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.
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.
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 uncommon 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.
laaaadeees and geenntleemeeen, step right up and see the most amazing art show in the world by Robert Couse-Baker (CC BY 2.0)
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.
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
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Blackbridge – known for the eponymous bridge, the downtown of Lemplet Place
Tidewater Place – the slums, used to flood with high tide
Castle Lemplet – originally built as a exterior castle, the city has grown around it
Trollrock – the northern block surrounds a huge rock hill with a cave inside, no trolls though
Northroad – sustenance farming
Winestar – grapevines, orchards
The Spring – for the wealthy that moved out of the city
How will you use Orne Willowrush in your campaign?
We’re speeding towards my first ever livestream of Dungeons & Dragons. There’s a thrill and excitement to this. Unlike most who jump into livestreaming, my playing group is not a set of people who I’ve done this with before. Only one of the players is part of my regular gaming group (I’ve never DMd for them). The two celebrities are the people I know the best. Many wouldn’t plan to jump into streaming this way, but for me the game came together as a desire to help YachtCon: Back to School generate community while donating to the Autism Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital, to act as an evangelist for D&D, and to add some South Sound/Tacoma Defiance flavor to my life after missing it for so long.
One of the thrills about creating this game is meeting new players. Each of the participants met with me for a one-on-one session zero. In every single one of these the players didn’t just build a combat oriented “build” but worked on backstory and connections towards the adventure on hand.
It was thrilling to see this!
There are several reasons why backstory developed. Fifth edition leans into this with Backgrounds. Every participant knows that their DM is into story creep rather than pure roll play. Plus, it isn’t surprising that those willing to generously donate their time and money to the cause would be those whose passions for the game include social, exploration, and combat encounters.
It will be up to me to take these characters and get at least a small mention of their pasts into the three-hour tour that is DD:253 – Invasion of the Trees (Sunday March 21 at 7p). All of our characters, from Lorenzo to Du-Rag to the ones you are about to meet, are here to help the small town of Prosperityburg solve a simple problem – why did Castle Highberg stop responding to messages?
A map of the Dusk Shores and the Spring Mountains
On this campaign of discovery Du-Rag and Lorenzo will be joined by a ragtag group of adventurers. The rest of the group is made up of;
Lennel is a tortle warlock, connected to the sea. He values the connection between the port town and the Dusk Sea, working to build camaraderie between the peoples.
Ebrius is our second warlock. A tiefling, he works to help the helpless.
Yelfir is a goliath fighter. Born in mountains, she tests her strength and serves the greater good of the community.
Joining Yelfir on the frontline is another axe-wielder. A half-orc barbarian, Rezani shuns armor as he stares down the greatest dangers.
When not stabbing you with sharp wit Qulile will stab with a rapier and a dagger. The swashbuckling fishfolk knows the run of the streets and remains calm under pressure, right up until the point he runs.
Together this group of misfits joins Du-Rag (half-orc cleric) and Lorenzo (human bard) serving the city that sits along Badd Bay in the shadow of the Spring Mountains north of the Weald of Aspirations. The defiant land that they call home is threatened. Rising together they will attempt to stop the Invasion of the Trees.
Christian Oesch’s DM Heroes page throws together a handful of racial/lineage options with descriptions that are not centered on combat. Additionally there are suggestions on how to connect them to each other.
Veklani Skandalor
Female Dwarf Cobbler – If it doesn’t kill you…
Veklani’s suggested traits are;
Features
70 years old (young adult) 4′2″ (128cm) Normal voice Speaks about themself in 3rd person.
Traits
Never changes their facial expression. Hates the government. Is happy because of a recent dream.
Story
Asks the party to help their become a cult leader. Wants to kill Erag Ambershard
Other
Prays to Dugmaren Brightmantle, god of discovery (CG)
If you don’t have time to custom craft a handful of minor NPCs just in case, this tool does wonders. It also can be a handy tool to get quick art for your PC, though you’ll need to spend time tuning the various sliders and such. Reroll, Hero Forge and others might be better for that.
Quick art for your characters, whether player or DM controlled, helps with immersion and inspiration. Find those tools that help you and your group enjoy the game most.
