Also would be hilarious to see this after like 3 or 4 rounds worth of dispells and counterspells.
What order would they resolve in, original cast order, reverse, or something else (duration?)?
Can this spell itself be counterspelled? What about the individual spells it revives?
It might be hilarious in the abstract, but I think this would be a horrible clusterfuck to practically work out at the table. Rewinding a scenario like that if I was DM would probably give me a rage stroke from trying to figure it all out. No thank you.
Also would be hilarious to see this after like 3 or 4 rounds worth of dispells and counterspells.
What order would they resolve in, original cast order, reverse, or something else (duration?)?
Can this spell itself be counterspelled? What about the individual spells it revives?
It revives dispelled spells but only revives ONE counter-spelled spell, and it's an either/or situation
Yeah it creates a bit of a DM headache, but so do almost all divination spells
Maybe you have to specify the dispelled effects you want to reconstitute, so the burden goes to the player to have to know what they're trying to reconstitute
Depends on how you define your character (I have no problems with evil character if there is a good reasoning behind it and a good reason why the rest of the group put up with them if they are overly evil.)
But custom character class will also be hard on a new DM.
Class you describe (haven't played Everquest) sounds like you can do with Fighter and then specialization in Eldritch Knight.
Shadow Knights are explicitly an anti-paladin type deal.
For 5e, I'd think Paladin with some homebrew:
Instead of lay on hands, you can just use lay on hands to do necrotic damage, throw a con save on there for half damage. Give it the "Summon Undead Spirit" spell from UA. Needs Cause Fear, Inflict Wounds, Fear, among a few other spells as class spells, Smites do Necrotic instead of Radiant.
Summon Undead Spirit
3rd-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a gilded humanoid skull
worth at least 300 gp)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You call forth a restless spirit from beyond the
grave. The spirit manifests physically in an
unoccupied space that you can see within range.
This corporeal form uses the Undead Spirit stat
block below. When you cast the spell, choose the
creature’s form: Ghostly, Putrid, or Skeletal. The
creature physically resembles a humanoid with
the chosen form, which also determines some of
the traits in its stat block. The creature
disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when
the spell ends.
The creature is friendly to you and your
companions for the spell’s duration. In combat,
the creature shares your initiative count, but it
takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys
verbal commands that you issue to it (no action
required by you). If you don’t issue any, it
defends itself but otherwise takes no action.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the
creature assumes the higher level for that
casting wherever it uses the spell’s level in its
stat block.
UNDEAD SPIRIT
Medium undead, neutral evil
Armor Class 11 + the level of the spell (natural armor)
Hit Points equal the undead’s Constitution modifier +
your spellcasting ability modifier + ten times the
spell’s level
Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (Ghostly only; hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
12 (+1) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 4 (−4) 10 (+0) 9 (−1)
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened,
paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, understands the languages you
speak
Incorporeal Movement (Ghostly Only). The undead can
become incorporeal while moving and pass through
other creatures and objects as if they were difficult
terrain. If it ends its turn inside an object, it is shunted
to the nearest unoccupied space and takes 1d10 force
damage for every 5 feet traveled.
Festering Aura (Putrid Only). Any creature, other than
you, that starts its turn within 5 feet of the undead must
succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your
spell save DC or be poisoned until the start of its next
turn.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The spirit makes a number of attacks equal
to half this spell’s level (rounded down).
Deathly Touch (Ghostly Only). Melee Weapon Attack:
+3 + the spell’s level to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit:
1d8 + 3 + the spell’s level necrotic damage, and the
creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw
against your spell save DC or be frightened of the
undead until the end of the target’s next turn.
Grave Bolt (Skeletal Only). Ranged Spell Attack: +3 + the
spell’s level to hit, range 150 ft., one target. Hit: 2d8 + 3
+ the spell’s level necrotic damage.
Rotting Claw (Putrid Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +3 +
the spell’s level to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 +
3 + the spell’s level slashing damage. If the target is
poisoned, it must succeed on a Constitution saving
throw against your spell save DC or be paralyzed until
the end of its next turn.
How to be an ‘evil’ character but not ruin everyone’s fun. Choose 3 or more.
- The party and some NPCs (your choice who as you meet them) are treated as family, and so no evil act can be done that would knowingly affect them.
- You must appear superior to others, so petty thief, crude language and sudden, unplanned violence is prohibited. You’re too proud to attack a harmless creature or defeated foe.
- You don’t want anyone to find out, and so make open, pointed acts of ‘good’ as cover, such as minor charitable donations, doing someone a favour you will absolutely cash in, and giving people back-handed compliments.
- Defeat great evil because this is your turf.
- Refusing an evil deal because you’re not that stupid, you know evil. That devil isn’t going to offer a fair bargain. You want to make deals with stupid good people yourself though.
- Acting for ‘the greater good’ of others because they can’t be trusted to make the hard choices.
- Just be a moody bitch.
- Keep a secret. Keep many secrets. Be a secret agent of a shady faction with your own goals alongside the party.
- You believe one of the party is naive and needs mentoring in the way the world really works. Praise them when they do something evil under your guidance. Kill anyone that harms them.
Does all that sound like something a new player and a new DM should mess around with?
Nahhh.... Oath of Conquest paladin straight up but you can do necrotic damage with lay on hands and your smites? That seems pretty simple, then the player just picks the most evil spells
Alternatively just roll a Hexblade. It's really close thematically to a Shadow Knight in a lot of its abilities and whatnot. Pact of Blade->Thirsting Blade->Eldritch Smite. Ask to flavor your Spectre as a Skeleton
Making a whole new class is probably the worst option for a new DM because it will be either way too powerful or way too weak no matter how you slice it
How to be an ‘evil’ character but not ruin everyone’s fun. Choose 3 or more.
- The party and some NPCs (your choice who as you meet them) are treated as family, and so no evil act can be done that would knowingly affect them.
- You must appear superior to others, so petty thief, crude language and sudden, unplanned violence is prohibited. You’re too proud to attack a harmless creature or defeated foe.
- You don’t want anyone to find out, and so make open, pointer acts of ‘good’ as cover, such as minor charitable donations, doing someone a favour you will absolutely cash in, and giving people back-handed compliments.
- Defeat great evil because this is your turf.
