Hello all! I'd like to try my hand at GMing a PBP game here on Beyond. I have run games on other platforms in the past (currently enjoying year 2 of an Out of the Abyss run!).
To that end, I'd like to start up Curse of Strahd, starting at level 1 with the Death House mini-adventure! Do you like things that go bump in the night? Dream of being a Jonathon Harker or a van Helsing? Like the idea of vampires and werewolves and creepy old castles? Perhaps this adventure is for you.
Character Submission Deadline: July 6th, 23:59 ET
Character Submission Details: Stats: 4d6 drop lowest reroll 1s once (here in the thread), Point Buy, or Standard Array. Content: All officially published WotC material is fair play. Restricted Races/Classes: None, but consider that the insular people of Barovia may not be as warm and welcoming of the stranger races in the WotC material. General Stuff: I strongly prefer characters that are not super edgey/ultra lone wolf types. You will need to be part of a team to survive the horrors that Strahd has in store for you. Please consider this when coming up with your character. You will begin the adventure travelling with the other party members along an old road, so be open to finding a compelling reason to be with the others. A lot of this connection will be set up after the players are picked and we get underway.
Character Submission Process: Post a message here with your character concept (race, class, background, rough origin story) by the deadline. I will review the submissions and make a final selection by Monday July 9th.
Personal Expectations/Efforts: I ask that you be able to post at least five times a week. I'm typically the most active during the week, with weekends being more sporadic. Life and work happens, just be open and transparent with when you'll be out of touch. In order to keep things moving in combat, please try to post your actions within 24 hours. If you can't, your character's actions will be botted (though not in a harmful to them way). Usually if I have to do this, the character will make basic attacks or provide simple assistance rather than using your special resources or spell slots.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ability scores: 161312121514
Character: Adric Stormheart
Class: Paladin
Deity: Tymora
Race: Human
Background: Folk Hero
Backstory: Adric never knew his father, but his mother always told him stories of how he was valiant and kind . She told him how even though his father was a great knight, he chose to come to the aid of a lowly tavern wench like her when he heard that she had been captured after trolls attacked her village. She told him how his father chose to give up his nobility and instead stay at her village to serve as its guardian and also eventually ask for her hand in marriage. And she told Adric how on the day of his birth, his father chose to slay the dragon that attacked his village, even if it meant that he would die without ever knowing his son. Years later, when Adric was grown, he told his mother that if she was okay with it, he would follow his father's footsteps and become a Paladin. She consented, on the condition that he would be a good man like his father was. Adric promised to do his best to live up to that standard and set out on his journey. Eventually, he would meet some other travelers on the road that seemed to be searching for adventure or trying to prove themselves as well.
Backstory: Muirdan thought himself an anomaly among the dwarves of his mining clan - a coward. When his father would tell stories of their ancestors standing against the armies of the undead, he felt not pride, but dread. This fear kept him awake, finding skeletons in every shadow, blasphemous rituals in every set of untranslatable runes. His companions mocked this paranoia, until it proved his salvation as Muirdan alone survived his company's destruction when some shadows did in fact hide undead.
As a means of surviving his fear, and of assuaging his guilt, he fled to the temple of Dumathoin, and immersed himself in the study of death itself. Fellow acolytes now consider him a zealot against the undead, as against death Muirdan carries himself with the sort of bravado that only the deeply fearful possess.
Well those kinda sucked - better off with standard array
Balmaris Amikiir Shadar-kai Monk (eventually way of the shadow)
Balmaris was forced out of the Shadowfell by the Raven Queen and told just to advance her will. What that means – he hasn’t a clue. The elders were very cryptic in their answers to his questions. So he has spent his time on the Prime Material Plane trying to learn more about what the Raven Queen might want. Seeking scholars and other followers of the Raven Queen for insight. These journeys often have sent him in to darker corners of Faerun and to distant monasteries where other seekers of lost wisdom have ventured. It was during an extended stay at one of these where he started training in the ways of the monk with the other members of the temple. Balmaris continues to wander the land in search of lost knowledge – not all of which is written down. He has learned that oral histories exist sometimes and that stories told by other adventurers often still hold grains of truth. And because of this he often finds himself in the company of other adventures, because sometimes money makes even the stickiest of doors open to him.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ability scores: 161315131611
Rosamund Carpenter
Scourge Aasimar Barbarian Folk Hero
Rosa always felt different, like there was something he was supposed to do. The dreams he'd had since he was a boy didn't help. A shining figure showed him images of death and destruction, with only three words, "Will you help?". He figured it out when some bandits attacked his village. He flew into a rage, and killed them. He realized the dreams were showing him things that he had to stop, the evils that had to be stopped. So he set out, eventually joining a group of adventurers, on the lookout for anything that dared to hurt an innocent. Trying to bring more good to this world,, and destroying the evil.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Name: Fennel Roverson
Race: Stout Halfling
Class: Ranger
Ability scores: Ability scores: 161514131718
Background: Soldier (i.e. member of the village militia)
Backstory: Great-grandson of the famous Hal the Rover, Fennel knew it was in his blood to leave the village of his birth and go see the world. As a child, he never felt at home unless wandering through the forest and hills near his home, hunting, fishing, gazing up at the stars, playing games of cat and mouse with the predators that would sometimes venture down from the mountains. It took him a while to leave; years spent training in the village militia, learning fighting skills he knew he would need some day. In the end, his little sister Juniper beat him to it, by running away with the circus. Yes, really; Fennel was surprised that actually happens outside of old stories. At his parents' insistence, Fennel chased the circus down, checked that Juny was okay (she was), left her to her own adventure, and just... kept going. A dutiful son, he stops by towns now and then to write a letter home, but mostly he roams the countryside, alone or with companions, looking for adventure and another glorious night beneath the stars.
