Editing CharacterD&D 5E: Freeport 3


'''Name:''' Ganzorig "Gan" Ikhnos of Nekai

'''Race:''' Human

'''Class & Level''': Artificer 1

'''Background:''' Sage

'''Alignment:''' Neutral Good

'''Experience:''' 0 xp


ABILITY SCORES & ABILITIES
(* includes +2 proficiency bonus; ** includes expertise, if any)

Strength 10
+0 ... Strength Ability Checks
+0 ... Strength Saving Throws
+0 ... Athletics Skill
150 lbs. ... Maximum Carrying Capacity
300 lbs. ... Max. Push or Drag (Speed -5 ft.)
300 lbs. ... Maximum Lift

Dexterity 13
+1 ... Dexterity Ability Checks
+1 ... Dexterity Saving Throws
+1 ... Acrobatics Skill
+3 ... Sleight of Hand Skill *
+1 ... Stealth Skill (Disadv.)


Constitution 15
+2 ... Constitution Ability Checks
+4 ... Constitution Saving Throws *

Intelligence 18
+4 ... Intelligence Ability Checks
+5 ... Intelligence Saving Throws *
+5 ... Arcana Skill *
+5 ... History Skill *
+8 ... Investigation Skill
+5 ... Nature Skill *
+3 ... Religion Skill

Wisdom 12
+1 ... Wisdom Ability Checks
+1 ... Wisdom Saving Throws
+1 ... Animal Handling Skill
+1 ... Insight Skill
+3 ... Medicine Skill *
+6 ... Perception Skill
+1 ... Survival Skill

Charisma 8
-1 ... Charisma Ability Checks
-1 ... Charisma Saving Throws
-1 ... Deception Skill
-1 ... Intimidation Skill
-1 ... Performance Skill
-1 ... Persuasion Skill



COMBAT [PHB p. 189]

11 ... Passive Perception
+1 ... Initiative Modifier

Armor Class 17 ... Armor worn: scale mail (also see Infusions), shield

30 ft. Speed ... Base distance per move

10 hit points ... 1d8 Hit Dice


Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 1d6+0 bludgeoning damage. (If used two-handed in melee, does 1d8+0 damage.)

Fire Bolt Cantrip. Ranged Spell Attack: +5 to hit, targets one creature or object within 120 ft. range. Hit: 1d10 fire damage and unattended flammable objects catch on fire.

Feats:

Elemental Adept: Fire ( Spells you cast ignore resistance to the chosen type, and whenever you roll damage for a spell that deals damage of the chosen type, treat any rolled 1's as being a 2

Observant:

• Increases your Intelligence or Wisdom by 1, to a maximum of 20.

• If you can see a creature's mouth while it is speaking a language you understand, you can interpret their words by reading their lips.

• You have a +5 bonus to your passive Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) scores.

FEATURES, TRAITS, SPECIAL ABILITIES
Sage Background [PHB p. 137]

• Feature: Researcher

• Traits: I'm used to helping out those who aren't as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. I am not a bumpkin, but I'm willing to exploit the image of one.

• Ideal: No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence.

• Bond: I must show my people my innovations were right, and that we don't need a devil's deal with obviously untrustworthy colonists.

• Flaw: Most people scream and run when they see a demon. I stop and take notes on its anatomy.


Proficiencies & Languages
• Proficiency Bonus: +2
• Armor: light armor, medium armor, shields
• Weapons: simple weapons, firearms (Artificer class)
• Tools: alchemist's supplies, brewer's supplies, thieves' tools, tinker's tools
• Saving Throws: Constitution, Intelligence
• Skills: Arcana, History, Medicine, Nature, Sleight of Hand
• Languages: Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Goblin, Draconic


Human Traits [PHB p. 29]

• Age: 34 years old

• Medium Size (5' 7", 165 lbs.)

Artificer Class Features [ERftLW p. 54]

• Magical Tinkering (3 tiny objects)

• Ritual Casting


Spellcasting [PHB p. 201]

Spell Attack Modifier +5
Spell Save DC 13
Cantrips Known: Fire Bolt, Mending


Prepared Spells

1st Level (2 slots): Detect Magic, Cure Wounds, Identify


EQUIPMENT & TREASURE


Carried Gear (PHB, p. 143): scale mail (AC 14), shield (AC +2), quarterstaff, light crossbow and 20 bolts, alchemist's supplies (measuring balance, flasks, funnels, various substances, etc.), brewer's supplies (boiling pot, tubes, syphon, tank, etc.), tinker's tools (odd toolbox of wires, gears, etc.), belt pouch, set of common clothes, bottle of black ink, quill, small knife, personal papers. (This load is about 141 lbs.; add 1 lb. per 50 coins carried.)


