Character Creation

Character Generation Info Character Creation
27 Point Buy
Characters must be created using DMG + PHB+ Official Book
Starting gear will be class and background + DM provided items based on Background
Multi Class Allowed
Feats Allowed

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Characters Start at 10th Level as such you may pick a place where you were trained if you wish to gain the advantages and potential disadvantages of each.


Arach-Tinilith: For all clerics, druids, or religious affiliated
Wisdom +2 (or primary casting ability)
1 Powerful Rival
1 Ally/Friend

Anyone who goes to Arach Tinilith mus roll a Madness Check:
01-10 The character feels compelled to repeat a specific activity over and over, such as washing hands, touching things, praying, or counting coins. Disadvantage on skill and ability checks.
11-20 The character escapes to their own mental dream world. Each day when you arise from reverie you have a 10% chance to imagine you are living in a personal dream world. Disadvantage on skill and ability checks.
21-30 The character suffers extreme paranoia. You immediately distrust any Drow who is not from your family. Disadvantage on insight when dealing with Drow.
31-40 The character regards something (usually the source of madness) with intense revulsion, as if affected by the antipathy effect of the antipathy/sympathy spell.
41-45 You are no longer capable of reverie and must sleep. You require 6 hours of sleep per day but are still immune to the sleep spell.
46-55 The character becomes attached to a "lucky charm," such as a person or an object, and has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws while more than 30 feet from it.
56-75 In Stressful situations the character falls unconscious. DC 14 will save. No amount of jostling or damage can wake the character for 1d4 rounds.
76-85 The character suffers from partial amnesia. The character knows who he or she is and retains racial traits and class features, but doesn't recognize other people or remember anything that happened before the madness took effect.
86-90 The character loses the ability to speak. You may only communicate in Drow Sign or other non-verbal communication. You can still cast spells.
91-100 You were not driven mad.

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Melee Magthere: For melee and ranged combatants
+2 To attack Bonus or +2 AC
1 Powerful Rival
1 Ally/Friend

Anyone who goes to Melee Magthere suffers must roll an Injury Check:
01-10 Facial scarring. +2 Intimidate -2 Deception
11-20 Lose a hand. You lost one of your hands and have a fake hand. Disadvantage on Athletics checks
21-30 Lose an arm. You lost one of your arms you may not use two handed weapons. You may use a shield with a false arm -1 AC.
31-40 Lose an eye. Disadvantage on Perception checks
41-45 Lose a foot. Your speed is reduced by 5 feet
46-55 Lose a leg. Your speed is reduced by 10 feet.
56-75 Died and raised -1 Con
76-85 Lose your tongue - The character loses the ability to speak. You may only communicate in Drow Sign or other non-verbal communication. You can still cast spells.
86-95 You were not injured
96-100 PTSD - Roll on the Madness table

Sorcere: For spell casters who would rather not subject themselves to Lolth's clergy
Int +2 (or spell casting ability) or +2 spells/day you may choose any spell level up to 5th
1 Powerful Rival
1 Ally/Friend

Anyone who goes to Sorcere must roll a Magical Accident Check:
01-10 You radiate a permanent light glow. Invisibility spells do not work on you.
11-20 You were polymorphed into a small animal or insect. Pick a small animal or insect. When targeted by a hostile spell there is a 5% chance the polymorph spell goes off again. Spell wears off in 3 minutes.
21-30 Died and raised -1 con
31-40 Sticky hands. When attempting to throw or drop an item there is a 30% chance it is not thrown or dropped.
41-45 Somnia spell. You are no longer capable of reverie and must sleep. You require 6 hours of sleep per day but are still immune to the sleep spell.
46-55 Accidental flames. After any fire-based spell you cast there is a 10% chance you burn one item in your inventory that is flammable.
56-75 Demonic Influence - You visited the lower planes and a demon or devil there has some hold on your soul.
76-85 Aphasia - The character loses the ability to speak. You may only communicate in Drow Sign or other non-verbal communication. You can still cast spells.
86-90 Driven Mad - Roll on the Madness table
91-100 You were not involved in a magical accident

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Drow Sign
In addition to Elven every character gains Drow Sign - You can use your hands to 'speak' with any Drow within 50'
For the actual language itself I use this

Equipment
You may equip your character with anything in the Player's Handbook Chapter 5 equipment area

Every character has a Platin House Insignia: This small platinum amulet bears the symbol of house Platin (along with your individual sigil denoting your rank within the house) - Three times per day, by speaking the command word, you can utter a short message into the item, which transmits it to another character wearing an insignia of the same house. The recipient hears the message in its mind. To transmit the message, you must name the intended target as part of the command word. Should the target not be wearing its Drow house insignia, the message is lost, but you have no way of knowing whether it successfully transmits or not. Each insignia is slightly different, even those from the same noble house, a person aware of the unique shape of an individual insignia can magically locate that amulet with a scrying or similar spell

