Hello! I have an idea of a concept for a new character for AL, but as I do not know all rules etc in AL I thought that I would post it in here to get some feedback in case I made a mess of something. Unfortunantly I have not come up with a name yet. I want a ”roleplaying name” and not a silly name. It should not be something that inspire fear as he is not that kind of character. The basic idea is a human male that is working as a mortician. He think that death is the ultimate evil and dream of finding the key to rid humanity of death. He started his search as a life cleric, but as they ask their god to bring people back he did not find his answers there. He instead turns to wizardry and necromancy. Animating dead is not the same as bringing someone back but he thinks he might find the key of how to do that by experimenting with death magic, possibly combining it with the little he learned as a life cleric. As he has good goal, but are doing it with questionable methods and are breaking many social taboos I was thinking that Chaotic Neutral would be a fitting alignment for him. However in his own mind he is Chaotic Good.
Gamewise he would start with a level of life cleric to multiclass to wizard (necromancer) for the rest 19 levels. He would have skill in medicine, arcana, investigation, alchemy tools and herbalist tools. At level 6 when he gets animate dead he will create 4 skeletons that he will keep controll over. He will only animate the bones from those who done bad things (for instance bandits attacking him would be fair game) or if someone agrees to let him use their body after their death. That could for instance be an offer to someone who was dying and had very little money to get a little gold now (to give to their familly, or enjoy a good last few days) and ”working it off” after their death. It would then be a written contract to document the details of the transaction / servitude. As skeletons has an int of 6 they should be able to function as his assistants/minions (as he do not have an "Igor") for experiments etc. To avoid problems when going out in public the skeletons will be dressed in armor, helmets etc to look like normal, low level guards (but they do not talk). The skeletons will get equipped with heavy crossbows and a bunch of crossbow bolts. As it is only 4 of them it will not slow down AL gameplay, but he would be able to contribute a decent round to round damage output. As variant human I would get a feat at level 1 and I was thinking about resiliant (con) to get proficient in con saves. Allways good as a caster for those concentration checks.
If you see any mistakes that I have done, or have suggestions on how to improve this I would be happy to hear your thoughts about it. Would tinkerers tools fit better then herbalist tools? Is it another feat that I should grab for level 1? Do you have a suggestion for a good (roleplaying) name for the character?
I don’t like planning a build through level 20 myself, as I like to let the in-game experience dictate how my guys level up. Not sure what the rules are about having undead thralls adventure with you, either. I know they can be made in-game, but not sure about starting sessions with them. You may be putting more thought into it all of it than an AL game can support.
That said, when you strip it all back to bare bones, I like the idea of a mortician turned adventurer. As an alternative to your multiclass idea, what do you think about using the SCAG as your +1 sourcebook and being an Undying One’s warlock? Maybe they cursed death enough to get this patron’s attention.
As for names...Something that doesn’t inspire fear, and isn’t silly (or I assume punny), an probably isn’t “on the nose” like Mort. That could just be any common sounding name that strikes you the right way. I’m not sure what you mean by roleplaying name. Unless you mean unused in common American culture, but with a common feel, like Eragon.
Ernest Stone, Haligan Posey, Embret Longstreet. Bertrand Wisenhut, Conley Rhodes, Marwell Evergoode...I can keep generating these all day. But I’m still firing blind unless we can narrow down the search with something more specific, like should it sound highbred or lowborn? Do you want a name that is longer and more exotic, but shortens to something familiar (Dantellius shortens to Dan). I have a bard I named Manley Silver, but it’s a stage name. An anagram of his much less cool real name, Lesley Virman. With that one I started with the stage name that sounded really convenient, but possibly coincidental that someone who presented himself as a rock god who makes bank would be named Manley Silver. Then I looked for an anagram that sounded like someone who would get picked on in school. Does any of that break the gears free to come up with your name?
The overall class and concept seem interesting. The main concern is having persistent minions.
There is no problem creating minions within a session if you have the right kind to target available (i.e. dead humanoids to make skeletons or zombies). However, allowing you to keep minions over consecutive sessions may be DM dependent, mostly because it can upset the balance of a module. On the other hand, by the level where you can maintain a group of minions they can also be dealt with by using fireballs and other techniques.
However, keep in mind that if you want to keep minions you need to
- log where and when each one is created
- log the damage each one takes - they won't start a session fresh since they may not restore hit points on a long rest (the rules for long rest hit point restoration apply only to "characters").
- log when and if each is eliminated in combat
- expend the required spell slot at the start of each "day" in order to maintain them for the next 24 hours. (so by maintaining minions you may start the day missing some spell slots).
If you log everything and expend the required resources then the DM may allow you to keep the minions over consecutive adventures but check with the DM first. (I know DMs who have gone both ways on it and I don't know of a specific AL ruling for this case though it could be out there somewhere :) ).
Not being able to keep the minions would be ok, as long as he had access to bones so he could animate skeletons at the start of a session. Zombies would not be an opttion as I cannot see how to not disturb the play when running around with a small zombie mob. Skeletons has enough intelligence that it is possible to "dress them up" to get a decent chance that they are not spotted as undead.
