I think the idea of a reborn based less on Frankenstein's monster and more on like... the Nameless One from Planescape Torment is a really cool idea. Pair that with the dark gift echoing soul. The concept of the character being that it's this being with an indestructable body, however can still lose their memories to trauma, who occausionally gets glimpses into their past lives-- essentially a life of a completely different person who existed in your body.
You could also borrow from the spiritual successor to that game and have the reborn be a shell for a powerful being trying to achieve immortality. This being hops from shell to shell, unaware that these shells gain a unique consciousness of their own after he leaves them. The character could be one of those shells gained personality. And one more reborn idea stolen from a game: you could have a reborn who is a duplicate of a person and intended to house that person's spirit which was seperated from their own form to avoid death, maybe from a disease. However, before they could be housed in that duplicate, it developed its own consciousness -- maybe unique, maybe a duplicate of that original person. Now that original person wants their body back.
The new Investigator background is absolutely delightful, just kinda by itself. I have a pulpy-ay-eff semi-joke character in the binder named Dick Lightning who's absolutely switching to this background. Dick's whole thing is being as many terrible pulp fiction P.I. trope I could lay hands on wrapped up in one trenchcoat-wearing storm-sorcerer package, and y'know what? it's amazing how well pulp-fiction detectives can dovetail into at least a quarter of the Domains of Dread with just a bit of adjustment. Brief moments of levity can be crucial in a long horror campaign, and when your name is Dick Lightning, 'moments of levity' are your stock in trade. And watching a scrappy, plucky investigator come up against horrors he'd never imagined and becoming a cynical, jaded man with scars of both flesh and spirit who goes on mostly because he won't give the Darkness the satisfaction of seeing him go down? That's a very horror/dark fantasy story arc to me.
So yeah. Dick Lightning, P.I. Just off the top of my head.
The other notion I had was adopting the Wechselkind PC species from Grim Hollow and/or either the warforged or (eeuugh...) Custom Origin to create a character who was the victim of a carrionette's curse. The PC is stuck in the body of a ceramic doll, tiny and heartstoppingly fragile. Their body is out there somewhere, with a malignant spirit in it, but the carrionette got away and now the PC has no idea where their body is. They have to find it, or the gods only know what will happen. That sort of shit is fantastic, and could fit in so many stories. Perhaps the character's body hired on with The Carnival, and now the PC has to try and track down a nomadic demon circus to try and get their body back...before the body they're in starts feeling just a little too comfortable, and they lose themselves and become a new carrionette themself.
A Satyr Spirits bard that is the last of a dying tribe and had to commit cannibalism to survive reminiscent of a Wendigo comes to mind for me. Wears a skull as a helmet and uses it as a spellcasting focus, highly intimidation biased, bardic inspiration via telling the stories of their clan now known only to them.
No super fleshed out, but for a quick idea, there is a lot that can work there, especially within some of the Fey spooky domains.
Besides the (fairly) obvious ones, like a Reborn/Dhampir Undead Warlock whose patron is the being that gave them that lineage, or a Hexblood Spirits Bard that channels the spirits of unseelie fey into magical stories (actually, a lot of bards would work for Hexblood, like Eloquence, Lore, and Whispers)? I've got a few. . .
Slither: Yuan-Ti Pureblood Dhampir (I know it doesn't give anything through the Ancestral Lineage feature, it's purely for flavor). Slither was originally a nameless human slave to a den of Yuan-Ti before he was unwillingly experimented on by his ophidian masters and turned into a Yuan-Ti Pureblood. Deciding to make the most of his transformation, Slither quickly progressed as high as he could through the caste of his den, becoming a master spy for his people. However, things soon turned south as a Vampiric Spirit Naga conquered his snake-brethren, and managed to slay their den leader, a Yuan-Ti Abomination. As Slither fled through a partially-blocked off secret exit, the Vampiric Spirit Naga managed to bite him on his abdomen before Slither's wounded body fell into a dark passage to the Shadowfell, stranding him on the outskirts of a Domain of Dread (purposefully left open to allow him to be in any Domain of Dread). The Shadow Passage's magic warped the Vampiric Venom of the Spirit Naga, resulting in Slither becoming a Dhampir. His scales turned black and spread to cover almost all of his body, leaving just the palms of his hands free of shadowy scales, and changed his bite from injecting poison to allow him to drain the blood of his victims to make him deadly in battle. His assassin training from being a Yuan-Ti Pureblood Spy combined with his need to survive in the wastelands of the Domains of Dread allowed him to hone his skills as a Way of the Kensei Monk, choosing his Vampiric Bite as a Kensei Weapon. His snake-like reflexes (Agile Parry), temporarily paralyzing venom that is injected through his fangs (Stunning Strike), and ravenous thirst for blood (Vampiric Bite combined with Deft Strike) allow for him to be a force to be reckoned with. (Almost definitely will never play this character, but sure as hell might include him as a rival NPC, or even a main villain if I ever do a Ravenloft game.)
