Growing up in a small village and working at her family’s tavern, Ellara never even dreamed that she’d one day travel as far as she had. Until the nightmarish night that her family were visited by some strange being. Her memories are hazy, but she remembers the screams, the gurgles and the burning sensation of her own wounds. She was the only survivor, thankfully saved by a wandering traveller who saw off their attacker and nursed her back to full health. Once healed, she travelled with him for a short while, learning some of his techniques. She travels searching for any gossip or rumours of monsters, and seeks to destroy them with the grim hope that one day she will be able to end the monster of her nightmares. She has a deep sense of guilt, not only because she alone survived, but because she was the one who opened the door to a stranger. The void the loss of her family caused has never diminished and she is wary and mistrustful of the people she meets. After all, the greatest disguise a monster can have is to not look like a monster.
The bastard son of a high born family, he was fostered by a monks in an orphanage. As he grew, and as his sharp tongue landed him in trouble more times than it got him out of it, he learned to fight in order to survive. Then, on one fateful night, he found himself fighting against a trio of near full-grown boys. One of them produced a wicked blade, announcing his intention to "cut the whoreson bad" and "see if elves bleed like pigs". It was not to be; Tarqwyn, fighting like he was possessed, wrested the blade and turned it upon his attackers. Bruised and bloodied, he fled over the wall, leaving three corpses behind him.
Since then, he has travelled continuously, taking work when he can find it - be it guarding a merchant caravan, sparring for a wager, or enthralling tavern patrons with embellished tales of derring-do.
Personality Traits
I'm confident in my own abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others.
I stretch the truth for the sake of a good story.
Ideals
Aspiration. I'm going to prove that I'm worthy of a better life.
Bonds
I come from a noble family, and one day I'll reclaim my lands and title from those who denied them to me.
Flaws
I have trouble keeping my true feelings hidden. My sharp tongue lands me in trouble.
Name: Lake Race: Water Genasi Class: Ranger (eventual horizon walker) Background: Sailor Backstory:
Lake originally grew up within the Water plane among primordials who wanted little to do with her and even less when lost and stranded mortals would catch her curiousity. Her penchant for exploring and eventually brought her into contact with mortals who she found at first to be fascinating. More and more she would watch them, trying to learn their unfamiliar ways. Her constant fraternization with the surface dwellers led many denizens within the sea of light who once might have paid a halfling child like her no mind to become annoyed and her parent was approached about it. Having little paternal attachment to the child, the parent returned her to the mortal realm with the vague goal of "finding her father"
Left alone in a port town not knowing how to communicate or where to even begin looking for the man that might be her father, Lake's reception was cold. The people treated her unkindly when they couldn't understand each other, or they realized she had no money to offer. She eventually retreated to the only world she knew, the ocean. There she would find a community of mermaids who though at first cautious would take her in and make her one of their own. She spent many years among them, learning new ways to communicate, and how to understand the common language of mortals. Her curiousity of the surface world never faded, and sometimes she would visit slowly acclimating herself to this world.
One day while out with a hunting party a number of merfolk in her tribe were possessed by creatures from another plane and wreaked havoc, murdering several people. They were able to return and stop it before it was too late, but the incident motivated her to sharpen her fighting skills, in hopes that she could prevent and defend against anything like this in the future. But her adoptive father had other ideas. He encouraged her instead to explore the surface world, the other part of her heritage. Live amongst the surface folk, learn from them. At first she had felt betrayed, like another parent was giving her up, but was reassured that she was always welcome at home with them.
And so she came to the surface. At first it had been difficult, but she eventually found her footing. Never straying too far from the ocean, she spent a lot of time on ships. Sometimes as a deckhand, sometimes as a guard or lookout. One incident, during a sudden and particularly nasty storm she felt a prickle of something familiar. Something she recognized from her youth, and even a tiny bit from her the attack on the merfolk. Planar magic. By warning the captain they managed to avoid being sucked into the portal that had opened, and she helped defeat the enemies that had sprung from it.
This gave her a sense of purpose like she hadn't had before. If she could potentially sense these portals perhaps she could save lives. And perhaps she could find whatever it was that had attacked her home. This new purpose would bring her further inland than she's been before, but she's filled with determination and drive to protect others from the dangerous creatures that lie in realms beyond their own. (and who knows? maybe one day she'll find her birthdad)
"All will become equal now" | "Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like we're carrying the weight of the world"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Oh man, I've been wanting to check out Curse of Strahd for a while, the setting is really interesting to me.
