BiFrost Homebrew: Modern Backgrounds Pt. 1

To go along with the new modern skill and tool lists I came out with, I figured a modern setting also needed some modern backgrounds. Modern no longer sounds like a word anymore, modern, modern, thrust.

Alright, that joke is only for me, but if you haven't seen the incomparable show Miranda, you are doing yourself a disservice.
Onward.

Since there are so many backgrounds, and I so dearly want to pad out these homebrew Mondays, I'm only going to release a few at a time. Now, be warned, most of them are based on the occupations from modern d20, but in the 5e style. Remember, if you don't like my take on their skills and tools, feel free to come up with your own, because this is just my own take on it. You'll notice the the benefits of many of them are similar, and for that I'm sorry. I had a hard time coming up with new benefits for occupations especially when so many in the PHB feel so similar. And no, I didn't add the traits...I'm much too lazy for that and I feel like there is plenty out there on how to make your character an individual.

Academic
Librarians, archaeologists, scholars, professors, and teachers are all academics. Academics make their living from acquiring and spreading knowledge. They work to stay up to date in their field and keep close ties with other academic colleagues. Are you a researcher or a teacher? What is your field of study? Do you have an academic rival with whom you battle for relevance?
Skill Proficiencies: Pick any two from Humanities, Investigation, Science, and Mystery
Languages: Two of your choice
Equipment: A set of pens, a book, a set of professional clothes, $500
Feature: Researcher
If you fail a knowledge check, you know where you can go to learn that information.

Adventurer
Daredevils, big-game hunters, relic hunters, explorers, extreme sports enthusiasts, field scientists, thrill-seekers, and others called to face danger are adventurers. Adventurers aren’t content staying at home or working a regular 9-5 job. They need to be out in the field discovering new places, unearthing secrets, and taking on challenges. Do you work with a company or are you a freelancer? Do you have some companions or are do you work alone? Do you do it for the risk or the rewards?
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (Land)
Languages: One language of your choice
Equipment: A small knife, a set of athletic clothes, a bungee cord, a lighter, a day of rations, and $250.
Feature: Wanderer
You cannot lose your way naturally; you have wandered all across the world and can quickly get a sense of the landscape.

Athlete
Professional athletes, personal trainers, and anyone else who directly relies on their fitness and fitness knowledge are all athletes. Athletes spend their time getting healthy, strong, and flexible and in general perfecting their bodies. Do you focus on your own fitness, or help others as well? What sport do you specialize in?
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Acrobatics
Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (Land) and one gaming set
Equipment: A set of athletic clothes, a water bottle, a day of rations, and $500.
Feature: Gauge Fitness
You can tell the relative strength and dexterity scores of humanoid creatures in comparison to you by observing them for a minute. You can also tell the difficulty of completing an acrobatics or athletics check when you have a round to consider it.

Blue Collar Worker
Factory workers, waiters, construction workers, bussers, taxi drivers, postal workers, and other service industry jobs where you're away from a desk fall into this background. Blue collar workers are often down-to-earth and are what most people would call the common man. What is your job? Is it a career or a stop-gap while you work towards something else? Are you close to your coworkers?
Skill Proficiencies: Pick two from Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception, and Athletics
Tool Proficiencies: One set of artisan’s tools and one gaming set
Equipment: A set of comfortable clothes, a work uniform, a gaming set, a set of artisan’s tools, and $500.
Feature: Workers Unite
Other blue collar professionals can tell you are part of the same class and know the same struggles. They will help you find work or lodging for a while and will assist you in any small way.

Exceedingly Late Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 9

The first figure she was able to spot came at Lisa with inhuman speed. Its green face filled with sharp yellow teeth, a rusty cleaver between its misshapen paws, it lunged at her chest and tried to drive the metal into her heart.

Lisa would not have it.

Shoulder down, she deflected the blow off her armor. The creature didn't seem to have much weight and was easily deflected. Her arm guided the glowing hammer around tot he creatures ribs and it barely dodged out of the way. It stared her down as it found solid ground, the red eyes of it maniacal, lustful, passionate. It wanted her. The sharp teeth and the cleaver made it clear. It wanted to eat her. Lisa's gut twisted as she made the realization, as the adrenaline met with clarity of mind in a cocktail of offensive self-defense. Like knowing she had to end a relationship, the same gut crushing feeling, she knew she had to kill this creature, this monster.

