Recruitment - 2/22/24 (Table 1-Kingdom Squad)

[Blanket_Thunder]

1 minute ago, Ayeba said:

I feel Jasmine (Yasmine?) would be better served as a Beast Mastery ranger focusing on melee weapons. Because, you know, if you have a tiger, why wouldn't you want to use it?

I legitimately forgot about the tiger lol

That's actually a very good idea.

[Rumrunner]

Keep in mind we're looking at kingdom group so a medieval style or similar timeline. Also not villains.

[artsmythe]

@SMARTAgentKC, I'm almost finished with my application, but I do have a few questions before completion.

1. I know that our characters are 6th level, but how do you determine HPs? Random roll, an average (including mods), or maximum HP based on class + mods?
2. Using our bonus 750 gp for gear, I have assigned a +1 Cloak of Protection to Mickey. Since it's only classified as Uncommon, I figured it would be worth 500 gp. However, +2 Bracers of Defense are classified as Rare. Naturally, I would prefer as much protection for my PC as possible, but Rare magic items can go for 501 - 5000 gp according to DMG. Could you make a ruling as to how expensive these items would be (or even they're availability to a PC)? I would appreciate it. Depending on the cost of the Magic Items listed, I would like to purchase some non-magical robes as this is how Mickey dresses as a Sorcerer's Apprentice. I would also buy some other odds and ends from the standard gear listed in the Players Guide.
3. Lastly, there's the question of Mickey's backstory. I have cobbled something together based loosely on "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Brave Little Tailor", and "Mickey and the Beanstalk". Mickey, of course, has a much broader and deeper background than that based on 96 years of character development, but I think together these three shorts kind of work together nicely. However, I do not know what is canon nowadays and what is acceptable in your Disney-verse continuity. Please bear in mind that I don't play any video games nor have I seen anything regarding Mickey since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). I would appreciate it, if you could spare the time, to go over my version of Mickey's backstory. I will gladly change whatever you deem necessary to allow the character in your game.

[SMARTAgentKC]

@artsmythe

1. Take the Average on HP

2. Didn't I have a magic item price list posted around here, I could have sworn... *a cough is heard as Sam from Twisted Wonderland hands me the list from table 2* Oh thank you Sam must have left my master copy with you for your store, ugh... *posts the list in the Character Creation Topic* There we go. Prices are listed there. As for what's available, I want to say most Common and Uncommon items are available to purchase at a price that people can afford from the get-go, Unfortunately Bracers I've marked as 4000gp and the Cloak of Protection I've marked as 800gp. You can sell your starting equipment at equal price so it's most likely possible for you to afford the Cloak of Protection.

3. I have looked over your Mickey's backstory and I think it is a rather decent backstory for one from the Kingdoms *chuckles as a thought comes into his mind about Yensid* Yes, I'll accept your backstory. It's fine

[Niven81]

I believe I may be ready for review.

(gulp)

[SMARTAgentKC]

6 hours ago, Ayeba said:

If I understand this correctly, we need to either use an existing Disney figure or create original ones that can be connected to the existing characters in a very tangible way?

Do the Pixar movies count as Disney for this purpose? I see one issue; most of their movies are set in the modern times, which run counter to your intentions for squad 1.

My immediate thoughts go to Rapunzel from Tangled. The post-movie version, so short, brown hair. I have only seen the original movie, so I hope nothing major happens in the later short instalments.
She's a bard, no doubt; her music works through her song. It does raise some questions:

1. Does her magic follow the D&D ruleset or the movie logic? Can it be assumed that her skill has grown, and she can now cast spells at a range?
2. Are there limitations on spells she can have/learn/acquire? Do the spells need to fit with her concept? She doesn't seem like the type of bard who will drop much illusions; more direct spells (aiding or hindering) would fit better with her.
3. What subclass would be appropriate for her? I think College of Eloquence would be the best fit. She is extremely charming, as seen by how she handles the bandits.
4. Why is she not with Eugene? Could it that she's actually looking for him? He was contacted by some old 'friends', left a message that he'd be gone for a short while. After a week Rapunzel was all out of patience and decided to go looking for him.
5. What about Pascal and Maximus? Do they follow her on her adventure? Pascal is a good candidate for Find Familiar (but she'll need to be College of Lore to get that one before level 10). Maximus can work with Find Steed, but his stats make him a more likely candidate for Find Greater Steed with a reskin to one of the creatures.

