I've been making a new character - and as always I'm using XGtE's "This is your life" section - and I've reached a stumbling block.
So far I've gotten a 24 year old female human - short black hair - pale - fairly tall. She lives with her mother and father in a village in the middle of nowhere ("Encampment or village in the wilderness") Her mother is a Weaver ("Artisan or Guild Member") and her father is a sheep herder ("Farmer or herder").
For Life Events I rolled 4.
Spent time working a job related to background. Got a tiny bit of extra gold.
Fell in love. (The person I rolled up has occupation: Adventurer)
Went on an adventure and got a bit of gold.
Something strange: A lover of yours was secretly a silver dragon.
Putting that together I decided that she apprenticed or simply worked with her mother for a while and picked up Weaving. Then she fell in love with an adventurer who moved into the village - she got a bit of wanderlust and sneaked away to do something and got a bit of gold out of it. During that adventure they may have gotten in over their head and the dragon had to reveal themselves and has since left her because of it.
So now the character has caught the adventuring bug and is going to sneak off in the night - leaving the gold she found with her parents (or most of it anyway) and become an adventurer - mostly to find her lover/dragon friend again.
Well - there are a couple of problems:
I've no idea what class to make her. She's going to be a naive girl from a tiny village who looks at the world with wonder and curiosity. Totally going to be a kind and Good character. My firs thought was she could be an Inquisitive Rogue but never steal and slip coins in people's pockets. But I'm not sold on it.
What Background do I choose? There aren't really any Apprentice backgrounds? I could choose Guild Artisan but she's not a member of a guild. I'm guessing I would have to homebrew something? (I'm mainly wondering about Background Feature here)
What quick adventure might she and her lover/dragon friend gone on that could be setting neutral? (I don't much care about this one. I can always figure something out with my DM nearer the time if I ever play this character)
Just looking for some insights and ideas to help flesh out the character. They would be much appreciated.
Well, some form of Ranger is always a good choice for someone who's not necessarily from a martial background or from a location where they could logically be given training as a spellcaster. Maybe her adventure with her secret dragon boyfriend was interrupted by a lich or something, and thus she now specializes in hunting undead. Lol maybe you could have her favored enemies as Undead and Dragons... not because she wants to hunt dragons, but simply because she's been researching them to help her track down her lost love.
I also think that Guild Artisan is a good starting point to base her background on. The only major change is you would have to find out some other benefit from her aside from a guild membership... maybe products she weaves inherently sell for higher than normal asking price because of their high quality.
1. Based on your description of her and her pastoral lifestyle, I'd definitely think a Ranger, Fighter or Sorcerer.
Ranger because through her travels she could have picked up just a bit of magic; having been adventuring before with exposure to magic. Rangers also tend to be the curious type (tracking, guiding, trapping, etc) that know a lot about the wilderness, where she grew up. And cute animal companions for maximum Disney Princess vibes.
A cool direction to take might be a Sorcerer due to canoodling with the Silver dragon... or maybe a secret boon the Dragon gave her she only discovers after she begins adventuring. It could be totally new powers to her, a sense of wonder. She's just discovering her new powers and isn't sure where they came from, could tie into her trying to find her dragonfriend.
Fighter because she may have some combat training from her adventuring jaunt and just learned her way around weapons, along with probably being hardy from her life in the countryside. She can still be doe-eyed and naive, but REALLY good with an axe/bow/sword. A sweet bumpkin of sorts!
2. Folk Hero. She came back to her town with a bit of loot/gold that it probably hasn't seen before. Being it is likely a small community cut off from most of the world, that kind of even "starting wealth" would be a conversation starter. Think Bilbo returning from the Lonely Mountain to the Shire.
If you're not sold on that, depending her class, the Acolyte background is "apprentice" to a Cleric and the Sage is "apprentice" to any Spellcaster who has formal training (mostly wizards). I'm assuming you mean her Weaving, in which case I would just say her mother was part of a very small Weaver's guild that she apprenticed under. Guild's don't have to be formal or huge. Maybe the town she's from is famous for it's fine Cloth and there are several "weaving families" that have made a sort of chain/union that support one another. That's all it's gotta be.
3. I would work something out with your DM on that one, so she'd be more integrated into the setting/world!
This is just my two cents!! Hope it helped a lil!! Your character sounds awesome ^^
I like the Folk Hero background with your explanation... this short adventure she went on would be more than enough to make her a famous adventurer within her small village.
