CC25 Character 14: Umlin Belgard (AD&D 2E)

Character 14: AD&D 2E

Here's the second member of the party of dwarven adventurers I'm creating as part of the Character Challenge this week. This character is for a mini-campaign I dreamed up as part of this challenge, called the Lost Road.

As with the other characters, I'm using AD&D 2E as the ruleset.

The Character: Umlin Belgard

Umlin is an acolyte priest of Gorm, patron god of the Belgard clan. He strongly believes in order and the ideals of law and justice. He is also a student of history, and brings a strong knowledge of the legends of Suthor’s Horn and the Lost Road beneath the Silver Mountain.

Clan Belgard

Umlin is the younger brother of Ivor Belgard. It is his familial duty to join in his brother’s quest, but Umlin’s true concern is deeper than that. He has received visions, in the form of reoccurring dreams, which he believes are messages from Gorm himself. These visions are grim, and Umlin believes there is great danger waiting for them along the Rul Velgar.

Errata: Additional Non-Weapon Proficiencies
I made an error when I first created this character. Due to his Intelligence score, he should have two more proficiency slots. Add the following proficiencies to the character:
Navigation (8)
Swimming (12)

CC25 Character 13: Ivor Belgard (AD&D 2E)

Character 13: AD&D 2E

For the Character Challenge this week, I'm creating a group of characters for a mini-campaign called The Lost Road. The theme is going to be dwarves, meaning all of these characters (probably 4 in total, but we'll see) will be dwarves.

I'll be using AD&D Second Editon. 2E has a special place in my personal gaming history as the edition that was current when I first started to play D&D in earnest. Whatever I may think of its flaws (and its merits!), 2E is my D&D roots, and it will always be special to me.

The Character: Ivor Belgard

Ivor is a tunnel-runner. That is, he's a dwarf specially trained to carry messages between the dwarf clan-holds, running along the hidden underground highways that connect one dwarven settlement to another. Such routes are often treacherous, for goblins and worse things prowl the deep subterranean passages. A tunnel-runner is not a common courier. The messages they carry are often of great importance: news of war, warnings of danger, and other, equally important and urgent news. Tunnel-runners must be ready at a moments notice, trained and prepared to run long distances and press on despite injury or danger, if necessary, in order to see that their messages reach their intended recipients.

Clan Belgard

Ivor is the eldest of the Belgard Clan. He hasn't much experience as a Runner, as he's been lucky enough to have been born into a time of relative peace. Though he'd never admit it, he is actually looking forward to facing a bit of danger. He's a proud dwarf, and he's eager to justify that pride and earn a bit of glory for himself and his family.

Click to Embiggen

Errata: Additional Non-Weapon Proficiencies
I made an error when I first created this character. Due to his Intelligence score, he should have two more proficiency slots. Add the following proficiencies to the character:
Navigation (8)
Swimming (12)

CC25 Characters 11 and 12: Songor and Siff (DCC Lahnkmar)

I’m doing a blog challenge for the month of January, where the goal is to create an RPG character each day for the entire month of January. I wasn’t able to create and post a character yesterday. The rules of the challenge don’t say what to do if you miss a day. So, in lieu of any specific direction, I’ve decided that what that means is that now I owe everyone a pair of characters.

A duo, as it were.

Two Came to Lankhmar

Lankhmar. The City of Sevenscore Thousand Smokes. When deciding to make a pair of RPG characters for today’s challenge, the first thing that came to mind was that famous pulp city and its most infamous duo: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Of course, I didn’t want to rip Leiber off entirely, so I decided to make a Warrior and a Wizard instead of a Warrior and a Thief. But then, I must confess, I got caught up in the dice rolling and accidentally made Fafhrd and the Mouser anyway. In my defense, I rolled everything up at random, including their homelands. So, it's not my fault that my warrior is a northlands barbarian. And hey, I don't think Fafhrd owned a boat.

Songor and Siff

Siff is an Eight-Citywoman who lives by her wits and fancies herself a professional explorer. In reality, she’s more of a professional swindler and thief. She’s greedy, but her heart is (usually) in the right place. Siff met the big northerner, Songor, at a dank tavern in Ilthmar. She was cheating at the dice game, but Songor was too far into his cups to notice. The prize was the big man’s small ship.

