Hi! My first post, hello to the community!
I never played D&D yet apart from computer games, but I may like to start with 5e. Currently I'm theorycrafting character builds and learning the rules - if the fascination continues, I'll probably try to find a group to join.
This is my favourite character concept so far, but since it contains a few variant rules not every DM may agree to, I would love to hear your opinion about it.
I'm mostly interested in these things:
- As a player, would you enjoy to have this character in your party?
- As a DM, would you accept this character concept?
- Any recommendations for me as a player how to make this concept more enjoyable?
I'll intentionally start with the backstory (in italic) to not give you the impression that I just want to create an optimized cookie-cutter build. And to make the little twist more interesting
Mechanical details follow after that. Sorry for possible spelling errors, this is not my first language.
EDIT: Sorry for the long text, but I believe it is entertaining to read and may function as inspiration for some of you.
It is a story about a child being adopted under mystical circumstances which isn't quite what people initially expect - in many senses....
_____________________________________
______________________
SCORES: S8 - D15 - C12 - I10 - W12 -C17 (point-buy)
RACE: Winged tiefling variant
CLASS: lore bard with a possible 2-level dip into great old one warlock
(Tyla would never contact a fiend asking him for anything, but there is still some lingering power from being 3/4 succubus. It isn't the classical fiend pact power, but rather a some basic succubus abilities like telepathy and devils sight. She can't reach Level 3 as this would more closely resemble an actual pact. Telepathy and the absence of a tangible connection to a master means great old one as patron, no pact)
BACKGROUND: criminal/spy variation
BACKGROUND SKILLS: stealth, deception, thieves tools, leatherworking tools
CLASS SKILLS: perception, persuasion, insight
LORE BARD SKILL PROGRESSION: on L3: intimidation, acrobatics, investigation // expertise on L3: perception+stealth // on L10: persuasion+deception )
ABILITY SCORE INCRESASES: D16, C20, then feats (Warcaster?)
CANTRIPS L1: prestidigitation, minor illusion
SPELLS L1: disguise self, healing word, sleep, dissonant whisper
WARLOCK DIP: telepathy, eldritch blast, agonizing blast, devil sight
PERSONALITY:
Bond: mother
Ideal: everyone should be judged by his deeds, not his race/heritage
Trait 1: Believes that evil deeds and needless blodshed will result in the loss of her mortal soul, she also doesn't want to be what people expect from a fiend
Trait 2: enjoys beautiful clothes, cleanliness and manners (might as well be a flaw)
Flaw: doesn't trust most clerics or paladins (maybe if she knows them better)
EQUIPMENT:
7gp 8sp 2cp
lute (free) and flute (bought from starting gold, 2 GP)
rapier+dagger
sling and 40 ammo bought from starting gold (1sp, 8cp)
Leather armor
hooded, unsuspicious clothes for stealth from spy background
crowbar
entertainer pack (backpack, bedroll, waterskin, 5 candles, 5 days rations, 2 costumes, disguise kit)
the costumes are: "Bard" (elegant, slightly flashy commoner clothes) and "Noble" (remnants from the plundered coach)
cat medaillion (silver, little material worth)
leatherworkers tools (bought from starting gold, 5GP)
possibly other common items depending on campaign, bought from starting gold
Questions:
1) Is ist better to have athletics instead of acrobatics to minimize my weaknesses?
2) May I start with thieves tools instead of the disguise kit? (same worth, disguise is done magically anyway, fits into "spy" background, no proficiency)
3) To not make wings the solution to every problem, here's some limitation:
- manifesting her succubus appearence works like dragon sorcerer wings
- She may not fly for more than half an hour per charlevel and day
- having a wingspan of 15 feet, she needs 20 feet broad and high corridors to fly, making indoor flight usually impossible
- in confined spaces she only gets advantage to jump/climb checks, if plausible
- she may not carry another person, maybe slow their fall in certain situations
- being a larger target, flying gives her 1-2 points AC penalty
- flying gives her an stealth disadvantage, in certain situations flying stealth may be completely impossible
- I wouldn't do cheesy fights like 20 rounds of vicous mockery from above against a bear
- some of these limitations may no longer apply on higher levels when many chars have means to fly
-------------> Is this enough to balance her out?
