Construction Werk: Customizing Traits

Combining different species, classes, and backgrounds with proficiency and feat selection allows most people to make characters close to their original vision. But, sometimes, a character concept is original, or complex, and requires a unique look at character options to build it. There are often many ways to build characters with similar abilities, and finding the best option(s) to choose can be challenging, but challenging can be fun and rewarding. In the Construction Werk feature we will look at various tips and recommendations on the early phases of creating a character versus builds into even the early levels. This is about creating a solid foundation for your character.

This time we will look at how to use your imagination and creativity to—with the DMs approval—change the descriptions of things as long as they have the same effects.

We already talked about using a theme to help create your character, but sometimes you just can’t find the right traits in the different options to create what you envision for your character. Sure, there may be new resources with new selections like subclasses, spells, and more, but there are ways to use existing core rules to accomplish what you want if you just use some creativity. Maybe you don’t like the subclass options available to you, the abilities may be ok but you don’t like the flavor (personally I’m not a fan of any of the core rules Sorcerer options). As long as your DM agrees to let you change the description but keep the effects the same, every player should feel free to make the options fit their character concept. Plus you can always ask, but don’t necessarily expect, a DM to allow you to change something like the damage type as long as the die stay the same. Maybe you want True Strike to do force or psychic damage instead of radiant. The closer your proposal is to the original type the more likely it is to be approved: in the True Strike example those types are similar, but with elemental types cold is far from fire, while swapping thunder or lightning might make more sense. Swapping fire and radiant might be approved as there are often other traits that affect both since they are similar. The final decision is your DM’s because sometimes changing the damage type can have a bigger impact than you might think.

Re-theming an entire subclass’s flavor might seem difficult, but here are some examples: The Path of the World Tree barbarian abilities could be seen as similar to psychic spells and powers like the Psi Warrior and Soul Knife. The Clockwork Sorcerer could be anything other than ‘clockwork’ that still affects ‘cosmic order’: maybe its related to the seasons, the cycle of the moon, or constellations, or the path of a comet. A Circle of the Sea druid already has many powers related to the cold, and the only ‘sea’ power is their swim speed so you could easily flavor them as a druid of blizzards or storms in general.

Revisiting Vey: a wereavian ‘shifter’ human

Vey is a character in the land of Taluma, our original setting, that we covered briefly in the Magic Initiate feat entry. But we will do a full character Build for her showing how to use re-theming, or customizing, of traits in various selections during character creation and development.

As we already described, Vey is a human female who inherited through her lineage the ability to manifest bird-like features and abilities like lycanthropes, in her case a black corvid similar to were ravens. We already explored customizing a little bit. Without access to the shifter species (from MotM*) you can use descriptions of the ability she can gain from Magic Initiate to be the abilities she gets when she shifts. As a human she gets the Versatile trait which allows her to take the Magic Initiate (Druid) Origin Feat. The Cantrip Primal Savagery can represent bestial claws, her bird-like talons, or her beak and the 1st-Level spell Jump can represent her ability to do limited flight with the wings she gets when she shifts. As we build her character and make other selections we will explain how we can change the description of other traits to fit in with her characterization. But first a little more background.

Vey’s heritage comes from a connection with the powerful relic the Curious Quill. Her mother, from the Silvercrest family and Natan’s sister, has a special heritage as a female member of the family which she passed onto Vey. They are infused with some of the power of the Curious Quill, guardians of the Quill, giving them the ability to shift into a were-like black avian. The exact avian form is unique to the individual to match their character: a raven, an owl, etc. but always with black plumage matching the Quill. It is said that the Quill is a feather from the wings of Gwyven—the mother of all beasts—herself. This ancient, primordial, legacy will come into play in some choices later.

The Build

We will look at ways that we can describe different traits and abilities to match the image of a character that can change into and call forth black birds, a power inherited through the Curious Quill from the beast-goddess Gwyven.

Species
Vey is a human. She is Size: M with a speed of 30. She gets the Resourceful trait for a Heroic Inspiration point every Long Rest. She gets Skillful which gives her a choice of one proficiency and I select Investigation. But most importantly she gets the Versatile Origin Feat which allows me to give her Magic Initiate (Druid) as described above. She will have Charisma as her best ability score so we select that as her spellcasting ability for these added spells. The main thing we are editing here is that instead of them being spells she is casting, these are abilities she has due to her avian nature.