Karliah Grimblade: Karliah was not meant to die. It was not her destiny, as the Raven Queen foretold. Karliah grew up being told her destiny, that she was blessed of her people's, the Shadar-Kai's, matron deity, the Raven Queen. She was told that she would accomplish a great deed before being reincarnated by the Matron of Feathers in a new form to do even more of her Matron's bidding. However, fate turned out to make it harder for Karliah to accomplish her goal than anyone could have suspected.
Karliah died. She was sent off on a quest to prepare for her eventual duty to her Holy Mistress, and utterly failed (the details can be ironed out in any campaign she takes a part in). She didn't have the skills to beat even a preparatory quest, much less fulfill her destiny. However, the Raven Queen could not wait another generation for Karliah to be reborn and fulfill her fate then, she needed Karliah to be her Chosen One, or time would run out. Knowing what she needed to do, the Raven Queen used her divine powers to offer to raise Karliah back from the dead, but with a cost. Karliah would be changed into a Reborn, and she would forget her own personal wants, needs, and goals, only being able to focus on her Holy Calling from the Raven Queen. This deal angered Karliah. She was angry that she was too weak to accomplish a fairly deadly, yet menial task, and angry that the Raven Queen had chosen her with her having with no say in the matter. Grudgingly, she agreed with the terms that the Raven Queen laid out in return for her restoration to the mortal world, and was Reborn as a Zealot Barbarian (focusing on necrotic damage).
Unfortunately for Karliah, upon being Reborn, the Raven Queen quickly engineered a scenario that would have her wind up being thrown into the Domains of Dread (probably Falkovnia) in order to allow her to train herself in combat against lesser enemies before going after her ultimate calling (again, intentionally left vague). Karliah is driven by so much frustration towards the life that was stolen from her by the Raven Queen against her will that she uses her undead-touched nature to fuel her in combat. Using a dark, metallic, ornate longsword and shield in combat, she cuts down hordes of undead in her goal to escape Ravenloft and fulfill her destiny.
(Warning, the last one will be quite long.)
Lumpkinella the Fair: Lumpkinella was once a beautiful half-elven princess of Talaria, a mystical kingdom also called "The Foot of the Gods", due to the legend that the Monarchy of Talaria was established by Hermes. She was the firstborn and only child of King Titus and Queen Rigmoria of Talaria, and was promised to be married to the male heir of a high-ranking, half-elven aristocratic house in Talaria, Sir Charles "Chorky" of House Daergith, whom had proposed to her with her parent's permission, and Lumpkinella was quite fond of her handsome suitor. Her wedding was to take place 6 months after she turned 21, and the kingdom was going to have a huge festival in celebration for the happy event. Unfortunately for everyone, a secret from the past intervened.
Unknown to Lumpkinella, her father, or the Kingdom of Talaria, King Titus was not Lumpkinella's true father. Queen Rigmoria was secretly a runaway commoner, pretending to be of royal heritage from a far-off kingdom seeking asylum in the castle that the rulers of Talaria dwelled in, Castle Fairhaven. In order to acquire the proper paper work, signet rings, and other proof of her fake noble blood, Rigmoria consorted with a male hag (also known as an Unseelie Imp) by the name of Rumpelstiltskin, the price for the ascent in societal rank was that Rumpelstiltskin would be the father of her firstborn child and that he would choose the name (which is why it's so . . . unique). Rigmoria knew the true father of Lumpkinella, but she did not know what would happen to her daughter at midnight on her 21st birthday.
