Virgil Stoneblade was an aged gambler and drunkard who took a fickle shine to Varyn. On good days he would teach him games of chance over cheese and crackers or how to recognize or manipulate odds into your favor. On bad days, the salty old drunk might throw you out with a new bruise across your jaw or a slight limp. On one particularly cloudy day, Varyn seeks out Virgil and finds him in a darkened corner of his favorite (i.e. cheapest) watering hole with a knife in his side. Before the normal bar-flies and crowd take notice, however, Varyn pockets the Dwarf's purse which was always kept off his body but within reach. This was a typical habit for the gambler that was enacted when or where markers might be called in.
Virgil was an older Dwarf, well past the comfortable 250 years where many still worked on or near the docks. He wasn't precisely lame, but he did use a short stick to help steady himself as he walked about town. It was even money whether this was for some physical ailment or his massive consumption. Out on the streets of Bruinstead, you never saw him without a small knit cap; faded and worn, it had seen a fair number of winters itself. Mind you, the second he crossed a threshold it surreptitiously appeared in his coat pocket, exposing his deep asymmetric widow's peaks and what remained of his thinning silver mane straining forward that it might tickle his forehead. His eyes were somewhat sunken into their sockets, but that gave his gold-rimmed eyes a noted glimmer when he spoke excitedly. He held a broad flat nose, much like the rest of his kin, with invisible scars from past breakings. He kept a modified cut of his facial hair, a callback to his time on the sea. Feathery mutton chops laid beneath a voluminous, bushy mustache, the vast majority of which matched his silver tresses, or what was left of them, save his unkempt eyebrows and an odd swath of color running down each cheek which resonated with a youthful brindle hue. If ever he rambled on for more than a few words the mustache appeared to be trying to loose his lips from the rest of his head like scissors, but with the aid of his dimples gave the impression of a flume-operated pipe when he smoked.
The pipe itself was a quaint little thing. Obviously made from a hollowed out claw, the origin of which often changed to suit the most recent rendition of stories that spewed forth on pleasant, mead-laden nights. Virgil was a philosopher with a caustic wit which brought smiles all-around and often, but kept friends few and far between. He rarely got too specific about his role aboard and abroad, but he was old sea dog at heart and could spin a clever a yarn as any decent bard. Additionally Virgil kept his namesake, a large Bowie-sized stone knife with a driftwood handle in a shoulder strap beneath his left arm. Dice and cards were among his most fond games, but rarely did he turn away from fiddling with chance. He was a friendly gentleman, if a nervous sort, but ambidextrously deadly from across the room with a dagger (or dart as the case may be). Often uttering unique colloquialisms when he expressed himself there, "Quit monkeying with the drift wood (discard pile)" or spewing awkward, personal entreatments to Bahamut (this realm's Luck deity).
((Visually think of a stocky Yosemite Sam, with the temperament of Doc Holliday))
Virgil's Stone Blade is above-sized for a dagger, but not quite large enough to be considered a short sword, so it uses a 1d5 or 1/2(1d10) when calculating damage. (doubtful will ever come up)
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Friday, April 10, 2015
Varyn, Half-Orc Barbarian
**Updated with expanded material about NPCs**
Name: Varyn (Last Name Unknown) [Wrenwing]
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Barbarian
System: D&D 5E, but Homebrewed World
Descriptive References: Pirates, Vikings, Norse, land & naval encounters, etc
Personality Trait - I sleep with my back to a wall, all I own is wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
Ideals - Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it.
Bonds - I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me.
Flaws - It's not stealing if I need It more than someone else.
Backstory (modified Urchin BG):
Orphaned at 10, Varyn grew up on the streets. Few if any ever acknowledged his presence unless he got in their way. He had no one to watch over or to provide for him, so he learned to provide for himself. He fought fiercely over food and kept a constant watch out for other desperate souls who might steal from him. Varyn slept on rooftops and in alleyways, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. He's survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.