Class: Ranger ( will go to beast master UA if possible)
Background:
Grythek first memory is beign disciplined by his mother, the alpha female of the pack of the Misty Peak. He was holding one of his brothers, and was choking him instead of just playing. The gentle but firm bite in his shoulder is the first counscious memory he has.
The following years were somehow frustrating for him. While the rest of his brothers and sisters soon joined the pack in their hunts he was too weak and too clumsy to follow them. The pack would have left him behind, but he managed to stay with them. He kept the wolfden clean of vermin, used to have clean and fresh branches for the pack to rest, and managed to have clean water in the wolf-den. Thanks to this little edge, his pack prospered. Even in the Harsh Winter that took many of the packs due to famine and cold. He managed to kept the wold-den warm and most of the cubs survived.
It wasn't until his fourthteen spring that Grey Fang, the alpha male of the pack died from old age. The next alpha, Great Pawn, never was fond of him and he was expelled from the pack. One month later, when he left the pack's territory, he was found by a lone druid called Moonglean. She was fascinated by the young and unciviliced human, and after a few days she started to gain enough of his confidence to start feeding him.
One year later he had learned to talk and write and she started to teach him the ways of the humans. She taught him how to fight and how to hunt with the teeth and fangs of the humans, and thanks to his time with the pack he was an accomplished hunter. At last, accepting what he was but not forgetting how he was raised.
Five years later, during a winter, he found a lone dire wolf cub, he was beign hunted by an orc raiding party who had slaughtered the wolf's pack. When he returned to Moonglean's hut, the orcs had already found the hut and the druid, having managed to kill most of them, was finally overrun and was killed. He was able to track them down and avenge both Moonglean and the cub's pack.
With nothing more that hold him in that place, they begin their journey.
Born during an underwater volcanic eruption that devastated more than half of his hometown, Ferkaek Shaumboleth was considered a bringer of bad fortune. Because of this, most of the town's misfortune was blamed to his family. One faithful day, the seal placed underneath a deep trench collapsed and a portal to the Plane of Water opened. Aberrations and monstrosities poured out, turning his hometown into a rubbish heap. Most of the townspeople and his family died, leaving an angry mob casting him out of their sea.
Left alone to fend for himself in the wilderness, his innate magic surfaced. Left bitter by the people who casted him out, Ferkaek Shaumboleth decided to harness his new found powers, come back with experience and knowledge to defeat the beings that brought ruin to his hometown and prove to his people that they were wrong about him.
Ability scores: 1491071313 - well, that's fitting for the character, but I'll take standard array please!
Name: Rooneyhan "Ruddy" Blackwood
Race: Half-dwarf
Class: Bard
Backstory: Rooneyhan was too short to cut trees like his older human brothers. 'Can't swing a bloody axe if you're shorter than the stump,' they told him. A family named after the blackwood trees they lumbered, and poor Rooneyhan was stuck washing their filthy laundry, cooking their grub, hauling their feces off into the woods. He was arguably the most attractive of the Blackwoods, if you were standing to his right. His left eye stuck out like a swollen egg and always looked in the opposite direction of...well, where he was actually looking. His only romance ended with boiling water in his face, on account that she was angled just wrong, and when he said 'you've got the finest pair of watermelons in Haverstick', he appeared to be undressing her friend with that left eye.
Stubby-legged, bug-eyed, and now scarred to hell, Rooneyhan decided he'd had enough. He built a shoddy lute out of scraps of blackwood, stole his oldest brother's mare, and made for the big city. He spent his meager savings on booze in a single night, not realizing the severity of inflation within city limits. He took to begging out of necessity, playing songs he'd written on his crappy lute. He became known as 'Ruddy' when his scars became severely sunburnt, and his absolutely hideous visage blew up as the hottest gossip in town. People would come from all over to hear him play; not because he was any good, but because he was 'Ruddy.' He was the ugliest bastard in all Lindenvale.
One day, a man with peculiar clothes, a hawkish face, and a tree-root staff sat in front of Ruddy, the man's eyes dancing with the half-dwarf's fingers. "I saw that string move and you didn't touch it," he finally said, seeming satisfied with himself. "I felt you from across town. When you play, something opens up within you. Something I'd be interested in exploring." The man introduced himself as Vlerad, a sorcerer whose village was razed by the undead. He was on a quest, to assemble apprentices in magic, to train them to kill the flesh-eating hordes. How could Ruddy refuse? He was offered clean clothes. A warm bed. And sorcerers, by god, were unbelievable cooks.
Ruddy turned out to be an excellent apprentice. The magic, its fundamental nature, all made sense. The spells came naturally to him. Why, people began to like Ruddy. Some of that may be attributed to the half-dwarf's affinity for manipulative magic. . .but that didn't bother him in the least. Ruddy had found his calling as a bard.
