Welcome to Hero Artisan #1, the first 4e contest where you make a character and get it voted on according to all its facets by our judges, to see who can make the best character! This time our chosen theme is winter, in honor of the season. Your goal for this Hero Artisan contest is to make a character suitable for use in a winter-themed game.
The required level for this competition is 5th level. You're permitted to spend 4,480 gp on your equipment; you may purchase any combination of items you wish, though you may not purchase any items above level 6. As per page 143 of the DMG, you're permitted whatever standard adventuring gear you'd like without having to purchase it from your net worth. So, for example, if you want a backpack or bedroll, just write it on your character sheet and don't worry about the cost.
The following section contains the specific rules of the competition, as well as the standards for how the characters will be scored, and general tips to consider when creating a submission.
The Rules
Contest Rules
The following are rules for the Hero Artisan competition, and are subject to change at any time between competition periods. Do note that the Code of Conduct is in effect for all aspects of this contest, and those who break it will be disqualified, and their post will be reported.
Character Creation Parameters
Character Level: 5th
Ability Score Generation: Customized Scores Method (found on pages 17-18 of the PHB)
Character Wealth: 4,480 gp
Max. Value of any single item: 6th level
1) All entries must be submitted with a complete stat block of any format or length, (so long as the stat block is complete, including content like equipment, skills, powers, etc.) accompanied by a character background also of any format or length.
2) All entries must be submitted by the date and time given by the Coordinating Judge; any entries submitted late will not be judged but they are still allowed to be commented on by other users/judges, and may provide a valuable resource to other players out there. The time given for any competition is likely to be within 2-3 weeks; the exact times and dates will be stated by the Coordinating Judge during the contest's start.
3) After submitting an entry, a 30-minute grace period is allowed to edit your work, in the case of mechanical or formatting errors, typos, and the like. Editing your work after 30 minutes is considered breaking the rules. Hence, we urge you to revise your entry thoroughly prior to submitting it, to save hassle. Making use of the preview button in the post window will help you catch most errors before posting.
4) One entry per contestant, and that creator must be the submitter (meaning that all work has to be original, and not stolen from someone else.) Also, do not post an entry if you do not want it to be officially judged.
5) At the start of each competition, the coordinating judge will state a single theme around which to base your entry. There are no restrictions based on the character theme itself; it is merely a suggested guideline, but following it in a creative and interesting way will give merit to your entry.
6) Any material from the following sources is permitted for this contest: Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Martial Power, Adventurer's Vault, and the Draconomicon. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including monster races from the MM. Any other sources -- including D&DI, free web enhancements, and third party material -- are not permitted this time around.
7) Judges reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not follow the above rules, as they see fit.
The following are rules for the Hero Artisan competition, and are subject to change at any time between competition periods. Do note that the Code of Conduct is in effect for all aspects of this contest, and those who break it will be disqualified, and their post will be reported.
Character Creation Parameters
Character Level: 5th
Ability Score Generation: Customized Scores Method (found on pages 17-18 of the PHB)
Character Wealth: 4,480 gp
Max. Value of any single item: 6th level
1) All entries must be submitted with a complete stat block of any format or length, (so long as the stat block is complete, including content like equipment, skills, powers, etc.) accompanied by a character background also of any format or length.
2) All entries must be submitted by the date and time given by the Coordinating Judge; any entries submitted late will not be judged but they are still allowed to be commented on by other users/judges, and may provide a valuable resource to other players out there. The time given for any competition is likely to be within 2-3 weeks; the exact times and dates will be stated by the Coordinating Judge during the contest's start.
3) After submitting an entry, a 30-minute grace period is allowed to edit your work, in the case of mechanical or formatting errors, typos, and the like. Editing your work after 30 minutes is considered breaking the rules. Hence, we urge you to revise your entry thoroughly prior to submitting it, to save hassle. Making use of the preview button in the post window will help you catch most errors before posting.
4) One entry per contestant, and that creator must be the submitter (meaning that all work has to be original, and not stolen from someone else.) Also, do not post an entry if you do not want it to be officially judged.
5) At the start of each competition, the coordinating judge will state a single theme around which to base your entry. There are no restrictions based on the character theme itself; it is merely a suggested guideline, but following it in a creative and interesting way will give merit to your entry.
6) Any material from the following sources is permitted for this contest: Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Martial Power, Adventurer's Vault, and the Draconomicon. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including monster races from the MM. Any other sources -- including D&DI, free web enhancements, and third party material -- are not permitted this time around.
7) Judges reserve the right to disqualify entries that do not follow the above rules, as they see fit.
- Burud Whitescale, by wrecan
- Oddric, by Birdursh
- Chill, by Half_Dragon_Infernal
- Shynuuk, by mouthymerc
- Varsin Windclaw and Juud, by Lord_Ventnor
- Quileon, by Johnathan_Vagabond
- Alun, by SteelMirror
- Janis “Winterlichnacht” Merideth, by Nyronus
- Ryltar of the Crystal Forest, by shaych0488
- Kielle Geldam, by Veok
- Krystalus Kringilin, by Ace_of_time
- Anders Kalmoth, by Nyarlathotep
- The Yeti, by Keiichi_m
- Wixel Feen, by Kolsus_Hayl
- Dresden Archive, Combat Librarian, by Kit_the_Odd
- Q: Can I use homebrew material in my entry?
A: The short answer is "yes," you can. You may invent your own fluff (countries, religion, etc), you may reflavor existing powers, and you may even create your own crunchy stuff (magic items, paragon paths, etc). Remember however, that each element you create is subject to judging. New mechanics, in particular, receive careful attention from judges. You're welcome to invent a whole new paragon path, for example, but the judges will carefully examine it, with an eye towards balance.
In addition, I need to clear up what the above means, because I wasn't as clear as I could be while giving that answer throughout the thread.Ryltar of the Crystal Forest
Male Dreem (race created by Animana, posted at http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=16950507)
This seems to point back to all the questions about whether or not homebrewed material can be used in an entry. Here's the text from the rules section that applies to this discussion:4) One entry per contestant, and that creator must be the submitter (meaning that all work has to be original, and not stolen from someone else.) Also, do not post an entry if you do not want it to be officially judged.
...
6) Any material from the following sources is permitted for this contest: Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Martial Power, Adventurer's Vault, and the Draconomicon. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including monster races from the MM. Any other sources -- including D&DI, free web enhancements, and third party material -- are not permitted this time around.
On top of that, there was a lot of questions about whether homebrewed material could be used, including fluffy bits, reflavoring existing powers, and crunchy bits. I said all were allowed, and even encouraged as a means of expressing your creativity.
The intention is that homebrewed material of your own design is permitted. Once you include material that was written by somebody else, we're bumping into both of the rules quoted above.
However... looking back, I can see how my answers could have been interpreted to say that homebrew material written by others was permitted. So, I apologize for the lack of clarity in my answers. We're going to allow shayc's entry to stand for this contest. In future incarnations of both Hero Craftsman and Hero Artisan, we'll try to make it more clear that using material from somebody's post here on the message boards is not a valid source, and that all homebrew material must be your own creation.
I hope that helps clear up the issue.
Note, however, that homebrewed mechanical elements are going to have an adverse effect on your "rules use" score if the judges feel you have balance issues.
btw i'm not dead, i'll be back for HC 20....maybe HA 2 if i pick up 4e by then
- I completely rebuild the character, then compare my version to the entry. If there's a difference, I try to reconcile it -- I've been wrong before, especially on skills. If I can't reconcile the difference, it goes into my notes (which I share at the end of the contest).
- I read the background quickly, just to get a general idea of what you have in mind for the character. It's at this stage that I begin to form an idea for your score in Thematic Creativity. I also check in this stage to see if your background "fits" your mechanics, at least at a basic level. For example, if you have a level of cleric I want to hear about your faith; if you have a level of fighter, I want to hear about your deeds with a weapon.
- Next, I re-read your background, only much more closely. I use this to backup my or refute my inclinations from the first reading. Did I just miss the reference to your deity? Does your level of fighter make more sense? Does your character fit the theme? It's during this stage that I look for several things:
- Plot hooks. A good background gives the DM plot points that he/she can work with. The easiest one is to develop a protagonist. Who's your arch-enemy, even if they don't know it?
- Allies. Just about everybody has an ally or two they can lean on in difficult times. Even a loner like Batman, for example, has Alfred. These are also important tools for a DM, because he/she can use them to help you or to motivate you, such as by giving you a plot hook. ("Hey, big brother! I really need some help. I got into some gambling debts. Big debts. They want me to... do things. How do I get out of this mess?")
- Justify your level. You've gained levels in your career. Explain to me how. You don't have to list every encounter or quest that earned you experience, but you should hit the highlights. And those highlights should be reasonable. For example, I once had a player give me a character sheet for a second level character that had, as the defining moment of her background, her character defeated a great old dragon in single-person combat.
I've also received backgrounds - both in these contests and in real life - for higher level characters that have done nothing but kill orcs and goblins. - Family. Not all judges agree, but I personally want to know something about your family. Are your parents alive? Do you have siblings? A spouse? Children of your own? I know a lot of players are reluctant to include them, because DMs always kidnap them and hold them for ransom. I'm sort of the opposite. If all your relatives are dead, you can be sure you'll encounter at least one of them as an undead at some point.
- Plot hooks. A good background gives the DM plot points that he/she can work with. The easiest one is to develop a protagonist. Who's your arch-enemy, even if they don't know it?
I think that's the highlights, at least. Hope it helps!
For the winter theme, does it necessarily have to be the kind of snowy winter that most of the US and Europe gets, or can it be tied in to the kind of winters seen in other climates? Where I live, it rains during "winter".
We're always open-minded to a contestant pushing the boundary of the theme. On the plus side, convincing the judges you've hit the theme will likely earn you a high Thematic Creativity score; the downside, of course, is that failure to convince the judges you've hit the theme will likely mean a low Thematic Creativity score.
Are you allowed to re-flavour powers? For example, could I take "Eldritch Blast" and flavour it as a magical snowball?
Yep, absolutely. It's been done before in the 3.5 version, and I see no reason why it can't continue. Reflavoring, in my opinion, is a great way to take an existing mechanic and make it fit the theme of the character you want to have.
Question: I've posted several character builds on this forum, and have a particular format I do it in. When I post the statblock for my entry, could I use that same format?
Obsidian is dead on. As it says in the rules, you may use any format you like for the stat block. If you miss information, that'll affect your Rules Use score. If a particular judge finds it difficult to locate information, that'll affect your Clarity score. Conversely, if a judge really likes your format, that'll positively affect your Clarity score.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Burud has pale white scales with an icy blue tinge that matches the arctic blue of his eyes. Everything about him is pale and ethereal. Unlike other dragonborn, he is not bulky. Instead, he is wiry, sinewy and strong, his arms appearing almost gangly, like strong vines. His breath is always frosty, no matter how warm it is outside, providing the appearance that he is standing in a wintry world of his own.
PERSONALITY:
Burud is as wintry as his appearance. He is gruff, in the manner of many dragonborn, but when he is angry, it is a cool anger. There is no seething emotion there—only chilling icy determination.
HISTORY:
Unlike other dragonborn, Burud’s family cannot trace their heritage to some long forgotten family of power. As far as Burud knows, his family come from a long line of dragonborn who held the lower rungs of dragonborn society. Squires, servants, maybe an honored clerk, but no heroes, no warriors, no champions. Perhaps it the Whitescales’ resemblance to the lowly white dragon, the least of all the draconic breeds. Whatever the reason that Burud’s family had been minimized, Burud decided it was time for this to come to an end.
He decided to venture far to the north. With him, he took his family’s only heirloom: the Rod of the Dragonborn. He believed that the white dragons were not as brutish as he was led to believe. He envisioned serving a great majestic dragon of ice in some honorable campaign. But when he arrived in the wintry lands, he learned that he had been told the truth. White dragons were every bit as venal and selfish as he had been told. They were not worthy of his service.
Dejected, the young Burud wandered in the wintry wastes, his life’s quest a failure. At long last, he decided to end it all through exposure to the cold. He stripped naked on a mountaintop and waited for the cold to place him into an everlasting sleep. But as he closed his eyes, he had a vision that changed his life.
In his vision, he learned that his family’s white scales are due to a distant ancestor who once traveled deep into the coldest reaches of the Pit where devils dwell, emerging white and pure as arctic snow. Burud had no idea that the Pit was anything other than brimstone and fire. But he saw in his vision, that there is a colder,more frigid area of Hell, that his ancestor had learned to harness.
The other dragonborn had feared his ancestor’s powers, and his descendants were shunted to the least professions lest they rediscover their primordial powers. In his vision, he learned that he could unlock those powers as well.
Burud embraced his heritage, notwithstanding its hellish taint. His nameless ancestor has also been a great warrior, and embodiment of icy fury and wintry wrath. Burud would reclaim that great legacy.
He stood, born anew, baptized in sleet and ice. He dressed and walked undeterred to the nearest settlement. There he stayed to study his newfound abilities. He began to explore the frozen tundra, expanding his powers, finding new allies (including whatever party he joins) and making some enemies. But none of this would distract him from his goal.
He plans to reenact his ancestor’s great trek into Hell, and to retrace his ancestor’s steps. He will descend into the infernal tundra and unlock all the secrets of the cold power he has found for himself, and he shall create a new dragonborn legacy, one born of ice and honor, one that will place the name “Whitescale” amongst the most revered dragonborn families.
ALLY AND ENEMY:
Serathis: An eladrin wizard and alchemist that supplies Burud with his alchemists’ frost and ha also agreed to upgrade his rod when Burud has gathered the requisite materials. Burud knows Serathis used to live in the Feywild amongst his fellows, but Burud does not pry into his heritage. In return, Serathis does nto pry into Burud’s history. This mutual respect has formed into a fast friendship.
Axenoraxinal: When Burud first arrived in the tundra, he tracked down and offered his services to this young white dragon. Burud was offended, however, when Axenoraxinal treated him like a common kobold (or worse). In short order, Axenoraxinal’s dim mind and poor management skills drove Burud away. Weeks after Burud left (it took weeks for the dragon to realize he was gone), however, Axenoraxinal decided this was insulting and Burud needs to be punished. Axenoraxinal told his kobolds that whosoever kills Burud would become his favored servant. Burud has had to deal with kobold attacks ever since.
REFLAVORING BURUD’S POWERS:
Note that this assumes he is wielding his Rod of the Dragonborn, which changes the damage type of all his powers to cold. (If he wishes to inflict a different damage type, he will choose not to use the rod – for instance if he goes up against a creature with resistance to cold)
Contagion: A sinister wind surrounds the target and infects it with a deep chill that follows him, chilling all in his proximity.
Dark One’s Blessing: As Burud’s foe falls, Burud inhales deeply, savoring the victory. The air between he and his fallen foe turns frigid, and Burud breathes in the frosty air in a scene reminiscent of Burud’s icy breath travelling backwards into his mouth.
Diabolic Grasp: An icy blizzard covers the ground in a thin layer of sleet, pushing the opponent across its path and shredding his skin with icy shards.
Eldritch Blast: A blast of icy breath shoots forth from Burud’s maw at his foe. (His hurled dragon breath is also described this way.)
Ethereal Stride: Burud’s scales fall off as large swirling snowflakes, but leave nothing behind! They reform in a whirl a short distance away, indistinct as a blurry storm.
Frigid Darkness: No change.
Hunger of Hadar: Burud creates am impenetrable zone of swirling white snow. The incredible coldness saps the life from all within.
STATS:
Dragonborn, Warlock 5
Unaligned
Build: Scourge Warlock
Eldritch Blast: Eldritch Blast Constitution
Eldritch Pact: Infernal Pact
RACIAL POWER
Dragon Breath (cold)
FINAL ABILITY SCORES (scores before racial and level increases in parentheses)
Str 14 (12), Con 19 (18), Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 16 (13).
DEFENSES
AC: 15 Fort: 16 Reflex: 13 Will: 16
HP: 51 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 16
TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate, Endurance, Religion, Streetwise, Thievery.
FEATS
1: Skill Training (Endurance)
2: Wintertouched
4: Hurl Breath
POWERS
1. At-Will: Eldritch Blast
1. At-Will: Dark One’s Blessing
1. Encounter: Diabolic Grasp
1. Daily: Contagion
2. Utility: Ethereal Stride
3. Encounter: Frigid Darkness
5. Daily: Hunger of Hadar
ITEMS
Body slot: Leather Armor of Resistance (cold) +1
Main hand: Mace
Off-hand: Rod of the Dragonborn +1
Arms: Bracers of the Perfect Shot (heroic tier)
Hands: Gloves of Piercing (heroic tier)
Belt: Hand Crossbow, Crossbow Bolt (20), and a Bag of Holding (heroic tier) containing Alchemist's Frost (level 1) (5), Alchemist's Frost (level 6), Bedroll, Journeybread, Thieves' Tools, Waterskin, Flint and Steel, and 30 pp, 26 gp and 9 sp.
