Callie Hilltopple, Stablemaster

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

Callie Hilltopple, Stablemaster

Lineage: Lightfoot Halfling Background: Folk Hero Class: Thief Rogue 8 Age: 43 Height: 2'10" Weight: 39 lb. Proficiency Bonus: +3 Hit Points: 51 Armour Class: 16 Initiative: +4 Speed: 25 ft. Strength: 14 (+2) Dexterity: 18 (+4, +7) Constitution: 12 (+1) Intelligence: 9 (-1, +2) Wisdom: 14 (+2) Charisma: 12 (+1) Skills Skills: Athletics Acrobatics Sleight of Hand Stealth Arcana History Investigation Nature Religion Animal Handling Insight Medicine Perception Survival Deception Intimidation Performance Persuasion +8 +10 +10 +7 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 +8 +2 +2 +2 +5 +1 +1 +1 +1 Languages & Proficiencies Common Halfling Woodcarver's Tools Land Vehicles Thieves' Tools Light Armour Simple Weapons Hand Crossbows Longswords Rapiers Shortswords Features & Traits Lucky When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll. Brave You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened. Halfing Nimbleness You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours. Naturally Stealthy You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you. Rustic Hospitality Since you come from the ranks of the common folk, you fit in among them with ease. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other commoners, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you. Sneak Attack (4d6) You know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal extra damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. Cunning Action Your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. Fast Hands You can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check, use your thieves' tools to disarm a trap or open a lock, or take the Use an Object action. Second-Storey Work You gain the ability to climb faster than normal; climbing no longer costs you extra movement. In addition, when you make a running jump, the distance you cover increases by a number of feet equal to your Dexterity modifier. Uncanny Dodge When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against you. Evasion You can nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or an ice storm spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail. Fey Touched You learn the misty step spell and the animal friendship spells. You can cast each of these spells without expending a spell slot. Once you cast either of these spells in this way, you can't cast that spell in this way again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast these spells using spell slots you have of the appropriate level. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells. Eldritch Adept (Beast Speech) You can cast speak with animals at will, without expending a spell slot. Equipment Clothes Studded Leather Armour Common Clothes Boots of Striding and Springing Weapons Several Daggers & Knives Shortbow 20 Arrows 2 Nets Pockets, Pouches & Straps Woodcarver's Tools Thieves' Tools Maurice's Trowel Bridle and Bit Hammer Tinderbox Whetstone Whistle Waterskin 2 Hemp Ropes (50 ft.) 2 Sacks Hunting Trap 4 Bags of Caltrops 4 Bags of Ball Bearings 2 Sets of Manacles 4 Flasks of Oil 2 Torches 10 Pitons Bell Healer's Kit Grappling Hook 2 Locks 10 gp Pack (Animal) Tent Backpack Bedroll Blanket Mess Kit Hooded Lantern 10 Flasks of Oil 10 Days' Rations 2 Hemp Ropes (50 ft.) Cooking Pot Shovel Crowbar 2 Hunting Traps 10 Torches 20 Pitons

Character Details

Description

Unlike some at the temple, it's clear from a glance at Callie that she works outdoors. She has calloused hands, prominent freckles, weathered skin, and dirt perpetually under her fingernails. Her clothes are of coarse linen in plain white and brown (or thick leather if she anticipates trouble), but always bear an abundance of pockets and pouches stuffed full of useful odds and ends.

Callie is usually found with a grin on her face and something in her hands. When she's not working at one of the numerous duties she now handles for the temple she's usually whittling away at a small piece of wood, carving some little knickknack; she simply can't bear to have idle hands.

Personality

Callie enjoys hard work and good company: working with animals is simply both. She's had to branch out into other duties as the temple's staff has dwindled: maintaining the stable's tack, and serving as gardener and general groundskeeper. But she doesn't resent the work at all and takes pride in a job well done. She's always happy to lend a hand with anything that needs doing around the temple, though she's not quite good enough with her letters for any work of that ilk.

Callie is usually cheery and upbeat. Some people might say she has a bit of a temper, but she simply prefers to deal with it quickly when something annoys her, and she'll never bear a grudge. She's forthright, and puts little stock by hierarchy: the archpriest will get exactly the same talking to if he mistreats the animals as would the lowliest acolyte.