All was well, until Vlerad turned up missing. No note, no blood, nothing. His things were untouched. Nobody knew what had happened, couldn't even begin to guess. And so Ruddy stuck his master's left-behind dagger in his belt, gathered some supplies, slung his lute over his back, and took off down the ever winding path, hoping to find the one person who'd given him the time of day in this godforsaken world.
Ruddy finally came to a crossroads, where he met a group of adventurers, all traveling down the path for reasons of their own. . .
Rynna Cale was a average. That was the best that could be said of her according to the village gossips. Better she learn her mother's trade or be married off quickly before she became any plainer. Maybe the local temple of Chauntea wouldn't mind a new devotee? Finding neither spinning nor pimpled youths to her liking and her knees not tolerating long stretches of pious kneeling, Rynna decided average wasn't for her.
Finding common ground with the village crone wasn't what anyone expected but Berta had never spun thread, had no use for boys these days and her knees certainly couldn't tolerate cold stone floors. She did however have a certain facility for weaving. Spells, that was. As far as Rynna was concerned that was perfect. If only the crotchety old hedgewitch thought the same but the woman had more interest in Rynna scrubbing her floors and washing linens than offering lessons. Just as pious kneeling was beginning to sound like a better option, the old woman passed away. Rynna laid her to rest and then took up her spellbook and staff.
Maybe deciphering the spellbook would have been easier if she'd had proper lessons. Nearly setting Farmer Marcus' barn alight would certainly have been avoided but when she arrived in the closest town, Rynna took solace in the fact she'd now traveled further than anyone in the village. Let them call her average now! Rynna had even managed to gain some companions on the road as she travelled. She might even say things were perfect, except for this pesky mist that suddenly sprung up...
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ability scores: 141215131311POINT BUY
too bad of scores. Too many games lol thanks
Fine, fine dramasailor. You’ve convinced me lol
NEVER PLAYED CURSE OF STRAHD BEFORE IF THAT MATTERS
RETCON (NOT SURE WHY I DIDNT THINK OF THIS BEFORE - CASTLEVANIA *****ES!), only in name and background story
Reed Belmont, human cleric, life domain
I am Reed Belmont, deep descendant of Trevor Belmont and a cleric of Torm, the god of courage and self-sacrifice. I have been serving Torm since a young age. My father was murdered when I was a young age. My mother no where to be found. I was taken in by the church. I have devoted my life to following Torm and cleansing the land of evil. My journey is never ending.....
A man of about 30 years with long brown hair and a short beard. I stand tall wearing shiny silver chain mail over blue commoners clothing and brown boots. The holy symbol of Torm hangs from my neck over the chain mail. A mace is carried in one hand with a shield in the other. A cross bow hanging from my waist line is easily accessible.
Kind of bland. I know. I just didn’t think Strahd would need a crazy backstory.
Origins: Arkanon Drel was born into a wealthy trading family. What was most curious about him however was the fact that instead of coming out human like the rest of his family, he came out with red skin, gold eyes, and two small bumps on his forehead that would eventually grow into horns. He was the only one in the family to have come out with such a disturbing disfigurement and his father was horrified to see him in that guise, but his mother loved him the same as her other children. His brothers and sisters were mixed towards him, a few treated him with indifference but most weren't kind to him; after all, they were all humans and because he was the youngest and the most different they would tease him endlessly and make his life miserable; but this wouldn't quench the fire of curiosity within him. He was eager to learn and would constantly run around asking questions or handling things.
Some time around his eleventh birthday his mother talked his father into taking him along during a merchanting venture and it was to his father's surprise to learn that Arkanon had a strong mind for the trade. Sudden interest grew in his father and the young tiefling found himself spending more and more time with him, which wasn't a bad thing at all in his mind, but he could sense a sort jealousy coming from his older siblings as he suddenly became his father's protege.
Several more years passed, the wealth that Arkanon's father amassed had given them enough wealth to buy more than several outlying farms and procure a position to become one of the most powerful merchanting families in Faerun. Several months later, his father lay on his deathbed and called him and his siblings to pronounce Arkanon as the new head of the family. It shook everyone there, including Arkanon himself, but he accepted the position and once his father was buried under the ground started making changes in the way business was run; a few things here and there to make more profits on their end, but through it all his eldest brother was a pain at his side, always criticizing him and his choices, sparking arguments at every chance. Worse still was that he discovered his other brothers were conspiring to have jailed for some minor offense he had made to a lord.
What he didn't notice was that it was only bait. He jailed two of his brothers and his eldest, Mabral used this as excuse to strengthen his support in his claim that Arkanon was unfit to be the head of the family. Suddenly, Arkanon was under a great deal of stress, feeling cornered from the pressure that was coming from the Merchant's Guild to honour his promises that had been delayed because of his family drama, and then the fact that his brother was trying to usurp him and spreading false rumours that he was working with devils and sold his soul to make the family greater.