Alternatively, I can try to come up with something original. Can it be a descendent from a character in a later movie? Like an ancestor to Meilin Lee (the main character) from Seeing Red? I'm not saying that's the exact concept I want to play, just exploring the possibilities.

I'm aware that I need to make a separate thread to submit the character. I just need to nail down a concept first.

Edit: I know which character I would love to play, but don't dare to try: The Genie. But I can never pull it off; I'd need to be a hundred times funnier and wittier first.

A. Pixar counts as Disney *points at Merida* however you are correct that most of their movies are for a more modern time which counters the overall theme that I made with the first table the quote unquote 'Kingdom Squad'

B. The later installments and TV series really does some stuff with Rapunzel and gives her literally a second multichapter book to continue her story however it ends more or less the same way that the movie ends with Rapunzel not having access to her powerful magical hair and her being set to be on her throne. It even introduces a sort friend/rival/frenemy named Cassandra (who coincidentally is a concept someone else is pondering over)

1-3 As for how magic works in the Disneyverse, It generally follows the D&D5e ruleset and uses that as a guide to what she can and cannot do magic wise. As for a subclass, you can choose how you want things to go and if you think a particular subclass is a way you want to go then that is your choice. I'm not going to be that picky,

4. Why is she not with Eugene... I don't know player last I knew the two were engaged to be married maybe you can come up with something to answer that question.

5. That is up to you player, Although for an easy way to get find familiar might I suggest the Feat Strixhaven Initiate, choosing Witherbloom which is the college that studies life and death gives you access to one free wizard (aka Find Familiar) or druid spell of your choice plus two cantrips from a choice of three that highlight the theme of the college (which matches a whole life and death thing that her hair was capable of)

C. You can make original characters just as long as you find a place for them within the world.

D. And that is why I opened this recruitment topic so that we don't clog up the game topics or the main ooc with recruitment stuff

E. Genie is a fun one, I'm no comedian myself but I think I come up with some good lines from time to time. I'm gonna have fun when I have to NPC him later...

 

2 hours ago, WolfBirch said:

A few potential character concepts:

 

Dr. Facilier as a fiend warlock. I understand why this may not work.

 

Simba as a leonin barbarian

Basil of Baker Street as a mastermind rogue. Not sure what race - ratfolk if you allow homebrewed.

 

Princess Eilonwy as a arcane trickster rogue/perhaps a wizard multiclass. Use maybe a high elf template or variant human with a magic initiate feat. I know in the Disney version she didn't use any magic, but she had some magic in the books. Make her globe her familiar?

 

Dr. Facilier - Oh I'm afraid he's got a previous commitment that he has to fulfill. *A black octopus tentacle snags him and pulls him away* sorry it's the deal he's made

Simba - he's kinda ruling a kingdom right now but he falls into the kingdom ranks

*Basil of Baker Street - Workable, I'll allow the homebrew race just make sure I get some data on it

*Princess Eilonwy - Interesting idea, she's available

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Blanket_Thunder said:

Character concepts:

- Lumiere/Cogsworth: Pre or post being human again. Probably a wizard bard or some such thing

- Pinocchio: War Forged fighter or rogue maybe?

- Jasmine: Some kind of front liner. Barbarian would be hilarious

- One of the Step-Sisters (Cinderella): basically a blank slate so that’s cool.

- Keketa (Pocahontas) : some sort of illusionist, druid, or naturalist character.
 

any stand outs for these?

*Lumiere or Cogsworth - They will be post human, I'm sure Lumiere is a Bard and I got the feeling Cogsworth could be a Clockwork Soul Sorcerer or Chronurgy Wizard to keep with the whole time angle.

Pinocchio - his story ends with him turning into a real boy

*Jasmine - Jasmine a Barbarian... I mean I know she gets easily mad but *sees the beast master suggestion* I like where this discussion going...

Step-sisters - ooh hmm... Anastasia most likely the likelier of the two to get a redemption arc if we're going by the sequels

Keketa - She's over in the New world land region, technically outside of the kingdoms.

[SMARTAgentKC]

1 hour ago, Niven81 said:

I believe I may be ready for review.

(gulp)

review complete... please see your topic.

[Ayeba]

Oh! @Niven81 claimed Rapunzel. Fair enough. Glad I noticed before I completed the character myself. Let's see what else I can dig up...

