5th Edition D&D: Jedi Knight

Daemana is here!  But first, read this little update...

This blog entry has been revamped to fall into line with the newest version of itself.  This change follows in the wake of my new Fifth Edition Creative Companion available from the Dungeon Masters' Guild, which you can get to by clicking here.  

From the DMG, you can download the 45 page PDF file for a measly $1.99.  Here's the description:

Fantasy author J. D. Brink first discovered Dungeons & Dragons more thirty years ago.  Finally, with the advent of the Dungeon Masters’ Guild, he can now share some of his own game innovations with fellow players of the world’s greatest roleplaying game.  

Contained herein are more than 40 pages featuring custom game rules, a new experience point system, and 16 new feats for players.  But that’s not all. 

A Cthulhu warlock, steampunk mage, Shinto samurai, and rogue spymaster: these are just 4 of 10 characters created from new takes on existing classes, complete with detailed backstories and decision descriptions.  Ten characters meant to provide players and DMs with new inspiration for developing their own worlds and the heroes to save them.     

What's in the book started here on the blog as a creative exercise in character creation for the 5th edition of D&D.   

I also used to have some cooler, more specific images for the blog, but they weren't acquired by strictly legal means.  (Turns out Google is not a magical copyright-granting fairy.  Don't exactly own the rights to use "Jedi" either...)  So sorry, the images are gone.  But you have a good imagination, right?

So using the creation guidelines outlined in the book (which includes a bonus feat for everyone), I made up some PCs both for my own inspiration and for yours.  Hopefully they'll give you some new ideas for your own game.

*****

DAEMANA FIREHEART, KNIGHT OF THE OBSIDIAN ROSE

“My preference is peace.  My purpose is justice.  And, unfortunately for you, my art is death.”

  

Fighter (5)

Alignment: LG

STR	13	+1
INT	16	+3
WIS	15	+2
DEX	16	+3
CON	13	+1
CHAR	16	+3

HP:  55

AC:  15 

PROF:  +3

SAVES:  STR (+4) CON (+4)

INIT:  +6

RACE:  Tiefling

* Char +2, Int +1

* Darkvision

* Hellish Resistance

* Infernal Legacy

* Languages: Common, Infernal

BACKGROUND:  Acolyte

* Reputation of the Order

* Carpenter’s tools

* Language: Draconic

FIGHTER:

* Fighting style: Dueling

* Action Surge

* Second Wind

* Extra Attack

* Martial Archetype: Eldritch Knight

-- Bonded weapons: Rapier, Sickle

-- Spells

SKILLS:

* Insight (+5)

* Arcana (+6)

* Athletics (+4)

* Acrobatics (+6)

* Bonus Languages: Dwarvish, Giant, Goblin

FEATS:

* Weapon Focus: Rapier

* Martial Adept

 -- 1D6 superiority die

 -- Save DC (14)

 -- Maneuvers: Parry, Reposte

SPELLS:

* Spell Save DC (14)  Spell Attack Mod (+6)

* Spell slots: 1st (3)

* Known Cantrips: Thaumaturgy, Bladeward, Magehand

* Known Spells

-- 1^st Level: Witchbolt, Charm Person, False Life, Protection vs Evil & Good

* Infernal Legacy Spells: Hellish Rebuke, Darkness

GEAR:

* Chain shirt, heavy cloak, traveling clothes

* Rapier, sickle, 5 darts

* Explorer’s pack, only as much money as she needs to get by

  

STORY NOTES:

Thirteen years ago, a tiefling girl was running for her life.  She and her parents had been traveling and happened into the wrong human city.  Her parents were there killed by a lynch mob prejudiced against her people, widely feared for their demonic traits.  The young girl—ten-year-old Daemana—scarcely had time to process her family’s death before her survival instincts drove her to flee for her own life.  She stumbled down an alley, around a corner, and smack into a cloaked man.  The girl bounced off the man and landed on her rear end.

The man Daemana had run into drew a polished rapier from his belt.      

Overwhelmed with fear and confusion, the tiefling girl closed her eyes and prepared for death.

The mob of savage pursuers rounded the corner in search of their prey and came face to face with the man and his rapier.  He offered them a chance to turn around and go home.  None of them took it.  Though he was outnumbered eight to one, the cloaked man dispatched six of them before the last two decided that their hatred wasn’t worth dying for. 

The cloaked man took Daemana under his wing and, after two months of traveling, delivered the girl to the monastery that had raised him.  The Order of the Obsidian Rose was an organization shrouded in mystery, though rumor of their quest for perfection and justice was widely known in that quarter of the world.  The young orphan was taken in and made an acolyte of the Order.  By virtue of her passionate and sometimes wild nature, the girl became known as Daemana Fireheart. 

For nine years, Daemana lived and studied within the monastery.  She became a monk and knight of the Obsidian Rose; indeed, she became one of the most noble and powerful of their small number.  The Order emphasizes perfect control and purity through physical and psychological means.  The tenements include justice and respect for all, no matter race, status, or creed.  A knight’s first priority is non-violence, but when this is not possible, it is their duty to be the most powerful violent force involved in any conflict.  They are as the wind or the flame: in peace, to barely exist at all; but when required, to become an irresistible force that consumes all who refuse their grace and mercy.  Inwardly, this is achieved by perfecting one’s own mind and body.  Outwardly, this is evident by their mastery of the rapier and control over the winds of magic.  The knights’ focus on mastering their own skill is so great, in fact, that they refrain from carrying or using any magic items.

Nine years of training is the First Phase of the Rose.  Daemana Fireheart then began the Second Phase of the Rose: to spread mercy and justice everywhere fate takes her.  And when she feels the time is right, she will enter the Third Phase of the Rose and return to the monastery to train the next generation of knights, until death takes her.

GAME NOTES:

My general goal with these character creation exercises was to make non-typical D&D heroes.  I also like to blend genres and in looking at the Eldritch Knight path of the fighter, I started assembling in my mind what that might look like.  The image I had quickly resembled a certain order of knights from a galaxy far, far away.  I also found that this order favored mastery of a single weapon, and so the Japanese Kensai came to mind.  I melded these ideas together into something I think works as a cool character concept.

I also got incredibly lucky with rolling out the stats.  I’m usually cool with having some 8s or 10s to balance things out into a realistic character, but the Dice Gods were smiling on me this day.  And ironically, the scores I cared about least for her were the iconic Fighter abilities of Strength and Constitution.  Saves in INT and DEX would really be a better fit for this gal, but…  Whatcha gunna do?

The monk-like focus for this monastery was not unarmed martial arts, but mastery of a single weapon.   And which is more graceful for a lady or gentleman than the rapier?  To supplement the perfection of that art, I selected Dueling as his fighting style and took my feat Weapon Focus, as well as Martial Adept for his 4^th level feat.  (Thus getting a sliver of the Fighter’s Battle Master archetype too.)  And these special maneuvers are tailored to the rapier: parry and reposte. 

You might also notice that I altered the Acolyte background to fit my needs, swapping the Arcana skill for Religion.  In this monastic order, magic is taught over gods.  I also renamed “Shelter the Faithful” and “Reputation of the Order.”  The plater and DM could figure how and when to make this work.  I also figured that with her high INT (and my bonus languages rule) she didn’t need two more languages, so I gave her one and a tool proficiency—monks would learn a skill and have to maintain their own monastery after all.

Racially, I wanted to not go human again (as I usually do go human), and figured having a race with innate magical abilities would mesh well with this.  I also figured having the hated outsider would work well.  (Worked for Drizzt, right?)