I want him to be an old blue Dragonborn in his last decade of life. He was once the town cobbler, made mean snake skin boots and was the best sole repairman in 50 miles. Until he got sick, lung rot, nasty business that effects most old dragonborn killing within weeks. And thats what happened, Sullivan, or Sully the Sole Guy, died last week from his ailment. But last night there was an explosion in the graveyard. A flash of lightening struck ol Sully’s tombstone and the hole where he was once buried in now a crater. The found Sully close by, standing, unbreathing unblinking but standing. The towns people jumped back screaming Zombie!!! as Sully stumbled towards them. They called for the clerics and Sully stumbled away into the dark, into the storm, afraid alone and unsure of why he is here. You wondered for days, fending off robbers and thief’s but not animals. They ignore him, as he ignores food. Hes hardly ever hungry and even the owl bears ferocious meat eaters shy away.What is this new power that holds him in between life and death? Has this always been his destiny? What can he do with this new chance at life before age takes him....if it even can...
I copy and pasted your character description from the other source to here, so it would all be in one thread:
I want him to be an old blue Dragonborn in his last decade of life. He was once the town cobbler, made mean snake skin boots and was the best sole repairman in 50 miles. Until he got sick, lung rot, nasty business that effects most old dragonborn killing within weeks. And thats what happened, Sullivan, or Sully the Sole Guy, died last week from his ailment. But last night there was an explosion in the graveyard. A flash of lightening struck ol Sully’s tombstone and the hole where he was once buried in now a crater. The found Sully close by, standing, unbreathing unblinking but standing. The towns people jumped back screaming Zombie!!! as Sully stumbled towards them. They called for the clerics and Sully stumbled away into the dark, into the storm, afraid alone and unsure of why he is here. You wondered for days, fending off robbers and thief’s but not animals. They ignore him, as he ignores food. Hes hardly ever hungry and even the owl bears ferocious meat eaters shy away.
What is this new power that holds him in between life and death? Has this always been his destiny? What can he do with this new chance at life before age takes him....if it even can...
oh wow! So I’m thinking that the act of dying really took it out of Sully’s strong Dragonborn muscles so the 8 is Str, but his skill with his hands for cobbling remained so 16 Dex, 16 Con, 13 Int, 13 Wis, 15 Cha
Nice! Let me do a bit of reading on Shadow Sorcerers, and then we'll get started. But, first, here's some info about the setting. I'm going to be homebrewing it a little as we go. The goal for me is to find out a little about the campaign setting I'll be running with my group several months from now. What we do here will be several thousands of years in the past from what they will be doing. The world is called Arbol. During the time you and I will be playing here, it is a high magic world, where technology never really developed, except by eccentric hobbyists, due to the prevalence of magic and the ease of its use. Permanent magic items are available to purchase in most larger towns. They aren't cheap, but they are often available for sale. The gods are alive and active. In private, some might say the gods interfere too much, and that they cause more problems than they solve. But, they dare not say such things in public. The clerics are rather powerful and zealous, and blasphemy is not tolerated.
You died in a city called Eltar. It is a magocracy. (not sure it I spelled that right--it's ruled by mages)
While you are waiting for me to give you the opening scenario, give me an idea of what Sully's family situation is. Does he have any living relatives? If so, tell me about them. Also, it sounds like many people knew of Sully, at least as customers, but what about people who knew him better. Before he died, did he have any close friends? Had he made any enemies?
A bit about the gods of Arbol. They are elemental gods. Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. In iconography, they are shown as roughly humanoid, but their genders are never depicted. Clerics use language like "fluid" (in the case of the water-god) or "flickering" (in the case of the fire-god), etc. Arbol's inhabitants also recognize, but rarely speak of, an dreadful entity called The Void. The Void looms over the psyche of everyone, as a source of fear, but when asked why they fear The Void, most are unable to articulate anything specific. Mostly, they are confused at why someone would ask such a thing.
