#character-builds — Public Fediverse posts

First appearing to the mass market fanbase within 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons in Eberron: Rising from the Last War and now in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the Artificer is a kind of techno-wizard. For someone without previous connections to Eberron, the setting that exploded on the scene in 3rd edition, the Artificer confused me.

The fiction upon which it is based seemingly is all self-referring, or modern fantastical. There’s a subclass that essentially reads as if it is Iron Man ported back into D&D for example. Whereas most D&D classes stretch into the myths and legends that predate the game itself, the Artificer does not seem to have that convention.

Oddly enough, it was a Christmas movie that reminded me of Artificers within our lore. There are magical techno-wizards within holiday tales. From Christmas elves of tradition, to the inventors of Jingle Jangle, you can find your inspiration for your next Artificer.

These creators take the mundane and imbue it with magic. They create automatons, magically tinker, infuse items, and all the other things you expect from the description of an Artificer.

Masters of invention, artificers use ingenuity and magic to unlock extraordinary capabilities in objects. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and then harnessed in their spells and inventions. You can find everything you need to play one of these inventors in the next few sections.

Artificers use a variety of tools to channel their arcane power. To cast a spell, an artificer might use alchemist’s supplies to create a potent elixir, calligrapher’s supplies to inscribe a sigil of power, or tinker’s tools to craft a temporary charm. The magic of artificers is tied to their tools and their talents, and few other characters can produce the right tool for a job as well as an artificer.

From DnDBeyond.

Opening up a vision of an Artificer to include these amazing gift-gives also helps change how you approach D&D. A character of kindness and generosity, or that thieving Gustafson, expands the stories you can tell. When you visit the village you can brighten the spirits of the community via your infusions and spells.

It may be a Hallmark/Lifetime/FreeForm/UPTv cliche, but there is magic in the holiday season. Incorporating the magic of elves, toys, inventors, Santa, and others into your D&D characters and stories means adding more joy to a game that so often centers violence.

Generosity and joy exist in D&D (even in Barovia). Your Artificer has the power to amplify those feelings (while also being an effective combatant, but there are many places that talk about optimizing in those ways). There are 1,000 times a thousand stories available at any table and any session. Adding a little Christmas to your Artificer is a way to discover more of them.

Be Jeronicus, Jessica, Journey, or even Gustafson. Be Alabaster Snowball, Bushy Evergreen, Pepper Minstix, Shinny Upatree, Sugarplum Mary, or Wunorse Openslae. Roll dice and tell stories about the power of Artifice.

Full Moon Storytelling is presented by Homes by KC

Homes by KC is a Keller-Williams Realtor with a background in interior design, marketing, and project management.

Follow her on Facebook or Instagram to see featured homes in the area as well as to get advice on the real estate market around Puget Sound and southeast Washington.
You can support Full Moon Storytelling by choosing Homes by KC for your next real estate transaction.

https://fullmoonstorytelling.com/2023/12/09/how-christmas-can-inspire-your-next-artificer/

#artificer #CharacterBuilds #characterDescription #Christmas #DnD #DnD5 #DnD5e #DungeonsAndDragons #RolePlaying

what the image reader spat out from the PHB Str chart. I kinda want to build some things in here... Hof-Orcs! Mogic-Uaer's! Anger Chorociers! #What #Whatarethey #Characterbuilds #ODND #DND

From the Greatest Showman, to Newsies, to the nameless town criers belting out “Hear ye, Hear ye” the fiction that inspires our gaming has included symbols of governments, news guilds, carnivals, circuses, and religious orders in the streets are regularly part of the scenery. Some of these people would be dragged into heroic adventures.

Amadin the Barker is one of these. Originally a barker for a travelling carnival, this fey hobgoblin fits within the normal world because of the cover of the carnival. Their exotic lineage belongs among the strongmen who aren’t strong, the acrobatic performers, the owlbear trainers, and the oracles without magic.

Created through a series of polls and prompts on Twitter, Amadin the Barker is discovered to be a Blessed Warrior Paladin of Redemption. They are generally peaceful, able to help their circus make money, prevent serious loss of live, and work to redeem themselves.

Peace. Innocence. Patience. Wisdom.

They swear upon these values. Sure, they are a warrior when needed. Those needs are rare. Amadin’s greatest tool is their booming voice and their desire to help the peoples who took them in when they were a stranger.

