D&D 5E [5e] Witcher: Mother of Monsters

[Azurewraith]

Ill be posting up in the RG in about 5hours for your viewing pleasures. Excited to get started.

 

[Aramalian]

Would it be easier for me to just use a 5E PHB background or get you to send the Dwarf Adventurer from Beyond the Wall?

Sent via EN World mobile app

 

[Aramalian]

And here are some stats, in no particular order yet

16
14
13
12
11
9

 

[Aramalian]

I'd like some help polishing up the backstory to fit the setting...

[sblock='HIS STORY']
Barakor Bloodbarrow was born in the Mahakam Mountains, in the dwarven city of _______. The Great Father of his clan was shieldbearer to _______, the founder of the city that had, over the last (long period of time?), spread a network of dwarven enclaves and cities under the Mahakam.

Over the years, the Bloodbarrows became the chief mining family of _______, and Barakor had been apprenticed to more than one of his uncles, master miners all. The young dwarf struggled to grasp the simplest concepts, though, and his father despaired of finding a place for him in the family work. The lad was strong and tough, even by dwarvish standards, so (reluctantly) his father sent him to dwell in the houses of the Guardians. Here, Barakor learned how to fight - but again, complicated maneuvers and tactics were beyond him. Obedient and loyal to a fault, though, he made an excellent guard, and fought in many defenses of the lower mines of the city. The lower mines sometimes touched upon deeper caverns and crevasses, and awful beasts would wander into the dwarven tunnels. Barakor felt no fear of these, only a deep love of his fellow dwarves that drove him to lash out against such beasts that would devour his kin.

Over five decades, the clanging of Barakor Bloodbarrow's warhammer and shield was a welcome sound to many mining parties pinned down by marauders.

Then The Darkness came.

In secret meetings far beyond the simple dwarf's imagining or understanding, bribes were offered, territories divided, and deals struck. The Cult of the Eternal Fire found ironic balance in their belief that the Light must sear away the impure from the surface of the world, but darkness should naturally rule under it. This convenient theology empowered the (ruler?) to bargain with (natural enemies of the dwarves) -- for if the nation of mountain dwarves was erased from below, why shouldn't the Nilfgaard Empire, in its beneficence, annex the territory from above and use the rich veins of ores and gems to bolster their efforts to spread the light of civilization throughout the world?

The Darkness boiled up from the deep tunnels and overwhelmed the Guardians. Barakor was captured and set to work breaking stone for the vicious enemies. Beaten daily, mocked for his slowness of mind, he mourned his failure. He was supposed to protect the family -- and he had failed so, so miserably. The captors loved telling how the Cult had sent an Emissary to simply make a deal - that all their hopes and dreams and lives and loves were meaningless, extinguished to feed the glory of others.

For many months Barakor worked like an automaton, his name and personality receding deeper in his guilt and rage. He would have been lost in those depths forever, if the vile (enemies) had not been so cruel and foolish as to pit the muscular slave against a (horrid beast from under the earth) in a bit of sport. Fighting the horror reminded him of his old self, his old purpose. When he fully came to himself, not only was the horror shattered, but he had slain a dozen or more of the enemies.

Armoring himself in the group leader's dark chain mail and shield, he fought and fled his way around the fringes of the enclave and slowly up to the surface. He dispatched more than one human miner as well, once he reached the old tunnels of his people. In the passages he knew so well, he made his way to his family's clan secret shrine where the Old Gods of Dwarfhome had been revered. It had been desecrated by Cultists, but he remembered something they never knew: the secrets of the sanctum. In a secret compartment under the (deity's) statuette was hidden a holy symbol, reserved for a dwarf who would take on a holy calling for his people. Affixing the sigil to his shield, he swore that he would not fail again the only name he had for himself. Barakor - one who defends.

Barakor Bloodbarrow now wanders the surface world, working as a mercenary guard on trade caravans and the like, knowing that in order to avenge his people, he must find a friend that can THINK.[/sblock]

 

[Azurewraith]

Don't you worry Mr.GM is a great help in that department. Helped me fit right in

 

[Quickleaf]

Barakor Bloodbarrow was born in the Mahakam Mountains, in the dwarven city of _______. The Great Father of his clan was shieldbearer to _______, the founder of the city that had, over the last (long period of time?), spread a network of dwarven enclaves and cities under the Mahakam.

