Character creation

Since we could use someone meatier, maybe a paladin or cleric, brash and young and still wide-eyed about the world. I'll take a closer look once I'm off work and see what I can conjure up.

Just curious.

Who is playing the warlock and what kind are you thinking of pursuing?

Who is playing the sorcerer and what kind are you thinking of pursuing?

I'm playing the Sorcerer as for what kind I was thinking Draconic Bloodline.

Finished the sheet. I added personality, appearance and some background, maybe will add more later, but the basics are here.
Also swapped one of my tool proficiencies - musical instrument for Gaming set (cards), - changed a few spells (since I didn't notice they had material cost) and bought some new equipment.

Let me know if there is anything I need to tweak!
And I added her sheet to library, so everyone else can see it too. :)

I was thinking Warlock. Currently looking at Hexblade + Blade Pact to really put that 18 Cha I rolled to work, and to reduce the overall party squishiness somewhat.

Okay, so, about that Paladin. Leaning hard in that direction, and I'm basically committed at this point. I've got two chief concepts, one that I think is a relatively safe bet, and one that's... while I wouldn't call it terrible, I would call it potentially inappropriate tonally for the game if we're going for a classically heroic sort of deal.

First, Oath of Ancients Paladin. Very tanky, if I'm reading the mechanics correctly, and would absolutely fit the bill of a Selunite, Sunite, Tymoran or some member of the Elven pantheon. Joyous, supportive, and a ray of sunshine who understands that life is for the living, and the living gotta live it up. In the meantime, they serve their duty to expunge the horrible things that want to snuff out that light of joy. I imagine them fresh-faced, innocent, and emboldened by tales and songs of great deeds, striking out for the first time to emulate those ancient heroes and to leave their mark on the Realms. This is the safe bet, and I rather fancy it myself as I typically play those with a clearly heroic bent. Then I made a horrible mistake and started reading through the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and Xanathar's...

So hear me out: Paladin of Asmodeus, either Oath of Conquest or Oath of Devotion. Hold on! Don't leave yet! Tastefully Evil -- the bargain-striker, the deal-maker, the oath-swearer -- and not so much the stabby-stabby murder-times evil. Honorable, dependable, somewhat selfish and a little deceptive at times to be sure, but with that ever elusive "hidden heart of gold." Somewhat in the same vein as a Warlock I suppose, albeit more divine and martially inclined, having made a pact to save their own skin by striking similar deals with others and spreading the deeds of the Lord of the Ninth (promoting law and stability, removing lesser evils and threats from power, et cetera). Understands not everyone wants to make a deal with the literal devil and obviously won't force the issue (mostly because they probably aren't worth it if they're unreceptive in the first place), but hey, that's the price they paid to avoid an afterlife of centuries in the Fugue, with a solid chance of simply just being damned to the Nine Hells and tormented for eternity anyway. Obviously this requires a little more finesse and tact to be done correctly, and the last thing I'd want to do is step on peoples' toes (or be a bad fit for the party), but I thought it was a neat little idea.

I agree, I think it's potentially a very interesting take on a complex character. (I considered going along similar lines with a Fiend pact for my Warlock, though I think Hexblade fits better with what I want to do.)

I'm not averse to evil characters, but I would like to set some expectations up-front: I strongly prefer games where no matter the ideological differences, the characters are always on the same "team". When situations arise that cause division between characters, I'd like us as players to find ways to resolve that via reasonable compromise, without PC relationships becoming adversarial.

So, like, characters who consistently work towards the party's goals are great. Characters who go against the party's goals or otherwise cause intra-party conflict are not so great. It's on all of us to ensure that harmony, but the onus tends to fall on Evil characters to be a little more willing to act in ways that don't necessarily match up with their core personality for the sake of the game.

Ultimately it's up to Scrol what works for his game! I'm just putting my position on the matter out there.

Yes. Exactly! Evil for evil's sake is dumb, and obviously derailing the story in an un-fun way is a terrible thing to do. Being on the same team is most certainly at the top of the list, right below "everyone having fun". I'll be the first to admit I don't typically play evil characters of any stripe, but I'm willing to take a genuine stab at doing it the right way, and it's equally understood that if we're going for a more heroic and noble sort of campaign that, hey, no hard feelings. It's just a concept, and I'm willing to work in the direction that makes the most sense, fits well in the narrative, and help tell a great story.

In the meantime, I'll set to work on both concepts mechanically, and in either case I'll have a Paladin ready to go.

I have walked that path before on more than one occasion both as the player of the nots so nice and member of the not so nice's group. It rarely turns out well, either the character gets horribly comprised or the party does. This is why as a GM I do not allow any evil aligned characters. Not just to protect the party but to protect the players from themselves sometimes. I am sure you could take that same twist and apply it to a Lawful Neutral character as the conceptual twist underlayment is purely aesthetical in nature and Lawful Neutral does not mean your Good all the time nor are you Evil all the time. You just tend to walk that line and slip occasionally.

Of course, in this game, I am just a fellow player but I would caution you against something that seems enticing on the surface as, like I have said, I have rarely seen it work out all that well.

Why not look into Kelemvor the newer deity of the eternally damned. You think the Nine Hells are bad, do you know what happens to those you die without a patron even an evil one will save you from that horrible fate. And he has a very nasty disposition for those who attempt to cheat death via undeath.

As proposal though perhaps your character and my character can have a bond of some sort that helps pull your character more to the side of good than of evil. A sort of living tie and chance at redemption for your character. Something to bounce your more negative energy off of safely. Thoughts?

This raises a good point. What kind of tone were you aiming for with this game, Scrol? Is there anything you'd like us to specifically avoid?

Ok. Sent in my character sheet.

Here's my working for starting equipment.

I personally love Lawful Evil characters and the honorable antagonist/evil archetype, and certainly won't mind you going for one, WonderWaffle. :D I think it can make for interesting group dynamic and character relationships, provided this character remains true to his ideals. Besides, alignment lines are kinda murky anyway. For me it's fine as long as the character doesn't just go around murdering and torturing and doing other dastardly deeds for fun (or at least without a reasonable motivation). XD

Also, speaking of character relations! Please let me know if you'd be comfortable with my character flirting with yours? Nothing serious, just compliments and teasing, but I imagine it can still be awkward at times. :D I wrote her flirtatious nature in personality, but I'm cool with dropping this aspect though!

Well most of what you can do with a Lawful Evil within a group that is not mostly evil (and I do not plan to be) you can do with someone that is Lawful Neutral with the appropriate personality elements. So again I have only had bad experiences when someone choose to play Evil thus I try to stay away from it both as a player and a GM. But to each their own and I will do my best.