She's devout, but she doesn't consider the formalised rites and rituals of worship to be the most important part of religion. To Callie, it's more important that the faithful embody Her ideals. She still attends services, and works hard to support the temple, but to her it's far more about keeping the faith alive than the temple or the clergy themselves. She thus takes her faith very personally, and tries hard to embody Her ideals in her day to day life. Callie also idolises the Martyred Radiance Herself perhaps more than She would have wanted, given Her efforts to hide Her name. Some of Callie's enthusiasm for the pilgrimage comes from wanting to go where She went, and stand where She stood. Callie, a little too pridefully, hopes she sees some of Her in herself; her pride may be her biggest failing in following the faith's ideals.

Background

• Callie's parents, Garret and Jillian, still work their farm nearby, and Callie visits them at least once a week. They used to be faithful, but pay little more than lip service now; they've recently stopped attending temple.
• Callie's elder brother, Corrin, renounced the faith and left the community for who-knows-where. She's disappointed in him, but he's still family.
• Snowdrop (Callie's younger sister named her) is a white pony owned by the temple. Snowdrop keeps pestering Callie to take her to see the world, and Callie's finally conceded to take her on the pilgrimage.
• Callie once subdued and tamed a dangerous fantastical beast (your choice which kind) that attacked the community. Its appetite meant she had to release it before long, but it's left her with a soft spot for its kind.
• After an encounter tracking a strange beast through the forest, Callie began to develop strange powers. She knows they aren't divine in origin, but they seem harmless and helpful, so she tries to use them for good and in pursuit of Her ideals.
• Maurice, the old temple gardener, gave Callie his battered old trowel before he passed away, and made her promise to use it every day to tend to the beauty of the gardens. Callie's often been away from the temple for a day or two, but she's used it to tend to something every day; she's taking some hardy flower bulbs to try and keep her promise in the blasted lands they're visiting.
• Callie can pick locks; a skill she used for mischief when she was younger, but never for truly nefarious ends. She keeps the skill up, mostly as part of her incessant habit of fiddling, but she doesn't want to advertise her ability.

Secret, Fear & Wish

Wish: Callie greatest wish is to meet the Martyred Radiance (and, of course, to have her approval). It's a childish wish, and not one she'd even admit to herself that she still holds, but it still lies behind her desire to follow in Her footsteps and attend the Remembrance.

Secret: Callie's secret is the origin of her supernatural powers. She tries not to advertise even the existence of the powers, though a lot of people at least know that she can talk to animals. That they are fey in origin, rather than divine, is her greatest shame.

Fear: Callie's greatest fear is that the pagan influence upon her would cut her off from the Martyred Radiance's divinity. She's under no illusion that she could hide her powers' origin from Her, as she hides it from other mortals. Still, she hopes that she could be forgiven for having them, and using them, as long as she does so in Her service. But she fears that she might not be forgiven, or that the situation might be supernaturally more complicated than that.

Edited May 12, 2023 by pyrrhicPachyderm (see edit history)

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

I've taken one liberty with the mechanics that I'd like to run by you: the Eldritch Adept feature technically requires the Spellcasting (or Pact Magic) feature, while Callie only has spellcasting through Fey Touched rather than the Spellcasting feature. But it was the only way I could find for her to be able to reliably talk to animals without a three level multiclass into Revised Ranger, so hopefully that's okay. I'd also like to fluff it as an extension of Fey Touched, rather than anything actually eldritch.

I'm thinking of Boots of Striding and Springing for the minor magic item. For the major magic item, I'm thinking a magic monster-taming bridle would be a really cool idea (drawing some inspiration from Bellerophon and Pegasus). Perhaps something with some number of charges to cast spells like calm emotions, animal friendship, longstrider, jump, perhaps even dominate monster, or haste, on a beast/monstrosity/dragon it's fitted to. I'd be happy to mock something up, if that idea works.

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

Ability Score Derivation

Strength: 14 (7 points)
Dexterity: 14 (7 points) + 2 (racial) + 2 (ASI) = 18
Constitution: 12 (4 points)
Intelligence: 9 (1 point)
Wisdom: 13 (5 points) + 1 (Fey Touched) = 14
Charisma: 11 (3 points) + 1 (racial) = 12

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

I've filled out Callie's equipment and knives, so I believe she's now ready for review, with the exception of the major magic item.

I've thrown today a draft of the magic bridle I mentioned above, based on what I had in mind. I'm happy if you want to make any changes of course, but also if you know this sort of item would be totally useless/far too useful/entirely unsuitable on the adventure you've got planned and I need to come up with a different idea entirely.