Excited for her birthday celebration, Lumpkinella woke up early in the morning of her birthday to get ready. To her surprise and horror, when she looked in the mirror, she had transformed from her beautiful half-elven self into a terrifying Hexblood. Although she was nowhere near as ugly as her father, she appeared monstrous from her society's standards, having deep-purple skin and terrifying horns jutting out from the sides of her head. Not yet knowing how to hide her new form with her innate disguise self spell, her parents soon discovered the change that happened to her. During the discussion with her parents, Rigmoria admitted to the true parentage of Lumpkinella and said that this was likely Lumpkinella's true form. Furious at his wife's actions and secrets, King Titus banished Lumpkinella from Talaria and charged Rigmoria of treason, having her thrown into prison until they could have her publicly executed.
Weeping, Lumpkinella ran from the castle to Daergith Manor, asking to see Chorky and tell him what happened. The guards wouldn't let her in, fearing that she was a monster, and brought Lord Chorky out to see her. She was able to convince Chorky that it was indeed her, but he was disgusted by her new form, and broke off the engagement and sent his guards to capture her. Hurt by the betrayal and losing hope in the world after losing everything she had in life, Lumpkinella fled through the alleyways of the city's streets, making her way to the docks, and stealing an unwatched rowboat that was tied to the pier and making her way out to sea. Leaving behind everything in her previous life, Lumpkinella inexperiencedly rowed the small vessel far away from her large-island kingdom, trying to find a place in the vast, unknown world that she would be welcome. Little did she know, things would only get worse.
On her short journey through the sea, Lumpkinella quickly became thirsty, hungry, and seasick, not remembering to bring provisions with her on the ship (and even if she had, she wouldn't have had the means to get them). She was able to use a fishing net that was left in the small boat to catch a few small fish that she had to eat raw, and she tried drinking the sea water, only to end up throwing it back up almost immediately. Just as she was nearing the edge of death due to dehydration, as Lumpkinella slept in the rocking boat at sea, she passed through a cloud of mist that washed her on the shore of a Domain of Dread in Ravenloft (also intentionally kept vague). Making her way to the nearest settlement, while not knowing that anything strange had happened, Lumpkinella found clean water and fresh food to survive off of in her new home and prison.
Having her world turned upside down, Lumpkinella was emotionally crushed. She went from having it all to having nothing but the stinking and stained clothes that she was wearing and a small fishing boat. After a few months of barely scraping by in the dreaded demiplane in the Shadowfell, Lumpkinella met a member of the Order of the Guardians. Having no better option and nothing to leave behind, Lumpkinella joined this faction and trained herself to track down and destroy beings and artifacts of darkness. Quickly advancing through the ranks and swearing an Oath of the Watchers, Lumpkinella found a new life for her in Ravenloft, giving her something to live for and a way to take revenge upon the dark forces that stole her life from her.
Thank you all, I’ll happily read more, but I came up with a character unlike all of yours :). Reborn bard, will be college of glamour or whispers depending on how the rest of the party feels. ‘, we’ll be part of a Carnival. Helene woke up in a pile of ash wearing a mask but could find no sign of fire. A member of the troupe she was found by says she sounds like she come from someplace called Dementlieu, she remembers nothing specific of her life before, but is haunted by fleeting nightmares and phantom sounds of some kind of gathering. She has a fondness for the finer things in life and fine clothes are her favorite expense, she hoards tales and songs from all cultures comes in contact with to try and fill the hole of her missing history.
I am thinking of lifting heavily from the games workshop vampiric clan ideas, or maybe combining it with the world of darkness Vampire. The idea of the “living vampires” as dangerous as they are being a shadow of the first great vampires, who rest sleeping recovering from some great battle. The idea of a vampire being able to gain another vampires power by diabalising. Maybe a great godlike liche created the first powerful 12. Or the players have to navigate an underground war between vampires who want to remain hidden, and those who want to rule.
I have an idea of an NPC wizard who hires the PCs to help him kill a powerful vampire using a ritual, when really the ritual is for him to gain the powers of vampirism and combine them with his large array of magic.
Or I love the necroscope books, so the idea of a vampire actually being a parasite from another plane that takes over a host turning them into a vampire while it us in them.
I came up with an idea for a Klashtar that became a Dhampir that feeds on dreams. They went from being an emissary of dreams to a consumer of dreams and now acts as a living nightmare. Probably a whispers bard, big use of illusion and enchantment for fear and psychic damage. The Dream spell is a big part of it too and works well with the concept and the abilities that the whispers bard via interacting with the person.