- Refusing a evil deal because you’re not that stupid, you know evil. That devil isn’t going to off a fair bargain. You want to make deals with stupid good people though.
- Acting for ‘the greater good’ of others because they can’t be trusted to make the hard choices.
- Just be a moody bitch.
- Keep a secret. Keep many secrets. Be a secret agent of a shady faction with your own goals alongside the party.
- You believe one of the party is naive and needs mentoring in the way the world really works. Praise them when they do something evil under your guidance. Kill anyone that harms them.
A set of videos I've been watching (Puffin Forest) on YouTube they are doing Curse of Strahd with one evil partymember. At some point in character they ask him why he hangs out with them given they are not evil and he goes "because you can't trust evil people but i know i can trust you" in a way that can only be described as 'speaking to idiots".
Legitimately Evil characters should definitely not appear to outside observers to be evil unless they're in a place where nobody cares (like Calamport or Menzoberranzan in the Forgotten Realms)
You have a party, you have lived in the world and presumably can enter towns and cities without having your head taken, you know how to tie your shoes and make sure there's no human gristle in your teeth before leaving your cannibalism cave. There isn't a hint on your person that you possess an orphan-face collection
That's my restriction on evil characters for my players, they have to be able to *not act evil* when interacting with other people, and they need a strong connection to at least one party member so they would never betray the party (or need to have some sort of personal set of morals that would keep them from turning on associates who haven't betrayed them). Also crucially, they need to have a home, somewhere. It may seem odd to have that requirement, given that I'll take neutral outlander druids all day, but if you're evil, you need to have a home village, town, tribe, or whatever. Your character HAS to be a person capable of living with other people who are not evil.
The Cassalanters are evil, they don't go around shanking paladins in the street.
Also I will veto it if it's 2 specific players because they can't be fucking trusted. No, you can't be a character who raped the princess, that's not edgy, it just makes us all uncomfortable. It also earns you a permanent ban from playing an evil character for even *asking* that question.
I don't even need to explain this to 4/6 of my players, they get it, I can generally trust whatever they bring forward
override367 on
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NipsHe/HimLuxuriating in existential crisis.Registered Userregular
That's the thing about players and evil characters in my mind: if I can't trust the player not to be a shitheel, letting them play an evil character is just an invitation to be a shitheel and ruin everyone's fun.
I would generally lean toward genuinely new players and GMs to avoid playing evil characters. Once everyone has played for a while, understands how playing a character works for them and their group (because there's a very wide spectrum to this aspect!) and has the social agreements and understandings in place IRL, then you can start dipping into the questions posed by playing or playing alongside evil characters.
@Endless_Serpents
I like your list, except "Be moody". I've seen that kind of play at evil, and it just becomes grating and untenable to everyone around them. That's a hard veto on my part.
I have successfully (IMHO, anyway, for the most part...except for one time, and that other time) run an evil campaign from 1 to 20, and lemme tell you: That shit is not for newbies.
Mechanically, it is the same, yes. Spells are spells, classes are classes and levels are levels. No problem. Its everything else that goes with playing evil where trouble can occur. The RP between players, the verisimilitude between PC's and the rest of the living breathing, presumably not evil world they play around in. Everything in day to day life, commoner or adventurer, revolves around NOT being evil. So it takes a very deft/lucky hand, among everyone at the table and not just the DM, to make it work and not have a failed campaign come crashing down around all your ears. Yeah, it can totally be done. And it can be a blast to play and be one of the campaigns you remember for a long time.
I just don't think it should be your first campaign
That's the thing about players and evil characters in my mind: if I can't trust the player not to be a shitheel, letting them play an evil character is just an invitation to be a shitheel and ruin everyone's fun.
There is not enough lime on the internet to convey how much I agree with this sentiment.
Yeah you’re right. In fairness I’ve never run a game for an evil party in D&D and wouldn’t want to. I’ve done Apocalypse World, but the caveat there was that it was gonna be a comeuppance from the start, and if their evil antics got them killed so be it.
More like an aspiring warlord / conquering invader type, with greedy / avarice tendencies.
Something like Bronn from the GoT books, work as a merc and buy your way into a fiefdom.
Enforce contract disputes with their blade and be mostly willing to take dirty jobs that won’t empower possible challengers.
As opposed to a Paladin working on the hope of being rewarded for meritorious service.
MWO: Adamski
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
More like an aspiring warlord / conquering invader type, with greedy / avarice tendencies.
Something like Bronn from the GoT books, work as a merc and buy your way into a fiefdom.
Enforce contract disputes with their blade and be mostly willing to take dirty jobs that won’t empower possible challengers.
As opposed to a Paladin working on the hope of being rewarded for meritorious service.
Playing assholes is way easier than playing evil. You just have to ask yourself "Why am I adventuring with this party and what are my goals" and the more important question "Why would the party let me stick around?". Most new D&D players play assholes. It fits into the murderhobo lifestyle.
So as a new player with a DM who is new to DM’ing, what would be easier:
I was wanting to run an evil character, essentially a Shadow Knight from Everquest.
Should I play as a fighter that multi classes into necromancy
Try to find a custom class build
Play a disgraced / oath breaker paladin
Start as a cleric and eventually add two levels in wizard for the Necromancy specialisation - which then lets you heal yourself via life drain if you kill things with 'Cause light wounds' laying on hands etc.
You're also quite fighty - especially as a War Priest (with extra attacks as a bonus action and +10 to hit each short rest that can be added after you've rolled the dice!), but still get access to the classic necromancy spells like "Animate dead" for creating and taking control of skeletons and zombies once you reach Level 5 which will happen much, much quicker than you would with 9th.
For a new player and a new DM, definitely picking something from the rules the book presents you with is going to make everything a lot easier. And they're also really flexible, once you add in feats etc as well.
Also what is it that most draws you to the Shadow Knight? The dark themed warrior in platemail, backed up with undead minions - or is there something more about the character you're after?
You could easily have your Shadow Knight not being evil, despite the undead, but more one from an order that is tasked with defending ancient sites with the help of ancestor spirits and the honoured dead. Perhaps even previous generations of your order, who sworn to protect these dark temples from being re-sanctified to their demonic masters and prevent some ancient cataclysm from ever happening again, but neglected to add a 'til death' part and are now bound to service forever.
