Character Sheet

Post a link/image/whatever of your character sheet here.

I ended up making a character on dnd beyond to save you the work: https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/134016199.

This character is a cleric, and I was hoping to angle it towards war priest, picking the death domain. I think this would interact well with the lore and the vibe. I kept the character pretty bare bones because I figured I would fill out the rest here.

Some less mechanical details:

- For years, I've heard stories and rumors surrounding the aristos being vampires. To be sent to investigate these rumors is my dream job.

- I have a fascination with death and the forces that drive it. Vampirism is the ultimate expression of control of these forces (immortality, killing efficiency, brain dead living thralls, etc.)

- I fundamentally desire power and control. I have seen enough chaos in this world to know that control brings peace and order.

- As I kill, I collect the souls of my victims to help myself grow stronger. I store them in a gem inlaid in the pommel of my weapon.

Let me know if the character sheet and description is acceptable. I'm happy to change things or to add more at your discretion.

It looks like you created the character using the new D&D rules. We'll be using the old 5e rules from 2014. Sorry if I didn't make it clear. I know it's a pain, but could you please remake your character? You should be able to scroll down to the Legacy rules during character creation.

There's a lot of shenanigans around the new update, but that's a rant for another time....

I like your character. Assuming she'll be aligning with the bloodsuckers? Or maybe you'll surprise me. :)

One issue: - As I kill, I collect the souls of my victims to help myself grow stronger. I store them in a gem inlaid in the pommel of my weapon.

I'd like more info about this. How did you acquire this powerful gem? What's the specific mechanical benefit?

Soul-collecting is really too powerful for a Level 1 character, but I'm willing to work with you. Hopefully we can come up with something that doesn't make your character absurdly OP or out of line with D&D mechanics and expectations.

Oh, and do you have artwork for your character?

I use Bing image creator for custom images. It can be finicky, but still very useful.

I forgot there were new rules out! I'll adjust it tomorrow to make sure everything is using the 2014 rules. I'll also add an image.

I'm actually not sure if she will align with the vampires, try to rule them, become one, or fight them. I figured I'd let it play out to see what made the most sense.

For the magic weapon, I'm not surprised you wanted more details. I think it would make sense if the council have it to me since I'm under their employment and I need tools to do my job. I'm mostly interested in the juicy flavor here, so I didn't actually care about how the mechanics turn out. I kinda thought I'd just build souls until I needed them later and you could homebrew some kind of advantage when I release them all or whatever ends up happening to them.

Since the Council is anti-vampire, I don't think they'd be providing you with a soul-sucking sword. (Alliteration!)

And you'll be Level 1, so they're not going to hand out any powerful items, until you prove yourself. Unless you can finesse it...?

It can be a family heirloom, or something you found during your adventures. Or something else you come up with.

And I think that unlimited soul-collecting is too OP. I can see a Level 10 character doing this, maybe, but not Level 1. Perhaps the gem can only store a small number of souls at once? Say less than 5? Then you can activate its special ability, which empties the gem, and start over collecting souls.

And if you want me to homebrew a specific mechanic, it'll be balanced...something that supplements your other skills/abilities, not something you wait around for so you can hit the insta-win button. Make sense?

I can see unlimited power being an issue. Another potential solution is that each soul is not very valuable and it costs many souls to do anything useful (i.e. 20 for a minot act, 100 for a major act, 500 for world-bending magic). Either works for me. As a cleric, I get to start with a holy symbol as a spellcasting focus, so I thought that gem in my weapon might be a good focus. I was thinking of it as more of a common minor magic item than a major one.

So for the new character sheet, DnD Beyond wouldn't let me build a death domain cleric, so I decided to go forward by hand. I've never built a character by hand before but it was pretty awesome and I learned a lot.

As a cleric, I start with 3 cantrips and 2 Lv I spell slots.
I also get to learn a number of spells equal to my level + my WIS modifier (+4), so I will prepare 5 spells to start (I pick Mending, Thaumaturgy, Sacred Flame, Command, and Inflict Wounds). I am a prepared caster and can change these on a long rest.

My primary casting ability is WIS.
I also get HP = 8 + CON, which increases by 1d8 + CON each level.
I get proficiency with simple weapons, shields, and light and medium armor.
I also get proficiency with WIS and CHA, as well as with 2 skills from the list (I pick Medicine and Religion).

For the death domain (found in the DMG), I get a necromancy cantrip which can target two creatures instead of one (I pick chill touch), as well as spells False Life and Ray of Sickness.
I also get proficiency with martial weapons.

As a variant human, I get +1 to 2 abilities (I pick WIS and CHA), as well as a feat (I pick shield expert) and proficiency in an ability (I pick CON).

I will pick the Sage background, which gives me proficiency in Arcana and History. I also get the Researcher feature, which helps me learn new things (see below).

I will reroll stats since I don't have the raw rolls from before.

For gear, I start with a crossbow + 20 arrows (I will take the martial hard crossbow), a primary weapon, usually warhammer or mace (I will take the martial morningstar), a priest's pack, a shield (AC + 2), a holy symbol (the gem in my weapon?), and a chain shirt, AC = 13 + DEX (max 2).