There aren't any locations within Mahakam that are explored in the novels or games, AFAIK, with the exception of Mount Carbon which is alluded to as being the site of forges producing advanced arms and armor using gnomish technology. So if that fits your conception you could go with that, or just say "Mahakam" full stop.

The Great Father of his clan may have been shieldbearer to Brouver Hoog, Elder of Mahakam (kind of a king). Sounds like Brouver is really old, over a hundred years or more, from what I can tell. And he resides in Mount Carbon.

Over the years, the Bloodbarrows became the chief mining family of _______, and Barakor had been apprenticed to more than one of his uncles, master miners all. The young dwarf struggled to grasp the simplest concepts, though, and his father despaired of finding a place for him in the family work. The lad was strong and tough, even by dwarvish standards, so (reluctantly) his father sent him to dwell in the houses of the Guardians. Here, Barakor learned how to fight - but again, complicated maneuvers and tactics were beyond him. Obedient and loyal to a fault, though, he made an excellent guard, and fought in many defenses of the lower mines of the city. The lower mines sometimes touched upon deeper caverns and crevasses, and awful beasts would wander into the dwarven tunnels. Barakor felt no fear of these, only a deep love of his fellow dwarves that drove him to lash out against such beasts that would devour his kin.

Over five decades, the clanging of Barakor Bloodbarrow's warhammer and shield was a welcome sound to many mining parties pinned down by marauders.

Among the nasty critters Barakor and the Guardians faced in the tunnels were giant snakes and insects, which seemed to be growing bolder over the years. Because foreshadowing.

Then The Darkness came.

In secret meetings far beyond the simple dwarf's imagining or understanding, bribes were offered, territories divided, and deals struck. The Cult of the Eternal Fire found ironic balance in their belief that the Light must sear away the impure from the surface of the world, but darkness should naturally rule under it. This convenient theology empowered the (ruler?) to bargain with (natural enemies of the dwarves) -- for if the nation of mountain dwarves was erased from below, why shouldn't the Nilfgaard Empire, in its beneficence, annex the territory from above and use the rich veins of ores and gems to bolster their efforts to spread the light of civilization throughout the world?

Again, Brouver Hoog would be the ruler. He's not depicted very sympathetically at all, so a bargain with Nordlings from a neighboring nation (e.g. Aedirn or Temeria) would make a lot of sense as the sort of unpopular policy he might pursue.

The Darkness boiled up from the deep tunnels and overwhelmed the Guardians. Barakor was captured and set to work breaking stone for the vicious enemies. Beaten daily, mocked for his slowness of mind, he mourned his failure. He was supposed to protect the family -- and he had failed so, so miserably. The captors loved telling how the Cult had sent an Emissary to simply make a deal - that all their hopes and dreams and lives and loves were meaningless, extinguished to feed the glory of others.

For many months Barakor worked like an automaton, his name and personality receding deeper in his guilt and rage. He would have been lost in those depths forever, if the vile (enemies) had not been so cruel and foolish as to pit the muscular slave against a (horrid beast from under the earth) in a bit of sport. Fighting the horror reminded him of his old self, his old purpose. When he fully came to himself, not only was the horror shattered, but he had slain a dozen or more of the enemies.

I'm leaning toward the "Darkness" / "enemies" being jackalweres that were able to rise to dominance by infiltrating the Guardians and corrupting them from within. Why jackalweres? Because foreshadowing.

The horrid beast he was pitted against would have been a giant scorpion! Though perhaps the dwarves called it by another name?

Armoring himself in the group leader's dark chain mail and shield, he fought and fled his way around the fringes of the enclave and slowly up to the surface. He dispatched more than one human miner as well, once he reached the old tunnels of his people. In the passages he knew so well, he made his way to his family's clan secret shrine where the Old Gods of Dwarfhome had been revered. It had been desecrated by Cultists, but he remembered something they never knew: the secrets of the sanctum. In a secret compartment under the (deity's) statuette was hidden a holy symbol, reserved for a dwarf who would take on a holy calling for his people. Affixing the sigil to his shield, he swore that he would not fail again the only name he had for himself. Barakor - one who defends.

The cultists would have been led by a matriarch, though Barakor never crossed axes with her. They were involved in perverse magic rituals that involved bleeding dwarves alive and bathing in their blood. Their vestments were marked with a stylized "black sun" (eclipse).

Barakor Bloodbarrow now wanders the surface world, working as a mercenary guard on trade caravans and the like, knowing that in order to avenge his people, he must find a friend that can THINK.