4) Before you consider the wings as overpowered, note that I could have chosen a half-elf with 16 starting dex, better stats, 2 more skills, powergaming spell selection and without a dozen plot hooks to make my life possibly a lot more difficult Also note that I didn't even ask for the eldritch blast range increase or other stuff allowing for cheese.
I never played D&D yet apart from computer games, but I may like to start with 5e. Currently I'm theorycrafting character builds and learning the rules - if the fascination continues, I'll probably try to find a group to join.
This is my favourite character concept so far, but since it contains a few variant rules not every DM may agree to, I would love to hear your opinion about it.
I'm mostly interested in these things:
- As a player, would you enjoy to have this character in your party?
- As a DM, would you accept this character concept?
- Any recommendations for me as a player how to make this concept more enjoyable?
I'll intentionally start with the backstory (in italic) to not give you the impression that I just want to create an optimized cookie-cutter build. And to make the little twist more interesting
Mechanical details follow after that. Sorry for possible spelling errors, this is not my first language.EDIT: Sorry for the long text, but I believe it is entertaining to read and may function as inspiration for some of you.
It is a story about a child being adopted under mystical circumstances which isn't quite what people initially expect - in many senses....
_____________________________________
In a dark night around 25 years ago, an elven wizard appeared on the doorstep of a poor, but good-aligned childless widow, a washerwoman/seamstress in the poor parts of a major city. He had a half-elf baby girl with him and made the following offer: If she cared for the child like she would for her own, he would visit twice a year and pay the women a moderate sum - not enough to change her lifestyle, but enough to make life much easier for her. He only demanded that he is allowed to cast a few harmless diagnostic spells upon the child when visiting and that she tells him of her experiences. He promised not to steal the child from her later on, and that neither she nor the child need to expect any harm from him. The women agreed and called the child Tyla.
Tyla grew up to be a cute girl, and the wizard kept his promise for the first 5 years. He came to talk, made a few spells that didn't seem to have any visible effect, handed over some money and left. But he didn't arrive the next time, nor anytime afterwards. The women decided to still raise the child, as she had started to deeply care for it.
The next years were harsh, as the women barely made enough money to feed both of them. Little Tyla felt her struggle, but couldn't do much. Her "mother" was very busy and often extremely tired, meaning that Tyla spent a lot of time the streets, effectively being a half-urchin and learned the harder aspects of life among other poor children. As Tyla aged, she tried to help her mother doing the laundry, and while being a decent person overall, she sometimes slipped into petty crime when they didn't know what to by from (chaotic good alignment).
One day, they realized that Tyla was able to magically remove stains from clothes. Her mother was scared first, but soon realized that Tyla could help her tremendously. She learned other tricks, like cooking a tasty soup without needing firewood nor spices (Prestidigitation cantrip). Things went upward for them. Tyla learned to repair/adapt clothing and leather gear from her mother (leatherworker tools proficiency). She always kept herself clean using the cantrip, earning her the nickname "little cat" (she looked almost like a cat when cleaning herself). Tyla received a cat medaillion from her mother as present for her 10th birthday, her most prized possession, together with the flute she received when turning 12. She turned out to be almost magically talented with words and music (Bard class).
However, while slowly turning into a women, she again realized the harshness of her surroundings. Men often harassed her for her beauty, her clean skin and hair and her relatively elegant, clean clothes she made and aquired as seamstress. She had to learn to hide within crowds and in back alleys (sneak proficiency). She also used magic to help her get out of tight situations, for example blocking an alley with illusory crates (minor illusion cantrip). She learned a bit of fighting with a dagger and an improvised shortbow from her friends and neighbors, but never became much of a fighter.