Lisa didn't mind the thought.

Another arrow from something in the trees, a flash of more yellow teeth of bloody red eyes of malice and madness, Lisa thought she saw it all. The missile hit her shield and stuck out from it, laughter sounded from her adversaries, the unseen and the one before her and then the beast was on her again, its cleaver swiping low. Lisa dodged the attack, though she was growing tired, she had to end this soon before she made a mistake before she was stuck dead in this dream world. As the creature picked itself up off the ground she maneuvered the weight of the hammer into the air above the monster and let its weight crash over its head. It didn't move in time, she didn't know why it didn't, she didn't know if it was stunned from missing or lost in a rage, or if luck was on her side. But as the weight made contact Lisa heard a distinct crack the sounded through the surrounding trees and the creature fell to the ground.

BiFrost: Politics Pt. 3

Just a recap; I've now got these organizations (names to change) set up:

Institute for Dimensional Study - Scholars and scientists studying the bifrosts

Templars - Religious group that hates the bifrosts and all they stand for

Thaumaturges - Religious group that sees bifrosts as holy

Dungeoneering Inc. - Company that focuses on providing goods to delvers; focuses on tools

Haversack's Goods -  Rival company to Dungeoneering Inc.; focuses more on goods

Various Boutiques - Small local companies serving the community and specific classes

Next up are the political factions. Let's be honest here, as far as American politics goes, this would not change the two major parties: Republicans and Democrats. Assuming republicans stay conservative they'd definitely side with the Templars, but have some trouble because they would also allow the new businesses to thrive: everyone likes money especially gold. Democrats, once again assuming still liberal, would likely get some power from the Thaumaturges and might cozy up to one of the other companies, they'd be the Google and Apple, lets make it Haversacks, they seem more fun. 

As far as political pressure, there is also an Adventurer's Guild that has some weird amount of money and power. Partly because, damn, delvers can get rich, and there are obviously several who got very rich. There are probably factions within there too (getting a little Hogwarts here, you know some internal conflict with the Slytherins and Gryffindors...I might add a bit fo that in). 

The Adventurer's Guild also offers more than lobbying, they offer health insurance, life insurance, banking. Honestly, they are the AARP for delvers. I feel like they need another name too. I'll work on that. 

BiFrost Homebrew: Modern Tools

Going along with last weeks new modern skill list, I also came up with a modern list of tools. These are not comprehensive at all and many of the tools and kits from the old list could easily make their way on here.

Artisan’s Tools
    Brewer’s Supplies
    Carpenter’s Tools
    Surveyor’s Tools
    Cook’s Utensils
    Glassblower’s Tools
    Home Repair Tools*
    Jeweler’s Tools
    Sewing Kit
    Mechanic’s Tools
    Painter’s Supplies
    Potter’s Tools
    Smith’s Tools
    Tinker’s Tools
    Woodcarver’s Tools
    Welder’s Tools
Chemist’s Kit*
Computing Kit*
Disguise Kit
Forgery Kit
Gaming Set
    Dice Set
    Chess Set
    Checkers Set
    Playing Card Set
    Mahjong Set
    Dominoes Set
    Collectible Card Game Set
    Video Game System
Musical Instrument
    Woodwind
    Guitar
    Viol
    Brass
    Percussion
    Keyboard
Navigator’s Tools
Thieves’ Tools

Vehicles
    Air*

    Land

    Water

Home Repair Tools- A basic toolbox used for home and appliance repair

Computing Kit - A flash drive, a small laptop, random cables, cd’s, and hardware tools. Proficiency with this kit lets you add your proficiency bonus to create software, fix computers, create hardware, bypass firewalls, and other computing needs.
Chemist’s Kit - A set of vials with stoppers, a small bunsen burner, a mortar and pestle, small clippers, and compact measurement tools . Lets you add your proficiency bonus to
carefully gather and store materials and specimens as well as when crafting poisons and antidotes.
Vehicles (Air) - Helicopters, airplanes, parachutes, hang gliders, and other aerial transportation.

Belated Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 8

Oh man, I don't know why I skipped it. I was even on spring break. I think I'm sick of Lisa. I'm sick of her story. I got too used to writing novels and now I can't tell something quick and exciting. I'll have to work on that. However, it is good to know my skills at making a story last longer have improved. 