The final blow was struck when a demon killed Mabral and his family. He knew he could not stay as head of the family after that, and already news was spreading that he was the one that sent the demon. Arkanon stepped down after releasing his brothers from prison and gave the business to them, told them the truth of what happened, and that he was leaving to find the source of his brother's death. And without further word, he left and headed to the temple of Bast where he told the cleric that he wanted to seek vengeance, to which the cleric told him that it was for him to prove to Bast that he was worthy of it and if he was, She would give him the powers he would need to defeat his foes. After asking how he was to prove himself, the cleric told him that he could become not only a worshiper of the goddess, but her mortal sword and travel Faerun to discover its secrets and help its people, and perhaps then she would see him worthy. He gave his vows and in return he was granted weapons and armour.
Taking with him some gold and his personal retainer that he had in his previous life as a merchant, he set off and eventually ran into a group of adventurers and quickly joined in with them seeing the opportunity and potential benefit they could provide in aiding his goals, and of course him aiding theirs.
Awful, I will use point buy instead if still possible.
Name: Tengen
Race: Human (Variant)
Class: Warlock - Celestial
Background: Acolyte
Point Buy Ability scores with racials added 8/14/12/10/14/16
Story: Tengen had always been able to wrap the priests around her little finger, she avoided menial tasks with a well placed compliment, repetitive chores with a smoothly delivered lie and punishment for shirking her tasks with the ability to cry on demand. Although the priests were aware of her duplicity they could not find it in themselves to deal out further punishments and so Tengen became something of a law unto herself. Nonetheless she studied hard and learnt many of the meditative and religious lessons in the temple and displayed some aptitude for spellcasting but she always wanted to push her boundaries and began to do so in the library of the temple always looking for another piece of knowledge or something mysterious which might provide a faster path to success.
For many such a call may well have come from a nefarious source but a different benefactor noticed the young girl and saw something to admire in her determination to gain power, seeing in her heart that she desired to do good with it. The name of the Deva who visited her was Mihalias and he allowed a tiny spark of his power to enter Tengen, once she had agreed to enter into a pact with him. Her abilities to heal and protect increased dramatically and she felt ready to put them to use but it proved to be the final straw with the priests who could not condone her rashness and refusal to listen to senior members of the clergy. She was cast out as quietly as possible, so as not to draw attention from the other pupils but on a rain soaked evening she found herself cast adrift form the only place she had called home in nearly twelve years since her parents had abandoned her at the temple gates, unable to look after her themselves, due to their personal struggles with addiction.
With little practical experience of surviving in the real world the young Tengen is looking for a place to find herself, hopefully with a group of like-minded people intent on using their gifts for the betterment of the land.
Oh, I am a sucker for a good CoS game. Count me interested! Here’s my character idea
Ability scores:131410131416
Name: Creak, also known as “Crow Beak Creak”
Class: Rogue
Background: Archeologist
Creak has always had a flare for the finer things in life. However, to him, the truly finest things in life are the treasures that endure after life. Graves, tombs, temples, and ruins might as well sing a siren song to this avian archeologists. In fact, If you asked him, he’d tell you (in his own special way) that there’s no better collector of ancient treasures and long forgotten relics. With the skills to pay his birdy bills, will we see what trouble Creak gets himself into this time? Regardless, one thing can be sure, the treasures of time have never been safer than in the claws of Crow Beak Creak!
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Are you still accepting submissions? If so, I would like to present:
Ability Scores: 12910141412
Name: Quill Lost-Branch
Race: Tabaxi
Class: Great Old One Warlock
Background: Far Traveler
Backstory: This middle-aged cat was thrown out of his comfortable life as a storyteller and artisan when he lost his home, family, and almost everyone he knew to a terrible (disaster unspecified). Desperate and alone, he cried out to the stars above, hoping that someone or something would listen, but never truly believing there was anything out there. To his shock, someone (he still couldn't tell you who or what) appeared before him and offered him a deal. It offered power, relief from his fears, and perhaps even a chance to avenge the wrongs done to his loved ones. He accepted the deal without a thought at the time, but if you were to ask him now, a few years on, he admits he somewhat regrets his hasty choice. He knows that one day the being will return, and demand a price for the power it gave. Still, life goes on, and one can only try to live a good life for as long as they can, is his philosophy. So now he wanders, trying to put some good back into the world to replace that which was taken from him.
Hello all! I'd like to try my hand at GMing a PBP game here on Beyond. I have run games on other platforms in the past (currently enjoying year 2 of an Out of the Abyss run!).
To that end, I'd like to start up Curse of Strahd, starting at level 1 with the Death House mini-adventure! Do you like things that go bump in the night? Dream of being a Jonathon Harker or a van Helsing? Like the idea of vampires and werewolves and creepy old castles? Perhaps this adventure is for you.
Character Submission Deadline:
July 6th, 23:59 ET
Character Submission Details:
Stats: 4d6 drop lowest reroll 1s once (here in the thread), Point Buy, or Standard Array.
Content: All officially published WotC material is fair play.
Restricted Races/Classes: None, but consider that the insular people of Barovia may not be as warm and welcoming of the stranger races in the WotC material.
General Stuff: I strongly prefer characters that are not super edgey/ultra lone wolf types. You will need to be part of a team to survive the horrors that Strahd has in store for you. Please consider this when coming up with your character. You will begin the adventure travelling with the other party members along an old road, so be open to finding a compelling reason to be with the others. A lot of this connection will be set up after the players are picked and we get underway.
Character Submission Process:
Post a message here with your character concept (race, class, background, rough origin story) by the deadline.
