Character Creation - JoshuaMabry

If you want to go through creation the same as the others, I'd prefer that. If you really want to read all the options ahead of time, that's fine too.

I'm happy to go through it as the other players did. Where do we start?

We start before you were born. Your parentage is, of course, a large piece of who you are. What race was each of your parents? Choose from the following options. (Half races are also acceptable within the options. This system was written to be expressly inclusive, but you don't have to take advantage of that if you'd like to have a more traditional character.)

Aasimar, Avian, Dwarven, Dragonborn, Elven, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Human, Kobold, Orc, Tiefling

btw, @ me if you don't mind when you respond so I'll see it and can get back soonest as possible.

@Falconloft I'll go with Orc please.

@JoshuaMabry - Very well. Your parents were orcs. Combined, that gives you the following adjustment (I know we haven't handled stats yet, that'll come):

Orc Parentage
Both of your birth parents are orcs. You possess great strength and are obstinately resilient.
Age: Your life expectancy is 70 years.
Size: Your height is 54 + 2d8 inches. This makes you a Large creature.
Abilities:
-- Darkvision: If you are sighted, you can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
-- Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. Weight is abstracted and we're not using encumbrance, but between this and your Large size, you'll be able to push/drag/lift (10+Strength+Health)*6.
-- Relentless Endurance: When your health pool is emptied but you are not killed outright, you can retain 1 drop instead. (1 drop is simply 1 HP; this would be one of those meaningless terminology changes.) You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Now, whatever happened in your childhood or what your parents did, somehow they saved up enough to send you to school. This wasn't one of the big prestigious schools. It was Morgrave University which is not really a great school of learning. It's constantly dogged by allegations of grave-robbing the southern continent, and for being more concerned with money than with learning. Granted, most of these allegations come from other universities, but given that... why did you come to Morgrave instead of someplace more prestgigious? Was it a disability such of blindness or deafness, or lack of mobility, or was it lack of standing, or something else? Or was it that finding wealth in Xen'drik is more important than academics?

@Falconloft I'm very familiar with Eberron, it's my favorite setting. Can I be a poor Orc from the Shadow Marches?

@JoshuaMabry - I knew it was. In fact, when you applied, I had to do a doubletake cuz I was sure you'd already been in the game. And sure, the Shadow Marches work for me. so you came to Morgrave, simply out of fiscal necessity, and maybe the fact that it was in Sharn at all made it better than anything local?

@Falconloft Yes my parents wanted me to get a University education, and to see the world, but couldn’t afford better than Morgrave. As a matter of fact, I’ve been working some kind of odd job at the school to pay them back.

@JoshuaMabry - That's a good starting point. Which job do you end up training for?

Alchemy, Theology, Paramagery (think paralegal), Smithing, Arbitration, Bodyguarding, Wayfinding, Drama (Acting), Market Finance, Geology, Music/Oratory, Theoretical Design

p.s. the thought of what orc arbitration would be is cracking me up.

@Falconloft Is there a druid in the group?

@JoshuaMabry - There's no classes, but right now we have a sort of nascent necromancer and a swashbuckling dex fighter.

@Falconloft I'll go with Wayfinding, and set myself on a druidic path like my Gatekeeper ancestors.

@JoshuaMabry - You are a...

Guide
The open road has always called to you, and you use your knowledge to guide others to where they want to go.
Ability Increase: Your Intelligence and Wisdom each increases by 1.
Saving Checks: You are proficient in Intelligence and Wisdom saving checks.
Skills: You are proficient in three skills from among Athletics, Environment, History, and Investigation. You also gain proficiency in any one additional skill of your choice.
Languages: You are fluent in three languages of your choice.
Equipment: You start with:
-- either leather armor or a simple weapon with which you are proficient
-- an explorer’s pack
-- 2d4 well-drawn maps of places you’ve traveled OR rough maps copied from books of places you'd like to go
-- a set of traveler’s clothes
-- a belt pouch containing money; you have a starting wealth score of 1.