Lisa would've liked to imagine a world where she hadn't ever been shot at. It would be a much nicer home, a much nicer neighborhood, a much nicer life. In this world she is safe, she has plenty of food and friends, it is never too warm or humid, and everyone loves her. She left that home on accident and came to a new one, but even here she is shot at, even here she is in danger, perhaps far more pressing.

When she had been shot at before it was only a drive by, meant to scare, meant to frighten, terrorists in your backyard. She was walking to the store with her friends, barefoot again, in shorts again, skipping school and looking for trouble. The black car spun around the corner, the afternoon sun shining off its slick paint, a man leaned out the car, his face covered, and released a spray of bullets. She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her down to the street instinctively. It was instinct, it was saving your best friend who held you when your mom beat you, who trash talked the other girls, who skipped school with you to get ice cream. They were safe and Lisa swore she was a hero, for a moment. Her friend never forgot it either, but that was a year ago and they had a fight since then. Saving you life doesn't save a friendship. Not always.

Yet Lisa remembered the rush of fear, of adrenaline coursing through her veins, the instinct. It was here again and part of her hated it. She accidentally finds a new world, maybe only a dream world, but a new world for now at least, only to have it turn into a nightmare the events and terrors echoing those she left behind.

She turned then, she spun around, she felt the weight of her hammer turn with her and the head of it burst into flame. A solid white flame the licked at the snow falling but didn't melt it. She would not run anymore.

BiFrost: Not More Politics

I was supposed to talk about more political groups this week. But I can't. I can't keep looking at this from the top down until I start with the small lives.

Small Lives
I'm talking about a single mother who desperately enters a bifrost to a dangerous world int he hopes she'll come out with treasures to pay for the next few months when she loses her job. She is afraid for her life, for her kids, but she has to do something to get cash quick and this is less illegal than her other options. She makes it out alive, but not unscarred, and sells her treasure to a pawn shop making her thousands, but not as much as she would've hoped. Enough for a few weeks. In the meantime she has gained amazing powers: she is tougher than she remembers and can heal the wounded and conjure lightning. She has trouble finding a new job, but she knows of another bifrost across town, she knows that some adventurers meet at a local bar, and she knows she loved crushing those skulls.

I'm talking an old man, a veteran, who hated war. But when a bifrost shows up in his backyard, he is curious and he walks into it. He fights and tricks his way around a tribe of murderous orcs, killing their leader and finding himself back in his backyard wonders what he could do now. He feels more alive than he has in decades and the way he moves can take him far. The old man plays tricks on his neighbors and relatives, he steals a few candy bars, a few beers and waits for the day he might go looking for another portal, another dungeon, another adventure.

I am talking young kids, drunk kids, high kids, and their often high parents. Poor and dealing with life the way they know best, who hear about the portals or see the lights in the distance. They go in out of boredom and come out, covered in the blood of malicious fairies, and with spells and powers they have only seen in cartoons. One summons fire, one turns into animals, another smiting those who piss him off. Get out of their way when they walk down the street and fear them when you cross them. Who will wrangle their power? A gang a criminal organization some sort of youth outreach from adventurers guilds?

This is still messy. This is still a mess. But these are the kinds of stories I want to tell in this world.
And there will be bigger mysteries too, mysteries of power, of corruption, and of where these damn portals came from. But I want human experience first.

BiFrost Homebrew: Skills

Now that Young Justice is down (for now at least) I can start putting up the rules for playing int he BiFrost setting.

One of the big difference in the BiFrost setting from that of a regular one is that ti takes place in modern times. Most skills people have are not going to match up to those from the PHB. Instead, I have made an alternate list, that has the same number of skills, but better fits a modern setting. A lot of this is taken as inspiration from the d20 Modern and 4e Gamma World sets. I figured I would adapt rather than start from scratch. I'm only including descriptions of skills for the ones I'm adding, all other can be found here. 