Coins & Gems: 13 gold pieces (gp); 80 silver pieces (sp); 63 copper pieces (cp); 3 gems (worth 10 gp each)

Trinket: 92 - An ornate brooch of dwarven design

BACKSTORY

Far to the north, where the clouds hug the ocean, there is a sea. It is not surrounded by land or physically separated from the rest of the ocean, but none who have been to its strange waters say it is not a sea. It is singular, in only the way a sea could be, in it's clinging fogs, its unique fish, and the fact that the waters are infused with a strange curse; to die with it in your lungs is to find whatever force would guide you to the afterlife loses sight of it in the fog, and few people leave of their own volition. There is always a reason to linger, and to die in the Waters of Nekai in your body is to find that lingering comically easy. The sea is filled with the undead known by the sea's natives as the Drowned, in varying levels of malice, and those who would seek to control them.

And yet, Nekai is not without life. Many strange species of isopod and coral feast on the abundant energies and nutrients released by the undead and the rot which clings to them, forming the base of an ecosystem where much of the life keeps moving after its first death, only not teeming with undead fish and invertebrates because they do not have lungs. And there is land there, with fields that grow oddly lush - the Drowned do not seem to be able to last long on land without necromancy, and the mindless often perish before they realize they are drowning in the air. Where there is life, there is often people, and so it is with the Nekai islands (the Waters are named for the islands, not the other way around - while there are freshwater springs of normal water, nobody remembers those), though they are a bit... strange. It's what happens, when capsized boats are often discovered because the Drowned ghosts of the unfortunate report them.

They do not fear the dead, not truly. When it is so easy for the dead to remain, one finds that the reasons they remain often end up being far less bitter, and the zombies and ghouls suffocate before they reach inland. But they know the dead should not stay here; while they despise classic necromancers as slavers, their greatest taboo, they do not see the issue in asking favors of the Drowned in return for helping them resolve their last desires and make peace, helping them leave the fog and to the boat of Aita-Bai, God of the Dead and patron of all magic. To that end, they have developed a form of shamanism that depends not on words or prayer, but crafting new bodies for the Drowned and the many spirits of the land, so that they may help the living resolve them. It also assists greatly in sailing, as the dead can see better in the fog than the living as a baseline, to say nothing of how the possession can improve navigational equipment greatly. The shamans are not kings, but they are a valued part of society, and it is rare for a ship to be without even an apprentice to negotiate with the Drowned and lead the ships through the fog.

Ganzorig is not an apprentice - he would never have been allowed to leave Nekai under the cloud he did otherwise, nor would he have ended up in such a mess that he left on his pilgrimage (which in the religion of the Nekai people, is a fancy way of saying "exile until and unless the pilgrim brings something worthwhile back"). In fact, he completed his apprenticeship extremely quickly, and being recognized as talented even among the Ikhnos tribe, famous for how many shamans there were, gave him the confidence needed for innovation. Thus, when strange men came from the south, speaking languages only known to his people as the tongues of strange nercomancers and the Drowned of very lost sailors, he figured out a way to call to ghosts beyond the Drowned, feeling suspicious of a people who had only shown up intentionally to treat his native lands as a resource. What he discovered from the ghosts of the interlopers' sailors did not dissuade his suspicions; compelled to honesty, the ghosts he found showed nothing but scorn for the "death-worshiping savages" and a desire to exploit the islands for their homes. He revealed this to his kings - but sadly, he was never one for politics, and did not know that the colonists had offered much-needed aid after a series of bad harvests, and better ships to trade with the world outside the mists. Worse, the techniques he showed sounded an awful lot like slavery to other shamans, especially his rivals who regarded him as a young upstart with no respect for tradition. But the king of the Ikhnos herself had her doubts, and stilled the hands of the other shamans - she could not ignore the hint of slavery that this new technique reeked of, but she could give him a chance to declare a pilgrimage to show his techniques were valid, and more importantly, a way to open Nekai to the world that did not involve a devil's deal with people who obviously only saw it as a resource. Thus, in one of the great ironies, Gan left the islands on one of the very ships that brought interlopers to Nekai, seeing a way to be free of them.

He has come to Freeport largely as a way to escape the colonists - nothing he has seen of their empire has improved his opinions of them, and they repeatedly don't realize the "barbarian" often has nothing to do but teach himself their language, and read - the dead are good tutors and aids in that. Freeport, he feels, is proof of what Nekai should be; an independent state that is treated at least legally as a potential equal to other nations, and protected by treaties. More than that, the pirates there might be impressed by the potential power of shamanism, becoming a much-needed ally in return for their arcane help - and it is close to a place rich in potential secrets to improve his craft. Thus, when he encountered [another PC] and found [they] were going to Freeport, he quickly changed which ship he was a passenger on.