LFG
D&D Beyond
Game: D&D
Group preferred: Online
Experience: Used to DM when I was a kid/young teen and then did other things for about 25 yrs. Back with a vengeance(read the backstory lol)
Location/Timezone: I'm in the PST timezone.
Availability: My lady works the night shift, and leaves at 10pm PST, so ideally this is a night game that starts around then. She sleeps for the day though up until around 9pm, so an afternoon session starting around 5:30(I get off work at 5) and running a few hours would also work just fine.
Preferred role: Player
Game style: Since I'm just getting back into it I don't know what kind of campaign this character fits into, but I wrote it to be very modular. Definitely want heavy on the roleplaying elements, I guess you could say hardcore in that regard. Indifferent to the amount of combat(hack n slash I think is how people put it). I feel a healthy mix of this is good, but I don't want only this. The character I've written is interesting and has many customized mechanics that DM can use to have fun with it, so I don't want a campaign where all we do is hack our way through legions of goblins all the time. Don't get me wrong. I will slay the F out of some goblins, but read the story of Duo and tell me he's not meant for more.
NOTE: The tragic backstory of Duo is known only to the DM, and may never be known at all to anyone else including the player. At least in game. For coming up with this on the fly in a few hours late on a Friday night/Saturday morning, I’m actually quite proud of it. This would be a fun character to play from the blind though with no idea of the story. DM could have a lot of fun with customization on this one. My one request is this. If you decide to insert this into your campaign as a modular component, then just let me know, and give me feedback on how it works. I would love to flesh this out into a piece of legit content that would be included in actual official content. Gotta do some play testing first though. First hand feedback of play testing on this would be invaluable to me.
Ok here we go….
The Backstory of Duo:
Duo does not know who he is.
Duo does not know where he is..
Duo does not even know what he is…
...Duo does not know how, why, or if he is...
This is not a happy story backstory, and there is no light at the end of this tunnel. This is a very sad story, and it is far from over. There is never going to be a path to victory and at best it will be one of discovery. The rest of this story will very likely continue to be one of immense physical, mental, emotional and meta-physical struggle. This in the end,...is only the beginning of the path for the one known only as Duo.
None of the names or places in this story are known, and they will likely never be known. The arbitrary names we assign to these things do not really hold much power outside of their realm of existence. They do not live on in any real sense of time. They mean next to nothing in the astral and less than nothing in an alternate physical. They do not transcend and they do not cross over…
Actions are different. Actions are made up of everything in existence. From the physical to the non physical. A single action no matter how small is made of both idea, intent, belief, and any number of other non physical elements, but in many cases the action that occurs is a physical one and is thus made of both the physical and astral. Actions have immense power. Power to transcend, power to affect, and even in some cases the power to cross over from their plane of origin to another and affect it. Most of the time it’s not even a ripple. These splashes of physical astral fabric break against the membrane of other reality planes like the waves of an ocean made of dream and doubt. Not just one, but a series of actions having varying degrees of power is how Duo came to exist. At least exist in his current form.
In an alternate plane of existence… or perhaps it was this one even… a version… a branch… a thread of reality, there was an immensely powerful Paladin. He had not only come to a level of spiritual and magical enlightenment that was matched by few in existence at his time, but he had found his Soul Twin. This is more than a Soul Mate, but exists in parallel. Some souls are so powerful that they cannot be contained in just one body. In order for them to pass to the physical they have to split apart into at least 2 separate bodies. These are Soul Twins. If these two bodies manage to meet, then some very interesting things start to happen. They do not age in each others presence, gain a telepathic link, and are able to walk in the astral(one of them at least) with their Soul Twin. After spending enough time together they are able to merge their souls back together and transcend the physical entirely. Essentially becoming a celestial being. For these reasons, they are inseparable if they find each other. It’s not a conscious choice. It’s an immutable need that is triggered and will never go away once this happens.
In the case of this Paladin, he met his Soul Twin, but this didn’t occur until after he had met and wed his soul mate. This meeting sets of a series of events that cascade through the years like meteor storm. This costs countless lives, and ultimately fractures the planes of existence.
The Soul Mate in question was an equally powerful Cleric that the Paladin grew up with. They had fallen in love over the course of countless adventures and quests. Both epic and not so epic. They had even fought alongside one another through a few full on wars spanning the same range of epic to pathetic shows of machismo or disputes of honor.
