[D&D-5e] 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Where Monsters Fear to Tread

[Stadiumite]

@Gaijin, I think my application is complete. I may continue to tweak the details, but I won't change the overall idea of this character. Let me know if anything is missing.

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by Stadiumite

@Gaijin, I think my application is complete. I may continue to tweak the details, but I won't change the overall idea of this character. Let me know if anything is missing.

It looks like you've covered all of the major bases, but there is one important element missing. Give the advertisement another read through, and once you find it, I'll mark your application as complete.

[Nyx89]

I want to throw my hat into the ring for this! ☄️

Liadan Silverbow Character Name: Liadan Silverbow Class: Ranger - Swarmkeeper Background: Outlander Species: Wood Elf Affliction: Lycan (Black Bear) Appearance: Liadan is a slender Wood Elf with long, wavy brown hair and piercing, blue-green eyes. She dresses in earth tones, the better to blend in with her forest home. Personality Traits: -I feel far more comfortable around animals than people. -I watch over my friends as if they were a litter of newborn pups. Ideal: Nature. The natural world is more important than all the constructs of civilization. Bond: My family, clan, or tribe is the most important thing in my life, even when they are far from me. Flaw: There's no room for caution in a life lived to the fullest. Backstory: Liadan Silverbow was born 258 years ago in the wood elf village of Reitheillaethor in the High Forest. Her father, Hulrune Silverbow, was Captain of the village guard. Her mother was a renowned woodworker and craftswoman. From an early age, Liadan roamed the wilds of the High Forest, falling in love with its animal inhabitants, its misty woods, and the elven ruins full of lore and secrets just waiting to be uncovered by an intrepid young explorer. For two and a half centuries, Liadan lived in peace among her people. Life was full of light and love, music and art. One night, five years before the plague appeared, Liadan was exploring the ruins of Myth Glaurach, the City of Scrolls, when she encountered a strange beast. It took the shape of a black bear, but the creature regarded her with a sentience that was unusual for an animal. Before her very eyes, the bear transformed into a handsome, elven man. He introduced himself as Torelas, a wanderer, a ranger of the wilds. Liadan fell in love with Torelas and for five years they explored the High Forest together. Torelas shared his gift, which he called lycanthropy, with Liadan, and the pair roamed the wilds together in bear form, seeing the world through very different senses. Three years ago, when the plague fell upon Faerun, Reitheillaethor was struck hard. Many people died agonizing deaths, and the ones who weren't killed by the plague outright began to transform into horrific monsters. Liadan watched her father, transformed into a ravening beast, kill her mother. Grief-stricken and horrified, Liadan retreated to the forest with Torelas. Neither of them had fallen ill with the plague. That didn't make them safe from the Flesh Horrors though. Torelas gave his life defending Liadan from a horde of the monsters, giving her just enough time to escape and make her way to one of the newly forming quarantine zones. Now Liadan is haunted by grief and desperate for answers. When she hears rumors of a cure, she is among the first to sign up to guard the caravan. She will do anything to find answers, to find a cure. She owes it to the memories of her parents, of Torelas. If there is any chance of stopping the plague, of preventing even more death and destruction, she would gladly risk her life for that.

[Stadiumite]

Originally Posted by Gaijin

It looks like you've covered all of the major bases, but there is one important element missing. Give the advertisement another read through, and once you find it, I'll mark your application as complete.

Got it.

[Gaijin]

Perfect. You're checked in!

[Humble Athena]

Gaijin, I would love any feedback you might have for me.

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by Humble Athena

Gaijin, I would love any feedback you might have for me.

Hi, Humble Athena! I gave your entry another readthrough and I have no critical notes that you need to worry about.

However, if I were to make one request, it would be to add a bullet point or two about what motivates her. As I read it, Jas seems to be pragmatically focused on her own continued existence and enjoys the arts, but doesn't have anything external that compels her (Anymore, at least). Many connections of convenience, but no tangible bonds. Give me a couple of strings that I can't resist pulling.

If you are selected, there will be some additional context about the world and Vampyr for you to consider, but nothing that should clash with Jasmillae's backstory as written.

