rpgventurer Character Discussions

This is mainly for rpgventurer to discuss their character in detail. Please restrict posts to this thread to only things related to rpgventurer's character. Yes this can include specific collaboration posts but general posts should be made to the Discussion thread.

I copied posts and responses from the original version of this thread and will post them below.

Original post 1

When creating my character, Brindel Truehand. originally, I kept many facts vague to better fit into the GM's world as I learned it and to make improvising with the other players easier. I'll put some quick notes down, then expand on them when I have more time:
* Brindel Truehand is a 5th level mountain dwarf Paladin, devoted to the Gorm Gulthun, dwarven god of vigilance.
* He and Egret (FlyingSucculent's character) served in the same military unit under a Commander Grun.
* After his military service, he guarded the temple of Gorm Gulthun in his home town. He great grandfather was also a Paladin, trainer, and temple guard for Gorm Gulthun, but never left the city under the mountains.
* He has an adamantine battleaxe that belonged to his great grandfather.

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DeJoker's response

Note if you supply me a more specific and detailed background on your character I will work with you to fine tune it to fit into the world at large -- although if you use Oreth as your base from names and such you should be just fine -- as the current map even uses 4 place names for the world -- granted some of the details have been changed to fit this setting

So basically all the place names will exit -- just some of the facts may have changed about them now.

Okay that little ditty makes me ask one big question -- why did he leave home -- it sounds like what he is doing is semi-traditional (tradition being a big thing with dwarves in general) and it seems to me Gorm would follow very closely in his great grandfathers footsteps (aka never leave the city under the mountain) -- So why did Grom leave?

Original post 2

Quick note: Gorm is the deity; Brindel is the name of the PC.

For the record, I am not that familiar with Forgotten Realms or World of Greyhawk; I have mostly played in or GM'd home brew worlds. I am happy to make Brindel's home city under any mountain range that fits with the new adventure setting and with the other characters.

I'm going to do a little retcon from what I wrote above. It is a tradition of the Brindel's home city to send a contingent of warriors to other lands to fight evil wherever it rears its ugly head. Brindel's great-grandfather, Thearden the Shining, was part of one such army that helped defeat an evil priest who was building golems to attack a neighboring city. With his dying breath, the priest cursed Thearden, pronouncing great misfortune would befall him, his sons, and his son's sons if they ventured out of the mountains again. Thearden returned home, never leaving and not finding a way to remove the unusually powerful curse. He continued to devote his life to teaching Gorm's ways and helping others in any way he could.

Defying the curse, Brindel's grandfather, Rillik Ironclaw (fighter), almost died a couple of times in Underdark battles far from home. He returned and became part of the mountain guard, as did his two sons. His youngest son, Otor Blackhammer (fighter) is Brindel's father. Brindel inherited the battleaxe since he was called by the gods and took the same oath as his great-grandfather.

The curse ended with Otor's generation, so Brindel joined an experimental company that mixed warriors and spellcasters. That is where he met Egret. One of the company's members, a half-orc nicknamed Howler, was mortally wounded protecting Brindel and others crossing a bridge. Brindel vowed never to let any traditional dwarven prejudices interfere with his judgement of others.

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DeJoker's response

Okay that sounds interestingly good -- and just to be clear it really does make any real difference where you state you are form as if I have an issue with it I will just let you know and give an alternative. However the more detail you provide in your character's story the more potential I have for hooks and such.

Still the place the characters will be at does not actually exist within the Forgotten Realms I will just be using that setting as a vague backdrop to the current situation. The entire adventure should take place within Far Reach (the region where you will be) and beyond without ever returning to the world from whence you came.

Original post 3 of 3

I'm happy with stating the outpost our characters reached was deserted (except for McDunno's character if he joins the new adventure) and the PCs returned for another assignment elsewhere.

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DeJoker's response

No we are going to roll time back to where you all started by having the group volunteer to help the garrison and they send you to investigate an outpost. Although I am still rolling those details around in my head -- do I want to put a previous group there that you need to rescue or will you be the initial group to check it out -- or some hybrid of that. I am sorting through some of the information and finalizing a few items.

Still I do want to get the adventure started sooner than later so once I have the complete character creation rules you all used to create your characters then I can post my version of them and get those new players started with their creation process. So I need those guidelines asap because without them we have to leave the new players behind as I would like to start by this next weekend if at all possible.

Brindel has the additional languages of Orc and Giant as I considered those to be the local enemies of his dwarven clan. Looking at a map of Faerun, I see the Sunset Mountains are the nearest mountains to the designated location of Far Reach. Do you want to put Brindel's home city somewhere in there?