I will review the submissions and make a final selection by Monday July 9th.
Personal Expectations/Efforts:
I ask that you be able to post at least five times a week. I'm typically the most active during the week, with weekends being more sporadic. Life and work happens, just be open and transparent with when you'll be out of touch.
In order to keep things moving in combat, please try to post your actions within 24 hours. If you can't, your character's actions will be botted (though not in a harmful to them way). Usually if I have to do this, the character will make basic attacks or provide simple assistance rather than using your special resources or spell slots.
Ability scores: 16 13 12 12 15 14
Character: Adric Stormheart
Class: Paladin
Deity: Tymora
Race: Human
Background: Folk Hero
Backstory: Adric never knew his father, but his mother always told him stories of how he was valiant and kind . She told him how even though his father was a great knight, he chose to come to the aid of a lowly tavern wench like her when he heard that she had been captured after trolls attacked her village. She told him how his father chose to give up his nobility and instead stay at her village to serve as its guardian and also eventually ask for her hand in marriage. And she told Adric how on the day of his birth, his father chose to slay the dragon that attacked his village, even if it meant that he would die without ever knowing his son. Years later, when Adric was grown, he told his mother that if she was okay with it, he would follow his father's footsteps and become a Paladin. She consented, on the condition that he would be a good man like his father was. Adric promised to do his best to live up to that standard and set out on his journey. Eventually, he would meet some other travelers on the road that seemed to be searching for adventure or trying to prove themselves as well.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Name/Race/Class: Muirdan/Hill Dwarf/Cleric (Grave Domain)
Stats: Ability scores: 18 14 10 12 17 13
Backstory: Muirdan thought himself an anomaly among the dwarves of his mining clan - a coward. When his father would tell stories of their ancestors standing against the armies of the undead, he felt not pride, but dread. This fear kept him awake, finding skeletons in every shadow, blasphemous rituals in every set of untranslatable runes. His companions mocked this paranoia, until it proved his salvation as Muirdan alone survived his company's destruction when some shadows did in fact hide undead.
As a means of surviving his fear, and of assuaging his guilt, he fled to the temple of Dumathoin, and immersed himself in the study of death itself. Fellow acolytes now consider him a zealot against the undead, as against death Muirdan carries himself with the sort of bravado that only the deeply fearful possess.
But the fear remains.
Ability scores: 8 11 9 13 13 14Well those kinda sucked - better off with standard array
Balmaris Amikiir
Shadar-kai Monk (eventually way of the shadow)
Balmaris was forced out of the Shadowfell by the Raven Queen and told just to advance her will. What that means – he hasn’t a clue. The elders were very cryptic in their answers to his questions. So he has spent his time on the Prime Material Plane trying to learn more about what the Raven Queen might want. Seeking scholars and other followers of the Raven Queen for insight. These journeys often have sent him in to darker corners of Faerun and to distant monasteries where other seekers of lost wisdom have ventured. It was during an extended stay at one of these where he started training in the ways of the monk with the other members of the temple. Balmaris continues to wander the land in search of lost knowledge – not all of which is written down. He has learned that oral histories exist sometimes and that stories told by other adventurers often still hold grains of truth. And because of this he often finds himself in the company of other adventures, because sometimes money makes even the stickiest of doors open to him.
Skameros - Bugbear Barbarian - Out of the Abyss - By Kerrec
Follow your Arrow where it Points - Tabaxi Monk - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
Citron Pumpkinfoam - Fairy Monk - Project Point: Team Longsword
Ability scores: 16 13 15 13 16 11
Rosamund Carpenter
Scourge Aasimar Barbarian Folk Hero
Rosa always felt different, like there was something he was supposed to do. The dreams he'd had since he was a boy didn't help. A shining figure showed him images of death and destruction, with only three words, "Will you help?". He figured it out when some bandits attacked his village. He flew into a rage, and killed them. He realized the dreams were showing him things that he had to stop, the evils that had to be stopped. So he set out, eventually joining a group of adventurers, on the lookout for anything that dared to hurt an innocent. Trying to bring more good to this world,, and destroying the evil.
Name: Fennel Roverson
Race: Stout Halfling
Class: Ranger
Ability scores: Ability scores: 16 15 14 13 17 18
Background: Soldier (i.e. member of the village militia)
Backstory: Great-grandson of the famous Hal the Rover, Fennel knew it was in his blood to leave the village of his birth and go see the world. As a child, he never felt at home unless wandering through the forest and hills near his home, hunting, fishing, gazing up at the stars, playing games of cat and mouse with the predators that would sometimes venture down from the mountains. It took him a while to leave; years spent training in the village militia, learning fighting skills he knew he would need some day. In the end, his little sister Juniper beat him to it, by running away with the circus. Yes, really; Fennel was surprised that actually happens outside of old stories. At his parents' insistence, Fennel chased the circus down, checked that Juny was okay (she was), left her to her own adventure, and just... kept going. A dutiful son, he stops by towns now and then to write a letter home, but mostly he roams the countryside, alone or with companions, looking for adventure and another glorious night beneath the stars.
Ability scores: 6 15 9 12 13 12
Name: Grythek
Race; Human
Class: Ranger ( will go to beast master UA if possible)
Background:
Grythek first memory is beign disciplined by his mother, the alpha female of the pack of the Misty Peak. He was holding one of his brothers, and was choking him instead of just playing. The gentle but firm bite in his shoulder is the first counscious memory he has.