A grim, honourable type that is very much misunderstood by those outside the order. Just seeing you as the black clad warriors that hang around graveyards, forbidden temples with a shady history and a reputation for doing "whatever it takes, whatever the cost". Even Lawful good doesn't mean happy and outgoing, and if sworn to a vow that Lawful part can certainly twist the good around a bit, likewise Lawful Neutral isn't necessarily a 'by the book' character, as the Vow that they have sworn themselves to transcends local ordinances.
The other thing I think it's key to remember when you're starting D&D in particular, is that the idea you've got for a character is ideally who they are going to become. It's not who they are at the start - you're an aspiring Shadow Knight, so also think about who ends up becoming one and how - and most importantly, let the DM know ahead of time!
Player characters volunteering extra bits of world building are a godsend to a DM, especially a new one that might not have any grand plan in mind (or might be too fixated on their own story, rather than working to fold the players characters into it).
a straight war cleric who takes inflict wounds and animate dead would be a fine shadow knight
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WearingglassesOf the friendly neighborhood varietyRegistered Userregular
So I was thinking about one of my players. She's enthusiastic when playing but.... iunno
* The main goal of her character (an artificer) is to fulfill her pet project of a geothermic-based energy system as an Izzet researcher
* To fulfill that, I had the crew clear out a zombie-infested lab on lease so she can do her research and present her POC to a "Open House Fair" two months later
* Said lab also has a hidden cache of notes from Niv-Mizzet himself, accessed via a hidden elevator down to a magically maintained magma pit.
* I've given her a mini-game as part of her research: on every workweek of her day job she picks which topic to focus on rolls for progress, like a Research Downtime activity
* She has underlings to assign to said topics (Niv-Mizzet's 'pet weapon', Geothermic Findings, and Niv-Mizzet's musings on Life), and a "lab level" to provide a bonus
* I was hoping she'd access her heirloom that way, but she has not engaged with the minigame at all
Alright, plan B - 1) I'm altering her storyline so one of her underlings create the weapon first and uses it against her, and then she can tinker with it eventually, and 2) I'll just ask her what her priorities are ("Which one are you focusing on in your day job?"), and I'll just do the rolls per week myself.
What's also the best way of teaching her to be efficient/inventive with her skillset? She's very liberal with the non-cantrip spells and runs out way too early, and I think her bad luck with the rolls is putting her off Firebolt (which.... is just unlucky). Provide environmental hazards she can use to her advantage, I'm thinking?
I think I'd have the weapon struggle with a variety of pitfalls and delays as clear avenues of research lead to dead ends. But then perhaps a miniquest or a series of downtime dilemmas that reveals that someone has been funnelling money and power from the main lab, only for it to turn out that it's not sabotage but more there's a whole set of secret projects her underlings have been working on that are spin offs from the weapon program that they feared would be shut down due to a draconian administrator.
So come up with a few weird applications of cantrips and low level spells yourself as examples of how you can think out of the box when combining spells. Give her a few extra low level spells that can then combo together, and basically show her what you can do if you get creative rather than be laser focused.
Maybe even have a guilty underling come to her and say that they've been dividing their time between the main project and their side project, but there's an underlying principle in her hydroponic device that she reckons might be applicable to the main program. They just weren't thinking about complicated and interconnected systems on the level they needed to, until they started using this on a living system.
With the right system, enabled by minor flame and then mending cantrips creating a valve, you might be able to use the heating and cooling cantrips to build up pressure in a chamber...
[edit]Which is where you can go mad, perhaps can be used to bank turns of magic for a dramatic effect once the required pressure has been maintained. Need a fireball? Keep the machine charged and then add the volatile gas mix to the reaction chamber, then cantrip to light it when you're ready.
Of course these are all prototypes, and aren't going to work perfectly, tanks and bladders leak, seals object to rough handling outside of the lab so as a DM you can keep things in balance by needing her to tend to the devices with mending cantrips and to recharge the thaumatological bellows (especially if the grand machine is using other artificer's cantrips to kick start it). Plus woe betides anyone near a pressurised brass tank if something particularly strong pierces it whilst under maximum pressure.
But then fixing the machine, working out how to make smaller and more travel ready components becomes her drive, whilst adding new functionality and bug fixing. And that seems to be the core part of the drive to play an Artificer.
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 24 hours. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spell that was interrupted from the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
This just turns into Contingency for any prepared caster.
The duration doesn't tick down while dispelled so you can do like Cloudkill and then woops everyone dies.
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 24 hours. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spell that was interrupted from the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
This just turns into Contingency for any prepared caster.
The duration doesn't tick down while dispelled so you can do like Cloudkill and then woops everyone dies.
It doesn't function with concentration spells, which eliminates MOST of such possible hijinks
but good point, the duration maybe should be scaled down to 1 hour
It doesn't function with concentration spells, which eliminates MOST of such possible hijinks
but good point, the duration maybe should be scaled down to 1 hour
I mean, Glyphs of Warding still make this the single deadliest trap possible.. You can store spells in them, dispel them, then bring them back spell intact with this cast and have them trigger on contact. How many Point Blank Fireballs does it take for a TPK? And all this requires is 3rd level spells.
I mean, I like the idea, but it's way too strong. An hour is a better duration to prevent undetectable magical deathtraps, but unless you can counter everything a high level enemy spellcaster can do, this spell literally undoes your turns. That pretty much always leaves a bad taste in players mouths. I can cast my high level murder spell, you counter it, then I get back whatever spell slot I just used with a third level spell.
Or to even make it easier I use Glyphs of Warding or Contingency to cast this when my biggest murderparty spell is countered. Outside of Action economy and you just used your counter. Woops. I mean probably only Liches or high ranking Devils would do this, but it'd still feel pretty bad.
It doesn't function with concentration spells, which eliminates MOST of such possible hijinks
but good point, the duration maybe should be scaled down to 1 hour
I mean, Glyphs of Warding still make this the single deadliest trap possible.. You can store spells in them, dispel them, then bring them back spell intact with this cast and have them trigger on contact. How many Point Blank Fireballs does it take for a TPK? And all this requires is 3rd level spells.
I mean, I like the idea, but it's way too strong. An hour is a better duration to prevent undetectable magical deathtraps, but unless you can counter everything a high level enemy spellcaster can do, this spell literally undoes your turns. That pretty much always leaves a bad taste in players mouths. I can cast my high level murder spell, you counter it, then I get back whatever spell slot I just used with a third level spell.