Skills
Acrobatics - Dexterity
Animal Handling - Wisdom

Athletics - Strength
Current Events - Intelligence - This skill covers knowledge recent of news, culture, and trends
Deception - Charisma
Humanities - Intelligence - Knowledge of human history and the human condition:
ex. art, social sciences, business, religion, and law
Insight - Wisdom
Intimidation - Charisma
Investigation - Intelligence
Medicine - Wisdom
Mystery - Intelligence - Knowledge of conspiracy theories, the occult, and other oddities
Perception - Wisdom
Performance - Charisma
Persuasion - Charisma
Science - Intelligence - Knowledge of the natural world and its workings
ex. mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, geology, engineering, and astronomy
Sleight of Hand - Dexterity
Stealth - Dexterity

Survival - Wisdom

Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 7

Jesus, really? Part 7? This is what I get for writing an organic story, and not doing just flash fiction like I planned. I promise as soon as this one is done, I'll start doing quicker and catchier things. I don't know who I am promising this too. Myself? 

Lisa chewed a handful of nuts and dried fruit, raisins and were they apricots?, as her ill-fitted boots crunched a pattern on the freshly fallen snow. A few flakes still fell, and she stopped to catch a few on her tongue. Snow seemed wonderful and even perfect. It's white dandruff surrounding her as she approached the overhang of the canopy. The trees were, well she didn't know what kind of trees they were. They were tall and thin, that was certain, and green still so must be some kind of evergreen. The word deciduous rose like a cork to the op of her mind, but she had a feeling it was wrong.

Her mind was oddly still, and she wondered why she wasn't more worried. Where was her anxiety? She only felt wonderment, not a horrible feeling at all, but surprising.

The tree cast shadows over her skin, dappling her, reminding her of the forest she entered what seemed like days ago when she ran from her mother. How dumb she had been, in retrospect, to run into an unknown wilderness. She was likely lying on the ground, in a comma, and this was her dream. She was actually waiting on an ambulance, her mother kneeling next her body, crying, feeling ashamed. It was a nice picture though she wasn't sure about her mother's emotions being that apologetic.

She considered her mother's actions, trying to will some form of honest emotion came, and then heard a snap two feet from her. She turned quickly to see an arrow protruding from a nearby tree. Lisa's hammer slipped into her hand without her noticing and she began to sprint adrenaline carrying her through the woods. Who the hell was shooting at her?

Bifrost: Politics Pt. 2

Last time I added the Institute for Dimensional Study, the Templars (name to change quickly), and the Thaumaturges to the world. They are no fleshed out at all yet, but it is nice to have placeholders. This covers the big powerhouses on the ideological front, but what about the economic front and those who would take all that money and throw it into the political front? 

Economics, we'd probably have a company pop up to take care of the needs of delvers. I always postulated that at first, when there wasn't a dedicated shop, people would mostly go to Cash4Gold and pawn shops to sell the coins they came back with. Eventually this would flood the market and bring down the price, but if only 10% of the population is going into the bifrosts, then I don't think it would be that bad. And honestly, of those going in, those who are professional delvers would likely be limited. It is like war, it is real, it is stressful, you bleed. Some thrill seekers would totally love it, and some people would just be greedy enough. 

I also think that people would go buy their adventuring gear from places like Dick's and Academy. Outdoor survival gear and things like that. You could also pick up weapons there (bows and guns) as well as hammers, knives, pick axes, etc. Swords would be harder to come by, but most people know to order them online or but them from Renaissance Fairs. 

After a while though, someone would see the need and streamline the system to be  a buyer of goods (gold, magic items, artifacts). For now we'll call it Dungeoneering Inc. They create tools, apps, etc. and sell off whatever delvers bring in. Now this is of course the big business, there is likely another one who takes a different approach, one more towards safety lets call it Haversack's Goods Inc. There would also be tons of boutiques popping up that offer more specialized services. 

I just noticed I'm taking a good chunk of this new world in a way similar to Atwood's Mad Adam trilogy. Weird. 

Next week we'll start crafting those political machines. 

D&D Young Justice: Kid Flash

In the final week of my D&D Young Justice series, I'm going to do the hardest one ever: the speedster, Kid Flash. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what class to make him. I want one that will give him the amazing abilities of speed, and mainly focus on super quick punches. This sounds like it might be the monk. Then we also have the fact that his powers come from an accident of science. In D&D terms, the origin seems to fit best with Sorcerer. Am I going to finally multiclass a character? Heck no, I want to stick with one class for these characters. It's part of the challenge.

If I went monk I would only have to change the fluff, but if I went sorcerer I would have to do that too. All the mini-tornados would be wind spells, the super quick movement would be teleportations. But what about all the cantrips? Another option would be a new speedster rogue archetype, but that precludes any crazy magic and gives him sneak attack which feels silly.