Moana is still open? Let me know if anyone else is claiming her; don't need a repeat.

Not sure how I'd build her. She has some control over water which might be expanded upon. Or rather, the water has an affinity for her, helping her out on it's own accord. But how to make that work as a D&D character?

I see a few possible directions.

1. Make her a spellcaster that focuses on water spells, as well as reflavor other spells to be water. Magic Missile? Nope, water missiles, but it applies force because it hits so hard. Mage Armor? A globe of water that dances around her body, deflecting attacks. And so on. I'll avoid spells that can't be directly explained by water, so a spell like Sleep would not work.
I guess a sorcerer would be most appropriate here. She does not draw her spells from her careful study or divine favor. Nature as in druidic magic might work, but I see a lot less appropriate spells there. Druids are a lot more focused on Fire.

2. Focus on other aspects, where water is just a side flavor. She could be a reflavored monk, using an oar as her weapon (mechanically a quarterstaff). I don't really see her walking around in heavy armor, so fighter seems unlikely, not to mention her lack of formal training. She has some temper, but perhaps not barbarian levels of temper.

I'll explore both options. I have an application for a monk in a different game (owned by @Guardian Angel Haruki), so as a player I'm more keen on playing something else to get some variation. But if I don't get into that game, I may change my tune.

Still keeping an eye on the original character idea. I've noticed that while magic shows up in a lot of Disney stories, actual spellcasters aren't all that common. The best source for a spellcaster might be to be a creature that has inherit spellcasting that can be expanded upon, such as creating an original fairy from the Tinkerbell semi-universe. The problem is that I don't know squat about that setting except that it exists. @SMARTAgentKC, is it possible to create a character that hails from that setting but doesn't actually know much about it? If, for example, they've grown up in or in the vicinity of the Magic Towers?

Edited March 6 by Ayeba (see edit history)

[SMARTAgentKC]

@Ayeba

Moana is not claimed and I have no plans for her so she's open, and don't feel too bad about claimed characters, I've actually once submitted a slight original character for a disney style 5e game and someone else posted the same character drawing upon the same background story I had drew upon about 5 minutes before I posted mine. It was kinda crazy that we had the same character idea done in different styles, mine was more focused on magic using a combination of Druid/Arcana Cleric and theirs I think was a rogue type the GM actually went with the other version instead of mine, but I stored my version in my archive/mind and she's made an appearance as a minor NPC in this game.

As for how to build her, I like the idea of the sorcerer or druid with water affinity and I've actually found some homebrew by a very decent homebrewer for different elemental spells including water and most of them can be used by the Druid class according to their list, (I think only one is a sorcerer/wizard exclusive) I also found a Sea Sorcerer done by them

Kibbles'+Generic+Elemental+Spells+v2.0+-+compressed.pdf (squarespace.com) (page 19 and 20)

Sea Sorcerer | GM Binder

 

[Ayeba]

2 hours ago, SMARTAgentKC said:

As for how to build her, I like the idea of the sorcerer or druid with water affinity and I've actually found some homebrew by a very decent homebrewer for different elemental spells including water and most of them can be used by the Druid class according to their list, (I think only one is a sorcerer/wizard exclusive) I also found a Sea Sorcerer done by them

Kibbles'+Generic+Elemental+Spells+v2.0+-+compressed.pdf (squarespace.com) (page 19 and 20)

Sea Sorcerer | GM Binder

Many thanks. I've taken a look at them, and they both seem like excellent homebrew solutions to my problem. I was taking a good, hard look at druids, but I realized that a good amount of their features wouldn't work with the concept of Moana. Hide armor? Wild shape? Summoning beasts? Or for that matter Healing spells? Not how I envision Moana.

I'll go with Sorcerer (Sea Soul). There is one thing that is not clear in the homebrew material. The "Variant: Origin Spell List" offers some really nice water-themed spells, but nowhere in the text is the list referenced. In effect, no feature specifically describes this list as something the Sea Soul gains. I will make an assumption about it, and have you as a GM confirm or deny my hypothesis: The list works the same way as for Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul; the spells are added the list of known spells at the relevant levels, and they don't count towards the number of sorcerer spells known. Balance-wise, I think this puts them in a good place. Probably below Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul, but that's fine; I don't need to be overpowered to have fun.