Or to even make it easier I use Glyphs of Warding or Contingency to cast this when my biggest murderparty spell is countered. Outside of Action economy and you just used your counter. Woops. I mean probably only Liches or high ranking Devils would do this, but it'd still feel pretty bad.
You can already make glyphs undetectable with nystul's magic aura and you would not be able to store this in contingency because it is an Area of Effect spell
On reflection one hour is a much more reasonable duration. Being able to use a 3rd level spell to recover your 7th level spell is a feature not a bug though, the entity that counterspelled it still won out on action economy - and you can just be counterspelled when you try to use this spell to recast it.
Additionally, restoring a spell that has a casting time of greater than one action which was dispelled increases the casting time of Reweave mayhaps to match the casting time of the greatest duration spell that was dispelled, although I seriously don't expect that to be a problem:
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 1 hour. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed. When casting this spell as an action, it is only capable of restoring spells that had a casting time of 1 action or less. You may increase the casting time of this spell to restore spells with a casting time of greater than 1 action, to do so you must cast this spell for a duration of at least as long as their original casting time.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spellthat you have seen be interrupted by the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
So, i'm really jonsing to play 5e and get some social contact in. Also to pay the character concept I have kicking around: Sunbones, SKELTON CLERIC (light domain ofc)
If any of you are planning to recruit for an online game (ideally discord/roll 20?) That would be decently friendly to NZ time (I'm very flexible here though) shoot me a line?
Please tell me they carved that shit after that person was dead. Because....ouch.
Absolutely after they died. In fact taking the time to do that likely meant the person was of significance in life. The Aztec and Mayans (and all the tribes whose names are lost) loved them some bone art, which continues today in Mexico’s Day of the Dead.
So my Descent campaign wrapped up last night, with my party having done pretty well for themselves overall with what we achieved and what we became; We were able to redeem zariel by pointing out to her that she'd become what she hated and that in all the time that she'd been fighting, she was no closer to victory then she had been when she first took command; that this was being told to her by a redemption paladin who rolled a 32 persuasion check might have had some extra emphasis as well.
After that, it was kind of epilogue city for our group of players;
Our tiefling warlock who had succumbed to the effects of hell and been made lawful evil was rewarded by his patron bel with the return of his soul.
Our Trickster cleric/horizon walker chose to wander off, in search of his true home.
The gnome arcane archer/diviner decided to go find his family and just relax for a bit.
Our party's pyromaniac monk/cleric of ?, having sold his soul for a rod of lordly might and filled with regrets when he realized the true cost of doing so chose to bury it and try to reconnect with torm after having been cajoled into worshipping asmodeus.
My Aasimar redemption paladin ~having picked up the sword of zariel~ had effectively become something closer to angel then human at this point, and while she wanted to go to mount celestia to learn what that meant, she remembered that her companions and previous identity originally banded together to reform the city of baldur's gate and as such took it upon herself to do so.
So our campaign ended. Overall, It was much heavier in terms of emotional weight then a lot of the modules have been, though that might have been because I was playing the hardest possible option (Lawful good Aasimar redemption paladin), I think most of us were really feeling it by that point.
Oh!
There was one other thing that happened with us: we had to figure out what to do with the shield of gargauth. Said shield was an incredibly powerful magic item (fire resistance, fireball/wall of fire 3x with 21 DC, and a +4 ac enchant) but also hideously evil since it was the prison of an incredibly powerful pit fiend that also tried endlessly to corrupt the wielder. While the warlock was super eager to keep it, the party was determined to get rid of it and decided to shove him into a bag of devouring so that he would be spat out at a random place and time in the planes.
Imagine the utter shock and laughter that errupted when the GM immediately informed us that Gargauth was exactly where and when we'd found him; thus trapping him in an infintie causality loop that he would only realize was a thing after perhaps a few thousand cycles but ultimately remain unable to change or influence.
My duergar artificer was spraying poison and acid all over the place. He even "tripped" and "accidentally" spilled some acid from his alchemy jug onto some tavern patrons to cause a distraction so the drow rogue (who is an old buddy) could do some pickpocketing.
Later we fought in an arena as a test to prove we could join a band of pirates (that we were planning to rob). Four cockatrices and a basilisk get dropped on us. I killed two cockatrices pretty quick, our rogue got turned to stone, then I used my duergar ability to cast enlarge and I attacked the basilisk, laughing off it's gaze attack (I had +5 to con saving throws lol) and then I grappled it and put it in a headlock so I could shove my eldritch cannon into it's mouth and fire down it's gullet. The barbarian killed it while I was grappling it instead, so I picked it up and powerbombed it onto the last remaining cockatrice, killing it. That was pretty fucking rad!
Then they joined the pirates, poisoned some of the goblin crew, making the rest stealthily abandon ship, attacked another boat and killed it's crew, then I seduced a goblin so our rogue would have less people to deal with as he did sneaky poisoning stuff, and when she go up later to check out the commotion he tried to quietly strangle her. That felt really icky to me, so I had him stop that and just attack her with his sickle, then he ran up to the top deck to join the fight. By then it was revealed the captain was on the bottom deck, and he was performing a ritual that made all the corpses into zombie so we had to beat everyone up again and throw them all overboard (my eldritch cannon pushed several off, while our ranger and barb threw the rest off lol). Then we decided going belowdecks to finish off the captain and remaining named NPCs was probably a bad idea so we piled a bunch of stuff up in the stairway leading down and set the fucking ship on fire and escaped on the lifeboats. We took the goblin boat driver with us because we totally missed him in the fighting and he didn't join in and just kept driving the boat, minding his business so he seemed like a nice guy (his name was Stabbo).
So no treasure, again, but at least we all barely survived. Again. :rotate:
Note to self: Sunbones should have an appropriate toolkit proficiency so they can carve their own bones as a form of worship.
So the question to me is if he turned himself into scrimshaw or it was a part of the necromancy to raise him?