You practiced until even before graduation, you were a well-trusted guide. You led several groups as a scout during school breaks. What did you receive - either from one of those groups or as a parting gift from your parents that you decided to always keep close to you?
-- A well-thumbed deck of lucky cards that's so worn that each card has the feel of cloth.
-- Loose, well-worn, dusty robes that glitter like the night sky under a full moon.
-- A dented, beat-up multicolored breastplate, lines with Primordial runes.
-- A dusty old tome filled with writing in a strange hand that has so far been indecipherable to you.
-- A harness for your pet, with your name and your pet's name engraved.
-- An old bow that's starting to show its age after decades of neglect.
-- A well-crafted, but scuffed and battered, musical instrument.
-- An unusually long, sturdy quarterstaff made of a mysterious wood.
-- An ancient, lovingly-crafted sword with your family name etched into the crossguard.
-- A simple narrow ring of silver that holds a large gemstone.
-- A white, wooden rod with strange, carved motifs.
-- A spherical, sparkling marble that seems to contain a swirling nebula.
-- A plain, carved, wooden wand with a strangely deep grain.

@Falconloft If I only get to pick one thing I'll go with the quarterstaff.

@JoshuaMabry - This is part of what would make up your class in a traditional class-based game. It grows with you and gives you new abilities at each new level. This one is actually not a bad choice for a druid, which is why I love doing things organically sometimes. We're building you at 3rd level so you'll be up with the others so you'll start with everything it gives you from the first three steps.

Staff of the Martialist
This unusually long quarterstaff is made of a sturdy wood of mysterious origin.
Proficiencies: If you choose the Staff of the Martialist as your heirloom, you gain proficiency in the Athletics and Acrobatics skills and with simple weapons.

Abilities:
-- Seemingly Mundane: This staff inflicts 1d6 bludgeoning damage on a hit, or 1d8 bludgeoning damage when used with two hands.
-- Counter Roll: When a reach attack misses you, you can reposition yourself. As a reaction, you can move up to 10 feet away without provoking an opportunity attack.
-- Distracting Strike: As a reaction to one of your allies attacking a creature within reach, you can make a reach attack to distract it. Your ally’s attack against it is then rolled with advantage.

Now that you've got the majority of your abilities, let's talk stats. Each character has six abilities. These abilities are the same as the D&D abilities, but we only use the modifiers themselves, not the scores from which they're derived. A couple are renamed: Strength, Agility, Health, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Presence.

To determine your abilities, simply apply the following bonuses and penalty to whichever abilities you want: +2, +2, +1, +1, +0, −1.

Before you get confused, a reach attack is a melee attack in 5e. Took me a while to figure that one out. :D

@Falconloft So if there's no class does it behoove me to put a better bonus in Wisdom as I would for a 5E Druid?

@Khulod Thanks.

Good catch, Khulod, I forgot about that one.

@JoshuaMabry - As far as spellcasting goes, you will need one of the three mental stats, but which one is up to you. WIS is probably still best for someone who's supposed to be in tune with the natural world as it includes Environment, animal handling, perception, and insight.

@Falconloft I choose +2 Wisdom, +2 Strength, +1 Presence, +1 Health, +0 Agility and -1 Intelligence.

@JoshuaMabry - Alright, so let's dive into the steps. You get one choice at each level, and the choices are level specific, so like at first level you choose between tough or skilled, basically, and then drill down from there.

1st Step: Choose either Preternatural or Scrappy. Both lead to spellcasting, but Scrappy is a slower path.

Preternatural
1st-step feature
You gain proficiency with daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, and light crossbows. In addition, you learn two cantrips of your choice, and you gain two 1st-level spell slots and learn two 1st-level spells of your choice. Choose your spellcasting ability from among Intelligence, Wisdom, and Presence.
Prerequisite: none
Health Pool: d6 (6)
Proficiency Bonus: Your proficiency bonus is +2.
Spellcasting Focus: You can use your heirloom as a spellcasting focus for your spells.

Scrappy
1st-step feature
Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, and you gain proficiency with simple weapons and light armor.
Prerequisite: none
Health Pool: d8 (8)
Proficiency Bonus: Your proficiency bonus is +2.

@Falconloft I'll go with Scrappy. I'm going to be a spellcaster, but stay true to my orcish nature and be a warrior as well.

@JoshuaMabry - Your second step from Scrappy is going to be either Gritty or Militant. Militant will be the faster pathway to spellcasting.