Ability scores: 131710121416
Edit: Oh man, those abilities don't look too good
Name: Virtue Race: Tiefling Class: Divine Soul Sorcerer Background: Urchin Description and Personality. Virtue is a tiefling with pale white skin, she has solid golden eyes and long golden hair. Her white horns resemble a halo above her head. Despite her appearance, Virtue is often times standoffish, haughty and believes that the strong should lead and the weak should follow. Backstory:
Virtue lived out a normal life as a bland looking tiefling, often mistaken for a human at first glance. Which she had no problems with. Raised by her family of failing cobblers in Waterdeep, she stole and did odd jobs to support her family. A few years later she had gotten settled into the rhythm of criminal activity, when (rather unfortunately) as she was extracting the gold from a nobleman's purse, she heard a voice that ordered her to change her ways. Virtue refused! She was doing this out of necessity, she had no choice! From within her, a divine light burst forth, almost blinding the nobleman beside her. Virtue's appearance changed dramatically and made her look ironically angellic. Since then, she has been on the run and even if she tries, it is impossible for her to steal again. (I don't know, maybe this would make a better divine warlock? I wouldn't be advese to that if you think that would be more interesting.)
For many generations, the Darkhall family have served as Knights of the realm, forging strong ties within the Temple of Tyr. Raised within the faith from an early age, Darak's training and discipline have instilled within him an unwavering sense of duty and justice. A dark, long forgotten curse besets the Darkhall family, however. Their service and faith acting as atonement for the sins of their ancestors.
Trained in the arts of war by his father, Darak wields his family's ancestral blade "Onyx" into battle. A masterfully made longsword with a black blade, it is said to be cursed, but holds great power for any of the Darkhall bloodline that can unlock its true nature.
In loyal service to Tyr and the Realm, Darak acts as what is known as a Deep Warden. Those brave few that forever stand vigilant guard over the deadly entrances to The Underdark. Locked in eternal battle with the denizens of the Deep, the Wardens are all that stand between the lands of Men and the Monsters that lurk just underneath.
Dahvik was an adoptee in the town of Daggerford. The day he finally had had enough of his abusive foster parents, he went first to the orphanage to confront the headmaster about his identity. What he got was a careless shrug and an indifferent, "You could be anybody."
Those words ended up guiding his path. If he didn't know who he was...he could be anybody. He was limited only by his imagination - and the gullibility of his marks.
Dahvik moves from town to town, insinuating himself into the upper echelons of society. Once he gets in, the fun part of the con begins. Intercept a letter here, catch the right gossip there... then forge a letter here, plant a rumor there...some people are simply dying to be manipulated. But Dahvik remembers his roots, and makes sure to help the plight of the less fortunate wherever he goes - all while lining his pockets, of course.
The long version can be found on his character sheet.
Backstory: At the edge of the world, saints and sinners clash with demons, devils, and horrors over the fate of a realm, aided by ancient accords with dragons and gods alike. As an orphan, Inra was raised at the Dawn Gate, a mountain range defending their continent from a perpetual dimensional distortion and incessant interplanar threats, a place where legendary powers clash and 'common sense' often takes a back seat to survival. Paladins and thieves, wizards and warlocks, sentinels of all stripes stand in solidarity.
Raised on tales of magic, monsters, and martial masters, Inra hopes to one day fight on the front lines herself in defense of her world, but for now such titanic battles remain far beyond her still fledgling ability. Instead, the ancient gods that grant their support have bid her travel to lands unknown on a quest of her own, with naught but her own conscience as a guide. How will Inra fair in the wider world, so far removed from the monolithic yet simplistic realities of her home? While she may know of a dozen ways to slay a demon, will she be able to light a way through the turbulent shadows of people's hearts?
Thanks for your patience. I reached a final decision and I want to stress out that a lot of those I have not selected posted really good stuff. I might come back to you to introduce you in the campaign if some of the initial players cannot make it anymore.
Without further ado, here are the lucky (possibly...) ones that will venture into the mists with me:
I will now make the group private and we will start discussing (both via PM and here in the thread) the details of your characters. This all might sound boring, but I promise you: the more I can work with your backstory, the better this campaign will be for you. Let me just mull over your character for a bit and I will back to you!