Alright, if I start with his background, that should make things easier. Flipping through the PHB I weirdly think Guild Merchant is the best choice. In the show, Wally didn't have much of a background; all it says is that he copied Barry's experiment and got powers of his own. Well, he's got this amazing speed and comes from a tradition, that likely required mysterious rites, and what is this speed good for? Being a courier. It even fits with the whole Mercury thing that the Flash totally ash going.

Alright, knowing that, I have decided on monk. It's an order who focuses on connecting with the magic of speed to move quickly and save others. At times, they are so fast it seems like teleportation.

Way of Celerity
Monks of the Way of Celerity are the ultimate masters of speed. They use their ki to move amazingly fast, at times replicating the effects of teleportation. Their techniques are used to quickly traverse distances and to beguile their opponents. No one escapes from a monk who follows this tradition.
    Many monks who follow this tradition focus on motifs of feathers and lightning, some followers even making makeshift wings and attaching them to their boots or hats.

Boundless Speed
Starting when you chose this tradition at 3rd level, you can manipulate your ki for the purposes of ki even easier. You no longer have to expend ki to use the Step of the Wind.

Unseen Acceleration
At 6th level, you gain the ability to move so quickly that you can teleport short distances. As a bonus action, you can spend 1 ki to cast misty step or 3 ki to cast blink.

With All Due Haste
By 11th level, you have learned to channel your ki into speed to travel further distances and improve your combat capabilities. As a bonus action, you can spend 3 ki to cast haste on yourself. In addition, as an action, you can spend 4 ki to cast dimension door.

Stop the Clocks
At 17th level, you have learned how to move so quickly that time around you seems to stop. As an action, you can spend 10 ki to immediately gain two full rounds where only you can act. During these rounds you succeed on all attacks and other creatures fail all Dexterity saves and checks. The effects of your actions in these 2 rounds on other creatures do not happen until the end of the two rounds.

Alright, that looks pretty good. It doesn't fit the mold too well, given that it gives spells at 6th level instead of 3rd, but I like it.

Wally West
Level 1 Human Guild Merchant Monk

Str 10 (+0), Dex 16 (+3), Con 14 (+2)
Int 14 (+2), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
HP 10, AC 13, HD 1d8
Saves: Str +2, Dex +5
Speed: 40 ft.
Languages: Common, Gnomish, Halfling
Proficiencies: Navigator's Tools, Tinkerer's Tools
Skills: Acrobatics +5, Arcana +4, Athletics +2, Insight +2, Persuasion +2

Shortsword +5, 1d6+3 piercing
Unarmed Strike +5, 1d4+3 bludgeoning
Dart +5, 1d4+3, range 20/60

Feat: Mobile
Unarmored Defense
Martial Arts

Leveling Up Wally: First a look at this. Unarmored defense is wasted on him. I might need to add something called Speed of Thought that gives the option to add Int to AC instead of Wis. Maybe an extra feat, we'll see. Alright, so leveling up Wally, up his Dex as much as possible and grab the new Way of Celerity path I made. He should be a punching machine who is always in the right place. Good luck getting away from this speedster.

Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 6

The old woman crinkled her face and kept knitting, refusing to answer Lisa's question. Lisa didn't mind, she was still focused on getting warm. A silence sat between them until the old woman got up, went into a bedroom and came out again with a pair of boots and sturdy socks. She handed them to Lisa before returning to her chair. Lisa accepted them gratefully and slipped them on while the old woman started to hum to herself. The shoes were worn in and too big, but they would keep her feet warm. However she hoped she wouldn't have to wear them long enough to get blisters.

"My son was dragged off into the woods years ago," she said, "on this very day. Before you came, I thought I heard him calling to me. It's been twenty or so years though, so I know he could never come back."
"Did you go looking for him, when he disappeared?"
"No one goes into those woods, miss, not anymore. They are haunted. We just assumed he ran away, or a goblin got him."
"I'll go look for him,"
"And why would you do that? Its been years since he's been gone young miss, decades, there is no way he is still out there, and the woods might get you."
"I have to do something. I pop up here with these weapons and this armor in front of your cabin. You said it might be magic, well magic has to be god for something. This is the only clue I have."
"I think it's foolish, but I won't stop you."
"It's really dumb. I know. I can't just sit here though, waiting to get back. I have to do something. And I'm still ninety percent sure that this is a dream."