I understand that it’s probably a bit powergaming but I really, really want to play an Aarakocra or Owlfolk Dhampir Undead Bladelock who’s pact weapon is their fangs. Flavor them as a big old werebat/vampire hybrid monster who’s master/ patron is the Vampire Lord that created them to do their bidding. Take all the Pact of the Blade invocations and any shadowy and nectrotic spells I can. Plus Mask of Many Faces to masquerade as a normal young human when not wanting to show off my true form.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
I understand that it’s probably a bit powergaming but I really, really want to play an Aarakocra or Owlfolk Dhampir Undead Bladelock who’s pact weapon is their fangs. Flavor them as a big old werebat/vampire hybrid monster who’s master/ patron is the Vampire Lord that created them to do their bidding. Take all the Pact of the Blade invocations and any shadowy and nectrotic spells I can. Plus Mask of Many Faces to masquerade as a normal young human when not wanting to show off my true form.
I know this is from a while back but thats the coolest idea Ive read for a long time :)
I'm currently playing a reborn Spirits bard/lock with the Investigator background who has total amnesia and feels that her soul and her body don't match. She's adventuring to figure out which one of them is really her.
I left her backstory entirely up to the DM, and he controls the memory flashbacks. At this point, I'm not sure if she's the soul looking for her body or the body looking for her soul - and I don't know if the memories I've gotten are hers or the person's she's borrowing from. I also have no idea who her patron is (other than it's a celestial) and why she entered that pact! It's been a ton of fun.
I understand that it’s probably a bit powergaming but I really, really want to play an Aarakocra or Owlfolk Dhampir Undead Bladelock who’s pact weapon is their fangs. Flavor them as a big old werebat/vampire hybrid monster who’s master/ patron is the Vampire Lord that created them to do their bidding. Take all the Pact of the Blade invocations and any shadowy and nectrotic spells I can. Plus Mask of Many Faces to masquerade as a normal young human when not wanting to show off my true form.
I agree with Ungermax. This is really cool.
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I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they.
I think it would be fun to play a dhampir druid, ranger, or warlock who is a vegetarian vampire. He was cursed with his vampirism and searched for a way to cure himself from the unsatiable hunger of blood. An ancient druid or Archfey aided him and now he must eat a lot of fruit or vegetables in order to stop himself from returning to his blood sucking ways. He hungers for plants as much as a normal vampire hungers for blood, if not more, and so will do anything for fruit, valuing it more than gemstones and gold. He would be played as a more regal ridgerunner- like character who is constantly searching and obsessing over fruit.
I'm working on spinning some Ravenloft based character ideas, but wanted to see what stuff others were bashing around.
I think the idea of a reborn based less on Frankenstein's monster and more on like... the Nameless One from Planescape Torment is a really cool idea. Pair that with the dark gift echoing soul. The concept of the character being that it's this being with an indestructable body, however can still lose their memories to trauma, who occausionally gets glimpses into their past lives-- essentially a life of a completely different person who existed in your body.
You could also borrow from the spiritual successor to that game and have the reborn be a shell for a powerful being trying to achieve immortality. This being hops from shell to shell, unaware that these shells gain a unique consciousness of their own after he leaves them. The character could be one of those shells gained personality. And one more reborn idea stolen from a game: you could have a reborn who is a duplicate of a person and intended to house that person's spirit which was seperated from their own form to avoid death, maybe from a disease. However, before they could be housed in that duplicate, it developed its own consciousness -- maybe unique, maybe a duplicate of that original person. Now that original person wants their body back.
The new Investigator background is absolutely delightful, just kinda by itself. I have a pulpy-ay-eff semi-joke character in the binder named Dick Lightning who's absolutely switching to this background. Dick's whole thing is being as many terrible pulp fiction P.I. trope I could lay hands on wrapped up in one trenchcoat-wearing storm-sorcerer package, and y'know what? it's amazing how well pulp-fiction detectives can dovetail into at least a quarter of the Domains of Dread with just a bit of adjustment. Brief moments of levity can be crucial in a long horror campaign, and when your name is Dick Lightning, 'moments of levity' are your stock in trade. And watching a scrappy, plucky investigator come up against horrors he'd never imagined and becoming a cynical, jaded man with scars of both flesh and spirit who goes on mostly because he won't give the Darkness the satisfaction of seeing him go down? That's a very horror/dark fantasy story arc to me.
So yeah. Dick Lightning, P.I. Just off the top of my head.