I'm hoping to get the time to update the List of Questions later today.
What sources are allowed? Just the core books, all the books published so far, all the books plus Dungeon and Dragon ...? I'm guessing the later but would like to be sure. Thanks.
As it says in the opening post, under The Rules:
6) Any material from the following sources is permitted for this contest: Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Martial Power, Adventurer's Vault, and the Draconomicon. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including monster races from the MM. Any other sources -- including D&DI, free web enhancements, and third party material -- are not permitted this time around.
Edit: Also, Wrecan, 1 pp is 100 gp, not 10.
Backstory:
The frozen wastelands of the North are an inhospitable place. The driving snow and icy winds are as lethal as the monstrous creatures that make the realm their home. From the jagged mountain ranges that border the realm come the vicious goblinoid races; crawling from their rocky burrows to raid the scattered hamlets of those unfortunate - or foolish enough - to make this place their home.
One of the greatest defenses of these motes of civilization was the wizard Glenhannon. Dubbed Glen, by his friends, this powerful mage devoted his life to guarding the people of the North. His tower stood proudly opposing the mountains that dwarfed it, it's roof capped by a gleaming jewel that shone as a beacon through even the darkest winter storms. Glenhannon's home was always open to those who needed a place of refuge and he was loved greatly by the people. As the years went by, Glenhannon turned from a young man, full of youthful strength and power, to an aged scholar who seldom emerged from his bright tower. Despite his increasing years, he still held the orcs at bay - often through sheer reputation alone - and his hearth was always warm and willing to greet tired travellers.
However, there was a side to the wizard that few ever knew. In the basements of his shining tower was a dark hole with a magical gate. The gate led deep underground into the bowels of the earth and, eventaully, into the honeycombed caverns that the goblinoids called home. On rare occasions, Glenhannon would stride through his magical gate on a raid of his own, striking deep into goblin territory and letting the creatures have a taste of the fear they caused the people on the surface. Sometimes, Glanhannon would not return home alone.
Oddric was huge, even amongst his Bugbear brothers and sisters - especially those he'd eaten. He was not especially clever, or observant, but many of his people followed him because of his size and good looks. That's right, Oddric was a very handsome bugbear. He'd often find himself surrounded by other young bugbears and goblins, all curious what mischief they were to get into that day. With a toothy grin he'd invariably suggest Hide and Seek, and they would play in the caves for hours. Oddric was very good at his favourite game.
It was on just such a day that a wizened Glenhannon stormed into the camp. Fire rained from his hands as he set the crude houses and bedrolls alight. Goblins screamed and bugbears roared, but all were mercilessly reduced to ash before the wizard's might. With grim determination, the ancient wizard killed every creature he could see.
But he could not see Oddric.
It had been Oddric's turn to hide when the wizard arrived. The bugbear watched the wizard kill his friends and family, hatred buring in his beady eyes that reflected the raging flames, and as the wizard turned and headed home, Oddric followed. Using all his knowledge of Hide and Seek, Oddric flitted from shadow to stalagmite without a sound. Whether through Oddric's skill of Glenhannon's age, the wizard failed to notice the three hundred pound bulk following him and soon they arrived at Glenhannon's magical gate. The glowing bars hissed open like a snake and the wizard stepped through. Oddric leapt through at the last minute and yowled as his foot became caught in the hissing bars of energy. Glenhannon turned, a look of shock on his face.
"How did you get here?" he cried.
Teeth bared, Oddric threw all of his considerably weight into a powerful lunge. The last thing Glenhannon heard was Oddric's answer - the first words that popped into his tiny mind.
"ODDRIC IS STEALTHY!"
Hours later, Oddric stared at the pile of goods before him. He had looted the wizard's cupboards and found no shortage of interesting, shiny things. The charred remains of his home were completely forgotten as he toyed with a small embroidered pouch. He stuffed a hand, still caked in blood, inside and squealed with glee as he pulled forth a single loaf of the most wonderful bread he'd ever seen, still warm as if fresh from the oven. He stuffed half of it into his mouth and chewed happily while he tried to recall if there had been some jam in the wizard's stores. He dearly loved jam.
He was just picking the crumbs out of his hairy chest when the front door burst open. A blast of icy air raced into the tower faster than the young woman who was now trying to close it. Finally sealing the winter outside, she removed her hood, letting a wave of silky blonde hair unfurl itself.
"Dad," she called, "I'm home!"
She turned to see a bugbear sitting in the middle of the common room, a pile of her father's possessions at his feet, blood caked on his hands, and a confused expression on his face. She screamed, and lightning flashed from her hands, scorching the ground where Oddric had been sitting only moments before. Oddric screamed too as a second bolt singed his fur. With another frightened bellow, Oddric scooped up what he could from the pile and threw himself out a window.
The woman rushed to the gaping hole in the shattered glass and could just make out the blurry form of the bugbear as he turned and shouted above the howling wind in broken Common.
"Old wizard bad! Yellow-hair lady bad! Oddric is hero! Oddric is bugbear hero!"
And with that, he fled into the night.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical Description:
Oddric is about as big as a bugbear can get. 7 feet high, 300 pounds of corded muscles. Despite his bulk, he moves with a feline grace and speed that often surprises people. His hair is coarse and reddish-brown, and covers most of his body. His eyes are black and beady and somewhat vacant, but they dart around constantly and warily. He wears a suit of armour that is too small for him, stretched and ripped to cover what he deems to be his "important bits." He has a number of objects strapped haphazardly about his person.
Personality:
Oddric is neither smart nor wise, but he does possess an animal's cunning and an uncanny amount of spatial awareness that somehow lets him hide in circumstances when you wouldn't normally think it possible. He doesn't understand how he does it, nor does he question. He prefers to act, rather than think, and can always be counted on to make a decision, though not always the smartest or most expected one. He loves to make friends and is fiercely loyal to anyone who would name him so. He is rather naive, and would happily trust everyone he meets except that they usually try to kill him. Once they confront him violently, he will not forgive them easily.
Motivations
Having no home and being alone in the surface world, Oddric decided the only possible thing to do was look for... something. He has trouble remembering exactly what it is he wants. Sometimes it's a new home where bugbears may live free from oppression, sometimes it's new shiny treasures to add to his collection, sometimes it's adventure itself and glory for his name, but usually his adventures start when he wanders into a town and asks if they have any jam for his bread.
Allies and Enemies:
Frisig With a backstory no less tragic than Oddric's own - though his family was killed by a large bear rather than a powerful wizard - the kobold Frisig is Oddric's trusted companion. Letting his headstrong companion and mount, Herr Cwicric the Pig, charge into battle, Frisig prefers to hide in a bush or up a tree and fire arrows from the relative safety. Oddric is amused by his little friend's antics, and is even known to share some of his bread with the little lizard. Sometimes.
Galhenna- Daughter of the wizard Glenhannon, Galhenna has taken up his role fighting the goblinoids. She particularly hates bugbears, after Oddric killed her father, and has slain many of the race. She keeps searching for the one who got away with the wizard's murder, but even when she's managed to corner Oddric he's somehow managed to escape.
Stats:
Bugbear Rogue, Lvl 5
Sex: Male, Age: 14, Weight: 300 lbs, Height: 7', Alignment: Unaligned.
Build: Aerialist/Brawny
Class Features: Ruthless Ruffian
Ability Scores: (scores before racial and level increases in parentheses)
Str: 16 (14), Con: 13 (12), Dex: 20 (17), Int: 8, Wis: 8, Cha: 14
Defenses
AC: 18, Fort: 15, Ref: 19, Will: 14
HP: 45, Surges: 7, SV: 11
Trained Skills:
Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Perception, Stealth, Thievery
Feats:
1: Backstabber (PHB)
2: Power Attack (PHB)
4: Into the Fray (MP)
Powers:
1A: Deft Strike
1A: Disheartening Strike
1E: Dazing Strike
1D: Blinding Barrage
2U: Great Leap
3E: Blade Vault
5D: Walking Wounded
Items:
Main Hand: Large Lullaby Mace +1 (AV)
Off Hand: Sack of Rocks
Armour: Cloth Breaching Armour +1 (AV)
Hands: Hedge Wizard's Gloves (AV)
Belt: Large Resounding Sling +1, Bag of Holding (bedroll, flint and steel, rations, assorted junk and trinkets), Sack of WUNDARBRED, Potion of Resistance (Cold) x2.
Cost of Items
Bag of Holding (lvl 5) - 1000
Lullaby Weapon +1 (4) - 840
Hedge Wizard's Gloves (4) - 840
Breaching Armour (3) - 680
Resounding Weapon (2) - 520
WUNDARBRED* (1) - 360
Potion of Resistance x2 (4) - 80
Assorted mundane crap - >=0
= 4320 gp
*WUNDARBRED* = As per Everlasting Provisions wonderous item (lvl 4, PHB), but it makes a single loaf of bread.
I'm roughly stealing wrecan's format cause he seemed to know what he's doing.
That assumption has been the downfall of many an entry!! :D
Is changing damage-types of powers acceptable?
I'm inclined to say yes, as one of the more common reflavoring suggestions is changing radiant damage to necrotic when making evil divine characters, but I'd have to check with the rest of the judges.
What do you say, gang?
That assumption has been the downfall of many an entry!! :D
That's why I made mine twice as long - To... um... make the judges' eyes bleed from reading so they can't see the formatting?
Good grief. I really need to learn the code for those Spoiler buttons.
This is a spoiler block
This is the stuff you can't see
Simply
sblock
and
/sblock
in the brackets [ and ].
Yields you:Show
sBlock fun, let's dance! *boomboomboom!*
Woo! I'm happy to have submitted. And hey, so far I'm 50/50 to win!
Chill
Longtooth Shifter, Beastmaster Ranger 5
“We are like the winter, fierce and ruthless”
Physical Description:
Chill is a tall, lanky shifter with a tangible aura of cold around him. His piercing blue eyes strike many people as noticeable. He is generally seen wearing the piece of boar-hide that served his mentor well, with his double sword on his back. His wolf Faral follows him wherever he goes, and has a pure white coat.
Personality:
Chill doesn’t talk much, and is unfriendly at first, but once you are a friend he treats you with great respect. He never lets go of grudges, and despises those who oppress the weak.
History:
Chill was left alone by his parents in the dead of winter, and thus has never known his real parents. But he was found by a group of wolves, who nurtured him and taught him to become part of the pack. He first interacted with other humanoids when he was ten, found by a hunter looking to find the thing that terrorized the nearby village. The hunter was about to slaughter the wolves when he was attacked by a monstrous bear with eyes that burned with bloodlust and hatred. The wolves attacked the bear, for it had been encroaching on their territory. They slew the bear, and the hunter introduced himself as Erik, but at a great cost, for only Chill and a wolf Erik named Faral survived. He was also the one to give Chill his name, because Chill always was colder than most normal humanoids. He brought Chill into his home, and shooed Faral away, but the wolf insisted on being with Chill, so he let the wolf stay with him and Chill. He taught Chill to read and write, and to use weapons. Chill started juggling two weapons at once, and didn’t like using a shield or a big, heavy weapon. When they went to a weapons exhibition, he found a weapon the blacksmith said was a double sword, for it was two swords with one handle. When chill practiced using the sword, it suddenly became covered with frost and froze the practice dummy solid. When Erik, who had seen some unusual things with weapons before, practiced with the sword, it would not freeze the target. Chill tried it again, and though the dummy did not freeze, it was noticeably colder, and the sword was covered with a thin layer of frost. They bought the sword, and brought it home. That night, a guild thief who had seen the dummy freeze when Chill struck it, snuck in and slit Erik’s throat. As he crept in to Chills room to kidnap him for the guild master, he tripped over Faral and landed on his own dagger, killing himself. Chill heard the noise and woke up, and seeing the dead thief, ran over to Erik’s room. When he saw that Erik was dead, he cried until the sun rose. He then set out with his new sword and a piece of hide Erik had used as armor for many years. He wandered through town, and when the blacksmith who had sold Chill his sword saw him alone, for it was known in the town that they traveled together, he told what had happened. The blacksmith pitied him, introduced himself as Sammy and said that he could stay. Now Chill has set out to right wrongs, and removes oppressive dictatorships that threaten hard-working farmers and others. He has already removed the guild that sent out the person to kidnap him, but the guild master ran and now has a burning hatred of Chill.
Ally and Enemy:
Sammy: A kindly giant, Sammy is always willing to provide Chill with whatever he needs and is more than willing to lend him some money.
Rithdar: Rithdar is the guild master whose guild was destroyed by Chill, and now he sets out to gather an even more powerful guild in a larger city that will slay Chill.
Stats:
Longtooth Shifter, Ranger 5
Unaligned
Beastmaster Ranger Class Feature (Wolf)
Racial Power:
Longtooth Shifting
FINAL ABILITY SCORES (scores before racial and level increases in parentheses)
Str 19 (16), Con 13 (13), Dex 14 (14), Int 10 (10), Wis 17 (14), Cha 8 (8)
DEFENSES
AC: 19 Fort: 18 Reflex: 17 Will: 16
HP: 45 Surges: 7 Surge Value: 11
TRAINED SKILLS (Modifier [Sources])
Athletics (+13 [+4 Strength, +5 Training, +2 Half Level, +2 Race])
Endurance (+10 [+1 Constitution, +5 Training, +2 Half Level, +2 Race])
Intimidate (+6 [-1 Charisma, +5 Training, +2 Half Level])
Nature (+10 [+3 Wisdom, +5 Training, +2 Half Level])
Perception (+10 [+3 Wisdom, +5 Training, +2 Half Level])
Stealth (+9 [+2 Dexterity, +5 Training, +2 Half Level]).
FEATS
1: Student of the Sword
2: Two-Weapon Fighting
4: Two-Weapon Defense
POWERS
1. At-Will: Circling Strike (MP 43)
1. At-Will: Twin Strike (PHB 105)
1. Encounter: Synchronized Strike (MP 43)
1. Daily: Jaws of the Wolf (PHB 106)
2. Utility: Yield Ground (PHB 106)
3. Encounter: Paired Predators (MP 46)
5. Daily: Frenzied Skirmish (PHB 107)
ITEMS
Body slot: +1 Veteran’s Hide Armor (AV 55, 520 gp)
Main/Off hand: +1 Frost Double Sword (PHB 234, 680 gp)
Neck: +1 Amulet of Health (PHB 249, 680 gp)
Arm: Quickhit Bracers (AV 118, 1,000 gp)
Companion: Companions Defender (Heroic Tier) (AV 122, 1,000 gp)
Feet: Boots of Adept Chargin (AV 126, 520 gp)
Belt: 1 Augmenting Whetstone (AV 190, 75 gp), Flint and Steel, and 5 gp.
Backpack: Bedroll, Trail Rations (10 days), Hempen Rope, Sunrods (2), Waterskin.
I sure hope the judges like wrecan's format. Otherwise, we're gonna have a lot of low clarity scores. :P :P :P
I sure hope the judges like wrecan's format. Otherwise, we're gonna have a lot of low clarity scores. :P :P :P
Well, if I squint real hard and turn my head just so....
Show
:P
Shynuuk
Level 5 Windsoul Genasi Swordmage (Assault)
6'2"; 130 lb.; silver skin with light blue energy lines; glowing blue and gray ice crystal spikes on the head.
Initiative +3; Senses Perception +4
HP 53 Bloodied 26 Healing Surges: 10 (13 hp)
AC 19(22); Fort 14; Ref 16; Will 16
Speed 6
Action Points 1
Melee Frost scimitar +9 vs AC (1d8+4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Racial Traits: Elemental Origin, Elemental Manifestation (resist 5 cold, windwalker)
Class Abilities Swordbond, Swordmage Aegis of Assault, Swordmage Warding
At-Will Powers Aegis of Assault, Lightning Lure, Sword Burst
Encounter Powers Chilling Blow, Sloth Strike, Windwalker
Daily Powers Elemental Foible, Frost Backlash
Utility Power: Fear No Elements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alignment Good; Languages Common, Primordial
Feats Armor Proficiencies (cloth, leather), Elemental Assault (Cold), Intelligent Blademaster, Weapon Proficiencies (simple melee, military heavy blades, simple ranged), Wintertouched
Skills Arcana +11, Athletics +7, Endurance +11, Insight +9, Nature +6
Str 10; Con 14; Dex 12; Int 19; Wis 14; Cha 12
Equipment Basic clothing, standard adventurer's kit, Skybound Leather +1, Frost Scimitar +1, Bracers of Mental Might, Boots of Spider Climbing
Background
Shynuuk grew to adulthood in the north where life can be very cheap. His windsoul allowed him a little more comfort than others without his advantages. At a young age he was fascinated by the traveling swordmages that meted out justice in one hamlet or another. They always seemed to be on hand when danger threatened what little population there was. Their bravery in the face of such enemies inspired him to follow in their path. Shynuuk was not content, though, to stay in the north and now travels the world to find adventure where he can. He uses his abilities to help people where and when he can and is not afraid to stand up against any percieved evil in the world.