The Golden Bridle

Wondrous item, legendary

The golden bridle is a bridle and bit, with reins, stitched with golden thread. When not fitted to a creature it appears sized for a typical horse, but it magically adjusts to fit whichever creature it is placed on. It can fit any Medium or larger beast, monstrosity, or dragon, or other types of creature that a bridle might be expected to fit, such as a pegasus or a nightmare. The bridle can be fitted to such a creature with the Use an Object action. Fitting it to an unwilling creature requires that the creature is restrained or that you are grappling or riding the creature (see the rules to climb onto a bigger creature, DMG pg. 271, to ride an unwilling creature), and that you make a successful Strength (Animal Handling) or Dexterity (Animal Handling) check contested by the creature's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

A creature holding the reins has advantage on any ability checks made to influence the behaviour of the creature wearing the bridle. Additionally, a creature holding the reins can use the bridle to cast certain spells, without requiring material components. Spells cast this way affect only the creature wearing the bridle, ignoring any range, area of effect, or restrictions upon creature type. The spells end early if the bridle is removed, and spells that require concentration also end early if the caster lets go of the reins. Casting some of the spells requires charges from the bridle: the bridle has 7 charges and regains 1d4 + 1 expended charges daily at dawn. Spells cast from the bridle have a spell save DC of 17. The bridle can cast the following spells without consuming any charges: guidance, longstrider, jump, calm emotions. It can cast the following spells using the requisite number of charges: animal friendship (1 charge), feather fall (1 charge), freedom of movement (2 charges), fly (3 charges), haste (3 charges), dominate monster (7 charges).

[Peacemonger]

Just a couple initial thoughts on the Golden Bridle.

• We can definitely go this route if you want. If anything, might want to beef it up a bit as I want these items to feel overpowered for the characters at their current level... because they are. On top of the cool factor of having a legendary object is the weight of the responsibility for wielding it.
• Something else I'd like to pitch is that Callie's powerful magic item doesn't have to be directly related to her role as stablemaster. Something like a Cloak of Invisibility, Infiltrator's Key, a Ring of Three Wishes (with one Wish spell left) are other options to consider. After all, she's not just the stablemaster, but one of five people left who have any real talent and a connection to the faith, thus might get something even outside their job role. 

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

It isn't just because Callie's the stablemaster that I thought of a bridle. It also plays into the idea I had for how Callie might fight in a combat scenario.

The mechanical conceit behind Callie is one that's been bouncing around in my head for a while, which I've been thinking of as the "big game jockey". Grapplers have been my favourite archetype for D&D 5e characters for a while now, but I've played them quite a few times, so I was looking for a new twist on the idea. The idea is therefore make use of the "climb onto a bigger creature" rules. Basically, Callie's go-to combat strategy would be to jump on the foe's back, thus securing ongoing advantage for sneak attack, and free up her bonus actions for all sorts of tricks with Fast Hands: stealing the arrows out of their quiver, unbuckling the straps of their armour, pulling a sack over their head, ball bearings, caltrops, hunting traps, manacles, rope, etc. Or, if it's a beast or similar monster, perhaps trying to toss a bridle over it and tame/control it.

I made her the stablemaster primarily to play into the mechanical conceit. It also explains some of the mechanical choices: expertise in Athletics, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand and Animal Handling, but not Stealth (though thematically I wouldn't really have been able to justify expertise in Stealth anyway). She's a rogue mostly for how Expertise, Fast Hands, and Second-Storey Work play into the idea, not because she's actually a thief, or even particularly sneaky (though the halfling ability to hide behind larger creatures might lend itself to some tricks).

The bridle was to further play into the idea that Callie's primary strategy would be riding things, and hopefully to give her a better chance of pulling off a taming on any big monsters we did come across. I can think of a few ideas to buff it: more charges, faster recharge, perhaps ditching charges entirely to make each the spells usable a certain number of times per day. Perhaps some more passive bonuses, such as a bonus to staying on whatever you're riding, a reaction to stop a bridled creature from moving/attacking in a way you don't want, or disadvantage/auto-fail on saves from spells cast by the bridle. I mostly figured it was better to aim too low initially than too high, especially given I was making the thing up wholesale.

I will say that up until your recent comment on Discord, I'd been envisaging these as items on permanent loan from the temple—I hadn't realised it'd just be a temporary thing for the Pilgrimage. I will admit the bridle makes slightly less sense in view of it being a very short-term thing. But given that I see being the stablemaster as far more core to Callie's identity than, say, being a rogue, I still think it could fit.

[Peacemonger]

I hear you, and we'll make it work. Just as I made an exception with one PC not actively being a member of the faith, can work it out to potentially have Callie's powerful magic item on a more permanent loan if that's what'll make the concept work. Couple other thoughts to mull over:

• Any interest in some sort special mount either as part of the bridle or in addition to?
• Another option besides spells is to have a more direct magical effect of grappling and/or charm and/or dominate, etc. 