My pre death picture for Sully was Granddaddy and Granddaddy’s store. He was already a grandfather at his death, his only daughter (Filipa) has two sons. His wife was aging and stays inside most of the time and therefore didnt see Sully standing in the graveyard, but she was a loyal and happy homemaker for their married life. He is well like and known by most everyone in the town. His only trouble is with teenagers and the mages that teach them cantrips. Teenages cant appreciate the skill it takes to properly repair a sole by hand and are quick to throw around mending cantrips as a solution. Seen as the taboo queer old man who’s business was getting smaller the older he got. His services only requested by the oldest customers the rest came in for the atmosphere and conversation. Sully didn’t have any enemies at his death, but coming back to life in a town run by mages will undoubtedly mean they’d really like to run a couple of “tests” to figure out what happened. Hes wise enough to know this, but this old anti magic dog has to come to grips with the fact that magic is itching at his finger tips. Also he knows Filipa and his best friend Howard or “Halfstack” the older hafling baker in town saw him in the grave yard. Does he go to them? Can he ever go home? Would they even want to see him in this grotesque state?
Hes also a member of an artisan guild but I don’t know how it would fit in. Ill leave that to your world building. But hes old and been at it a while so he just sorta has the card now but isn’t really an active member
The Archmage of Eltar is named Patrin Gygasslylshrift. By reputation, he is powerful and kind-hearted. Like Sully, Patrin is an older, blue dragonborne. But, he is spry and healthy. He does not look old. Patrin has a younger brother, Rathkran, who has not taken as good care of himself as well as Patrin has. Rathkran actually looks quite a bit older than Patrin. There has always been an uncanny resemblance among the archmage, his brother, and Sully. All his life, people have looked at Sully funny, and asked whether he was related to the archmage or Rathkran. Some who are more proud of their own wit have teased Sully, claiming that no one has ever seen Rathkran (or alternatively, they might make the same jape about the archmage) and Sully in the same room, suggesting that Sully is actually the archmage (or his brother) in disguise.
Sully, prior to your death, you had learned to recognize when such a question or joke was coming up, because it happens so frequently. I'm sure that it has gotten so tedious for you that you had started making up interesting responses to such questions/suggestions. What was one of the more recent interactions you experienced and how did you respond?
Sully, prior to your death, you had learned to recognize when such a question or joke was coming up, because it happens so frequently. I'm sure that it has gotten so tedious for you that you had started making up interesting responses to such questions/suggestions. What was one of the more recent interactions you experienced and how did you respond?
Halfstack, sitting with me next to my bed a day or two before my death said “Sully ole boy, a lot of people are saying they don’t know how Eltar is gonna get by without it’s Grandpa.” “Or its Wizard”, I cough out. He sets down a plate of his thorn berry doughnuts, my favorites. I turn to look at him with an expression of mischief, different from normal “skin” creatures but understood by my friend, and say in between coughs of ozone, “Tell those jokers that if ole Grandpa Sully was really a weaver of spells wouldn’t it take a little more to kill me than damn lung rot.” More coughing “maybe it would be a thrill to throw a few spells Halfstack...” i fell asleep after that, a sickness nap that lasted until my heart finally stopped the next day. Never did get one of those doughnuts....
You are in the cemetery. You have just emerged from the grave a few minutes ago. As you become more aware of yourself, you know with certainty that you are not a zombie, because you feel no particular compunction to kill the other living creatures around you. You realize that you've been holding your breath. You inhale deeply, and then exhale. With shock, you notice that your exhaled breath on the crisp air is not white. It's black, like smoke from burning tar. Eventually, your breath returns to normal. The cough is gone. Apparently the lung rot has been cured with whatever magic returned life to you. It's an overcast, dreary winter day.
You are momentarily startled by a thumping in your chest. A minute later, it happens again. A minute later, again. It's your heartbeat. [if you don't like this shadow sorcerer quirk, you can pick another off the list on pg 50 of XGE]
Another odd thing...you don't remember these clothes you are wearing. They are much higher quality than you or your wife [need a name for her] would ever buy, and not anything close to a style you would have chosen, or approved of. [what do they look like?]
You see Halfstack and Filipa in the distance. You know they have seen you, too. But, resurrection isn't terribly uncommon in Arbol. You see no look of fear on their faces--only shock. Your resurrection was never really considered as a possibility for your family members, simply because the cost was so out of reach.
Another odd thing...you don't remember these clothes you are wearing. They are much higher quality than you or your wife [need a name for her] would ever buy, and not anything close to a style you would have chosen, or approved of. [what do they look like?]