I hadn't considered Folk Hero actually but now you mention it if she's living in such a small village community her disappearing for a few days isn't going to stay quiet and returning with even a small sum of gold would be attention worthy (I rolled 63gp which isn't small by any means). It also helps that mechanically the Folk Hero starts with Artisan Tool proficiency and the actual tools.
And I do think being a Ranger with favoured enemy Dragon to track them better would be pretty funny! Yea I like those ideas a lot. Thank you! I wonder what sublcass though...
Honestly it's nice to have a character with such an ordinary background (excluding the dragon) because some of my other characters went through absolute hell in their backstory.
I'd be happy to hear any more ideas though if anyone else wants to suggest anything.
I made up this character (level 7) as a backup, but I really like her and want to play her from the start. I was inspired by the real story of an 8 year old girl who found a hundreds of years old Viking sword in a lake. Her name is Saga. Sounds like a Blade Pact Warlock to me, but, I wanted her to be truly "good," and helpful, so I went with Protector Aasimar for her race. Went with 2 levels of fighter, then Celestial Warlock after her "calling." One of her Invocations is Mask of Many Faces, so she doesn't look like a small 14 year old girl. That can raise a few eyebrows in dark taverns.
------------------ It all began at a cold lake in the wilderness, on a family trip to the countryside. She was in her 8th year, and that was when her whole life changed.
While she loved her mother, father, and sister, she really had never thought of much else. She loved playing, dancing, and reading. She just assumed she would grow up, and in a few years, she would probably become a teacher, maybe try to be a dancer, or bake bread like her mom. Maybe a nice boy would want to marry her. They certainly looked at her radiant hair and golden eyes, and blushed. She loved to play with her big sister, but she was spending more time with boys, which seemed like a waste of time. Her father, Rasmus, a great warrior, spent time training horses, since he lost an arm in a far-off battle. She doted on him, and tried to gather the little pearls of wisdom that he unwittingly cast about from his life in battle.
At the lake, her sister was helping Mom, and Dad was trying –and failing – to catch any fish with his net. He was complaining about not being able to use a fish pole anymore, and saying a few unsavory things as he stumbled a bit on the slippery rocks. As she played in the chilly water, she was inexplicably drawn to this one area of the water. The water was calmer, a tiny bit warmer, and somehow brighter… the bottom was sandier, with less rocks. She reached around, fingers searching for she knew not what. With a tingle, she felt metal. It felt like a sword. Holding it in her palms, she removed an ancient looking, rusty, worn sword out of the water. There was another tingle, and a buzzing in her head. Her hand moved tentatively to the shoddy handle, and gripping it, the sword gleamed and brightened, razor sharp edges glinting, as if freshly honed. Instantly, she felt full of light, and a thrumming ripple pulsed out from her, stirring the waves. Testing this miraculous illusion, she took her hand off the hilt, and the sword aged a thousand years under her gaze. Wielding it again, the sword returned to spectacular brilliance.
Her father was mystified by this discovery, and feared it's portent. Because of this strange sword, his daughter Saga seemed destined to follow her father's footsteps into battle. Perhaps stranger, more mysterious encounters than he ever faced. Something about her was changing, and he feared that change. He knew he had to train her, instruct her how to fight and defend herself, and try to prepare her for her unknowable future. For several years, they trained, staying out of sight of the others in the village. She took to the training well, but it was hard for one-armed Rasmus to keep up after a while. When not training, Saga spent quite a bit of time with her sword, studying the inscriptions and fine etchings on the blade. Most notable was the hoop-topped cross, and a soaring hawk. Too much time away from the sword, and the buzzing in her head would start to ache, and distract her from all her tasks. Her mother, Signe, hated the idea of her daughter in battle, and wouldn't allow her family to talk about it.
In her 11th year, a traveler came to the village, someone Rasmus knew. He was a soldier, who had been in battle with Rasmus many times. After many discussions, it was decided that Saga should go with Stellan, and he would train her in the ways of the soldier. She fully enjoyed the weapons training, and learning the tactics and skills. But, there was something missing, a calling ignored. The noise and pain in her head grew overwhelming. Meanwhile, she found herself performing unexpected tricks and strange happenings. She could create light before she started training, but this was different. She left Stellan, and decided to seek out her fortunes alone. Her headaches subsided, and almost immediately felt at peace.