More background: As a child, Brindel endured taunting from some of the children of the temple clerics. He didn't catch on to the finer points of his religious studies classes as quickly as they did. He was appalled by the cruelty and lack of honor of some his fellow soldiers and got into many verbal battles with them. He joined the Harpers as a way to help and protect the oppressed when he could.

This is how I spent my GP. Let me know if I need to change anything. I am packing lots of rations for myself, our group, and others who may need help on the way.

Starting with 750 + 15 (my Faction background) + 37 (selling the chainmail from my Paladin armor allotment) + 5 (selling the battleaxe from my Paladin martial weapon allotment) for a total of 807 GP:

I bought:
Splint mail 200 GP
Adamantine battleaxe 510 GP
Cloak (leather-lined) 4 GP
Healer's kit 5 GP
Iron spikes 1 GP
Holy water 2 flasks for 50 GP
Steel mirror 5 GP
Another holy symbol 5 GP
Tent 2 GP
40 days of rations: 20 GP

Total 802 GP

Remaining GP 5

PHB Hit die rolls per level: 1d10 +2 (Dwarf bonus) +1 (Constitution bonus). First level is maximum: 13
House rules die roll each level: subtract 4 from max die number for additional bonus and then roll a 1d4 for each level after 1st, so Brindel gets 1d4+6+2+1

Post roll edit: 13 + 46 = 59

Thanks for adding the old posts back in -- btw would you mind doing that for the other threads that had posts in them -- I do not understand why you can see them and I cannot that just makes no sense

The old threads are showing on the page that appears when you click "Latest Posts" on the Gamer Plane home page. Can you get to the original version of Arina's thread using this link?

@DeJoker, if you can't see Arina's original thread, I can copy the posts tomorrow. FYI, I just thought of this, you may have emails with links to the original threads.

Okay thanks that link was all I needed

At some point before the adventure officially started, I was thinking of having Brindel cast "Find Steed." I don't think a dwarf would ride any animal, but I could Brindel conjuring up a mastiff as a fighting companion and watchdog. What do you think?

Oh I was initially thinking Mammoth not Mastiff -- as such I would pretty much allow any Large or Medium Creature that your Deity would be okay with although you being a Dwarf kind of means you need a Large Creature if you plan to ride it. Only Small Humanoids can ride Medium Creatures.

So looking through the list of creatures you might want to go Rhino as that is sort of more Protection oriented but keep in mind we can reskin something if you have a different creature in mind that is not currently covered -- the first thing that came to mind to me was Tortoise that moves faster than a normal Tortoise ;)

I was thinking the mastiff would not be a mount but something like a Ranger's companion, even thought the spell is "Find Steed." A closer reading of the spell description indicates its purpose is for a mount. As my request above is not in the spirit of the spell, I am going to withdraw it.

I don't see mountain dwarves as having a culture that includes cavalry, since they often dwell inside caverns and tunnels underground. I always think of dwarves as a race that always wants their feet on the ground. I'll have to consider if a steed fits into my conception for the character. I'll make my decision before we leave the village.

That said, the rhino is an excellent suggestion. A bison would be another good fit.

Separate question: In my initial adventure post, I gave Brindel a surcoat with my patron's symbol. Is that a common cultural tradition in this world? I think it fits a paladin. I tried to find surcoat in the catalog but I don't see it. Is the cost extra or can I include it as part of Brindel's common clothes?

Another question: Does Brindel know if any other Faction agents are in this village?

Bear works as well you know ;) although the Bison and Bear are not as "protective" per-sae

Maybe a Small Ankylosaurous as follows might an interesting twist keep in mind its a mount and it weighs alot:

Ankylosaurus, Small
Large Beast, unaligned (7 feet long + 8 foot tail, 3 feet tall, weighs 6000 lbs)
Armor Class: 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points: 54 (4d12+12)
Speed: 30 ft

STR 15(+2) DEX 11(+0) CON 16(+3) INT 2(-4) WIS 12(+1) CHA 6(-2)

Senses : passive Perception 11
Languages : --
Actions
Tail: Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 10 ft, one target
Hit: 11 (2d8+2) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature,
it must succeed on a DC 12 Strength save or be knocked prone

Stable : Cannot be knocked prone

Hmm yes Brindel is aware that there is (or will be) a Harper Agent in town because it is part of the reason he is here as he IS that agent ;) They have been hearing things and needed someone to investigate things a bit more closely

Also they are wanting you to set up some others as potential agents preferably more long term folks rather than the transient merchant population.

OK. I'll keep that in mind as the party meets people in the village. For future reference, was anyone in the caravan a villager returning home? Brindel may want to contact them in the future.

No previous residents in that caravan just a diverse group of merchants and the mercenaries they hired to protect them on the trip