ArqArturo
2014-05-06, 12:36 AM
This is a character I did a while ago, both as a character I wanted to play, and as an exercise in optimization. Plus, I decided to write the fluff on the character.
Lock your doors. No one leaves their homes until sunrise, no matter what you hear.
He was born dead, to the horror of his mother, and the rest of the cabal members that assisted in the birth. The little illumian child laid cold and dead in the blankets, and no matter what spells or alchemical balms were applied, the child did not move.
And then, it cried as all newborns did, yet it still lay cold.
The cabal was perplexed, even a bit horrified, yet they accepted him as his own. The Wardelver Vengeance cabal needed all the able-bodied illumians it could to bolster their numbers, and they would not let a little thing as an unnerving trait to get in the way. Baptised as Wardelver Io, he grew up as most Illumians do: Under constant training and study, meditation and vigilance against the Githyanki. Yet as he grew, it was apparent that Io was not a common illumian: His body was still cold, despite his physical fortitude; he was unable to relate to others in his cabal, but his words and presence unnerved those around him, even if his intentions were not to cause fear. Other than that, he was like other illumians: Curious to no end. His fascination with the arcane, as well as religious and interplanar matters were noted in the beginning, and while he was not as devoted to study as the rest, his learning was constant.
Later on, he noticed his latent magic. Instinctual magical abilities were not strange in a race forged under a magical ritual, but something strange surrounded his: His magic was dark, and leeched life of others, yet to him, it was warm and soothing. He kept this to himself, using it only on the most dire of circumstances, fearing retribution. He soon dropped his name Io, only to take the moniker 'Grim'. Later on he learned to siphon those dark energies to leech life from enemies around him. This trick turned useful, as in recent days more and more raids against Githyanki camps were more common. He soon was closer to the front, unelashing his dark energies with glee, and watching in satisfaction as his foes were weakened, ready for the slaughter.
All this changed when a group of Gish warriors appeared in the cabal's sanctum, killing everyone. They had no penchants on killing the children, and this touched a fabric within Io's mind. Rage filled his heart, but it was not enough to help them. Then, the 'dragon' appeared.
The shadowy creature promised vengeance, as he hated the githyanki as much as Grim did. It promised him power, at the expense of servitude. Grim accepted, and soon saw his magic mingling with eldritch power.
It has been five years since Grim has hunted the githyanki raiders, but something has stirred him. In his path of vengeance, he has found clues that point that someone in the Material Plane had a hand in the fall of the Wardelver cabal, so he has been traveling between the material plane and in the outer planes when possible. He has made alliances with githserai, as well as members of Gravewhisper cabals, and steers clear of undead-hunting adventurers, mostly because he finds them too idealistic in their approach to fight their foes.
Appearance: Grey hair, with dark blue sigils hovering over his head. He favors heavy leather clothing, and carries a composite longbow around, although he rarely uses it.
Behavior: Sarcastic, pragmatic, and a master of dark humor, Grim unintentionally scares people away from him, often causing fights unintended. He considers his mindless undead creatures as tools rather than minions, and has no respect for the dead, viewing cemeteries in the same way as an archer sees a quiver. While he has no penchant for the dead, he does preoccupy on the living, especially children, yet his crass behavior causes him more misunderstandings with the people he tries to help, so sometimes it is useful to scare them a little if you're trying to convince them to hide from monsters.
His service to the 'dragon' entity, a shadowy creature that resembles a slim dark dragon, has led him into some interesting missions. Mostly assassination of red dragons, but sometimes he is put at odds with good dragons. He has tried several times to avoid killing them, reasoning that metallic dragons are more eager to help him fight the Githyanki, and so far there has been no reprisal, but he is aware the Dragon will have its due.
He disdains the idea of becoming a lich, or to turn himself into an undead creature, despite his control of necromancy. The reason behind it is because the Githyanki's devotion to their Lich Queen, but he has been searching ways to prolong his mortal life.
Illumian Dread Necromancer 7/Warlock 3/Eldritch Theurge 10
Alignment: True Neutral
(Stats without items, 28-point buy)
Str 8
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 19
Feats: Tomb-Tainted Soul, Profane lifeleech, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Quicken Spell, Black Lore of Moil, Extra Invocation, Empower Spell
Invocations: Baleful Utterance, Eldritch Glaive, Otherwordly whispers, Fell Flight, Hellrime blast, Flee the scene, Nightmares made real
Tactics: At early levels, Grim is no more different from other Dread necromancers, save the sigil, so at early levels Grim attacks from range, and moves towards the kill when absolutely necessary. He can heal at a decent pace at downtime, and may use inflict spells on him only when necessary. Once he gets both Lich Body and Profane lifeleech, Grim emboldens himself and moves into melee, draining mobs from their hp and adding it to his own, while killing the rest with his charnel touch; against tougher enemies, however, the tactic reverts back to ranged.
Once he gets his 2nd level spells, and access to the warlock levels, it's back to melee, but with a more direct ranged attack option (albeit weaker) Most of the invocations Grim takes are for stuff he can't do as a dread necromancer, such as fell flight and otherworldy whispers, but will still rely on his spells as a way to keep his enemies guessing.
His levels on Eldritch Theurge, despite the abymally low HP, lets him get more damage reduction and fast healing (albeit limited), making him tougher. Adding his spells to his blast is even more effective, and more destructive, especially with devilitating spells.
