ending in their withdrawal from the sphere, and issues with magic to follow. followed by a human society "temper tantrum" about losing the gods that wiped the gnomes. .
The main link to the campaign. . was an elderly hobbit traveller and master story teller that Lord Drake knew, and learned much from.
. . not long after lord drake was invested with the actual title Baron Saltmarsh; he received a message asking for assistance from his hobbit friend and mentor.
Lord Drake; took the Blue Heron to a foreign town of "lesser reput", for a two week "vacation", he had the March of Snakeriver's local factor hire out an apartment, saying he would supply his own servants. Then had a box shipped by cart to a little known settlement, then road along.
It turns out that the Halfling was actually the same gnome of legend.
And the this foreign kingdom's noble culture is somewhat different. Drake Alexsen is culturally unable to carry coin, he has carried a Saltmarsh Bank note that was for 20gp of Salt (Tradegoods) but nobody could figure out where this was. Both I and my DM know that this is because the call the area by a whole set of different names. so Drake not the sharpest tool in the shed couldn't cash it out. His party rolls their eyes every time the party gets money and he hands it of to someone else to carry.
The issue in this kingdom was a "Bandit lord", ["bandits take no Slaves, these filth are Brigands"] attacking settlements and capturing children. Drake actually grew up in the company of young "bandits" from the grey-hills [a local Sport] being held as hostage or ransom, for their shire good (dunious) behavior. He trained in arms, rode horse, and fished the river on keelboats, with them Bandits, and privateers are neighbors, Pirates and Brigands are major criminals.
At one point a deity whose holy symbol (of hope) asked him to quit leaving (signs; of Brigand: stake with waxed seal imprint of seal and the word Brigand + a "Fade to Red") for each such killed in combat.
Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
Just a concept so far, but eager to play her:
Keira Threegleam, Oath of the ancients aasimar paladin of Lethandar
Keira was found as a baby in the ruins of her home village, with the only thing on her being a strange amulet no one could identify the meaning of. A terrible disaster had recently occured in the area, devastating the lands for miles and leaving the land a barren wasteland. To aid the people effected by the disaster the temple of Lethandar had sent out their followers to help in any shape they found, yet so far their efforts had been mostly in wane. The destruction had been too thorough, too devastating that up too this point they had only come across corpses. And yet, despite that, this young infant had somehow managed to live through all of that and had come out with nothing more than a small scar across her cheek. The priests who found her considered it to be a miracle, a sign that the child had been blessed by the gods, and they took her with them to be raised among them.
Many years passed in which Keira was raised by the temple, during which time she displayed great skills as a warrior, despite the temples best effort to lead her down a more peaceful and tranquil way of living, with little to no success. Soon Keira had become one of the most skilled fighters in the area, which caught the eye of the local order of paladins, who offered the child to be taught by them, an offer that Keira eagerly excepted.
Some more years passed, in which Keira was trained by both the temple and the order, yet, despite her newly found devotion to her new cause in life, there was still something that gnawed at the back of her mind. The question of what exactly had happened to her home, as well as if there might have been any one else from her village who might have survived the disaster, had been a constant companion throughout her life. No one really knew what the cause of the disaster had been and while she was aware that the temple priest had considered her survival a miracle, surely their must have been others who had been similarly fortunate. Yet those were thoughts that Keira never dared to openly address towards anyone. She owed the temple too much, she didn't want to burden them by bothering them with unnecessary question they didn't have any more answers too than they had already given her.
And so she repressed them, until one day, only a handful of days before her official initiation into the order as a fellow paladin, during a visit to a nearby city on one of her seldom breaks from training, she came across a traveling merchant. Upon seeing her the merchant let out a gasp, drawing her attention. When she asked the merchant why he had reacted the way he did, the man pointed to her waist. Following the man's direction, her eyes slowly traveled down towards her waist, where, tied to her belt, the amulet that she had been found with hang. Supressing the sudden feeling of excitement - or was it dread?- creeping down her spine, she asked the merchant to explain and he told her that during one of his travels he had been saved from a bunch of bandits by a human bearing the same symbol as her.
