The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
Yes, when a puzzle box holding a piece of creation that was used in the creation of the tree itself is invoked, we get an image of the tree.... not quite the same as simply casting a level 1 blessing...
so? Is there a minimum spell level required to invoke an image of something considered "sacred" to the character as part of flavoring a spell in 5e? I imagine many Clerics and Paladins would like a word
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
Yes, when a puzzle box holding a piece of creation that was used in the creation of the tree itself is invoked, we get an image of the tree.... not quite the same as simply casting a level 1 blessing...
so? Is there a minimum spell level required to invoke an image of something considered "sacred" to the character as part of flavoring a spell in 5e? I imagine many Clerics and Paladins would like a word
Well, you could be playing in an anime or video game, but it still comes across as silly. For clerics and paladins, there is a difference between presenting your holy symbol dramatically and a big flashy image of your holy symbol appearing.
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
Yes, when a puzzle box holding a piece of creation that was used in the creation of the tree itself is invoked, we get an image of the tree.... not quite the same as simply casting a level 1 blessing...
so? Is there a minimum spell level required to invoke an image of something considered "sacred" to the character as part of flavoring a spell in 5e? I imagine many Clerics and Paladins would like a word
Well, you could be playing in an anime or video game, but it still comes across as silly. For clerics and paladins, there is a difference between presenting your holy symbol dramatically and a big flashy image of your holy symbol appearing.
A very small difference defined by only two things: 1) How the player wants a spell to appear 2)How much reflavoring a DM is okay with. EurobeatJester's reflavoring of her spell is not something that changes the effect Bless has and is a perfectly valid way to present it. And thats all I am going to say on it.
If you think thats still incorrect, unfortunately thats just your problem. As far as I can tell Eurobeat's table (and DM) are cool with it.
This thread is about presenting reflavoring ideas, not debating what constitutes a valid reflavoring
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To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
This problem is common to all swarmkeepers with swarms comprised of critters that do not fly. I have a hard time reconciling with some sort of massive column of raccoons thrusting my swarmkeeper skyward to the point where she is considered to be flying. Just how many raccoons are there in a swarm?? Gonna need a crazy amount to realize flight considering there’s no limit indicated for altitude!
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
Hear me out. Flying lobsters
They are technically these fey-spirit things, so it just looks like a mass of lobsters beneath my feet carrying me around the sky
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
A Swashbuckler Rogue who was designed similar to a ronin, or wandering samurai.
The Sneak Attack is then flavored as an “Iao”-styled quick draw with a katana.
Cunning Action “Dash”, draw the blade, speed past and…sheath. Rogue damage being what it is, it evokes that sweet “anime” feeling when you get the kill.
A Wizard who uses “Painting Supplies” as their spellcasting focus…”Acid Splash” and “Caustic Brew” are described as globs of paint, and of course you have your obligatory “Color Spray”, “Prismatic Orb”, “Prismatic Spray”, etc…
I usually try and decide what sort of “feel” I want for a character, and then I typically imagine what they would look like.
You're right, I should stick to historical accuracy when it comes to Norse themes. I just need to convince the other members of my party to roll up Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers. /s
Never thought people sharing their reflavorings could result in gatekeeping, but there you go.
Asking for the reasoning behind something is not gatekeeping.
The imagery of Yggrasil is iconic both as a concept and an ideal to Norse themes and religion, in much the same way the cross is with Christianity. Yes, it can represent a physical object or place, but there's a lot more to it than that. Instead of a map of Italy, a more apt comparison would be a catholic priest causing a cross to appear on the ground and having each point of it branch off to touch the party members affected.
Except that it's not, as already explained to someone else. Yggdrasil isn't a religious symbol any more than a globe or a map of Italy is. So no, you comparison doesn't work.
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
Oh, so it was used as a representation of the physical place they lived in and, in fact, not a religious or holy symbol? Yeah, even Marvel got it right.
A Wizard who uses “Painting Supplies” as their spellcasting focus…”Acid Splash” and “Caustic Brew” are described as globs of paint, and of course you have your obligatory “Color Spray”, “Prismatic Orb”, “Prismatic Spray”, etc…
For some reason this reminds me of one of the old Kirby games where you fight chameleons by throwing paint at them... :D
I guess I can see where you're coming from if you're a staunch believer that paladins and clerics need gods and therefore have to follow an expected or traditional set of rules. I don't think that needs to be true if you're only doing a one or two level dip and clear it with your DM. If you're only taking a one or two level dip, you're most likely only doing it to pick up some features that are complimenting what you're already doing. It's likely not a pivotal point that the character then devotes themselves to for the rest of the game. You're not going to be playing a 1 level dip into Hexblade the same way you would with 10 levels in it without some serious reflavoring of your main class.
