While I am usually the DM (one of 6 AL DMS at my FLGS), I have decided to make a Paladin of Tiamat for Organized Play, and would appreciate any ideas/suggestions to aid me in that endeavour (this PC will benefit from my accrued DM experience, and therefore will start at higher level than normal as a result - current XP is 900; 1200 on Tuesday).
Given the rebuilding rules - there is an opportunity to change her stats prior to reaching L5, so all suggestions are welcome.
Taevyn Blackwyrm
LE Var. Human female, Paladin (Tiamat), Zhentarim
- Abilities: STR 16, DEX 8, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 10, CHA 16
- Skills: Athletics +5, Insight +2, Intimidation +5, Persuasion +5, Religion +1
- Tools: Land Vehicles, one other?
- Languages: Common, Draconic
- Background: Acolyte; Optional Feature: Dragon Scholar (HotDQ p87)
- Class: Paladin (Oath of Vengence)
- Fighting Style: Defense or Duelist (undecided)
- Human Feat: Lucky (she calls it the Favor of Tiamat)
- Planned/Possible Feats: Shield Master, Sentinel
- Equipment: Longsword, shield, Chainmail Armor, bag of holding (DM certificate)
Outlook and Personality
Tiamat is known for encouraging in-fighting amongst her followers, as doing so results in the strongest of her followers clawing their way to the top while crushing the "weak" underfoot. Taevyn has taken this concept to heart personally, and believes herself to be the "Talon of Tiamat" - whose solemn duty is to expose and eliminate the weak and corrupt within her church.
To that end, she seeks out and challenges those of her own faith. Should they fall by her hand, Taevyn believes them to have been "unworthy" of Her Majesty's blessing, yet if Taevyn herself should fail, it was she who was "weak" and unfit, and doubles her efforts to prove herself worthy in her Queen's eyes.
Taevyn sees herself as a surgeons blade, whose task is to excise the wound that is the Church of Tiamat, scouring it of all corruption and infection, so that it may heal stronger than it was previously.
In many ways, I have losely based Taevyn's demeanor and bearing on the Dark Knights of the Dragonlance setting. She is utterly faithful and sincere in her belief in the Dark Queen, yet at the same time has a true sense of honor, and will not strike down an innocent when she might govern them instead.
Relationship with the Cult of the Dragon
Taevyn believes that the Cult is secretly manipulating Her Majesty, especially in light of their centuries-long history of corrupting and manipulating her "children" and transforming them into undead abominations. While they openly parade themselves as followers of her Queen, Taevyn seeks to uncover the truth of their deception, and reveal them for the traitors they are.
I am not sure you can be LE or a paladin of Tiamat in the AL.
Though personally, to heck with the AL. This seems like a totally legit and completely BA character concept that I would love to see played at my table! As much as they discourage playing as any evil character, I have read the dragonlance series myself and loved the concepts of their Dark Knights, and I love how you brought this into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign setting so seamlessly (especially since Takhisis pretty much is Dragonlance's Tiamat). I think it could easily be played in a group of good players without causing much conflict.
Knight_Marshal wrote:
It depends on what flavor you want to enhance your Paladin with. Fighter is a good option to enhance your martial abilities. It also focuses on strength and will give you access to an additional fighting style, action surges, second wind, a third weapon attack if you take it all the way up to Fighter 11, and your choice of expanded crit range, maneuvers, or enhanced spellcasting and spell slots. The bonus ability/feat at fighter 6 might be appealing as well. If you want to go 2-handed for DPS, a Paladin/Fighter could benefit from 2 handed fighting style and defense to balance out the lack of a shield.
If you dump Str and heavy armor for dex, light armor and finesse weapons, you could even MC rogue for a shadier take on the paladin. Sneak Attack coupled with divine smite can make for some amazing single shots and crits.
If you want to further enhance your spellcasting, your Charisma spellcasting opens up some interesting options for you. A Bard MC dip could unlock an additional skill, bardic inspiration, jack of all trades, expertise, and some control/support spells, all to increase your utility in and out of combat.
A sorcerer MC could unlock more spell-based damage dealing potential, and meta-magic is always fun, although your perma-mage armor would be wasted.