[Togot]

Hey nyx, here's hoping we get in together

[Humble Athena]

Thank you! I'll see what I can massage into her.

[Stadiumite]

Is there any particular lore that is assumed here about the Lycan? Would my wererat have inherited his condition? Or acquired it from a bite? I'd like to work that story into my background more.

[Nyx89]

Originally Posted by Togot

Hey nyx, here's hoping we get in together

That would be neat!

@Gaijin, Liadan is complete. I welcome any feedback you might have.

[Gaijin]

Originally Posted by Nyx89

@Gaijin, Liadan is complete. I welcome any feedback you might have.

I'll get you checked in!

Gave Liadan a readthrough and I think you've hit all of the important marks.

Living with the affliction for an extended period of time would mean that Liadan has also experienced the side of lycanthropy that is more curse than gift, but as that will vary from beast to beast, it is something that would be delved into more deeply after player selections have been made.

Originally Posted by Stadiumite

Is there any particular lore that is assumed here about the Lycan? Would my wererat have inherited his condition? Or acquired it from a bite? I'd like to work that story into my background more.

The official lore for Lycans is pretty flexible. The afflictions themselves are quasi-magical viruses, so Lycans can either inherit their mother's condition (Guaranteed), be bitten by an unrelated lycan of the same type (Moderate risk), or have been infected by a corresponding beast that happened to be a carrier of the virus at the time (Low risk).

To actually be Afflicted, a victim must both be infected and satisfy some mystical condition that depends on the beast type before the virus can be cleared by the victim's immune system. (E.g. Werewolves being infected during a Full Moon.) Not all beast conditions are known, and not all beasts are confirmed to be eligible. However, predators (and pest) tend to be most common due the higher risk of injury and blood exposure.

Edit: Players with unconventional variants are welcome to propose their own mystical condition, or leave it ambiguous. They wouldn't necessarily have put 2 and 2 together, especially if they have had multiple exposures over an extended period of time.

[Squeak]

If Strangemund is living dangerously, then I'm bordering insane.
Not only am I going with harrowed, I'm also doing to try an exotic/discouraged race.
Yeah, I'm a rebel. Wanna fight about it?

☄️

Name: Xopingthhppth, aka Ghost
Race: Kobold
Affliction: While harrowed is preferred, if needed for party balance, could be rebuilt into a wererat, a consequence of eating a diseased ratHarrowed
Class: Monk (could be rogue if needed)
Alignment: He's too focused on survival and being scared to think about such things. He's selfish by nature, but is willing to lend a hand if it doesn't cost or inconvenience him.Neutral with Good tendencies


Description: White scales with painful-looking cracks running throughout the body of Xopingthhppt, or "Ghost" as he is known to most. A lightweight, threadbare shift provides a modicum of modesty, although if the kobold was embarrassed by his appearance, he didn't show it.

His odd-colored scales and a prideful visage aren't the only thing that tells you at Ghost is not your typical kobold. He carries his head high, his large, ruby-like eyes constantly darting from side to side as he absorbs his surroundings. There is an intelligence in those eyes, a cunning beyond that of what one would expect from such a savage beast.

His movements are large and perfectly balanced, like a wild animal, although at this times he seems like a wild animal held in a cage too small for it. A tall wooden stick graces his right hand, the center portion worn smooth by the constant pressure of his scaled claws.