Click to Embiggen

Songor refused to give up his ship, but he also refused to break his word. While he suspected that the sly woman at the bar had cheated at the game, his honor and superstition prevented him from backing out of the bet. His compromise was straightforward: if she was taking his ship, then he was coming with it. She didn’t have much choice in the matter anyway. She was no sailor.

 

Click to...you get it.

 

Siff proved a natural talent at finding opportunities to earn gold. Songor, when it comes to it, was very good at handling whatever trouble Siff managed to find for them. While their business partnership was formed under awkward circumstances, it has proven mutually beneficial. The two are now committed to the arrangement. Based in Lankhmar, they specialize in mercenary work in and around the Inner Sea.

CC25 Character 10: T.J. Blair (Mothership)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.

Character 10: Mothership

There seems to be a lot of buzz around Mothership. When I saw the boxed set at Friendly Local Game Store, I grabbed it mainly out of the fear it would become hard to find at some future date when I was ready to read it. I've thus far made two characters for the game (including the one I created for this month's blog challenge).

The Process

While I don't know too much about the rules to Mothership, I'm very impressed with how well the character sheet is put together. The sheet guides you through character creation, barely requiring you to access the rule book at all. Which is honestly one of those ideas that's so innovative it seems obvious in hindsight. It's really well done.

The Character: T.J. Blair

I picture Blair as an ex-military guy who headed into space to escape his demons. On board the ship, he works as a simple laborer, and really just wants to be left alone. I rolled really good stats pretty much across the board, so I feel like Blair is often the most competent person in the room if and when things go terribly wrong. And, if I understand Mothership correctly, things are likely to go terribly wrong.

But he doesn't want to be in charge. And he's not actually looking to deal with whatever is happening. But he will because, if not him, then who? Think Kurt Russell's character in The Thing, and you're close to what I had in mind.

Click to Embiggen

 

 

CC25 Character 9: Nara Bruun (Cypher RPG)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.

Character 9: Cypher RPG

 

I created today's character using this free generator from Monte Cook Games. The character below is from the generator's text output. One of the things I like to try to do with a new fantasy system is determine how difficult it is to create a "sneaky fighter." That is, a fighter-type character who also has some stealth capabilities. I did this in Cypher by applying the Stealth Flavor.

The Character: Nara Bruun

Nara Bruun is a Strong-Willed Warrior who Masters Weaponry (with a Stealth Flavor)
Might: 12 Edge: 0     Defense: Practiced
Speed: 14 Edge: 1     Defense: Practiced
Intellect: 12 Edge: 0     Defense: Practiced
Initiative: Practiced

Effort: 1
Armor: 0
Experience Points: 0

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Combat prowess: You add +1 damage to one type of weapon attack of your choice: melee weapon attacks or ranged weapon attacks. Enabler.

Weapon master (quarterstaff): You inflict an additional 1 point of damage with your chosen weapon. Enabler.

Weapon crafter: You are trained in crafting tasks associated with your chosen weapon. For instance, if your weapon is a bow, you are trained in tasks related to crafting bows and fletching arrows; if your weapon is a sword, you are trained in tasks for forging swords and sharpening blades; and so on. Enabler.

Danger sense (Costs 1 Speed point): Your initiative task is eased. You pay the cost each time the ability is used. Enabler.

Swipe (Costs 1 Speed point): This is a quick, agile melee attack. Your attack inflicts 1 less point of damage than normal but dazes your target for one round, during which time all tasks it performs are hindered. Action.

SKILLS
Deception (Trained)

Resisting mental effects (Trained)
    You're trained in resisting mental effects.

Stealth (Trained)

Tasks requiring incredible focus or concentration (Trained). You're trained in tasks requiring incredible focus or concentration.

Heavy weapons (Practiced)

Light weapons (Practiced)

Medium weapons (Practiced)

Figuring out puzzles or problems, memorizing things, or using lore (Inability): Willful doesn't mean brilliant. Any task that involves figuring out puzzles or problems, memorizing things, or using lore is hindered.

ATTACKS

Quarterstaff (medium might attack, 4 damage)

Dagger (light speed attack, eased, 2 damage)

CYPHERS
Limit: 2

Ray Emitter (Mind Disrupting) (Level 3, Fantastic)
    Allows the user to project a ray of destructive energy up to very long
    range that inflicts Intellect damage equal to the cypher's level. Also,
    the victim cannot take actions for a number of rounds equal to the
    cypher's level.