Help and Criticism is accepted, as always :smallsmile:.
Lock your doors. No one leaves their homes until sunrise, no matter what you hear.
He was born dead, to the horror of his mother, and the rest of the cabal members that assisted in the birth. The little illumian child laid cold and dead in the blankets, and no matter what spells or alchemical balms were applied, the child did not move.
And then, it cried as all newborns did, yet it still lay cold.
The cabal was perplexed, even a bit horrified, yet they accepted him as his own. The Wardelver Vengeance cabal needed all the able-bodied illumians it could to bolster their numbers, and they would not let a little thing as an unnerving trait to get in the way. Baptised as Wardelver Io, he grew up as most Illumians do: Under constant training and study, meditation and vigilance against the Githyanki. Yet as he grew, it was apparent that Io was not a common illumian: His body was still cold, despite his physical fortitude; he was unable to relate to others in his cabal, but his words and presence unnerved those around him, even if his intentions were not to cause fear. Other than that, he was like other illumians: Curious to no end. His fascination with the arcane, as well as religious and interplanar matters were noted in the beginning, and while he was not as devoted to study as the rest, his learning was constant.
Later on, he noticed his latent magic. Instinctual magical abilities were not strange in a race forged under a magical ritual, but something strange surrounded his: His magic was dark, and leeched life of others, yet to him, it was warm and soothing. He kept this to himself, using it only on the most dire of circumstances, fearing retribution. He soon dropped his name Io, only to take the moniker 'Grim'. Later on he learned to siphon those dark energies to leech life from enemies around him. This trick turned useful, as in recent days more and more raids against Githyanki camps were more common. He soon was closer to the front, unelashing his dark energies with glee, and watching in satisfaction as his foes were weakened, ready for the slaughter.
All this changed when a group of Gish warriors appeared in the cabal's sanctum, killing everyone. They had no penchants on killing the children, and this touched a fabric within Io's mind. Rage filled his heart, but it was not enough to help them. Then, the 'dragon' appeared.
The shadowy creature promised vengeance, as he hated the githyanki as much as Grim did. It promised him power, at the expense of servitude. Grim accepted, and soon saw his magic mingling with eldritch power.
It has been five years since Grim has hunted the githyanki raiders, but something has stirred him. In his path of vengeance, he has found clues that point that someone in the Material Plane had a hand in the fall of the Wardelver cabal, so he has been traveling between the material plane and in the outer planes when possible. He has made alliances with githserai, as well as members of Gravewhisper cabals, and steers clear of undead-hunting adventurers, mostly because he finds them too idealistic in their approach to fight their foes.
Appearance: Grey hair, with dark blue sigils hovering over his head. He favors heavy leather clothing, and carries a composite longbow around, although he rarely uses it.
Behavior: Sarcastic, pragmatic, and a master of dark humor, Grim unintentionally scares people away from him, often causing fights unintended. He considers his mindless undead creatures as tools rather than minions, and has no respect for the dead, viewing cemeteries in the same way as an archer sees a quiver. While he has no penchant for the dead, he does preoccupy on the living, especially children, yet his crass behavior causes him more misunderstandings with the people he tries to help, so sometimes it is useful to scare them a little if you're trying to convince them to hide from monsters.
His service to the 'dragon' entity, a shadowy creature that resembles a slim dark dragon, has led him into some interesting missions. Mostly assassination of red dragons, but sometimes he is put at odds with good dragons. He has tried several times to avoid killing them, reasoning that metallic dragons are more eager to help him fight the Githyanki, and so far there has been no reprisal, but he is aware the Dragon will have its due.
He disdains the idea of becoming a lich, or to turn himself into an undead creature, despite his control of necromancy. The reason behind it is because the Githyanki's devotion to their Lich Queen, but he has been searching ways to prolong his mortal life.
Illumian Dread Necromancer 7/Warlock 3/Eldritch Theurge 10
Alignment: True Neutral
(Stats without items, 28-point buy)
Str 8
Dex 14
Con 16
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 19
Feats: Tomb-Tainted Soul, Profane lifeleech, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Quicken Spell, Black Lore of Moil, Extra Invocation, Empower Spell
Invocations: Baleful Utterance, Eldritch Glaive, Otherwordly whispers, Fell Flight, Hellrime blast, Flee the scene, Nightmares made real
Tactics: At early levels, Grim is no more different from other Dread necromancers, save the sigil, so at early levels Grim attacks from range, and moves towards the kill when absolutely necessary. He can heal at a decent pace at downtime, and may use inflict spells on him only when necessary. Once he gets both Lich Body and Profane lifeleech, Grim emboldens himself and moves into melee, draining mobs from their hp and adding it to his own, while killing the rest with his charnel touch; against tougher enemies, however, the tactic reverts back to ranged.
Once he gets his 2nd level spells, and access to the warlock levels, it's back to melee, but with a more direct ranged attack option (albeit weaker) Most of the invocations Grim takes are for stuff he can't do as a dread necromancer, such as fell flight and otherworldy whispers, but will still rely on his spells as a way to keep his enemies guessing.
His levels on Eldritch Theurge, despite the abymally low HP, lets him get more damage reduction and fast healing (albeit limited), making him tougher. Adding his spells to his blast is even more effective, and more destructive, especially with devilitating spells.
Help and Criticism is accepted, as always :smallsmile:.