Back to "why" though.
It's because of how the imagery of the world tree, runes, Vikings, tartans, etc are all associated with each other thematically and part of the same nebulous group most people think of when they think of "Norse."
The imagery of Yggdrasil and runes in general are most commonly associated with and evocative of Norse and Celtic themes, not just their religion. My fighter is Celtic/Norse themed and I wanted to give her a unique looking way to cast Bless. Giving her an ability that is reflavored to look like she's casting a magic circle on the ground with a runic drawing of Yggdrasil fits that Viking theme. It's a trope, but sometimes it's fun to lean into a trope.
Everyone at the table loves it, and it looks cool.
I guess I can see where you're coming from if you're a staunch believer that paladins and clerics need gods and therefore have to follow an expected or traditional set of rules. I don't think that needs to be true if you're only doing a one or two level dip and clear it with your DM.
One of the rare instances when I got to be a player versus the DM, I created a tiefling samurai that had eventually taken a couple levels of cleric. I chose the Grave domain for the cleric levels, which were reflavored as honoring/venerating his ancestors more so than worshipping a particular deity. Saying a prayer was matter of paying homage to his ancestors, who granted him the benefits of the class abilities and spells. Nothing changed mechanical, but I presented things differently with this reflavoring in mind. For example, casting guidance was akin to drawing on the collective knowledge of his predecessors, and a bless spell was having some of those spirits temporarily watch over individuals.
Not an overly crazy concept, but it did make the character more memorable as I leaned into that idea versus playing the more standard clerical approach.
My fighter is Celtic/Norse themed and I wanted to give her a unique looking way to cast Bless. Giving her an ability that is reflavored to look like she's casting a magic circle on the ground with a runic drawing of Yggdrasil fits that Viking theme. It's a trope, but sometimes it's fun to lean into a trope.
And, for what it's worth, I kinda like the idea of having the Yggdrasil imagry appear when your Celtic/Norse character casts their bless spell. I envision the imagry of Yggdrasil branching out from your fighter/cleric to those being blessed, and the "World Tree" momentarily connects the divine realm to these mortal creatures and conveys the blessings of Asgrad (or elsewhere) to them. It's a neat variation to an otherwise fairly standard spell.
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
Hear me out. Flying lobsters
They are technically these fey-spirit things, so it just looks like a mass of lobsters beneath my feet carrying me around the sky
Lol. I really don't like the "fey spirit in the form of X" thing they've done with a bunch of these effects and spells, for reasons not really relevant here, but I do have to concede that flying lobsters does sound like something the fey would come up with.
You're right, I should stick to historical accuracy when it comes to Norse themes. I just need to convince the other members of my party to roll up Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers. /s
Never thought people sharing their reflavorings could result in gatekeeping, but there you go.
Asking for the reasoning behind something is not gatekeeping.
The imagery of Yggrasil is iconic both as a concept and an ideal to Norse themes and religion, in much the same way the cross is with Christianity. Yes, it can represent a physical object or place, but there's a lot more to it than that. Instead of a map of Italy, a more apt comparison would be a catholic priest causing a cross to appear on the ground and having each point of it branch off to touch the party members affected.
Except that it's not, as already explained to someone else. Yggdrasil isn't a religious symbol any more than a globe or a map of Italy is. So no, you comparison doesn't work.
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
Oh, so it was used as a representation of the physical place they lived in and, in fact, not a religious or holy symbol? Yeah, even Marvel got it right.
The best part about all of this is you don't know what you're talking about. That said, you're literally arguing about a made up thing in a made up thing based on a dead mythology. Who cares if it's not 100% historically accurate? We're dealing with spells here. No one casts spells either so who cares if she taps into a mythical tree when casting a spell in a game 100% based on making shit up? I for one think it's a pretty cool concept and not at all at odds with actual Norse mythology. Stop being a buzzkill.
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
Hear me out. Flying lobsters
They are technically these fey-spirit things, so it just looks like a mass of lobsters beneath my feet carrying me around the sky
Lol. I really don't like the "fey spirit in the form of X" thing they've done with a bunch of these effects and spells, for reasons not really relevant here, but I do have to concede that flying lobsters does sound like something the fey would come up with.