[Peacemonger]

Time for a review...

 

First, on the Golden Bridle. I'm leaning towards permanent buffs as opposed to extra spells. I'm think to start with the following:

• Advantage on Animal Handling and Acrobatics checks
• Advantage on grapple checks
• If a creature is grappled, can attempt to dominate a creature as an action by placing the bridle around them, DC 18 Wis save to resist. Creature may roll again each time it takes damage. Only one creature may be dominated by the Golden Bridle at a time.

As far as buffing it up, there's a few options we can go with:

• Add spells and charges, and/or spells with a number of uses like you mentioned
• Add more buffs such as AC, disadvantage to be hit, etc.
• Have a special mount with and/or on top of the Golden Bridle and/or give a mount special properties

Changes

All good here

Considerations

• Perfectly god to bring Snowdrop along, and as it looks like Callie's the only one with a potential mount, I'd be fine with the pony coming along the whole way. Something to be mindful of that though I wouldn't go out of my way to target a pony, charging into combat with a regular pony could be deadly for it. 
• For "paganism", this is a fantasy world with multiple deities around. Doesn't need to be changed, just a clarification that it's not just the Martyred Radiance and Fey worship, there's other options out there.

Clarifications

Good here

Questions

• How much does Callie express her views of the faith, that she doesn't believe in the temple so much as one's personal journey? I know she shows it through actions, but is she outspoken, keeps it close to the chest, shares it only with a few trusted confidants? Regardless of the answer, explain why for her choice.
• What would Callie do if she ran into her brother again? Be happy? angry? both? What would she want to say to him? What would she hope for and/or be afraid of?
• You mentioned Callie usually gets over being annoyed pretty easily. What does annoy her in the first place? What are some of her pet peeves?
• Animals, like people, have all manner of temperaments. They may have more straightforward motives, but there's definitely some creatures more kind than others. Does she accept this as part of their nature and is less prone to judge them? Does she view beasts and other creatures like people for good and bad? Something else?
• What would she do if her secret came out? It's something that isn't necessarily against the tenets of the faith... but it's also borderline. How would she plead her case if at all?

Additional Setting Information

• The monster that Callie tamed was a Gorgon, a magical metal bull
• Over time the stables have been getting emptier and emptier as horses have been sold off in part for a bit of extra gold and in part to reduce costs. Currently the stables are a third full.
• The faith uses to have its fair share of pagasus, griffons, even unicorns. There are few if any such mounts left.
• The cathedral has some pretty big structural issues. Its stood for over 800 years, and once upon a time was maintained by magic that no one knows/is too expensive to request.

 

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

Considerations

• Callie has no intention of taking Snowdrop anywhere near a battle (mechanically, she's not built to gain any benefit from riding an animal other than whatever she's fighting). In fact, she'd prefer to use Snowdrop as a pack animal than as a mount. As for taking Snowdrop the whole way, I'm totally fine if complications surrounding that come up and Callie has to convince Snowdrop to stay behind at a stable, if that's a direction you want to go in. I just mean to say that Snowdrop does exist purely as a knife; I'm not relying on her for any mechanical benefit.
• That's good to know, thanks. Callie could definitely be respectful towards other faiths if they shared enough of Her ideals (she considers the ideals to be most important, after all), but she'd be more disparaging towards religions like how you described the Fey worship in Arbormast. And given the proximity, I'd imagine that's what she most associates with Fey, so I think that her thinking of her powers as "pagan" fits.