The following years were somehow frustrating for him. While the rest of his brothers and sisters soon joined the pack in their hunts he was too weak and too clumsy to follow them. The pack would have left him behind, but he managed to stay with them. He kept the wolfden clean of vermin, used to have clean and fresh branches for the pack to rest, and managed to have clean water in the wolf-den. Thanks to this little edge, his pack prospered. Even in the Harsh Winter that took many of the packs due to famine and cold. He managed to kept the wold-den warm and most of the cubs survived.
It wasn't until his fourthteen spring that Grey Fang, the alpha male of the pack died from old age. The next alpha, Great Pawn, never was fond of him and he was expelled from the pack. One month later, when he left the pack's territory, he was found by a lone druid called Moonglean. She was fascinated by the young and unciviliced human, and after a few days she started to gain enough of his confidence to start feeding him.
One year later he had learned to talk and write and she started to teach him the ways of the humans. She taught him how to fight and how to hunt with the teeth and fangs of the humans, and thanks to his time with the pack he was an accomplished hunter. At last, accepting what he was but not forgetting how he was raised.
Five years later, during a winter, he found a lone dire wolf cub, he was beign hunted by an orc raiding party who had slaughtered the wolf's pack. When he returned to Moonglean's hut, the orcs had already found the hut and the druid, having managed to kill most of them, was finally overrun and was killed. He was able to track them down and avenge both Moonglean and the cub's pack.
With nothing more that hold him in that place, they begin their journey.
PbP Character: A few ;)
Ability scores: 14 13 13 12 17 10
Name: Ferkaek Shaumboleth
Race: Triton
Class: Sorcerer
Backstory:
Born during an underwater volcanic eruption that devastated more than half of his hometown, Ferkaek Shaumboleth was considered a bringer of bad fortune. Because of this, most of the town's misfortune was blamed to his family. One faithful day, the seal placed underneath a deep trench collapsed and a portal to the Plane of Water opened. Aberrations and monstrosities poured out, turning his hometown into a rubbish heap. Most of the townspeople and his family died, leaving an angry mob casting him out of their sea.
Left alone to fend for himself in the wilderness, his innate magic surfaced. Left bitter by the people who casted him out, Ferkaek Shaumboleth decided to harness his new found powers, come back with experience and knowledge to defeat the beings that brought ruin to his hometown and prove to his people that they were wrong about him.
Ability scores: 14 9 10 7 13 13 - well, that's fitting for the character, but I'll take standard array please!
Name: Rooneyhan "Ruddy" Blackwood
Race: Half-dwarf
Class: Bard
Backstory: Rooneyhan was too short to cut trees like his older human brothers. 'Can't swing a bloody axe if you're shorter than the stump,' they told him. A family named after the blackwood trees they lumbered, and poor Rooneyhan was stuck washing their filthy laundry, cooking their grub, hauling their feces off into the woods. He was arguably the most attractive of the Blackwoods, if you were standing to his right. His left eye stuck out like a swollen egg and always looked in the opposite direction of...well, where he was actually looking. His only romance ended with boiling water in his face, on account that she was angled just wrong, and when he said 'you've got the finest pair of watermelons in Haverstick', he appeared to be undressing her friend with that left eye.
Stubby-legged, bug-eyed, and now scarred to hell, Rooneyhan decided he'd had enough. He built a shoddy lute out of scraps of blackwood, stole his oldest brother's mare, and made for the big city. He spent his meager savings on booze in a single night, not realizing the severity of inflation within city limits. He took to begging out of necessity, playing songs he'd written on his crappy lute. He became known as 'Ruddy' when his scars became severely sunburnt, and his absolutely hideous visage blew up as the hottest gossip in town. People would come from all over to hear him play; not because he was any good, but because he was 'Ruddy.' He was the ugliest bastard in all Lindenvale.
One day, a man with peculiar clothes, a hawkish face, and a tree-root staff sat in front of Ruddy, the man's eyes dancing with the half-dwarf's fingers. "I saw that string move and you didn't touch it," he finally said, seeming satisfied with himself. "I felt you from across town. When you play, something opens up within you. Something I'd be interested in exploring." The man introduced himself as Vlerad, a sorcerer whose village was razed by the undead. He was on a quest, to assemble apprentices in magic, to train them to kill the flesh-eating hordes. How could Ruddy refuse? He was offered clean clothes. A warm bed. And sorcerers, by god, were unbelievable cooks.
Ruddy turned out to be an excellent apprentice. The magic, its fundamental nature, all made sense. The spells came naturally to him. Why, people began to like Ruddy. Some of that may be attributed to the half-dwarf's affinity for manipulative magic. . .but that didn't bother him in the least. Ruddy had found his calling as a bard.
All was well, until Vlerad turned up missing. No note, no blood, nothing. His things were untouched. Nobody knew what had happened, couldn't even begin to guess. And so Ruddy stuck his master's left-behind dagger in his belt, gathered some supplies, slung his lute over his back, and took off down the ever winding path, hoping to find the one person who'd given him the time of day in this godforsaken world.
Ruddy finally came to a crossroads, where he met a group of adventurers, all traveling down the path for reasons of their own. . .