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You may have up to 5 of the following:

+1 version of any weapon in the players handbook

+1 version of any armor in the players handbook

+1 ammunition (100/100) bonus for ammunition and weapon do not stack

Ring of protection (requires attunement): +1 AC, +1 Saving throws

Bracers of Defense: While wearing these bracers, you gain a +2 bonus to AC if you are wearing no armor and using no Shield

Collar/Necklace of Magic Fang: Gives one natural weapon of the target a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls

Amulet of the devout +1: A worshipper of Eilistraee may wear this holy symbol, they gain the magical bonus to spell attack rolls and the saving throw DCs of spells

Bag of Holding: This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 15 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.

Lesser Piwafi: while you wear this cloak with its hood up, Wisdom (Perception) checks made to see you have disadvantage, and you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide, as the cloak's color shifts to camouflage you. Pulling the hood up or down requires an action.

Cinnabar Eye Cups: These are pink lenses of polarized crystal that fit comfortably over the eyes. When worn in an area with an intense concentration of faerzress or other magical radiations of the Underdark, the eye cups enhance vision. If the wearer does not already have darkvision or low-light vision, they gain darkvision out to 120 feet.

Breathing hood: Allows you to breathe underwater or in poison clouds for 30/30 rounds per day

Mister: This small steel hand-held device can contain a single dose of poison or a potion. As a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, it can be used it to deliver that dose in droplet form to any single target within 5 feet as a ranged touch attack. The mister is an effective vehicle for both contact and inhaled poisons. Ingested poisons allow the victim to attempt a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid contact with the mist and escape the poison's effect. Mister-borne injury poisons are effective only if the victim is wounded and has not been treated with a Heal check. If the mister delivers a potion, that potion can be used against an adjacent creature that breathes. You can automatically do this to yourself or to a willing or disabled subject. Oils, salves, and elixirs cannot be delivered through a mister.

Potion Bladder: Crafted from the thin, rubbery organs of cloakers and lurkers, these items are slung over the shoulder and worn on the upper back. They are small enough that they do not interfere with backpacks, can be worn under armor, and are easily concealable (+5 circumstance bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to hide). A flexible tube made from the same material runs from this rubbery bladder under the collar and ends below the chin of the wearer. A potion bladder can hold a single dose of one potion. A valve in the bladder prevents the potion from leaking unless suction is placed at the end of the straw-like tube. A potion bladder allows you to drink the potion within as a standard action without provoking attacks of opportunity. Refilling a potion bladder requires a full-round action and is done by siphoning the potion through the straw, this action provokes attacks of opportunity.

Spider Kit: This kit includes hand, feet, elbow, and knee pads set with hundreds of tiny hooks and smeared with a sticky alchemical substance similar to that in a tanglefoot bag. These pads provide a +2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks; this stacks with the bonuses provided by climber's kits and spelunker's kits. The substance on the pads actually becomes stickier when exposed to moisture, so no penalties apply for slippery surfaces if the slipperiness is caused by wetness. In addition to the pads, the kit also includes a harness, to which are attached four retractable telescoping legs (two on each side of the back so there is room for a backpack between them). These legs also end in the same sticky pads. If you have made a successful Climb check, you can extend these legs and attach them to the surface you are climbing as a full-round action. You can use your hands freely once the legs are extended, because the legs (along with your own feet and knees) adhere you to the wall. The legs can be detached from the wall with a move action and refolded with another move action. If you climb with the legs still extended, you do not gain the +2 bonus on Climb checks normally provided by the spider kit.

Stoneburners: These are special boot tips and gloves with reinforced fingertips that hold small receptacles for stoneburn acid. When pressure is applied to these compartments, the acid is released onto whatever surface is being pressed. If the surface is stone, the finger or boot tips immediately burn a small divot that can be used as a hand or foothold. Using stoneburners along with stoneburn acid provides you a +2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks on stone surfaces. This does not stack with the bonuses provided by climber's kits, spelunker's kits, or spider kits. Stoneburners are typically used by drow who are in a hurry and are not picky about leaving behind a permanent trail.

Mother's Corset: Woven into this black corset is purple thread suggestive of webbing. Up to 20 minutes each day (which you can split up as you choose), you can cause the mother's corset to sprout eight spider legs from your body. You gain a climb speed of 30 feet and a +8 bonus on Climb checks. While under this effect, you can take 10 on Climb checks, even if rushed or threatened.