One important question first: I really hope you know next to zero about CoS but I suppose I cannot expect you to be completely oblivious to the Ravenloft setting, especially if you have played with 2nd or 3rd edition in the past. Let me know by PM (to avoid possible spoilers for others) what do you know, if any at all. Thanks!
I don't think one bad roll is too nasty. Might even add some flavour to your character (maybe you have low constitution?). If you are happy with standard array, you can go for it. What do you prefer?
I am talking in private to some of you (the plan is to contact all of you) to shape the beginning of our journey. The fact that the details of your past and motivations are not shared here will lead (hopefully) to some amazing character-character interaction.
I will write here anything that is of general interest.
Also one of the chosen ones :) can I reroll my stats Eros? They were super bad. If not I'll stick with the standard array I've used for the character sheet.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Xanaphia Nailo: Level 4 Warlock, Grey Hands PbP.
Ellara Nightflower: level 1 blood hunter, Curse of Strahd
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Ability scores: 10 14 14 15 12 16
(edit: ewwwww, can I reroll these ^ if not, I’ll standard buy)
Character Name: Ellara Nightflower
Race/Class: Half-elf, Bloodhunter
Character sheet uses standard stats: https://ddb.ac/characters/22234867/eesiJo
Backstory
Growing up in a small village and working at her family’s tavern, Ellara never even dreamed that she’d one day travel as far as she had. Until the nightmarish night that her family were visited by some strange being. Her memories are hazy, but she remembers the screams, the gurgles and the burning sensation of her own wounds. She was the only survivor, thankfully saved by a wandering traveller who saw off their attacker and nursed her back to full health. Once healed, she travelled with him for a short while, learning some of his techniques. She travels searching for any gossip or rumours of monsters, and seeks to destroy them with the grim hope that one day she will be able to end the monster of her nightmares. She has a deep sense of guilt, not only because she alone survived, but because she was the one who opened the door to a stranger. The void the loss of her family caused has never diminished and she is wary and mistrustful of the people she meets. After all, the greatest disguise a monster can have is to not look like a monster.
Xanaphia Nailo: Level 4 Warlock, Grey Hands PbP.
Ellara Nightflower: level 1 blood hunter, Curse of Strahd
Ability scores: 14 12 13 15 15 13
Tarqwyn, half-elf rogue (entertainer/gladiator)
Str 12, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 16
Backstory:
The bastard son of a high born family, he was fostered by a monks in an orphanage. As he grew, and as his sharp tongue landed him in trouble more times than it got him out of it, he learned to fight in order to survive. Then, on one fateful night, he found himself fighting against a trio of near full-grown boys. One of them produced a wicked blade, announcing his intention to "cut the whoreson bad" and "see if elves bleed like pigs". It was not to be; Tarqwyn, fighting like he was possessed, wrested the blade and turned it upon his attackers. Bruised and bloodied, he fled over the wall, leaving three corpses behind him.
Since then, he has travelled continuously, taking work when he can find it - be it guarding a merchant caravan, sparring for a wager, or enthralling tavern patrons with embellished tales of derring-do.
Ability scores: 17 12 15 12 17 12
Name: Lake
Race: Water Genasi
Class: Ranger (eventual horizon walker)
Background: Sailor
Backstory:
Lake originally grew up within the Water plane among primordials who wanted little to do with her and even less when lost and stranded mortals would catch her curiousity. Her penchant for exploring and eventually brought her into contact with mortals who she found at first to be fascinating. More and more she would watch them, trying to learn their unfamiliar ways. Her constant fraternization with the surface dwellers led many denizens within the sea of light who once might have paid a halfling child like her no mind to become annoyed and her parent was approached about it. Having little paternal attachment to the child, the parent returned her to the mortal realm with the vague goal of "finding her father"
Left alone in a port town not knowing how to communicate or where to even begin looking for the man that might be her father, Lake's reception was cold. The people treated her unkindly when they couldn't understand each other, or they realized she had no money to offer. She eventually retreated to the only world she knew, the ocean. There she would find a community of mermaids who though at first cautious would take her in and make her one of their own. She spent many years among them, learning new ways to communicate, and how to understand the common language of mortals. Her curiousity of the surface world never faded, and sometimes she would visit slowly acclimating herself to this world.