Dunno! I'm imaging that Sunbones is explicitly genderless, and close examination would reveal that it's impossible that they were raised from an existing person - their skeleton is made of a jumble of sun-bleached bones from different medium sizes races. Sunbones themselves is quite aware they're a created being, and pretty content with this - as far as they're concerned, it could have been the sun itself that raised them, and they're a lot more concerned with thier mission to spread the light of the sun and generally be a force of good and not freak out the fleshies too much (Fleshies have such dreadful, if understandable predjucies about the undead and it's always embarrassing when you have to flee a town). it's the sort of thing i'd go "Here is a giant plot hook for you to use or not" to the dm.
I like the idea that some of thier bones were already scrimshawed up, and they've just extended that practice since then - it's a nice story hook, or failing that, a nice little character/flavor beat, which i like.
OK But FYI... when I steal your entire idea to use as a mid-level boss fight... scrimshawed bones with definitely be a part of how and why this skeleton is so badass.
OK But FYI... when I steal your entire idea to use as a mid-level boss fight... scrimshawed bones with definitely be a part of how and why this skeleton is so badass.
Idea thievery!? in the DND thread!?
Good job, keep it up, i'd expect nothing less (Also you have to report back how Evilbones does, even if they bring shame to the concept's lineage and Sunbones would be very disappointed in them)
Will Sunbones be on the lookout for replacement bones as part of their leveling up process? Fresh bones from kills would probably be too sticky, but you never know with ancient tombs and such
OK But FYI... when I steal your entire idea to use as a mid-level boss fight... scrimshawed bones with definitely be a part of how and why this skeleton is so badass.
The scrimshaw actually contains multiple Glyphs of Warding, releasing various spell effects as bones are broken.
Perhaps even "Mending" on a few bits.
Note to self: Sunbones should have an appropriate toolkit proficiency so they can carve their own bones as a form of worship.
So the question to me is if he turned himself into scrimshaw or it was a part of the necromancy to raise him?
It’d be pretty neat if he was summoned by a community in need. They prayed together over a tomb of heroes hoping for either guidance or divine intervention, but as their prayers were not exact they didn’t get a particular hero, but the very concept of one built from their bones.
As for the carving, maybe that was done to all heroes, and they just continue it now.
Perhaps along with the sun Sunbones communes with these heroes, who are good hearted but fallible, with some outdated ideas.
Edit:
“Surrender fiend! A lone undead is no match for the Barghest Bandits!”
“Step aside thieves, for I am over two-hundred strong! My fists are the fists of warriors. My legs are the legs of kings and queens! My left elbow is a wizard!... which is more powerful than that probably sounds!”
Will Sunbones be on the lookout for replacement bones as part of their leveling up process? Fresh bones from kills would probably be too sticky, but you never know with ancient tombs and such
I have no idea, but it could be a cool element. Ideally if i was running this character, i'd like to use Walrock's awoken undead homebrew and just switch out the Skeleton subrace's stat bonus for a Wis one, and otherwise keep all the rules - they seem both flavourful and fun, without being broken (and with actually having consequences to being an undead, which is good). That certainly allows for switching out bones, and there's even a neat racial feat for being able to deploy your own hand as a scout
That said, i'd imagine Sunbones replacing bones as either a significant event, or as "...well, that arm's useless". Maybe quite ritualized (i.e take time to sun bleach the bones and scrimshaw them up or something).
...also seeing the Glyph of Warding idea, the idea of "In case of emergency, remove hand and throw" is fantastic.
Edit: @Endless_Serpents Well, i'm stealing that. That's fantastic. (Also the left elbow is a wizard would play real well with the "You do not want to know what's inscribed on my hand")
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It might be hilarious in the abstract, but I think this would be a horrible clusterfuck to practically work out at the table. Rewinding a scenario like that if I was DM would probably give me a rage stroke from trying to figure it all out. No thank you.
I was wanting to run an evil character, essentially a Shadow Knight from Everquest.
Should I play as a fighter that multi classes into necromancy
Try to find a custom class build
Play a disgraced / oath breaker paladin
MWO: Adamski
No.
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It revives dispelled spells but only revives ONE counter-spelled spell, and it's an either/or situation
Yeah it creates a bit of a DM headache, but so do almost all divination spells
Maybe you have to specify the dispelled effects you want to reconstitute, so the burden goes to the player to have to know what they're trying to reconstitute
But custom character class will also be hard on a new DM.
Class you describe (haven't played Everquest) sounds like you can do with Fighter and then specialization in Eldritch Knight.
For 5e, I'd think Paladin with some homebrew:
Instead of lay on hands, you can just use lay on hands to do necrotic damage, throw a con save on there for half damage. Give it the "Summon Undead Spirit" spell from UA. Needs Cause Fear, Inflict Wounds, Fear, among a few other spells as class spells, Smites do Necrotic instead of Radiant.
3rd-level necromancy
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a gilded humanoid skull
worth at least 300 gp)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You call forth a restless spirit from beyond the
grave. The spirit manifests physically in an
unoccupied space that you can see within range.
This corporeal form uses the Undead Spirit stat
block below. When you cast the spell, choose the
creature’s form: Ghostly, Putrid, or Skeletal. The
creature physically resembles a humanoid with
the chosen form, which also determines some of
the traits in its stat block. The creature
disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when
the spell ends.
The creature is friendly to you and your
companions for the spell’s duration. In combat,
the creature shares your initiative count, but it
takes its turn immediately after yours. It obeys
verbal commands that you issue to it (no action
required by you). If you don’t issue any, it
defends itself but otherwise takes no action.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell
using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the
creature assumes the higher level for that
casting wherever it uses the spell’s level in its
stat block.
UNDEAD SPIRIT
Medium undead, neutral evil
Armor Class 11 + the level of the spell (natural armor)
Hit Points equal the undead’s Constitution modifier +
your spellcasting ability modifier + ten times the
spell’s level
Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (Ghostly only; hover)
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
12 (+1) 16 (+3) 15 (+2) 4 (−4) 10 (+0) 9 (−1)
Damage Immunities necrotic, poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened,
paralyzed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, understands the languages you
speak
Incorporeal Movement (Ghostly Only). The undead can
become incorporeal while moving and pass through
other creatures and objects as if they were difficult
terrain. If it ends its turn inside an object, it is shunted
to the nearest unoccupied space and takes 1d10 force
damage for every 5 feet traveled.