[u][size=4]Varsin Windclaw and Juud[/u][/size]
[u][size=3]Fluff[/u][/size]
[u]Physical Description[/u]
Varsin Windclaw is a dragonborn that stands at an impressive 6 feet, 9 inches tall, with light turquoise scales, which could be mistaken for white at a distance, layering his body. He has dark orange eyes, and he has navy blue “hair” which goes down to his back. He possesses a long scar over his face that extends almost vertically, dividing his face in half on left and right sides.
Varsin’s preferred clothing style is an insulating layer of warm fur worn underneath a suit of chainmail that has been enchanted to resist the cold better. The combination is usually enough to keep him warm in the freezing North where he lives, although for times where it gets really cold, he’ll also pull on a bear-skin jacket as well.
Juud is a rare creature known as a Whitespawn Guardian, a cross between a Guard Drake and a White Dragon. Juud looks a lot like a Guard Drake would, but possesses several draconic traits, most notable white scales that complement Varsin’s own. Juud’s facial features more closely resemble that of a white dragon, right down to the small crest on the top of his head.
[u]Personality[/u]
Varsin has a rather single-minded goal, one that’s always at the forefront of his mind: to wipe out every single last dragon living in the Northlands. Whenever he makes an important decision or takes a decisive action, he always tries to ensure that his endeavor will somehow further his goal of wiping out dragonkind, whether it is as simple as getting stronger so that he can take a dragon on, or as complex as routing out an informer of a powerful dragon master.
Although Varsin’s goal can be obsessive at times, it’s not all he does. When he gets a chance, Varsin will pray to Bahamut, the deity that most staunchly opposes the evil of chromatic dragons, and he always makes sure he has time where he can bond with Juud, his friend and partner. Of every single creature in the world, Juud is the only one that Varsin trusts implicitly, as he has a hard time opening up to others.
Juud is rather canine-like at times. He’s fiercely protective of Varsin, as the dragonborn was the first creature to ever show Juud kindness. Although Juud can act foolish at times, the Whitespawn Guardian can be more clever than he lets on. He’ll only accept orders from Varsin, or a person that Varsin designates as trustworthy (even then, Juud will act skeptical of orders given from someone who isn’t Varsin). When not fighting or patrolling, Juud enjoys sleeping. Eating, sleeping, and fighting seem to be all that Juud ever does. Not that he’s complaining, mind you.
[u]History[/u]
Varsin Windclaw was born in Fraten a small, mixed racial settlement in the Northlands. His childhood didn’t last very long, for when Varsin was 6, a particularly brutal war between two of the oldest dragons in the land came to a close, with the elder white dragon Zarkhasi killing her rival. Zarkhasi wasted no time in expanding her dominion until she and her brood controlled practically all of the Northlands. Zarkhasi descended upon Fraten one fateful day, and enslaved every last man, woman, and child there, sending them off to her lair, where she was remodeling it as a palace of sorts.
Many Frateners did not survive the hellish trip to the dragon’s lair, yet Varsin survived, as he would for the next decade under the eyes of Zarkhasi and her dragonspawn slavedrivers. During this time Varsin was able to befriend one of the dragonspawn, an “experiment” by one of Zarkhasi’s children combining their genes with that of a guard drake. Their first encounter was accidental, when Varsin dropped some of his food and the creature snapped it up. Similar encounters happened, and over time, the creature grew to adore Varsin, who named his unintended friend “Juud.”
Some time after he turned 16, Varsin found his chance to escape during a slave riot. He managed to find a treasure room, where he in turn faced down one of Zarkhasi’s youngest children. The battle would have ended badly for him, were it not for the intervention of Juud. Together, the two managed to slay the wyrmling, and Varsin managed to take a few things before he made his escape into wilderness with Juud at his side. Since then, Varsin has been growing stronger, and he has vowed to slay all dragons in the Northlands and free the surviving Frateners from Zarkhasi’s icy clutches.
[u]Allies[/u]
Zorahay Windclaw is Varsin’s older half-sister, and his only remaining family left. She still languishes in Zarkhasi’s slave pits, although her thoughts are mostly on her half-brother, who she had to raise herself after their father was killed trying to resist Zarkhasi when the dragon initially arrived in Fraten.
Stungrim Holdearth is the leader of the main resistance movement in the Northlands against Zarkhasi’s rule. Formerly the captain of the guard in a former Northern city-state that was annexed by Zarkhasi, this tough old dwarf respects strength and wisdom above all, as he believes that either by themselves is dangerous.
[u]Antagonist[/u]
Zarkhasi is an elder white dragon, and the self-styled “Empress of the North.” She is rather cruel and vindictive, as all chromatic dragons are, although she is also vain. Her main rival before her rise to power was a red dragon who mocked her as “uncivilized,” and although she ultimately slew him, she has become determined to rule her empire “as a proper empress should.” She still hasn’t forgotten the death of Dralok, who was but a wyrmling at the time of his death, and would like to kill the murderer personally; it is more an issue of avenging her pride rather than her child, especially since the killer also took some items from that particular treasure room.
[size=3]Crunch[/size]
Varsin Windclaw
Dragonborn Ranger Lv. 1
Ability Scores:
STR: 19 (+4)
CON: 14 (+2)
DEX: 14 (+2)
INT: 10 (+0)
WIS: 14 (+2)
CHA: 10 (+0)
Defenses:
AC: 19
FORT: 18
REF: 16
WILL: 15
Resistances: 5 Cold
Hit Points:
Full: 46
Bloodied: 23
Healing Surge Value: 13
# of Surges/day: 8
Powers:
Melee Basic Attack: (With Greataxe) +9 vs. AC / 1d12+5
At-Will: Circling Strike, Deft Strike
Encounter: Synchronized Strike, Paired Predators, Dragon Breath (Cold)
Daily: Partnered Savaging, Lacerating Maul
Utility: Hunter’s Privilege
Feats
1.) Avowed Dragonfoe
2.) Breath-Resistant Beast
4.) Armor Proficiency (Chainmail)
Details:
Languages: Common, Draconic
Racial Features: +2 History, +2 Intimidate, Dragonborn Fury, Draconic Heritage, Dragon Breath
Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Heal, Nature, Perception
Class Features: Beast Mastery, Hunter’s Quarry
Items:
Weapon Slot: +1 Rending Greataxe
Armor Slot: +1 Armor of Resistance (Cold) Chainmail
Neck Slot: +1 Amulet of Resolution
Head Slot: Circlet of Second Chances
Waist Slot: Belt of Vigor
Companion Slot: Friend’s Gift
Other Items: Restful Bedroll, 2 Potions of Healing, Augmenting Whetstone, Adventurer’s Kit
Juud
Lizard Beast Companion Lv.
[u]Ability Scores:[/u][b]
STR: 17 (+3)
CON: 14 (+2)
DEX: 17 (+3)
INT: 6 (-2)
WIS: 12 (+1)
CHA: 6 (-2)
[u]Defenses:[/u]
AC: 20
FORT: 17
REF: 17
WILL: 15
Resistances: 7 Cold
[u]Hit Points:[/u]
Full: 54
Bloodied: 27
Healing Surge Value: 13
# of Surges/day: 2
[u]Details[/u]
Speed: 6
Attack Bonus: +9
Damage: 1d8
Special Ability: Juud gets +2 to attack rolls when making opportunity attacks.
Skills: Athletics, Endurance
(Notices one entry that was almost exactly what he was going to post)
(Goes back to drawing board)
Hmmph!
I've got the skeleton of my character done, just not happy with the background.
*crumples up paper*
Take two!
I'm still thinking which I'll enter for the contest. I have a billion character ideas, but can't decide on one.
I have that problem, too -- both for when I'm entering (rather than running) Hero Craftsman as well as making a character for a game. I don't really have any advice on how to pick one, though. I usually go with the one that seems like the least amount of work. :D
Snowslayer[/b]
Level 5 Eladrin Ranger (Two-Weapon)
Initiative: +5; Senses: Perception +10, Intuition +5
HP 42 Bloodied 21 Healing Surges: 6 (10 hp)
AC 19; Fort 17; Ref 17; Will 17
Speed 5
Action Points 1
Basic Melee: Summerfire (+1 Flaming Longsword) or Summerlight (+1 Radiant Longsword) +9 vs AC (1d8+4)/(1d8+5 if Fire or Radiant)
Basic Ranged: Summerflare (+1 Flameburst Longbow) +8 vs AC (1d10+4)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Racial Traits: Eladrin Skills, Fey Origin, Trance, Eladrin Will, Eladrin Weapon Proficiency, Eladrin Education, Seelie Step*
Class Abilities: Prime Shot, Hunter's Quarry, Two Weapon Specialization
At-Will
Twin Strike
Hit and Run
Hit and Run
Alun, Male Eladrin Warlord 5 (Tactical Presence)
Alun's story is tied up in the events of his homeland (in the feywild) and the corresponding locations on the material Plane.
Character Background
Prologue
When the first halfling traders established Hielo as a trading post 300 years ago, it was situated firmly at the intersection of no less than 5 major overland and river trade routes. Unfortunately, the valley that held it also saw clouds and rain more days each year than sunshine, and bitter winters that lasted for 5 months and made commerce and travel impossible.
Then, 200 years ago, an enterprising ex-adventurer resolved to make Hielo into the booming trade town it was meant to be. The particular rites used have been forgotten, but through powerful magics this individual reshaped the very seasons that held sway in the region. The glacier retreated from the valley floor, and a mild and enchanting spring reigns year-round in the Hielo valley, even as storms and snow rage in the areas nearby as before. Since that time the trading post has expanded into a cosmopolitan city, surrounded by idyllic countryside and productive farms. Life has never been better for the people of Hielo.
Alun’s Story
The eladrin Alun remembers this story quite differently. He was a young boy 200 years ago, living with his family in the feywild as his people had since time immemorial. That year the winter was especially harsh, and after 5 months the ice showed no sign of melting. Alun’s people grew at first uneasy, then afraid that the natural world was not working as it should. They tried to contact the great fey spirits that tended Nature’s needs, but all were asleep waiting for the winter to pass. It seemed that the world was ending under the suffocating weight of snow and ice and penetrating cold.
The long winter affected all the denizens of the feywild, even as endless spring reigned in the material world. It was the elder green dragon (neutral aligned) Ekhozil who made the connection between the two, and came to the eladrin with what she had discovered.
“The young races have covered our world in darkness and death so that they may walk in the sun”, she said. “If they cannot be made to see reason, it is our duty to protect life, to protect the natural cycle, and to undo this terrible cataclysm.”
So began Alun’s long war against Hielo. It took time, 30 years, for the eladrin to find a way to cross over into the material plane. By then the adventurer who performed the ritual had passed on, and there were none alive who knew how to undo it. Conflict was inevitable. The portal between the two worlds opens only one day a year, on the winter solstice. On that day each year Alun led his fellows into the world to burn whatever they could find. For 150 years without exception he has left the same demand at the sites of their victories: “Leave in peace or perish in fire, lest we perish in ice.”
Those 150 years have been a lifetime of despair and endless winter for Alun, but generations for the younger races of Hielo. Alun can remember his first visit to the fledgling town of Hielo, and the deaths of his elder brother and sister and so many others at the hands of Hielo’s defenders over the decades. He can remember his despair that every year the town grew, despite his best efforts. He has felt the weight of his people’s need and witnessed the death of his homeland, once covered in beautiful forest.
But for the people of Hielo, his deeds have passed into legend. Adults remember their grandparents telling stories of the evil fey, slipping into the world on the winter solstice to steal babies and enchant sleeping maidens, or to lure brave men to their deaths in the wintery feywild. King Winter, they call him in local folklore, or King of the Fey- names that he now regards with bitter irony.
This year Alun crossed into the material as usual, with the handful of eladrin soldiers and intelligent beasts that were still alive and healthy enough for war. After fighting and gathering supplies for their kin they returned through the portal, but were ambushed. Fomorians had been lurking in their caves under the snow for centuries, and had finally attacked the eladrin and Ekhozil, their protector. The eladrin were routed and only a few, Alun among them, escaped into the material plane before the end of the solstice.
There is now less hope than ever for Alun. His parents and people are separated from him by the veil of planar boundaries, and may be dead. For now he has found respite in a snowy mountain settlement overlooking the valley. While his deeds are known to all in the area, his face was seen but once a year, and even then those who laid eyes on him rarely lived for long. Still there are those from the valley that would recognize him and it may be a matter of time before conflict finds him.
He doesn’t care. The few that escaped with him through the portal hide in the forest, but Alun is tired of responsibility and believes that his people will be better off without his failed leadership. He is slowly bartering off his possessions for the gold to get drunk at the tavern.
He thinks that he has given up, and that he waits for death because of his failure to protect his people. The truth is, however, that long centuries of carrying on in the most inhospitable conditions have made him a consummate survivor. He now waits for a reason to keep on living, and for hope that he dares not reach out for. It may still be his destiny to one day return to his lands, more powerful and with new allies, to free his people and return the feywild to the way it was meant to be.
Prologue
When the first halfling traders established Hielo as a trading post 300 years ago, it was situated firmly at the intersection of no less than 5 major overland and river trade routes. Unfortunately, the valley that held it also saw clouds and rain more days each year than sunshine, and bitter winters that lasted for 5 months and made commerce and travel impossible.
Then, 200 years ago, an enterprising ex-adventurer resolved to make Hielo into the booming trade town it was meant to be. The particular rites used have been forgotten, but through powerful magics this individual reshaped the very seasons that held sway in the region. The glacier retreated from the valley floor, and a mild and enchanting spring reigns year-round in the Hielo valley, even as storms and snow rage in the areas nearby as before. Since that time the trading post has expanded into a cosmopolitan city, surrounded by idyllic countryside and productive farms. Life has never been better for the people of Hielo.
Alun’s Story
The eladrin Alun remembers this story quite differently. He was a young boy 200 years ago, living with his family in the feywild as his people had since time immemorial. That year the winter was especially harsh, and after 5 months the ice showed no sign of melting. Alun’s people grew at first uneasy, then afraid that the natural world was not working as it should. They tried to contact the great fey spirits that tended Nature’s needs, but all were asleep waiting for the winter to pass. It seemed that the world was ending under the suffocating weight of snow and ice and penetrating cold.
The long winter affected all the denizens of the feywild, even as endless spring reigned in the material world. It was the elder green dragon (neutral aligned) Ekhozil who made the connection between the two, and came to the eladrin with what she had discovered.
“The young races have covered our world in darkness and death so that they may walk in the sun”, she said. “If they cannot be made to see reason, it is our duty to protect life, to protect the natural cycle, and to undo this terrible cataclysm.”
So began Alun’s long war against Hielo. It took time, 30 years, for the eladrin to find a way to cross over into the material plane. By then the adventurer who performed the ritual had passed on, and there were none alive who knew how to undo it. Conflict was inevitable. The portal between the two worlds opens only one day a year, on the winter solstice. On that day each year Alun led his fellows into the world to burn whatever they could find. For 150 years without exception he has left the same demand at the sites of their victories: “Leave in peace or perish in fire, lest we perish in ice.”
Those 150 years have been a lifetime of despair and endless winter for Alun, but generations for the younger races of Hielo. Alun can remember his first visit to the fledgling town of Hielo, and the deaths of his elder brother and sister and so many others at the hands of Hielo’s defenders over the decades. He can remember his despair that every year the town grew, despite his best efforts. He has felt the weight of his people’s need and witnessed the death of his homeland, once covered in beautiful forest.
But for the people of Hielo, his deeds have passed into legend. Adults remember their grandparents telling stories of the evil fey, slipping into the world on the winter solstice to steal babies and enchant sleeping maidens, or to lure brave men to their deaths in the wintery feywild. King Winter, they call him in local folklore, or King of the Fey- names that he now regards with bitter irony.
This year Alun crossed into the material as usual, with the handful of eladrin soldiers and intelligent beasts that were still alive and healthy enough for war. After fighting and gathering supplies for their kin they returned through the portal, but were ambushed. Fomorians had been lurking in their caves under the snow for centuries, and had finally attacked the eladrin and Ekhozil, their protector. The eladrin were routed and only a few, Alun among them, escaped into the material plane before the end of the solstice.
There is now less hope than ever for Alun. His parents and people are separated from him by the veil of planar boundaries, and may be dead. For now he has found respite in a snowy mountain settlement overlooking the valley. While his deeds are known to all in the area, his face was seen but once a year, and even then those who laid eyes on him rarely lived for long. Still there are those from the valley that would recognize him and it may be a matter of time before conflict finds him.
