Character Creation

DM Jabes, I'm just going to change name, gender, race, alignment, physical appearance, personality, and sexual orientation.
Background stays the same though.
Sound ok?

Oooh, Oath of Redemption's a fun one.


Oddly enough, Jabes, I think I'm going to nix the Herald idea. As I got down to the brass tacks and deleting what I needed, while they are very similar, it didn't fit what I liked about Rydler—which is helping allies—it was more built around damage. I don't think I've rolled any Sneak Attack damage because I've focused on making my allies excel, which makes the 3rd feature pretty useless inregard to Rydler; else where it is quite a pretty penny though sneak attack deals radiant, yes please. So me thinks, I'll stick with the rogue/cleric split, taking a 2nd level in rogue and eventually going with the Mastermind archetype.

Noticing a divine bent to this team. For an underground unit trying to keep ahead of The Man, it certainly explains why we'd go out of our way to help people.

Looks good, everybody!
Yes to weapon change, Kensai, and Zealot.
Sounds awesome!
Yes, go ahead.
Haha maybe a gender switch is a god idea after all! Seriously though I'm looking forward to seeing Oath of Redemption in play. :-)

How's everyone's rebuilds going? :-)

Erden is good to go!

Ybus is done. I switched his INT and CHA scores to 14 and 17, respectively. I also changed his Personality Trait to "To me, a tavern brawl is a nice way to get to know a new city." Mostly because I can't bring myself to swear like a proper sailor.

I also changed his patron to the Celestial and took the Pact of the Tome. Ybus is going to be more of a ranged Eldritch Blaster with healing and utility spells.

Urban ready to rock.

Rydler ready.

Great axe now battle axe. Done!

1. If you had to take a Feat for 4th Level (as opposed to the ASI) what feat would it be? And other feats down the line?

2. What will your character be like at 5th Level? 10th Level? 20th? (Answers can be fluff or crunch or a mix)

You can post answers here or PM me.

#1, I am leaning heavily towards Actor. It works nicely with Disguise Self (and eventually, Alter Self through the Invocation). Of course, Ybus' personality and height restriction limits both the effectiveness and availability for when he'd actually use these talents, but it is my hope it'd be hilarious.

I have also looked at Magic Initiate for the extra spell and cantrips, and Spell Sniper for the same. Warlocks have an extremely limited amount of spell slots per short rest, so more at-will spells are better in my opinion. Other feats include War Caster, Lucky, and Keen Mind.

#2, at 5th level, Ybus gets a new Invocation. I was thinking of going with Aspect of the Moon (XGtE) because he won't need to sleep EVER and that can leave room for all sorts of shenanigans during watch. Or, I'd go with Gift of the Depths (also XGtE) because it fits the pirate theme.

Other Invocation options that I find interesting for Ybus are Silent Image, Devil's Sight, Invisibility, and Polymorph.

As you can see, a lot of what I plan to pick has little to do with combat, and everything to do with having a wide variety of options available so that Ybus can do whatever it is he wants to do. And he don't plan, he just do.

Personality wise, Ybus never thinks of himself as having one. The wisdom that comes from experience means little to someone who seemingly makes up his own experiences on a whim. And what use is growth to a person that doesn't go past 3 feet in height?

This isn't to say that Ybus is not aware of what happens, or that he can't learn from the results of his actions. It's just that, in his case, correlation does not equal causation.

Baracus keeps talking about religious stuff, like the afterlife plane of Acheron and his dead family so next level makes sense to go divine. Tempted to triple class into cleric, but more likely will take another level in Barbarian and take one of these primal paths:For his monk monastic tradition, he will probably go with Way of the Open Hand to maximize his boxing shtick. Lots of goodies all the way through

It's pretty sub-optimal to got Barbarian-3 Monk-3, but whatever. Delaying that ASI is not so bad because my starting stats were so high, and delaying extra attack isn't so bad because he's got flurry of blows and martial arts for bonus action extra attacks. It feels right for this character.

After 3/3 split, probably climb up the Monk levels to get to Monk 6. Gonna need magical unarmed attacks to roundhouse kick ghosts and shit. But, depends on the story and it depends how fun RPing the Primal Path becomes.

Don't know if I'll take any feats. Just getting stronger and tougher seems like Baracus's style. Maybe wiser eventually. If I had to take a feat, I would be tempted to take the one that gives you proficiency in a saving throw (resilient?) but it might be wasted if I get the Diamond Soul ability at Monk-14. Maybe Athlete or Tough?

Feats I'm undecided on Healer, Lucky, Magic Initiate, and Mobile.

Healer gives me more healing options and makes me even more of a team player; I'm not sure it fits Rydler's flavor though.

Lucky is always useful and give a little team player flavor; fits Rydler better I feel.

Magic Initiate most likely to get an animal friend, which gives more team player options.

Mobile, the speed bonus is nice, that is pretty much it; this is on the lower spectrum.