Warlock is one of my favorite MC options because of its versatility. Eldritch Blast will give you a very strong ranged option, especially if you pick up the Agonizing blast and repelling blast invocations (keep in mind that you qualify for warlock invocations based on character level, and not your warlock class level, although you still need to reach the appropriate warlock level to take them). Pact of the Tome will give you three free cantrips from any class ontop of your warlock class ones, and the Book of Ancient Secrets invocation will give you access to ritual spellcasting from any class. Pact of the Blade and the Life Drinker invocatin can add some more damage to your swings, which should already be fairly potent as a paladin. Regardless of which pact and invocation you pick with a warlock MC, having spell slots that recharge on a short rest can be great for feeding your Divine Smite ability, especially since all of your warlock spell slots increase to higher spell levels with your warlock level. A 5 level dip into warlock gives you access to 3 invocations, 2 level 3 spell slots that recharge on a short rest and your pact boon.
A Monk multiclass grants a unique flavor to any class, but it is a little MAD for a paladin since many of the key monk abilities rely on wisdom for a high save DC. But having access to Ki points for flurry of blows, stunning strike, and free knockbacks, prones, and reaction deprivation on Flurry strikes add great support to a paladin. Not to mention that at Monk 14/Paladin 6 the monk's diamond soul grants proficiency in all saving throws, and the paladin's Aura of Protection lets you add your Cha modifier to yours and your allies' saving throws within 10 feet of you, adding up to a whopping 11 + relevant ability mod bonus to all saving throws. You would have to opt out of martial weapons for simple weapons if you wanted to take full advantage of Flurry's damage capabilities, but this should be doable even for a paladin. You could also dump str, opt out of armor, and pump dex and wisdom if you wanted to take advatage of the monk's unarmored defense. At 20 Dex and 20 Wis, you have as much AC as you would with plate and a shield, plus you are able to use the Bracers of Protection for another +3AC, but doing so would leave your cha suffering.
As for feats, Alert is an all-around good choice for insurance against getting surprised. You can actually afford skipping out on the resilient feats, since Aura of Protection grants a Cha bonus to your saves. If you're going 2-handed, then polearm mastery and great weapon master provide excellent damage and better action economy for your bonus actions and reactions. Sentinel can make you more sticky and provide another reaction option. Shield Mastery is a good option for sword and board pallies. Lucky is an all-around favorite too.
There are a lot of good feats and MC options, it just depends on what you want to do.
I would suggest to multiclass into sorcerer (dragon). It's not the most optimized route to go, but I think it fits your character flavour-wise. You get scales (perhaps black, since your surname is Blackwyrm), and you can always justify it as a gift from Tiamat for the services you provide. Thematically it's very appropriate.
Mechanics-wise, you get a lot of spell slots to allow you to smite a lot (and everybody loves to smite), so you can multiclass just after only 2 levels of paladin, although the extra attack and the aura of protection are good features (you ll have to decide if you prefer those over more high level spells). You also have access to some very nice spells that synergize really well with a high AC, like blur and mirror image. You also get heighten spell for your hold person, and then crit with divine smite for instant kills.
Dexterity is too low, I think you shouldn't dump it. Combat does not last that long, so that places enough importance on initiative, so I think your dex should be 10. Maybe drop your con to 13, so that you can bump dex to 10, and grab resilience (con) as your 1st level feat, instead of lucky (although if you really want the lucky feat - as I see you even went into the trouble of fluffing over it - then leave it as you have it).
Question: do you have a prefference towards a specific fighting style, or you wouldn't mind how your character fights? 2 handers work better with the oath of vengeance generally. But if would like to fight with 2 weapons, there is a way you could do that...
Edit: the more I think of this, I think you should just grab 2-3 levels of paladin and then advance as a sorcerer. Raise your dex to 10, drop your con to 13, and take resilience (con) at 1st level to bump con back to 14. Decent build with tons of flavour.
Going mostly into sorcerer would add a ton of dragon flavor to your 5-headed dragon worshipping paladin (including dragon wings at Sorcerer 14!), but dropping from hit die of 1d10 to 1d6 is a major blow and makes it more dangerous to hang around in melee, even with high AC and evasive spells. When they do land a hit, it will hurt a lot.