He doesn’t care. The few that escaped with him through the portal hide in the forest, but Alun is tired of responsibility and believes that his people will be better off without his failed leadership. He is slowly bartering off his possessions for the gold to get drunk at the tavern.
He thinks that he has given up, and that he waits for death because of his failure to protect his people. The truth is, however, that long centuries of carrying on in the most inhospitable conditions have made him a consummate survivor. He now waits for a reason to keep on living, and for hope that he dares not reach out for. It may still be his destiny to one day return to his lands, more powerful and with new allies, to free his people and return the feywild to the way it was meant to be.
Isn't that like the third time that's happened to you, Nythar- I'm not even going to try and spell it. T.T
I've got the skeleton of my character done, just not happy with the background.
*crumples up paper*
Take two!
Second time.
I am either terribly unoriginal or I have terrible luck.
... Ah well. It's minor, so I hope that doesn't lose me too many points.
Physical Appearance:
Janis stands at almost exactly six feet tall. The most noticeable thing about him at a glance are his hands. Alabaster white, they stand out in stark contrast to his tattered black long-coat. They are bent and rigid with jutting bone, with too little skin stretched over nothing but taut muscles and bones which seem to long to be natural and the only colors being the sick muted blues and reds of the veins crushed between. They seem to rest in an almost constant position of curled talons, even when not clutching the black and gold cane he carries at his side. Very few people notice more than the hands. Those who choose to explore further find his hair thin, mangy and almost nondescript beyond that with his skull being the same unhealthy white as his hands. His face is not gaunt, at least not as gaunt as his hands. His cheeks seem to glisten, almost as if he had been crying, while his face seems to be constantly twisted into a grim and cold rage. Those who probe so far as his eyes find them the deep blue of a cloudless sky, or the ocean in the summer. Those who go farther often shudder and turn away. Those who have been near him often comment that the room always seems to be colder next to him.
History:
Janis has not always been such a disturbing figure. Once he was healthy, and once he was happy. Janis Merideth was born on the solstice of winter to a Elven woodsman and fur trader and a human priestess of Avandra. The two lived in a warm cottage in a village of foresters and lumber-men in the mountains. Nearby lived Elyissa, an Elandrin born earlier on the solstice of spring. The two families were already friends, and both children grew up together. Neither family had any more children, so Elyissa and Janis became as brother and sister.
As Janis grew older, his feelings for his life long playmate grew as well. His body was healthy and hardy, and his charm was great. He had hopes to perhaps become an adventuring paladin of Avandra, or perhaps a bard who would chronicle the adventure of heroes. Exploration and adventure was in his blood and both of his parents supported him all the way. Elyissa had plans to apprentice with a Wizard in a larger town to the south, but she secretly did not want leave Janis.
On the night of Janis’s twenty-first birthday, he and Elyissa left the celebration some time late in the evening and took a walk out into the clear winter night. The ground was covered in snow and the moon hung large and blue-white in the start-studded sky. The two talked together of their plans, their hopes, their dreams. The two walked until they came to a steep edge in the trail which gave a perfect view of the moonlit winter forest below them stretching out into the distance. There Elyissa confessed her feelings to Janis and her fear that if she became an apprentice to the wizard, that they may never see each other again.
Janis, laughing, kissed her on the cheek, and then dropped to one knee, asking her to marry him.
Elyissa laughed and cried and said yes and Janis sprung up, grabbing her in his embrace. The two spun and laughed and kissed in the clear night and winter snow.
Then a third person laughed.
The two lovers turned and looked to see that an audience had crept up to watch. A band of s****ing gnolls stood to both sides of them, trapping them on the path. Gnolls were not common in the area. In fact, the only goblinoids Janis had ever met had been the bugbear lumberjacks who went to his father for furs and help. Janis tried to reason with them, offering them the polished black and gold cane his father had given him or his long-coat as ransom.
The largest of the gnolls laughed and grabbed Elyissa and began to drag her away from Janis. Janis moved to strike him with the cane, but was easily batted away. Two smaller gnolls grabbed him and dragged him to the ground, beating him savagely. He struggled futilely against them and then harder still when he heard Elyissa screaming. The gnolls laughed. He screamed for help, screamed curses, screamed and begged. Elyissa begged too, but all of it only earned more laughter from the gnolls as the largest one began to **** her. Janis prayed to every god he could think of, for deliverance, for help, for solace, for power. He cast one last plea into the winds for, some one, anyone to help him in any way they could.
Someone answered.
Something welled up inside of Janis. Something horrible. His fear and his rage seized upon it, melded with it. Someone said something to him. He said “yes,” not understanding what was being said. The voice, or thing, spoke to him again, and he replied yes again. The thing spoke to him once more, and he shouted yes one last time before it could even finish. The thing inside of him welled up again. Janis felt it filling him up, pouring into him from some secret well deep inside of his being. He felt it pushing at the very boundaries of his being. He was filled with cold fire, and pain, and fear, and he did the only thing he could do. He screamed.
One of the gnolls holding him fell dead. The other shouted and released him, backing away. He struggled to his feet, twisting as pain and power writhed within him. The gnolls stood tense, fearful of this new enemy in their midst. The power in him pulsed hungrily, wailing to be used. Unknowing, he raised his hands before him. Letting loose a wail and pouring his fear and hate, two beams of icy white light ripped from his taunt and clawed hands, scything into the gnolls and bringing two more down low. The weaker gnolls turned and fled in terror. Two more charged him. He fired again, the ray pulsing with strength as the gnoll barreled into it. The one he struck fell as it ran. The other made a strike with its sword, but missed as he shifted out of the way and cast a ball of writhing black and white energy into it. It dropped with a horrid scream.
All that was left then was him and the gnolls leader. It smiled and licked its lips. Faster than the others, it charged. Janis struck it with another ray, but it seemed to shrug off the searing cold light. In seconds it was on him, tearing into him with its claws. He attempted to strike with a blast of eldritch energy, but it clawed him again, and then slammed into him and knocked him off of his feet as it dodged away. Desperate, Janis flailed, grasping wildly in the snow. His hand grabbed hold of something solid and cold,just as the gnoll drew its axe and lunged. Janis focused all of his hate upon the gnolls as brought his cane around and poured all of his power through it. With a roar the ray of blue white energy lanced forward, stronger than before and blasted the gnoll, surging as it came on. The gnoll screamed as the energy tore into it and scoured its flesh. It turned and tried to flee, but Janis leapt up from the ground and grabbed hold of it, his power surging as he did so. His body filled with heat as the air around him turned impossibly cold and the eldritch power surged. The gnoll screamed and thrashed, but Janis held on tight as its flesh froze and its blood turned to ice. Janis gripped it all the tighter. Before long its cries of became whimpers of mercy. It was begging him now, pleading for its life. Janis loosened his grip for a second, and the gnoll fell silent.
He then began to laugh.
The gnoll tried to flee. To get up and run from the horrible laughing man, but Janis struck it from behind with his cane. It tripped and fell and he struck it again and again while the power inside of him sucked the very heat from its flesh. All the while it screamed. He struck it again and again and again, long after the life had left it and its corpse had become brittle with frost.
After an eternity of mad rage and laughter, Janis’s pace slackened and he left off his insane assault. As he stood, shaking, he turned and looked out across the path. The night had turned dark. A storm had appeared from seemingly nowhere and snow was falling now. Janis turned and saw among the blood and snow was a lone pale figure. stumbling and whimpering he walked to her, bending low to cradle her naked body. She was dying, wether from shock or cold, he could not tell. He body quivered in his arms and he wailed silently into the night. As he wailed, he could hear someone approaching from behind, someone clapping slowly as if in approval.
He turned and looked behind him to see a mind flayer, undisguised in the darkness of the night, staring at him and clapping.
“You have some talent, but your greatest strengths are your most exploitable weaknesses. Do not bother with that meat,” It said, its watery voice condescending. “She is to die. That is why the gnolls came, to take you from her.”
Janis stood, holding Elyissa in his arms. He leveled his cane and cast a bolt of energy at the mind flayer, who batted it away. Without a word, the mind flayer reached forward and made a gesture. Elyissa suddenly shivered and coughed, flecks of blood flying from her lips. She shivered again, and died.
“Come my love,” it said to Janis then, “Follow me into the night. Your purpose is beyond here.”
Janis let lose a cry and dropped his dead love to the ground, hurling bolts of power at the mind flayer as it drifted, laughing, into the darkness. With a scream, he chased after it into the snow and darkness. He ran long, and ran hard, the laughter of the mind flayer leading him on. As before a voice he could not understand came to him and whispered things to him. It ran beside him, telling him of his purpose, his destiny, and of his bargain. He ran and ran into the night, things and images passing him by. Alien shapes leered at him from the snowy shadows and time itself seemed to twist and writhe. He ran until the dawn rose before him, coming to a stop at the edge of a city a continent away and one year later.
To this day Janis hunts the mind flayer who appeared before him that night. He does not remember what was said to him during his year long flight. Sometimes knowledge will come to him in spurts, and he will react immediately fulfilling a command of which he had no prior knowledge. Janis does not speak much anymore. He is often cold and grim, much like the season to which he was born and reborn. He still wears the tattered long-coat and wields his cane as an arcane implement, or as a weapon if it comes to it. Both items have become imbued with arcane magic since Janis came into his power. He has since become known for his passion in the purging of gnolls. He has even earned the name “Winterlichnacht,” a phrase that in Abyssal literally means “Winter’s Night.”
He has fallen in with a group of adventurers who respect his power, but fear his savage storming rage or are unsettled by his cold presence. The air around him remains cooler than any other area of the room. He can no longer dream either, and instead relives his last night of happiness and the year long run through the dark in his head each night. His companions are disturbed by the strange cries and whimpering which issues from his tent each night.
Allies: None truly beyond the party of adventurers he has fallen in with. There is the voice, the will that sometimes rises up with an imperative for Janis to complete. This though is no ally. No more an ally than a master to a slave.
Nemesis: The mind-flayer warlock who confronted Janis on the night of his transformation. The mind-flayer still sometimes appears to Janis, often tormenting him, sometimes in a very sexual manner. Its purpose and relation to the voice in Janis’s head is unknown at this time. All that is known is that this depraved creature has designs on the young warlock, and will not see its invested time fall through.
Statistics:
Name: Janis Merideth
Race: Half-elf
Class: Warlock (Star Pact)
Level: 5
Alignment: Unaligned/Evil
Stats:
Str: 11 Con: 18 (16+2) Dex: 8 Int: 15 (14+1) Wis: 10 Cha: 18 (15+2+1)
Skills: Arcana (+9), Intimidate (+11), Perception (+7), Religion (+9)
AC: 17 (10+2+2+3) Fort: 17 (10+2+4+1)
Ref: 15 (10+2+2+1) Will: 17 (10+2+4+1)
Feats:
1 - Action Surge
2 - Improved Dark One’s Blessing
3 - Ritual Caster
Powers:
At-Will:
Eldritch Blast: Janis throws a chunk of chaotic black energy filled with whirling white light, much like a nightmare fragment of the sky at night.
Dire Radiance: Janis throws his hand out, casting a ray of cold blue light at his foes. This ray scours the flesh of his enemies, and pulses all the harder if the enemy tries to fight against its force
Dire Radiance: Janis throws his hand out, casting a ray of cold blue light at his foes. This ray scours the flesh of his enemies, and pulses all the harder if the enemy tries to fight against its force
I was gonna say, How do you have Deft strike as a beastmaster ranger?
The etiquette that developed over time in Hero Craftsman is to point out mistakes in other people's entries with an sblock labeled "no judges" or something similar.
Also, what is the next contest gonna be?
Dunno. After this one ends we'll round up at least three judges from those who are eligible. That group then talks amongst themselves for a bit to figure out theme, level, and allowed sources. Generally, it takes about a week (give or take) to pull one together.
I'm inclined to say yes, as one of the more common reflavoring suggestions is changing radiant damage to necrotic when making evil divine characters, but I'd have to check with the rest of the judges.
What do you say, gang?
I'm inclined to say yes as well, E_L. The fluff is mutable, and if it makes people comfortable, they'll lose no points from me...
I don't recall anybody ever doing any races or classes, though. We've had a lot of homebrew fluff - countries, religions, etc. And we've had a fair number of homebrew magic items. As a judge, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing a homebrew race or class, but I would be extremely strict in judging its balance and mechanics, with any problems adversely affecting your Rules Use score.
The contests are meant to encourage creativity and spawn discussion, all of which hopefully leads to helping folks make better characters. As such, I'm inclined to say you can most certainly include homebrew material, including races. We'll have to make sure future coordinators tweak the text of that rule so it's more clear.
Male Dreem (race created by Animana, posted at http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=16950507)
Ability Score Adjustments : +2 Int, +2 Cha
Racial Traits
- Skill Bonuses: +2 Diplomancy, and +2 Perception
- Able Erudite: Due to your extensive studies and experiences, you gain training in one additional skill on your class list
- Fey Origin: (see PHB 38)
- Trance: (see PHB 38)
- Dreem Speed
Encounter
Minor Action - Personal
Effect: Until the end of this encounter, you gain a +1 bonus to your speed
Special: If you use this power while you are bloodied, you instead gain a +2 bonus to your speed. This bonus increases to +3 at 21st level
Physical Appearance
5'6" 142 lbs
Ryltar carries the slender build of his Drow ancestry, but his skin carries a light lavender tone, and his eyes are the color of blood. His extensive travels and experiences have toned his body, leaving behind the gangly boy he once was. But his build is still smaller than most, and his face is still gentle, although now filled with determination. Since obtaining his powers, he began dressing in white and pale blue clothing accented with white fur...although not in excess.
Personality
Despite the harsh life he was born to, Ryltar is a very kind person. His gentleness shows in his face and actions, but behind that is a great sorrow. He knows that he may never find a place where he will be accepted, and he carries the scars of his upbringing, both outside and in. He covers the marks of his youth, and is very self conscious of them. Since finding his powers, he began having truly violent thoughts. A cruelty that doesn't seem to be his own sometimes emerges, and it frightens him. He walks a tenuous line, trying to be good, but sometimes the thoughts appear even outside of combat. So he tries to be cheerful as much as possible, and kind whenever he can, hoping that he can control those thoughts. Little does he know, that those thoughts are truly not his own, but the influence of the fey creature that gave him power.
History
When he was born, the world had barely heard a whisper of the Dreem. Whereas with other races there were thousands upon thousands and thousands more, there were only a handful of Dreem settlements. Though their skins were pale tones of purples and blues, people still believed them to be the same as their drow ancesters. And with Ryltar, this was very much the same. The gutter was his birthplace, and in its cold waters was he first bathed. But he learned the world was a very cold place in even his first years...for at the age of four years, he lost the mother that had given everything for her son.
She was born of drow, and escaped before the matrons could have sacrificed her to the dark Queen of the Demonweb Pits. In her travels she had met another of her kind, and found her place as Dreem. They married in an Eladrin wood...and soon she was with child. But life was not to be so easy, as a Ghaele of Winter came to take vengeance against the Drow through them. She survived and fled to the cities...he was not so lucky. And so she gave birth to a son, and named him Ryltar. She taught him of the Dreem. ...Until she passed.
So Ryltar's family became the other guttersnipes, and his home was anyplace that could keep out the rain, or snow. But the cold crept in, chilling him to the bone. His smallest joys came from the food he could eat, the clean water he might drink, or the butterflies he could conjure. Had he been born to any other home, he might have joined the Wizard College. Yet the only schooling he found was the kicks when his heritage was discovered, and when he was caught with his hand in someone's pocket. The word "drow" was spat at him constantly. It was upon his sixteenth winter that the city was left behind for a place that would accept him. Ryltar would find it, or die alone in the snow.
Town after town rejected him, and he was left without a home, wandering the roads. It was a frigid day that found him in the dense wood, off the beaten path. Snow began to swirl and the cold fully set in through the patched cloak. He hadn't eaten in days, and his body was barely able to continue trudging along in the deep white. The world began to grow hazy, and Ryltar noticed the forest was no longer full of black, barren trees. It was made of beautiful ice crystal; slender, elegant, and bizarre all at once. His eyes could barely stay open, and he thought to himself, "At least I can die in this beautiful place." And he fell from the bright forest into darkness.
"Wake up," commanded a soft voice in the dark. "Wake up," it urged once more. It sounded like wind through the trees. Ryltar found himself stirring, eyes opening, his body aching. The world he saw was not the one he had fallen asleep in. He lay on what could logically be considered ground, but he couldn't see anything beside the hands in front of his face.
"Welcome Ryltar," said the voice again. It's source, though, was something that the boy could barely conceive. The shape was humanoid, but composed of floating shards of what seemed to be crystal, with a pulsing white core of light at the center. "Welcome to the Crystal Forest"
Ryltar found that when he tried to speak, no sound came out. But the creature spoke on.