She spent the next couple of years adventuring, honing her fighting skills, and her mystical abilities as well. She came to realize that her Patron was Isis, and she craved information about her, and sought out other followers. When traveling, she was able to make herself appear older, or younger, or even pass herself off as a young man, to avoid any undue attention from anyone who had bad intentions. And, to a casual eye, her beaten scabbard with a threadbare hilt sticking out seemed like nothing to worry about.
Until her eyes glowed with golden fire, and she unsheathed the glittering weapon.
It's probably the least useful form of Ranger, but Beast Master seems like it could fit this character's friendly background well. But the Hunter subclass is nice and reliable, without needing a lot of justification in-world for why your character has these abilities. Monster Slayer would be good if you want a little more variety, but still be mechanically more useful.
I like the ranger idea. The sense of pursuit for her lost love is cool. However, for another option, how about a warlock.
If this is the True Love type of love, perhaps her patron is a daconic god who is secretly helping her acquire power to stand next to her love as more of an equal. Or they may simply want to use her to expand their worship to dragonborn.
I could see her becoming more draconic as she becomes more powerful.
It's probably the least useful form of Ranger, but Beast Master seems like it could fit this character's friendly background well.
Yeh I'm liking the idea of a Beast Master though I've heard a lot about them feeling underwhelming? Never played a Ranger so I wouldn't know. Out of all the companion choices I really liked the Giant Weasel the most even though it's probably not the best choice.
Also curious what Feat people would pick (because she's variant human)? I've chosen Crossbow Expert for now and swapped out the starting longbow and arrows from Ranger for some bolts and a Heavy Crossbow (because they cost the same). I thought I have enough archer characters and none that use crossbows and a mostly untrained commoner would probably do better starting with a crossbow anyway. I won't see much use if any from Crossbow Expert though until I can buy a Hand Crossbow. I also thought about Observant being that she's inquisitive and it would help with a little Wisdom. Of course there's also Sharpshooter.
The main problems with Beast Master is that their abilities in combat with their beast partners don't scale up well as the game continues. More often than not you're better off just taking all your own actions/bonus actions each turn rather than having your animal companion do them. The UA Beastmaster, however, kind of goes the opposite direction... you end up practically with the strength/utility of two PCs each round. However, outside of combat if you use them intelligently they can accomplish a lot for you.
Edit: Oh and the thought of going Beastmaster gives me an idea for a good first level feat to take... Take Ritual Caster, and learn Speak to Animals. Now any time you've got 10 minutes to spare you can converse with your partner casually. There's actually a good number of Ranger utility spells that become a lot more useful once you're able to cast them as a ritual.
I would say go ranger you don't have to use a bow but I feel rangers make the best "adventurers" maybe go a beast master and have the farm pet with you on your journey because you grew up with it.
Background I would say use a custom background and take the feature and equipment from the closest one you can find.
Maybe adventure wise you could go on what is meant to be a harmless adventure that turns dark and something happens to your lover which leads to your world shattering around you and it adds for great character growth seeing the darkness in the world and choosing to let it consume you or to fight back and save the lover. Does this break your character and make them a dark soul? Does their love give them resolve to fight through it? Are they open about what happened? are they closed off because of what happened?
If this lover is a player maybe have something driving a wedge between you both and make you fight for one another, or maybe have your ego's as adventurers tested maybe something terrifying that makes you question the life? Something that reminds you both of your mortality and that you could lose one or the other at a moments notice. Does this lead to a you both drifting apart or does it make you cherish each other more?
The main problems with Beast Master is that their abilities in combat with their beast partners don't scale up well as the game continues. More often than not you're better off just taking all your own actions/bonus actions each turn rather than having your animal companion do them. The UA Beastmaster, however, kind of goes the opposite direction... you end up practically with the strength/utility of two PCs each round. However, outside of combat if you use them intelligently they can accomplish a lot for you.
Edit: Oh and the thought of going Beastmaster gives me an idea for a good first level feat to take... Take Ritual Caster, and learn Speak to Animals. Now any time you've got 10 minutes to spare you can converse with your partner casually. There's actually a good number of Ranger utility spells that become a lot more useful once you're able to cast them as a ritual.
I noticed there were a lot of sort of refined Beast Master homebrew subclasses on here that look like they're trying to be half and half between Revised and standard Ranger. I don't know how balanced any of them are though. I'll worry about that when/if the character hits level 3.