Prekx was happy to get hired for this job. Anytime he could get further from the village with all their suspicious eyes was good. Many still thought of him as a goblin, and not just a fence maker. Even now, with his reputation after building Gujri, the steel goat, to find the gaps and holes faster than real goats and at no loss of meat there were those who thought about the attack from his former tribe. Prekx didn’t even know his tribe. He’s just known the land around Flowing Lake.
Growing up under the care of the mage Alizon, he learned what magic could do and that if you know the proper gestures, and words, and components you can just do things. Not normal things – big, impressive things. That’s how he learned the spells that helped him make up for his weak size — Mold Earth and Mage Hand.
Magic helped him overcome size and strength. It introduced him to carpentry and the fine works of woodcarving. It helped him build Shrubbrs – that tiny cluster of branches and roots and thorns with a heart of fire-stone. Magic is where he turned, because that’s where he had his friend.
Gujri would find the hole in the fence. Then Prekx and Shrubbrs would join the steel goat there to clear some land around it, make it easy for the human to repair. Instead of standing in brambles they would have space.
Then it was off to towards the river. Someone needed a string-metal fence. Normals couldn’t make that. It’s a little invention that he came up with using his artifice. Lighter, and stronger, the string-metal fences were become popular. They will hold out the vermin, hopefully. There’s a flock of cockatrice and a cluster of giant spiders that are an issue lately.
Maybe he can fence those towards each other? It would be easier than a herd of sheep being petrified or chicken coop covered in webs.
“Gujri! Get over here,” Prekx shouts.
The only answer is the crank of rusted metal. That’s another problem altogether.
The concept for this character started in a simple place. I was working on horse fencing, which is hard, physical drudgery. The thought sprung into my head ‘how would a D&D hero do this?’
That starts with Mold Earth and Mage Hand. Between those most of the digging and walking over back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth, sorry distracted by all that walking, just makes things easier. I looked into a sorcerer for that, but unfortunately it didn’t quite represent what I wanted.
From there, taking the Feat: Magic Initiate became obvious. In order to be an expert carpenter (the closest tool to a fence maker in the game) meant one of three choices. Artificer felt better than Rogue and Bard. The reason for that is that the handy assistance from the built companions just made too much sense.
Shrubbrs and Girji would be invaluable aids in maintaining and building a fence. Not only that, but a worker on the edge of a civilized area could use the extra defensive help from a steel goat.
Throw in a cool photo of Goblin Gulch, and now, a character is born.
Goblin Gulch by Nick Wietzel
There will probably be a deeper dive into Goblin Gulch later, but in Prekx’s case he left the Gulch when young.
He’s Flowing Lake’s (an idea I came up with during the recent flooding) best fence maker. That background was based on the Folk Hero, with minor tweaks.
For the flaws I leaned into the goblin tribe he left, saying that the ruler there wants Prekx dead. Also, he learned to hate bullying from his youth as a goblin. He learned to love magic from his latter youth as a student with Alizon.
His sincerity he picked up because he’s damn good at his job and he’s a goblin. He will never hide either of those things.
Finally, he’s confident in his abilities and do what he can to instill confidence in others. But at times he will misuse long words because his education started late.
If you didn’t get the clue from Darius Dondermonger, I enjoy heroes with interesting backstories. A cheese maker can become a famed ranger. Your cleric may have just been a mercenary, or a candlemaker. That butcher in the village that was conscripted? They’re now one of the realm’s greatest fighters.
Backgrounds are the D&D rule that best embraces this concept in 5e. Toss in a dose of Xanathar’s Guide to Everything Chapter 1: Section: This Is Your Life and you’re on your way to having a backstory that embraces the pre-hero version of your character.
Still, it takes a player that is willing to embrace that zero part of your zero-to-hero journey. It’s up to you to embrace the idea that a fence maker can become a powerful sorcerer.
That’s essentially what the “My Next D&D Character Is…” thought-bombs are over on twitter. They are the embrace that these unconventional Dungeons & Dragons concepts are as valid as the the mercenary, the head of the local thieves guild, the student-wizard, the acolyte-cleric. Normal people get caught up in grand stories. Your adventuring party and character creation should embrace that.