When the Paladin met and was uncontrollably drawn to a Warlock of immense power during their last quest together, everything changed. The Paladin saved the Warlock from death and proceeded to protect her, much to the confusion of the Cleric, his Soul Mate. This appeared to be the end for their bond as Soul Mates, but anyone who has ever been in love will tell you it’s not that simple. It never is, and wasn’t going to be.
The Soul Mate was driven insane by wrath and consumed by jealousy and spite. Not only had she lost her love, but she could see that he was now on the path to attaining immeasurable power and potentially becoming even a celestial being. The loss of love can do many things to someone, but in almost every case it needs to be replaced by someone… or something. The desire to attain this power was what replaced her love for the Paladin. It consumed her, twisted her, and in those depths of despair she found something dark, something sinistar, something black beyond the idea of the color itself. It was hungry, very very hungry, and it spoke to her. It understood her, and she embraced it completely. This otherworldly Patron was consumed with the same desires for power and control as the Cleric now was, and together their rage spawned a power that drew others to it.
The ensuing war ravaged the land and its people, and brought the involved kingdoms to the brink of collapse. Even the forces that followed the Cleric now turned Dark Warlock suffered immeasurably and eventually she could see that brute force would not end this struggle.
With only her two most skilled assassins, the Soul Mate managed to bind herself enough to her patron that she was able to transport the 3 of them through the astral plane right into the sanctuary of the Paladin and his Soul Twin.
The battle that took place slid constantly between the astral and physical, magic and even physical attacks that should not be able to exist in the other plain started breaking through. At first in just fragments and bits, but those fragments and bits started getting bigger, reality started getting cut, stabbed, shocked… burned. Hurt..and even afraid. The Paladin was almost entirely focused on defending his twin in the physical from the two assassins, while his twin was having a duel with his soul mate in the astral. What starts as a battle of elegance and almost beauty in the ether that is not quite the physical, and not quite the non physical, eventually degrades. Attacks and blocks start out as shards made up of idea and intent, and are parried by walls of possibility and inevitability. Eventually, the wrath these two souls feel towards each other causes this dance of elegance to turn into a no holds bard astral brawl. What started as fragments of astral and non astral are now rips, tears, and even a full fissure. As their astral forms twirl and twist through the air..essence..presence… They hit the fissure, and reality, space and time both collide, miss each other entirely, and most catastrophically of all merge. The physical effect of this is not instant, exists in many timelines both in parallel and perpendicular, and yet doesn’t exist at all. It can’t, or at least… It shouldn’t.
The Paladin being able to see what is happening in the astral as he is parrying, enchanting, de-enchanting, and in some cases just taking attacks from the ruthless assassins, watches in indescribable horror as his Soul Twin; who his connection with cannot be measure or described in the thoughts or ideas of mortals, and his Soul Mate; who he never stopped loving, appear to have their souls disincorporated by the astral fissure, and both of their bodies turn to physical/astral dust before him.
He drops to his knees, lets his sword arm relax, and releases the throat of one of the assassins that was struggling for its last breath. The enchantment he had spun to hold the additional assassin evaporates. These killers are not distracted as he is. Yes, they were loyal to the Soul Mate, but they are professionals, and the target just dropped it’s guard. They immediately move in, and drive their magical blades towards the neck of the Paladin. Just out of pure reflex the Paladin attempts to swing his sword up to parry the attacks, but he is too late, and… the blades never find their mark….
What was actually happening over the course of what could have been seconds, days, years or even eons; since time is funny in the astral in general and this is an astral/physical rift, is that the Soul Mate and Soul Twins astral and physical essences merge and create a new Soul that has a physical existence without a physical body. Souls do not have a physical existence, that is why bodies exist, that is a fundamental law of reality, and the laws that govern this fabric of reality are generally not forgiving. In addition to his impossibility of existence, is the psychic strength of this soul. Normally a newly born Soul has no memories or experience, no desires, no needs, no feelings… No wants.
This newborn soul bursts into existence with the fully realized focused wants and desires of both the mate and twin as well both their memories. All of them. They become one. They want both things. Some of which contradict each other in very significant ways emotionally.
What happened right at the moment the blades were about to end the now meaningless life of the Paladin shouldn’t be described as an explosion. That word not only doesn’t accurately describe the event, it doesn’t even belong in the same language. A description for what happens to reality at this point isn’t possible and shouldn’t be attempted. All that can be described is the result, or to be more precise several results. The assassins cease to exist physically but cross over into astral existence, which they are not at all used to. Passing through it? Done that plenty of times on the job. This is different. They are both now existing astrally with their blades. One blade is astral and one physical, and of course the astral entity should not be able to be holding the physical blade. This is impossible, but in the scheme of things that are impossible within reality as whole that are about to occur, this one is minor. Only the astral blade is embedded into the physical neck of the Paladin. The physical blade has hit something else…. They barely have time to be aware of this before the next effect occurs though. The Paladin is aware of nothing. Cares for nothing anymore, and is ready for his life to end as fast as possible at this point, before the pain of his loss has a chance to fully weigh upon him.