The old woman did not try to stop her, and only nodded when Lisa thanked her for the gift of the shoes. Outside the sun shone brightly, and when she looked at the woods a mile away she saw no reason to fear them. Vultures didn't ride the winds above the trees, and the howls of wolves didn't project from it. It didn't look like a Disney caricature from one of their European films. It was only a group of evergreens. And she walked towards it feeling, as the old woman put it, foolish.

BiFrost: Politics

I've got the rules down, and I've got my general theme of power: what will people do with it? Now I need to get some powerful structures into play.

I was thinking of several factions, basically, along with an evolution of the government to match. Now I'm probably super obviously focusing on the U.S. because Amerocentricism and I'm American and such, but I would think most governments would act similarly. Also, I don't feel knowledgeable about other countries to guess how they would react without just stereotyping. I would really like to use the major large cities in the world, (top 10 or so) just to give some non-western and white examples along with the usual fare (I'm looking at you Shadowrun filling the whole continent of Africa with ghouls...that was a weird choice). 

So factions, well last time I hit a few major types of organization that would be interested in either keeping or changing the status quo. Religious, political, social, and let's also add economic organizations that would be for and against using BiFrosts. If I just have a list of good guys and bad guys, that is shitty and useless, so each one will need some nuances to play with and against each other. I'm thinking something similar to Shadowrun's Megacorps faction, but nothing quite so Machiavellian. 

Let's get my stereotypes out of the way; most mainstream American religious folk (protestant and catholic) would be freaking scared of these things and see them as gateways to hell. And then when people come out of them with magical powers. The devil has taken them! Lets call them Templars for now. 

Of course for every reaction there is a reaction, so then a small contingent of religious folk see them as manifestations of divinity and god. They also likely see the powers you get out of it as tools to be used in the end times or for a spiritual war. I like this a lot. They likely want to guard the portals to make sure only the righteous and pure enter. Lets call them Thaumaturges for now. 

Going opposites, let's talk about science and the academic community. I would see them stressing caution, considering the dangers and unprecedented nature of the portals. They would likely want to study a lot -where they come from, where the powers come from, is this really magic? Bill Nye and Tyson would be out there trying to explain it while other researchers try to get funding from economic powerhouses to research this new stuff. This would be less of a new faction, more of an option for using existing universities, and maybe coming up with a new research institute or something. Lets call this the Institute for Dimensional Study, or the IDS. 

More next time! Economic powerhouses and political organizations!

D&D Young Justice: Artemis

I'm going to be open here and let you know that Artemis is my favorite. She is the tough girl, but has plenty of flaws. Mostly she is a little unwise and has that awesome dark and mysterious past. Artemis is the fifth in my series so far. I've done Aqualad, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Robin. Like Robin, she doesn't have any superpowers. The closest thing she has is a complete control of her body and amazing skill with a bow. When I think of a non-mystical weapons expert, I'm thinking Fighter.

Artemis is a Fighter then, with a Criminal background? It should probably be Charlatan, but I already have that for Miss Martian and though Artemis wasn't ever a criminal, she was raised by them and knows that textbook backwards and forwards. 

What kind of archetype then to pick at 3rd level? I'd say Battlemaster, because then all her trick
arrows just become tricks.

Was this really that easy? Are you not going to do any homebrew today Mr. Stigler?

I AM!

Because I think all her trick arrows are still actually super cool, I'm going to giver her a Clever Quiver. This is a quiver that makes the arrows you pull out of it special in some kind of way. However, it can only enchant ten arrows a day, so it isn't unlimited at all. 

Clever Quiver

Wondrous Item, Rare (requires attunement)

This green leather quiver is just big enough to hold twenty arrows or bolts comfortably. It looks simple, but ten times a day the user may add a magical effect to the arrow they pull from the quiver. A user can give the ammunition a +1 enchantment; allow the ammunition to deal cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage instead of its usual type; or make a creature succeed a DC 15 Constitution save on a hit, or be incapacitated for one round. These effects enchant the ammunition for a minute before the magic dissipates. You cannot enchant more than one piece of ammunition at a time. 