3 Bottled Night: You can throw bottled night by making a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. Upon impact, it instantly fills the area with magical darkness, granting concealment to all creatures in a 20-foot radius. The darkness lasts for 10 rounds.

3 Daylight Pellets: This implement was devised by drow for use against drow, but it is equally useful against any light-sensitive creature. A daylight pellet can be thrown up to 50 feet; when it lands, it shatters and creates illumination equivalent to a daylight spell, but with a duration of 5 rounds. This illumination also counts as sunlight for any creature affected by sunlight.

Sunglasses: You may wear these to remove sunlight sensitivity. While wearing them you have no darkvision.

I'll use this as a placeholder for my character concept, and will edit/add things to it as I come up with them. For now, this is just what I've written for the application.

If I'm not meant to post on this thread, lemme know, I'll delete it.

Name/Race:
Not sure yet

Alignment:
Neutral Good-ish

Class:
Rogue (likely Thief)

Family Rank:
I was thinking he’d be a rescued slave, so I imagine he’s very far away from having blood ties to the Matron. But maybe he grew up amongst her children and are close friends with them? His background is still nebulous in my head.

Appearance:
I spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to get the right image. I don’t even know his race yet, so I’m not sure what he’ll look like either.

Background:
He grew up on the streets (aboveground? Underdark?) with his (much) younger sibling. When his sibling got kidnapped by drow, he attempted a rescue and failed. Luckily, House Platin drow raided the place and freed him. He was given a place to stay, and was treated better than anyone’s ever treated them above or below. This made him extremely devoted to House Platin.

His rogue background would be due to his need for survival as a young child, but he had a knack for it and so the House trained him and put his talents to good use.

Quick Q: It isn't on the list but it's something that often gets overlooked, so I figured I'd at least ask... can we choose Mithril or Adamantine for our armor?

Yes

I chose to have 4 HP per level as offered in the book, giving my character 52 total HP.

I've picked some gear, though I will be going over that to make sure I have everything. With things like Acid Vials in the PHB, how many of those type of things are we restricted to?

As for the Sorcere benefits, is the +2 spells/day up to 5th level meant as any two spells picked once or each day pick new 2? Directions unclear.

Still have to pick a powerful rival and an ally. I feel that a rival would be another wizard from a House near Platin's rank. I'll decide on the specifics soon. As for ally, I find Drow to only find true allies within their own House as politics make true friendships untenable. Though if that ally were not affiliated with a House, that could be a possibility... I'll think on that.

I picked two feats because I've always liked them more than simple ASIs: Observant and Drow High Magic. They felt right for this character.

Making magical Accident check.... Nice

Demonic Influence. You've visited the lower planes and a demon or devil there has some hold on your soul.

Oh dear. I think Kalafein knows better than to deal with demons due to their chaotic nature, so a devil tricked him into a promise when he got himself stuck and needed a Get Out of Jail Free card.

You can cast 2 additional spells per day. They are basically bonus spells and you can pick any spell you memorized 5th level and under.

I’m thinking of multiclassing cleric for my rogue. Would you allow a cleric of Eilistraee to take the War subclass? Not keen on worshipping an evil god, or a god outside of the Underdark, so I figured I’d ask.

Since we seem to already have an abundance of rogues, I think I'll go with my sorcerer/bard idea.

Quick question: the +2 to spellcasting trait, is that considered an ASI? As in, it caps at 20? Or can it raise a stat up to 22?

Edit: Hey, demonic influence here too! Kalafein and Narcaere can commiserate over a pint about their bad decision-making.

Off the top of my head, I imagine that this infernal entanglement might have occured either early on while she was climbing the ranks, or later when she desperately tried to get her wild magic under control/dodge assassins. Depends on whether it has to have occurred during her time at the academy.

Ok, weird question but is Elven a "free" language for those who don't have it normally or do we have to spend a slot?

I read it in the PHB that Drow automatically know Common and Elven. Undercommon is one of their generally learned languages for trade in the Underdark. "Drow" as a language doesn't seem to be a separate thing. Perhaps they don't count dialects?

Hi all!

Linked a character but not sure I can make the concept work right in my head. Should be solidified by the end of the weekend.

Correct, from all I’ve read, Drow isn’t a distinct language or dialect unto itself. Probably closest thing outside Elvish would be Undercommon, which is an Elvish script.
Even it Drow is a dialect, dialects of same language would be able to communicate together, BTB.
Hope that helps. :)

Drow and Drow sign.

Great for us warlocks, our spells just doubled!

So drow and drow sign as free in addition to the normal Common+2 from 2024 PHB (or maybe Undercommon+2) or are the 3 you want for every character to be drow, drow sign, and elven with others only if character creation grants them (like Druidic or Thieves Cant)? Sorry to beat a dead horse but just want to be sure I understand.