Everything physical in the immediate vicinity ceases to exist, but does not do so quietly and with a quick blink or pop that leaves just empty space where the physical object once resided. The physical plane this is all taking place on splits into 2 parallel planes of existence, but the cataclysm of astral space, time, emotion and love remains only on one of them. This is because this event's existence is something the fabric of reality has to remove, and to remove it will require it to be sacrificed. It is essentially a limb that will cause the entirety of existence to wither and die if it is not removed, and so it is. With a very unique Effect.
The duplicate plane of existence still containing the event promptly collapses in on itself and by doing so ends the life of every duplicated being in that reality. Except for 5 or actually now just 4 beings. 4 essences. That is all that survives the destruction of an entire instance of reality. That, and some physical essences...
In addition to the physical and astral directional movements we can perceive or are aware of, there are many more. If you’re a 2 dimensional being, then not only are you not aware of the 3rd dimension of space and movement, but you can’t even conceive of the idea of it. This is important to understand in regard to the next stage of the event. Things move in a direction that not only doesn’t exist, but can’t exist, and never will… but somehow it did or maybe didn’t...
The new soul is a torrent of conflict in every sense of the word. Not just emotionally but in it’s existence in general. Only one thought, one feeling, one emotion, one desire,... one need is shared enough by both the parent souls to cause an Action. The most important and significant of all the actions that have led to this space, time, astral, physical, reality thread ending moment.
Protect my love. Protect who? What? When?... It finds it. It knows the want.
Protect the Paladin!!!!
The new soul throws itself astrally and physically between the path of the assassin's blades, but it can’t have both astral and physical existence. That’s why this thread of reality is about to cease to be, so that all the other threads of existence don’t combust in its wake. It gets cut by the merged points of the physical and astral blades, which given the nature of its existence is probably the only thing that will ever exist in time that can do that. That impossible Cut of a being ;who’s possibility of existence in itself is a contradiction of possibility, at this particular moment of astral/physical/time/space/reality/everything can’t exist. The new soul is separated into its original parts, and loses its physical essence that defies existence. One impossibility has been removed from the now very tattered tapestry of this doomed thread of reality, but there are too many left for this to really matter.
Reality starts to repair, but not fast enough...
At the point of collapse of the duplicate reality thread, everyone and some things(not everything this time) are pulled(actual word doesn't exist)… a direction. One that doesn’t exist in any dimension of space. What's left of them physically; which is just the Paladin, what he is wearing and one of the assassins blades is pushpullthrowntosskicked in a physical direction of space that doesn’t exist, can’t exist and never should have existed. The result of the movement of these beings is an Action. Unlike all the other Actions of this story. This one is taken by existence itself.
Duo is born.
****This is the end of the back story, and where the journey of Duo begins. The section below presents a general idea of how he enters a campaign, and lists and explains the customized mechanics that he comes up with as well as the Duo Set that is the primary motivation pushing the character forward****
Intro into the campaign if he’s starting fresh at level 1.
A man materializes at some point early in any given campaign in the presence of the other characters. He is naked, and has only a very interesting looking dagger that appears to be levitating in front of him. The dagger vanishes and makes a sound a that is both the loudest thing everyone has ever heard and at the same time makes no noise in reality. Location etc determined by DM. Ideally it’s on their way to their first encounter with an enemy. The man at first appears to obviously be having some kind of conversation with himself but the conversation is clearly two sided... Maybe even 3. Perhaps a lovers quarrel?.. He soon starts making no sense at all and becomes quiet and waits for an interaction of some kind.
The ideal path that is taken(anything can happen in D&D) is that even though the man is obviously confused, loose a few screws, and pretty ill equipped… well actually not equipped at all, the players could use some help/cannon fodder at this point, so they give him some basic gear and drag him along. Duo makes no protest being very very confused, but seems to naturally know how to “hold” a sword.
They call him Duo because when they first saw him it was just a naked man and a spooky looking dagger. Real name doesn’t exist(if it does it’s up to GM)
Duo has forgotten everything and possesses mostly just instinct at this point.