Ability scores: 14 11 12 13 16 17Withdrawn
Ability scores: 14 11 11 11 12 12 12
Variant Human, Wizard (Diviner)
Rynna Cale was a average. That was the best that could be said of her according to the village gossips. Better she learn her mother's trade or be married off quickly before she became any plainer. Maybe the local temple of Chauntea wouldn't mind a new devotee? Finding neither spinning nor pimpled youths to her liking and her knees not tolerating long stretches of pious kneeling, Rynna decided average wasn't for her.
Finding common ground with the village crone wasn't what anyone expected but Berta had never spun thread, had no use for boys these days and her knees certainly couldn't tolerate cold stone floors. She did however have a certain facility for weaving. Spells, that was. As far as Rynna was concerned that was perfect. If only the crotchety old hedgewitch thought the same but the woman had more interest in Rynna scrubbing her floors and washing linens than offering lessons. Just as pious kneeling was beginning to sound like a better option, the old woman passed away. Rynna laid her to rest and then took up her spellbook and staff.
Maybe deciphering the spellbook would have been easier if she'd had proper lessons. Nearly setting Farmer Marcus' barn alight would certainly have been avoided but when she arrived in the closest town, Rynna took solace in the fact she'd now traveled further than anyone in the village. Let them call her average now! Rynna had even managed to gain some companions on the road as she travelled. She might even say things were perfect, except for this pesky mist that suddenly sprung up...
Ability scores: 14 12 15 13 13 11POINT BUYtoo bad of scores. Too many games lol thanksFine, fine dramasailor. You’ve convinced me lol
NEVER PLAYED CURSE OF STRAHD BEFORE IF THAT MATTERS
RETCON (NOT SURE WHY I DIDNT THINK OF THIS BEFORE - CASTLEVANIA *****ES!), only in name and background story
Reed Belmont, human cleric, life domain
I am Reed Belmont, deep descendant of Trevor Belmont and a cleric of Torm, the god of courage and self-sacrifice. I have been serving Torm since a young age. My father was murdered when I was a young age. My mother no where to be found. I was taken in by the church. I have devoted my life to following Torm and cleansing the land of evil. My journey is never ending.....
A man of about 30 years with long brown hair and a short beard. I stand tall wearing shiny silver chain mail over blue commoners clothing and brown boots. The holy symbol of Torm hangs from my neck over the chain mail. A mace is carried in one hand with a shield in the other. A cross bow hanging from my waist line is easily accessible.
Kind of bland. I know. I just didn’t think Strahd would need a crazy backstory.
PC: Fitzroy Hammerstone - The Mad Empiricist of Corinth
DM:
Popular Stream Character Sheets
Ability scores: 12 11 14 16 15 14
Name: Arkanon Drel
Race: Tiefling
Class: Paladin
Background: Merchant
Origins: Arkanon Drel was born into a wealthy trading family. What was most curious about him however was the fact that instead of coming out human like the rest of his family, he came out with red skin, gold eyes, and two small bumps on his forehead that would eventually grow into horns. He was the only one in the family to have come out with such a disturbing disfigurement and his father was horrified to see him in that guise, but his mother loved him the same as her other children. His brothers and sisters were mixed towards him, a few treated him with indifference but most weren't kind to him; after all, they were all humans and because he was the youngest and the most different they would tease him endlessly and make his life miserable; but this wouldn't quench the fire of curiosity within him. He was eager to learn and would constantly run around asking questions or handling things.
Some time around his eleventh birthday his mother talked his father into taking him along during a merchanting venture and it was to his father's surprise to learn that Arkanon had a strong mind for the trade. Sudden interest grew in his father and the young tiefling found himself spending more and more time with him, which wasn't a bad thing at all in his mind, but he could sense a sort jealousy coming from his older siblings as he suddenly became his father's protege.
Several more years passed, the wealth that Arkanon's father amassed had given them enough wealth to buy more than several outlying farms and procure a position to become one of the most powerful merchanting families in Faerun. Several months later, his father lay on his deathbed and called him and his siblings to pronounce Arkanon as the new head of the family. It shook everyone there, including Arkanon himself, but he accepted the position and once his father was buried under the ground started making changes in the way business was run; a few things here and there to make more profits on their end, but through it all his eldest brother was a pain at his side, always criticizing him and his choices, sparking arguments at every chance. Worse still was that he discovered his other brothers were conspiring to have jailed for some minor offense he had made to a lord.
What he didn't notice was that it was only bait. He jailed two of his brothers and his eldest, Mabral used this as excuse to strengthen his support in his claim that Arkanon was unfit to be the head of the family. Suddenly, Arkanon was under a great deal of stress, feeling cornered from the pressure that was coming from the Merchant's Guild to honour his promises that had been delayed because of his family drama, and then the fact that his brother was trying to usurp him and spreading false rumours that he was working with devils and sold his soul to make the family greater.
The final blow was struck when a demon killed Mabral and his family. He knew he could not stay as head of the family after that, and already news was spreading that he was the one that sent the demon. Arkanon stepped down after releasing his brothers from prison and gave the business to them, told them the truth of what happened, and that he was leaving to find the source of his brother's death. And without further word, he left and headed to the temple of Bast where he told the cleric that he wanted to seek vengeance, to which the cleric told him that it was for him to prove to Bast that he was worthy of it and if he was, She would give him the powers he would need to defeat his foes. After asking how he was to prove himself, the cleric told him that he could become not only a worshiper of the goddess, but her mortal sword and travel Faerun to discover its secrets and help its people, and perhaps then she would see him worthy. He gave his vows and in return he was granted weapons and armour.