5th level, I will probably be going rogue3/cleric2; taking the Mastermind archetype from XGtE at 4th. 10th maybe rogue4/cleric6. 20th, on paper the best fit looks like rogue13/cleric7. That is all theorycraft though and could be subject to change if/when we reach those levels.

I'm cautious to even type up a plan because I don't want it to skew how it goes as the story unfolds. Experiences for the character, unknowns, and my own change of ideas might steer this a different way. But since you guys are publishing, I'll join in. Ha!

4th Level Feat: either Brawny or Shield Master. With the other one not chosen targeted next at 8th level. Both of these are efforts to make Urban a formidable physical guy in the way of grappling, pulling/pushing things (people) around, busting through obstacles, etc.

I want to go in a weird unconventional combat direction with Urban, pretty much carrying no weapons and only sometimes a shield. Only weapons used will be battlefield procurement at the site of the fight.

Urban is a reluctant and unlikely redemption Paladin, but also historically a brawler/enforcer. He's going to be struggling to decide what it means to be a responsible emissary of some discipline or devotion that he hasn't really even pinned down yet because he will be in a religious crisis questioning his own beliefs. Quite a puzzle, especially when later Redemption Paladin powers will include absorbing damage on self that was inflicted on other people, and a miraculous recovery capability -- things that are unexplainable but suggest he is being kept alive for some greater good or divine purpose. But what purpose?

Guesses about the future:
5th Level: 2 attacks, more smites, Brawny/Shieldy --Urban is becoming a brawler supreme, still wrestling with his beliefs, self-doubt, and inconsistencies

10th Level: real miraculous power emerging, including ability to take the pain of others upon himself, Urban begins to realize that he is granted some sort of favor and miraculous abilities that are not routed from any religion that he can find. What is he supposed to use these powers for? What is his purpose? What is his responsibility?

20th Level: 15th level oath ability makes him a bulwark of life and recovery. 20th level capstone power gives Resistance to all damage. Urban is an emissary of redemption that seems to be kept alive by sheer miracle. Must he himself become an icon or saint of a new religion?

So with those ideas as backdrops, I was thinking of picking all Feats over the course of time, including these as prime candidates (beyond Brawny and Shield Master mentioned above):
Tough
Skilled
Inspiring Leader

Loving all your responses!

I realize any number of you could switch paths at any time depending on how the story develops. My own PC's in your games have had minds of their own and developed organically. My only reason for asking was to get a general roadmap of what's ahead for your characters - might inspire some story ideas on my end too!

@Len, does Baracus ever have any thoughts about returning to Qinglai? What might be waiting for him back there?

@J, what are Urban's intentions regarding Tullus House? Same question about the Church of Helios.

@Hyp, does Rydler openly wear the Lathander necklace gifted to him by Ellethwen? We know he is blessed by Lathander but does Rydler know/acknowledge this? How does he feel about it? Is he truly devoted to Lathander at all?

Urban on Tullus House: Urban grew up within this group. It is part of his past, strongly associated with the memory of his father also. So in so many ways he loves this group. Loves the memories of being on the road with the teamsters, working with the carts and horses, hanging out gambling, womanizing, carousing, getting into brawls. But of course he understands that this institution is a dark business, committing crime and immorality up to and including murder. For this crime family, Urban hurt many people and even murdered two men in cold blood. He had to get away before he got too deep. But not all of the workers are murderers. Not all of them are even enforcers, but all of them are clear about what is going on. So to Urban, Tullus House is probably a mix of a danger and a temptation. He probably knows that if he was around some of the guys, he would remember how much he liked them, how much he has in common with their culture. But they are criminals who hurt the "little guy". They prey on the weak. They threaten, rob, and kill, all for the sake of money, power, and some idea of loyalty. He cannot condone them, but he cannot be the one who takes them on either. He is too close, and he knows he has weakness because of his past relationships.

Urban on Helios Church: Urban was officially booted out of the church after his attack on the high priest. He since has still been keeping the religious habits, devotions, and sacrifices. He has been trying to stay compliant, with the idea that he is being faithful to the god even outside of the corrupt ecclesiastical hierarchy. But inside he is gradually facing it that he is indeed quite separated from the church, and in fact has been drifting away into the lure of other wisdom and devotions. He doesn't have a vendetta against the Helios church. Maybe eventually he could leave the door open to reconcile. He does not want to turn away from the old titan gods of his family and ancestors. His lack of true faith he will probably continue to suppress and deny for a while.

Yes, considering he wears an open chested robe, the Lathander symbol is on full display. Those with a keen eye might be able to spot the tattoo of the Lathander symbol on his chest/shoulder. He isn't devoted as much to Lathander as he is to Ellethwen; Lathander is more of a middle man at the moment. Lathander is his only connection with Ellethwen and he does what he can to strengthen that but doesn't quite grasp the concept of worshiping something. His criminal past is ingrained in him, that is how he grew up, that is all he knows; religion and god worship is a mostly foreign concept to him.

Nate? Any thoughts on Erden? :-)

I do have thoughts on Erden, but I've been so swamped with other games at the moment that I haven't been able to write it up. I will do my best to write up something tonight!