"You've come here because the coldness in your soul was drawn here. The winter in your heart led you to this place, and has awoken me," it said to him. Ryltar was stunned by this revelation. "This is much to try to understand, so I will tell you why you were brought here. I can give you power...the power to make a home for yourself in this world. In return, I need your help in order to make my home manifest once again. I need you to live"
Unease began to set in Ryltar's mind. Nothing was ever this easy...there had to be something wrong with this. And his body began to feel cold.
"If you do not accept my gift, you will die here..and so will I. Once given, the power is yours to do with what you will. But once I call, you must come back to me," it offered. The voice was still soft, but tinged with desperation. It held out a hand, and mote of light shone, hovering just above, in front of the dying boy.
Ryltar felt no other choice, and stretched out his hand in response, closing it around the light. The cold spread to his entire body, and he blacked out once more. The creature's glow began to burn...now malevolent, dangerous...and it began to laugh.
When Ryltar had awakened, the snow had stopped, and the forest glistened in the sun. He couldn't remember what he had dreamt about, but when he tried to stand he felt something in his fist. There was a blade that seemed to be formed, nay, sculped from the same ice as the forest. Twists and arcs and fronds that seemed both organic and crystalline at once. And more beyond that, there was a cloak of white fur around his shoulders. Memories flooded his mind. He knew then what had happened, what he was, and what he must do now.
Knowing without knowing, he set off to the west, and hoped to find home there.
Power Manifestations:
- Eyebite: As his foe locks his gaze, Ryltar's eyes become white, crystalline orbs. The stark color spreads over his body and his form flies apart, streaming forth as a blast of snow. The warrior braces himself for the cold, only to find that it never comes...but looks up to find the world momentarily bathed in white, and the young elf had vanished within it.
- Eldritch Blast - Ryltar closes his eyes and raises one hand, calling on the power resonating in his heart. Energy begins to coalesce and crystallize in his palm, blooming into a flower composed of ice shards and white light. And as he opens his eyes, a cloud of frozen air escapes his lips and a stream of iridescence streams forth from the core of the frozen blossom.
- Prestidigitation - With a whispered word and a breath into his cupped hands, a butterfly composed of pure light flutters into being. The stall owner looks on in awe as the figment dances in the air, and fails to notice that his purse strings are being cut.
- Witchfrost - With a gesture, Ryltar pulls a flicker of shimmering cold from the deep Feywild and speaks the name of his foe. Frost forms around the rogue's eyes and fills his veins, allowing Ryltar to dance around the point of his blade. Far too late he realizes that he was fighting not just a young elf, but the cold fury of the Feywild.
- Curse of the Dark Dream - Ryltar dodges backwards, an arrow grazing his arm. Clutching the wound he begins to chant, summoning the pain to power a Curse like no other. With bow in hand, the archer takes careful aim, this shot to be the last, but the bow vanishes from his hand, and a vortex of snow swirls around him. The green woods were cold and bleak, leaves long gone. Staggering forth, he tries to gain his bearings, when he sees the young warlock prepare another blast.
- Ethereal Stride - A nimbus of swirling white envelops Ryltar, and his form becomes indistinct, a hazy silhouette dancing through space as though the veils of reality could not hold it. As he reappears, the light disperses, swirling around him like fresh snowflakes
- Otherwind Stride - Surrounded by enemies, Ryltar grins with feylike malevolence. With the mystical blade in hand, he tears a rift into the northern reaches of the Feywild. Frozen winds buffet the group around him, freezing them in place, while Ryltar clutches onto that stream following its flow through the rift. A new tear opens several yards away, blanketing the earth in white, and the Dreem warlock floats through it.
- Crown of Madness - As the group of bandits close in, Ryltar picks out the leader. The warlock traces a circle in mid air, his fingers leaving blue white trails of mist as he does. Suddenly the leader of the gang strikes down one of his own, and knocks down the other. As the larger orc moves in for the kill, the prone minion's final sight is pale, shining crystals circling his former ally's brow.
- Shadow Walk - As Ryltar dances around the battlefield, his form seems to shift and grow indistinct, as though the very wind could blow it away. But in truth, it is the the aura of chill refracting light around him, concealing his true position.
- Warlock's Curse - With a fell word of power, Ryltar lashes out with the icy fury of a blizzard, and the first creature it touches feels the chilling breath of oblivion at its neck.
- Misty Step - As his foe falls in battle, Ryltar feels the rush of power run through him, and in that moment he loses himself and spins out of time and space. His body becomes pure energy, manifest as a stream of flowing snow, until it comes to a stop, and Ryltar is brought back to the world
Warlock - Lvl 5
Ability Scores (base scores w/o adjustments shown in parenthesis)
Str- 10 (10)
Con- 11 (11)
Dex- 16 (15)
Int- 14 (12)
Wis-12 (11)
Cha- 18 (16)
Defenses
AC-18; Fort-14; Ref-17; Will-18
HP-43; Surges-6; Surge Value-10
Trained Skills
Arcana(9), Bluff(11), Insight(8), Streetwise(11), Thievery(10)
Languages Known
Common, Elven
Feats
Simple Tricks, Dark Fury, Improved Misty Step
Simple Tricks (Homebrew Feat)
Prerequisite: Int 14, Arcana skill
Effect: Gain the use of the Prestidigitation at-will power
Class Features
Shadow Walk
Warlock's Curse
Misty Step
Prime Shot
Powers
1 At-will- Eyebite
1 At-will- Eldritch Blast
1 At-will- Prestidigitation
1 Encounter- Witchfrost (As the power Witchfire, substituting fire damage for cold)
1 Daily- Curse of the Dark Dream
2 Utility- Ethereal Stride
3 Encounter- Otherwind Stride
5 Daily- Crown of Madness
Items (4480)
Weapon: Pact Blade +1 (680), Frost Crossbow +1 (680)
Armor: Shimmering Armor +1
Head: Phrenic Crown (2600)
Neck: Amulet of Protection +2
Feet: Acrobat Boots (520)
Wondrous Items: Bag of Holding,
Alchemical Items: Goodnight Tincture (150), Antivenom (20)
Basic Gear: Standard Adventurer's Kit, 200 Crossbow Bolts (10), Thieves' Tools(20)
4480 spent
Hit Points: 26 + 4x4 = 26 + 16 = 42 (21 Bloodied)
Healing Surges: 9 + 1 Belt of Vigor = 10
Healing Surge Value: 10
Armor Class: 10 + 2 (half level) + 2 (Masterwork Feyweave Costume of Scintilation) +5 (Intelligence) = 19
Fortitude: 10 + 2 (half level) + 3 (constitution) +1 (amulet of protection) = 16
Reflex: 10 + 2 (half level) + 5 (intelligence) +1 (amulet of protection) = 18
Will: 10 + 2 (half level) + 0 (Charisma) + 2 (Class) +1 (amulet of protection) = 15
Resist: 5 Cold (racial)
Strength: 10 / +0 (8 + 2 Racial)
Dexterity: 12 / +1
Constitution: 16 / +3 (15 +1 4th level)
Intelligence: 20 / +5 (17 + 2 Racial, +1 4th level)
Wisdom: 10 / +0
Charisma: 11 / +0
Speed: 6
Passive Insight: 15
Passive Perception: 10
Class Features: Cantrips, Staff of Defense, Ritual Casting, Spellbook
At - Will Powers: Magic Missle, Ray of Frost
Magic Missile: +10 [+ 2 (half level) + 5 (Intelligence) +2 (+1 Staff of Missle Mastery) +1 (Eagle Eye Goggles) versus Reflex
2d4 + 5 force damage (int)
Ray of Frost: +8 [+ 2 (half level) + 5 (Intelligence) +1 (+1 Staff) ] versus Fortitude
1d6 + 6 cold damage (int + 1 burning blizzard), and target is slowed.
Encounter Power: Swiftcurrent (Reflavored as snowflake flurry, Racial), Chill Strike, Color Spray
Swiftcurrent: Shift 6, no penalties on movement
Daily Power: Freezing Cloud, Web
Utility Power: Jump
also, see equipment marked with ** for items with powers
Character Wealth: 4,480 gp - 520 gp (Staff of Missle Mastery Level 2) - 520 gp (Robe of Scintillation Level 2) - 520gp (Feyleaf Sandals) - 1000gp (Gloves of Agility) - 520gp (Eagle Eye Goggles Level 2) - 360gp (Amulet of Protection Level 2) - 520 gp (Belt of Vigor Level 2) - 50gp (10 day's Journeybread) - 50gp (50ft Silk Rope) - 1gp (waterskin) - 2gp (backpack) - .1gp (bedroll) - 50gp (ritual book) = [366.9 gold in coins]
Equipment: +1 Staff of Missle Mastery (Adventurer's Vault 106)
+1 Robe of Scintillation (Adventurer's Vault 50) **
Feyleaf Sandals (Adventurer's Vault 129) **
Gloves of Agility (Adventurer's Vault 134) [+1 acro, stealth, and dex checks]
+1 Eagle Eye Goggles (Adventurer's Valut 140)
+1 Amulet of Protection (PHB Page 249)
+1 Belt of Vigor (PHB Page 253)
Skills: Arcana +10 (+5 int + trained), Diplomacy +5 (trained), Insight +5 (trained), History +10 (+5 int + trained), Acrobatics (Feat) +7 (+1 Dex, trained, +1 gloves of agility)
Feat: Extra Manifestation, Ritual Casting, Skill Training: Acrobatics (Level 2), Burning Blizzard (Level 4)
Description: Kielle Geldam is a Frostsoul Genasi [In gameplay terms, this means a Windsoul Genasi with the watersoul manifestation due to the "extra manifestation" feat.] As befits her exotic heritage, Kielle is striking to behold. Kielle's silver skin shines, reflecting the light emitted by a body inscribed with bright blue lines of elemental power. Kielle is hairless, her bald head instead surrounded by a constantly drifting mist of ice crystals culled from nearby air. Due to its nature, Kielle's hair changes based on the area she's in. In a desert, she has no "hair", while in moist aves, it billows out behind her, up to nearly two feet in length. Kielle's lilac eyes compete with the energy lines on her face as the sole source of color for her features. Kiel stands a mere 5' 8" and weighs about 135 pounds. Very immodest, Kiel's uniquely designed wardrobe include short, open-back blouses (the better to display the energy lines upon her back and midriff), and long skirts slitted halfway down her thighs, displaying long, silver, energy-scribed legs. Kielle disdains most forms of footwear, instead opting for a pair of simple sandles.
Kielle is friendly, but focused. She enjoys working magic, and often smiles or laughs as she casts spells. Easy to rouse, but slow to anger, Kielle usually has few problems getting along with others (especially males), but would rather explore nature or study her magicks rather than pursue closer relationships with others. Kielle is not a loner per se, she just desires less socialization than most other sentient beings. Perhaps in direct contrast to this, Kielle loves to show off. Athletic and nimble, Kielle is trained to dazzle others with not only her looks and mystical abilities, but also acrobatic ability and showmanship.
Background: Kielle was born into a company of merchants, the Ksing Reev [singh - REEV]. Her father, Dao-mag, and mother, Meridian, traveled with the company in their youth as jewelers and master appraisers, though after Kielle's birth they settled down into a more stable home located near Ksingh Reev headquarters in Flannier. Growing up, Kielle was gifted with an exemplar education, rising quickly to the top of her class. Even at that early age, Kielle had few friends, placing a focus on her studies above all else. A realist, Kielle realized that without some extraordinary circumstances, she would follow in her parents footsteps. Kielle had nothing against becoming a jeweler, but found the prospects of such a profession boring.
On the day that Kielle graduated from her academic life, her parents took her out to celebrate her accomplishments. The three of them went to a performance by the Moonsworn, a group of wizards and acrobats who combined dazzling displays of magic with equally adroit atheletic and acrobatic accomplishments. Kielle, having never seen magic before, was enthralled. Her scholastic teachings had not explained to her how one could generate fire and light from one's hands, nor how to coporate ice and thunder into being. Her parents took Kielle's interest as worrisome -- they knew how dedicated their daughter was to learning, and once her curiosity was piqued, there was little they could do to rouse her from her fixation.
Sure enough, the next day, when a Wizard came into their shop looking for gems for use in rituals, Kielle was waiting. The wizard had barely mentioned what kind of jewels he was interested in purchasing (and for what reason) when he found a short, silver-skinned girl bearing down on him. Her questions, as full of vim and vigor as they were, startled the mage, who backpeddaled, cascading into a display, and sending merchandise flying helter-skelter across the room. Aghast, Kielle helped the man up, and then dashed around the storefront, attempting to restack and reorder the merchandise, all the while alternating between expresions of apology and questions about magic. The mage, up until this point speechless, turned to a bemused Meridian, who was watching idly from behind the counter. "Your daugheter is quite spirited, is she not?"
The wizard was known as Falsten, and at the behest of her mother, because of the trouble she had caused him, a chastised Kielle invited him to stay for dinner. Falsten took his time thinking about it, before finally deciding "why the hell not?". At dinner the family learned that Falsten was in the employ of The Scions of the Sun, another performing company, and the jewelery he intended to aquire was for their acrobats -- enchantments of feather fall and the like upon their acrobats prevented serious injury in the case of accidental falls and mistakes.
Falsten tried to answer Kielle's questions as well, but to the genasii's frustration, nearly every other question was met with a response of "You wouldn't really understand it unless you knew magic, but..." or the like. By the end of the meal, Kielle's temper flaired, dissolving all manner of composure. As Falsten once more tried to brush off a question with the pretext that she wouldn't understand, Kielle stood up and angrily confronted the mage. "Then teach me!, damn it!" Her mortified parents tried to calm Kielle down, and when that would not work, forcefully removed the teen to her room. The petulant youth sulked in her room the rest of the night, agonizing over the fact that she could make out mere murmurs of conversation, Falsten apparentally staying and talking well into the night.
The next morning, Kielle approached, and aplogized to, her parents regarding her behavior previously. Dao-mag and Meridian looked at each other before turning to their daughter. "Kielle. We've talked with Mr. Falsten about it. He says he would be willing to take you on as an apprentice."
Kielle was shocked. So much so that she continued with her apologies for several more seconds before what she had heard registered. "He WHAT?" Body shaking with surprise, Kielle sat down suddenly, clutching her chair tightly, positive she had misheard. "We've been thinking about it." Began her father. "We know it hasn't been your dream to carry on our family buisness, but we also know that there aren't very many oppurtunities for you around here." Meridian looked at her husband. "After we took you upstairs, we had a nice long talk with Falsten about it. He told us that if you are unable to learn magic, he'll return you to us within a week or so. But if you are able to learn magic..." A single tear traced an energy-line across the bald, blue-skinned face. "And if you can, well. That's an oppurtunity we simply wouldn't want you to miss out on."
Plans were quickly sketched out, and within a week, Kielle found herself tearfully embracing her parents while an idle Falsten watched.Meridian gave her daughter a magic amulet to help keep her safe, and without another word, Falsten and Kielle departed. That was 8 years ago. Since that day Kielle has become quite an accomplished performer, both of acrobatics and spellcraft. With the help of Falsten and the salary she earned with the company, Kielle has managed to craft or otherwise aquire items that augment her act or safeguards her acrobatics -- those who aren't impressed by her acrobatics or exotic beauty are sure to be awed (forcibly so!) by Kielle's bursts of light, splintered into all colors by the icy prisms she conjures. In a word, everything had happened even better than Kielle's parents could have humbly hoped for. Yet fate is a two-sided coin, and just as it had conived to lead Kielle down the path of performing, so to did it intend to drive her away.
The Scions of the Sun where performing in the far north, in the frigid city of Kavroth. Kielle knew going into her act that the chilly denizens were used to snow and ice, her usual repretoir of impressive magicks, but when she began to perform, she expected indifferent stares or boredom, not fear and terror. As the young mage conjured scintilating globes, prisms of ice, and bursts of light and sound, the audience grew into a distressed fervor. Kielle teetered on the edge of indecision, but falteringly continued her act, as unnerved at the audience's reaction as they were of her magic. Without warning Kielle's act came was forcibly stopped as lights were snuffed and the entrance to the performing space blasted open. Nothing could be heard but a cold, northern wind.
A shadow suddenly eclipsed the entryway, the darkness giving away nothing, interdicted between the light outside and the darkness of the venue as it was. Slow steps echoed througuhout the space as the figure approached. By now, Kielle has been joined by fellow members on the stage, and as a group, they stared uncertainly at this newcomer.
"Who dares to mock Rhy'zil, the Ice Queen" declared the shadow. The Scions looked at each other in surprise and indecision. The who? Without warning, the self-proclaimed queen attacked, her howling blasts and icy touch slaying all on the stage with a hungering cold. All... but Kielle. The genasii alone stood untouched, her elemental heritage protecting her from the brunt of the assault.
The Queen laughed. "I think I've made my point" she quipped as she exited as slowly as she had entered. Kielle, now very, very cold, fell into a dead faint, sprawling on the stage next to the dead performers.