Keira listened with bated breath to the man's story and, after he finished, she only managed one question: "Where?"
CG Red Dragonborn Vengence Paladin of Sune. Order of the Ruby Rose
Beauty is more than skin deep” says Lady Fairhair. She, my goddess Sune, is right of course. And beauty can take many forms besides a pretty face and slim figure. The body of a warrior, perfectly sculpted for combat, can be beautiful. The artful strikes of a master swordsman can be beautiful. Even the scars a farmer has from defending his family from evil can be beautiful. Ive learned that many pretty smiles hide a silver tongue and many dirty clothes hide a heart of gold. Sune also teaches that “True love will win overall”. Real love is doing the greatest good for someone else; and there is no greater good than risking your life in the defence of the innocent and pure and other beautiful things. But Good does not always mean Nice, and real Love can often be Tough Love.
A wanderlust led me away from my home in Djerad Thymar. While exploring the strange new lands I came across a small temple of Sune besieged by fiends. Only a few of the priestesses were left alive and all were badly injured. I finished off the last of the demons and stood vigil in the temple for 3 days to protect the clergy. As the sun rose on the third day and the reinforcements arrived, I fell unconscious and was visited by Sune in a vision. We talked at length and as we finished but before I regained consciousness, she gifted me a golden hand mirror with her image embossed on the back. A Holy Symbol for her new devoted follower. When I awoke in the House of Beauty in Waterdeep a week later I was miraculously holding her gift. The heartwardens saw the boon Sune had given me and took it as a sign. They accepted me into the Order of the Ruby Rose. Now my mission is to defend the church and the beautiful things of Faerun, and to seek out and destroy the ugliness in this world (like fiends and undead) with furious vengeance and righteous anger.
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPmyTI0tZ6nM-bzY0IG3ww
Varis Folk Hero.
Half elf Ancients Paladin.
Varis and his brother lived in a village which was predominantly made up of humans, elves and half elves. They were raised by their uncle and aunt as it was said that our father and mother were lost in an ill-fated adventure.
Whilst wandering in the nearby woods Varis came across a Sprite who was being harassed by a poacher. Rescuing the sprite and overpowering the poacher, Varis spared the mans life only to have the poachers appearance shift into the form of a beautiful Archfey Queen. Varis had been observed all his life, seeing whether he was worthy enough to take up the mantle of a Fey Knight. He was blessed by the Archfey, in a sacred grove, surrounded by various Fey spirits.
Varis took to his training well, his tutor a powerful, horn helmed woman who kept her face a mystery. She taught him of blade techniques and how to channel his newfound powers. She taught him of the oath, an oath as old as the rituals of druids and the elven people, and how to battle darkness with light and life.
One day, he was told it was now time for him to spread his light, to battle the shadow and darkness and foster life and light.
Adorned in armor with symbols of life and growing things, Varis set off to his old village, hoping to see his family and friends again before he took up his quest. What he found instead, was a scene of madness and death.
Cultists and fiends had set upon the village, and Varis feared he had arrived too late.
A group of fiends encircled him, wicked claws and teeth ready to tear him apart. Varis spoke aloud words that pained the creatures, and they turned tail.
A cultist had snuck behind Varis, ready to impale him only to have their head severed by a wicked looking blade.
Varis turned around and found himself face to face with his brother.
Together , they hunted the remaining cultists and fiends, dispatching them with powers born of light, life...and also shadow.
His brother had obtained a pact
Blade. He had found power he had sought. He wished for more.
Varis hopes to save him from this dark path, perhaps even convince his brother to instead take up a pact with the Archfey.
The remaining village survivors, recognising the armor as that of a Horned Knight, Varis was hailed as a Folk Hero. His brother was acknowledged for his part in rescuing the town, but were wary of his blade and powers.