Based on all this, here is my character sheet:

Name - Lydia
Class - Cleric
Race - Human
Lv - I

HP - 10
Speed = 30 ft.
Size- Medium
AC - 17
Initiative - +2
Hit Dice - 1d8
Proficiency - +2

Abilities
* = proficiency

STR - 15 (+2)
DEX - 14 (+2)
CON* - 14 (+2)
INT - 6 (-2)
WIS* - 18 (+4)
CHA* - 12 (+1)

Saving Throws
* = proficiency

STR - +2
DEX - +2
CON* - +4
INT - -2
WIS* - +6
CHA* - +3

Skills
* = proficiency

Acrobatics (DEX) - +2
Animal Handling (WIS) - +4
Arcana (INT)* - +0
Athletics (STR) - +2
Deception (CHA) - +1
History (INT)* - +0
Insight (WIS) - +4
Intimidation (CHA) - +1
Investigation (INT) - -2
Medicine (WIS)* - +6
Nature (INT) - -2
Perception (WIS) - +4
Performance (CHA) - +1
Persuasion (CHA) - +1
Religion (INT)* - +0
Sleight of Hand (DEX) - +2
Stealth (DEX) - +2
Survival (WIS) - +4

Passive Skills

Perception - 13
Insight - 13
Investigation - 8

Gear

Morningstar - +4 to hit, 1d8 piercing
Hand Crossbow + 20 arrows - +4 to hit, 1d6 piercing, 30/120 ft.
Chain shirt - AC = 13 + DEX (max 2)
Shield - AC + 2
Priest's pack - a backpack, a blanket, 10 candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, 2 blocks of incense, a censer, vestments, 2 days of rations, and a waterskin
Sage gear- A bottle of black ink, a quill, a small knife, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Spells

Cantrips: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Sacred Flame, Chill touch (2 targets)
Lv I (2 slots): Command, Inflict Wounds

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this inform ation comes from a library, scriptorium , university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might
rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost in accessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

How did you roll your stats?

I'm looking over everything now. I don't have the DMG on Beyond, so I can't create a death cleric, but I think I've found a way to put all this together prettily.

I also get HP = 8 + CON, which increases by 1d8 + CON each level.

Do you want to go with fixed HP gain instead of trusting the roll of the dice? Many prefer this because the know what they're getting, and won't get "screwed" by a bad roll.

And be sure to remember you have False Life and Ray of Sickness! I don't see them on the full character sheet.

Everything else looks good...I think. If I notice something off later, we'll deal with it. Or I'll probably just ignore it.

I got irritated trying to prettify it, so we'll just go with what you posted here. You can post an updated sheet whenever you level up.

Here's what I came up with for your soul-collecting item. It looks like you want it to be your holy symbol. You can come up with an awesome name for it, or I can.

----------------------------------

This item can absorb the souls of those slain by its wielder. Corpses that haven't been slain by the wielder cannot be absorbed. It takes one minute of uninterrupted concentration to absorb a soul. A total of five souls can be held at a time. Once this amount is reached, you can activate one of two abilities (not both) at any time, unless you're otherwise debilitated. Activating an ability uses up all stored souls, and allows the weapon to again absorb souls.

Soulstrike

Effect: The wielder channels the power of the collected souls into a single devastating strike. This adds an extra 2d8 necrotic damage to their next melee weapon attack. If the attack hits, the target is frightened of the wielder until the end of their next turn.
Description: The gem pulses with dark energy as the souls empower the weapon, leaving a chilling aura that strikes terror into the heart of those it hits.

Soulshield

Effect: The souls form a protective barrier around the wielder. The wielder gains a +2 bonus to their Armor Class for 1 minute. While the shield is active, any creature that hits the wielder with a melee attack takes 1d4 necrotic damage.
Description: Spectral figures rise from the gem and surround the wielder, forming a ghostly shield that deflects blows and lashes out with ethereal tendrils against those who strike too close.

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Note that in D&D (usually) not every creature you encounter has a soul. Broadly speaking, only sentient creatures have souls. If there are questionable situations, we'll solve them on a case-by-case basis.

You'll start the adventure with 2 souls collected.

Also note that using this weapon in front of others may create...interesting responses.

I rolled abilities through DnD Beyond using the manual method, so I rolled 4d6 six times and then assigned the sums to stats.

I'm okay with the random health increase, I think it will make it spicier.

And I forgot to add those spells, but they should be in there. I'll try to make this into a character sheet where I can adjust health and mark spell slots and the like.

I love the new mechanics! I will call this the Soul Stone and it will be my focus. Also, +5 AC seems too high for a while 6 rounds. Maybe make it +2 for a combat or +5 for a single round? I know it's weird to ask for something less strong, but +5 would completely break a combat, while 2d8 would only kill a single target and wouldn't destroy an encounter.

Appreciate you aiming for balance. I've changed it to +2 AC for one minute.

I think we're pretty much set on character creation. Any nagging issues we can iron out along the way.

I'm going to put up the intro posts. It'll be a bit of an infodump, but it'll be obvious when you can jump in.

Awesome, I'm really excited for this character!

I took some time to format everything into a fairly nice-looking character sheet that can be easily edited as I level. I can submit the character sheet to official way, but I used a custom template and I think you set it to take DnD character sheets. I'm not sure if you can open the link, but I tried to make the sheet public.

https://gamersplane.com/characters/custom/30856/

No, I couldn't see the sheet when I clicked the link. It says "No Character Found."

I don't think I can change the system now that the game is set up. Maybe try submitting anyway? Or if that doesn't work, maybe take a screenshot and post it here?

I tried to share it again, the public button was turned off for some reason

Skills


Passive Skills


Gear

Morningstar - +4 to hit, 1d8 piercing
Hand Crossbow - +4 to hit, 1d6 piercing, 30/120 ft.
20/20 Arrows
Chain Shirt - AC = 13 + DEX (max 2)
Shield- AC + 2
Priest's Pack - a backpack, a blanket, 10 candles, a tinderbox, an alms box, 2 blocks of incense, a censer, vestments, 2 days of rations, and a waterskin
Sage Gear- A bottle of black ink, a quill, and a small knife

Souls Collected - 2/5

Spells
Lv I

Spell list


Feats

Researcher

When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this inform ation comes from a library, scriptorium , university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might
rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost in accessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.

Nice!

Didn't you take Variant Human, and then the Shield Master feat?