The other notion I had was adopting the Wechselkind PC species from Grim Hollow and/or either the warforged or (eeuugh...) Custom Origin to create a character who was the victim of a carrionette's curse. The PC is stuck in the body of a ceramic doll, tiny and heartstoppingly fragile. Their body is out there somewhere, with a malignant spirit in it, but the carrionette got away and now the PC has no idea where their body is. They have to find it, or the gods only know what will happen. That sort of shit is fantastic, and could fit in so many stories. Perhaps the character's body hired on with The Carnival, and now the PC has to try and track down a nomadic demon circus to try and get their body back...before the body they're in starts feeling just a little too comfortable, and they lose themselves and become a new carrionette themself.
Mmm...so much good shit in here...
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A Satyr Spirits bard that is the last of a dying tribe and had to commit cannibalism to survive reminiscent of a Wendigo comes to mind for me. Wears a skull as a helmet and uses it as a spellcasting focus, highly intimidation biased, bardic inspiration via telling the stories of their clan now known only to them.
No super fleshed out, but for a quick idea, there is a lot that can work there, especially within some of the Fey spooky domains.
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"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
Besides the (fairly) obvious ones, like a Reborn/Dhampir Undead Warlock whose patron is the being that gave them that lineage, or a Hexblood Spirits Bard that channels the spirits of unseelie fey into magical stories (actually, a lot of bards would work for Hexblood, like Eloquence, Lore, and Whispers)? I've got a few. . .
Slither: Yuan-Ti Pureblood Dhampir (I know it doesn't give anything through the Ancestral Lineage feature, it's purely for flavor). Slither was originally a nameless human slave to a den of Yuan-Ti before he was unwillingly experimented on by his ophidian masters and turned into a Yuan-Ti Pureblood. Deciding to make the most of his transformation, Slither quickly progressed as high as he could through the caste of his den, becoming a master spy for his people. However, things soon turned south as a Vampiric Spirit Naga conquered his snake-brethren, and managed to slay their den leader, a Yuan-Ti Abomination. As Slither fled through a partially-blocked off secret exit, the Vampiric Spirit Naga managed to bite him on his abdomen before Slither's wounded body fell into a dark passage to the Shadowfell, stranding him on the outskirts of a Domain of Dread (purposefully left open to allow him to be in any Domain of Dread). The Shadow Passage's magic warped the Vampiric Venom of the Spirit Naga, resulting in Slither becoming a Dhampir. His scales turned black and spread to cover almost all of his body, leaving just the palms of his hands free of shadowy scales, and changed his bite from injecting poison to allow him to drain the blood of his victims to make him deadly in battle. His assassin training from being a Yuan-Ti Pureblood Spy combined with his need to survive in the wastelands of the Domains of Dread allowed him to hone his skills as a Way of the Kensei Monk, choosing his Vampiric Bite as a Kensei Weapon. His snake-like reflexes (Agile Parry), temporarily paralyzing venom that is injected through his fangs (Stunning Strike), and ravenous thirst for blood (Vampiric Bite combined with Deft Strike) allow for him to be a force to be reckoned with. (Almost definitely will never play this character, but sure as hell might include him as a rival NPC, or even a main villain if I ever do a Ravenloft game.)
Karliah Grimblade: Karliah was not meant to die. It was not her destiny, as the Raven Queen foretold. Karliah grew up being told her destiny, that she was blessed of her people's, the Shadar-Kai's, matron deity, the Raven Queen. She was told that she would accomplish a great deed before being reincarnated by the Matron of Feathers in a new form to do even more of her Matron's bidding. However, fate turned out to make it harder for Karliah to accomplish her goal than anyone could have suspected.
Karliah died. She was sent off on a quest to prepare for her eventual duty to her Holy Mistress, and utterly failed (the details can be ironed out in any campaign she takes a part in). She didn't have the skills to beat even a preparatory quest, much less fulfill her destiny. However, the Raven Queen could not wait another generation for Karliah to be reborn and fulfill her fate then, she needed Karliah to be her Chosen One, or time would run out. Knowing what she needed to do, the Raven Queen used her divine powers to offer to raise Karliah back from the dead, but with a cost. Karliah would be changed into a Reborn, and she would forget her own personal wants, needs, and goals, only being able to focus on her Holy Calling from the Raven Queen. This deal angered Karliah. She was angry that she was too weak to accomplish a fairly deadly, yet menial task, and angry that the Raven Queen had chosen her with her having with no say in the matter. Grudgingly, she agreed with the terms that the Raven Queen laid out in return for her restoration to the mortal world, and was Reborn as a Zealot Barbarian (focusing on necrotic damage).