Festering Aura (Putrid Only). Any creature, other than
you, that starts its turn within 5 feet of the undead must
succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your
spell save DC or be poisoned until the start of its next
turn.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The spirit makes a number of attacks equal
to half this spell’s level (rounded down).
Deathly Touch (Ghostly Only). Melee Weapon Attack:
+3 + the spell’s level to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit:
1d8 + 3 + the spell’s level necrotic damage, and the
creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw
against your spell save DC or be frightened of the
undead until the end of the target’s next turn.
Grave Bolt (Skeletal Only). Ranged Spell Attack: +3 + the
spell’s level to hit, range 150 ft., one target. Hit: 2d8 + 3
+ the spell’s level necrotic damage.
Rotting Claw (Putrid Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +3 +
the spell’s level to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 +
3 + the spell’s level slashing damage. If the target is
poisoned, it must succeed on a Constitution saving
throw against your spell save DC or be paralyzed until
the end of its next turn.
- The party and some NPCs (your choice who as you meet them) are treated as family, and so no evil act can be done that would knowingly affect them.
- You must appear superior to others, so petty thief, crude language and sudden, unplanned violence is prohibited. You’re too proud to attack a harmless creature or defeated foe.
- You don’t want anyone to find out, and so make open, pointed acts of ‘good’ as cover, such as minor charitable donations, doing someone a favour you will absolutely cash in, and giving people back-handed compliments.
- Defeat great evil because this is your turf.
- Refusing an evil deal because you’re not that stupid, you know evil. That devil isn’t going to offer a fair bargain. You want to make deals with stupid good people yourself though.
- Acting for ‘the greater good’ of others because they can’t be trusted to make the hard choices.
- Just be a moody bitch.
- Keep a secret. Keep many secrets. Be a secret agent of a shady faction with your own goals alongside the party.
- You believe one of the party is naive and needs mentoring in the way the world really works. Praise them when they do something evil under your guidance. Kill anyone that harms them.
Nahhh.... Oath of Conquest paladin straight up but you can do necrotic damage with lay on hands and your smites? That seems pretty simple, then the player just picks the most evil spells
Alternatively just roll a Hexblade. It's really close thematically to a Shadow Knight in a lot of its abilities and whatnot. Pact of Blade->Thirsting Blade->Eldritch Smite. Ask to flavor your Spectre as a Skeleton
Making a whole new class is probably the worst option for a new DM because it will be either way too powerful or way too weak no matter how you slice it
A set of videos I've been watching (Puffin Forest) on YouTube they are doing Curse of Strahd with one evil partymember. At some point in character they ask him why he hangs out with them given they are not evil and he goes "because you can't trust evil people but i know i can trust you" in a way that can only be described as 'speaking to idiots".
I thought that was pretty great.
You have a party, you have lived in the world and presumably can enter towns and cities without having your head taken, you know how to tie your shoes and make sure there's no human gristle in your teeth before leaving your cannibalism cave. There isn't a hint on your person that you possess an orphan-face collection
That's my restriction on evil characters for my players, they have to be able to *not act evil* when interacting with other people, and they need a strong connection to at least one party member so they would never betray the party (or need to have some sort of personal set of morals that would keep them from turning on associates who haven't betrayed them). Also crucially, they need to have a home, somewhere. It may seem odd to have that requirement, given that I'll take neutral outlander druids all day, but if you're evil, you need to have a home village, town, tribe, or whatever. Your character HAS to be a person capable of living with other people who are not evil.
The Cassalanters are evil, they don't go around shanking paladins in the street.
Also I will veto it if it's 2 specific players because they can't be fucking trusted. No, you can't be a character who raped the princess, that's not edgy, it just makes us all uncomfortable. It also earns you a permanent ban from playing an evil character for even *asking* that question.
I don't even need to explain this to 4/6 of my players, they get it, I can generally trust whatever they bring forward
I would generally lean toward genuinely new players and GMs to avoid playing evil characters. Once everyone has played for a while, understands how playing a character works for them and their group (because there's a very wide spectrum to this aspect!) and has the social agreements and understandings in place IRL, then you can start dipping into the questions posed by playing or playing alongside evil characters.
@Endless_Serpents
I like your list, except "Be moody". I've seen that kind of play at evil, and it just becomes grating and untenable to everyone around them. That's a hard veto on my part.
Mechanically, it is the same, yes. Spells are spells, classes are classes and levels are levels. No problem. Its everything else that goes with playing evil where trouble can occur. The RP between players, the verisimilitude between PC's and the rest of the living breathing, presumably not evil world they play around in. Everything in day to day life, commoner or adventurer, revolves around NOT being evil. So it takes a very deft/lucky hand, among everyone at the table and not just the DM, to make it work and not have a failed campaign come crashing down around all your ears. Yeah, it can totally be done. And it can be a blast to play and be one of the campaigns you remember for a long time.
I just don't think it should be your first campaign
There is not enough lime on the internet to convey how much I agree with this sentiment.
Yeah you’re right. In fairness I’ve never run a game for an evil party in D&D and wouldn’t want to. I’ve done Apocalypse World, but the caveat there was that it was gonna be a comeuppance from the start, and if their evil antics got them killed so be it.
More like an aspiring warlord / conquering invader type, with greedy / avarice tendencies.
Something like Bronn from the GoT books, work as a merc and buy your way into a fiefdom.
Enforce contract disputes with their blade and be mostly willing to take dirty jobs that won’t empower possible challengers.
As opposed to a Paladin working on the hope of being rewarded for meritorious service.
MWO: Adamski
Playing assholes is way easier than playing evil. You just have to ask yourself "Why am I adventuring with this party and what are my goals" and the more important question "Why would the party let me stick around?". Most new D&D players play assholes. It fits into the murderhobo lifestyle.
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Start as a cleric and eventually add two levels in wizard for the Necromancy specialisation - which then lets you heal yourself via life drain if you kill things with 'Cause light wounds' laying on hands etc.
You're also quite fighty - especially as a War Priest (with extra attacks as a bonus action and +10 to hit each short rest that can be added after you've rolled the dice!), but still get access to the classic necromancy spells like "Animate dead" for creating and taking control of skeletons and zombies once you reach Level 5 which will happen much, much quicker than you would with 9th.
For a new player and a new DM, definitely picking something from the rules the book presents you with is going to make everything a lot easier. And they're also really flexible, once you add in feats etc as well.