The brothers decided to adventure together, despite they both now were two sides of a coin, and came across a village being wracked by an unnatural blizzard.
A devout human cleric of pelor and a mischievous gnome wild magic Sorceress soon became their party members and they set out to investigate the source of the unnatural blizzard.
A Night Hag and a green hag had defiled a temple of the Morninglord. The group managed to kill the green hag, the night hag escaped and vowed to kill us for the death of her sister.
And she tried. Many many times 😂
My paladin is J.o.h.n, (Juggernaut Optimized for Hostile Neutralisation)
A oath of conquest(3) / great old one bladelock(5) warforged , created for war, he was stuck in storage but after a few decades a foreign mind took contact to offer free will and a new purpose. Now he is free upon the surface to spread destrunction and lamentation upon his enemies.
And last session he rolled a critical for a ridiculous 18d8 + 4d6 + 8 (pactweapon with thunderous smite and divine smite and eldritch smite)
Fallen Aasimar, Oath of Devotion, Knight of the Order of the Ruby Rose
Tempted at a young age by Asmodeus, Kelvin entered his service. He was granted the power he was promised and began to doubt his actions but was told they were necessary.
A couple of decades went by and somehow Asmodeus was able to capture Sune. While he was preparing a ritual to sacrifice her and steal her powers, Sune saw my doubts and convinced me that it wasn't too late to make right what I've helped make wrong. She was incredibly beautiful and very convincing. I helped her escape and swore my devotion to her.
While she despises war and violence, I was able convince her that The Order needed to be stronger because if Asmodeus got what he wanted it would mean bloodshed and the destruction of so much that is beautiful.
She gave me leave to bolster the ranks of the order with the caveat that any who join must use violence as a last resort. My task will be a difficult one.
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Kelvin is very confident. Think Austin Powers without the accent. He's very outgoing and confident. He constantly lets people know if he thinks they're attractive and consistently gives people unsolicited advice on how to make themselves more beautiful.
He makes sure to spread love as often as possible. (I think he misunderstands what that means) His escapades may lead you to think he's a bard.
He still struggles with avoiding violence. He holds back as much as he can and tries to talk his way out of every situation but when he loses his temper his bone wings sprout from his back, his eyes glow red, his weapon attacks deal extra necrotic damage and he strikes fear into the heart of his opponents.
He's always remorseful and penitent after an outburst like this and looks forward to the day that he might be restored to protector instead of fallen.
Greetings from Senathon Ayers.
I come from a time when the realm was young(1st Edtion D&D), when I have found many creatures and defeated many evil masters of magic(Strahd from I6 Ravenloft). I have fought many adventures, one such was a long campaign of the Borderlands.
I was simple lad from a human village who became a soldier. I fought many battles and was converted by a warrior priest of Helm. He taught me all about combat that I know. He prayed and bestowed the blessing of me becoming a paladin. Since then I had many friends who has fallen to the great mysteries of life(getting married and moving away).
Years later, I retired to my cabin in the mountains with my chain mail and my 2 handed sword. I still carry my faith of Helm with me. Then one night while sitting on my porch, everything went black.
Now I found myself currently being pulled out retirement and fighting the creatures in the Underdark. Will this old paladin survive? We will have to wait and see.
Now been traveling the Underdark with many different folk. Some are very colorful. But I acutally got a Steed! It is a Carrion Crawler.. lol
(more details to follow)
Gravollus Wood was always an adventurous, inquisitive sort, even from the first months of his life. Born into a roving band of Goliaths, Gravollus proved to be more eager to see the world than even the tent-mothers had anticipated. As his tribe slept within the limited shelter of a wood in the foothills, he slowly crawled away from camp, marvelling at the strange foliage all around him. That he had not been set upon by predators was nothing short of miraculous, until he found himself in the path of a Tyrran priest named Philip, who had been out foraging. Gathering the little Goliath in his arms, Philip brought him back to Granidore, the secluded Fortress Monastery of Tyr.