One day while out with a hunting party a number of merfolk in her tribe were possessed by creatures from another plane and wreaked havoc, murdering several people. They were able to return and stop it before it was too late, but the incident motivated her to sharpen her fighting skills, in hopes that she could prevent and defend against anything like this in the future. But her adoptive father had other ideas. He encouraged her instead to explore the surface world, the other part of her heritage. Live amongst the surface folk, learn from them. At first she had felt betrayed, like another parent was giving her up, but was reassured that she was always welcome at home with them.
And so she came to the surface. At first it had been difficult, but she eventually found her footing. Never straying too far from the ocean, she spent a lot of time on ships. Sometimes as a deckhand, sometimes as a guard or lookout. One incident, during a sudden and particularly nasty storm she felt a prickle of something familiar. Something she recognized from her youth, and even a tiny bit from her the attack on the merfolk. Planar magic. By warning the captain they managed to avoid being sucked into the portal that had opened, and she helped defeat the enemies that had sprung from it.
This gave her a sense of purpose like she hadn't had before. If she could potentially sense these portals perhaps she could save lives. And perhaps she could find whatever it was that had attacked her home. This new purpose would bring her further inland than she's been before, but she's filled with determination and drive to protect others from the dangerous creatures that lie in realms beyond their own. (and who knows? maybe one day she'll find her birthdad)
"All will become equal now" | "Cause we're going to shout it loud, even if our words seem meaningless. It's like we're carrying the weight of the world"
Oh man, I've been wanting to check out Curse of Strahd for a while, the setting is really interesting to me.
Ability scores: 13 17 10 12 14 16
Edit: Oh man, those abilities don't look too good
Name: Virtue
Race: Tiefling
Class: Divine Soul Sorcerer
Background: Urchin
Description and Personality. Virtue is a tiefling with pale white skin, she has solid golden eyes and long golden hair. Her white horns resemble a halo above her head. Despite her appearance, Virtue is often times standoffish, haughty and believes that the strong should lead and the weak should follow.
Backstory:
Virtue lived out a normal life as a bland looking tiefling, often mistaken for a human at first glance. Which she had no problems with. Raised by her family of failing cobblers in Waterdeep, she stole and did odd jobs to support her family. A few years later she had gotten settled into the rhythm of criminal activity, when (rather unfortunately) as she was extracting the gold from a nobleman's purse, she heard a voice that ordered her to change her ways. Virtue refused! She was doing this out of necessity, she had no choice! From within her, a divine light burst forth, almost blinding the nobleman beside her. Virtue's appearance changed dramatically and made her look ironically angellic. Since then, she has been on the run and even if she tries, it is impossible for her to steal again. (I don't know, maybe this would make a better divine warlock? I wouldn't be advese to that if you think that would be more interesting.)
Lot's of good stuff here! I haven't gone through the details of all the characters but I already saw a couple that really picked my interest :)
Let's say I will give you guys till the end of the day to post your character and finish preliminary ones and I will then close the recruitment.
Ability scores: 13 13 11 15 12 17
Name: Sir Darak Darkhall (Sheet)
Race: Human(Variant) Feat: Shield Master
Class: Paladin
Background: Knight
Backstory:
For many generations, the Darkhall family have served as Knights of the realm, forging strong ties within the Temple of Tyr. Raised within the faith from an early age, Darak's training and discipline have instilled within him an unwavering sense of duty and justice. A dark, long forgotten curse besets the Darkhall family, however. Their service and faith acting as atonement for the sins of their ancestors.
Trained in the arts of war by his father, Darak wields his family's ancestral blade "Onyx" into battle. A masterfully made longsword with a black blade, it is said to be cursed, but holds great power for any of the Darkhall bloodline that can unlock its true nature.
In loyal service to Tyr and the Realm, Darak acts as what is known as a Deep Warden. Those brave few that forever stand vigilant guard over the deadly entrances to The Underdark. Locked in eternal battle with the denizens of the Deep, the Wardens are all that stand between the lands of Men and the Monsters that lurk just underneath.
"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Ability scores: 6 15 13 18 12 11
Character Name: Dahvik Aloro
Race/Class: Half-elf Rogue (Swashbuckler)
Background: Charlatan
Backstory (Short Version):
Dahvik was an adoptee in the town of Daggerford. The day he finally had had enough of his abusive foster parents, he went first to the orphanage to confront the headmaster about his identity. What he got was a careless shrug and an indifferent, "You could be anybody."