I like the idea of Ritual Caster to be able to speak to the animal companion but I also prefer to keep her very mundane to start with. Really play up the commoner out of her depth angle to start with. When she gets spells at level 2 it can be a big surprise to her that she's able to do it. In that same vane I'm not sure she would have Crossbow Expert at level 1. I mean between the end of her backstory and the beginning of the campaign I know she'll have done some training to be a level 1 Ranger and not still a commoner - but not enough to be an expert with crossbows. I think I'm leaning more for Observant. I can take Crossbow Expert at level 4.
An alternative here is a Rogue with the Scout subclass. No beast pets are needed. It would change you from having caster abilities, and be more martial. Not clear if you like or want that.
For a background; I would look at modifying the Fisher from Ghosts of Saltmarsh; you are looking for a basic trade that isn't a Clan Crafter to reflect weaving (no fishing gear or net, replace with weavers tools and thread and the ability to make a living off your profession. Because you are right, there isn't an "Apprentice" background. Might need to make one, now you have pointed out the obvious for future campaigns.
As for your third question, I guess it would depend on the age of the dragon, and if your character is aware that their lover is one? Being that there would be a power curve difference, was this really an adventure of equals, or more of a loyal/loving assistant? If the latter, you have a lot of options as long as the dragon kept your character safe. The former is little harder, but if they are a young dragon its still possible.
Questions to consider: Are they still in love together, or is there tragedy in the future of this backstory?
An alternative here is a Rogue with the Scout subclass. No beast pets are needed. It would change you from having caster abilities, and be more martial. Not clear if you like or want that.
Rogue Scout would probably be a good fit - but I already have one of those - a feral child Elf girl. I do quite like the idea of the Beast Master Ranger though so I'm happy with the class choice. I don't mind a bit of magic popping in due to building a connection with the wilds.
For a background; I would look at modifying the Fisher from Ghosts of Saltmarsh; you are looking for a basic trade that isn't a Clan Crafter to reflect weaving (no fishing gear or net, replace with weavers tools and thread and the ability to make a living off your profession. Because you are right, there isn't an "Apprentice" background. Might need to make one, now you have pointed out the obvious for future campaigns.
I don't actually have that background - I've only got sourcebook materials. I've avoided getting any adventure book things to not get spoiled. If you (or anyone else) were to make a homebrew apprentice background I'd be happy to give it a look.
As for your third question, I guess it would depend on the age of the dragon, and if your character is aware that their lover is one? Being that there would be a power curve difference, was this really an adventure of equals, or more of a loyal/loving assistant? If the latter, you have a lot of options as long as the dragon kept your character safe. The former is little harder, but if they are a young dragon its still possible.
Questions to consider: Are they still in love together, or is there tragedy in the future of this backstory?
I haven't decided on the age of the dragon yet. As for whether my character knows her lover is a dragon - originally she didn't - but she does now. I imagined that the dragon was pretending to be human and a fairly experienced adventurer and invited my character along for something they thought would be easy. They gave my character a crossbow and a little training with it and said tag along. Things got a bit too hairy and the dragon had to reveal itself to take care of the problem. Then they apologise for the surprise and leave (probably instantaneously with a teleport or invisibility). Something along those lines anyway (I'd welcome other ideas though).
Being the super kind and nice person my character is - she doesn't care about her lover being a dragon and just wants to find them again. Basically my character is head over heels for them - though whether the dragon was truly reciprocating or pretending or something else - I'd leave that up to the DM.
Heh. Honestly, this character concept yells 'SORCERER!' to me in loud letters (in fact, that may well be the next sorcerer I play), but the Ranger thing works as well. I enjoy the idea of her Favored 'Enemy' being dragons not because she hates and hunts them, but because she's trying to know more about her lost boyfriend. Nice way to turn that feature on its head and make it actually pop for once.
As for variant human starter feats of a nonmagical, non-Combat Expert nature, there's always Mobile. Rangers could use an extra ten feet of movement to skirmish with, and kicking something can be done even with one's hands full of crossbow to get a Mobile melee disengage at need. Could also play up the fact that she was resilient enough to go adventuring in the first place with Tough or Durable, or play with the fact that she attracted this dragon's attention in the first place (and survived their earlier adventure) with inexplicable Luck.