Seeing as Tiamat is currently imprisoned in (and at one point ruled over) Avernus, the first level of the nine hells, I could easiliy see her favor representing itself both as divine magic from her origin as a lesser god, as well as an infernal warlock's pact from her time in the Nine Hells. A Warlock's HD is only one step down from a Paladins, at a 1d8. It also has access to the Hold Person spell, and their spell slots recharge on a short rest. Take the Pact of the Blade and you can still get the Extra Attack through an invocation at level 5, and get other melee-centric boosts as you go along.
A similar concept and flavor either way, it depends on whether you want a paladin with more spellcasting capability through the sorcerer, or a balance of spellcasting and martial power from a warlock.
Edit: I went ahead and broke down the Smiting capabilities between a Paladin 3/ Sorcerer 17 and a Paladin 3/Warlock 17.
Assuming that you don't use your levels 6 through 9 spell slots on smiting, the Paladin Sorc can Divine Smite 16 times in a day - 4 times for 1d8, 3 times each for 2, 3, 4, and 5 d8, totalling 46d8 smite damage in a day, with one each of levels 6 through 9 spell slots for general casting, with access to level 9 spells.
The Paladin/Warlock could smite 3 times per day at 1d8, then another 4 times per short rest for 5d8. This gives a much higher average smite damage, since all of your smites deal 5d8 damage, versus only three per day for the sorcerer. Without counting your three level one spell slots from level 3 paladin, the warlock's number of smites per day match the sorcerer's after three short rests per day. The total smite damage surpasses the sorcerer's total daily smite damage after two short rests, and will continue to outstrip it with each additional short rest. Toss in Hex three times per day and add another 1d6 necrotic damage per attack. At level 17 Warlock you also have access to level 6, 7, 8 and 9 Mystic Arcanum, which are daily-use 6 through 9th levels spells.
Balance meta-magic and free flying against invocations (one of which includes at-will self-only levetation) and pact boons however you will, but there's the Divine Smite potential of each laid out for you.
Thanks for the breakdown. Unfortunately, Hoard of the Dragon Queen seems to be very light on Short rests - and according to the DM Basic rules, the average day should have 6-8 encounters, and 2 short rests - each occuring after approximately 2-3 encounters each.
No problem, though that was a max level breakdown. It may play out differently for lower levels. And seeing as HotDQ will only get characters to around level 8, that will be your area of concern. It probably doesn't balance out so well for warlock until they get access to lv 4 or 5 spell slots, but I'll check it out in the morning.
With the vengeance oath you want to go full DPR, greatswords, great weapon fighting, great weapon master feat. Spell Hunter mark is all you need (no Cha needed) and Cure wound.
I would take 16 Con and 14 Charisma (since ost of your spell are not Cha dependand), the extra Constitution will give you more HP, and a higher Constitution save (which is lacking for paladin) to keep your concentration up on spell while in melee.
I just want to say that I enjoyed reading your character info 
Writhani wrote:
Sorxores wrote:
Sorxores wrote:
And it is an interesting image of course. I envison the humanoid incarnation of the Dark Queen from the Dragon Lance novels. *shiver*
The question really is, do you see this character as one to sneak around and use precision strikes to defeat her enemies, or the plate armored juggernaut? Personally I would see the character as the latter. Is the character really the type to sneak around and that sort of thing? From your description it would be the opposite imo! And I would also go duelist style simply because that seems to be part of the character theme where you hunt down people within the order and challenge them to combat.
If you're not concerned with what the best mechanical option is, there's not much more to add to the character itself. You do want to improve damage and toughness, the multiclass options suggested are solid. You already have solid feat choices listed. You want stat bumps as well. I can't think of something more to add.
EDIT: I see you edited your post further. If you really feel the mechanical benefits of going DEX with medium armor + shield and rapier is better, go for it! It's really the more powerful option.