Unfortunately for Karliah, upon being Reborn, the Raven Queen quickly engineered a scenario that would have her wind up being thrown into the Domains of Dread (probably Falkovnia) in order to allow her to train herself in combat against lesser enemies before going after her ultimate calling (again, intentionally left vague). Karliah is driven by so much frustration towards the life that was stolen from her by the Raven Queen against her will that she uses her undead-touched nature to fuel her in combat. Using a dark, metallic, ornate longsword and shield in combat, she cuts down hordes of undead in her goal to escape Ravenloft and fulfill her destiny.
(Warning, the last one will be quite long.)
Lumpkinella the Fair: Lumpkinella was once a beautiful half-elven princess of Talaria, a mystical kingdom also called "The Foot of the Gods", due to the legend that the Monarchy of Talaria was established by Hermes. She was the firstborn and only child of King Titus and Queen Rigmoria of Talaria, and was promised to be married to the male heir of a high-ranking, half-elven aristocratic house in Talaria, Sir Charles "Chorky" of House Daergith, whom had proposed to her with her parent's permission, and Lumpkinella was quite fond of her handsome suitor. Her wedding was to take place 6 months after she turned 21, and the kingdom was going to have a huge festival in celebration for the happy event. Unfortunately for everyone, a secret from the past intervened.
Unknown to Lumpkinella, her father, or the Kingdom of Talaria, King Titus was not Lumpkinella's true father. Queen Rigmoria was secretly a runaway commoner, pretending to be of royal heritage from a far-off kingdom seeking asylum in the castle that the rulers of Talaria dwelled in, Castle Fairhaven. In order to acquire the proper paper work, signet rings, and other proof of her fake noble blood, Rigmoria consorted with a male hag (also known as an Unseelie Imp) by the name of Rumpelstiltskin, the price for the ascent in societal rank was that Rumpelstiltskin would be the father of her firstborn child and that he would choose the name (which is why it's so . . . unique). Rigmoria knew the true father of Lumpkinella, but she did not know what would happen to her daughter at midnight on her 21st birthday.
Excited for her birthday celebration, Lumpkinella woke up early in the morning of her birthday to get ready. To her surprise and horror, when she looked in the mirror, she had transformed from her beautiful half-elven self into a terrifying Hexblood. Although she was nowhere near as ugly as her father, she appeared monstrous from her society's standards, having deep-purple skin and terrifying horns jutting out from the sides of her head. Not yet knowing how to hide her new form with her innate disguise self spell, her parents soon discovered the change that happened to her. During the discussion with her parents, Rigmoria admitted to the true parentage of Lumpkinella and said that this was likely Lumpkinella's true form. Furious at his wife's actions and secrets, King Titus banished Lumpkinella from Talaria and charged Rigmoria of treason, having her thrown into prison until they could have her publicly executed.
Weeping, Lumpkinella ran from the castle to Daergith Manor, asking to see Chorky and tell him what happened. The guards wouldn't let her in, fearing that she was a monster, and brought Lord Chorky out to see her. She was able to convince Chorky that it was indeed her, but he was disgusted by her new form, and broke off the engagement and sent his guards to capture her. Hurt by the betrayal and losing hope in the world after losing everything she had in life, Lumpkinella fled through the alleyways of the city's streets, making her way to the docks, and stealing an unwatched rowboat that was tied to the pier and making her way out to sea. Leaving behind everything in her previous life, Lumpkinella inexperiencedly rowed the small vessel far away from her large-island kingdom, trying to find a place in the vast, unknown world that she would be welcome. Little did she know, things would only get worse.
On her short journey through the sea, Lumpkinella quickly became thirsty, hungry, and seasick, not remembering to bring provisions with her on the ship (and even if she had, she wouldn't have had the means to get them). She was able to use a fishing net that was left in the small boat to catch a few small fish that she had to eat raw, and she tried drinking the sea water, only to end up throwing it back up almost immediately. Just as she was nearing the edge of death due to dehydration, as Lumpkinella slept in the rocking boat at sea, she passed through a cloud of mist that washed her on the shore of a Domain of Dread in Ravenloft (also intentionally kept vague). Making her way to the nearest settlement, while not knowing that anything strange had happened, Lumpkinella found clean water and fresh food to survive off of in her new home and prison.