As for Dragon Adventures? I agree that such would be something to talk to your DM about. Some ideas might be that the silver heard of an interesting treasure it wanted to add to its hoard, or that there was a rare beast somewhere nearby (supposedly silvers are a bit of a gourmand and enjoy fine feasts). Perhaps there was a goblin/kobold nest that had been plaguing the town.
Heh, now that I think of it, that last one might be particularly apt - they went adventuring to deal with a nest of kobolds that Silver-Kun figured he could protect her through just fine, only to encounter a young red dragon that had moved in and taken command of the kobolds, stirring them to raid the villages nearby. Silver-Kun is an Adult (has to be in order to be able to transform), so he could easily mop the floor with a young red...but only in his dragon form. He rends the red from existence, squishes the rest of the kobolds, and gives Ranger-Chan a bit of treasure from the red's little hoard to make up for accidentally almost leading her to her death, then takes off to do silver dragon things. Leaving Ranger-chan with a bunch of money and the tale of watching a dragon fight to impress the villagers with, as well as a burning need to find Silver-kun again.
I've been making a new character - and as always I'm using XGtE's "This is your life" section - and I've reached a stumbling block.
So far I've gotten a 24 year old female human - short black hair - pale - fairly tall.
She lives with her mother and father in a village in the middle of nowhere ("Encampment or village in the wilderness")
Her mother is a Weaver ("Artisan or Guild Member") and her father is a sheep herder ("Farmer or herder").
For Life Events I rolled 4.
Putting that together I decided that she apprenticed or simply worked with her mother for a while and picked up Weaving. Then she fell in love with an adventurer who moved into the village - she got a bit of wanderlust and sneaked away to do something and got a bit of gold out of it. During that adventure they may have gotten in over their head and the dragon had to reveal themselves and has since left her because of it.
So now the character has caught the adventuring bug and is going to sneak off in the night - leaving the gold she found with her parents (or most of it anyway) and become an adventurer - mostly to find her lover/dragon friend again.
Well - there are a couple of problems:
Just looking for some insights and ideas to help flesh out the character. They would be much appreciated.
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Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
Well, some form of Ranger is always a good choice for someone who's not necessarily from a martial background or from a location where they could logically be given training as a spellcaster. Maybe her adventure with her secret dragon boyfriend was interrupted by a lich or something, and thus she now specializes in hunting undead. Lol maybe you could have her favored enemies as Undead and Dragons... not because she wants to hunt dragons, but simply because she's been researching them to help her track down her lost love.
I also think that Guild Artisan is a good starting point to base her background on. The only major change is you would have to find out some other benefit from her aside from a guild membership... maybe products she weaves inherently sell for higher than normal asking price because of their high quality.
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1. Based on your description of her and her pastoral lifestyle, I'd definitely think a Ranger, Fighter or Sorcerer.
Ranger because through her travels she could have picked up just a bit of magic; having been adventuring before with exposure to magic. Rangers also tend to be the curious type (tracking, guiding, trapping, etc) that know a lot about the wilderness, where she grew up. And cute animal companions for maximum Disney Princess vibes.
A cool direction to take might be a Sorcerer due to canoodling with the Silver dragon... or maybe a secret boon the Dragon gave her she only discovers after she begins adventuring. It could be totally new powers to her, a sense of wonder. She's just discovering her new powers and isn't sure where they came from, could tie into her trying to find her dragonfriend.
Fighter because she may have some combat training from her adventuring jaunt and just learned her way around weapons, along with probably being hardy from her life in the countryside. She can still be doe-eyed and naive, but REALLY good with an axe/bow/sword. A sweet bumpkin of sorts!
2. Folk Hero. She came back to her town with a bit of loot/gold that it probably hasn't seen before. Being it is likely a small community cut off from most of the world, that kind of even "starting wealth" would be a conversation starter. Think Bilbo returning from the Lonely Mountain to the Shire.
If you're not sold on that, depending her class, the Acolyte background is "apprentice" to a Cleric and the Sage is "apprentice" to any Spellcaster who has formal training (mostly wizards). I'm assuming you mean her Weaving, in which case I would just say her mother was part of a very small Weaver's guild that she apprenticed under. Guild's don't have to be formal or huge. Maybe the town she's from is famous for it's fine Cloth and there are several "weaving families" that have made a sort of chain/union that support one another. That's all it's gotta be.