Admittedly, it does sound a bit "hand-wave-y" in a way to explain certain powers, but does leave a very wide door for reflavoring things to fit your character.
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Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews!Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Most reflavoring I do is aesthetics like specific thing eldritch blast is blue or pact of the blade visually looks like shunting my bladepact longsword into a sheath (like the one mage from the Witcher). However, I also love to reflavor the warlock class in general. I absolutely adore it mechanically, but the idea of a patron just makes me feel squeamish, and I never really liked building a mage around a sort of Dr. Faust vibes. So, to reconcile it, I usually reflavor the class as being sort of like Ozma or the Maiden Mantles from RWBY, or I just reflavor it into a sort of different kind of sorcerous origin (as I’m being descended from the patron entity itself). I’ve also reflavored Celestial Warlocks into being Undying Light warlocks (based, and dare I say Lightpilled.).
Currently I’m running the first reflavor (wherein it’s a sort of bloodline transmission of a mantle of powers) and the DM is super cool with it. That being said, it’s a game of literal make believe regulated by dice and the people playing it so I get if people wouldn’t necessarily like this kind of reflavoring, to which I say let people play the game how they want to and don’t play it how you don’t want to.
A Rune Knight fighter/Aberrant Mind sorcerer whose powers and abilities are innate because he's not exactly fully human. The "runes" were just a way for him to help focus his powers as they emerged, taught to him by his hag nanny when he was a kid, and they're really just kind of random words in Sylvan -- the equivalent of using Google translate to come up with a tattoo in a foreign language
A Circle of Stars druid who is a full-on Magical Girl, with shouted catchphrases for each transformation and guiding bolt (aka her Sparkle Beacon Blast)
Ready as a backup character:
A Way of the Astral Self monk with a 1-level dip into Undead warlock who's just kind of a scrappy street fighter and has never seen the inside of a monastery. Her twin sister died when they were kids but her ghost/spirit hung around For Reasons, and now supplies the extra arms in combat, catches arrows fired at her from behind etc. The Form of Dread comes out when the sister gets really upset
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I leaned heavily into the edge/reflavoring for an Ebberon campaign we just wrapped up, with the DM fully on board.
I played a crazy Bloodhunter-esqe version of my main Artificer/Rune Scribe from our Curse of Strahd campaign. It was an alternate version where in her past, our Curse of Strahd party failed - she was bitten by Strahd and left to turn, and he cruelly let her leave Barovia as a warning and enticement to others. She ended up learning how to merge with her fire rune to stop the progression of the vampiric effects, and has spent the last hundred years studying blood magic.
Mechanically, she's a Mark of Scribing gnome. Mutagen Bloodhunter 4/Rune Scribe 5/Phoenix Sorcerer 1/Undead Warlock 3 in an unholy multiclass. Everything is flavored as her using blood magic, having learned it over the course of the time since she failed in Barovia.
Her mutagens are flavored as her being able to temporarily enchant her blood to produce the desired effect, same with her amplified curses. She's mastered all four runes and their utility, finally learning how to use ice as it was the one she thematically couldn't learn. Her level of Phoenix Sorcerer is from her merged fire rune so she can activate a flame aura around herself, and finally her Undead Warlock levels give her the ability to temporarily transform into a Dhamphir. She has Pact of the Blade flavored as being able to cut her palm and summon a weapon made from her own blood and can use it as a focus with Improved Pact Weapon, or doing the same with a magical weapon if she can craft an earring using the metal of said magic weapon.
She was a blast to play and RP, being completely independent. She was terrified of being helpless again after what Strahd did to her, so by mastering blood magic with the same passion she learned Artifice, she's never without a weapon. You could strip her completely naked and she'd still find a way to kick ass. Her ultimate goal is to return to Barovia and free her friends.
We ended the campaign at level 13 but we had so much fun we're all planning another to take it to 20, capped with a few sessions in Barovia to finally take down Strahd.
The image of Yggdrasil was also used in the first Captain America movie as Asgardian imagery to represent the nine realms of existence, and it's also a plot point in the first two Thor movies. The first time we see the Tesseract, it's being pulled from a secret drawer in the roots of the tree fresco.
so? Is there a minimum spell level required to invoke an image of something considered "sacred" to the character as part of flavoring a spell in 5e? I imagine many Clerics and Paladins would like a word
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Please stop arguing about this
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
And that's why it's a reflavoring. It's a 2 level dip for thematic purposes. She's not an actual cleric and I don't play her like one.