Hey all, it’s Father’s Day here in NZ, so I’ll be busy, but I’ll have a sheet ready tomorrow.

Will be going full 10 levels of Thief Rogue. Drow race (might be half, but mechanically drow). He’ll be a ranged attacker.

I've added my rival and ally to my character sheet notes and added all the gear I think I can get away with. Instead of two floating spell slots, I've opted for a +2 to Kal's Int score.

Yes, the fighting style is blade dancing.
Caps at 20

Underdark races it’s Undercommon+2

Non Underdark it’s Common +2

Either way you still get Drow and Drow sign free for the disadvantage of being treated poorly

If I missed your question let me know!

Not really pertinent to character creation, but I’m curious because I never read War of the Spider Queen series. Is it in the books that Melee Magthere is so dangerous that 50% of its students end up losing an eye/arm/hand/leg/foot?

Oh man, now I’m tempted to go bladedancing wizard just because how fitting it would be 😖

From what I remember of the books, that doesn't sound familiar. That also sounds like a serious problem for the finite number of Drow in the City of Spiders. It could be that many have initial injuries that are certainly healed/restored by priestesses. I recall them reveling in their power to heal only after they've tortured. So they can torture some more. But also, I believe only Drow from Houses sponsor those going to any of the Academies, so they want them to turn out well trained and whole in order to better their House.

Let’s see how this goes. Eilistraee bless me!

EDIT: THANK YOU EILISTRAEE! You have my eternal devotion!!!

Cheers, I was curious because I didn’t remember it being like that in the Drizzt books, thought maybe it was portrayed differently. Anyway, it’s all good!

It isn’t normally. I put the risk in because of the bonus.

Nice rolling! :)

Still worth losing the point of constitution (and dying? at least in fantasy) to get two extra spell slots as a Warlock.

Hi everyone! Since it's already been like 2 days and everyone is setting up, there's already a full Rogue so I'm going to go with my initial Twilight Cleric idea and get started on that. I'll have an actual character sheet up soon.

Copy/Pasting for clarity:

Name: T'rissae Platin

Race: Drow

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Class & Level: Twilight Cleric 10

Appearance: to be decided, probably young and beautiful

House Rank: she is a daughter of the family, maybe 4th or 5th daughter of Lady Platin or the first daughter of High Priestess Silveria?

Background: in broad strokes, she was born and raised in Menzoberanzan by the family and looks up to her mother as a guiding light.

Both options work. I will likely leave the NPC clerical out simply because we have enough players. I may pm or secret text stuff to our warlocks and clerical folks though.

Great, we LIKE secret stuff.

Rolling for Melee Magthere!

Oh my! That's a fascinating surprise

Yes, it’ll definitely inform my posts a bit! :)

I'm like 95% done with the character sheet, but can't work on it any more until tonight. Would you rather I submit it now, or wait until it's finished before submitting?

Now is fine if you want to get in on the role playing

Are we supposed to create the Rival and Friend/Ally, or is the DM doing that?

Give her your ideas and she will adapt them to her knowledge of the house.

Give me some ideas and as badbaron says I will adapt.

Oops! I don't think I shared my rival/ally ideas. Here's what I wrote down on my character sheet. I'll change if necessary, of course. I found a website with info on many other Drow Houses and got ideas from that. Shobolar having female wizards and a lowly House with ties to Ched Nasad.

Rival: Maladryl Shobalar, a daughter of House Shobalar (the 17th House) who hates Kalafein. He scorned her advances during their time at Sorcere together. An unfortunate spell mishap occured, in which Maladryl's hair and skin tones chaotically shifted colors. She blames Kal but there was no proof, strangely enough.

Ally: Belgos Alurdobluth, a son of House Alurdobluth (a lesser house), whom Kalafein befriended at Sorcere. He was nearing the end of his time at the academy while Balgos had just arrived. Though very undrow-like, Kal took pity on Balgos and helped him along. He still keeps in contact with Belgos, as they have found they can complain about the matriarchy in secret together.

Powerful Rival:
Drathir Baenre, a nephew of House Weapon Master Andzrel Baenre, or so he claims to anyone with a working ear (or eyes to read drow sign). Drathir tormented Ryo'fein regularly at the training grounds, putting him in his "place" as a half-drow. Drathir is a capable swordsman, and relished besting Ryo'fein in the sparring grounds every chance he got. It was only through his group of loyal friends that Ryo survived Melee Magthere, and a near miracle that he left the place physically unscathed.