Within the halls of Granidore, Gravollus was raised by the clergy of Tyr, given his first name in honour of a Goliath who had aided a Tyrran hero, and his surname for where he was found. Under their care, he grew into a boisterous, friendly young ward, fit and strong, and soon began helping to maintain the upkeep of the fortress. He mostly hunted, foraged and gathered wood, travelling far and wide from the environs of Granidore and returning with a great bundle of branches under one arm, the carcass of a bear under another arm, a bulging backpack of berries - many of them squashed - on his back, and a massive grin on his lips. As a student of the priests, he was eager to learn of Tyr, the Book of Lawgiving and the principles of justice, fairness and law. His natural strength made him a natural pick for the Knights of Holy Judgement, and, sure enough, he soon found a place within their ranks. Accepting his responsibilities and taking the Oath of the Ancients, Gravollus Wood emerged from his home and ventured out into the world, with his mighty maul in one hand and a massive grin on his lips, eager to join the hunt for those who have perpetrated evil, and serve as the instrument of the Heavens' most definitive and implacable judgement.
Gravollus Wood is a loud, boisterous and optimistic presence, always eager to prove himself the best there is at any challenge and to find people in need of the Justice of Tyr.
My paladin is called Aeke Ibod she is a drow paladin. Her family is very kind and very intrested in the surface so, they sent her out she was just a regular explorer with Drow commoners until she found a hidden shrine. The shrine of Seluna the Moon Goddess. Seluna made her a paladin and trained her. So, there and then on Aeke did good things for everyone learned about multiple diffrent cultures and, became a folk hero in one small town.
I dont have photos cause she is new.
Akanis Reita wasn't much different than most Tieflings in her village. The thing that did set her apart were her wings. They seemed to catch a lot of attention, most of it unwanted. And like most Tieflings, she learned to steal. Though with her dark blue skin and bright white hair, Akanis stuck out too much to be unseen. So she would distract those around her and her friends so they could steal. But one day they were caught. She fought off many guards so her friends could escape, She was eventually subdued and to her surprise, she wasn't killed on the spot. The captain of the guard gave her a choice, serve one of the lords of the area, or be killed. So Akanis quickly agreed to serve this lord. She was expecting to be a maid or something far more degrading, but was again surprised to see she was to be trained as a part of an all tiefling unit. Over the next few years, Akanis trained hard and slowly rose through the ranks. By her 23rd birthday, she was promoted to captain.
This is when they were sent on their first campaign. Another lord had threatened a city across a large body of water. So Akanis and her unit charted a boat to cross. When they had almost reached the opposing shore, a deep chant rose over the sound of the crashing waves. Using a spyglass, the young tiefling spotted a large group of cultists on the shore. With little time to react, she began to move. Just as she reach the commander of the ship, a large sea creature attacked the ship and killed almost everyone on board. She barely escaped on a piece of debris. After about a day of drifting, she landed on the shore. She was found by a group of paladins that took her in. She sent word back to her lord about what happened and that she would be training under the paladins for some time. A little over ten years later, she was ready to continue her journey.
Lord Borus Wynn
Human Noble
16th-level Vengeance Paladin
Borus escaped from his lands when his uncle Lothar "Two-Faces" razed his ancestral castle. He joined a mercenary company called "The Company of the Tower". After several years with the Company, he returned to his home to face Lothar. He now rules on the city of Gotham.
This is the character I play in a shared campaign called "Marche Occidentali", set in the world of Critical Role, with a lot of homebrew added (yeah, Gotham). There's TONS of background on our Facebook group, but it's all in italian, so not sure how much use it would be here ^^
Portrait (drawn by myself) https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n3LfvRWhFxOAKtVsy5xp2MtqhtUe7f8e
My RPG Campaigns
Glamour, my 1st level Tiefling Oath of the Ruby Rose (homebrew of mine, approved by the DM, found here) Paladin of Sune, which I'm about to start playing soon
Portrait (which was a picture from online which I tweaked a bit, I'm not a very good artist except when it comes to maps): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jyf5djRrNQy4O51uUxw77zPoNYQRddiu
My backstory, which is pretty long, and written as if Glamour themselves were telling the story:
"My story begins twenty-two years ago, on the eve of Greengrass. A young servant woman, my mother Aldreda, gave birth to a small child, me, the bastard child of the lord of Malgrave Keep that she was serving at the time. The midwives cheered for her successful birth, unaware of the conditions of my birth, but my mother was scared for my safety. Not because I was a bastard child, but because I looked up at her with solid dark red eyes.