Corran21 wrote:
While my character is more upstanding than most of Tiamat's followers - Tiamat condones and encourages murder, trickery, and subterfuge. In fact - her domain portfolio includes trickery. Furthermore, as I am basing my character losely off the Knights of Takhisis (Dragonlance), I should point out that the Dark Knights are freely allowed to commit murder, theft, and other deceptive or dispicable acts - providing they are not done for selfish reasons, and the outcome furthers the goals of the knighthood.
With that in perspective - my character's primary goal is to weed out the unworthy followers of Tiamat's faith, to carve away the cancerous growths that weaken and degrade the churches power, so that we may grow strong and mighty in their absence - for only true strength will allow us to conquor the world in her dark name. To that end I would use any means necessary to accomplish these goals.
My character sees acts of deception and subterfuge as distasteful, but necessary evils. Most of her targets are rats hiding behind facades of loyalty. Such individuals are not likely to openly admit their wrongdoing (in my characters eyes), and therefore acts of stealth, deception, and trickery are oftentimes necessary to expose them for the disloyal scavengers they are, before crushing them under her Dark Majesty's heeled boot.
Fighting fire with fire and all that.
This post is in response to a request for an update regarding this character, in respect to what direction I ended up choosing.
Update - Taevyn Blackwyrm
I ultimately decided to go Dexadin with the medium armor mastery feat at 1st level. At 4th level, I will be taking the shield master feat. At 6th level, I am strongly considering whether to multiclass as Dragon Sorcerer - greatly improving my spell slots for use with divine smite, and hunter's mark, while also providing me with some useful arcane spells. It comes with an aesthetic perk of granting her actual dragon scales (black for obvious reasons).
Taevyn Blackwyrm (L3 V.Human Paladin of Tiamat)
- Stats: STR 14 (for multiclassing purposes); DEX 16; CON 12; INT 10; WIS 8; CHA 14
- Skills: Athletics +4, Deception +4, Intimidation +4, Religion +2, Stealth +5 (no disadv)
- Fighting Style: Dueling
- AC 19: Scale + Shield (Holy Symbol Emblem) - 1 point less than plate for a fraction of the cost
- Attacks: Rapier +5 to hit; 1d8+5 piercing (+2 from dueling); Longbow +5 to hit; 1d8+3 piercing; Scimitar (backup weapon) +5 to hit; 1d6+5 slashing
- Oath of Vengeance
- Commonly prepared spells: cure wounds, compelled duel, searing smite, bane*, hunter's mark*
* Oath Spell
Background: Acolyte (Dragon Scholar feature, HotDQ)
Personality: Taevyn is arrogant, demanding, and abrasive. While fully capable of being deceptive or stealthy should the situation warrent it, she prefers the direct approach. At the start of each encounter, she forcefully demands that her opponents surrender now or face Tiamat's wrath. Should they comply with her wishes, she would treat them with due courtesy (much like how the Knights of Takhisis did in the days of Ariakan and Mirelle Abrena). Should they fail, she spares them no quarter. She is not above capturing and torturing hostages for information (or potentially as bargaining chips), but does not go lenient on those who fail to capitulate to her demands the first time.
She is utterly loyal to Tiamat, and is extremely intolerant and religist toward members of the "cult of the dragon" - believing them to be two-faced liars. She harbours deep resentment toward them for having spent the past few centuries manipulating and corrupting evil dragons and transforming them into hideous, undead abominations, and believes that the cult has ulterior motives and is manipulating Tiamat toward an unknown end. She seeks to uncover their deception, so that Tiamat would wreak her vengeance upon them, while also elevating Taevyn in her Dark Queen's eyes.
awesome I built my own version for a campaign I'm starting this weekend on sunday and we both made the exact same choices pretty much. The DM is running his own campaign world and so I'm curious to know if you would think Shield Mastery in that case would be less valuable? Because of the lack of guaranteed dragon fights. Also, I thought that 13 STR would be enough to satisfy MC choices, why go all the way to 14?
Thanks for posting!
Kalani wrote:
The build costs 26 points (STR 13, DEX 16*, CON 12, INT 10, WIS 8, CHA 14*), leaving 1 point remaining. There is two choices for that remaining stat bump depending on your ultimate focus:
- Strength 14: Grants you an extra +1 to Athletics for use with shield master, and for resisting enemy grapples/shoves.