Tyla first started to give bardic performances within her neighborhood, using illusionary images and music to accompany her stories of heroic deeds and great events. Being successful, she soon filled local taverns. It seemed like she could finally earn enough to flee poverty for good.
Tragically, her magic performances attracted the attention of a radical fanatic paladin from an order representing their very special version of being "good" and "pure". They were always looking for hidden, evil magic. He realized that there was something odd about her, and further research showed him that she is not what she seems. There was a powerful Geas upon her, and being cast long ago while she was a baby, it became weaker and revealed more of her magic power.
Together with some other paladins and clerics, he followed her home, interrogated her and her mother and finally cast "remove curse" upon her.
Shockingly for everyone, the spell caused her bat wings and tail to manifest, partially ripping her neatly maintained clothes she cared so much for. She bit her own lips with sharp corner teeth that weren't there seconds ago and felt with horror how small horns suddenly protruded from her forehead.
The "holy men" suddenly stood in front of something that almost perfectly resembled a succubus.
They would have probably slain her on the spot, but the situation wasn't quite what they expected. The fiend, supposed to be the epitome of evil, being able to disappear into the ethereal domain on the spot, looked mighty helpless just lying there in her ripped clothes and crying heartbreakingly. This might not have been enough to "fool" the clerics and paladins, as they expected a succubus to use deception. But they didn't expect an elderly commoner women to hug the monster and - also full of tears - to beg for the life of her beloved daughter.
In the end, the fanatical Paladin leader was the only one to demand Tyla's immediate death, but the others could convince him to take Tyla and her mother to their stronghold.
They were both interrogated and magically tested. To the great surprise of the clerics, after long research they concluded that Tyla was no succubus. She was tiefling, albeit an unusual specimen. Tyla could overhear some of their talk, and a young cleric - questioning the "goodness" of his order's actions - gave her some additional information out of pity.
It seems that she was the product of a powerful succubus who wanted to find a way to mate with her own kind (an incubus), producing full-fledged succubi without relying on mortals (which only produces "worthless" cambions anyway). This unique way of reproduction - independent on capturing mortal souls - would have given them enormous power and was thus researched in secrecy. They cooperated with an powerful elven mage to conduct the ritual, which still needed a bit of mortal essence. It is unknown to Tyla wether the elven mage she faintly remembers from her childhood somehow resembles her "father", in a sense that he offered some of his own essence/genetic material.
Regarding her succubus parents, they seem to have been slain by the devil lord they wanted to overthrow.
The mage probably managed to save some of the succubus babies and flee from the slaughter. After finding out that they caused more work to raise than he initially expected, he decided to conduct an experiment. He gave the babies to various good-aligned mortals, being eager to see wether a creature born out of pure evil could be raised to be a decent mortal. The small trace of mortal essence within each of the children seemed like a small enough diturbance factor. The geas was there to let the children and their adoptive parents believe in their "normalcy". Why he didn't continue his visits or where he is now is unknown. It is also unknown to Tyla wether all of the above information is correct.
The most memorable experiment during her captivity had to do with the deadliness of a Succubus' kiss. Her lips didn't show any special magical aura, but her captors wanted to be sure. They took a murderer sentenced to death - an ugly, despicable guy with rotten teeth - and forced her to kiss him. She refused, as she feared what may happen. She had kissed her mother before, at least on the cheek, and she has had a short fling with some other street child once resulting in a short kiss on his mouth, which he seems to have enjoyed (and survived). But that was before she turned a monster... In the end, the criminal survived, insulted her as worthless wannabe monster, spat in her mouth and made her feel like the most miserable creation in existence. His dead soon after did little to help her feel better.
In the following night, she was desperate and more than ever wished to revers her transformation. In a moment when all her energy was focused on the issue, all of a sudden, her wings, fangs, horns and tail disappeared. She gained hope, but it was destroyed again the next day. Her captors realized that she retained a minimum of the shapeshifting ability from her succubus heritage, which resulted in experiments to provoke the ability again. But no matter the amount of torture, her powers to change her appearence were nothing special for a bard/spellcaster. Apart from the single exception of manifesting and hiding her wings, tail and other succubus features at will, she could only use the common "disguise self" spell.