Duo is a Paladin 1/Warlock of whatever level fits the campaign. This is because the primary influences that created him are the Paladin and the 2 merged Warlock lovers. The assassins were part of the merge as well, but not being as psychically strong, they exist in the whisper mechanic(see below), but don’t influence general alignment or class.
Custom Skills/Feats - These are optional but their existence does make sense. What they are is totally up to GM. They can create new ones or pull from the existing listThe idea is that your body/mind don’t get punted across the plains of existence in a non existent direction without getting altered. This has resulted in an undetermined number of customized(by GM) skills and feats that Duo can acquire through any number of methods. For example, using the discovery mechanic(see below). Obviously at specific levels, after a meeting with a certain NPC, etc. Also, when he finds a piece of the Duo Set(see below).\
NOTE: All these mechanics are optional of course. DM is welcome to use them if they think it's fun but can opt not to at any time.
The first rest: Duo is now the result of all 5 of the souls merging together into the body of the Paladin. Not in equal parts though. Not all. The Paladin was very powerful and had a strong sense of self, but at the end it was bleeding away like the cut that should have been gashed in his neck. He has no memory of anything from before, but sees fragments in dreams when he rests. The Paladin is the dominant alignment and personality because of various factors, but mostly because it was his body that survived the event and movement through dimensional space. He hears whispers though. Not always voices. Sometimes just feelings. Instincts.. Urges.
Dream Fragment Mechanic - Only happens during rest periods normally, again obviously anything can happen in D&D. The DM decides what details from the backstory manifest, but the kind of memory is determined by a roll of D6.
1 - Memory about Soul Twin
2 - Memory about Soul Mate
3 - Random memory - Could be one from the roll list, something customized, or something that makes no sense. Usually just visual flashes
4 - Memory about The War of the Souls - Usually just visual flashes of epic battles/events, but could be more.
5 - Random visual/audio flash of memory with no contextual memorey. For example, flashes of moments in the last fight, but with no idea who the participants are or why they are fighting.
6 - More specific memory with audio, visual and contextual from last fight. For example, he knows he is fighting assassins sent by his soulmate who is trying to kill his soul twin, and probably him, and understands what these ideas are. Nothing beyond that level of context or understanding in general, but again up to the GM in the end.
In the end, the GM could choose specific elements. Make a different list and roll to determine what Duo sees. They can even add specifics like names to the various characters if they so choose. One of the reasons I wrote the story that way is to give the DM that option. It’s functional as is, but you can play with it if you want.
The Whisper Mechanic:
Details - Whenever the DM chooses he can have him hear a whisper from the other souls or the dagger. Duo will not hear so much as feel the whisper effect. This doesn't force the player to act, and is only just a quick suggestion that pops into their head. If the DM chooses to activate this mechanic they will roll a D6.
Note: The Dagger is an NPC, but it’s alignment/etc are up to GM. It could even have a class or more likely class abilities (most likely rogue/assasin/etc but upt to GM). It’s the main piece of the Duo set, and it’s recovery should alter duo significantly memory/ability recovery/etc.
The Duo Set
The pieces in the set are optional and most of their game effects are up to the GM, but this is what the overall drive and motivation for the character is outside of the current campaign/quest, so the set does need to exist in some way for his personal story to have progression triggers. As Duo acquires pieces of the set he will regain some of his memory through a dream fragment mechanic.
Duo can feel something… somethingS calling to him. When he wakes from a long rest, the DM decides Although all the pieces call to him, In general only the nearest piece should be heard. (note: may not be a physical direction) Otherwise this mechanic could send him circles, but then again that is up to the DM discretion because maybe you want to send Duo in circles.
The Duo set that is created during the event of Duo's birth and scattered across space time. Where the pieces are is up to the GM, and any quests involving their recovery is up to the GM. Generally it should add/enhance/modify the skills of both the Paladin and Warlock class because that’s just what makes sense. All of it may be on the plane that Duo materializes on, or none of it may be. Entirely up to DM in this regard. If Duo does acquire all the pieces of the set, he regains his memory and has the choice at that point to transcend to being a celestial being. Regardless, this is the point where he will become an NPC. Even if the choice is not to transcend, the full set will grant him abilities that are inappropriate for a player. Whatever those are doesn’t matter. That’s his end game. Complete the set. Duo becomes an NPC. The player doesn’t know this, so they should always be driven to complete the set.
The set is up to the DM. What it does individually and as a whole is up to the DM. The idea of the set is all that matters for the character's story, but the one thing that has to stay in is the dagger, but he doesn’t have to find it.