Sleep Inducer (Level 1, Manifest)
    Touch puts the victim to sleep for ten minutes per cypher level or until
    awoken by a violent action or an extremely loud noise.


EQUIPMENT
Money: 0

- Simple robes, quarterstaff, dagger.


BACKGROUND
Warrior
You're a good ally to have in a fight. You know how to use weapons and defend
yourself. Depending on the genre and setting in question, this might mean
wielding a sword and shield in the gladiatorial arena, an AK-47 and a bandolier
of grenades in a savage firefight, or a blaster rifle and powered armor when
exploring an alien planet. Warriors are physical, action-oriented people.
They're more likely to overcome a challenge using force than by other means, and
they often take the most straightforward path toward their goals.

Strong Willed
You're tough-minded, willful, and independent. No one can talk you into anything
or change your mind when you don't want it changed. This quality doesn't
necessarily make you smart, but it does make you a bastion of willpower and
resolve. You likely dress and act with unique style and flair, not caring what
others think.

Masters Weaponry
You are a master user of a particular type of weapon, be it a sword, whip,
dagger, gun, or something else.


NOTES
Possible player intrusions based on your character type:
Perfect Setup
You're fighting at least three foes and each one is standing in exactly the
right spot for you to use a move you trained in long ago, allowing you to attack
all three as a single action. Make a separate attack roll for each foe. You
remain limited by the amount of Effort you can apply on one action.

Old Friend
A comrade in arms from your past shows up unexpectedly and provides aid in
whatever you're doing. They are on a mission of their own and can't stay longer
than it takes to help out, chat for a while after, and perhaps share a quick
meal.

Weapon Break
Your foe's weapon has a weak spot. In the course of the combat, it quickly
becomes damaged and moves two steps down the object damage track.

Willful
+4 to your Intellect Pool.
Granted from Strong Willed

CC25 Character 8: Geldin Goldvine (Far Away Land)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.

Character 8: Far Away Land 

I love Far Away Land! It’s a particularly clever OSR-adjacent game absolutely filled with unique creatures, weird setting elements, and pop culture references. The game manages both whimsy and a series tone, and there’s an impressive amount of lore and backstory baked into the world. It also has a signature cartoonish art style that I really dig.

Process

I made Geldin just using the options in the rulebook. In addition to generating his stats and selecting his Heritage from the long list in the book (there are more than 30 heritage options in the book), I also made use of some of the optional tables to help generate his backstory. This one was a lot of fun to make!

The Character: Geldin Goldvine

Name: Geldin Goldvine    Level: 1
Heritage: Poomkin    Languages: Upper Fungi
Archetype: Plant    Size: Average (0)
Age: Young; Height: Tall; Weight: Lanky

BRT:1, DEX: 2, WILL: 3
HP: 11, AC: 0, ACT: 2
Luck: 2

HERITAGE TRAITS
Faster Healing, Regeneration, Resistance to Electricity,
Resistance to Poison/Toxin.
Weakness to Extreme Heat/Cold.
Weapon Specialty: Scythe (+1).

BOONS
Arcane (WIT)
Crafty (DEX)
Local Lore (WIT)

FLAWS
Erratic (-1)
Temperamental (-2)
Phobia: Thieves (-1)

SPELLS
Banish Cold
Clairvoyance

BACKGROUND
Geldin Goldvine didn’t grow up in Poomkin society. Orphaned at a young age, he grew up in the care of the kindly Professor Zoroaster, a traveling sage and dispenser of general wisdom. Professor Zoroaster was a unique being, not belonging to any one particular species, but friendly to all. The day after his 303rd birthday, he transformed into a peal of thunder and departed Far Away Land forever.

The professor left Geldin a colorful wagon, a whole wardrobe of clothes, and a small set of hand-written spellbooks. While he has no formal magical training, Geldin is naturally clever, and he’s managed to decipher two of spells from the Professor’s strange writings…so far.

Geldin’s unusual upbringing, and the fact that he’s mostly raised himself since the professor vanished, has made him erratic and prone to occasional bursts of anger. On the other hand, Geldin is naturally optimistic and considers himself an idealist. He’s motivated to figure out the rest of the professor’s spells. He believes that becoming a powerful magician is key to securing his future. To this end, he’s fearful that someone might try to steal his books.