After two months of interrogation, experiments and occasional torture, the holy order had to decide what to do with the captives. Tyla's elderly mother was severely weakened, even though she didn't have to endure half as much as Tyla. The tests had shown that Tyla didn't have any additional powers compared to a "normal" winged Tiefling. They were no telepathic ties with demon lords, nor did repeated "detect alignment" spells mark her as evil. She could tap into some unconventional powers source fueling her bardic abilities, but they didn't resemble the unholy powers a fiendish warlock has. They seemed a bit odd, but rather limited in their extent.
In the end, some members of the order felt guilt for what they had done with a simple tiefling and her peasant adoptive mother. Those members represented a slight majority when they decided to release them, though her initial captor and many other disagreed. As a compromise, they gave Tyla's mother one hour to pack the possesions that hadn't already been plundered from their home. She managed to find the cat medaillion that dropped under the bed when Tyla transformed two months ago, but the flute was gone. Then they were escorted to the border and exiled. There was no doubt that returning would result in death.
They avoided the main road as good as possible, headed for a large city were tieflings were relatively common. Tyla had never before used her wings, but she learned to use them well enough to reach high spots and detect the worst dangers before they stumbled into them. In a shameful act of desperation, they plundered an
abandoned coach that Tyla had spottet from afar. It belonged to nobles that had been killed by waylaying bandits. There wasn't much of worth left, but Tyla stripped some of the nobles from their bloodstained clothes, cleaned them with prestidigitation and later repaired them. They also found a few minor valuables worth selling and a rapier that a noble dropped between dense vegetation. They felt bad for doing this, but considered it enevitable after injustice had destroyed their previous existance.
The plundered wealth sufficed to live until Tyla managed to earn money again from performances, but she never felt fully well again exposing her powers in front of the public (no "performance" proficiency). Nevertheless, she made some tiefling friends who helped her accept her heritage and even accompanied her on the streets in her winged form. To her pleasant surprise, urban folk didn't react too bad towards Tieflings doing their daily routine, which helped her feel more normal. She even made some non-tiefling friends among the more tolerant populace (artists, tavern personal, even an elderly, but not very powerful wizard).
Her mother's waning health kept her from working again, forcing Tyla to care for her. Tyla however recovered quite well from her mental and physical scars, especially when Tyla realized that she could use her magic abilities to heal (healing word spell, song of rest class feature). This somewhat helped her mother, too.
Tyla knew that she needed to make allies in high positions to help her if someone threatened her again. As a bard, she had of course heard from the harpers. She could identify quite well with their ideals, so she tried to contact them. While she didn't manage to join them yet - secretive as they are - she managed to become acquainted with a lower-ranking member of them, doing some minor tasks for him in exchange for some training as agent (spy background). Using stealth, disguise self and minor illusion, she is amazing at observation and infiltration. Combat and bloodshed she tries to avoid, using disabling spells if necessary.
She just hopes her contact truly is who he claims to be....
Tyla grew up to be a cute girl, and the wizard kept his promise for the first 5 years. He came to talk, made a few spells that didn't seem to have any visible effect, handed over some money and left. But he didn't arrive the next time, nor anytime afterwards. The women decided to still raise the child, as she had started to deeply care for it.
The next years were harsh, as the women barely made enough money to feed both of them. Little Tyla felt her struggle, but couldn't do much. Her "mother" was very busy and often extremely tired, meaning that Tyla spent a lot of time the streets, effectively being a half-urchin and learned the harder aspects of life among other poor children. As Tyla aged, she tried to help her mother doing the laundry, and while being a decent person overall, she sometimes slipped into petty crime when they didn't know what to by from (chaotic good alignment).