Also what is it that most draws you to the Shadow Knight? The dark themed warrior in platemail, backed up with undead minions - or is there something more about the character you're after?
You could easily have your Shadow Knight not being evil, despite the undead, but more one from an order that is tasked with defending ancient sites with the help of ancestor spirits and the honoured dead. Perhaps even previous generations of your order, who sworn to protect these dark temples from being re-sanctified to their demonic masters and prevent some ancient cataclysm from ever happening again, but neglected to add a 'til death' part and are now bound to service forever.
A grim, honourable type that is very much misunderstood by those outside the order. Just seeing you as the black clad warriors that hang around graveyards, forbidden temples with a shady history and a reputation for doing "whatever it takes, whatever the cost". Even Lawful good doesn't mean happy and outgoing, and if sworn to a vow that Lawful part can certainly twist the good around a bit, likewise Lawful Neutral isn't necessarily a 'by the book' character, as the Vow that they have sworn themselves to transcends local ordinances.
The other thing I think it's key to remember when you're starting D&D in particular, is that the idea you've got for a character is ideally who they are going to become. It's not who they are at the start - you're an aspiring Shadow Knight, so also think about who ends up becoming one and how - and most importantly, let the DM know ahead of time!
Player characters volunteering extra bits of world building are a godsend to a DM, especially a new one that might not have any grand plan in mind (or might be too fixated on their own story, rather than working to fold the players characters into it).
* The main goal of her character (an artificer) is to fulfill her pet project of a geothermic-based energy system as an Izzet researcher
* To fulfill that, I had the crew clear out a zombie-infested lab on lease so she can do her research and present her POC to a "Open House Fair" two months later
* Said lab also has a hidden cache of notes from Niv-Mizzet himself, accessed via a hidden elevator down to a magically maintained magma pit.
* I've given her a mini-game as part of her research: on every workweek of her day job she picks which topic to focus on rolls for progress, like a Research Downtime activity
* She has underlings to assign to said topics (Niv-Mizzet's 'pet weapon', Geothermic Findings, and Niv-Mizzet's musings on Life), and a "lab level" to provide a bonus
* I was hoping she'd access her heirloom that way, but she has not engaged with the minigame at all
Alright, plan B - 1) I'm altering her storyline so one of her underlings create the weapon first and uses it against her, and then she can tinker with it eventually, and 2) I'll just ask her what her priorities are ("Which one are you focusing on in your day job?"), and I'll just do the rolls per week myself.
What's also the best way of teaching her to be efficient/inventive with her skillset? She's very liberal with the non-cantrip spells and runs out way too early, and I think her bad luck with the rolls is putting her off Firebolt (which.... is just unlucky). Provide environmental hazards she can use to her advantage, I'm thinking?
So come up with a few weird applications of cantrips and low level spells yourself as examples of how you can think out of the box when combining spells. Give her a few extra low level spells that can then combo together, and basically show her what you can do if you get creative rather than be laser focused.
Maybe even have a guilty underling come to her and say that they've been dividing their time between the main project and their side project, but there's an underlying principle in her hydroponic device that she reckons might be applicable to the main program. They just weren't thinking about complicated and interconnected systems on the level they needed to, until they started using this on a living system.
With the right system, enabled by minor flame and then mending cantrips creating a valve, you might be able to use the heating and cooling cantrips to build up pressure in a chamber...
[edit]Which is where you can go mad, perhaps can be used to bank turns of magic for a dramatic effect once the required pressure has been maintained. Need a fireball? Keep the machine charged and then add the volatile gas mix to the reaction chamber, then cantrip to light it when you're ready.
Of course these are all prototypes, and aren't going to work perfectly, tanks and bladders leak, seals object to rough handling outside of the lab so as a DM you can keep things in balance by needing her to tend to the devices with mending cantrips and to recharge the thaumatological bellows (especially if the grand machine is using other artificer's cantrips to kick start it). Plus woe betides anyone near a pressurised brass tank if something particularly strong pierces it whilst under maximum pressure.
But then fixing the machine, working out how to make smaller and more travel ready components becomes her drive, whilst adding new functionality and bug fixing. And that seems to be the core part of the drive to play an Artificer.
This just turns into Contingency for any prepared caster.
The duration doesn't tick down while dispelled so you can do like Cloudkill and then woops everyone dies.
It doesn't function with concentration spells, which eliminates MOST of such possible hijinks
but good point, the duration maybe should be scaled down to 1 hour
I mean, Glyphs of Warding still make this the single deadliest trap possible.. You can store spells in them, dispel them, then bring them back spell intact with this cast and have them trigger on contact. How many Point Blank Fireballs does it take for a TPK? And all this requires is 3rd level spells.
I mean, I like the idea, but it's way too strong. An hour is a better duration to prevent undetectable magical deathtraps, but unless you can counter everything a high level enemy spellcaster can do, this spell literally undoes your turns. That pretty much always leaves a bad taste in players mouths. I can cast my high level murder spell, you counter it, then I get back whatever spell slot I just used with a third level spell.
Or to even make it easier I use Glyphs of Warding or Contingency to cast this when my biggest murderparty spell is countered. Outside of Action economy and you just used your counter. Woops. I mean probably only Liches or high ranking Devils would do this, but it'd still feel pretty bad.
You can already make glyphs undetectable with nystul's magic aura and you would not be able to store this in contingency because it is an Area of Effect spell
On reflection one hour is a much more reasonable duration. Being able to use a 3rd level spell to recover your 7th level spell is a feature not a bug though, the entity that counterspelled it still won out on action economy - and you can just be counterspelled when you try to use this spell to recast it.
Additionally, restoring a spell that has a casting time of greater than one action which was dispelled increases the casting time of Reweave mayhaps to match the casting time of the greatest duration spell that was dispelled, although I seriously don't expect that to be a problem:
Reweave Magic:
3rd level abjuration
10 foot radius, 60 foot range
Casting time: 1 action
This spell attempts to reignite all inert magical effects that were ended by a Dispel Magic spell within its area within the last 1 hour. Any ended spell of 3rd level or lower in the target resumes with its remaining duration intact. For each ended spell effect of 4th level or higher in the target area, make an ability check using your spellcasting ability. The DC equals 10 + the spell’s level. On a successful check, the spell resumes. If the spell was a Concentration spell, it is not resumed. When casting this spell as an action, it is only capable of restoring spells that had a casting time of 1 action or less. You may increase the casting time of this spell to restore spells with a casting time of greater than 1 action, to do so you must cast this spell for a duration of at least as long as their original casting time.