Those words ended up guiding his path. If he didn't know who he was...he could be anybody. He was limited only by his imagination - and the gullibility of his marks.
Dahvik moves from town to town, insinuating himself into the upper echelons of society. Once he gets in, the fun part of the con begins. Intercept a letter here, catch the right gossip there... then forge a letter here, plant a rumor there...some people are simply dying to be manipulated. But Dahvik remembers his roots, and makes sure to help the plight of the less fortunate wherever he goes - all while lining his pockets, of course.
The long version can be found on his character sheet.
Ability scores: 12 16 11 14 9 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder for myself. Work together or fail apart. Talk with each other when necessary. Describe how, where, if, your character moved.
The sign on the trail ahead reads "DONT FEED THE DRAGON!" "Working Together" Follow this link please
Ability scores: 14 16 9 13 14 16
https://ddb.ac/characters/22273826/4K62pW
So many replies I'm just going to put the link here. Given the chaotic nature of the character I'd rather just have front story
Character name: Inra Dawnborn
Race: Variant Human
Class: Paladin
Ability scores: 8 13 14 15 13 11
Character sheet: https://ddb.ac/characters/22269240/b6e3Ob
Backstory: At the edge of the world, saints and sinners clash with demons, devils, and horrors over the fate of a realm, aided by ancient accords with dragons and gods alike. As an orphan, Inra was raised at the Dawn Gate, a mountain range defending their continent from a perpetual dimensional distortion and incessant interplanar threats, a place where legendary powers clash and 'common sense' often takes a back seat to survival. Paladins and thieves, wizards and warlocks, sentinels of all stripes stand in solidarity.
Raised on tales of magic, monsters, and martial masters, Inra hopes to one day fight on the front lines herself in defense of her world, but for now such titanic battles remain far beyond her still fledgling ability. Instead, the ancient gods that grant their support have bid her travel to lands unknown on a quest of her own, with naught but her own conscience as a guide. How will Inra fair in the wider world, so far removed from the monolithic yet simplistic realities of her home? While she may know of a dozen ways to slay a demon, will she be able to light a way through the turbulent shadows of people's hearts?
Inra Dawnborn, Lv 2 Human Paladin - Dragon of Icespire Peak, from the North
Are you going to pm the players you accept or just let us know here?
I am close to a final decision. Sorry for being so slow...the decision is not been easy. I will let everyone know here in the thread.
Hi guys,
Thanks for your patience. I reached a final decision and I want to stress out that a lot of those I have not selected posted really good stuff. I might come back to you to introduce you in the campaign if some of the initial players cannot make it anymore.
Without further ado, here are the lucky (possibly...) ones that will venture into the mists with me:
I will now make the group private and we will start discussing (both via PM and here in the thread) the details of your characters. This all might sound boring, but I promise you: the more I can work with your backstory, the better this campaign will be for you. Let me just mull over your character for a bit and I will back to you!
One important question first: I really hope you know next to zero about CoS but I suppose I cannot expect you to be completely oblivious to the Ravenloft setting, especially if you have played with 2nd or 3rd edition in the past. Let me know by PM (to avoid possible spoilers for others) what do you know, if any at all. Thanks!
Hi, I edited my previous post for a mix-up with the character names (quite embarrassing actually). I apologize if this caused confusion...
:(
Just saw the change in the line up....
I'm among the Chosen! Call me Ishamael.
I'd love to use my rolled stats but for that 6, so I used standard array. If you'd prefer for me to reroll the one or the whole set, let me know, DM.
Hi,
I don't think one bad roll is too nasty. Might even add some flavour to your character (maybe you have low constitution?). If you are happy with standard array, you can go for it. What do you prefer?
I am talking in private to some of you (the plan is to contact all of you) to shape the beginning of our journey. The fact that the details of your past and motivations are not shared here will lead (hopefully) to some amazing character-character interaction.
I will write here anything that is of general interest.
Also one of the chosen ones :) can I reroll my stats Eros? They were super bad. If not I'll stick with the standard array I've used for the character sheet.
Xanaphia Nailo: Level 4 Warlock, Grey Hands PbP.
Ellara Nightflower: level 1 blood hunter, Curse of Strahd