One day, they realized that Tyla was able to magically remove stains from clothes. Her mother was scared first, but soon realized that Tyla could help her tremendously. She learned other tricks, like cooking a tasty soup without needing firewood nor spices (Prestidigitation cantrip). Things went upward for them. Tyla learned to repair/adapt clothing and leather gear from her mother (leatherworker tools proficiency). She always kept herself clean using the cantrip, earning her the nickname "little cat" (she looked almost like a cat when cleaning herself). Tyla received a cat medaillion from her mother as present for her 10th birthday, her most prized possession, together with the flute she received when turning 12. She turned out to be almost magically talented with words and music (Bard class).
However, while slowly turning into a women, she again realized the harshness of her surroundings. Men often harassed her for her beauty, her clean skin and hair and her relatively elegant, clean clothes she made and aquired as seamstress. She had to learn to hide within crowds and in back alleys (sneak proficiency). She also used magic to help her get out of tight situations, for example blocking an alley with illusory crates (minor illusion cantrip). She learned a bit of fighting with a dagger and an improvised shortbow from her friends and neighbors, but never became much of a fighter.
Tyla first started to give bardic performances within her neighborhood, using illusionary images and music to accompany her stories of heroic deeds and great events. Being successful, she soon filled local taverns. It seemed like she could finally earn enough to flee poverty for good.
Tragically, her magic performances attracted the attention of a radical fanatic paladin from an order representing their very special version of being "good" and "pure". They were always looking for hidden, evil magic. He realized that there was something odd about her, and further research showed him that she is not what she seems. There was a powerful Geas upon her, and being cast long ago while she was a baby, it became weaker and revealed more of her magic power.
Together with some other paladins and clerics, he followed her home, interrogated her and her mother and finally cast "remove curse" upon her.
Shockingly for everyone, the spell caused her bat wings and tail to manifest, partially ripping her neatly maintained clothes she cared so much for. She bit her own lips with sharp corner teeth that weren't there seconds ago and felt with horror how small horns suddenly protruded from her forehead.
The "holy men" suddenly stood in front of something that almost perfectly resembled a succubus.
They would have probably slain her on the spot, but the situation wasn't quite what they expected. The fiend, supposed to be the epitome of evil, being able to disappear into the ethereal domain on the spot, looked mighty helpless just lying there in her ripped clothes and crying heartbreakingly. This might not have been enough to "fool" the clerics and paladins, as they expected a succubus to use deception. But they didn't expect an elderly commoner women to hug the monster and - also full of tears - to beg for the life of her beloved daughter.
In the end, the fanatical Paladin leader was the only one to demand Tyla's immediate death, but the others could convince him to take Tyla and her mother to their stronghold.
They were both interrogated and magically tested. To the great surprise of the clerics, after long research they concluded that Tyla was no succubus. She was tiefling, albeit an unusual specimen. Tyla could overhear some of their talk, and a young cleric - questioning the "goodness" of his order's actions - gave her some additional information out of pity.
It seems that she was the product of a powerful succubus who wanted to find a way to mate with her own kind (an incubus), producing full-fledged succubi without relying on mortals (which only produces "worthless" cambions anyway). This unique way of reproduction - independent on capturing mortal souls - would have given them enormous power and was thus researched in secrecy. They cooperated with an powerful elven mage to conduct the ritual, which still needed a bit of mortal essence. It is unknown to Tyla wether the elven mage she faintly remembers from her childhood somehow resembles her "father", in a sense that he offered some of his own essence/genetic material.
Regarding her succubus parents, they seem to have been slain by the devil lord they wanted to overthrow.
The mage probably managed to save some of the succubus babies and flee from the slaughter. After finding out that they caused more work to raise than he initially expected, he decided to conduct an experiment. He gave the babies to various good-aligned mortals, being eager to see wether a creature born out of pure evil could be raised to be a decent mortal. The small trace of mortal essence within each of the children seemed like a small enough diturbance factor. The geas was there to let the children and their adoptive parents believe in their "normalcy". Why he didn't continue his visits or where he is now is unknown. It is also unknown to Tyla wether all of the above information is correct.