- Consitution 13: This offers no immediate benefit, but evens out when you eventually take resilient (constitution).
The STR build requires you to boost CON eventually, as both builds will eventually take resilient (constitution). However, with 3 of your 5 feat slots taken, some players may not wish to do this as they would want to keep the remaining 2 slots open to boost DEX to 20, while I personally think 18 DEX is sufficient.
The CON build option almost demands the character take a +1 STR boost at some point in their career (some players cannot abide an odd abilty score). This means the character will either have to live with a DEX 18, or sacrifice one of their three feats - shield master most likely.
In either case, there is a very real possibility that the character will end up with only 4 feat slots by 20th level, assuming they choose to multiclass - as most paladins will take at least 7 levels for the aura. If they end up choosing 8 levels, they do not lose a feat slot, but may miss out on some other feature that may kick in at 13th level in their other class.
Kalani wrote:
I'm normally not a fan of evil characters, but I love the character you've presented, particularly her motivations for going along with the adventurers. She might become an NPC in one of my games. ^^.
Dooflegna wrote:
I want to play at a HotDQ table where this character's personality is overlaid on Cyanwrath. I think it would be a blast !
Kalani wrote:
So yesterday (the 30th) I got to play this build at level 3. Was a blast. The DM surprised me by asking me to roll stats and it was amazing lol. 16 STR, 16 DEX (+2 from human to make it 18), 14 CON, 10 INT, 14 WIS, 15 CHA. Stats secured :p
So yeah, picking up Shield Mastery at 4th. Got to sneak around with the rogue. Spoke draconic to kobolds, a baby dragon and some cultists (seems the DM is running HotDQ after all). Did something like 11 damage per hit on average with the option of adding quite a bit more. I did a little nova where I Vow of Enmity, attack with advantage, tack on Divine Smite and did 28 points of damage in one blow (7,7,8 on the dice + mods). The DM did a double take haha. Anyway everything went great. Lots of fun!
Update: After some additional tinkering, I will be rebuilding this character at 4th level, making them a Half-Elf Instead.
My reasoning for this is as follows:
Stats: The Half-Elf gains +1 STR, +1 DEX, and +2 to CHA. Compared to the Human variant, this gives me the following:
- Half-Elf: STR 13 (4, +1 racial), DEX 16 (9, +1 racial), CON 13 (5), INT 10 (2), WIS 8 (0), CHA 16 (7); total 27
- Human: STR 14 (7), DEX 16 (9, +1 racial), CON 12 (4), INT 10 (2), WIS 8 (0), CHA 14 (5, +1 racial); total 27
- Adjustment: -1 STR, +1 CON, +2 CHA; net +2
Skills: +1 skill vs. variant human
Vision: Darkvision vs. normal vision.
Languages: +1 language (Elvish)
Other: Fey Ancestry (Immunity to magic sleep, advantage vs. charm)
For the cost of 1 feat/ABI, I gain +2 CHA, +1 skill, darvision, Elvish, and Fey Ancestry. My stats also setup nicely to take resilient (constitution) without wasting the stat boost.
Regarding shield master
After further deliberation, I decided not to take shield master, as the character already has several abilities competing for their bonus action (hunter's mark, vow of enmity) and the fact that the character will only gain a +1-2 STR mod to their Athletics checks. As such, I replaced Athletics with Acrobatics. I am torn between +2 DEX or resilient at 8th level, however given the fact that Hoard ends at 7th-8th level, this point is largely moot unless I manage to play Rise, or use the character in high level play next season.
Rebuild vs. Starting Race
As this is an AL character, this is a non-issue, and as such I can gain the benefit of both races at the point when it is most advantagous. For those not playing with the rebuilding rules however, the choice of whether to go human vs. half-elf boils down to the following factors:
- Are you willing to wait until 4th level to pick up Medium Armor Mastery?
- Are you willing to wait until 8th level to pick up your 2nd feat, or 1st ABI?