Alternatively when you cast this spell you can choose one spell that you have seen be interrupted by the Counterspell spell within its area within the last minute. The spell reweaves itself and is recast from its original point of origin, and at its original target. If the target was a creature, and that creature is still within the spell's original range, the spell still targets that creature, otherwise it targets the space the creature was in. If the spell must target a creature, it targets the closest creature within range of where its original target was. If no valid targets are available, the spell targets the caster of Reweave Magic.
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Absolutely after they died. In fact taking the time to do that likely meant the person was of significance in life. The Aztec and Mayans (and all the tribes whose names are lost) loved them some bone art, which continues today in Mexico’s Day of the Dead.
After that, it was kind of epilogue city for our group of players;
So our campaign ended. Overall, It was much heavier in terms of emotional weight then a lot of the modules have been, though that might have been because I was playing the hardest possible option (Lawful good Aasimar redemption paladin), I think most of us were really feeling it by that point.
Oh!
There was one other thing that happened with us: we had to figure out what to do with the shield of gargauth. Said shield was an incredibly powerful magic item (fire resistance, fireball/wall of fire 3x with 21 DC, and a +4 ac enchant) but also hideously evil since it was the prison of an incredibly powerful pit fiend that also tried endlessly to corrupt the wielder. While the warlock was super eager to keep it, the party was determined to get rid of it and decided to shove him into a bag of devouring so that he would be spat out at a random place and time in the planes.
Note to self: Sunbones should have an appropriate toolkit proficiency so they can carve their own bones as a form of worship.
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Later we fought in an arena as a test to prove we could join a band of pirates (that we were planning to rob). Four cockatrices and a basilisk get dropped on us. I killed two cockatrices pretty quick, our rogue got turned to stone, then I used my duergar ability to cast enlarge and I attacked the basilisk, laughing off it's gaze attack (I had +5 to con saving throws lol) and then I grappled it and put it in a headlock so I could shove my eldritch cannon into it's mouth and fire down it's gullet. The barbarian killed it while I was grappling it instead, so I picked it up and powerbombed it onto the last remaining cockatrice, killing it. That was pretty fucking rad!
Then they joined the pirates, poisoned some of the goblin crew, making the rest stealthily abandon ship, attacked another boat and killed it's crew, then I seduced a goblin so our rogue would have less people to deal with as he did sneaky poisoning stuff, and when she go up later to check out the commotion he tried to quietly strangle her. That felt really icky to me, so I had him stop that and just attack her with his sickle, then he ran up to the top deck to join the fight. By then it was revealed the captain was on the bottom deck, and he was performing a ritual that made all the corpses into zombie so we had to beat everyone up again and throw them all overboard (my eldritch cannon pushed several off, while our ranger and barb threw the rest off lol). Then we decided going belowdecks to finish off the captain and remaining named NPCs was probably a bad idea so we piled a bunch of stuff up in the stairway leading down and set the fucking ship on fire and escaped on the lifeboats. We took the goblin boat driver with us because we totally missed him in the fighting and he didn't join in and just kept driving the boat, minding his business so he seemed like a nice guy (his name was Stabbo).
So no treasure, again, but at least we all barely survived. Again. :rotate:
So the question to me is if he turned himself into scrimshaw or it was a part of the necromancy to raise him?
Dunno! I'm imaging that Sunbones is explicitly genderless, and close examination would reveal that it's impossible that they were raised from an existing person - their skeleton is made of a jumble of sun-bleached bones from different medium sizes races. Sunbones themselves is quite aware they're a created being, and pretty content with this - as far as they're concerned, it could have been the sun itself that raised them, and they're a lot more concerned with thier mission to spread the light of the sun and generally be a force of good and not freak out the fleshies too much (Fleshies have such dreadful, if understandable predjucies about the undead and it's always embarrassing when you have to flee a town). it's the sort of thing i'd go "Here is a giant plot hook for you to use or not" to the dm.
I like the idea that some of thier bones were already scrimshawed up, and they've just extended that practice since then - it's a nice story hook, or failing that, a nice little character/flavor beat, which i like.
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Idea thievery!? in the DND thread!?
Good job, keep it up, i'd expect nothing less (Also you have to report back how Evilbones does, even if they bring shame to the concept's lineage and Sunbones would be very disappointed in them)
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The scrimshaw actually contains multiple Glyphs of Warding, releasing various spell effects as bones are broken.
Perhaps even "Mending" on a few bits.
It’d be pretty neat if he was summoned by a community in need. They prayed together over a tomb of heroes hoping for either guidance or divine intervention, but as their prayers were not exact they didn’t get a particular hero, but the very concept of one built from their bones.
As for the carving, maybe that was done to all heroes, and they just continue it now.
Perhaps along with the sun Sunbones communes with these heroes, who are good hearted but fallible, with some outdated ideas.
Edit:
“Surrender fiend! A lone undead is no match for the Barghest Bandits!”
“Step aside thieves, for I am over two-hundred strong! My fists are the fists of warriors. My legs are the legs of kings and queens! My left elbow is a wizard!... which is more powerful than that probably sounds!”
I have no idea, but it could be a cool element. Ideally if i was running this character, i'd like to use Walrock's awoken undead homebrew and just switch out the Skeleton subrace's stat bonus for a Wis one, and otherwise keep all the rules - they seem both flavourful and fun, without being broken (and with actually having consequences to being an undead, which is good). That certainly allows for switching out bones, and there's even a neat racial feat for being able to deploy your own hand as a scout
That said, i'd imagine Sunbones replacing bones as either a significant event, or as "...well, that arm's useless". Maybe quite ritualized (i.e take time to sun bleach the bones and scrimshaw them up or something).
...also seeing the Glyph of Warding idea, the idea of "In case of emergency, remove hand and throw" is fantastic.
Edit: @Endless_Serpents Well, i'm stealing that. That's fantastic. (Also the left elbow is a wizard would play real well with the "You do not want to know what's inscribed on my hand")
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