Kielle awoke outside the city, her costume torn, but still useable and her protective amulet, the one given to her by her mother, still around her neck. At first, Kielle panicked. But as her emotions were quickly brought under control, Kielle was seized by a new desire, one utterly foreign to her. Revenge. The next three years found Kielle traveling the icy tundra, providing what magic she can to earn a meager living as she continues her studies. She is becoming well known among the northern villages, and in tribute to both her beauty and her icy personality, have dubbed her "The Frost Nymph"
For her part, Kielle is focused in a way she's never been before. Though her time with The Scions of the Suns taught her much magic, she has very little combat experience. To compensate for this, Kielle has been hiring on as magical protection to caravans in the region, a bitter irony, concerning her origins. As she hones both her skills and seeks clues regarding the so-called "Ice Queen", Kielle wanders the frigid north, her insatiable curiosty pushing her ever onward. She has already learned many things on her journey.But her desire for vengence has made one thing abundantly clear -- revenge is a dish best served cold.
Allies and Enemies:
Dao-mag and Meridian -- Jewelers by trade, these two middle-aged Genasi have returned to their traveling ways in the advent of their daughter's apprenticeship. Kielle has not seen them directly in 11 years, but she still writes, and occasionally sends moeny to them.
Ksing Reev Company -- This group of merchants and craftsmen travels the region buying and selling quality goods of all types, though their headquarters are located in Flannier. Mundane, alchmical, even rare metals and materials from which potent magical items might be crafted are available to those with connections.
The Frost Queen -- An enigmatic entity of indeterminate power, the truth is that "Rhy'zil" is an adult white dragon. Some of the most northern towns and villages, such as Kavroth, worship her as a malevolent god, and she in turn delights in their secret tithes of tribute. Kielle is unaware of "Rhy'zil"'s true nature, and in turn, the dragon has completely forgotten about Kielle. When Kielle does eventually ascertain this discovery, however, she is sure to need strong friends if she is to have any hope at revenge.
The Scions of the Sun -- This group of performing wizards and acrobats is based in the city of Ducal. Led by master of ceremonies Niel Rommit, they have been known to sell their services as mercanaries in years past. Though many of them were killed in the Frost Queen's brutal appearance, the order still thrives. As far as they know, Kielle is (like the others who were performing) dead.
I realize that we can only use material from certain books, but I am assuming that applies to crunchy stuff like powers, magic items, etc. But what about basing some of the characters fluff off of things that are not on the list? Would I be safe in assuming that it's okay provided it is self evident enough to stand on its own?
Backstory
Soon after He was born everyone knew he was not the same. Always looking for the good in everything and trying to talk his way through life. Even his interests in the other races of the world were weird to the other Eladrin Elders. No one even argued when he told them he was taking an apprenticeship with a human mage far beyond the borders of the Fey Wilds. It would take a few months to get to the frozen wastelands. But Krystalus knew that this is what he had to do. Traveling through town after town he soon learned his first love. The joy and love he could spread by give to other and help where he could. Finally Krystalus reaches his master tower on the edge of the Frozentear, frozen tundra where Giants and Dragons as cruel as the most imagined cruel reign supreme. Hestarus the Firestar, One of the mages that ruling on the Dawnstars’ council, teaches Krystalus the ways of magic. Krystalus becomes an excellent student and soon would have been ready to start out on his own to find this dream city that haunts his dream. The one he dreamed of when he was a boy, the one that brings the spirit of giving and peace of love to the world of Fishinturn. But the day before He decides to take his leave of the old Firestar to ancient tower the Blindseye, an evil group that uses magic to bring terror to Fishinturn, attacks the Flamespire kills all but a luck few. If not for Firestar using his last ounce of power to stave the attack and send the Blinds eye off they would have all died. Sadly Firestar died shortly their after. After Krystalus burns the old mentor’s body he gathers what few belongings he has left and look out into the Frozentear, the first step in find the perfect spot to achieve his dreamed city of Joy.
Physical Description:
Krystalus stands about 5’ 6’’ tall and weighs about 200lbs. He has long white hair, short white beard, (which is unheard of for Eladrin and no one have been able to explain), with fair complexion and blue orbed eyes. Also rosy red cheeks, almost as if he has been out in the snow to long. Krystalus likes to wear red robes with white trim and black boots. He carries a red Bag of Holding wear ever he goes.
Personality:
Krystalus loves to bring hope and love to other. He gives even when he has none for himself. He is polite and easy going. First option in any encounter starts with diplomacy. Then if that doesn’t work he goes to disable them with the least amount of damage as possible. Most people see him as jolly, relaxed, and opened minded. When Krystalus sees that things are getting rough he is cautious and patient.
Ally and Enemy:
Blindseye: This evil group likes to cause chaos and bring despair to the world of Fishinturn. Tharizdun is the deity of this evil group and they spend most of their time try to find item to help achieve their unknown goals.
Pelor Church: Having received some help from Krystalus when he first come to the realms they now try to help him as much as possible.
Dawnstars: It is unknown at this point where they stand on Krystalus issues. Every Dawnstar is reborn in a new child after death so much of their efforts will be on find the new child and it will be some time before they decide on the issue.
Tybrus the Giant lord: She rules the Frozentear and doesn’t like people easing in on her lands. She has decided to have her minions watch from afar first before deciding the best course to take. Unlike normal giants, Tybrus is unaligned and like to go with what is best overall then what most giants would do.
Stats:
Str: 8
Con: 14 = 10 (base) + 5 (points buy)
Dex: 14 = 10(base) + 2 (points buy) + 2 (racial bonus)
Int: 19 = 10 (base) + 9 (points buy) + 2 (racial bonus) + 1 (ability level increase)
Wis: 14 = 10 (base) + 5 (points buy)
Cha: 12 = 10 (base) + 1 (points buy) +1 (ability level increase)
Total points buy= 22
Defenses
AC: 17 = 12 (10+1/2 level) + 4 (ability mod) + 1 (enhancement)
Fort: 14 = 12 (10+1/2 level) + 2 (ability mod)
Ref: 16 = 12 (10+1/2 level) + 4 (ability mod)
Will: 17 = 12 (10+1/2 level) + 2 (ability mod) + 2 (class) +1 (racial bonus)
Movement
Speed: 6
Senses
Passive Insight: 19 = 10 (base) + 9 (Skill mod)
Passive Perception: 16 = 10 (base) + 6 (Skill mod)
Skills
Acrobatics: + 6 = 4 (ability mod +1/2 level) + 2 (feat)
Arcane: + 11 = 6 (ability mod + ½ level) + 5 (trained)
Athletics: + 3 = -1 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Bluff: + 5 = 3 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Diplomacy: + 11 = + 3 (ability mod + ½ level) + 5 (trained) + 3 (feat Skill Focus)
Dungeoneering: + 6 = +4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (Feat)
Endurance: + 6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Heal: + 6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Insight: + 9 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 5 (trained)
Intimidate: + 5 = + 3 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Nature: + 6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Perception: + 6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Religion: + 11= + 6 (ability mod + ½ level) + 5 (trained)
Stealth: + 6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Streetwise: + 5 = + 3 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Thievery: +6 = + 4 (ability mod + ½ level) + 2 (feat)
Feats:
Ritual caster (class bonus feat)
Skill Focus (diplomacy) (1st)
Jack of all Trades (2nd)
Improved Initiative (4th)
Spell slots:
At-will: Ghost sound, Light, Mage hand, and Prestiditation
At-will: Cloud of daggers
At-will: Ray of frost
Encounter (1st): Icy terrain
Daily (1st): From spell book
Utility (2nd): From spell book
Encounter (3rd): Joyful lights (Color Spray)
Daily (5th): From spell book
Spell book: 110 pages left
Rituals
Comprehend Languages 1st
Silence 1st
Make whole 1st
Enchant Magic Items 4th
Knock 5th
Spells
Sleep 1st Daily
Freezing Cloud 1st Daily
Shield 2nd Utility
Expeditious Retreat 2nd Utility
Web 5th Daily
Stinking Cloud 5th Daily
Equipment
Magical
Orb of Far Seeing +680gp (3rd level)
Rope of Contingency +840gp (4th level)
Boots of Equilibrium +1,800gp (6th level)
Bag of holding +1,000gp (5th level)
Subtotal 1: 4,320gp
Other Gear
3 Potions of healing +150gp
Backpack +2gp
Waterskin +1gp
10 torches +1gp
Flint and steel +1gp
Trail rations (10days) +5gp
Subtotal 2: 160gp
Subtotal1: 4,320gp
Equals: 4,480gp
Ho Ho Ho!
not for judges eyes
I don't think your definition of "Point Buy System" match the rules of the contest. It is not, as you did, simply 22 points to distribute amongst your stats, but rather a method of diminishing returned described in the PHB.
not for judges eyesI don't think your definition of "Point Buy System" match the rules of the contest. It is not, as you did, simply 22 points to distribute amongst your stats, but rather a method of diminishing returned described in the PHB.
Background: Upon first meeting him, Anders looks like the last person one would expect to meet in a frozen wilderness, despite the fact that is where he is most often found these days. He is a small wiry man, with a shaved head that appears almost lost amid the layers of furs and clothing he usually wears to keep himself warm in the severe arctic climate that he now frequents. He wears a suit of fur-lined chain mail, enchanted to be resistant to cold and if it is especially bitter outside, he wears some further layers of hides and furs atop that. He also wears glasses, or goggles if it is windy.
He is soft spoken and intellectual, and prone to tell long rambling stories about bits of history that he finds interesting and he tends to shun combat wherever possible, very much unlike the boastful and cocky adventurers who often flock to the north from more temperate climes to find fame and fortune and nearly as often find death, whether at the hands of the ferocious beasts or because they underestimate just how unforgiving the cold and snow can be.
In truth, Anders is also from more civilized and temperate climes. He was the fifth son of a relatively poor noble and stood to inherit nothing, so he chose instead to become a scholar-priest in service to Ioun, God of Knowledge. Early in his studies, he became fascinated by rumors of a lost city of the ancient Illumian civilization, Gilluvar, and the many secrets said to be held in its vaults. The city was located in the savage frozen wilderness far to the north of the great city of Caldris in which he was born. Whereas many of Ioun’s faithful would be content to merely study the city from affair, searching through ancient scrolls and such, Anders was unlike most of Ioun’s faithful, he decided to set out in search of it.
He originally based himself out of a remote trading post, called Valantar, along the northern coast, where the warm currents make it just a bit warmer than deeper in the interior. He set out to explore frigid hills where he thought the ancient city might lie and nearly died in a blizzard within a week. His healing magics enabled him to survive and he soon decided that he needed to learn to survive in the harsh environment. He learned from many sources; books, local traders, a band of local “Barbarians” but learn he did and his survival skills and knowledge of nature in general is now the equal of many rangers. He has become a hardy survivor despite his unassuming appearance.
In the course of his explorations, he has had many adventures, found many tantalizing clues to the location of the lost city, but so far his real goal has eluded him. He has explored an outpost of the city, now overrun by goblins. He has worked with a band of bounty hunters looking for a renegade wizard who fled to the north. He helped the Barbarians defeat a young white dragon that was terrorizing the area, and found his Ironskin Belt in the horde. He worries that someday that particular exploit may come back to haunt him, as his Barbarian allies told him that the dragon was a child of the savage Klazzorath, a powerful white wyrm who will likely never forgive those who slew one of her children.
He has also made many friends in his travels. Brungoth, a powerful warrior among the Ice Bear barbarians is known to work with him from time to time, along with Brungoth’s polar bear companion, Klishnak. One of the traders in Valantar, Hurval, is a former Royal Alchemist to some southern kingdom; exiled to Valantar for some crime he will not discuss save to claim innocence. Hurval owes Anders for helping him dispatch an assassin sent by his former employer and, out of gratitude, he makes itmes for Anders at cost.
Anders has never found the fabled Lost City of Gilluvar, and sometimes he doubts that he ever will. Still, Anders feels that either fate or his goddess has drawn him to the frozen north, that it has become his true home, and he believes that his ultimate destiny lies somewhere amid the snow and ice, rather than the cities and farms that gave him birth. He just has to find it.
Anders Kalmoth – Human
Cleric of Ioun
Level:5
Str: 13 HP: 48 (43 + 5 toughness)
Con: 11 Surge Value: 12
Dex: 10 Surges: 7
Int: 12
Wis: 18 (15 originally +2 Human, +1 Level)
Cha: 16 (15 originally +1 Level)
Speed: 6 Vision: Normal
Defenses:
AC: 19 (10 base + 6 chainmail + 1 enhancement + 2 levels)
Fortitude: 15 (10 base + 1 Str + 1 Human + 2 levels + 1 enhancement)
Reflexes: 15 (10 base + 1 Int + 1 Human + 2 levels + 1 enhancement)
Will: 20 (10 base + 4 Wis + 2 Cleric + 1 Human + 2 levels + 1 enhancement)
Languages: Common, Draconic, Deep Speech*, Elven*, Dwarven*
* From Linguist Feat
Class Features: Channel Divinity, Healers Lore, Healing word, Ritual Caster
Trained Skills: Religion + 11, Arcana + 8, History + 8, Heal + 11, Diplomacy + 10 (Gained due to being Human), Nature + 11 (gained due to Skill Training feat)
Feats: Ioun’s Poise, Skill Training – Nature(gained due to being human), Toughness, Linguist
At-Will Powers: Lance of Faith, Sacred Flame, Priest’s Shield (gained due to being Human)
Encounter Powers: Cause Fear (Level 1), Daunting Light (Level 3)
Daily Powers: Cascade of Light (Level 1), Consecrated Ground (Level 5)
Utility Powers: Cure Light Wounds (Level 2)
Rituals Known: Gentle Repose, Comprehend Languages, Endure Elements, Enchant Item, Detect Secret Doors, Magic Circle, Animal Messenger
Equipment: +1 Chainmail of Cold Resistance (Level 2), +1 Symbol of Hope (Level 3), +1 Magic Quarterstaff (Level 1), Ironskin Belt (Level 5), +1 Amulet of Physical Resolve (Level 2), 1 dose of Beastbane (Level 4), 5 Herbal Poultices (Level 3), Ritual Book (see above), Adventurers Kit, 120 Gp worth of Alchemical Reagents, 10 Gp worth of Mystic Salves, 100 GP worth of Rare Herbs, 70 GP in assorted coinage (total value of Equipment + rituals = 4480 gp)
I used the table for my scores. I just wanted to show where the points went. Oh well maybe it will not hurt me to badly. Still had fun ether way. I'm mostly a DM so getting a chance to make a PC just for the sake of making it doesn't come up to often.
Note: Just seen a mistake. Now I feel sad.
Ah, I see. After re-reading the bit in question it was only a formatting style that confused me. I think you did do things correctly. My fault for confusing you.
Gratuituous Bumpage.
Crunch:
Stats, Skills, Feats that kinda thing
Stats
STR 19 (16+2+1), CON 16 (14+2), DEX 12 (12), INT 12 (11+1), WIS 14 (14), CHA 8 (8)
Skills
BONUS SKILL NAME
+2 Acrobatics
+3 Arcana
+11 Athletics (Trained)
+1 Bluff
+1 Diplomacy
+4 Dungeoneering
+9 Endurance (Trained)
+4 Heal
+3 History
+4 Insight
+6 Intimidate (Trained)
+11 Nature (Trained)
+6 Perception
+3 Religion
+2 Stealth
+1 Streetwise
+2 Thievery
Feats
Durable, Sure Climber, Warrior of the wild (Trained in Nature)
Defenses
AC: 17, FORT: 18, Reflex: 13, Will: 14
HP and surges
HP: 55 Bloodied: 27 Surge Value: 13 Surges/day: 14
Speed
Movement: 6 Init: 3
Exploits
At Will: Sure Strike and Reaping Strike
Encounter: Spinning Sweep and Crushing Blow (with the racial Goring Charge)
Daily: Brute Strike and Crack the Shell
Utility: Boundless Endurance.
Basic STR Attack
+1 Maul= +10 VS AC (+2level+1fighter+1magic+4str+2prof) 2D8(large)+5(4+1) or 7 if con is included.
STR 19 (16+2+1), CON 16 (14+2), DEX 12 (12), INT 12 (11+1), WIS 14 (14), CHA 8 (8)
Skills
BONUS SKILL NAME
+2 Acrobatics
+3 Arcana
+11 Athletics (Trained)
+1 Bluff
+1 Diplomacy
+4 Dungeoneering
+9 Endurance (Trained)
+4 Heal
+3 History
+4 Insight
+6 Intimidate (Trained)
+11 Nature (Trained)
+6 Perception
+3 Religion
+2 Stealth
+1 Streetwise
+2 Thievery
Feats
Durable, Sure Climber, Warrior of the wild (Trained in Nature)
Defenses
AC: 17, FORT: 18, Reflex: 13, Will: 14
HP and surges
HP: 55 Bloodied: 27 Surge Value: 13 Surges/day: 14
Speed
Movement: 6 Init: 3
Exploits
At Will: Sure Strike and Reaping Strike
Encounter: Spinning Sweep and Crushing Blow (with the racial Goring Charge)
Daily: Brute Strike and Crack the Shell
Utility: Boundless Endurance.