Origin Background/Feat
Wayfarer. As a teen, Vey worked for the town guard in a role as a virtue officer, who are women or youth who are not allowed to be full guards but help them with citations and reporting crimes. We could give her the Guard background, but she will be best off with Charisma and Dexterity modifiers which Guard doesn’t provide. The PHB itself says to change the narrative details however you like, but we would say to do so anyway. I give her the Wayfarer background whoch gives her both Charisma and Dexterity as ability modifiers and we give her +2 to Charisma and +1 to Dexterity. She also gets proficiency in Insight and Stealth which work well with her background as a sort of junior guard. She also gets the Lucky feat.

Class:
Level 1: Sorcerer 1
From her description so far, Vey may seem to be planned to be a martial character. But, her legacy instills in her innate magic granted her family from the Curious Quill.
Proficiencies: Arcana and Persuasion.
She gets the ability to cast spells with 4 cantrips (Friends, Infestation, Sword Burst, and True Strike) and 2 1st-level spells (Feather Fall and Shield). Feather Fall makes sense, and as a sorcerer she could cast any spell, but if we want to stick with her theme, we can add custom descriptions to some of these spells. Infestation and Sword Burst could be flocks of birds she summons as can Shield: she could be surrounded by a flock that helps deflect and disrupt attacks. The inheritors of the power of the quill’ gain some magical senses, soothsaying, so any divination school spells like True Strike make sense.
Sorcerers also get Innate Sorcery at level 1 which can empower their spells for a short while.

Ability Scores
I use our house rule Array of 16/14/13/10/10/10.
STR 10, DEX 14 (+1 Background), CON 10 , INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 16 (+2 Background)
for these final scores
STR 10, DEX 15, CON 10, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 18

We can see how already we are adding our own descriptions to abilities, especially her spells, that make them fit her character rather than a generic description.

Level 2: Sorcerer 2
She gets Metamagic to be able to alter her spells. I give her Quickened Spell and Subtle Spell so that she can do some other ‘spells’ or abilities without any components.
She gets two more 1st-level spells and I add: Comprehend Languages and False Life. She would inherit the first from the Quill and the second helps her survivability.
Level 3: Sorcerer 3
There are two options I looked at here: neither of which e,body what I envision for her, but with clever ways of looking at them either could work: Clockwork or Draconic. Clockwork could work if we look at its abilities more from the divination standpoint: the Restore Balance trait could easily be looked are more from the standpoint of seeing the future.
But, I am going to take Draconic Sorcery. She does not have a lineage from a gift of a dragon, but… dragons in Taluma are descended from Gwyven—in fact they are her first and most pure offspring. Draconic Resilience gives more HP and better AC. Instead of scales for her AC we can look at it more of a mobility thing like a monk’s unarmored defense. For spells she gets: Alter Self, Chromatic Orb, Command, and Dragon’s Breath. Alter Self includes the ability to grow claws like her Primal Savagery and is easy to describe as part of her shape-shifting ability. Command could come from Gwyven herself. The other two are related more to dragons’ elemental connections, but she is a sorcerer after all and they give her offensive spells that don’t have to relate to her lineage, or do they relate? As the mother of ALL beasts, including dragons, she has every ability they have: Gwyven can breathe any element herself.
(Later at 14th level she will be able to manifest wings: it says ‘draconic’ wings but who was they can;t be feathered ones?)
She gets 2nd level spell access and with two more prepared spells I give her: Blur and Arcane Vigor.

At 3rd Level wearing no armor she has AC 16 and 17 HP.
Though she is a spellcaster, she prefers to fight up close with her primal features, and in combat she would use these options.

• Use a Bonus Action to activate Innate Sorcery which gives her Advantage on attack rolls and +1 to DC of her sorcerer spell saves. Attack with Primal Savagery at +6 to hit with Advantage for 1d10 acid damage. Her hands would become bird-like talons to attack with.

• If she needs to attack at range she can either cast Infestation (a flock of birds) for 1d6 poison damage and move the target; or use True Strike with her Light Crossbow to be at +6 to hit at Advantage and do radiant damage if she wants.

• Defensively she can add HP with False Life and Arcane Vigor, cast Shield for +5 AC for a round, or cast Blur to make attack rolls against her at Disadvantage.

Summary

We have been able to select numerous traits from her origin feat to spells that can allow her to use abilities that easily can be described as her avian form and connection including her own appearance and form as well as calling forth birds.