Ally/Friend:
Zesstra Despana, a female drow from a weak house with a strong personality. She seems to go through life daring others to underestimate her. Ryo'fein saved her life during a training mishap, and ever since then she made it her mission to ensure his survival of the deadly school. With the constant bullying Ryo received, she'd saved him enough times to incur him to several lifetimes of debt, but his bravery and tenacity to persevere through the school earned him her respect. Along with a few other misfits, they formed a formidable clique with Zesstra as its unspoken ringleader.

Other Possible Hooks:
- Ryo's parents were killed by a drow raid. There's potential for injecting some plot point in there.
- Likewise, when Ryo and his sister were captured and chained for slavery, it could be a rival House or it could be some other hook.
- Ryo's sister Shinrae is someone he cares deeply about, and she's someone that's in his mind often. She could be utilized as an NPC if you wished.

I think I'm pretty much done with my character sheet. I do need to copy/paste the spells in there, but please let me know if I'm missing anything. I'll probably add little embellishes here and there to flesh him out a bit more, but the foundation should be all set now.

Are we sharing character sheets, or are we keeping them private?

I’m sharing mine.

Still playing around with spells assuming I read GM post correctly. (or, for that matter, if I didn't!) I can say that with Warlock's few spells, while I can do the big stuff like Revivify and Restoration if needed, I won't have room for many healing spells. Fortunately Twilight Clerics are GREAT for that type of thing.

My assassin has minimal healing abilities, mainly good for patching up though, as he only has 3 levels of cleric.

Are there any other skill monkeys and explorers in the party? Being the only Rogue, I think I should switch out Magic Initiate for Skilled instead, so I can cover a few more skills (like Survival), especially helpful with Reliable Talent. I'll end up with lower damage and lower AC, but seems like it'd be helpful for the group. I saw that we have a Bard, but not sure what they're like.

I'm pretty close to finished here too. Full Twilight Cleric, just gotta pick out spells & Equipment (and settle on a portrait).

Also Arach-Tinilith. Gotta roll that.
*Edit: 21! Extreme Paranoia! Disadvantage on Insight against other Drow. Can't wait to see how that's gonna go! Pretty on brand for a Cleric of Elistraee attending Arach-Tinilith though, so I'm good with it!

Don't worry about Revivify @badbaron, I got that role down ;) you're going Celestial Warlock right?

I'm not familiar with Twilight Cleric, only know that it's supposed to be really good. Curious, how do they normally play? Does it focus on buffing, or healing, or something else?

Buffing mostly.

I have Darkvision out to 300ft instead of the Drow's native 120ft, can share that Darkvision with a number people nearby for an hour, give someone Advantage on their Initiative roll, and have a bonkers Channel Divinity that's better off just being copy/pasted:

As an action, you present your holy symbol, and a sphere of twilight emanates from you. The sphere is centered on you, has a 30-foot radius, and is filled with dim light. The sphere moves with you, and it lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated or die. Whenever a creature (including you) ends its turn in the sphere, you can grant that creature one of these benefits:

*You grant it temporary hit points equal to 1d6 plus your cleric level.
*You end one effect on it causing it to be charmed or frightened.

Oh, and I can fly in Dim light or Darkness. Occasionally.

I've got three levels of bard, so I have expertise (in Insight and Intimidation, seemed on theme for a drow) and Jack of All Trades (currently +2 to all untrained skills). So not exceptionally skilled, but serviceable in a wide variety of situations.

Ysolde, I also replaced a few spells since submitting my character. Trying to go for a theme of wild magic (with some blaster spells) and imperious drow (mostly control spells).

Ok cool. I switched out Magic Initiate for Skilled anyway. Hopefully I have most everything else covered. He’s not book smart (no Proficiency with Int skills like History or Arcane), but for the most part he’s got Proficiency in just about everything else.

Anyone want to have a connection in our backstory? Like having worked together in the past or the like?

Yes, and I get it automatically, no choice in my clerical spells under 2024 rules. The problem is, as always for a warlock, spell slots.

@Ysolde, since Borwald is tongueless (rolled missing-tongue on the Melee table), and cannot speak, can I still use Duergar Magic (Enlarge and Invisibility cast on self-only), without the Verbal components? Or should I retool some of that?

Edit - Would simply an incoherent grunt or some-such be sufficient?

Yes, he's learned to do so whether it be grunts, whistles, or the like.

Much obliged! :)

The Rogue's starting equipment provides him with 20 arrows. Any chance we can start with 100 without paying an extra 80gp? Common arrows feel like something that should be readily available to a level 10 character.

I believe we were told to take anything from the PHB we wanted. I'm sure more arrows is acceptable... Though it might depend on how our DM wishes to run things.

Take as many as you can carry.

Awesome!

