Character:Flametouched

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A character for the Eberron Campaign Setting, created by Shisumo.

Character Stats[edit]

Flametouched
Genderless warforged favored soul of the Silver Flame 1
LG Medium construct (living construct)
Init +2
Senses Listen +1, Spot +1
Languages Celestial, Common


AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12
hp 9 (1 HD)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +3


Spd 30 ft (6 squares)
Melee morningstar +0 (1d8) or
Melee slam +0 (1d4)
Ranged longbow +2 (1d8/x3)
Base Atk +0; Grp +0
Atk Options point blank shot
Favored Soul Spells Known (CL 1st)
1st (4/day) – bless, divine favor, lesser vigor
0 (5/day) – cure minor wounds, detect magic, guidance, resistance


Abilities Str 11, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14
SQ warforged traits
Feats Point Blank Shot
Skills Concentration +5, Heal +5, Spellcraft +5
Possessions longbow with 20 arrows, morningstar, wooden holy symbol, spell component pouch, standard adventurer’s kit (backpack, belt pouch, flint and steel, hempen rope [50 ft], sunrods [2], waterskin), 30 gp

Character Description[edit]

Flametouched does not remember where it came from. Its first memory is from a mere six months ago, when it found itself standing on top of a hill in central Thrane, looking down toward the city of Flamekeep. It did not know how, or why, or even who or what it was, but it felt something calling it from within the city. When it entered the city, it felt the unwelcome, hurtful stares of those it passed, but ignored them - something was pulling at it, something beyond its ability to control. It followed the feeling through the city, to the Cathedral of the Silver Flame, where the faithful gathered in hopes of hearing the Voice of the Silver Flame.

When it entered, guards mocved to intercept it, but it paid no attention. Its eyes were only for the brilliant silver fountain of light, the light that flickered and glowed and filled the room, that filled its very being... It fell to its knees, unable to stand the glory, and the guards paused in confusion. After a moment, the warforged opened its eyes and spoke: "I am Flametouched," it said, and its voice was full of wonder.

The Church acted quickly to have the warforged that called itself Flametouched banished from Thrane - many called for the being's destruction as some kind of heretical joke, for the Church had long since made clear that warforged have no souls, and therefore the Flame could never claim one of them as its own. Flametouched was deluded, or deliberately flawed in some fashion, designed to be used as a weapon against the Church.

Flametouched took the banishment peacefully - it understood the clergy's need to protect the Church, and besides, it felt no further from the Flame in Breland, where it had been banished to, than it had back in Flamekeep. The Flame was with it everywhere, and it would do the Flame's will. Light, hope, and justice would be brought to the world, and Flametouched felt honored to be the instrument of such a work. It has gone out to find allies in the work of the Flame, to oppose evil and forward the cause of justice.

Unfortunately, Flametouched has many enemies, most of whom share its faith. It also worries at times about its own history, what might have happened to it before it awoke on that hill in Thrane. When was it manufactured? For what purpose? Was the Flame responsible for its very existence, or was it merely turned to the Flame's purpose? For the moment, these are questions that Flametouched sets aside easily - it has work to do, and the past matters less than the future. Someday, however, it would like answers...

Commentary[edit]

When you get right down to it, Eberron is the reason I got into D&D 3.5. The bog-standard fantasy settings I had seen for D&D just didn't excite me, and while I had some interest in 3rd Edition on the basis of Rokugan and the other books for d20 L5R (see tomorrow's post), I wasn't really caught until I happened to glance through the Eberron book at work one day.

Rather than typical fantasy, Eberron gives you a world heavily influenced by pulp and noir, where you fight mad cultists on the deck of a crashing airship rather than slaughtering kobolds in the confines of a ill-considered dungeon. It takes the standard assumptions of hack-n-slash fantasy and turns them on their heads, actually thinking about the consequences of those assumptions and carrying them through to their logical outcomes. It makes clear that the PCs are supposed to be among the movers and shakers of the world; there are no Elminsters or even Drizzts in the world unless the PCs themselves choose to become them.

For me, it made fantasy gaming exciting again.

Anyway, so there's the character, which violates any number of Eberron's setting assumptions in ways that I would dearly, dearly love to play through. I used random rolling, getting a 16, 15, 14, 12, 11, 11 (and the fact that I had such a good roll is the only reason I decided to go ahead with this crazy idea...). I rolled 130 gp for starting gold.

(creation time: 30 minutes)