Basic STR Attack
+1 Maul= +10 VS AC (+2level+1fighter+1magic+4str+2prof) 2D8(large)+5(4+1) or 7 if con is included.
Ryltar of the Crystal Forest
Male Dreem (race created by Animana, posted at http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=16950507)
This seems to point back to all the questions about whether or not homebrewed material can be used in an entry. Here's the text from the rules section that applies to this discussion:
4) One entry per contestant, and that creator must be the submitter (meaning that all work has to be original, and not stolen from someone else.) Also, do not post an entry if you do not want it to be officially judged.
...
6) Any material from the following sources is permitted for this contest: Player's Handbook, Monster Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Martial Power, Adventurer's Vault, and the Draconomicon. You are allowed to build characters with non-standard races, including monster races from the MM. Any other sources -- including D&DI, free web enhancements, and third party material -- are not permitted this time around.
On top of that, there was a lot of questions about whether homebrewed material could be used, including fluffy bits, reflavoring existing powers, and crunchy bits. I said all were allowed, and even encouraged as a means of expressing your creativity.
The intention is that homebrewed material of your own design is permitted. Once you include material that was written by somebody else, we're bumping into both of the rules quoted above.
However... looking back, I can see how my answers could have been interpreted to say that homebrew material written by others was permitted. So, I apologize for the lack of clarity in my answers. We're going to allow shayc's entry to stand for this contest. In future incarnations of both Hero Craftsman and Hero Artisan, we'll try to make it more clear that using material from somebody's post here on the message boards is not a valid source, and that all homebrew material must be your own creation.
*
In other news, I'm completely blown away by the number of entries so far! Wow! You've all exceeded my expectations, given that this is the first installment of the contest! I'm looking forward to seeing just how many more we can get by January 4th! Cheers!
kekeke...
I'm pretty sure that's the secret identity of Marvel's Sasquatch from Alpha Flight, right?
Not bad, Walter Langkowski is the Sasquatch's real name.
for wrecan. Sorry about the bite...
huzzahs!
Welcome to Hero Artisan #1, the first 4e contest where you make a character and get it voted on according to all its facets by our judges, to see who can make the best character! This time our chosen theme is winter, in honor of the season. Your goal for this Hero Artisan contest is to make a character suitable for use in a winter-themed game.
Yes, that topic is very broad. That was intentional -- we wanted the first one to be as open-ended as possible.
Cheers!
ORIGINS:
Hunch-backed, hare-lipped, and cross-eyed, newborn Wixel was brought to the peak of a barren hill by her father's brother and left to die from exposure, as was the custom in such cases. Snow began to fall, wind, to whistle. Young Wixel’s weakening cries to the bleak, darkening skies seemed to summon death itself to carry her young soul to rest. As luck and the gods would have it, however, a mad barbarian witch roaming out from her nearby tribe was drawn to the infant's wailing. Being someone regularly attracted to the irregular, the witch seized the nude, deformed baby and hustled back to her cave on the outskirts of a barbarian hamlet.
That night, the witch consulted her god (a queen of raven) through prolonged masturbation and careful examination of her most recent feces. Satisfied that Wixel was not a vessel of vengeance or malice, she decided to keep her, and promptly became a perfectly negligent parent. Occasionally, Wixel's adoptive mother would bring home sacks of food, but more often, she would disappear for days, or choose to fast for weeks without a thought to young Wixel, who was not similarly sustained by 'the spirits.' By the time she could walk, Wixel found herself sneaking around the village, avoiding certain abuse from the villagers and hoping to pilfer anything vaguely nutritious. Her ability to ‘step lightly’ was invaluable as she began to hunt small game with a makeshift sling.
As it turned out, this barbarian enclave enjoyed friendly relations with several traders (fortunately, none from Wixel’s infanticidal birthplace). One day, a small caravan rolled in having just survived a somewhat poorly planned ambush by two rock-throwing hill-giants. When the caravan-leader inquired after some healing, he was referred to “the witch's cave.” Dubious as it sounded, three of his best guards were severely wounded and his mule-boy was slain, so the stalwart merchant braved an approach.
Though it took him a full ten seconds to figure out, the leader was sure that the little creature hurling stones at a low bush by the cave entrance was...some kind of human! A brief conversation in awkward common with young Wixel (now around ten years old) revealed both her good nature and her unusual upbringing. He paid the witch for healing his guards then cautiously brought up Wixel. At first, the witch flatly refused to let her go, launching into near hysterics, but when the leader (having seen the inside of her cave) offered up a complete baby kobold skeleton they'd found beside the road, the witch quickly agreed, snatched the bones, and ran off into the wilderness in gibbering glee. The sight of a full provisions cart, as much as anything, prompted Wixel to go along willingly. She was immediately set to work.
With varying degrees of trepidation, she has been accepted by the ‘Feen merchant clan’ (based in a large northern city), and was formally given the clan's surname. 'Wixel,' was the name given to her by the barbarians; a term which roughly translates from the barbaric tongue as 'very, very broken,' or 'totally unproductive and impossible to love.' No one at her new home asked what it meant, and she has kept her first name.
With facial and bodily deformities, a utilitarian fashion sense, and no real breasts to speak of, most people assume that Wixel is male. Most of the time, she feels no need to correct anyone's assumptions. There is, however, one exception. Wixel suffers from an almost paralyzing attraction to male elves and would consider selling her left leg to get close to one.
Wixel has flourished as a Feen and attempts to serve her adoptive clan as best she can. The last fifteen years has seen her distinguish herself as a caravan guard, hunter, and squad leader in her northern city’s patrolling militia. Though far removed from her childhood cave-shrine, Wixel has nurtured her faith in the god of death and winter, the Raven Queen. The coming of a winter storm brings a rare smile to her hideous face, a moment of communion with her god and her past.
ALLY and ENEMY:
Leshwin Feen, the aging caravan leader who adopted Wixel. They are close as kin and fight together expertly.
Gratch Harn, captain of a raiding party from a nearby orc colony. Wixel and her militia squad have faced off against Gratch’s rabble more than once. They now actively plot each other’s destruction.
TACTICS:
Wixel is a ferocious combatant. Every strike is infused with a fury born from abuse, hunger, and cold. She is skilled in group tactics, but her early years have caused her to select powers and equipment for facing enemies alone. Her daily and encounter powers give her combat advantage without the aid of a flanking ally. She prefers, of course, to sneak up on an enemy to gain a surprise round and her ‘first strike’ class feature.
Human Rogue 5 (Brutal Scoundrel) Alignment: Good Languages: Common, Elven
Height: 5’2” Weight: 145 lbs. Age: 26 Gender: female
STR 16 (+1 lvl) Con 10 Dex 20 (+1 lvl, +2 race) Int 10 Wis 13 Cha 8
HP: 41 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 10
AC: 20 (+5 abil, +3 armor, +2 lvl) MOVE: 6
FORT: 17 (+3 abil, +1 race, +1 item, +2 lvl)
REF: 21 (+5 abil, +1 race, +1 item, +2 lvl, +2 class)
WILL: 15 (+1 abil, +1 race, +1 item, +2 lvl)
FEATS: initiate of faith (raven queen), weapon focus (light blades), two-weapon fighting, backstabber
POWERS:
At-will- Deft Strike, Piercing Strike, Riposte Strike
Encounter- Dazing Strike, Setup Strike, Tumble
Daily- Easy Target, Clever Riposte, Healing Word
TRAINED SKILLS: Thievery +12 (+14 w/tools), Stealth +14, Athletics +10, Acrobatics +12 Perception +9, Insight +8, Streetwise +6, Religion +7
MAGIC ITEMS:
Weapons- Distance Dagger +2, 1800 gp
Armor- Bloodcut Leather +1, 840 gp
Head- Headband of Perception, 360 gp
Neck- Talon Amulet +1, 680 gp
Feet- Boots of Stealth, 680 gp
Potions- Potion of Healing (2), 100 gp
total = 4,460 gp
MUNDANE ITEMS:
Sling, Sling Bullets (20), Daggers (5), Adventurer’s Kit, Thieves’ Tools, Climber’s Kit, Holy Symbol, Wixel’s Robe of Reversibility (a normal set of winter outerwear that is black/white reversible for winter night/snowy day stealth)
Cash on Hand- 20 gp
SAMPLE SNEAK ATTACK:
Riposte Strike with Distance Dagger +2:
Attack bonus = +15 (+5 abil, +2 enh, +3 prof, +1 class, +2 lvl, +2 CA)
Damage = 1d4 + 2d8 + 13 (+5 abil, +3 brutal scoundrel, +2 enh, +1 item, +1 feat, +1 TWF)
then…the riposte!
Attack bonus = +11 (+3 abil, +2 enh, +3 prof, +1 class, +2 lvl), +13 w/CA
Damage = 1d4 + 7 (+3 abil, +2 enh, +1 feat, +1 TWF), 1d4 + 8 w/CA
Fluff
Orphaned at the age of 12 by the disappearance of his parents, Dresden Archive was raised by the arcane librarians of the Repository of All Knowledge Museum. (Ancient King Forderfall was a great scholar, but just a bit over-ambitious in some of his projects.) The RAKM (pronounced “rok’ um”) is not a typical library, as it holds not only normal texts but also magical books, trinkets, and artifacts. Many of the holdings are not only sought after by dangerous people and groups, but some are dangerous in their own right. Because of this the RAKM Librarians are trained in a more martial fashion than most wizards and librarians. Those with the strongest martial inclination are often sent out from the Library as “acquisition agents” – to seek out and claim further knowledge for the library. These adventurous souls are sometimes known as “Combat Librarians”.
His parents had been Combat Librarians and his goal was to follow in their footsteps. Not only did he want to live up to their legacy, he also wanted to find out what happened to them. Loses among the Combat Librarians are rare, but not unheard of. Losing two of such renown without any trace is still disturbing to the leaders of RAKM. Archive is a common surname among the RAKM Librarians, so Dresden is not automatically associated with that mystery, but neither is it kept a secret.
The RAKM was built in the far north of the Toemoss Desert, for a number of reasons. The area was all but deserted, which worked well for both the potential dangers it represented as well as making the land cheap. The climate was also a boon. Very cold and very dry made preservation of many of the artifacts much easier. The combination of the harsh climate outside, and the supportive (but not familial) relationships within RAKM have shaped Dresden's world view. He sees the world as a harsh and unforgiving place, full of passive dangers for the unwary, such as glacier crevasses and hypothermia, and also full of active dangers, such as wolves and white dragons. Dresden feels that peace and safety are only possible within well protected and careful sanctuaries, such as RAKM. Unfortunately, sometimes there is not much distance between a safe haven from the storm and a cave full of wolves.
One of the RAKM librarians had been doing some personal research, an encouraged but closely monitored activity. Unfortunately, Casul was doing this research off the books. So when he got in over his head there was no one else that knew - until it was too late. An ancient winter spirit was released, one of incredible power named Borealis. And while this danger was not "evil" as such - it cared for nothing but expanding the realm of eternal frost until the entire world is frozen.
As a librarian in training, and especially as one looking towards a career in "acquisitions", Dresden often participated in small excursions led by more experienced members of the RAKM. He also was called upon to assist is various "incidents" within the RAKM itself. Most noticeably during the Tribble incident - where an number of harmless but rapidly reproducing creatures were freed from a secure storage container. Dresden was the one that noticed that they only reproduced after eating. He was also of great help during the redirection of the migration Bloodstone tribe of orcs. They were unknowingly traveling towards an area rife with undead - and they didn't take kindly to the suggestions they go elsewhere. Firmer measures were successful in persuading them to change their plans.
Dresden was one of the few RAKM librarians not currently trapped in the glacier of ice that is growing from the site of RAKM. He had recently attained the full rank and duties of Combat Librarian and had been sent to lead a small expedition to explore a small ruin on the edge of the tundra. The animal messenger was able to reach Dresden in time to give him the news.
Since that time Dresden has been searching for a way to stop the growth of the ice. He does not know how much time he has, such things may take years or decades to grow - like glaciers themselves, inching out to cover the land. But they can also rush out on the land like a winter blizzard. Dresden needs to learn how to defeat Borealis, for sheer power is very much out of reach. He is also searching for anything that might tell him how long he has to reverse the destruction. Dresden grew up in the frozen north and knows his way around there. In preparation for fighting in the cold he recently learned the Transfer Enchantment ritual and used it to add the Frozen enhancement to his leather armor from a set of scale armor recovered from an enemy. He is also likely to feel at home in places where learning and magic are highly valued.
Orphaned at the age of 12 by the disappearance of his parents, Dresden Archive was raised by the arcane librarians of the Repository of All Knowledge Museum. (Ancient King Forderfall was a great scholar, but just a bit over-ambitious in some of his projects.) The RAKM (pronounced “rok’ um”) is not a typical library, as it holds not only normal texts but also magical books, trinkets, and artifacts. Many of the holdings are not only sought after by dangerous people and groups, but some are dangerous in their own right. Because of this the RAKM Librarians are trained in a more martial fashion than most wizards and librarians. Those with the strongest martial inclination are often sent out from the Library as “acquisition agents” – to seek out and claim further knowledge for the library. These adventurous souls are sometimes known as “Combat Librarians”.
His parents had been Combat Librarians and his goal was to follow in their footsteps. Not only did he want to live up to their legacy, he also wanted to find out what happened to them. Loses among the Combat Librarians are rare, but not unheard of. Losing two of such renown without any trace is still disturbing to the leaders of RAKM. Archive is a common surname among the RAKM Librarians, so Dresden is not automatically associated with that mystery, but neither is it kept a secret.
The RAKM was built in the far north of the Toemoss Desert, for a number of reasons. The area was all but deserted, which worked well for both the potential dangers it represented as well as making the land cheap. The climate was also a boon. Very cold and very dry made preservation of many of the artifacts much easier. The combination of the harsh climate outside, and the supportive (but not familial) relationships within RAKM have shaped Dresden's world view. He sees the world as a harsh and unforgiving place, full of passive dangers for the unwary, such as glacier crevasses and hypothermia, and also full of active dangers, such as wolves and white dragons. Dresden feels that peace and safety are only possible within well protected and careful sanctuaries, such as RAKM. Unfortunately, sometimes there is not much distance between a safe haven from the storm and a cave full of wolves.
One of the RAKM librarians had been doing some personal research, an encouraged but closely monitored activity. Unfortunately, Casul was doing this research off the books. So when he got in over his head there was no one else that knew - until it was too late. An ancient winter spirit was released, one of incredible power named Borealis. And while this danger was not "evil" as such - it cared for nothing but expanding the realm of eternal frost until the entire world is frozen.
As a librarian in training, and especially as one looking towards a career in "acquisitions", Dresden often participated in small excursions led by more experienced members of the RAKM. He also was called upon to assist is various "incidents" within the RAKM itself. Most noticeably during the Tribble incident - where an number of harmless but rapidly reproducing creatures were freed from a secure storage container. Dresden was the one that noticed that they only reproduced after eating. He was also of great help during the redirection of the migration Bloodstone tribe of orcs. They were unknowingly traveling towards an area rife with undead - and they didn't take kindly to the suggestions they go elsewhere. Firmer measures were successful in persuading them to change their plans.
Dresden was one of the few RAKM librarians not currently trapped in the glacier of ice that is growing from the site of RAKM. He had recently attained the full rank and duties of Combat Librarian and had been sent to lead a small expedition to explore a small ruin on the edge of the tundra. The animal messenger was able to reach Dresden in time to give him the news.
Since that time Dresden has been searching for a way to stop the growth of the ice. He does not know how much time he has, such things may take years or decades to grow - like glaciers themselves, inching out to cover the land. But they can also rush out on the land like a winter blizzard. Dresden needs to learn how to defeat Borealis, for sheer power is very much out of reach. He is also searching for anything that might tell him how long he has to reverse the destruction. Dresden grew up in the frozen north and knows his way around there. In preparation for fighting in the cold he recently learned the Transfer Enchantment ritual and used it to add the Frozen enhancement to his leather armor from a set of scale armor recovered from an enemy. He is also likely to feel at home in places where learning and magic are highly valued.
Allies and Enemies
Librarians of RAKM - the few that are still free and active in the world are sure to be firm allies. However, given the power that currently controls RAKM Dresden knows that not everyone that claims RAKM as home is there to help.
Bloodstone tribe - not friendly to anyone. Individual reactions will generally either be gratitude in the efforts to save the tribe from themselves, or hostility because of the harsh actions (from those that think they could have handled it themselves). Very few will be neutral.