I've made my sheet public, in case anyone is curious or has recommendations or whatever.

I'm curious, @synaptic what're your subclasses?

How does one read someone else's character sheet?

There are a few ways. First, if you’re in the game, there’s a "Characters" button at the bottom. Click there, and if the player has made their sheet public, you can view it.


Another way is to go to the game thread and look at someone’s post. Click on the avatar, or where it says the character’s name, and it’ll show their sheet (if it’s public).


To make your sheet public, go to where all your character sheets are stored, and click on the book icon. Make sure it’s red.

Thanks.

Made my sheet public now too. I'm a Valour Bard/Wild Magic Sorcerer. So a bit of a spellsword, good AC but very squishy with a sorcerer's meagre hitpoints.

Some connections in our backstories would be neat. Ryo'fein was originally from the surface, yes? Captured by Drow when trying to rescue his sibling?

Yep, captured by drow, but then also rescued by drow! He’s been in House Platin since childhood, let’s say pre-teen years, whatever that is in elf years.

At Melee Magthere he hung out with a bunch of misfits. Haven’t really fleshed out his backstory beyond that. I assume he’s done a few missions at this point, given that he’s level 10. If you have any missions in your backstory, I could tag along maybe?

He’s LG though, so I dunno how that’ll go. He’s lawful in the sense that he has a sense of moral code that he strictly adheres to. In this case, it essentially comes down to helping House Plain flourish. Matron Mother Platin’s words are law. Etc.

Ah, cool. Narcaere is a bit more of a recent recruit, she's only been with house Platin for a handful of years. But they could certainly have gone on some missions together.

Another thought: Ryo is an assassin rogue. Is that part of what he does for house Platin, carries out assassinations on political enemies and the like?

Yes, I imagine he’d have done some assassinations to earn a reputation in the eyes of the House leaders. Likely low-ish level work though, or maybe as support for a real assassin. Level 10 isn’t really high enough to be slinking around killing off high level targets. Although… maybe?

What’s Narcaere’s background like, if you don’t mind sharing? Maybe they recently completed a mission together? If she’s new, she could probably use a friend. That said, I dunno how a Xorlarrin female drow would think of a half-drow like Ryo’fein.

Certainly. She used to be a very ambitious, magically talented but otherwise stereotypical Drow, climbing over bodies to rise within her house. Realizing she wasn't actually a Drow, but an Aasimar, and had more a connection to the Seldarine and Eilistraee than Lolth kinda broke her, made her magic go wild and sent her into an existential crisis. She ended up having to flee her house to dodge numerous assassination attempts by scorned rivals and disappointed family members.

My thought was (and feel free to say no if it doesn't fit your idea of Ryo) that he was sent to assassinate her. But through a (probably convoluted) series of events we don't have to decide right now, what should have been a kill turned into a recruitment?

As for her values, she still carries a lot of Drow supremacist ideas and is Lawful Evil, but she's getting better. Since Ryo is arguably more Drow than she is, and I think Xorlarrin is one of the less sexist houses, they might actually be able to strike up an odd friendship.

Of course, a handful of years to an elf is different than to a teenager with a human style lifespan. Plenty of time to develop friendships even with elvish caution and patience.

Here's a draft @Synaptic:

Ryo'fein was sent to eliminate Narcaere Xorlarrin, an aasimar that had been causing problems for her House. They put out whispers on the street that they needed her silenced by an independent party.

House Platin, seeking to win favor of the powerful house, secretly set Ryo'fein to the task. Ryo'fein went, but he never eliminated the target. Having viewed her daily struggles from a distance, he instead made contact with Narcaere and helped turned her.

She has since joined House Platin, and kept Ryo'fein busy helping her acclimate to life without all the treachery and daily life danger within one's own House. They've struck up a fragile friendship thus far, and only time will tell how it'll turn out.

@unique_exemplar may I see the code for how you got this to work? How did you get "Darkvision" to appear without a dropdown symbol next to it? If I try to do it, it just puts the text inside of the previous dropdown.

Sounds great! I'll add it to my backstory as well. If more details become relevant later, we can add them in play.

Awesome, sounds good to me. Just FYI, in our current scene where Ryo is all stiff and rigid, Narcaere would know that he’s normally not like this. He only acts this way in front of the Matron. He’s a more normal in a regular setting.

Anyone else wanting some character/backstory ties?

Yes, I’d like to tie-in our Duergar somehow. Entertaining ideas please, and I can post some thoughts later today.

Given that we both attended Melee Magthere, that seems like a good place for us. In Ryo’fein’s background, I mentioned that he basically only survived because he had a close-knit group of friends who were misfits. A duergar would be looked down on by drow, so maybe we ran across one another, or were in the same group?