Amadin the Barker

If you want the full PC version of this community character Amadin is over at DnDBeyond, as are all of the community characters built via polls and interactions on my twitter account.

Amadin is an example of a carnival barker, town crier, or herald. This new Background is part of my ever-percolating project Before We Were Heroes. Unlike the Remarkable Drudge, there is no cantrip or new tool for the Crier.

Crier/Herald/Barker

Skill Proficiencies: History, Persuasion
Tool Proficiencies: None
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A noisy instrument (bell, gong, horn, drum), fine clothes (a Barker should have a costume), common clothes, scroll case, 3 sheets of parchment, quill, jar of ink, 15 gp

Feature: You Will Hear Me

When in a crowd, or during a heated discussion, your words always break through the background noise. When you shout out, or clap, or ring the bell, etc., the attention of the multitudes shifts to the Crier/Herald/Barker who can make an appeal to them. Your pronouncements carry the weight and heft of your organization.

Full Moon Storytelling is presented by Homes by KC

Homes by KC is a Keller-Williams Realtor with a background in interior design, marketing, and project management.

Follow her on Facebook or Instagram to see featured homes in the area as well as to get advice on the real estate market around Puget Sound and southeast Washington.
You can support Full Moon Storytelling by choosing Homes by KC for your next real estate transaction.

Barker Design choices

Skills: Persuasion was obvious. That’s where this background had to start. Their whole role in society is to convince people to do things. The other choice came down to Insight or History. Insight made sense because reading a crowd may be necessary, but History fits the idea that the symbol of an area’s governance or a news guild or a traveler would have this level of knowledge. If a campaign is using Culture rather than Language, drop History for Insight.

Tools: One of the spaces I’m exploring is giving various Backgrounds tools that they possess that they aren’t necessarily proficient in – in this case a musical instrument. The Crier may use a gong to gain attention. They don’t need to know how to perform a musical piece.

Languages: With two more slots and the modern cosmopolitan nature of default D&D granting two languages makes sense.

Equipment: The non-proficient instrument is a little note that some Criers need an assist before they gain attention of the masses. Most backgrounds do not include two sets of clothes. In the case of the Crier/Herald they should have fine clothes for official duties and look common when not. For a Barker replace the fine clothing with a costume, if you’d like.

Feature: First off, yes, I modified the Sounder at Heart motto for this one. You Will Hear Me captures the feel of a person standing in the crowd and demanding attention. A character could use this as a distraction, or a rallying cry, or maybe as a way to start a charity drive. As always, the feature fits into social and exploration moments more so than combat.

For personality attributes use Folk Hero, Scholar, Noble, or others that fit. The finished product, whenever it is done will include unique characteristics for all 40 or so Backgrounds.

Custom Backgrounds for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

• Barker or Crier
• Remarkable Drudge
• Farmer & Beekeeper
• Vintner
• Midwife
• Caravanserai & Innkeeper
• Sparkler
• Tinker
• Lamplighter or Street Sweeper
• Herbalist
• Far Talker
• Hunter
• Messenger
• Clerk & Tax Collector
• Barber, Stylist or Bloodletter
• Cabbie & Ferien
• Clothier or Weaver

https://fullmoonstorytelling.com/2021/04/24/meet-amadin-the-barker-including-a-new-5e-dd-background/

#backgrounds #Barker #character #CharacterBuilds #characterDescription #Crier #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #Herald

Opening up an NPC creation series with a character I should have made ages ago – one with glasses. If you don’t know me, I’m basically finger-blind. Without glasses or contacts I am unable to count how many fingers you would be holding up if you are more than a couple feet away from me. And yet, I never have played a character or NPC with glasses. I actively avoided it.

After reading Deven Rue’s recent post about embracing characters with vision impairment or blindness I decided that needed to change.

Heading over to DM Heroes, I hit the random button until it turned up a character with glasses. Then, it was about creating a character with an interesting background who was not a quest giver. Because as Rue says, “Make us non-quest related. Just people in your world. Living. Existing.”

