For Players, Lets MakeRichard OstranderSeptember 24, 2021Bard, Reborn, College of SpiritsComment

Let's Make... Formerly Keith!

For Players, Lets MakeRichard OstranderSeptember 24, 2021Bard, Reborn, College of SpiritsComment

For today’s Let’s Make… we are crafting Formerly Keith. An original creation, Keith was once a world famous Bard who was part of a legendary band. Now reborn, he doesn’t quite remember who he was, but he can still recall a song or two… So without any further delay, let’s make…

Formerly Keith

https://ddb.ac/characters/56074587/nuUmF0

So for this character, the concept actually originated with a Heroforge design, where I created a skull faced, leather jacket wearing bard with an “electric” lute at his hip. I loved the look, and quickly decided he would be a once legendary guitarist, who had been dead and buried for years. When mysteriously brought back to life, he found he could vaguely recall his first name, along with little snippets of some of his old songs.

To make this work in-game, the first things to do was go with the Reborn race, which allows the character to have the actual face of a skeleton, while still being a walking talking character. I also quickly settled on my least favorite Bard sub-class, the College of Spirits. My general hatred of Spirits is due to the fact that the Tales from Beyond feature is randomized, making it likely that you won’t get the kind of effect your looking for. But for Formerly Keith, it seemed perfect. I re-flavored the the entire Tales ability to be Keith trying to remember an old song that could help with whatever the group is doing, occasionally ending up with an incredibly unhelpful selection. As an added bonus, at my table, he can use his own skull face as a spiritual focus…

I think all this works perfectly for the character, who I imagine as a bardic version of Jack Sparrow, who himself was inspired by Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones. It was from Richards that Formerly Keith got his name, plus given that people often joke the Richards is un-killable, I thought it meshed well with Formerly Keith rising from the grave.

As for the character’s abilities and Spells, Formerly Keith is the kind of guy who can stumble his way into a situation, and charm his way right on out of it, despite the fact that his face is a skull (I often imagine the people he talks to always wonder why he’s wearing a skull mask). This is also built into his spell selection, which is about 50% charm related spells, and 50% music related. I generally tried to only pick spells that could be played as a tune on his lute. I also loved the idea that he could play things from a few different genres, so his fear spell is a bit of death metal, while his sleep spell is an old fashioned lullaby. Lastly, I made sure Keith’s magical secret selections included Find Greater Steed, as the griffon he summons reminds him of the art that used to be painted on the band’s wagon.

Now on to the Heroforging!

Keith screenshot.png — Formerly Keith

By Heroforge
https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D21738388/

I really liked the organic process that resulted in Formerly Keith. From a Heroforge design that evoked an undead metal guitarist, to a recently released Reborn race, to a use of the College of Spirits that I didn’t hate, everything just kind of came together. I also felt the character worked mechanically, acting as the face of the party while having a good mix of support abilities (and the occasional music or lyric based attack).

Well that’s it for today’s Let’s Make… hopefully you enjoyed my creation, Formerly Keith.

Happy roleplaying, and may the dice be ever in your favor.