3. I would work something out with your DM on that one, so she'd be more integrated into the setting/world!
This is just my two cents!! Hope it helped a lil!! Your character sounds awesome ^^
I like the Folk Hero background with your explanation... this short adventure she went on would be more than enough to make her a famous adventurer within her small village.
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I hadn't considered Folk Hero actually but now you mention it if she's living in such a small village community her disappearing for a few days isn't going to stay quiet and returning with even a small sum of gold would be attention worthy (I rolled 63gp which isn't small by any means). It also helps that mechanically the Folk Hero starts with Artisan Tool proficiency and the actual tools.
And I do think being a Ranger with favoured enemy Dragon to track them better would be pretty funny! Yea I like those ideas a lot. Thank you! I wonder what sublcass though...
Honestly it's nice to have a character with such an ordinary background (excluding the dragon) because some of my other characters went through absolute hell in their backstory.
I'd be happy to hear any more ideas though if anyone else wants to suggest anything.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
I made up this character (level 7) as a backup, but I really like her and want to play her from the start. I was inspired by the real story of an 8 year old girl who found a hundreds of years old Viking sword in a lake. Her name is Saga.
Sounds like a Blade Pact Warlock to me, but, I wanted her to be truly "good," and helpful, so I went with Protector Aasimar for her race. Went with 2 levels of fighter, then Celestial Warlock after her "calling." One of her Invocations is Mask of Many Faces, so she doesn't look like a small 14 year old girl. That can raise a few eyebrows in dark taverns.
------------------
It all began at a cold lake in the wilderness, on a family trip to the countryside. She was in her 8th year, and that was when her whole life changed.
While she loved her mother, father, and sister, she really had never thought of much else. She loved playing, dancing, and reading. She just assumed she would grow up, and in a few years, she would probably become a teacher, maybe try to be a dancer, or bake bread like her mom. Maybe a nice boy would want to marry her. They certainly looked at her radiant hair and golden eyes, and blushed. She loved to play with her big sister, but she was spending more time with boys, which seemed like a waste of time. Her father, Rasmus, a great warrior, spent time training horses, since he lost an arm in a far-off battle. She doted on him, and tried to gather the little pearls of wisdom that he unwittingly cast about from his life in battle.
At the lake, her sister was helping Mom, and Dad was trying –and failing – to catch any fish with his net. He was complaining about not being able to use a fish pole anymore, and saying a few unsavory things as he stumbled a bit on the slippery rocks. As she played in the chilly water, she was inexplicably drawn to this one area of the water. The water was calmer, a tiny bit warmer, and somehow brighter… the bottom was sandier, with less rocks. She reached around, fingers searching for she knew not what. With a tingle, she felt metal. It felt like a sword. Holding it in her palms, she removed an ancient looking, rusty, worn sword out of the water. There was another tingle, and a buzzing in her head. Her hand moved tentatively to the shoddy handle, and gripping it, the sword gleamed and brightened, razor sharp edges glinting, as if freshly honed. Instantly, she felt full of light, and a thrumming ripple pulsed out from her, stirring the waves. Testing this miraculous illusion, she took her hand off the hilt, and the sword aged a thousand years under her gaze. Wielding it again, the sword returned to spectacular brilliance.
Her father was mystified by this discovery, and feared it's portent. Because of this strange sword, his daughter Saga seemed destined to follow her father's footsteps into battle. Perhaps stranger, more mysterious encounters than he ever faced. Something about her was changing, and he feared that change. He knew he had to train her, instruct her how to fight and defend herself, and try to prepare her for her unknowable future. For several years, they trained, staying out of sight of the others in the village. She took to the training well, but it was hard for one-armed Rasmus to keep up after a while. When not training, Saga spent quite a bit of time with her sword, studying the inscriptions and fine etchings on the blade. Most notable was the hoop-topped cross, and a soaring hawk. Too much time away from the sword, and the buzzing in her head would start to ache, and distract her from all her tasks. Her mother, Signe, hated the idea of her daughter in battle, and wouldn't allow her family to talk about it.
In her 11th year, a traveler came to the village, someone Rasmus knew. He was a soldier, who had been in battle with Rasmus many times. After many discussions, it was decided that Saga should go with Stellan, and he would train her in the ways of the soldier. She fully enjoyed the weapons training, and learning the tactics and skills. But, there was something missing, a calling ignored. The noise and pain in her head grew overwhelming. Meanwhile, she found herself performing unexpected tricks and strange happenings. She could create light before she started training, but this was different. She left Stellan, and decided to seek out her fortunes alone. Her headaches subsided, and almost immediately felt at peace.