Black satin or silk lines the inside of a midnight blue tunic with silver threads and billowy sleeves. A black wool cloak with a large pointy traveling hood is clasped in the front by an ornate brushed silver brooch. No boots, not gloves, definitely an outfit put together for a Dragonborn
You see Halfstack and Filipa in the distance. You know they have seen you, too. But, resurrection isn't terribly uncommon in Arbol. You see no look of fear on their faces--only shock. Your resurrection was never really considered as a possibility for your family members, simply because the cost was so out of reach.
What do you do?
I would try to walk towards them, probably shivering and stumbling. In a voice (still a mix between Admiral Akbar and classic country grandpa) whispery and strained I would say, “If you sold anything of yours to pay for these old bones to come back I’m gonna smack you! And where’d you get these clothes? They make me seem like i didnt work for a living for 50 years!” And I kind of see Sully as assuming he’s his normal quippy self and thinks he has a joking expression on his face but its not that at all. His once proud Dragonborn muscles have attrophied his scales still faintly pulsating with darkness, his voice monotone and raspy and facial expressions aren’t coming independently now he has to think about which one is appropriate and then consciously do it. It would definitely be off putting
Halfstack shakes off his shock, and now looks angry. "Filipa's been crying her eyes out every day missing you--hasn't so much as left the house for six months, and today, for the first time since the funeral, she's gotten the strength to come down here to visit your grave, and this is the first thing you've got to say coming back to life! I outta put you back down in that hole, if this is how you're gonna act, Sully! And just so you know, they buried you in your favorite suit. I don't know where you managed to get that getup. You look ridiculous."
Filipa says nothing, as she has started to sob at Halfstack's indignation.
“Now, now, now ole buddy” Sully sorta slaps his face to try and get it to respond to his commands to show concern and happiness “It wasn’t like I chose the day. Your’e the one who says its been 6 months, now how did you raise that much money to bring ol Sully back in 6 months, we had joked it’d take 100 years to pay for that magic trick? Plus who’s leg are you pulling! These aren’t my clothes, and why is my ticker barely working? Where’s the priest I need him to finish this up i don’t feel right.” Sully just starts firing off questions, very confused and starts to get the spins
Filipa interrupts the old farts by wrapping her dad up in a tight hug. She says, "We didn't--mom and I couldn't" She shakes her head, pulls herself together, and says, "I don't know, and I don't care how it happened. I'm just glad you're back." She keeps at least one arm around you, and refuses to let go of you. "Let's go home."
Halfstack says, "This calls for some celebration pastries. What's do dragonborne old coots like to eat after they been dead for six months, Sully?"
The family reunion goes well. The family and Halfstack sink back into their old ways, but after a week, Sully starts catching Babette and Filipa giving each other worried looks. Perception check to hear what they are whispering about.
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So, tell me about your character.
I want him to be an old blue Dragonborn in his last decade of life. He was once the town cobbler, made mean snake skin boots and was the best sole repairman in 50 miles. Until he got sick, lung rot, nasty business that effects most old dragonborn killing within weeks. And thats what happened, Sullivan, or Sully the Sole Guy, died last week from his ailment. But last night there was an explosion in the graveyard. A flash of lightening struck ol Sully’s tombstone and the hole where he was once buried in now a crater. The found Sully close by, standing, unbreathing unblinking but standing. The towns people jumped back screaming Zombie!!! as Sully stumbled towards them. They called for the clerics and Sully stumbled away into the dark, into the storm, afraid alone and unsure of why he is here. You wondered for days, fending off robbers and thief’s but not animals. They ignore him, as he ignores food. Hes hardly ever hungry and even the owl bears ferocious meat eaters shy away.What is this new power that holds him in between life and death? Has this always been his destiny? What can he do with this new chance at life before age takes him....if it even can...