The most memorable experiment during her captivity had to do with the deadliness of a Succubus' kiss. Her lips didn't show any special magical aura, but her captors wanted to be sure. They took a murderer sentenced to death - an ugly, despicable guy with rotten teeth - and forced her to kiss him. She refused, as she feared what may happen. She had kissed her mother before, at least on the cheek, and she has had a short fling with some other street child once resulting in a short kiss on his mouth, which he seems to have enjoyed (and survived). But that was before she turned a monster... In the end, the criminal survived, insulted her as worthless wannabe monster, spat in her mouth and made her feel like the most miserable creation in existence. His dead soon after did little to help her feel better.
In the following night, she was desperate and more than ever wished to revers her transformation. In a moment when all her energy was focused on the issue, all of a sudden, her wings, fangs, horns and tail disappeared. She gained hope, but it was destroyed again the next day. Her captors realized that she retained a minimum of the shapeshifting ability from her succubus heritage, which resulted in experiments to provoke the ability again. But no matter the amount of torture, her powers to change her appearence were nothing special for a bard/spellcaster. Apart from the single exception of manifesting and hiding her wings, tail and other succubus features at will, she could only use the common "disguise self" spell.
After two months of interrogation, experiments and occasional torture, the holy order had to decide what to do with the captives. Tyla's elderly mother was severely weakened, even though she didn't have to endure half as much as Tyla. The tests had shown that Tyla didn't have any additional powers compared to a "normal" winged Tiefling. They were no telepathic ties with demon lords, nor did repeated "detect alignment" spells mark her as evil. She could tap into some unconventional powers source fueling her bardic abilities, but they didn't resemble the unholy powers a fiendish warlock has. They seemed a bit odd, but rather limited in their extent.
In the end, some members of the order felt guilt for what they had done with a simple tiefling and her peasant adoptive mother. Those members represented a slight majority when they decided to release them, though her initial captor and many other disagreed. As a compromise, they gave Tyla's mother one hour to pack the possesions that hadn't already been plundered from their home. She managed to find the cat medaillion that dropped under the bed when Tyla transformed two months ago, but the flute was gone. Then they were escorted to the border and exiled. There was no doubt that returning would result in death.
They avoided the main road as good as possible, headed for a large city were tieflings were relatively common. Tyla had never before used her wings, but she learned to use them well enough to reach high spots and detect the worst dangers before they stumbled into them. In a shameful act of desperation, they plundered an
abandoned coach that Tyla had spottet from afar. It belonged to nobles that had been killed by waylaying bandits. There wasn't much of worth left, but Tyla stripped some of the nobles from their bloodstained clothes, cleaned them with prestidigitation and later repaired them. They also found a few minor valuables worth selling and a rapier that a noble dropped between dense vegetation. They felt bad for doing this, but considered it enevitable after injustice had destroyed their previous existance.
The plundered wealth sufficed to live until Tyla managed to earn money again from performances, but she never felt fully well again exposing her powers in front of the public (no "performance" proficiency). Nevertheless, she made some tiefling friends who helped her accept her heritage and even accompanied her on the streets in her winged form. To her pleasant surprise, urban folk didn't react too bad towards Tieflings doing their daily routine, which helped her feel more normal. She even made some non-tiefling friends among the more tolerant populace (artists, tavern personal, even an elderly, but not very powerful wizard).
Her mother's waning health kept her from working again, forcing Tyla to care for her. Tyla however recovered quite well from her mental and physical scars, especially when Tyla realized that she could use her magic abilities to heal (healing word spell, song of rest class feature). This somewhat helped her mother, too.