Mechanically, the half-elf option is superior in respect to this build, gaining more benefit for the same cost (1 feat) than what the human grants. The human does however have the slight advantage of snagging 2 feats by 4th level, or bumping Dexterity to 18 at 4th level instead. Overall, +1 to spellcasting (in addition to the other benefits) is a superior tradeoff to gaining +1 to hit/damage.
I'm not sure I agree with your analysis of the advantages / disadvantages. But I hope you have fun
Have you considered the fact that during pretty much every Adventurer's League module, you'll be expected to attack contrary to Tiamat's motives? I'm completely ok with evil PCs being motivated to act with the more good-aligned party members, but since the whole point of the Adventurer's League module is to work against the Cult of the Dragon who are trying to free Tiamat, wouldn't you be forced into A) abandoning your concept B) refusing to play a particular module or C) Basically antagonising the rest of your table?
EDIT: Sorry, just re-read your concept and I can see that working.
I believe allowing evil PCs into a party is a big mistake, even LE ones. It .... is just asking for trouble.
Psikerlord wrote:
I agree with Aaron, if the player can run an evil character without being a burden to the game and story then there’s no problem. It’s when the player thinks that playing an evil character gives them free license to act completely insane and target the party that I have a problem.
Tho I will say it’s gratifying taking care of those characters in game. There’s nothing like arresting a character for murder, giving them a full trial, and watching the smile fade from their lips as they realize it’s not part of the adventure and their character REALLY has been hanged.
P.S.
Great character Kalani if I haven’t said it already.
I agree - there are a large number of inexperienced players who believe (wrongly) that being evil gives the player licence to being a douche. As with the much maligned Kender race, playing an evil character (or a Kender) requires the player to think of how their character fits into the party, and creates a sense of dramatic tension without being an ass.
Back in the 3.5 days, I created a series of articles on how to play Evil and/or Kender characters - and even went so far as to create example characters to demonstrate this point. Characters that would be memorable and enjoyable, but one's with a clear, well-defined personality so as to avoid falling into the trap of Evil/Kender = douche. While I will not go into exhaustive detail about this here, I will paraphrase some of the characters I have created to demonstrate this point.
In respect to Kender specifically, I firmly believe that Tasselhoff is a terrible model for a PC character. While he makes for an excellent literary device, and comic-relief character - as a PC, he displays a large range of disruptive traits which would cause problems at the table. As a race, Kender are insanely curious, child-like, and innocent. When taken to a negative extreme, these traits result in obnoxious and disruptive behavior - but when kept in balance, and played creatively - you can come up with some very memorable characters.
The next three posts are sample characters I have created which demonstrates this point.
Sir Riddlepot of Kendermore
Lawful(ish) Good Kender Rogue 3/Fighter X
- Early in his wanderlust, Riddlepot came across a dying Knight of Solamnia, who was dilerious with fever and sepsis. While nursing the knight back to health the dilerious knight said "thank you sir knight" on several occasions - wrongly believing he had been helped by a fellow knight. In true kender fashion however, Riddlepot believed that the knight must have "knighted" him in thanks for saving his life, and endevoured to live up to the Knight's expectations, and become the best Kender Knight he could be.
- He had a suit of plate armor manufactured for him (despite being initially nonproficient), and a Kender sized greatsword (a longsword really). For the entirety of L3, my Kender Rogue walked around in Plate Armor - multiclassing into Fighter at 4th level.
- Riddlepot would constantly scold his hands for doing very unknightly things (handling), and tried to negotiate with his wayward hands and plead with them to cooperate. He would also try not to give into his curiosity (but it was very hard), as it was not very knightly behavior. Instead, he tried to be stoic and pompous, with hilarious results. He even tried to grow a set of handlebar moustaches, but failed miserably - resorting to gluing some straw on his face instead.
Here is an insight into how Sir Riddlepot thinks. As you can see below, his thinking is decidedly Kenderish - without being a disruptive influence, nor a Tasselhoff clone. It is also an example of a Lawful(ish) good Kender, who is trying really hard to live up to an impossible standard for his race.