Unknown (Father) Male Orc. Has never been regarded by name (to Varyn's knowledge), always refered to as "your father" by his mother. His handwriting is assumed to be the author of the note (below) concerning the scabbard. Unsure whether anyone in town knows.**
Marin (Mother) Human Female. After [whatever happened with father], she carves out a sparse living as a seamstress/washer-woman/thatcher. Some of her duties aside from child-rearing included darning socks, re-stitching the occasional sail or net, clean or create garments as needed by the community. As such she taught Varyn some basic sewing so he could repair simple tears and replace buttons. Died in a house-fire when Varyn was 10 years old.** After the fire, one of the few things recovered was an ornate scabbard (trinket/background item) and note wrapped in burlap and concealed within the floorboards in his mother's room.
[Note]** No person's names are mentioned specifically, but they give reference to this scabbard being held secret until called upon. Additional fluff leads Varyn to suspect that it was penned by his father and the scabbard itself may be more important than just a source of quick pawn-money. The letter is signed not with a signature but by a blue wax seal emblazoned at the bottom of a stylized raven inscribed with the word 'Wrenwing,' presumably from a signet ring or stamp.
Otherwise he's pulled the odd jobs or favors for the townsfolk, whether too old or timid to raid properly, so most everyone knows who he is if nothing else -- "a strong, young back that'll do much for little." (generic racial or derogatory names akin to 'sport' 'kid' etc are popular). Most make small chat about the weather and current on-goings as you imagine they have little to no visitors otherwise. The uncommon "warrior-that-survives-to-old-age" always asks why you're not raiding with the other young me, etc. (motivation to enlist).
Osvin (Pet) Red Squirrel with Black-tipped ears. Found injured by Varyn one evening hiding from an owl, nursed back and now his companion. Usually hangs out beneath his tunic's collar.
Virgil Stoneblade (Mentor) Male Dwarf.
^^See related post
Name: Varyn (Last Name Unknown) [Wrenwing]
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Barbarian
System: D&D 5E, but Homebrewed World
Descriptive References: Pirates, Vikings, Norse, land & naval encounters, etc
Personality Trait - I sleep with my back to a wall, all I own is wrapped in a bundle in my arms.
Ideals - Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it.
Bonds - I owe a debt I can never repay to the person who took pity on me.
Flaws - It's not stealing if I need It more than someone else.
Backstory (modified Urchin BG):
Orphaned at 10, Varyn grew up on the streets. Few if any ever acknowledged his presence unless he got in their way. He had no one to watch over or to provide for him, so he learned to provide for himself. He fought fiercely over food and kept a constant watch out for other desperate souls who might steal from him. Varyn slept on rooftops and in alleyways, exposed to the elements, and endured sickness without the advantage of medicine or a place to recuperate. He's survived despite all odds, and did so through cunning, strength, speed, or some combination of each.
Unknown (Father) Male Orc. Has never been regarded by name (to Varyn's knowledge), always refered to as "your father" by his mother. His handwriting is assumed to be the author of the note (below) concerning the scabbard. Unsure whether anyone in town knows.**
Marin (Mother) Human Female. After [whatever happened with father], she carves out a sparse living as a seamstress/washer-woman/thatcher. Some of her duties aside from child-rearing included darning socks, re-stitching the occasional sail or net, clean or create garments as needed by the community. As such she taught Varyn some basic sewing so he could repair simple tears and replace buttons. Died in a house-fire when Varyn was 10 years old.** After the fire, one of the few things recovered was an ornate scabbard (trinket/background item) and note wrapped in burlap and concealed within the floorboards in his mother's room.
[Note]** No person's names are mentioned specifically, but they give reference to this scabbard being held secret until called upon. Additional fluff leads Varyn to suspect that it was penned by his father and the scabbard itself may be more important than just a source of quick pawn-money. The letter is signed not with a signature but by a blue wax seal emblazoned at the bottom of a stylized raven inscribed with the word 'Wrenwing,' presumably from a signet ring or stamp.
Otherwise he's pulled the odd jobs or favors for the townsfolk, whether too old or timid to raid properly, so most everyone knows who he is if nothing else -- "a strong, young back that'll do much for little." (generic racial or derogatory names akin to 'sport' 'kid' etc are popular). Most make small chat about the weather and current on-goings as you imagine they have little to no visitors otherwise. The uncommon "warrior-that-survives-to-old-age" always asks why you're not raiding with the other young me, etc. (motivation to enlist).