She spent the next couple of years adventuring, honing her fighting skills, and her mystical abilities as well. She came to realize that her Patron was Isis, and she craved information about her, and sought out other followers. When traveling, she was able to make herself appear older, or younger, or even pass herself off as a young man, to avoid any undue attention from anyone who had bad intentions. And, to a casual eye, her beaten scabbard with a threadbare hilt sticking out seemed like nothing to worry about.
Until her eyes glowed with golden fire, and she unsheathed the glittering weapon.
It's probably the least useful form of Ranger, but Beast Master seems like it could fit this character's friendly background well. But the Hunter subclass is nice and reliable, without needing a lot of justification in-world for why your character has these abilities. Monster Slayer would be good if you want a little more variety, but still be mechanically more useful.
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I like the ranger idea. The sense of pursuit for her lost love is cool. However, for another option, how about a warlock.
If this is the True Love type of love, perhaps her patron is a daconic god who is secretly helping her acquire power to stand next to her love as more of an equal. Or they may simply want to use her to expand their worship to dragonborn.
I could see her becoming more draconic as she becomes more powerful.
Yeh I'm liking the idea of a Beast Master though I've heard a lot about them feeling underwhelming? Never played a Ranger so I wouldn't know.
Out of all the companion choices I really liked the Giant Weasel the most even though it's probably not the best choice.
Also curious what Feat people would pick (because she's variant human)? I've chosen Crossbow Expert for now and swapped out the starting longbow and arrows from Ranger for some bolts and a Heavy Crossbow (because they cost the same). I thought I have enough archer characters and none that use crossbows and a mostly untrained commoner would probably do better starting with a crossbow anyway. I won't see much use if any from Crossbow Expert though until I can buy a Hand Crossbow.
I also thought about Observant being that she's inquisitive and it would help with a little Wisdom. Of course there's also Sharpshooter.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
The main problems with Beast Master is that their abilities in combat with their beast partners don't scale up well as the game continues. More often than not you're better off just taking all your own actions/bonus actions each turn rather than having your animal companion do them. The UA Beastmaster, however, kind of goes the opposite direction... you end up practically with the strength/utility of two PCs each round. However, outside of combat if you use them intelligently they can accomplish a lot for you.
Edit: Oh and the thought of going Beastmaster gives me an idea for a good first level feat to take... Take Ritual Caster, and learn Speak to Animals. Now any time you've got 10 minutes to spare you can converse with your partner casually. There's actually a good number of Ranger utility spells that become a lot more useful once you're able to cast them as a ritual.
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I would say go ranger you don't have to use a bow but I feel rangers make the best "adventurers" maybe go a beast master and have the farm pet with you on your journey because you grew up with it.
Background I would say use a custom background and take the feature and equipment from the closest one you can find.
Maybe adventure wise you could go on what is meant to be a harmless adventure that turns dark and something happens to your lover which leads to your world shattering around you and it adds for great character growth seeing the darkness in the world and choosing to let it consume you or to fight back and save the lover. Does this break your character and make them a dark soul? Does their love give them resolve to fight through it? Are they open about what happened? are they closed off because of what happened?
If this lover is a player maybe have something driving a wedge between you both and make you fight for one another, or maybe have your ego's as adventurers tested maybe something terrifying that makes you question the life? Something that reminds you both of your mortality and that you could lose one or the other at a moments notice. Does this lead to a you both drifting apart or does it make you cherish each other more?
I noticed there were a lot of sort of refined Beast Master homebrew subclasses on here that look like they're trying to be half and half between Revised and standard Ranger. I don't know how balanced any of them are though. I'll worry about that when/if the character hits level 3.
I like the idea of Ritual Caster to be able to speak to the animal companion but I also prefer to keep her very mundane to start with. Really play up the commoner out of her depth angle to start with. When she gets spells at level 2 it can be a big surprise to her that she's able to do it.
In that same vane I'm not sure she would have Crossbow Expert at level 1. I mean between the end of her backstory and the beginning of the campaign I know she'll have done some training to be a level 1 Ranger and not still a commoner - but not enough to be an expert with crossbows. I think I'm leaning more for Observant. I can take Crossbow Expert at level 4.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
An alternative here is a Rogue with the Scout subclass. No beast pets are needed. It would change you from having caster abilities, and be more martial. Not clear if you like or want that.