Questions

• She won't bring it up out of the blue, and she'd certainly never speak out against the temple. But she'd answer the question honestly if asked, and she'd be happy to argue her side publicly if the debate somehow came up. She sees it as self-evident that the temple exists to serve Her ideals, and she'd speak out against anything that stands in violation to that (e.g. compromising on Her ideals to preserve the temple/the hierarchy). But outside of such a situation occurring, there's no real reason for her to bring the topic up.
• Probably both happy and angry, though the degree of anger would very much depend on where and how she found him: whether he seems to be living as a decent person, or whether he's fallen in with a bad crowd. She'd want to try and convince him to come home (unless he's made a decent life living as a decent person somewhere else, in which case she'd still want to arrange to visit more often). She'd also like to give him an earful for leaving, but she could try and hold back about that if it helps to get him to come home. She'd definitely be afraid that he'd fallen in with a bad crowd (e.g. Fey worshipers, thieves, bandits).
• The big one would be mistreatment of animals. Or mistreatment of people, of course: any sort of bullying or harassment. Now that she's in charge of the temple gardens, she takes that pretty seriously, so anyone damaging the gardens. Disrespecting the Martyred Radiance (disrespecting Her personally would especially annoy Callie, but even blatant disrespect of the temple as an institution would annoy her; she considers the temple subservient to Her ideals, but still respects it for its service). Slacking off in general might annoy her a bit, but probably only significantly if you could call it proper dereliction of duty.
• She sees them much like people in many regards, and would give few allowances for their nature. She'd definitely much prefer kind creatures, and work to encourage kindness (and adherence to Her ideals) in the creatures under her care. The one allowance for nature she would mainly consider is that some wild animals need to eat meat to survive. Ideally, she'd just like to keep them from being a danger to people or livestock, but if that's not possible, she'll help to put them down.
• She'd plead her case to others much like how she justifies it to herself: that she uses her powers in service to the Martyred Radiance. If it did come out, she'd submit to (perhaps even request) priestly inspection/ministration to ensure her powers weren't actually causing any problems. But if it came to having to lose her powers... she's got a lot of animal friends whom she'd hate never to be able to speak to again, so it'd take something very drastic for her to give up her powers.

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

Second draft of the bridle. I've added the advantage on Animal Handling, and on grappling/acrobatics against appropriate creatures, though I've locked that part behind attunement. I've also made the domination at-will, as suggested (though I'm still implementing it through the dominate monster spell 'cause there's a lot of text detailing exactly how that spell works that I don't want to copy out all of).

Lastly, I've swapped most of the spells for a big passive buff (including some of the spell's effects). That'll hopefully make any mount the bridle's fitted to seem pretty special without having to spend a bunch of actions casting spells on it first.

I'm not really interested in having a special mount with the bridle. If Callie did wind up riding a mount into combat, she'd probably just use it as a stepping stone to jump on whatever she's fighting anyway. 😄

The Golden Bridle

Wondrous item, legendary

The golden bridle is a bridle and bit, with reins, stitched with golden thread. When not fitted to a creature it appears sized for a typical horse, but it magically adjusts to fit whichever creature it is placed on. It can fit any Medium or larger beast, monstrosity, or dragon, or other types of creature that a bridle might be expected to fit, such as a pegasus or a nightmare. The bridle can be fitted to such a creature with the Use an Object action. Fitting it to an unwilling creature requires that the creature is restrained or that you are grappling or riding the creature (see the rules to climb onto a bigger creature, DMG pg. 271, to ride an unwilling creature), and that you make a successful Strength (Animal Handling) or Dexterity (Animal Handling) check contested by the creature's Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

A creature wearing the bridle is automatically charmed by any creature holding the reins. Additionally, a creature holding the reins can use the bridle to cast dominate monster (save DC 18) on the creature wearing the bridle. The spell lasts until the bridle is removed, or the creature succeeds on a save against the spell, without requiring concentration. However, when a creature succeeds on a save against the spell, it becomes immune to this effect of the bridle for the next 24 hours. The caster can only use the spell to issue commands or control the creature while holding the reins, though the effect of such commands may persist after dropping the reins.

As long as the creature wearing the bridle is acting in accordance with the will of whoever holds the reins, be that naturally or through being dominated, it gains a number of benefits:

• It can't be frightened or charmed except by the creature holding the reins, and any other effect causing it to be charmed or frightened is suspended.
• It gains the benefits of the haste, jump, and freedom of movement spells.
• It takes no damage from falling.

Expert Wrangler (Requires Attunement). While attuned to the bridle, and either carrying it or holding its reins, you have advantage on Animal Handling checks and on any contested ability checks against creatures that the bridle could be fitted to. This is the only property of the bridle that requires attunement.

Edited Tuesday at 01:41 PM by pyrrhicPachyderm (see edit history)

[Peacemonger]

Looks good, we can go with this for the Golden Bridle. I'll also say it's fine for Callie to have had the bridle for some time, that it's not just granted for the Pilgrimage. I will say that it's up to Callie whether she wears it all the time or has a place for safekeeping as it's a very powerful item for just the regular day-to-day. Either way is fine. 

[pyrrhicPachyderm]

Cool, thanks! I reckon Callie would probably keep it in a safe in the stables, but somewhere she can run and get it quickly in the case of another Gorgon attack or the like. She might occasionally take it out when tracking monsters, in the hope that she can capture a griffon or such for the temple stables.