A very small difference defined by only two things: 1) How the player wants a spell to appear 2)How much reflavoring a DM is okay with. EurobeatJester's reflavoring of her spell is not something that changes the effect Bless has and is a perfectly valid way to present it. And thats all I am going to say on it.
If you think thats still incorrect, unfortunately thats just your problem. As far as I can tell Eurobeat's table (and DM) are cool with it.
This thread is about presenting reflavoring ideas, not debating what constitutes a valid reflavoring
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
To add something to this thread, I am playing a Swarmkeeper ranger who is a fisherman whose swarm is a bunch of lobsters. Its not the most unique take on it that I have seen, but I think its fun
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
This is not only a refreshing escape from one of the silliest debates I've seen on this board to date, but a hilarious idea in itself. What do you do when the effect involves flying, as I seem to remember it doing at some point?
This problem is common to all swarmkeepers with swarms comprised of critters that do not fly. I have a hard time reconciling with some sort of massive column of raccoons thrusting my swarmkeeper skyward to the point where she is considered to be flying. Just how many raccoons are there in a swarm?? Gonna need a crazy amount to realize flight considering there’s no limit indicated for altitude!
How have others handled this?
Hear me out. Flying lobsters
They are technically these fey-spirit things, so it just looks like a mass of lobsters beneath my feet carrying me around the sky
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
A Swashbuckler Rogue who was designed similar to a ronin, or wandering samurai.
The Sneak Attack is then flavored as an “Iao”-styled quick draw with a katana.
Cunning Action “Dash”, draw the blade, speed past and…sheath. Rogue damage being what it is, it evokes that sweet “anime” feeling when you get the kill.
A Wizard who uses “Painting Supplies” as their spellcasting focus…”Acid Splash” and “Caustic Brew” are described as globs of paint, and of course you have your obligatory “Color Spray”, “Prismatic Orb”, “Prismatic Spray”, etc…
I usually try and decide what sort of “feel” I want for a character, and then I typically imagine what they would look like.
Then it’s just a matter of picking the class.
Asking for the reasoning behind something is not gatekeeping.
Except that it's not, as already explained to someone else. Yggdrasil isn't a religious symbol any more than a globe or a map of Italy is. So no, you comparison doesn't work.
Oh, so it was used as a representation of the physical place they lived in and, in fact, not a religious or holy symbol? Yeah, even Marvel got it right.
For some reason this reminds me of one of the old Kirby games where you fight chameleons by throwing paint at them... :D
I guess I can see where you're coming from if you're a staunch believer that paladins and clerics need gods and therefore have to follow an expected or traditional set of rules. I don't think that needs to be true if you're only doing a one or two level dip and clear it with your DM. If you're only taking a one or two level dip, you're most likely only doing it to pick up some features that are complimenting what you're already doing. It's likely not a pivotal point that the character then devotes themselves to for the rest of the game. You're not going to be playing a 1 level dip into Hexblade the same way you would with 10 levels in it without some serious reflavoring of your main class.
Back to "why" though.
It's because of how the imagery of the world tree, runes, Vikings, tartans, etc are all associated with each other thematically and part of the same nebulous group most people think of when they think of "Norse."
The imagery of Yggdrasil and runes in general are most commonly associated with and evocative of Norse and Celtic themes, not just their religion. My fighter is Celtic/Norse themed and I wanted to give her a unique looking way to cast Bless. Giving her an ability that is reflavored to look like she's casting a magic circle on the ground with a runic drawing of Yggdrasil fits that Viking theme. It's a trope, but sometimes it's fun to lean into a trope.
Everyone at the table loves it, and it looks cool.
I need no further justification than that. :)
Instead of pointing when casting eldritch blast, my warlock casts the spell by throwing a fist.
One of the rare instances when I got to be a player versus the DM, I created a tiefling samurai that had eventually taken a couple levels of cleric. I chose the Grave domain for the cleric levels, which were reflavored as honoring/venerating his ancestors more so than worshipping a particular deity. Saying a prayer was matter of paying homage to his ancestors, who granted him the benefits of the class abilities and spells. Nothing changed mechanical, but I presented things differently with this reflavoring in mind. For example, casting guidance was akin to drawing on the collective knowledge of his predecessors, and a bless spell was having some of those spirits temporarily watch over individuals.
