Character creation/roster

Yeah, we did that first there because I hadn't started this thread yet...

Okay, Avente' Dahn (Ah-Vent_Ay Dawn) has been submitted. Here he is. Please take a look and make sure I didn't mess it up.


Name: Avente' Dahn
Race: Elf
Class: Wizard

ATTRIBUTES, TRAITS, & COMBAT VALUES

BOD: 6 MOB: 6 MND: 8
ST: 0 AG: 0 IN: 1
CO: 2 DX: 4 (3 +1 Elf) AU: 4 (2+1 Mage +1 Robe)
HP: 18 (current: 18) DEF: 8 () INI: 6 () MR: 4
MAT: 6 RAT: 11 () (10 +1 Marksman) SPC: 12 TSC: 14 (12 +1 Marksman +1 staff)

TALENTS & SPELLS
Talents:

Education (I): The character has acquired a certain level of education. In contrast to the talent Expertise, which benefits only individual subjects, the character receives a +2 bonus per talent rank on all checks dealing with common knowledge or solving puzzles.

Marksman (I): The character is a skilled ranged attacker. He gets a bonus of +1 per talent rank to ranged attacks and targeted spell casting.

Spells:

Fire Beam
Price: 10GP
SM: +1
Duration: Instant
Distance: IN x 5 meters
Cooldown Period: 0 rounds
Effect: The mage shoots a jet of fire at an enemy, the check result is the damage to the target.

Enchant Weapon
Price: 10GP
SM: +0
Duration: IN minutes
Distance: Touch
Cooldown Period: 1 round
Effect: This spell gives a weapon magical powers. It's WB increases by 1 for the duration of the spell. The damage dealt with the enchanted weapon is considered magical and will even harm incorporeal beings such as ghosts.

WEAPONS, ARMOR, & EQUIPMENT
Gold: 0 Silver: 4 Copper: 8

Weapons:
Quarterstaff WB 1 +1 Targetted Spells

Armor:
Runic Robe (Dark Green and Brown) +1 Aura

Equipment:
Backpack (Person)
Blanket (pack)
Flint and Steel and Tinder (pack)
Healing Herbs (x2) (pack)
Ration, Daily (x2) (pack)
Water Skin (pack)
Wooden Dice (x2) (robe pocket)
Simple Clothing (person)

Culture: Dynar
Languages: Free Tongue, Elven
Alphabet: Ornamental Script, Cuneiform Script

Yep, everything looks fine.

I am flexible about what I play, so is there any role that the party needs filled?

I'm pretty sure we don't have a healer PC. Kalajel had to bring in an NPC cleric. Grapthor is leaving, so the group is losing one of the frontliners, though Ulfgar is still around.

Yeah, the party is losing a fighter, so you could play one. The party has a sorcerer, so a wizard could round up the party well. You can still play a healer if you wish, but I warn you they tend to be a bit boring to play as you, well, just keep healing your allies during fights, especially at low levels, hence why I had no problem NPCing this particular role...

Couple of questions:

1. Does casting a spell in melee range impose any penalties or attacks of opportunity?
2. Does Armored mage talent make it possible to act as a D&D cleric (armor and weapon with supplemental healing when needed?)

1. There are no attack of opportunities in DS4, but performing a ranged attack against a target in melee (either with ranged weapons or targeted spells) imposes a -2 penalty on the check.
2. Yes and no. While the talent does remove some spellcasting penalties coming from amors, Mages (and I assume healer as you're speaking of cleric and healing) cannot wear the heavier armor Armorclad talent. See p.39 for what armor each classes can wear and what the penalties are for wearing restricted armor. So, the best answer i could give you here is that a healer who took the cleric hero class and is high level enough to having taken the appropriate talents could certainly act as a D&D cleric.

Another question: Can I cast a spell with both a weapon and shield in hand (leaving no free hands)?

This is one of those features they leave up to each individual GM. P.45 states that Mages must make gestures with their hands, but it does not states if you need your manual dexterity or if you can just wave your hands around even if they are holding something. Though, the next line of this section mentions being tied up, so I guess you only need to be able to freely wave your hands around, which you can do while holding a weapon, so I'd say yes.

Ok, so my plan is to be a Healer that has the ability to mix it up a bit in melee combat. My primary focus will be on keeping you guys alive, which I'll better be able to do if I'm not worried about being killed the second I wander into melee!

Thoughts from anyone more experienced than me?

Hmm... The spell change mechanic is certainly interesting! Seems like wands are SUPER amazing for mages

Well, at 1st level, your options are pretty limited. You could go the Runic Robe way to gain that +1 to AU and take Caregiver right away... Or you could buy some leather armor and take Armored Mage right away instead... Dwarf is always a good choice for the combat medic route since their Tough racial ability already grants them a +1 to DEF.

Yes, I like the systems that spells are pretty much at will, but with a cool down period. And yes, wands are very useful for mages.

This is what I have so far... let me know what you thinkThe possible change I'm considering at the moment is changing to dwarf and dropping Caregiver

Looks good so far. Remember to pick a culture from p.143 which will give you a 3rd talent. Also remember that if used for ranged attacks, a spear will break on a RAT Fumble.

Character submitted!

Cool. Now I only need a picture so I can make a counter with it and you're pretty much ready to go.

So it looks like we have a fighter, two scouts, a sorcerer, a wizard, and a healer? But the wizard seems to be afk.

Do we need another fighter type or a wizard type? Something else?

It's really up to you. A second fighter to relieve pressure from Ulfgar might not be a bad idea. A wizard who takes a lot of utility spells can also be very helpful.