If my character find a (non magic) longsword during play, he cannot keep it after the session is over. If my character BUY a (non magic) longsword he get to keep it. With that logic my character should not be able to keep undeads he animated from bones he found during the session. But could he BUY them and get to keep them? Or can you only buy items that are listed in the players handbook +1 that you use?
You can only buy listed items, but they don't have to be from your +1. Maybe there's an adventure / hardcover that has a vendor listed as willing to sell corpses?
After thinking about it for a while there are many other people that might craft things for themselfs. Would a player get to keep these to the next session?
A weapon or armor crafted by a blacksmith Lether armor, a saddle or a cool looking leather hat created with leatherworking A healig potion crafted with herbalism kit Venom created with poisoners kit Transmuter´s stone created by a wizard transmuter
The difference with animated skeletons/zombies would of course be that you needed to keep some spell slots permanently expended for the upkeep of the controll of them
If a player paid downtime and gold to craft these items, or have them crafted, they would be a permanent fixture in their inventory.
This bit in the s9 player’s guide, though, makes it sound like you shouldn’t have trouble justifying four skeletons to start any game with. “Downtime: Spellcasting Services: You can spend a downtime day to have an NPC cast a spell for you. Alternatively, you can use this downtime activity to cast a spell for yourself, or benefit from a spell cast by another character at the same table as you without the need for resources such as spell slots, etc. The DM alone has ultimate authority on whether downtime is feasible during a session (i.e., there are multiple days of inactivity during the session)”
Based on the wording of that, it looks like they ask you to spend a downtime day for each spell you want to have cast before the game starts. So 4 skeletons = 4 days of downtime each game you want to start with them.
What I also think sounds quite fair is justifying a single corpse or skeleton that the necromancer always has, free of downtime or spell requirements. I don’t know what power a DM has to issue certificates for such things, but I’d think it was great fun and not at all overpowered if a guy sat down at my table and said “I have this cert that says I always have an animated skeleton with my necromancer at the start of my games. I call him McCoy.”
Speaking of the Undead. Would it be possible to create a character that is a follower of Kelemvor? I work at a funeral home and when I ran across the "church of Kelemvor" in one of the comic books I immediately knew I had to create a character that was apart of that.
Sure. What gods you choose for your character are entirely up to you. They are a role play aspect of the game and don't affect anything mechanically. The gods of the forgotten realms are listed at the back of the PHB and Kelemvor is one of the options so there would be no problem creating such a character in AL. (Trying to choose a god from outside the Forgotten Realms setting might be an issue though).
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Hello!
I have an idea of a concept for a new character for AL, but as I do not know all rules etc in AL I thought that I would post it in here to get some feedback in case I made a mess of something. Unfortunantly I have not come up with a name yet. I want a ”roleplaying name” and not a silly name. It should not be something that inspire fear as he is not that kind of character.
The basic idea is a human male that is working as a mortician. He think that death is the ultimate evil and dream of finding the key to rid humanity of death. He started his search as a life cleric, but as they ask their god to bring people back he did not find his answers there. He instead turns to wizardry and necromancy. Animating dead is not the same as bringing someone back but he thinks he might find the key of how to do that by experimenting with death magic, possibly combining it with the little he learned as a life cleric. As he has good goal, but are doing it with questionable methods and are breaking many social taboos I was thinking that Chaotic Neutral would be a fitting alignment for him. However in his own mind he is Chaotic Good.
Gamewise he would start with a level of life cleric to multiclass to wizard (necromancer) for the rest 19 levels. He would have skill in medicine, arcana, investigation, alchemy tools and herbalist tools. At level 6 when he gets animate dead he will create 4 skeletons that he will keep controll over. He will only animate the bones from those who done bad things (for instance bandits attacking him would be fair game) or if someone agrees to let him use their body after their death. That could for instance be an offer to someone who was dying and had very little money to get a little gold now (to give to their familly, or enjoy a good last few days) and ”working it off” after their death. It would then be a written contract to document the details of the transaction / servitude. As skeletons has an int of 6 they should be able to function as his assistants/minions (as he do not have an "Igor") for experiments etc. To avoid problems when going out in public the skeletons will be dressed in armor, helmets etc to look like normal, low level guards (but they do not talk). The skeletons will get equipped with heavy crossbows and a bunch of crossbow bolts. As it is only 4 of them it will not slow down AL gameplay, but he would be able to contribute a decent round to round damage output. As variant human I would get a feat at level 1 and I was thinking about resiliant (con) to get proficient in con saves. Allways good as a caster for those concentration checks.
If you see any mistakes that I have done, or have suggestions on how to improve this I would be happy to hear your thoughts about it. Would tinkerers tools fit better then herbalist tools? Is it another feat that I should grab for level 1? Do you have a suggestion for a good (roleplaying) name for the character?
I don’t like planning a build through level 20 myself, as I like to let the in-game experience dictate how my guys level up. Not sure what the rules are about having undead thralls adventure with you, either. I know they can be made in-game, but not sure about starting sessions with them. You may be putting more thought into it all of it than an AL game can support.