Taking with him some gold and his personal retainer that he had in his previous life as a merchant, he set off and eventually ran into a group of adventurers and quickly joined in with them seeing the opportunity and potential benefit they could provide in aiding his goals, and of course him aiding theirs.
Othorion Sarfir - Half-Drow Eldritch Knight - The Murder Court
Ability Scores 16 12 16 16 16 13
Awful, I will use point buy instead if still possible.
Name: Tengen
Race: Human (Variant)
Class: Warlock - Celestial
Background: Acolyte
Point Buy Ability scores with racials added 8/14/12/10/14/16
Story: Tengen had always been able to wrap the priests around her little finger, she avoided menial tasks with a well placed compliment, repetitive chores with a smoothly delivered lie and punishment for shirking her tasks with the ability to cry on demand. Although the priests were aware of her duplicity they could not find it in themselves to deal out further punishments and so Tengen became something of a law unto herself. Nonetheless she studied hard and learnt many of the meditative and religious lessons in the temple and displayed some aptitude for spellcasting but she always wanted to push her boundaries and began to do so in the library of the temple always looking for another piece of knowledge or something mysterious which might provide a faster path to success.
For many such a call may well have come from a nefarious source but a different benefactor noticed the young girl and saw something to admire in her determination to gain power, seeing in her heart that she desired to do good with it. The name of the Deva who visited her was Mihalias and he allowed a tiny spark of his power to enter Tengen, once she had agreed to enter into a pact with him. Her abilities to heal and protect increased dramatically and she felt ready to put them to use but it proved to be the final straw with the priests who could not condone her rashness and refusal to listen to senior members of the clergy. She was cast out as quietly as possible, so as not to draw attention from the other pupils but on a rain soaked evening she found herself cast adrift form the only place she had called home in nearly twelve years since her parents had abandoned her at the temple gates, unable to look after her themselves, due to their personal struggles with addiction.
With little practical experience of surviving in the real world the young Tengen is looking for a place to find herself, hopefully with a group of like-minded people intent on using their gifts for the betterment of the land.
Vhon - Level 2 Warlock - What shall become of the Drunken Sailor?
Lyreis - Level 6 Elf Fighter - Eberron: Omega
DM - Dzenda: The Cracks - DM - Dzenda: Whispered Tales
Edit: I'm signed up to play this storyline IRL, so I'm going to go ahead and withdraw my application.
For those that were unhappy with your roll, you are certainly allowed to take standard or point buy after you try rolling.
Oh, I am a sucker for a good CoS game. Count me interested! Here’s my character idea
Ability scores: 13 14 10 13 14 16
Name: Creak, also known as “Crow Beak Creak”
Class: Rogue
Background: Archeologist
Creak has always had a flare for the finer things in life. However, to him, the truly finest things in life are the treasures that endure after life. Graves, tombs, temples, and ruins might as well sing a siren song to this avian archeologists. In fact, If you asked him, he’d tell you (in his own special way) that there’s no better collector of ancient treasures and long forgotten relics. With the skills to pay his birdy bills, will we see what trouble Creak gets himself into this time? Regardless, one thing can be sure, the treasures of time have never been safer than in the claws of Crow Beak Creak!
DM - Elustran Days ~ Fate/False Revelation
Rex'aliha - Hoard of the Dragon Queen ~ Mozu of Worms - The Stormpoint Mountains ~ Muireach Maon - Shepherd’s Crossing ~ Crownsguard - Storm King’s Thunder ~ Gunnar Wayland - Boats, Rocks, and Ruffians ~ POUF! - Ex-Ravens ~ Pascal LaRoux - Long Road Dragon Heist
Ability scores: 8 13 14 14 13 11
Dragonlance Chronicles - Xorn
Sail On, Sailor - Sebastian Blackhand
LMoP 20 - Tonk Thunderclaw
Are you still accepting submissions? If so, I would like to present:
Ability Scores: 12 9 10 14 14 12
Name: Quill Lost-Branch
Race: Tabaxi
Class: Great Old One Warlock
Background: Far Traveler
Backstory: This middle-aged cat was thrown out of his comfortable life as a storyteller and artisan when he lost his home, family, and almost everyone he knew to a terrible (disaster unspecified). Desperate and alone, he cried out to the stars above, hoping that someone or something would listen, but never truly believing there was anything out there. To his shock, someone (he still couldn't tell you who or what) appeared before him and offered him a deal. It offered power, relief from his fears, and perhaps even a chance to avenge the wrongs done to his loved ones. He accepted the deal without a thought at the time, but if you were to ask him now, a few years on, he admits he somewhat regrets his hasty choice. He knows that one day the being will return, and demand a price for the power it gave. Still, life goes on, and one can only try to live a good life for as long as they can, is his philosophy. So now he wanders, trying to put some good back into the world to replace that which was taken from him.
Absolutely still accepting, up until Friday night at midnight (heading into Saturday). :)