Throw off the yoke of convention and make the story that you want to tell. Make the character that embraces some small aspect of you, your friends, or just that person down the street – amplify that and create. All stories are valid. Everyone can become a hero.
For the most part, when creating these types of characters with no homebrew rules I start with the Folk Hero Background (the Guild Artisan is #2), and then remove all of the skills, languages, and tools. The mechanics are then built around the profession. Use the tool that makes sense, add two skills that fit the closest to the concept, and then add a language or another tool to round out the idea.
In DnDBeyond.com this is done in standard character creation during step 4, custom background. There’s then a choice of 2 skills + [options]. You will also be asked which feature to adopt (Rustic Hospitality is likely the best). It’s quick and easy, and part of the core system as 5th edition is designed.
The more complex way is to partner with your DM to build custom backgrounds from scratch, or connect with me and take one of my 40+ concepts out for a test drive.
Character concepts come from all sorts of places. Sometimes they grow over years, tended like a rare flower they sprout and bloom after long care. Then there are those that burst forth from your mind to page (actual or digital) in a flurry.
Darius Dondermonger came into being when two roads combined. The first road originated some time ago, when the D&D released the Drakewarden. Dragons are quite important in the World of the Everflow, so I knew I would revisit the Drakewarden. The second road came when grocery shopping. We needed cheese, lots of cheeses. Yes, we’re fans of charcuterie. These roads merged when reading about Dragon’s Milk Stout’s web-RPG release. As often happens, flavor started to inspire the story.
The Chef Feat in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is quite useful for someone who latches onto flavors like this. That pushed towards a Variant Human so that the foods he creates can help heal and/or inspire his companions towards greatness.
Darius Dondermonger kept growing. From a legacy family in a small village, Darius was to be the head of household and manage the ageing of grana (think Parmesean and similar cheeses). Some of these for decades. They use adjuncts at times. That is what sent him to the forests and hills of the area.
He is also flawed. Not only does he prefer the hunt for herbs and the like to management, he also prefers the making of cheese to business. That’s part of why he rejects the full family name. The other part is that he does not feel he’s earned that name, for he has lost something special to them.
Lastly, he took on Dunder, due to his companion’s, and later his own, connection to thunder & lightning.
He is more than just a ranger, more than just a cheesemonger specializing in aged cheeses – Darius Dondermonger has a small dragon companion and has discovered that he is also part dragon. The family’s most exclusive grana comes from their age-old connection to drakes, wyverns, and all of dragonkind.
That same blood compels Darius to travel away from town, for someone with his powers cannot just work the books of Amberhearth and Highwall’s greatest cheese makers. Someone with the blood of dragons must, must, pursue a grander destiny — and also find that which they’ve lost.
In the Before Times there was a mighty group of heroes in the South Sound. These women and men put on shows, entertained the masses, and just maybe won a few battles for the hearts and minds of the people of the Near Cliff, Tahoma, and all that call the region home.
We were a tight group of specialists who when combined were a powerful faction of spellslingers, story weavers, and travellers who loved the region and would defend it.
These are the Heroes of Castle Cheney.
Delaney Saul, illustrator, created the group to celebrate my 45th birthday.
Delaney and I had conversations about what race and class each of the heroic representations of the group would be. While creating my friends, and Before Times coworkers, as playable characters (3rd level, Adventurers League rules, Players Handbook only, no stat below 10) I was able to add in a few more details about them.
Casey is the leader of the group – the Director, if you must. A few things were required when creating him. Without any doubt he is a Bard. The man is a natural performer, whether on a mic, dancing on a dugout, or spinning records. He puts himself in front of people. His knowledge of Tacoma, Puget Sound, and so much more made the College of Lore an obvious choice.
When deciding on his race, his natural charisma had to be emphasized. Leaning into the trope that half-elves can be accepted by both of their communities seemed obvious as Casey is beloved in Rainiers and Defiance circles.