Meet Orne Willowrush

First up is a Simple Index Card Version of an NPC. These are designed so with just a few words you can know who an NPC is from a basic description of appearance, to some basic motivations. In Willowrush’s case he’s a former soldier who once fought for the realm, but now works as a cooper. In my deep belief that everyone in your D&D world should have a hobby he is a fisher. He is not skilled in fishing though. He just enjoys doing the calmness of fishing with his friends. He can get dreamy about his past, but also doesn’t like to talk about it. Orne recently lost his beaver – Tryn. He’s just newly bonded with an otter – Orla.

Orne’s best friend is a librarian named Incirion Vadu, a goblin. You can often find them at the river together, ignoring work. Incirion knows Mending, and will often have an extra pair of glasses for Orne.

Orne Willowrush

If you want him built as a fully playable character I’ve added him to my DnDBeyond Community Characters campaign. Orne on Beyond is a Scout rather than a Conscript, so as to not introduce new rules.

Winestar, Lemplet Place

Winestar is a neighborhood built along the rolling ridge of the Lemplet River. It’s a mix of farmsteads with a few crafts to support their needs. Most of the good produced enter the walled part of the city via barge or float. The Spring, across the river, is up on a cliffside, and is generally more wealthy than Winestar, especially those parts that are next to the castle walls. Within Winestar you will, of course, find many small vintners, with most of the homes at least having a passing hobby of wine creation. In general, Winestar produces luxury goods whereas Northroad is sustenance farming.

Lemplet Place is a city of about 4,300 people.

1. Blackbridge – known for the eponymous bridge, the downtown of Lemplet Place
2. Tidewater Place – the slums, used to flood with high tide
3. Castle Lemplet – originally built as a exterior castle, the city has grown around it
4. Trollrock – the northern block surrounds a huge rock hill with a cave inside, no trolls though
5. Northroad – sustenance farming
6. Winestar – grapevines, orchards
7. The Spring – for the wealthy that moved out of the city

How will you use Orne Willowrush in your campaign?

https://fullmoonstorytelling.com/2021/04/08/orne-willowrush-an-npc-for-your-adventuring-needs/

#character #CharacterBuilds #characterDescription #DnD #DnD5 #DnD5e #DnDBeyond #DungeonsAndDragons #NPC

Your D&D characters should have hobbies

The mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons don’t force you to choose a pastime or hobby. Outside of Bards and the various Backgrounds that include entertainment and arts there is no obligation or hint that a character should do things besides fight, interact socially to solve or cause problems, or explore a wildernesses and dungeons.

With a limited number of skills and tools you might weaken your character if you take something without a direct impact on their ability to perform as an asset in the adventuring party – so what?

Be a tiny bit weaker and add something that your character enjoys doing that has nothing to do with defeating dragons or wandering dungeons. In the real world in the eras upon which D&D reflects, this was common. Commoners worked less than we do in the modern era.

• Pre-industrial workers had a shorter workweek than today’s
• Eight centuries of annual hours

There’s a reason that there are giant stadiums more than a 1,000 years old scattered around the world.

https://twitter.com/GrecianGirly/status/1370133681529102340

But it’s more than just sports.

Look at games like draughts, chess, mancala, 9-man morris, hnefatafl, and others lost to history. People had time. They did things with that time that they enjoyed.

They sang songs. Told tales. Wrote dumb epic poems that we still read.

So what does your character do when they aren’t living their life and when they aren’t dungeoning or dragoning?

Burn a tool or skill on this – or don’t! – maybe they enjoy doing something that they are bad at.

Maybe your next PC or NPC is the world’s best tafl player, or the local community’s worst singer. Maybe they make little sweaters for the elves that aren’t actually elves, and then they meet real elves. Maybe they are the old man that talks story to the children of his town.

These elements may show in just a sentence or two in a given gaming session. That’s okay. It’s part of who they are and what they do, even if a d20 isn’t involved.

#Art #character #CharacterBuilds #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #games #hobbies #Sports

In wine, beer, coffee, etc there’s the concept of the perfect pairing. At its simplest, the concept is to find foods that complement that specific flavor notes of the beverage. More completely you can find ways to do this through similar and disparate notes – sometimes hitting opposites on the flavor wheel gives the taster an experience that highlights both the food and the beverage.

Pairing beverages with gaming in something I just do. When playing Awf I always have a beverage. Sometimes that beverage is inspired by his personality – drinking an earl grey lavender toddy out of a masonry mug to highlight his duel cultures of dwarf and bladesinger. Other times the beverage connects to the adventure that Droop’s Brigade is going – Skookum Caverns, a barrel aged strong ale, as we enter Wave Echo Cave.