Duo Dagger - The exact effects and stats of the dagger are of course up to the DM, but it is an NPC, and in general has some significant consequences used. This dagger has the potential to be immensely powerful as it did at one point cut reality. If the dagger has other potential effects is up to the GM.
Side Effects
Other duo gear - General guidelines are that these are pieces of gear created during the Cut of reality. What was Duo wearing at the time. Maybe it was his armor, or maybe he was in his underwear. Any physical object in the vicinity could be affected and thus become part of the set. Given the vague nature of the sanctuary the battle takes place in and the equipment that the participants are equipped with. This could literally be anything, so have fun with that. There could be a Duo chair.. A duo half empty glass of mead… A duo piece of used female undergarments…. Yeah probably not that last one, but you get the idea. They did astral transport into the “sanctuary”(again vaguely defined on purpose) at non-specific time. Anything could be happening at the time they materialize in the “sanctuary”. There could be a duo cat or any other potential pet that was in the room. An NPC animal affected by the Cut could be a very fun thing to make. Does it have some of the consciousness of any of the involved parties in it?
That about covers it. The rest I'm leaving up to the DM(if one is crazy enough to take this on with me lol)
First of all, I do realize that from the DM angle this may be too much for most, so I don't need that feedback. Don't want to do this that's fine don't need to have you tell me that and how horrible you think my idea is. If you are interested but want to make modifications/edits to the idea that is totally fine, and I fully welcome and encourage that! Honestly, I don’t know what’s appropriate, but I figure there is no harm in presenting my idea to see if anyone bites. If not, eventually I'll get to the point I want to DM again and insert him as an NPC. I really would prefer to play him as a character and have others do so as well to give me play test feedback on the idea.
My back story is this(btw way shorter and simpler than Duos).
Really into Role Playing when I was a kid, and quickly realized I was the only one not just motivated enough but capable of understanding the game to act as DM. Played a little with my brothers, but they were too young. Kept reading the books. Kept making characters and writing ideas for campaigns. Wanted sooo bad to be somewhere else…. They have to make this stuff fr somebody besides me right?.... Years pass. Nevermind the details. I’m now in middle school, in Eugene Oregon(name drop). Found comic book store(Emerald Valley Comics) full of geeks that were actually into this is well. Holy shit. I just found my promised land. Went and got stoned with some girls and went a punk rock concert at an all ages venue(the WOW Hall.. name drop) and promptly forgot about or in general ceased to care about anything besides girls and the approximate geographic location they would be in at a given time for...… probably about 30 yrs…. Wait… I still care about that actually… Anyway, in the interim I did a lot of stuff in my life. Got more stoned(mostly)... He I’ve done shit to. Really!... I swear…..
Now… Covid. Bored with video games. Backstory - Serious old school gamer that grew up in the arcade and worked in the industry and got sick of video games(saved my life like pulling the crack pipe out of Tyrone's hand and slapping the shit ouf of him). Made some music, lived a proper life, and now… I work from home in the tech industry. My girl works the night shift. I need something to do and Cyberpunk 2077 runs like crap, and everything else in the realm of “games’ bores the shit of me.
Bottom line. I just spent the better part of a just one evening conceiving and writing this story of a hypothetical D&D character that may seem to be a way overthought indulgent creation of a person who tends to overthink and over indulge in everything they do, but damn this wasn’t one of the most fulfulling pieces of creation I’ve accomplished in a long time, and I’ve got actual vinyl records hanging on my wall that were pressed and paid for by labels(aka paid for not by me) that thought the art I made was something they could sell. I don’t care if I can sell this art, but I don’t care. What I got from writing all this is all that matters.
Sooo…
Anyone want Duo in their campaign?(PS: I put on a good show in person as well)
Duo Mechanics: (Note all of these are in the above back story, but I figured it would be good have a section that just listed the mechanics I came up with for the DM. Some of these won't make sense if you haven't read the story though)
I am totally into DM customization or removal on any of these. I think they are cool, but if someone likes the idea in general but doesn't want to do the Discovery Mechanic, then let's talk about it. Totally open to suggestions.
Discovery Mechanic: This mechanic and goes away for his regular classes once Duo gains the ability to consciously use a level 1 skill from that class. At that point he should realize the classes he is and be able to progress normally within that class tree.