Later that night, whilst everyone else was fast asleep, she fled to the countryside keeping my identity a secret. See, she didn't care who I was or the implications of giving birth to a tiefling meant, she loved me just the same. It was one of great things about her to be honest. Just her pure love and kindness towards her child, whom a lot of others probably would have outright killed.
She took a few years learn medicine under the doctor of Linview, the small community we joined, and became the new doctor after a while. She cut my horns off, and shaved them down as close as possible to my head. It was dreadfully painful, although I understood why she did it. She just wanted me to live a relatively normal life, which is hard with curving horns coming out of your forehead. Not to mention my eyes or pointed teeth, which she couldn't do much about. But I digress.
We lived happily for years, I went to school and she kept the townsfolk healthy. The townsfolk themselves were pretty tolerant of me, though I'm not sure if it was because they didn't care that I was a tiefling or out of respect for my mother. The children I grew up around found me fascinating however, and constantly asked me questions. It was good times... simpler times. But alas, good times have their ends. I just wish mine didn't end the way it did.
It was a day like any other. Quiet, peaceful, everyone going along their lives as they've had for years. I was eight at the time, enjoying life like any other eight-year-old should. I remember that it was the middle of winter, and I had just finished school for the day. The snow was coming down hard, and I heard strange noises off in the distance. I thought nothing of it and continued walking home.
Then I saw it, billows of smoke rising up in the distance. I saw strange men grabbing people out of their homes, and burning them to the ground. I ran home as fast I could, and slammed the door shut behind me. My mother was there looking out the window, wide-eyed and on the verge of tears. She took me by the hand, and led me inside a hidden room. She told me to be quiet, and not to make any noise. She smiled as she turned away and shut the room up behind her, before walking towards the door where two men suddenly burst through. That was the last time I saw her smile.
The men made way for a lord to walk in, my father Varik. He demanded to know where I was, but she all she said was that she didn’t know. He order the two men to ransack the house, and so they did, though they did not find me. Angry, he took my mother away and set my home on ablaze. The last thing I could hear before passing out, was the sound of hooves running off into the distance.
When I awoke, I found myself surrounded by debris, and, in the distance, the ruins of my community. Everyone was scavenging through the rumble, looking for; family; heirlooms; and anything else that didn’t burn up with their homes. The moment I’ll never forget, was how they glared at me when I had managed to get free. The hatred in their eyes, the coldness of their expressions, and before I knew it I was chased out of Linview.
Without my mother, and without my childhood home, I walked out towards who knows where. Eventually, after what seemed like weeks, I stumbled upon the city of Waterdeep. The city was grander than anything I had ever seen before. The people there... well... I tried to stay away from them. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened back in Linview, though most of them just ignored me.
I took to scavenging and theft to survive. I was never particularly dexterous, though the city itself had a lot of places you could run and hide. It wasn’t a great life. I did this for many years, more than I had ever wished to do. I was always just scraping by, and it never felt like I was actually surviving in this world.
My day came to me when I was about 15 years old. I had just managed to get away from a group of guards after stealing some food, and found myself in the middle of the sea ward. It was around noon, and I decided to eat my bounty and take a small nap. I ended up sleeping until it was nighttime.
When I woke up and gathered my bearings, I saw that I was in front of the Temple of Beauty. There was one lone guard standing watch over the temple, which I didn’t think much of at the time. Just as I shrugged and was about to head off, I saw a rather attractive woman go up to the guard. They exchanged a few words, and the last I saw of the guard was as he looked around before heading off with the woman.