I’m open to other ideas though!

Did you have Bor’s backstory written? I didn’t see it on your sheet.

Maybe a bully, fight, reconciliation arc?

Not backstory but more current: perhaps Bor and Narcaere are drinking buddies? They're both sort of outcasts from their original home. Maybe they just get together and bond over a flagon of ale/glass of wine and bitch about their families?

Yes! Also, yes!

Bor is the fightin’ type, so definitely a fit!

Background (basically) added. Getting things fleshed out today. Melee Magthere definitely seems the best fit for us!

@grifter730 That's just written in the first space as what you see there, not the Notes part.

Speaking of character sheets. I can't see anyone else's. I wonder if that's an issue with the browser I use (Brave).

Maybe? I’m able to view all the public ones.

I would like some backstory ties!

Reading the information available, T'rissae will be High Priestess Silveria's second daughter and (I imagine) fairly young. Somewhere between 120 and 190 perhaps.

This is an open invitation, just stating 😁

If Kal's "Auntie" is less than 200, then it would be weird for him to be older, but maybe that's just a human perspective on an elven life.

I was thinking that with wizards studies taking time, Kalafein would be a tad older than one would normally start an elf. 175, maybe?

Oh I almost forgot. @Synaptic have Narcaere and Kalafein discussed their infernal experience commonality, or do we let that be discovered during the game? I see Kal as adhering to Drow societal norms outside the House and not associating with non-drow in public for fear of being found out of his true patronage.

Do you want to be enemies? The family of the priestess I helped that brought me into the house all blame me for her death from her injuries. It would give us a starting place to grow and change from. Or, if friends, her acolyte was there and saw that I helped so she is on my side but the enemy plotline would probably be more interesting, especially if we've never met and all you have heard is family gossip and hearsay.

Can everyone make sure that their background is on their character sheet?

I need to make sure I can grab any rivals or allies and use them....appropriately.....

I’ve updated mine, including a rival from another House.
Hoping my write-up is ok. I’ve been a bit busy work wise today, but caught some time to write a bit. I don’t want to hold us up.
Hope everyone’s well today.

Oh man, if we were friends at Melee Magthere, and you lost your tongue to a Baenre, I think Ryo would be carrying some deep guilt. For one thing, he was tormented by a Baenre during his entire time at MM. For another, he survived the mutilation attempt on him by his Baenre Rival due to his ally’s (and other friends’) help. If Bor lost his tongue that way, Ryo would feel very much guilty that he wasn’t there. We would have reasons to hate the Baenre’s even more so than the usual Platins, since we went through years being tormented.
Hello buffer/healer cleric, you shall be my bestiest-bestie-please-keep-me-alive-bestie-mcbestie.

I’m not sure what we have in common though, as Ryo is a lowly street kid. Might have to be something where he was on a mission, maybe to fetch something from a dangerous place on your behalf? Or better yet, travel together as a "slave" male companion? Being a noble, I imagine something like that could have happened.

Not sure your backstory though, but I’m open to any ideas!

Yes! We’ll get those Baenre’s, if it’s the last thing we do! (Waves ugly fist in air) LOL

Here's the draft I wrote up on my sheet for how we know one another:
A fellow student at famed Melee Magthere, Bor was an outcast like the rest of the non-drow. Just as he did with other outcasts, Ryo'fein struck up a friendship with Bor, as most of the misfits tended to look out for one another. Unfortunately, when Bor was mutilated by a Baenre student, all his friends were too late to the scene. Ryo'fein still carries that guilt with him to this day, and their hatred for House Baenre goes beyond House rivalries.

That’s perfect!

I made Kalafein Lawful Neutral to reflect his acceptance of how things are. People may have said the yuan-ti was responsible for the death of a priestess of my House, but Matron Mother Platin accepted the warlock and that is good enough for Kal. He's meddlesome, so I like to think he knows at least something about everyone in his House. How social is Shaojiao or "Burny"? Being a warlock, I imagine Kal has reached out at least once to learn about the yuan-ti's difference arcane magic.

Kalafein is respectful, especially to everyone in House Platin, but he is a bit standoff-ish. He is interested in the facts, not heresay. He might have judged Burmy as dour and merely inquired on the nature of her magic and patron only. He has worked to build a reputation as one who is dependable.

Standoffish she can handle, touchy feely huggers give her the creeps even with the best intentions.

Oh! Then we'll wear "no touchy" signs together XD

What does Shaojiao look like? I thought yuan-ti have like a snake body?

I'm still open to anyone else who wants some backstory ties! Just lemme know what your backstory is. Ryo'fein's backstory is in his character sheet, which anyone in here can see.