I copy and pasted your character description from the other source to here, so it would all be in one thread:
Stats:Ability scores: 11 10 14 10 13 12
oh wow! So I’m thinking that the act of dying really took it out of Sully’s strong Dragonborn muscles so the 8 is Str, but his skill with his hands for cobbling remained so 16 Dex, 16 Con, 13 Int, 13 Wis, 15 Cha
Nice! Let me do a bit of reading on Shadow Sorcerers, and then we'll get started. But, first, here's some info about the setting. I'm going to be homebrewing it a little as we go. The goal for me is to find out a little about the campaign setting I'll be running with my group several months from now. What we do here will be several thousands of years in the past from what they will be doing. The world is called Arbol. During the time you and I will be playing here, it is a high magic world, where technology never really developed, except by eccentric hobbyists, due to the prevalence of magic and the ease of its use. Permanent magic items are available to purchase in most larger towns. They aren't cheap, but they are often available for sale. The gods are alive and active. In private, some might say the gods interfere too much, and that they cause more problems than they solve. But, they dare not say such things in public. The clerics are rather powerful and zealous, and blasphemy is not tolerated.
You died in a city called Eltar. It is a magocracy. (not sure it I spelled that right--it's ruled by mages)
While you are waiting for me to give you the opening scenario, give me an idea of what Sully's family situation is. Does he have any living relatives? If so, tell me about them. Also, it sounds like many people knew of Sully, at least as customers, but what about people who knew him better. Before he died, did he have any close friends? Had he made any enemies?
A bit about the gods of Arbol. They are elemental gods. Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. In iconography, they are shown as roughly humanoid, but their genders are never depicted. Clerics use language like "fluid" (in the case of the water-god) or "flickering" (in the case of the fire-god), etc. Arbol's inhabitants also recognize, but rarely speak of, an dreadful entity called The Void. The Void looms over the psyche of everyone, as a source of fear, but when asked why they fear The Void, most are unable to articulate anything specific. Mostly, they are confused at why someone would ask such a thing.
My pre death picture for Sully was Granddaddy and Granddaddy’s store. He was already a grandfather at his death, his only daughter (Filipa) has two sons. His wife was aging and stays inside most of the time and therefore didnt see Sully standing in the graveyard, but she was a loyal and happy homemaker for their married life. He is well like and known by most everyone in the town. His only trouble is with teenagers and the mages that teach them cantrips. Teenages cant appreciate the skill it takes to properly repair a sole by hand and are quick to throw around mending cantrips as a solution. Seen as the taboo queer old man who’s business was getting smaller the older he got. His services only requested by the oldest customers the rest came in for the atmosphere and conversation. Sully didn’t have any enemies at his death, but coming back to life in a town run by mages will undoubtedly mean they’d really like to run a couple of “tests” to figure out what happened. Hes wise enough to know this, but this old anti magic dog has to come to grips with the fact that magic is itching at his finger tips. Also he knows Filipa and his best friend Howard or “Halfstack” the older hafling baker in town saw him in the grave yard. Does he go to them? Can he ever go home? Would they even want to see him in this grotesque state?
Hes also a member of an artisan guild but I don’t know how it would fit in. Ill leave that to your world building. But hes old and been at it a while so he just sorta has the card now but isn’t really an active member
thats so creepy and cool!
The Archmage of Eltar is named Patrin Gygasslylshrift. By reputation, he is powerful and kind-hearted. Like Sully, Patrin is an older, blue dragonborne. But, he is spry and healthy. He does not look old. Patrin has a younger brother, Rathkran, who has not taken as good care of himself as well as Patrin has. Rathkran actually looks quite a bit older than Patrin. There has always been an uncanny resemblance among the archmage, his brother, and Sully. All his life, people have looked at Sully funny, and asked whether he was related to the archmage or Rathkran. Some who are more proud of their own wit have teased Sully, claiming that no one has ever seen Rathkran (or alternatively, they might make the same jape about the archmage) and Sully in the same room, suggesting that Sully is actually the archmage (or his brother) in disguise.
Sully, prior to your death, you had learned to recognize when such a question or joke was coming up, because it happens so frequently. I'm sure that it has gotten so tedious for you that you had started making up interesting responses to such questions/suggestions. What was one of the more recent interactions you experienced and how did you respond?
