Hi! I’ve never played DnD before but I’ve been invited to a game and I’m looking for some advice for my guy.

I envisioned that in a world with bards, there had to be critics too, right? So this character had a weekly column in some newsletters published from town to town (is that a thing?) and developed a reputation for being a snob. He barely ever hands out a score higher than 6 out of 10.

After unfairly giving a negative review some bards had enough of this and they want to kill him! So our music critic is now on the run from angry bards when he runs into our group of adventurers.

He has no experiance in ever fighting anyone or anything. His parents were bards and he would have been one too but he can’t sing or play any instrument (I haven’t decided if thats because he’s hopelessly bad at it or maybe he’s been cursed?) His only real talent seems to be intuitive analysis and articulate critique - skills that have helped him at what he does, until now.

I need help understanding what stats and what class / subclass I should be, or if this is all a terrible idea…

THANK YOU!

  • Moobythegoldensock
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    10 months ago

    I’m thinking go rogue with the folk hero background.

    Rogue: You know your line of work brings enemies. You’ve learned how to get out of tight scrapes quickly and discretely (Cunning Action, stealth) and how to sucker punch and run (sneak attack.) You always carry a dagger for protection, and picked up a rapier and shortbow when the heat was picking up just in case you got jumped.

    Folk hero: You started as a commoner, and gained a good reputation for being able to take the celebrities down a peg. The people love you, but the establishment wants your head. Choose the options involving a tyrant for the defining event and flaw: you insulted their favorite bard, and now you’re in trouble.

    Choose Calligrapher’s Supplies as your artisan’s tools, since you write your critiques in style.

    Stats: Dexterity and Constitution, in that order. The rest you can put wherever. Put Intelligence third if you want Arcane Trickster, otherwise Wisdom is always a solid third choice.

    Subclass you can figure out at level 3. Inquisitive and Arcane Trickster may be viable options.

    • pikasaurX4
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      10 months ago

      This is a great idea and a good write up! I don’t know why I didn’t even think of rogue when I wrote my comment. I think it makes a lot of sense as someone with a lot of enemies

    • Sandra@idiomdrottning.org
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      10 months ago

      Yes, this is great, rogue for sure but the background that @The_Mike_Drop came up with is so awesome that it makes me wanna think to not stick too closely to Folk Hero. After all, backgrounds were meant to be mix-and-match, make-up-your-own etc. But folk hero is def the one to snarf stuff from! Charlatan can also have some cool stuff perhaps!