Slapping expertise onto Performance and Insight was so obvious a choice, I’m not explaining it. The Background of Entertainer was also an easy choice. I needed to get Casey a Disguise Kit for all of those costume changes we know and love.j
Spell choices leaned into charming types, with Longstrider added because if you’ve ever seen him move around the stadium you know there is magic behind it.
Delaney is an extraordinary illustrator. Capturing her level of talent in D&D meant more than a Background, but instead the magic of images. Locked into the PHB for cost reasons (maybe one of my friends eventually plays themselves) that meant the Illusionist.
Her past as an athlete was captured in two ways. First up, that meant the Gladiator Background. Second it was why I went Wood Elf for race. The increased speed combined with Athletics felt like the perfect way to capture her love and career in basketball.
Witch Bolt became the attack cantrip of choice, because I felt like that one would give Delaney the most joy when she used it. I can just see her eyes light up while going all Palpatine on someone.
Adam is a videographer I’ve worked with and around for nearly a decade now. Between our time together with Sounder at Heart and on Tacoma Defiance broadcasts we probably know each other better than I know anyone else in the Cheney creative team. He is a man with believes in faith, equity, and generosity. A noble Paladin seemed an obvious start.
In order to best represent his excellent eye for what’s going on around him, he had to have the Feat Observant. That meant going with Variant Human. Adam’s cameras capture the life in any game inside Cheney’s walls and the vibrant community that is Tacoma.
For his background I wanted to capture to personality traits.
I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace. I am tolerant of other faiths and respect the worship of other gods.
“Acolyte”
If you’ve met Adam you know that every fiber of who he is consists in those traits.
Phinney the Wild is the technical genius behind all of the light, sound, and video at Cheney Stadium. I started working with him on the broadcasts, but really got to know him through a project that started early in the pandemic when I asked each employee about what they were doing. That’s when I learned that Phinney loves the mountains and forests of Washington.
That made it obvious he needed to be a Druid or Ranger. Since he’s the lord of sound, I needed to give him the thunder spells – Druid it is. If I hadn’t chosen to lock myself into PHB or free content, I would have gone Firbolg, but instead he’s a goliath.
Phinney consumes books. That’s where the Sage comes in. He’s also well connected at local colleges, which is a doubly important reason for that nod.
Erin is the other artist at Cheney Castle. Every party can have a duplication in role, but cannot have duplication in identity. To me, the other way to emulate the power of drawing/painting arts is Enchantment. The close choice was simple after thinking through that.
The high elf made sense after that, as I wanted a small boost to illusion magic. Also, Erin is fashionable, which fits the high elf tropes. Her fine precision in her artwork and design is captured in the Guild Artisan Background.
Erin and I worked together on the Defiance season ticket renewal magazine and several other projects. To recognize that her class skills are History and Investigation. No offense to Casey, but Erin spent as much time copy editing my writing for print as anyone.
Reema was my manager for Reign related projects in 2019. Through that time, when the team’s biggest star got in a Twitter war with the President and won every award available to a soccer player while winning The Best and a World Cup, we were in constant communication. Her leadership and belief in me was strong. Her charisma was readily apparent in discussions with ownership, or the brilliant talents that wore the crest – it came naturally to her. In D&D natural power such as hers often is displayed as a Sorcerer.
While the Noble Background is often about being born into high society, I chose that for Reema because she so seamlessly fits into the group. Between her sense of fashion, her wine and cocktail knowledge, and her will she belongs in those situations. The following trait and ideal also pushed that decision over the edge into a big “yep.”
Despite my noble birth, I do not place myself above other folk. We all have the same blood.
It is my duty to protect and care for the people beneath me.
Noble
To represent her ability to make friends simply and easily I gave her the Friends cantrip, while ignoring the part about people knowing magic was used against the new friend.
Maddie is so multi-faceted. To the fans in the stands she’s just part of the entertainment crew. To those of us behind the scenes she’s a manager of mascots, planner of schedules, and keen executor of fun. She’s part mage, that’s obvious. She also slips in and out of spaces, everywhere at once. The Arcane Trickster’s magic of entertainment was an obvious choice.