Halfstack, sitting with me next to my bed a day or two before my death said “Sully ole boy, a lot of people are saying they don’t know how Eltar is gonna get by without it’s Grandpa.” “Or its Wizard”, I cough out. He sets down a plate of his thorn berry doughnuts, my favorites. I turn to look at him with an expression of mischief, different from normal “skin” creatures but understood by my friend, and say in between coughs of ozone, “Tell those jokers that if ole Grandpa Sully was really a weaver of spells wouldn’t it take a little more to kill me than damn lung rot.” More coughing “maybe it would be a thrill to throw a few spells Halfstack...” i fell asleep after that, a sickness nap that lasted until my heart finally stopped the next day. Never did get one of those doughnuts....
Jumping back to the present day...
You are in the cemetery. You have just emerged from the grave a few minutes ago. As you become more aware of yourself, you know with certainty that you are not a zombie, because you feel no particular compunction to kill the other living creatures around you. You realize that you've been holding your breath. You inhale deeply, and then exhale. With shock, you notice that your exhaled breath on the crisp air is not white. It's black, like smoke from burning tar. Eventually, your breath returns to normal. The cough is gone. Apparently the lung rot has been cured with whatever magic returned life to you. It's an overcast, dreary winter day.
You are momentarily startled by a thumping in your chest. A minute later, it happens again. A minute later, again. It's your heartbeat. [if you don't like this shadow sorcerer quirk, you can pick another off the list on pg 50 of XGE]
Another odd thing...you don't remember these clothes you are wearing. They are much higher quality than you or your wife [need a name for her] would ever buy, and not anything close to a style you would have chosen, or approved of. [what do they look like?]
You see Halfstack and Filipa in the distance. You know they have seen you, too. But, resurrection isn't terribly uncommon in Arbol. You see no look of fear on their faces--only shock. Your resurrection was never really considered as a possibility for your family members, simply because the cost was so out of reach.
What do you do?
Black satin or silk lines the inside of a midnight blue tunic with silver threads and billowy sleeves. A black wool cloak with a large pointy traveling hood is clasped in the front by an ornate brushed silver brooch. No boots, not gloves, definitely an outfit put together for a Dragonborn
I would try to walk towards them, probably shivering and stumbling. In a voice (still a mix between Admiral Akbar and classic country grandpa) whispery and strained I would say, “If you sold anything of yours to pay for these old bones to come back I’m gonna smack you! And where’d you get these clothes? They make me seem like i didnt work for a living for 50 years!” And I kind of see Sully as assuming he’s his normal quippy self and thinks he has a joking expression on his face but its not that at all. His once proud Dragonborn muscles have attrophied his scales still faintly pulsating with darkness, his voice monotone and raspy and facial expressions aren’t coming independently now he has to think about which one is appropriate and then consciously do it. It would definitely be off putting
oh and my wife’s name is Babette
Halfstack shakes off his shock, and now looks angry. "Filipa's been crying her eyes out every day missing you--hasn't so much as left the house for six months, and today, for the first time since the funeral, she's gotten the strength to come down here to visit your grave, and this is the first thing you've got to say coming back to life! I outta put you back down in that hole, if this is how you're gonna act, Sully! And just so you know, they buried you in your favorite suit. I don't know where you managed to get that getup. You look ridiculous."
Filipa says nothing, as she has started to sob at Halfstack's indignation.
“Now, now, now ole buddy” Sully sorta slaps his face to try and get it to respond to his commands to show concern and happiness “It wasn’t like I chose the day. Your’e the one who says its been 6 months, now how did you raise that much money to bring ol Sully back in 6 months, we had joked it’d take 100 years to pay for that magic trick? Plus who’s leg are you pulling! These aren’t my clothes, and why is my ticker barely working? Where’s the priest I need him to finish this up i don’t feel right.” Sully just starts firing off questions, very confused and starts to get the spins
Filipa interrupts the old farts by wrapping her dad up in a tight hug. She says, "We didn't--mom and I couldn't" She shakes her head, pulls herself together, and says, "I don't know, and I don't care how it happened. I'm just glad you're back." She keeps at least one arm around you, and refuses to let go of you. "Let's go home."
Halfstack says, "This calls for some celebration pastries. What's do dragonborne old coots like to eat after they been dead for six months, Sully?"
The family reunion goes well. The family and Halfstack sink back into their old ways, but after a week, Sully starts catching Babette and Filipa giving each other worried looks. Perception check to hear what they are whispering about.