With the month of February now behind us, it’s time to continue the trend established in this post and take a look at a small sampling of the character concepts I have come up with during that time.
Korbin Barret
Ain’t it just a sheer coincidence that all the folks who put off death are the ones who’re just the absolute shittiest in life? It’s almost like they know a devil’s gonna get hold of their soul afterwards, Weird.
The Baron of the village where Korbin grew up was a tyrant, over taxing those who lived on his land, and taking cruel punishments out on those who couldn’t pay. The residents often prayed for his death, for he was advanced in years, thinking their suffering would be relieved when he finally died, but he never did. In fact as the years passed he seemed only to grow less frail. One day, the Baron learned of this sentiment and executed 10 random villagers as an example.
Korbin’s mother and sister, his only living family, were among those chosen.
That very night, as he lay weeping in his bed, Korbin was contacted by something. It called itself a servant of the goddess of death, and claimed it was responsible for the separation of the soul from the deceased physical form and ushering it to the goddess’ halls, where the soul would be judged and sent to its proper home. It had grown tired of mortals resorting to unnatural means to stave off meeting him to continue doing horrible things in the living world, and it wanted to do something about it. It proposed granting Korbin the power to hunt down those who fled death, including the very Baron who murdered his family. In addition to the revenge, it would also allow Korbin to say farewells to their souls and witness their passing to their eternal home.
Korbin agreed, and awoke to find himself not only with an eldritch-powered firearm at his side, but the ability to assume the form of his newfound patron, a terrifying emissary of death. Korbin got his vengeance on the Baron, and now traverses the land seeking others like him, who prey on the week but flee death.
Korbin is a human warlock that uses the Undead patron to reflect his pact with Death/the Grim Reaper/whatever you want to call it, but his pact boon makes use of the Pact of the Trigger option from Steinhardt’s Guide to the Eldritch Hunt. The link will take you to a video on youtube which reviews the boon, as it is not otherwise available for free online.
Spork
Does Spork look like kind of kobold meant to toil away in mine all life? Spork good at sneaking and getting into places others not want Spork to be. Spork rather sell skills for shinies. Seems faster. And more fun.
Being a kobold is a dangerous life. If it’s not a dragon overlord eating or incinerating you for displeasing it, it’s the monsters you unearth in the mines you dig that do the same. Or you toil too close to some place the surface folk inhabit and they chase you down for being a pest. Then there’s the mundane means you can get hurt or die in a mine. Cave-ins, pockets of gas, it’s not always the safest thing.
Spork gave all that up a long time ago. Surface folk have coin too, and are often willing to trade coin for work. Spork, having grown use to moving around quietly and out of sight, ambushing predators, and disarming carelessly laid traps from his kin, had developed a fair amount of skills that translated well above ground. Sure, some of them aren’t exactly trusting of kobolds, but once you find a few who are, and succeed at the jobs they give you, word gets around.
Spork’s biggest break came when he traded some basic knowledge of casting arcane spells from a wizard who’d hired him to steal a few books from a rival. Now possessed of a number of magical tricks to confuse and befuddle targets, as well as swipe items or pick locks from a distance, he’s a more capable kobold than ever.
Spork likes to hang around taverns, guildhalls, and other places adventurers congregate these days. Folks there always have the most interesting gigs and are generally willing to provide the most coin for them too. He’s an Arcane Trickster rogue.
Kion of the Ironmane
I am a keeper of the dead. You will cease this evil, or you will join the ranks of my charges.
As a member of the Gravekeepers, Kion is often dispatched far and wide by the leaders of the order to calm the spirts of the dead, put down undead outbreaks, and prevent those who would despoil the order of life and death by unjustly taking lives. His intimidating presence is often just as useful in these endeavors as his training, looking every bit a fearsome upright lion.
Kion is extremely stoic, often seen as unemotional by those he works with, but those who know him best know that the Leonin is a deeply feeling person who often laments being away from his pride, but is far too devoted to his sacred duty to surrender it while he is still physically capable. The spirits that he works with, however, are prone to being influenced by the emotions of their ranger, and to ensure they remain both under control and free of undue torment, he keeps a tight grip on his feelings….at least while on duty
Kion is a Leonin Ranger using TheArenaGuy’s Gravekeeper conclave subclass
Hjalduhr Stormbrow
Us dwarves live in mountain keeps, surrounded by stone. Stone’s an excellent reflector of sound, which is why I call my music “rock”!
Dwarves are fond of song, and few dwarves as fond of singing as Hjalduhr Stormbrow, which is why he underwent Bardic training as soon as he came of age. He loved the power of song to unify everyone in the immediate vacinity with the same emotions and purpose, the power to bring folks together. And while he enjoyed performing in the taverns and meadhalls of his home, he longed to go bigger, to perform for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dwarves all at once.
He began experimenting with a particular variety of artifice, imbuing his instruments with the power of lightning and thunder magic, with the single goal of being able to make himself heard from as far away as he could. It worked better than he could have hoped. His lute, barely recognizable under all the modifications he had done to it, because capable of immense amplified volume, though at the cost of the sound coming across as distorted and growling. Yet Hjalduhr found beauty in this sound as well, finding the effects still capable of producing harmonic chords that seemed to fit perfectly with the rough and tumble dwarven songs he’d known for so many years.
Unfortunately, his home was still surrounded by rock and stone, and the increased volume of his music was even further amplified by the echo it produced when bouncing back and forth. The lords of the keep forbade him from using these instruments, telling him to return to traditional forms of music, or face exile.
Unwilling to simply give up on the innovative style, Hjalduhr chose to take his talents to the surface, where the open air would mean people could enjoy his newfound style without too much risk of permanent hearing damage. And if the fact that he could channel potent thunder magic through his music meant he could deter bandits, beasts, and monsters? All the better. He still dreams of performing before a massive dwarven crowd some day, but for now he’ll keep practicing…and finding inspiration for truly epic songs in his travels.
Hjalduhr is a bard, using KibblesTasty’s College of Thunder subclass.
Your Quest Log is Full 