Background From the time he was a hatchling, Ghost never fit in. His white scales and red eyes earned him the name of 'weakling, in koboldHunano' in his early years, along with a great deal of physical and mental abuse at the hands of the larger and stronger clutch mates. But through it all, Ghost managed to survive. When he was the ripe old age of 4 years told, the rage sickness came. The ravages of the deadly disease causing his packmates to turn on each other, exacting a terrible toll before they were finally put down. His entire clan, 840 kobolds, had either fallen to the rage sickness or been killed by those who had, until only two remained. It was then the last member of his clan, a clutchmate and best friend, had fallen into the disease. After a brief fight, Ghost was forced to to end his friend’s life with a rock to his head. He became a kobold without a pack, but Ghost managed to survive. It was not long before hunger had forced him to civilization and he was captured by a group of human men. They fed him, clothed him and even provided him with fine armor and weapons, He also taught him to speak in the common tongue - and for a while he considered himself lucky to be among such beneficent men. But it did not take long for then men to turn on him, making it clear that he was a slave, there for one reason and one reason only. The men were bandits, taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Monstrum Virus to loot, rob and plunder the fearful people of their life's possessions. Ghost was used as their lure. They would use him as if he were bait, a lone kobold that would lure away the guards of merchant caravans, leaving the true prey unguarded for the marauding bandits to take. And despite numerous close calls, Ghost managed to survive. He bristled under the captivity, but excelled at the task he was forced to do. Years of abuse had taught him to wriggle out of trouble, and he survived despite the abuse heaped on him by guards and bandit alike. He lived for years in servitude, surviving countless attacks and constant mistreatment by his captors. But like everything in his life, he knew he it would not last. So when he saw an opportunity to escape, the wiley kobold took it, wriggling free from his chains and racing into the woods. There he lived for nearly 4 months, surviving only little more than moss, berries and the occasional squirrel carcass, before starvation forced him to the Monastery of the Morning Lord on the outskirts of Everlund. He knew exposing himself to humankind again was a tremendous risk, but it was the only way the kobold believed he would manage to survive.

Monastery of the Morning Lord "Canon Terjon, this is the kobold I told you about. We found him digging through the refuse pile, eating scraps the pigs had turned their noses at. He is... Different." the young alcolyte said. "That much is obvious." the high priest replied as he looks at Ghost's white scales. "Your Holiness, it is more than the color of his scales or the blood-like color of his eyes. He also speaks the common language, Your Holiness, and spoke of a group of bandits to the north. He called out for their blood." "A bloodthirsty kobold, regardless of the color of his scales or his linguist abilities, is hardly a novelty." the high priest replies, confused as to what his acolyte was getting at. "But Your Holiness, I used the magic granted to me by our lord. There is no evil in this one's heart." the acolyte replies, still shocked by the concept of a kobold who was not evil. The eyebrows of the high priest raise in surprise. "Let him rest, feed him. And by all at is holy, wash the brute. Then send him to me, for I will learn more of this one's motivations." he says. A few hours later, after what could only be called the most unique conversation he had ever had, Canon Terjon rubbed his forehead in thought. He knew the convoluted stories could not be true - no creature could have survived what he had described. But what could he do with a lying kobold that had no wicked intent in his heart? He couldn't allow a kobold free reign in his abbey or in the city of Everlund, that was clear. But despite the beast's penchant for lies, he could not send a creature that was not evil to a certain death. A smile comes to the high priest's face as a solution comes to him. This one could be of use on the caravan from the New Evereska Sanctuary. He would be gone from here and someone else’s problem. If he were to die on the road, no one would mourn the loss of a lying kobold. But if there was a kernel of truth to the story he was told, then perhaps, just perhaps, this unusual creature would manage to survive.

Motivation & Growth: Despite, or perhaps because of, his lifetime of terror, Ghost maintains a constant smile and fun loving attitude when around those he knows. He is very distrustful of strangers and confused about the ways of civilization, but is actively trying to learn and adapt to his new reality.

Ghost's motivation is to simply survive. He is in a strange culture, speaking a strange language and surrounded by people that look at him like a cat would look at a shoestring. His growth will be in learning the culture and figuring out to trust others, when everyone else he has been has been untrustworthy. The ultimate goal is for him to go from surviving to really living.

Special Note: While no one is certain, it is believed that Ghost's albinism is what is preventing him from contracting the Monstrum Virus. It is also the disease that is killing him (or at least weakening him).

Another Note: My experience in 5e is limited, but I'm starting to play it a bit. Just mentioning because while I do know the basics, I may need help with the rule set from time to time.

[Gaijin]

Squeak's coming in hot out of left field!

Looks like you've met all the marks and then some, I'll get Xopingthhppth added to the list as Completed.

Don't worry about inexperience with 5e, I've found it to be a great system for storytelling, and I'll be more than available to work through and around the rules as needed.

[Azathool]

Application should be complete.