-Here’s how it works. During a moment when a given skill would be useful or potentially even detrimental the DM will make a roll(details up to DM) that determines if one of the skills is used. The player doesn’t control this because it’s intended to be an instinctual reaction. After this effect, another roll takes place that determines if the skill remains subconscious or becomes consciously available for use. Once a skill from a respective class is consciously available, the player can be told of that class, and the random activation of skills from that class through this mechanic goes away. I haven't specified the rolls that determine this and want to leave that up to the DM.
Dream Fragment Mechanic - Only happens during rest periods normally, again obviously anything can happen in D&D. The DM decides what details from the backstory manifest, but the kind of memory is determined by a roll of D6.
1 - Memory about Soul Twin
2 - Memory about Soul Mate
3 - Random memory - Could be one from the roll list, something customized, or something that makes no sense. Usually just visual flashes
4 - Memory about The War of the Souls - Usually just visual flashes of epic battles/events, but could be more.
5 - Random visual/audio flash of memory with no contextual memorey. For example, flashes of moments in the last fight, but with no idea who the participants are or why they are fighting.
6 - More specific memory with audio, visual and contextual from last fight. For example, he knows he is fighting assassins sent by his soulmate who is trying to kill his soul twin, and probably him, and understands what these ideas are. Nothing beyond that level of context or understanding in general, but again up to the GM in the end.
In the end, the GM could choose specific elements. Make a different list and roll to determine what Duo sees. They can even add specifics like names to the various characters if they so choose. One of the reasons I wrote the story that way is to give the DM that option. It’s functional as is, but you can play with it if you want.
The Whisper Mechanic:
Details - During moments of moral decision or any decision the DM puts into play that can result in a significant branch in the story this mechanic is activated. Duo will not hear so much as feel the whisper effect. There are 4 possible outcomes so the DM will roll a D6.
The Duo Set: This is also listed in the back story section, but I wanted to add it for people to look at that are really into the idea of making customized gear sets. This is(imo) a really cool idea for one, so there could DMs interested just based on the fact they get to come up with ideas for these set pieces and what they do.
The Duo Set
NOTE: The most interesting part of the set is the Duo Dagger(makes sense because it was an assassins weapon, but you want it to be sword that's fine), which is an actual conscious NPC of alignment determined by the DM. The intents and overall goal of this NPC are totally up to the DM. If this is interesting to you, then please read on.
The other pieces in the set are optional and most of their game effects are up to the GM, but this is what the overall drive and motivation for the character is outside of the current campaign/quest, so the set does need to exist in some way for his personal story to have progression triggers. As Duo acquires pieces of the set he will regain some of his memory through a dream fragment mechanic.
The Duo set that is created during the event of Duo's birth and scattered across space time. Where the pieces are is up to the GM, and any quests involving their recovery is up to the GM. Generally it should add/enhance/modify the skills of both the Paladin and Warlock class because that’s just what makes sense. All of it may be on the plane that Duo materializes on, or none of it may be. Entirely up to DM in this regard. If Duo does acquire all the pieces of the set, he regains his memory and has the choice at that point to transcend to being a celestial being. Regardless, this is the point where he will become an NPC. Even if the choice is not to transcend, the full set will grant him abilities that are inappropriate for a player. Whatever those are doesn’t matter. That’s his end game. Complete the set. Duo becomes an NPC. The player doesn’t know this, so they should always be driven to complete the set.
The set is up to the DM. What it does individually and as a whole is up to the DM. The idea of the set is all that matters for the character's story, but the one thing that has to stay in is the dagger, but he doesn’t have to find it.
Duo Dagger - The exact effects and stats of the dagger are of course up to the DM, but it is an NPC, and in general has some significant consequences used. This dagger has the potential to be immensely powerful as it did at one point cut reality. If the dagger has other potential effects is up to the GM.
Side Effects
Other duo gear - General guidelines are that these are pieces of gear created during the Cut of reality. What was Duo wearing at the time. Maybe it was his armor, or maybe he was in his underwear. Any physical object in the vicinity could be affected and thus become part of the set. Given the vague nature of the sanctuary the battle takes place in and the equipment that the participants are equipped with. This could literally be anything, so have fun with that. There could be a Duo chair.. A duo half empty glass of mead… A duo piece of used female undergarments…. Yeah probably not that last one, but you get the idea. They did astral transport into the “sanctuary”(again vaguely defined on purpose) at non-specific time. Anything could be happening at the time they materialize in the “sanctuary”. There could be a duo cat or any other potential pet that was in the room. An NPC animal affected by the Cut could be a very fun thing to make. Does it have some of the consciousness of any of the involved parties in it?