Since we're in Wave Echo Cave my beer as I run Awf is Skookum Caverns, a barrel aged strong ale. pic.twitter.com/IqSluqshRf

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) October 13, 2020

The use of flavor here helps inspire the story being told during that gaming session. The flavors evoke a mental space where Awf’s unique history of annoying elves enough that they taught him bladesong, despite his being a stubby dwarf, is brought to the forefront. Or, the dangers and darkness of a cave are brought to the front of mind through can art and the potency of a strong ale.

Flavor does wonderful things. Pairings aren’t just about maximizing the flavor experience. The connection between taste-smell and memory is powerful. People buy Kona coffee because it awakens memory, much more than due to its quality. A margarita on a cold winter day can put your headspace back to a nice beach vacation. Hot cocoa in front of a fire, even while home alone by yourself, will send you dreaming back to a Christmas visit to a small town.

As roleplayers, in Dungeons & Dragons or any other game, we can use the magic of flavor to help us. The foods and beverages of your game night are important. Make those small choices that aid gaming, just like you would a token, art, or cosplay.

Rather than confine yourself into using flavor as a way to connect your current character, you can also use flavor to inspire new characters.

Light and to the point, Shaabuz the Creative is an air genasi with a penchant for using whatever weapon is on hand, frankly why waste time figuring out the ideal blade for a situation?
They've seen some stuff. They'll see more. Shaabuz is aggressive.https://t.co/ySP7MH7xzb

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) December 5, 2020

Gladdug Steelarm studied the histories of his peoples, learning how they lived. Strong, powerful – Steelarm wanders those hills, searching for more knowledge and stories from the past, accompanied by a deer he calls Buffalo.
He's a classic with nuancehttps://t.co/KzxNzQWKMc

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) December 5, 2020

Dedicated and purposeful, Róingo Bérbúi is of the sea. They traverse the world searching for the perfect representation of mother water. They find sorrow in pain, finding tinctures to heal.
Róingo is devoted to the cleansing water's purpose & power.https://t.co/2lOJnlge32

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) December 6, 2020

Everyone thinks of Nibs Fallohide as a child. The lightfoot halfling is willing to lean into that misconception. Nibs will then take their money when they are at ease. Fallohide's grew up on the streets, where sweets were rare. Now they're his reward.https://t.co/yRsGqYyJ6E

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) December 5, 2020

There's always ice around Widnir. Some think it's because they are blessed by spirits. They are the memories that haunt Widnir from the Winter of Struggle.
With fist & fury they rescued family & friend. This goliath is loyal, always ready to help people.https://t.co/M2jRiTOpmc

— Dave Clark (@bedirthan) December 5, 2020

Each of those characters started with the simple prompt related to a beverage and the object out of which it is consumed. From there decisions were made not just regarding the race, class, and background, but also to inform the skills, attributes, spells, and weapons chosen.

Rum connected to sailors, pirates, merchants, or water genasi. Carbonation was an indication of something light, refreshing. Salt a connection to authority. The mistaken belief that halflings are just old children popped into the head with the root beer.

Full Moon Storytelling is presented by Homes by KC

Homes by KC is a Keller-Williams Realtor with a background in interior design, marketing, and project management.

Follow her on Facebook or Instagram to see featured homes in the area as well as to get advice on the real estate market around Puget Sound and southeast Washington.
You can support Full Moon Storytelling by choosing Homes by KC for your next real estate transaction.

What those various prompts did was start internet searches into the techniques used to create certain beverages, into their history, into their cultural significance. Chasing those touchpoints and activating them through D&D and by including others in the process, my character portfolio expanded. These are now new NPCs, or maybe even PCs, that would never exist.

Food and drink can inform your characters just as art, books, movies, shows, music and media can. Great cooks say that their meals tell stories. Adapt that into your PC and NPCs.

Empower flavor to empower the stories you tell.

What type of character builds a replica longboat and uses it as a charcuterie table? How does that inform who they are?

https://fullmoonstorytelling.com/2020/12/08/turn-flavor-into-the-story-you-wish-to-tell/

#beer #CharacterBuilds #coffee #community #DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #flavor #RolePlaying #Tea #whiskey #wine