Gritty
2nd-step feature
In addition to your regular action, you can take one additional action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used
only to take the Dash, Hide, or Withdraw action. Also, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, you gain the following benefits:
-- Your defense bonus is equal to your Agility + your Intelligence or Wisdom (your choice).
-- You can use Agility instead of Strength for the attack and damage checks of your unarmed strikes, shortswords, and any simple reach weapons that don’t have the two-handed or heavy property.
-- You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike.
Prerequisite: Scrappy
Health Pool: d8 (5)

Militant
2nd-step feature
You gain proficiency with martial weapons, medium armor, and shields. In addition, you gain your choice of either a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons or a +2 bonus to damage rolls with reach weapons.
Prerequisite: Scrappy
Health Pool: d10 (6)

@Falconloft Let's go with Militant.

@JoshuaMabry - And for the third step, you've got these two options:

Oathsworn
3rd-step feature
You gain proficiency with heavy armor. In addition, the strength of your convictions gives you power. You gain two 1st-level spell slots and learn one 1st-level spell. Choose your spellcasting ability from among Intelligence, Wisdom, or Presence. In addition, choose between radiant or necrotic. When you hit a creature with a reach weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to inflict your chosen damage type to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.
Prerequisite: militant
Health Pool: d10 (6)

Resilient
3rd-step feature
You gain proficiency with heavy armor. In addition, you have a limited well of stamina that you draw on to protect yourself. When you suffer damage or take the Withdraw action, you can use a reaction to replenish your health pool by a number of drops equal to 1d10 + your steps. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Prerequisite: militant
Health Pool: d10 (6)

---

If this feels too clerical for you, let me offer an alternate path. It won't have spells, but it will be ready for spellcasting next time, and you'll have all your nature-pieces in place.

Scrappy
1st-step feature
Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20, and you gain proficiency with simple weapons and light armor.
Prerequisite: none
Health Pool: d8 (8)
Proficiency Bonus: Your proficiency bonus is +2.

Gritty
2nd-step feature
In addition to your regular action, you can take one additional action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Hide, or Withdraw action. Also, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a shield, you gain the following benefits:
-- Your defense bonus is equal to your Agility + your Intelligence or Wisdom (your choice).
-- You can use Agility instead of Strength for the attack and damage checks of your unarmed strikes, shortswords, and any simple reach weapons that don’t have the two-handed or heavy property.
-- You can roll a d4 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike.
Prerequisite: scrappy
Health Pool: d8 (5)

Untamed
3rd-step feature
You are particularly familiar with natural environments and are adept at traveling and surviving outside people’s settlements. You gain proficiency in the Environment skill. If you are already proficient in it, you gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Medicine, or Stealth. In addition, choose one skill in which you are proficient. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses this skill. While traveling in natural terrain, you gain the following benefits:
-- Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel. Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
-- Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
-- If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
-- When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
-- While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
Prerequisite: gritty
Health Pool: d10 (6)

@Falconloft I'm torn. The first route does seem more cleric than druid, but the second path seems like a barbarian. So with the second path spellcasting comes with Step 4?

@Step 4 is just an Ability Improvement, so after this chapter, I'll be jumping everyone to 5.

@Falconloft I'll take your suggested alternate path. Scrappy, Gritty then Untamed.

@Falconloft Is that height number back in my heritage correct? That would make the average orc 5'4" tall.

Rolling for maps

@Falconloft Going with a map of the Shadow Marches, one of the Demon Wastes, one of the Mror Holds (specifically the mountain ranges) and one of Xen'drik (best one I could find).

@Falconloft Submitted a character sheet with what I understand to be the translation of things. Let me know if anything needs changed.

@JoshuaMabry - Skills have an ever-so-slightly different list, so I updated that.

As far as getting you into the story, the librarian has already said he had muscle, that's you. You're also a student, but you came down with a different professor. When the airship crashed, you were one of the ones that stayed behind to protect/assist the wounded. The rest of your group had to go back due to injuries, so now you're assigned to Professor Alacandra as well.

@Falconloft Sounds good. Are you going to introduce me in the chapter or do I just jump in?

@JoshuaMabry - I'll jump us to the lighthouse and then you can come in.

@Falconloft Sounds good. I'm all caught up on the game threads.