I looked up at the temple, it was pretty magnificent. I did think for a moment that, since the guard was gone, I could take everything inside and be set for life. But something stopped me, I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was weariness from living like this for so long, maybe it was a sign from the gods themselves, or maybe I just felt it was wrong. But for whatever reason, I thought that the temple needed a guard... so why not me? I sighed and ended up guarding the entrance of the temple throughout the night.
I continued guarding until daybreak, standing vigil against possible thieves. As the sun broke off the horizon, I saw a priestess and paladins approaching me. The paladins drew their swords, as the priestess demanded to know who I was and where the guard was. When I went to explain, it happened. It was sudden, a quick flash of light which momentarily blinded everyone near me.
After regaining their vision, the paladins went in to attack me and I stumbled backwards in my attempt to dodge. I closed my eyes, and after a moment I open them back up. The paladins were stopped dead in their tracts, and were looking down at my neck. As I looked to see what they were looking at, I saw an amulet mysteriously appeared. It was the holy symbol of Sune, who had apparently just shown me her favor.
The paladins quickly retracted their swords and helped me to my feet. I managed to explain myself to them, and what had happened. They brought me inside, gave me some food, and drew up a bath for me. That was the best bath I've ever had. Which I know that it doesn't seem like much, but I haven't had one for years. After I finished cleaning up, I was led to an inner chamber.
It was there that I first met the other paladins of the Order of the Ruby Rose. They told me that since I stood guard throughout the entire night, and that Sune had shown me her favor, that I was invited to join the order. Not having anything to lose, I promptly accepted and my training began immediately.
It was rough, I'll admit that. Between all of the learning, training, and the strict routine they had set for me, there were days where I thought about running away in the middle of the night. But I endured, and because of that I have the knowledge of all the tenets of my faith and the training to keep myself alive in a fight. So I don't regret it. Six years pass, thoughts of my mother flood into my head.
I wanted to save her, if she was still alive. I knew my soul would likely not rest easily if I didn't. I went up to the priestess and ask her if I could embark on a long quest to rid the world of the ugliness that I experienced when I was younger. She thankfully agreed, and I prepared myself for the long journey ahead.
I embarked on my birthday, on the eve of Greengrass. I decided the best way to go about this was to get some practical combat experience, train, and hone my skills to eventually be able to confront my father and save the person who protect me enough to get me where I am today. My mother, the young servant woman of Lord Varik of Malgrave Keep, Aldreda."
Ankor Iton Might. Goliath, Oath of Conquest Paladin, Level 6 right now. having a really difficult time with backstory and art. Choosing a god or even playing him through PBP here on DNDbeyond. Need some suggestions. thank you
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my paladin is Kerris Dawnhammer, a teifling, born to a Dwarven clan. The clan for generations raised their children to be master craftsmen and defenders of the weak. As a clan, they were very closely tied to the worship of Moridan. Kerris was never taught to craft. never taught to recognize stonework. It was not active abuse, it was neglect. he was less important, less a part of the clan to the clan elders. The only time he got attention was when he got in fights. Normally he was disciplined for being too violent or breaking things, but when he took on a recruit preparing to take Paladin oaths and held his own ground, he was recognized as "perhaps good for something". With this little bit of praise he took to combat training with a fervor. he would be the greatest warrior that the service of Morridan knew. he would subjugate all his enemies. Evil would fear justice. and his Strength would protect the weak. He is very aggressive for a paladin, but also fanatical in his worship of Morridan and the Dwarven ways. However, despite his Oath of conquest, anyone who looks closely at the holy symbol that Kerris wears, will notice it is not a symbol of Morridan as warrior or conqueror, but as Morridan as crafter of clan, as god of family. That is truly was Kerris desires, to be accepted by his clan. to have his deeds and name carved upon the walls as one of the clan.