First my madness roll I have amnesia apparently.

Purebloods look very human, bar the rash of scales. She wears her hair on the side with scales to cover them, btw. She usually goes by Burny.

Appearance: Slim and dark with one half of her head shaved and the other half worn long in a plait as well as piercings and multiple earrings on the shaven side. Inexpertly done tattoos and heavy boots complete the image.

I don't see anything else about your character. I'm curious to find out who is Silver.

New Player finishing up my character, probably badly.

Not to worry! If you would like any help, I'm sure we could help. When you're ready, I look forward to learning more.

This is my equipment list
+1 Half Plate
Bag of Holding
Amulet of the devout
+1 Platin House Insignia

Oh do we have a second priestess? That's cool.

Maybe "Auntie" is more of a nickname or polite ribbing? If Kalafein is the son of one of the Matron Mother's wives, technically they would be more like cousins than anything. Maybe they were raised together?

🤔 Street kid huh? Maybe Ryo and T'rissae did some "breaking curfew" at T'rissae's insisting, to see what the streets are like. I do like the "slave" male companion idea too. She may also have pestered him with questions about the surface world.

Kalafein is the grandson of the Matron Mother's wife Amethyst. My character is a generation younger than yours, if I recall correctly. Perhaps I misjudged how "young" to make my character, but I think we can make this work.

I mean I can always bump my characters age up to around 200, I don't really have a firm date that I'm going to stick too. Definitely not going to go any higher than that though, Elves are considered adult at 100 and the Matron Mother's may be old but most elves max out at 750.

Yes, this came to mind as a potential issue. Though I suppose it doesn't matter all that much. Suffice to say your character is a bit older than mine. I mean, my RL uncle is 13 years older than me and I'm 10 years older than my sister. Lol

Trickery Domain, what is the other?

Twilight domain (iirc) by @roughhouse_mafia

Lol, royalty slumming with the plebs? Sure, I'm game for that.

Emerald basically moulded him to be one of her agents though, so there's always the possibility that he was sent on a mission to trail her or be a bodyguard or something along those lines. Might even be that he was given the assignment because Emerald knew he'd snuck T'rissae out in the past. Maybe Bor came along as well, get two connections for the price of one.

@Ysolde I added a "Motivation" section in my sheet to explain a bit more why Ryo’fein’s entire drive is to lift up House Platin. No matter his actions, that underlying drive should shine through in everything he does.

Considering that the Matron Mother and her wives are 1,000+ years old it's very likely that some aunts and uncles are older than their nieces and nephews.
Love it!

Unless there is an RP reason not to, at least take a Dungeon pack or the like for utility stuff. If you have extra cast, a good book will give you +5 to an INT skill check if it's within the book's scope. My character has one on the Outer Planes (Abyssal, Celestial, etc.) in case (when) we run into stuff from there.

I was only listing the equipment that were part of the special list

The House Insignia is an extra item. You get to choose 5 other items, so I think you can pick 2 more.

A question about carrying gear. I took (100) +1 arrows as one of my magic items. Carrying 20 in a quiver on my back, 20 more in a quiver on my hip, and 60 are bundled and attached to outside my backpack. Is that feasible?

Attached in a carrying case or the like and with 100 we won’t worry about tallying it off each time you shoot.

Thanks so much.

Okay, updated character sheet with my background -such that it is- and am all the way here :)

@unique_exemplar I'm putting T'rissae's age at 150 because I can and the idea of a nephew that's older than her yet must pay deference in public to her is funny to me 😁. Still close enough to be within the same "generation" of the household, but now there's a teasing element that could be fun to play with.

@brightwill ooo another cleric! We should trade notes! Tell me about Silver?

@synaptic I'm putting my Enemy as a member of House Xorlarrin but I don't have anything planned yet. Want to use this as a way to tie T'rissae and Narcaere together somehow?

@roughhouse_mafia are you good with Ryo'fein and T'rissae having known each other because she had him guide her through the "streets", and then later on (maybe along with Bor?) he was used as bodyguards for some excursion of hers?

Yes, absolutely good with all of that.

Sounds great to me!

Great! Here's what I put in my character sheet:
T'rissae Platin introduced herself to Ryo'fein when she decided to see what life like outside the gilded walls of a noble. It was well known that he'd had a hard life, and perhaps that's why she picked him out, or perhaps Emerald singled him out for T'rissae. Whatever the reason, he would occasionally guide her through the streets when the whim took her. They had little in common, but T'rissae was kind, and Ryo'fein's devotion to House Platin was such that he placed her on a pedestal by default of her bloodline, and so they got along well. Well enough that when T'rissae needed escorts for travel, Ryo'fein always volunteered.