Osvin (Pet) Red Squirrel with Black-tipped ears. Found injured by Varyn one evening hiding from an owl, nursed back and now his companion. Usually hangs out beneath his tunic's collar.
Virgil Stoneblade (Mentor) Male Dwarf.
^^See related post
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Brief 5E Update
So my rpg table is finally returning to the fray as we tackle the 5E D&D. We will be running a homebrew version of the world my original DM created. Mid-Fantasy, non-gunpowder generic. The area and setting we will be interacting with is Norse/Viking based with more details to follow when we actually sit down in a few weeks. We did have a "session zero" where we discussed the setting and as a group attempted to build their characters and give our player input to the DM.
I will have his backstory and profile up as soon as we meet once due in most part to the fact that I have to balance my story along with the other 3 players and has to fit within the DM's idea of the realm. Basically whatever gets approved will be posted.
What I can tell you is my rolls:
Half-Orc
Barbarian
15-15-13-13-9 (4d6, drop lowest rolls)
I'm excited guys. :D
I will have his backstory and profile up as soon as we meet once due in most part to the fact that I have to balance my story along with the other 3 players and has to fit within the DM's idea of the realm. Basically whatever gets approved will be posted.
What I can tell you is my rolls:
Half-Orc
Barbarian
15-15-13-13-9 (4d6, drop lowest rolls)
I'm excited guys. :D
AudioSurf (2008)
AudioSurf (2008)
Dylan Fitterer (Indie)
PC
Single
Arcade
This is a quirky niche game that does sufficiently well what dozens of others have accomplished better. I can't say I didn't like it because something that combines your own personal music (or audio books as I got bored one night) with an F-Zero-esque game is definitely worth a sale purchase and try.
Let me say by a seemingly independent individual this is amazingly done, something I would expect from an upper level college game project (at time of publication) or low-industry end release. Well done sir, my hat is off to you (truly). It has a few ability differences with a limited number of ships to select from, a small assortment of game types, and a frequently steep difficulty curve. The real problem where this falls short for me is the bland progression and limiting versatility. The difficulty of the game is highly HIGHLY dependent on the audio files you load, the game type/mode differences can be so subtle sometimes you don't realize you accidentally selected hard with a slow, soft song--but are ready to curse the gods and your creator when you throw a hard n' heavy song on normal mode.
This falls into a growing chunk of games who do something similar if not exactly alike with nuance-differences to set this apart. As much enjoyment as I myself for 3 hours, I couldn't find anything that set this above or beyond, or achieved through something that gives it a uniqueness I would return to at some future nostalgia pangs. I do expect to review more of them as I go, but I'll purposely spread them around to avoid the copy+paste trend of the reviews.
3/10
Dylan Fitterer (Indie)
PC
Single
Arcade
This is a quirky niche game that does sufficiently well what dozens of others have accomplished better. I can't say I didn't like it because something that combines your own personal music (or audio books as I got bored one night) with an F-Zero-esque game is definitely worth a sale purchase and try.
Let me say by a seemingly independent individual this is amazingly done, something I would expect from an upper level college game project (at time of publication) or low-industry end release. Well done sir, my hat is off to you (truly). It has a few ability differences with a limited number of ships to select from, a small assortment of game types, and a frequently steep difficulty curve. The real problem where this falls short for me is the bland progression and limiting versatility. The difficulty of the game is highly HIGHLY dependent on the audio files you load, the game type/mode differences can be so subtle sometimes you don't realize you accidentally selected hard with a slow, soft song--but are ready to curse the gods and your creator when you throw a hard n' heavy song on normal mode.
This falls into a growing chunk of games who do something similar if not exactly alike with nuance-differences to set this apart. As much enjoyment as I myself for 3 hours, I couldn't find anything that set this above or beyond, or achieved through something that gives it a uniqueness I would return to at some future nostalgia pangs. I do expect to review more of them as I go, but I'll purposely spread them around to avoid the copy+paste trend of the reviews.
3/10
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