Not an overly crazy concept, but it did make the character more memorable as I leaned into that idea versus playing the more standard clerical approach.
And, for what it's worth, I kinda like the idea of having the Yggdrasil imagry appear when your Celtic/Norse character casts their bless spell. I envision the imagry of Yggdrasil branching out from your fighter/cleric to those being blessed, and the "World Tree" momentarily connects the divine realm to these mortal creatures and conveys the blessings of Asgrad (or elsewhere) to them. It's a neat variation to an otherwise fairly standard spell.
Lol. I really don't like the "fey spirit in the form of X" thing they've done with a bunch of these effects and spells, for reasons not really relevant here, but I do have to concede that flying lobsters does sound like something the fey would come up with.
The best part about all of this is you don't know what you're talking about. That said, you're literally arguing about a made up thing in a made up thing based on a dead mythology. Who cares if it's not 100% historically accurate? We're dealing with spells here. No one casts spells either so who cares if she taps into a mythical tree when casting a spell in a game 100% based on making shit up? I for one think it's a pretty cool concept and not at all at odds with actual Norse mythology. Stop being a buzzkill.
Admittedly, it does sound a bit "hand-wave-y" in a way to explain certain powers, but does leave a very wide door for reflavoring things to fit your character.
Three-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
Most reflavoring I do is aesthetics like specific thing eldritch blast is blue or pact of the blade visually looks like shunting my bladepact longsword into a sheath (like the one mage from the Witcher). However, I also love to reflavor the warlock class in general. I absolutely adore it mechanically, but the idea of a patron just makes me feel squeamish, and I never really liked building a mage around a sort of Dr. Faust vibes. So, to reconcile it, I usually reflavor the class as being sort of like Ozma or the Maiden Mantles from RWBY, or I just reflavor it into a sort of different kind of sorcerous origin (as I’m being descended from the patron entity itself). I’ve also reflavored Celestial Warlocks into being Undying Light warlocks (based, and dare I say Lightpilled.).
Currently I’m running the first reflavor (wherein it’s a sort of bloodline transmission of a mantle of powers) and the DM is super cool with it. That being said, it’s a game of literal make believe regulated by dice and the people playing it so I get if people wouldn’t necessarily like this kind of reflavoring, to which I say let people play the game how they want to and don’t play it how you don’t want to.
I am fully #TeamReflavor
Currently playing:
Ready as a backup character:
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I leaned heavily into the edge/reflavoring for an Ebberon campaign we just wrapped up, with the DM fully on board.
I played a crazy Bloodhunter-esqe version of my main Artificer/Rune Scribe from our Curse of Strahd campaign. It was an alternate version where in her past, our Curse of Strahd party failed - she was bitten by Strahd and left to turn, and he cruelly let her leave Barovia as a warning and enticement to others. She ended up learning how to merge with her fire rune to stop the progression of the vampiric effects, and has spent the last hundred years studying blood magic.
Mechanically, she's a Mark of Scribing gnome. Mutagen Bloodhunter 4/Rune Scribe 5/Phoenix Sorcerer 1/Undead Warlock 3 in an unholy multiclass. Everything is flavored as her using blood magic, having learned it over the course of the time since she failed in Barovia.
Her mutagens are flavored as her being able to temporarily enchant her blood to produce the desired effect, same with her amplified curses. She's mastered all four runes and their utility, finally learning how to use ice as it was the one she thematically couldn't learn. Her level of Phoenix Sorcerer is from her merged fire rune so she can activate a flame aura around herself, and finally her Undead Warlock levels give her the ability to temporarily transform into a Dhamphir. She has Pact of the Blade flavored as being able to cut her palm and summon a weapon made from her own blood and can use it as a focus with Improved Pact Weapon, or doing the same with a magical weapon if she can craft an earring using the metal of said magic weapon.
She was a blast to play and RP, being completely independent. She was terrified of being helpless again after what Strahd did to her, so by mastering blood magic with the same passion she learned Artifice, she's never without a weapon. You could strip her completely naked and she'd still find a way to kick ass. Her ultimate goal is to return to Barovia and free her friends.
We ended the campaign at level 13 but we had so much fun we're all planning another to take it to 20, capped with a few sessions in Barovia to finally take down Strahd.