Upon being "knighted"
- I must be a knight? I don't remember being knighted, but the Knight wouldn't say "Thank you Sir Knight" unless I was. Knights aren't known for telling lies, so it must have happened - maybe when I was sleeping, and he just forgot to tell me. I know! He must have knighted me in thanks for saving his life! I better live up to his expectations........First things first. Nurse him back to health, as that injury looks very painful and infected. Sigh, I just wish he would hurry up and get better, as I have a lot of important knight things to do, like getting myself a suit of plate armor and a HUGE sword! All knights wear plate armor, and all knights need a big sword. I won't be a very good knight if I don't get some of my own. How would anyone know I was a Knight without my armor? Oh.....I also need to grow a moustache, just like this guy has. All knights have a moustache!
Talking to his hands when he discovers "handled" objects in his pouches
Keep in mind, I rarely if ever handled any PC items. Those I did "handle", I made certain only to do at non-critical moments, and only during lulls within the activity (as a form of comic relief). I would go so far as to have my character already have something in his possession, and then take extraordinary lengths to return it to the other person without them noticing. At other times, I would use my sleight of hand skill to handle important documents/keys/etc (passing messages secretly to the DM), and would then later "find" the item in my pouch at an opportune moment. I also had an agreement with the DM, that if the party failed to locate a macguffin (key, map, etc) - it may have found its way into my pouch anyway (even without my knowledge). When the party got stuck, I would then ask to search my pouches for a "macguffin", and if one was present the DM would describe what it was.
- You know people don't like it when their stuff ends up in our pouches. Yes, yes, I know..... We had nothing to do with it. But people THINK we did, and they don't look on it kindly. It's not a very knightly thing to do - have other people's stuff in your pouches, I mean. Other knights don't have stuff belonging to other people - not usually at least. So we shoudl make very certain to stop other people's stuff from wandering into our pouches, or being dropped in their by mistake. Yes, yes, I know..... Some people are clumsy and drop things in our pouches all the time. But we have to be very careful to dodge when they do so. I can't do this alone. I need your help to make sure that other people's stuff stays where it belongs, no matter how much it wants to visit our pouches.
And here is an example of a chaotic evil character I created to demonstrate how CE does not equal homocidal/suicidal maniac.
Nice posts
As I am currently playing the build you posted in a group. I did come up with some guidelines for the character that I shared with the DM. When I told him I was going to be Lawful Evil with Tiamat as my deity, he understandably knee jerked. First response: No evil characters in the group. They cause problems and unless I DM an evil party I don't want them to disrupt the group.
So I went over the character in detail. First off, the character has a clear set code of conduct. Much like the Knights of Takhisis (as Kalani points out in her earlier post) the character is not some insane mad man who just kills for killing. He's got rules he abides to. He doesn't steal from the party, won't kill random NPC's, won't kill party members, etc.. He will however show very little mercy when attacked (following the knight's of Takhisis format), will not refrain from testing followers of Tiamat and is a devout follower of the Church himself.
His traits, bonds and flaws are fleshed out and he will be following them during RP'ing. But he's not a douche. He understands that by cooperating with those who can help him achieve his goals, he increases the chances for success.
There's also of course the matter of the social contract everyone agrees to when they take part in a group activity. We're all there to have fun. If you act like a douche bag to everyone in the group just because "my alignment says so", well you're booted. Blaming alignment for the actions of your character is a very weak excuse for acting in ways that aren't acceptable imo. You as the player are making the choices that your character then acts out. You're responsible for it.
It's actually easier to play an evil character in a campaign that has an obvious plot/goal.
I'm currently playing a Lawful Evil warlock in HotDQ, it's very easy to set him up as an ally of the PCs as he was a former Cult of the Dragon member that was left for dead. He was saved by an fiendish entity that had rivalry with Tiamat and has been granted power to go about his vengeance of destroying the cult.
His methods may be unpalatable to the rest of the party, but his goals neatly align with theirs: Destroying the Cult of the Dragon. It's completely workable and the difference in his methodology has lead to some great role-playing opportunities, as the all members of the party are forced to make compromises.
Just curious on what her reaction would be if she managed to get through RoT and came face to face with Tiamat.
Ravix wrote:
I have always considered them the same deity - with the exception that they were different aspects of her.