Is this overpowered? Maybe. I am away from the DMG right now, so I'll adjust it later once I can compare it to other Rare items. 

Artemis Crock
Level 1 Variant Human Fighter
Background: Criminal
Str 14 (+2), Dex 16 (+3), Con 13 (+1)
Int 12 (+1), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
HP 11, AC 14, HD 1d10
Saves: Str +4, Con +3
Speed: 30 feet
Languages: Common, Goblin
Proficiencies: Playing cards, thieves' tools
Skills: Acrobatics +4, Athletics +4, Deception +2, Perception +2, Stealth +5

Longbow +7, 1d8+3 piercing, 150/600 range
Hand Crossbow +7, 1d6+3 piercing damage, 30/120 range
Dagger +5 (+7 if thrown), 1d4+3 piercing damage 20/60 range
Longsword +4, 1d8+2 slashing, Versatile 1d10

Feat: Sharpshooter
Fighting Style: Archery
Second Wind 1/rest

Gear: Crowbar, dark common clothes, leather armor, longbow, 20 arrows, hand crossbow, longsword, two daggers, dungeoneer's pack.

Leveling Up: The great thing about being a fighter is all the feats. Grab the Martial Artist or Tavern Brawler feat for when you are weaponless, grab Resilient for Dexterity to up your saves, and then just pump your ability scores starting with Dex and Con probably. For her archetype choose Battlemaster and give her tricks like Distracting Strike, Precision Strike, Maneuvering Strike, Trip Attack, really any that aren't melee. if you want more tricks take the Martial Adept feat.

Next week I'm doing Kid Flash. I think monk would fit best as a far as showing how fast he is, and we can just call Ki the speed force. But he got his powers through science/magic. Which makes me think sorcerer. But I'm unsure. Hopefully I'll figure this out by Monday.

Friday Fiction: Lisa and the Light Pt. 5

Lisa attempted to repack the gear, but it doesn't fit as snugly as it did when it appeared in front of her. She wasn't sure whether to feel grateful for getting something free, she never got anything free, or if she should be freaked out about her several teleportations with no obvious way of returning. Knocking on the door of the cottage that seemed her next fated step, Lisa considered if this was a dream, but no dream could be so cold.

An gray haired and pruned woman answered the door, exposing the scene of what Lis imagined Amish country looked like. The old woman wore a simple wool dress and shawl over that, and she towered over Lisa. The last thing Lisa was able to take in before distracted by the woman's words were the tears in her eyes. 

"Can I help you?" the old woman asked. 

"It's very cold out here, and I don't know how I got here, could you let me in for a minute to warm up?"

"Of course dear," and she moved to the side to let her in, Lisa brushing past her to crowd herself around a hearth on the far side of the room. 

The old woman stooped next to Lisa and placed a kettle over the fire. 

"I'd usually make a visitor take off their shoes before coming in, but I see I don't have to do that this time."

"I wasn't expecting it to be so cold," said Lisa, "do you know where we are?"

"We're right on the edge of the Cauliford Forest, I think we're currently under the fealty of the City of Sorcie, but that seems to change constantly. How did you find your way here?"

That confired it then, thought Lisa, this is no real place. City States? Forest names she could barely repreat? This wasn't real, this was a dream, or perhaps drugs, had she accidently eaten mushrooms, had she even run away from her mother? Lisa sat cross-legged as she thought and the woman found a rocking chair, addressing her knitting for the day while she waited on her traveler. 

"I walked through a beam of light, in a forest much different than this one, and I picked up a hammer in a chapel, and now I'm here. Does that make any sense to you?"

The woman continued to rock, "None at all I'm afraid, but then many things haven't made much sense to me recently. It sounds like magic though."

Magic. Ridiculous. There were no witches or wizards, and even if there were she was sure they wouldn't bother with a white trash like her. Though everything did look like Peter Jackson directed a Disney film. No, hard stop, magic was ridiculous. This was a dream, just a fantastical one. Lisa tried to will herself awake several times, including my touching a cinder, but nothing helped. If this was a trip or dream, what was the use in spending it cooked up in this old womans house? Maybe it was a vision, and she had to go on a journey to finish it out. That sounded ridiculous, but less ridiculous and at least as much fun as everything else. Lisa realized she had to find her road, her quest and so she asked her hostess a question. 

"Why were you crying when you answered the door?"