That said, when you strip it all back to bare bones, I like the idea of a mortician turned adventurer. As an alternative to your multiclass idea, what do you think about using the SCAG as your +1 sourcebook and being an Undying One’s warlock? Maybe they cursed death enough to get this patron’s attention.
As for names...Something that doesn’t inspire fear, and isn’t silly (or I assume punny), an probably isn’t “on the nose” like Mort. That could just be any common sounding name that strikes you the right way. I’m not sure what you mean by roleplaying name. Unless you mean unused in common American culture, but with a common feel, like Eragon.
Ernest Stone, Haligan Posey, Embret Longstreet. Bertrand Wisenhut, Conley Rhodes, Marwell Evergoode...I can keep generating these all day. But I’m still firing blind unless we can narrow down the search with something more specific, like should it sound highbred or lowborn? Do you want a name that is longer and more exotic, but shortens to something familiar (Dantellius shortens to Dan). I have a bard I named Manley Silver, but it’s a stage name. An anagram of his much less cool real name, Lesley Virman. With that one I started with the stage name that sounded really convenient, but possibly coincidental that someone who presented himself as a rock god who makes bank would be named Manley Silver. Then I looked for an anagram that sounded like someone who would get picked on in school. Does any of that break the gears free to come up with your name?
The overall class and concept seem interesting. The main concern is having persistent minions.
There is no problem creating minions within a session if you have the right kind to target available (i.e. dead humanoids to make skeletons or zombies). However, allowing you to keep minions over consecutive sessions may be DM dependent, mostly because it can upset the balance of a module. On the other hand, by the level where you can maintain a group of minions they can also be dealt with by using fireballs and other techniques.
However, keep in mind that if you want to keep minions you need to
- log where and when each one is created
- log the damage each one takes - they won't start a session fresh since they may not restore hit points on a long rest (the rules for long rest hit point restoration apply only to "characters").
- log when and if each is eliminated in combat
- expend the required spell slot at the start of each "day" in order to maintain them for the next 24 hours. (so by maintaining minions you may start the day missing some spell slots).
If you log everything and expend the required resources then the DM may allow you to keep the minions over consecutive adventures but check with the DM first. (I know DMs who have gone both ways on it and I don't know of a specific AL ruling for this case though it could be out there somewhere :) ).
Not being able to keep the minions would be ok, as long as he had access to bones so he could animate skeletons at the start of a session. Zombies would not be an opttion as I cannot see how to not disturb the play when running around with a small zombie mob. Skeletons has enough intelligence that it is possible to "dress them up" to get a decent chance that they are not spotted as undead.
If my character find a (non magic) longsword during play, he cannot keep it after the session is over.
If my character BUY a (non magic) longsword he get to keep it.
With that logic my character should not be able to keep undeads he animated from bones he found during the session. But could he BUY them and get to keep them? Or can you only buy items that are listed in the players handbook +1 that you use?
You can only buy listed items, but they don't have to be from your +1. Maybe there's an adventure / hardcover that has a vendor listed as willing to sell corpses?
After thinking about it for a while there are many other people that might craft things for themselfs. Would a player get to keep these to the next session?
A weapon or armor crafted by a blacksmith
Lether armor, a saddle or a cool looking leather hat created with leatherworking
A healig potion crafted with herbalism kit
Venom created with poisoners kit
Transmuter´s stone created by a wizard transmuter
The difference with animated skeletons/zombies would of course be that you needed to keep some spell slots permanently expended for the upkeep of the controll of them
If a player paid downtime and gold to craft these items, or have them crafted, they would be a permanent fixture in their inventory.
This bit in the s9 player’s guide, though, makes it sound like you shouldn’t have trouble justifying four skeletons to start any game with. “Downtime: Spellcasting Services: You can spend a downtime day to have an NPC cast a spell for you. Alternatively, you can use this downtime activity to cast a spell for yourself, or benefit from a spell cast by another character at the same table as you without the need for resources such as spell slots, etc. The DM alone has ultimate authority on whether downtime is feasible during a session (i.e., there are multiple days of inactivity during the session)”
Based on the wording of that, it looks like they ask you to spend a downtime day for each spell you want to have cast before the game starts. So 4 skeletons = 4 days of downtime each game you want to start with them.
What I also think sounds quite fair is justifying a single corpse or skeleton that the necromancer always has, free of downtime or spell requirements. I don’t know what power a DM has to issue certificates for such things, but I’d think it was great fun and not at all overpowered if a guy sat down at my table and said “I have this cert that says I always have an animated skeleton with my necromancer at the start of my games. I call him McCoy.”
Speaking of the Undead. Would it be possible to create a character that is a follower of Kelemvor? I work at a funeral home and when I ran across the "church of Kelemvor" in one of the comic books I immediately knew I had to create a character that was apart of that.
Sure. What gods you choose for your character are entirely up to you. They are a role play aspect of the game and don't affect anything mechanically. The gods of the forgotten realms are listed at the back of the PHB and Kelemvor is one of the options so there would be no problem creating such a character in AL. (Trying to choose a god from outside the Forgotten Realms setting might be an issue though).