- Tiamat: Represents her raw draconic essence, and embodies her power, and ruthlessness. She is all about destruction and control.... This is definately the aspect which comes to the forefront should Tiamat defeat the PCs at the conclusion of Rise. I do not consider the stats for Tiamat as being those of the god herself, but rather - those of her Dragon Aspect. In previous editions, a gods true form lacked the discorporation ability. That only applied to the gods aspect when they manifest on a different plane.
- Takhisis: Takes on the aspect of Tyranny, Domination, and Trickery. She is all about world domination and corruption. If her Takhisis persona was summoned instead - she would instead enslave the world, and rule it with an iron fist. Such is not the case in this instance however.
Taevyn idealizes her Takhisis aspect, and seeks to help aid her in claiming dominion over the world. As said in my earlier posts - she is inspired heavily by the Knights of Takhisis, especially Steel Brightblade (the conflicted son of Dragon Highlord Kitiara Uth-Matar, and "Knight of Solamnia" Sturm Brightblade).
Well, the various cultures of Krynn put differing emphases on Takhisis' persona and spheres of influence; and the various peoples of Toril all view Tiamat through different cultural lenses too.
They say it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind. That goes double, nay, exponential for a goddess!
Tiamat is only a lesser power found only in one of Aber-Toril's multiple pantheons, whereas Takhisis is a greater power in Krynn's unified pantheon. But, I've always justified that in my head as her simply choosing to pay more attention to Krynn than Toril (after all, I personally found Krynn more interesting! Why shouldn't she?)
Ultimately, of course, it's all down to what you and your table agree on. Gygax and Arneson aren't going to descend from the heavens to confiscate your dice because "you're having fun wrong." Hell, based on how much fun it sounds like you're having, Ernie and Dave would probably want to roll up some heroes and get in their with ya!
Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to play her much as I am primarily a DM (and have just taken over as the store AL Event Organizer, so I suspect I will have even less time to play now).
I have also temporarily put her on the backburner in favor of an Irish leprecaun-esque gnome entertainer conjuror. While a lot of people think the conjuror is a weaker tradition, I have had a blast with minor conjuration and feel it is only limited by your imagination.
Last week for example, I threw my Expeditions DM for a 6 (as I am currently taking a short break running Expeditions to give a less experienced DM a chance to shine) when I conjured a small balsa-wood chest with an automatically locking clasp beside my character. I then stepped into the box and closed the lid (locking it automatically) - all without leaving an opponents reach. My reasons for doing so were simple:
- I was out of spells with my only offensive cantrip being firebolt. I had been rolling terrible on my attack rolls that night and did not wish to gamble rolling with disadvantage.
- Had I disengaged and moved, they would have followed and I would have gained no advantage (effectively wasting my turn)
- I did not want to get separated from the party too much (I was already some 15-30ft away from other party members).
- The Dodge action would have given me a good chance of not being hit, however the box would guarantee at least one hit would miss my character.
- I assumed the enemy would not realize the chest would disappear after only one hit and hoped it would give me a chance to plan another action.
My gamble paid off. The DM was absolutely stunned by what I did and when the enemy attacked the chest (and it disappeared), I was fortunate that their second attack missed. All in all, a successful way of not being hit that turn.
That and the visual imagery of a gnome-in-a-box was awesome.
I do plan on revisiting the character (or concept) later however, and should I ever play Hoard/Rise in a home game - I will ressurect her as my primary PC for the campaign.
A couple things...
1) I don't think Weis and Hickman intended for the Dragonlance world to become as popular as it did and I don't think they liked all the other authors coming into their sandbox and playing around. Just look at everything they wrote for Dragonlance after Legends... it was like they had a vendetta against the world. As well-written as ever, I do love their style and characters... but no one is happy and everyone dies. Except Tas, of course.
2) I just knew Raistlin should have killed her. Sure Krynn might have suffered a bit, but Tas would have escaped because Tas always escapes, and what else was really worth saving? Maybe talk him out of destroying the *other* gods after he beats Takhisis. Maybe Tas should go back in time to when they gave Raistlin visions of the future he would create by beating her so he wouldn't do it... and show him what would happen if he doesn't beat her. Seriously.... time to find "Option C"