I note that there are some minor differences between the spells provided in Sea Soul and the Elemental Spell list. For example: Crashing Wave is a 15-feet cone in one, and a 20-feet cone in the other. Dancing Wave deals 1d6 in one version, and 2d6 in the other.

 

I've been thinking about other spells. As I see it, all spells can be divided roughly into four categories:

1. Spells that can easily be reflavored to water. For example, Moana is not throwing magic missiles, she's throwing water missiles.

2. Spells that can with some imagination work with water. For example, Haste coats the character with a thin layer of water that pushes them in the direction they are moving, increasing their speed.

3. Spells that doesn't make sense as originating from water. How do you use water to Detect Thoughts?

4. Spells that run directly counter to a water-theme. Exactly how do you produce a Fireball using water?

The spells you have provided means I have plenty of offensive category spells without relying on category 4 (especially Fire) spells. A sorcerer that can't cast Fireball? Heresy!

I'll just leave category 3 spells alone, and hope that doesn't make me a one-shot pony. As for category 2 spells, I'll need to take some to diversify the spell selection a bit.

[SMARTAgentKC]

For the spell list, do it as you would for and Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul Sorcerer. Use the 2.0 version from the generic elemental spells document.

I look forward to seeing the character built out

[Rumrunner]

Couple of thoughts on category three, sleep could be water around their nose and mouth until they pass out. Fireball could be scalding hot water or use a sorcery point to change the damage type. I don't think you have to work about being so one trick point anymore than any other sorcerer does that. Don't think.

[Ayeba]

32 minutes ago, Rumrunner said:

Couple of thoughts on category three, sleep could be water around their nose and mouth until they pass out. Fireball could be scalding hot water or use a sorcery point to change the damage type. I don't think you have to work about being so one trick point anymore than any other sorcerer does that. Don't think.

I guess all sorcerers are to some extent one-trick ponies. Or at least "few-trick ponies".

I can justify some spells, but not all. Counterspell? A quick splash of water to distract the caster and ruin their concentration. The problem is more subtle spells like Invisibility. Great spell, hard to justify.

It's sort of moot point anyway; there are so many good and/or flavorful spells to take and so few spells known that I run out of good options even with those that I can justify. Half my spell known are water spells (Crashing Wave, Become Water, Dancing Wave, Water Cannon, Sleet Storm), the rest are the standard staples (Mage Armor, Shield, Absorb Elements, Counterspell, Haste). I must admit it is very tempting to take Transmuted Spell + Fireball, even if it means I can only cast the spell when I have the sorcery points to transmute it.

It's surprisingly a bigger problem with cantrips. I struggle to find one last to fill in that is appropriate for the character. If you're curious, my current selection is Water Whip, Water Bullet, Ray of Frost, Shape Water, Mage Hand and Prestidigitation. I would normally take Minor Illusion, but I just can't justify that one except for some very limited usage.

@SMARTAgentKC: I'm wondering about the race selection. Can I just take any race and reskin it as a human? Does that mean that the people of Moana's tribe has the same racial attributes, or is she an especially unique individual?

If it's the same for all of her people, something like the Hobgoblin would be appropriate, since they are extremely social people that live or die on aiding each other.

If she's unique, I'm more partial to something like the Gitzherai, as they have resistance to Charm and Fear. I see her as a pretty strong-willed individual that would not easily succumb to such effects. I also get Detect Thoughts which does not make sense, but I'll just have to pretend that doesn't exist or beg you as a GM to let me replace that.

By the way, what is the cost of Bloodwell Vial (+1)? Just asking for a friend.

[Rumrunner]

37 minutes ago, Ayeba said:

Invisibility. Great spell, hard to justify.

Water surround you and bends the light

Counterspell, could also reflavor as reflection, but a bucket worth of water in the face could be a reasonable disruption.

Sorry, I'm having too much fun with these 😁

Minor illusion, again you could flavour as a extension of shaping water, as being able to create a fine mist or fog then color it for optical illusions. Auditory could be manipulating "waves"

[Blanket_Thunder]

12 hours ago, Ayeba said:

I'll avoid spells that can't be directly explained by water, so a spell like Sleep would not work.

I would like to argue that Sleep could be explained by a ball of water surrounding the head of the enemy and suffocating them into submission.

Thank you for attending my TEDTalk.