In her past our favorite Trickster was an elite tumbler. That meant expertise in Acrobatics and Performance, as well as the Entertainer background. Maddie always finds a way to share the fun with an audience.
Picking a race started with a look at which ones offered bonuses to Charisma. This quickly became a choice between lightfoot halfling and half-elf. There was a need to capture Maddie’s bravery in stepping into a role at the last minute, accepting all those challenges without any fear – halfling it is.
AJ, unlike the rest of the group, came to the Sound from elsewhere. He rapidly became a sounder, as in a person of the Sound, even if not a soccer fan. For his build I started with that Outlander background. His tales and stories from his youth, schooling, and previous jobs were foreign to us. The Outlander made so much sense.
The way AJ relaxes is to travel the new lands. He’s an expert on the parks around Pierce County and beyond. The Ranger embraces that. His willingness to support cross-functionally meant I went for the Hunter, as he knocks out small tasks frequently.
He’s good at so much – he can be a radio pbp voice, a video host, a writer, a social media expert, and more. There’s only one race that embraces the ability to do anything – the traditional human. Sorry, AJ, but little fantasy in that one. Bonuses to every single attribute will come in handy no matter what you do.
Throughout the design process every choice came back to how do I make the most heroic version of my friends and coworkers. Which skills, spells, and features made sense to show that these fantasy heroes are based in the real heroics during our year (or more, or less). Together, we overcame obstacles and used our various strengths to destroy the monsters that got in the way.
These are the heroes of Castle Cheney. I miss them, but that when a banner is raised asking for help they will answer, rally, and wave the Flag of Defiance for each other and our city.
In creating Awf there were a few goals. As one of the more experienced players in the party I wanted to have at least a secondary stat be Intelligence. With the party being four to six PCs, there was room for at least one multi-role character. There’s a fighter, a rogue, a ranger, a cleric in the regular group.
That meant that I could fill a few roles – this dwarf axe-wizard is a solid secondary front-line warrior and secondary spellcaster.
As someone who generally tries to avoid the more typical tropes with my PCs, Awf let me explore a few things that 5th edition empowers that weren’t possible when I was originally playing in 1st and 2nd edition of AD&D. He’s a Dwarf Wizard who uses a Battleaxe, fairly well.
The desire to explore a new subclass was approved by my DM. The Bladesinger made sense for a frontline warrior/spellcaster. But, Dwarves aren’t supposed to be one.
Courtesy of Delaney Saul for my birthday
That meant exploring his backstory. Awf has started to talk about that in his backstory in the game, so now it makes sense to share a bit of it.
His hometown suffered a goblin attack. At the time he was a righteous adolescent who believed in the power of his family and village. Unfortunately his homestead was destroyed by goblins. He will never forgive this act.
Fortunately the Order of the Shooting Star, mostly Elven Bladesingers, saved the town through a flanking operation. Awf’s family survived. But he lost respect. They weren’t powerful enough; they weren’t strong enough.
So when the Shooting Stars left, he followed. There was strength in their magic. He followed them for more than ten years. The orphan-by-choice was a hanger-on. He shadowed the lessons of the Eagle Song, as they used axes in their maneuvers, but small axes, for they were not dwarves.
By day Awf Hornjaw was an annoying outcast who offered just enough service to be useful. By night, Awf Hornjaw studied the ways of the Loragwyn clan’s magic.
Being 3’11” and 211 pounds, he didn’t fit in the Knightly Order. He was too fat, too slow, too Dwarf.
But Awf worked. The insulting nickname “Fat Goose” became his calling card. His axe took on the name Oie Cendrée. He learned and succeeded.
Eventually the Loragwyns and the Shooting Stars accepted Awf. His noble desire to sacrifice anything to help others fit their ideals. His skill with adapting Oie Cendrée to the ways of the Song were intriguing.
As Awf left the Shooting Stars they awarded him their name. Awf Hornjaw et Loragwyn is a man with two last names, two identities, and one goal – to find the goblin clan that threatened his family and show them that the Fat Goose is ready to sing the song of violence and ring the gong of death.
Full Moon Storytelling 