Having her world turned upside down, Lumpkinella was emotionally crushed. She went from having it all to having nothing but the stinking and stained clothes that she was wearing and a small fishing boat. After a few months of barely scraping by in the dreaded demiplane in the Shadowfell, Lumpkinella met a member of the Order of the Guardians. Having no better option and nothing to leave behind, Lumpkinella joined this faction and trained herself to track down and destroy beings and artifacts of darkness. Quickly advancing through the ranks and swearing an Oath of the Watchers, Lumpkinella found a new life for her in Ravenloft, giving her something to live for and a way to take revenge upon the dark forces that stole her life from her.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Thank you all, I’ll happily read more, but I came up with a character unlike all of yours :). Reborn bard, will be college of glamour or whispers depending on how the rest of the party feels.
‘, we’ll be part of a Carnival.
Helene woke up in a pile of ash wearing a mask but could find no sign of fire. A member of the troupe she was found by says she sounds like she come from someplace called Dementlieu, she remembers nothing specific of her life before, but is haunted by fleeting nightmares and phantom sounds of some kind of gathering. She has a fondness for the finer things in life and fine clothes are her favorite expense, she hoards tales and songs from all cultures comes in contact with to try and fill the hole of her missing history.
I am thinking of lifting heavily from the games workshop vampiric clan ideas, or maybe combining it with the world of darkness Vampire. The idea of the “living vampires” as dangerous as they are being a shadow of the first great vampires, who rest sleeping recovering from some great battle. The idea of a vampire being able to gain another vampires power by diabalising. Maybe a great godlike liche created the first powerful 12. Or the players have to navigate an underground war between vampires who want to remain hidden, and those who want to rule.
I have an idea of an NPC wizard who hires the PCs to help him kill a powerful vampire using a ritual, when really the ritual is for him to gain the powers of vampirism and combine them with his large array of magic.
Or I love the necroscope books, so the idea of a vampire actually being a parasite from another plane that takes over a host turning them into a vampire while it us in them.
I came up with an idea for a Klashtar that became a Dhampir that feeds on dreams. They went from being an emissary of dreams to a consumer of dreams and now acts as a living nightmare. Probably a whispers bard, big use of illusion and enchantment for fear and psychic damage. The Dream spell is a big part of it too and works well with the concept and the abilities that the whispers bard via interacting with the person.
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"Play the game however you want to play the game. After all, your fun doesn't threaten my fun."
I understand that it’s probably a bit powergaming but I really, really want to play an Aarakocra or Owlfolk Dhampir Undead Bladelock who’s pact weapon is their fangs. Flavor them as a big old werebat/vampire hybrid monster who’s master/ patron is the Vampire Lord that created them to do their bidding. Take all the Pact of the Blade invocations and any shadowy and nectrotic spells I can. Plus Mask of Many Faces to masquerade as a normal young human when not wanting to show off my true form.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Homebrew - Circle of the Living Machines Druid, Path of the Dragon Soul Barbarian
My hombrew Great Wyrm Dragons
I know this is from a while back but thats the coolest idea Ive read for a long time :)
I'm currently playing a reborn Spirits bard/lock with the Investigator background who has total amnesia and feels that her soul and her body don't match. She's adventuring to figure out which one of them is really her.
I left her backstory entirely up to the DM, and he controls the memory flashbacks. At this point, I'm not sure if she's the soul looking for her body or the body looking for her soul - and I don't know if the memories I've gotten are hers or the person's she's borrowing from. I also have no idea who her patron is (other than it's a celestial) and why she entered that pact! It's been a ton of fun.
I agree with Ungermax. This is really cool.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they.
I think it would be fun to play a dhampir druid, ranger, or warlock who is a vegetarian vampire. He was cursed with his vampirism and searched for a way to cure himself from the unsatiable hunger of blood. An ancient druid or Archfey aided him and now he must eat a lot of fruit or vegetables in order to stop himself from returning to his blood sucking ways. He hungers for plants as much as a normal vampire hungers for blood, if not more, and so will do anything for fruit, valuing it more than gemstones and gold. He would be played as a more regal ridgerunner- like character who is constantly searching and obsessing over fruit.
Always two maybe three