Borealis - May or may not be aware of Dresden, but is definitely an enemy.
Others - Many people know of RAKM and respect the Museum. Being associated with it would be like being from National Geographic, the Discovery channel, or a very famous university. It may help, and will hardly ever hurt. RAKM never had much of a sports program, so rivalries don't tend to be very serious.
Librarians of RAKM - the few that are still free and active in the world are sure to be firm allies. However, given the power that currently controls RAKM Dresden knows that not everyone that claims RAKM as home is there to help.
Bloodstone tribe - not friendly to anyone. Individual reactions will generally either be gratitude in the efforts to save the tribe from themselves, or hostility because of the harsh actions (from those that think they could have handled it themselves). Very few will be neutral.
Borealis - May or may not be aware of Dresden, but is definitely an enemy.
Others - Many people know of RAKM and respect the Museum. Being associated with it would be like being from National Geographic, the Discovery channel, or a very famous university. It may help, and will hardly ever hurt. RAKM never had much of a sports program, so rivalries don't tend to be very serious.
maybe next round
Please feel free to share your opinions and comments about each other's characters. I request, though, that you place such chatter in spoiler boxes so that any mistakes you point out are hidden from judges' view.
Judges -- ball's in your court. If you need any assistance with understanding rules or anything like that during the judging, please let me know.
Judges -- ball's in your court. If you need any assistance with understanding rules or anything like that during the judging, please let me know.
I have a mostly-free week before I head back to college, so I hope to have my results in soon. We don't want a repeat of the HC 18 fiasco, do we?
Show
I'd also like to thank all those who, like me, are only remotely tied to the winter theme because we basically said "Um... and it's winter! yeah!"
Judges -- ball's in your court. If you need any assistance with understanding rules or anything like that during the judging, please let me know.
Alrighty, then.
*Gets out judging rubric and red pen*
I've seen a few that I like a lot, I'm looking forward to reading them in more detail.
Alrighty, then.
*Gets out judging rubric and red pen*
Don't you need a slide rule and abacus as well?
Don't you need a slide rule and abacus as well?
Only if I want to maintain the appearance of impartiality.
Don't you need a slide rule and abacus as well?
Of course he doesn't--those are used to create the judging rubric, and we all got together and did that last week in our secret headquarters. Trust me, trying to use an abacus to work out a logarithmic scoring curve is a pain.
Do I need to request that judgments be sent to me in order to see them, or will they be posted publicly?
If I need to request, this is it.
Thanks
Eldritch Lord only thinks it's a pain because he refuses to bow to me, the superior abacist of our dark brotherhood.
As soon as you prostrate yourself in awe of my slide rule skills, I might incline my head in your general direction regarding the abacus.
Do I need to request that judgments be sent to me in order to see them, or will they be posted publicly?
Welcome! We probably should have explained this in the OP, since not everyone's seen the Hero Craftsman contests for 3e.
Generally, the way it works is that judges post any comments they have once they've finished scoring the entries, so we usually get comments from all the judges a day or two before scores are tallied and posted. Judges aren't required to give comments, but those that give them do post them publicly, usually in spoiler blocks.
Of course he doesn't--those are used to create the judging rubric, and we all got together and did that last week in our secret headquarters. Trust me, trying to use an abacus to work out a logarithmic scoring curve is a pain.
So... the judging rubric is like captain planet?
When the epic heroes Slide-Rule, Abacus, Astrolabe, Sextant, and Large Hadron Collider combine, they become the Judging Rubric!
In fact, if you make me the Irish guy I'll just cook the monkey with my fire ring. Everybody wins.
As long as I'm not the kid with the monkey, I'm down with it.
Then I am afraid that we have some bad news for you...
(Yes, I am baiting a judge before he is done judging, call me a daredevil)
...Large Hadron Collider...
How did you--? Dammit. Batshido, would you mind telling Zherog we have a security leak?
(Yes, I am baiting a judge before he is done judging, call me a daredevil)
Calling you "The guy with the lowest score from Batshido" would probably be more accurate. ;)
How did you--? Dammit. Batshido, would you mind telling Zherog we have a security leak?
Perhaps we can skip the bureaucracy and get on with the beheadings?
Calling you "The guy with the lowest score from Batshido" would probably be more accurate. ;)
Now Nyarlathotep may be thinking to yourself, "that's not so bad" but really it is... low scores from Batshido tend to come along with the following side effects:
Now Nyarlathotep may be thinking to yourself, "that's not so bad" but really it is... low scores from Batshido tend to come along with the following side effects:
I think you forgot "death." :P
Anyways, looking forward to seeing how well I did. Despite a few errors, I'd like to think I had a strong entry (although that remains to be seen, I guess).
Now Nyarlathotep may be thinking to yourself, "that's not so bad" but really it is... low scores from Batshido tend to come along with the following side effects:
Shoot, I have most of those already.
Perhaps we can skip the bureaucracy and get on with the beheadings?
I thought only the person in last place got beheaded and anyone who caused a security leak got electrocuted...?
I think you forgot "death." :P
Actually, no, that's lordduskblade's job. Batshido just makes the rest of your life really uncomfortable while we wait for LDB to show up.
Shoot, I have most of those already.
That's okay; we never said that you'd get only those side effects, just that those come first.
------------------------------------------------
On a more serious note, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm about 1/3 done with my judging and should have scores in soon-ish.
Shoot, I have most of those already.
I know.
I thought only the person in last place got beheaded and anyone who caused a security leak got electrocuted...?
I'm all for it, that's the best motivation there is.
Actually, no, that's lordduskblade's job. Batshido just makes the rest of your life really uncomfortable while we wait for LDB to show up.
OK, I'm here; who is it that I have to kill? *looks at Nyarlathotep* Oh, crap, he's already dead, be right back... *rummages about in stash for Radiant Execution Axe*
The next time some undead gives you a hard time, I'm calling in the Paladins of Amaunator...
That's okay; we never said that you'd get only those side effects, just that those come first.
------------------------------------------------
On a more serious note, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm about 1/3 done with my judging and should have scores in soon-ish.
Aye, you don't wanna know what happens after the first week. ;)
My scores are in; so any delays can't be blamed on me. :D
I
OK, I'm here; who is it that I have to kill? *looks at Nyarlathotep* Oh, crap, he's already dead, be right back... *rummages about in stash for Radiant Execution Axe*
I got better.
I got better.
Gah, he's still here!
*rummages about in stash for Radiant Execution Axe and Holy Water*
Gah, he's still here!
*rummages about in stash for Radiant Execution Axe and Holy Water*
*Lance of Faith* Worry not, brother. By Kord's hand we shall prevail against the unclean. *Lance of Faith* *Lance of Faith*
(I'm experiencing some computer issues atm, so I may be a couple more days on in passing judgement on these poor souls.)
My day of birth is tomorrow and the weekend promises many festivities. My scores will thus be delayed until Monday and the commentary this time around a little slim.
Another Jan. 9th baby. Congratulations and Happy Birthday. I, too, have my birthday on the 9th.
Well, I just sent in my scores earlier today, so I suppose we're half done on that front. I'm heading back to college Saturday and will be getting ready for that most of tomorrow, so comments should be on tap for Monday once I'm settled back in.
I hear ya; I start next Wednesday (at least this is my last semester in undergrad, FINALLY)
So... how long until we know how we all did?
In all seriousness, typical turn-around time is generally two weeks -- at least, in the Hero Craftsman contest it is. However, with this being the first, a slight delay wouldn't surprise me.
I have scores from two judges, which leaves me waiting for the other two. They're working on it. *cracks whip* Sometimes, they just need a little reminder of the motivation they should feel. * cracks whip again *
In all seriousness, typical turn-around time is generally two weeks -- at least, in the Hero Craftsman contest it is. However, with this being the first, a slight delay wouldn't surprise me.
Finishing up my scores now (got one more to judge). Short comments, though. Longer ones might be a little while.
My preference would be to allow final results to be posted as soon as possible, with comments to follow afterward. So, my ideal scenario involves you sending in your scores, then posting comments later.
That way I can lord my betterness over everyone else. Lording my betterness over people is very important, for me personally and for the Hero Artisan contest overall.
EDIT: Sorry, Zherog, I didn't mean to hint at what his scores are. My bad. ;)
:whatsthis :whatsthis :whatsthis :whatsthis :whatsthis :whatsthis 
Just be patient.So, Obsidian and Bats, how are the scores coming?
I got mine in a while ago. Hopefully I'm not the one Zherog's waiting on.
Z: If I'm the odd man out, let me know and I'll resend them.
[thread=1136423]You could enter the current 3.5 version of the contest while you wait.[/thread] ;)
I don't have my 3.5 books anymore
Or even my 3s.I have the 2nd edition PHB though. I could make a Druid who potentially will never get past lvl 13!
I don't have my 3.5 books anymore
I have the 2nd edition PHB though. I could make a Druid who potentially will never get past lvl 13!
You could always use the SRD. It's just core + psionics, but it's something.
Sooooooooo, how's the judging coming along?
OMMM!
Sooooooooo, how's the judging coming along?
Well, Obsidianjaerc has dropped off the face of the earth for the moment, so we're giving him one more day to get scores in; if not, scores will go up in the next day or two at Zherog's convenience, and comments should follow soon after that.
My plan is to post scores tomorrow sometime in the 12-1pm hour, unless I hear from Obsidian in the meantime and he tells me he's close to done.
Judges are certainly free to post any comments at any time; you don't have to wait for scores.
Okay, then. I'll see if I can get them up later tonight.
I'd also like to thank our judges, all of whom were new to the process. They had quite a lot of work to do up front to set up the basic rules of the contest to go along with the usual talk of theme, valid sources, and so on. And then, they had to read and judge all 15 entries! Great job, fellas!
And with that bit of business out of the way, let's move on to the scores for the inaugural Hero Artisan contest!
Coming in third place and winning a BRONZE medal, with a final average score of 31.167:
Bronze Medal Winner
Burud Whitescale, by wrecan
Burud Whitescale, by wrecan
Congrats to Nyronus and Jonathan_Vagabond! And good job to everyone. Healthy competition all around!
Burud Whitescale
Character: An excellent character all around. Focusing on the colder aspects of the Hells was a nice touch--no one ever remembers Cania!--and you were one of the few to reflavor your powers, which combined with the infernal warlock twist was a solid (re-)interpretation of the theme.
Mechanics: Two issues here. First, you didn't cite your sources as well as you could have; I had to search for a while before I remembered that Hurl Breath was in a Dragon issue. Secondly, platinum pieces are 100 gp each now, not 10 gp, so Burud should have had 3pp, not 30. It only infinitesimally hurt your score ('cause I never remember that myself), but you might want to remember that for the future.
Mechanics: Two issues here. First, you didn't cite your sources as well as you could have; I had to search for a while before I remembered that Hurl Breath was in a Dragon issue. Secondly, platinum pieces are 100 gp each now, not 10 gp, so Burud should have had 3pp, not 30. It only infinitesimally hurt your score ('cause I never remember that myself), but you might want to remember that for the future.
Nah, thats cool. Nice work John, and nice work to everyone!
...before I remembered that Hurl Breath was in a Dragon issue.
If so, you were kind since it was a non-allowed source. ;)
Gold Medal Winner
Quileon, by Johnathan_Vagabond
...say what!?...
BOOYA! We must celebrate with the MAMUSHKA! hup hup hup fling hup hup thwak shudder hup hup hup hup...and so on into the night.
Character: An excellent character all around. Focusing on the colder aspects of the Hells was a nice touch--no one ever remembers Cania!--and you were one of the few to reflavor your powers, which combined with the infernal warlock twist was a solid (re-)interpretation of the theme.
Mechanics: Two issues here. First, you didn't cite your sources as well as you could have; I had to search for a while before I remembered that Hurl Breath was in a Dragon issue. Secondly, platinum pieces are 100 gp each now, not 10 gp, so Burud should have had 3pp, not 30. It only infinitesimally hurt your score ('cause I never remember that myself), but you might want to remember that for the future.
Thanks for the kind words! Drat on using a prohibited source. I use the Digital Initiative and I thought I was careful watching sources. Darn it.
I'll do my best to get a medal next time around.
I'll see if I can't dig out my comments tonight. My laptop has come down with a case of the no-workies, though, so it might require some TLC to get those out and up.
If so, you were kind since it was a non-allowed source. ;)
Drat on using a prohibited source. I use the Digital Initiative and I thought I was careful watching sources. Darn it.
Oh, I know it was a non-allowed source; that's why I wasn't looking in Dragon in the first place. ;) Don't worry, I was enforcing sources (ensourcing?) and took that into account with my scoring.
Hopefully next time I'll be able to craft something more worthy of a higher score :PAnd now...comments!OddricCharacter: A very interesting character concept...that doesn't really fit the theme all too well. The only thing recognizable as a "winter" theme is your intro that states that goblins come from the north; yes, it's the north and that's usually cold and wintry, but your character doesn't make use of it at all except for that minor blurb.
Mechanics: Two issues: First off, you cited sources for your feats but not for your powers; I figured you'd cite powers if you cited feats, so it took me some time to find all the exploits and make sure they were all legal. Secondly, you have two 8s in your scores; technically, there are no provisions for "buying down" from a 10, and you start with 5 10s and an 8, so you can't really get those scores--it would make a good house rule to be able to drop one score for some extra points, but it isn't RAW as-is. It didn't hurt your score much, but you might want to read the point buy rules a bit more closely for next time.
Character: Combat Librarian, huh? Oy vey. I'll never be able to read another Dresden Files book without mentally appending "Combat Librarian" whenever he says his name. The background was a bit trite--loss of both parents under mysterious circumstances, being the only one who knows of/can stop a major evil power--but otherwise he was a very well-rounded, well-thought-out character.
Sorry about messing with your enjoyment of the Dresden Files.
I was trying to avoid both of those cliches, but obviously didn't do it well enough. I was trying to set up a "questing to find find parents" rather than the "poor lost orphan". Of course, that can be a bit of a cliche in itself too. Because I'm actually playing Dresden in a game currently (at 2nd level) I spent a lot of time on fitting in the winter theme, rather than fleshing out the background more. The group I play with doesn't tend to get into the deep background much.
And I tried to point out that there were other RAKM personnel free, I probably should have pointed out that many of them are also more experienced than Dresden. But I guess that one sentence didn't convey all of my thoughts on that matter. Probably one of those "I ought to spend more time on the background" things, huh?
;) As for Dresden...yeah, I named him after Harry, and since this is an advancement of a character I'm currently playing his personality is much like Harry's also. The Combat Librarian thing is actually inspired by Garth Nix's Lirael and the Library of the Clayr.
If any of you don't get these referneces:
The Dresden Files Series - by Jim Butcher (starts with Storm Front)
The Old Kingdom Trilogy - by Garth Nix (starts with Sabriel)
Whew. Never having done this before, I want to say it was exhausting. I would have liked to do more (perhaps writing out descriptions and mentioning the rest of the powers that were reflavored) but it got to the point where the numbers started to melt, I couldn't keep track of what was waht and I said "to hell with it" -- .
That said, is there an easier way to create characters? Or failing that, might I suggest the next contest be of characters level 1-3 so I can use the Character Creator Beta? XD
I totally agree. With 99% of your comments. The 1% where we differ is they do have the cost for buying down from a 10, but only to 9. The second point gained by going down to an 8 is, I realized, a house rule.
Actually, the (1)* point listed is for buying up from an 8, and otherwise it's a "--"; the footnote says "If your score is 8, you can pay 1 to make it 9 or 2 to make it 10." It says nothing about buying down to a 9 from a 10.
Next time, I shall do better!
Excellent attitude to have! I'm looking forward to your submission in the next one.
Probably one of those "I ought to spend more time on the background" things, huh?
Yeah. So much in a character's background can hinge on a single sentence sometimes. It happens.
The Combat Librarian thing is actually inspired by Garth Nix's Lirael and the Library of the Clayr.
I thought that seemed familiar! It seems our reading material significantly overlaps.
Sorry about messing with your enjoyment of the Dresden Files.
If any of you don't get these referneces:
The Dresden Files Series - by Jim Butcher (starts with Storm Front)
I had Summer Knight on my mind when writing Quileon. I liked the Combat Librarian reference, although I originally pegged it for a Discworld tribute before reading.
As for the grammer thing I'll have my wife read the next one for me before I post it. (I have That switching letter thing and can read a post 500 times and then on the 501 time catch my mistake.) But I had fun and love do it and reading everybodies. Great job to all.So have we any thoughts on the theme of #2?
We've thrown some ideas around, but there's no front-runner. I don't know if Zherog has set up an HA Ideas thread like HC has, but feel free to suggest ideas and we'll consider them.
Yep - it should be linked in the first post.
Right. I knew that.
Read before posting, EL, read before posting.So, yeah. We have an idea thread. Post away in there.