For a background; I would look at modifying the Fisher from Ghosts of Saltmarsh; you are looking for a basic trade that isn't a Clan Crafter to reflect weaving (no fishing gear or net, replace with weavers tools and thread and the ability to make a living off your profession. Because you are right, there isn't an "Apprentice" background. Might need to make one, now you have pointed out the obvious for future campaigns.
As for your third question, I guess it would depend on the age of the dragon, and if your character is aware that their lover is one? Being that there would be a power curve difference, was this really an adventure of equals, or more of a loyal/loving assistant? If the latter, you have a lot of options as long as the dragon kept your character safe. The former is little harder, but if they are a young dragon its still possible.
Questions to consider: Are they still in love together, or is there tragedy in the future of this backstory?
Rogue Scout would probably be a good fit - but I already have one of those - a feral child Elf girl. I do quite like the idea of the Beast Master Ranger though so I'm happy with the class choice. I don't mind a bit of magic popping in due to building a connection with the wilds.
I don't actually have that background - I've only got sourcebook materials. I've avoided getting any adventure book things to not get spoiled. If you (or anyone else) were to make a homebrew apprentice background I'd be happy to give it a look.
I haven't decided on the age of the dragon yet.
As for whether my character knows her lover is a dragon - originally she didn't - but she does now. I imagined that the dragon was pretending to be human and a fairly experienced adventurer and invited my character along for something they thought would be easy. They gave my character a crossbow and a little training with it and said tag along. Things got a bit too hairy and the dragon had to reveal itself to take care of the problem. Then they apologise for the surprise and leave (probably instantaneously with a teleport or invisibility). Something along those lines anyway (I'd welcome other ideas though).
Being the super kind and nice person my character is - she doesn't care about her lover being a dragon and just wants to find them again. Basically my character is head over heels for them - though whether the dragon was truly reciprocating or pretending or something else - I'd leave that up to the DM.
Mega Yahtzee Thread:
Highest 41: brocker2001 (#11,285).
Yahtzee of 2's: Emmber (#36,161).
Lowest 9: JoeltheWalrus (#312), Emmber (#12,505) and Dertinus (#20,953).
I hear what you are saying about the adventures and no spoilers. But I do like the background and Magic Item options and reference.
If I get a chance this evening I will put a background together for review.
Heh. Honestly, this character concept yells 'SORCERER!' to me in loud letters (in fact, that may well be the next sorcerer I play), but the Ranger thing works as well. I enjoy the idea of her Favored 'Enemy' being dragons not because she hates and hunts them, but because she's trying to know more about her lost boyfriend. Nice way to turn that feature on its head and make it actually pop for once.
As for variant human starter feats of a nonmagical, non-Combat Expert nature, there's always Mobile. Rangers could use an extra ten feet of movement to skirmish with, and kicking something can be done even with one's hands full of crossbow to get a Mobile melee disengage at need. Could also play up the fact that she was resilient enough to go adventuring in the first place with Tough or Durable, or play with the fact that she attracted this dragon's attention in the first place (and survived their earlier adventure) with inexplicable Luck.
As for Dragon Adventures? I agree that such would be something to talk to your DM about. Some ideas might be that the silver heard of an interesting treasure it wanted to add to its hoard, or that there was a rare beast somewhere nearby (supposedly silvers are a bit of a gourmand and enjoy fine feasts). Perhaps there was a goblin/kobold nest that had been plaguing the town.
Heh, now that I think of it, that last one might be particularly apt - they went adventuring to deal with a nest of kobolds that Silver-Kun figured he could protect her through just fine, only to encounter a young red dragon that had moved in and taken command of the kobolds, stirring them to raid the villages nearby. Silver-Kun is an Adult (has to be in order to be able to transform), so he could easily mop the floor with a young red...but only in his dragon form. He rends the red from existence, squishes the rest of the kobolds, and gives Ranger-Chan a bit of treasure from the red's little hoard to make up for accidentally almost leading her to her death, then takes off to do silver dragon things. Leaving Ranger-chan with a bunch of money and the tale of watching a dragon fight to impress the villagers with, as well as a burning need to find Silver-kun again.
Maybe something along those lines?
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Ok,
So as I promised Emmote, here is a cut at homebrew background (my first actually). I hope you find it useful.
Talented Apprentice