Like with [MENTION=6798581]Azurewraith[/MENTION], this is a weak connection to the adventure. I'd like to see Barakor have a bit more personal investment beyond "mercenary caravan guard." After all, you've written up some great backstory...for none of that to tie into the adventure would be a shame. But I have some ideas you can adapt as you see fit...

1. In the push back to retake Carbon Mountain, some of the cultists & jackalweres escaped (thanks to their shapeshifting ability and/or collusion among dwarves), and Barakor is hunting them down to reclaim his honor. His hunt has led him over the mountains into Dol Blathanna.

2. While escaping the cultists, Barakor witnessed a ritual the cultists called "Drawing Down the Black Sun" wherein images of a young half-elven woman appeared in pools of blood during the cultists' divinations. Realizing that the visions depicted Dol Blathanna, Barakor has set forth to find this woman and determine her role in the cult's prophecy - if she turns out to be part of the cult he's to kill her, while if it turns out she's a pawn then he's to protect her.

3. After Brouver Hogg's disastrous alliance with the Nordlings crumbled in the face of Nilfgaard's northward conquest, and the lower mines were devastated by the cultists, surviving Guardians like Barakor were sent in the four directions to seek out potential allies. He was tasked with seeking allies among the elves of Dol Blathanna & the Blue Mountains, hoping that the elves would have answers for what a certain cultist scroll means. Helping Odvara could just be something he does out of the kindness of his heart, or uses as cover to get close to the elves (who aren't usually hospitable to dwarvenkind).

Any of those could work!

In true dwarven fashion, I imagine him befriending the party at the local tavern, or simply butting in and making cracking some drowner heads his business...and then getting piss drunk with his newfound friends.

EDIT: I PMed you the Dwarven Adventurer playbook from Beyond the Wall.

 

[Azurewraith]

Why aye dwarves always drunkards! So racist

 

[Quickleaf]

Also! There were some things we did during character creation and after the prologue to better tie your PCs to the overarching adventure "The Mother of Monsters"...

[MENTION=6798581]Azurewraith[/MENTION] I'd like to propose something for your wolf companion, and you tell me what you think. What if your wolf is a spirit of dubious origins. While it serves faithfully, it very subtly saps your strength in the long-term. Its "dialogue" with you is laced with ominous and enigmatic references to things that may yet come to pass...this could be an actual ability to speak with one another, or just dreams that come when you sleep by one another. How does that sound to you?

Also, if you wish, you may select this option:

Lose -1 Strength, but you know the find familiar spell and can cast it 1/day or as a ritual, allowing you to treat your beast companion as a familiar also (all abilities would stack, so it would still gets its own actions and be able to attack, but you'd also be able to communicate telepathically while it's within 100 feet, see through its eyes as an action while within 100 feet, and deliver "touch" spells through it while within 100 feet).

Finally, would you roll a d6? It's for a the table called "In what manner does the 'hag' seek to maintain her wicked influence?" Secret GM stuff.

 

[Azurewraith]

Also! There were some things we did during character creation and after the prologue to better tie your PCs to the overarching adventure "The Mother of Monsters"...

[MENTION=6798581]Azurewraith[/MENTION] I'd like to propose something for your wolf companion, and you tell me what you think. What if your wolf is a spirit of dubious origins. While it serves faithfully, it very subtly saps your strength in the long-term. Its "dialogue" with you is laced with ominous and enigmatic references to things that may yet come to pass...this could be an actual ability to speak with one another, or just dreams that come when you sleep by one another. How does that sound to you?

Also, if you wish, you may select this option:

Lose -1 Strength, but you know the find familiar spell and can cast it 1/day or as a ritual, allowing you to treat your beast companion as a familiar also (all abilities would stack, so it would still gets its own actions and be able to attack, but you'd also be able to communicate telepathically while it's within 100 feet, see through its eyes as an action while within 100 feet, and deliver "touch" spells through it while within 100 feet).

Finally, would you roll a d6? It's for a the table called "In what manner does the 'hag' seek to maintain her wicked influence?" Secret GM stuff.

Omfg Leshanwolf I love it. Ill be home in 5 and change my stats. [roll0]…Did I do good?

 

[Azurewraith]

Oh a 6 that's either really good or really bad. Think I'll keep my wolf's special abilities secret you know 2 witchers n all