Tyla knew that she needed to make allies in high positions to help her if someone threatened her again. As a bard, she had of course heard from the harpers. She could identify quite well with their ideals, so she tried to contact them. While she didn't manage to join them yet - secretive as they are - she managed to become acquainted with a lower-ranking member of them, doing some minor tasks for him in exchange for some training as agent (spy background). Using stealth, disguise self and minor illusion, she is amazing at observation and infiltration. Combat and bloodshed she tries to avoid, using disabling spells if necessary.
She just hopes her contact truly is who he claims to be....
______________________
SCORES: S8 - D15 - C12 - I10 - W12 -C17 (point-buy)
RACE: Winged tiefling variant
CLASS: lore bard with a possible 2-level dip into great old one warlock
(Tyla would never contact a fiend asking him for anything, but there is still some lingering power from being 3/4 succubus. It isn't the classical fiend pact power, but rather a some basic succubus abilities like telepathy and devils sight. She can't reach Level 3 as this would more closely resemble an actual pact. Telepathy and the absence of a tangible connection to a master means great old one as patron, no pact)
BACKGROUND: criminal/spy variation
BACKGROUND SKILLS: stealth, deception, thieves tools, leatherworking tools
CLASS SKILLS: perception, persuasion, insight
LORE BARD SKILL PROGRESSION: on L3: intimidation, acrobatics, investigation // expertise on L3: perception+stealth // on L10: persuasion+deception )
ABILITY SCORE INCRESASES: D16, C20, then feats (Warcaster?)
CANTRIPS L1: prestidigitation, minor illusion
SPELLS L1: disguise self, healing word, sleep, dissonant whisper
WARLOCK DIP: telepathy, eldritch blast, agonizing blast, devil sight
PERSONALITY:
Bond: mother
Ideal: everyone should be judged by his deeds, not his race/heritage
Trait 1: Believes that evil deeds and needless blodshed will result in the loss of her mortal soul, she also doesn't want to be what people expect from a fiend
Trait 2: enjoys beautiful clothes, cleanliness and manners (might as well be a flaw)
Flaw: doesn't trust most clerics or paladins (maybe if she knows them better)
EQUIPMENT:
7gp 8sp 2cp
lute (free) and flute (bought from starting gold, 2 GP)
rapier+dagger
sling and 40 ammo bought from starting gold (1sp, 8cp)
Leather armor
hooded, unsuspicious clothes for stealth from spy background
crowbar
entertainer pack (backpack, bedroll, waterskin, 5 candles, 5 days rations, 2 costumes, disguise kit)
the costumes are: "Bard" (elegant, slightly flashy commoner clothes) and "Noble" (remnants from the plundered coach)
cat medaillion (silver, little material worth)
leatherworkers tools (bought from starting gold, 5GP)
possibly other common items depending on campaign, bought from starting gold
Questions:
1) Is ist better to have athletics instead of acrobatics to minimize my weaknesses?
2) May I start with thieves tools instead of the disguise kit? (same worth, disguise is done magically anyway, fits into "spy" background, no proficiency)
3) To not make wings the solution to every problem, here's some limitation:
- manifesting her succubus appearence works like dragon sorcerer wings
- She may not fly for more than half an hour per charlevel and day
- having a wingspan of 15 feet, she needs 20 feet broad and high corridors to fly, making indoor flight usually impossible
- in confined spaces she only gets advantage to jump/climb checks, if plausible
- she may not carry another person, maybe slow their fall in certain situations
- being a larger target, flying gives her 1-2 points AC penalty
- flying gives her an stealth disadvantage, in certain situations flying stealth may be completely impossible
- I wouldn't do cheesy fights like 20 rounds of vicous mockery from above against a bear
- some of these limitations may no longer apply on higher levels when many chars have means to fly
-------------> Is this enough to balance her out?
4) Before you consider the wings as overpowered, note that I could have chosen a half-elf with 16 starting dex, better stats, 2 more skills, powergaming spell selection and without a dozen plot hooks to make my life possibly a lot more difficult
Also note that I didn't even ask for the eldritch blast range increase or other stuff allowing for cheese.
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