Aetolian characters as D&D characters

Phoenecia

So. Being a huge nerd, I love playing Dungeons and Dragons. Currently I play in a 5th edition campaign, and also DM a 5th edition campaign with a few fellow Aetolians using the Dragon Heist adventure.

A while back, I was creating a sheet for a new character in the event that my current character died since my party lacks access to any sort of means of resurrection, and I had the thought that Phoe would actually probably work well with the classes and archetypes available. I've played a Revised Ranger of the Hunter archetype and a Fighter of the Battlemaster archetype, but I've always wanted to play a Paladin, so just for fun, I turned Phoenecia into a D&D character.

Having interacted with so many characters on Aetolia, I thought it'd be interesting to see how other people would build their characters if they were to field them at the D&D table. For people who've actually played D&D before, making a sheet for your character will probably be really easy. For those of you who haven't, but want to give it a shot anyway, feel free to ask someone in the know how it works.

Character generation guidelines

* For recreating your character in D&D form, we're gonna go with the character generation rules I tend to use when I run games.

* For handy dandy character sheets, Mythweavers is a good site to use. Or Roll20.

* 5th edition is ideal as it's what's current, and keeps the stats and abilities consistent.

* Normally I start characters at level 3 (because starting at level 1 is really difficult, and by level 3 you start getting into your more useful class stuff). For the sake of this thread, it'll be level 5.

* Anything in officially published 5th edition material is fair game for class, subclass, race, spell, feat selection, etc, as is anything you might find in Wizard of the Coast's Unearthed Arcana (provided it's not been later published in an official module).

* You can multiclass, but it's subject to D&D's rules on multiclassing.

* Race selection: Ideally, pick the race that most closely matches your character (either their base race or whatever is closest to their endgame form). Xorani? Likely going to want to pick Dragonborn or Lizardfolk. Tsol'aa? Some variety of elf - there's a lot of them. Kelki? Probably going to be a Triton.

* Stats: Use point buy for stats. I like to use this one here.

* A free feat at level 1. Feats are nice. Feats are fun. I like giving my players a free feat to encourage more creative builds.


Lady Phoenecia Sinclair, the Azure Rose
Sheet can be seen here.

Class: Paladin
Subclass: Oath of the Ancients
Race: Human (Variant)
Background: Noble
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Deity: Sune, goddess of Love and Beauty
HP: 48
AC: 19
Armor: Fullplate
Languages: Common, Sylvan

STR: 16 DEX: 10 CON: 16 INT: 10 WIS:10 CHA: 14

Saving throws: STR +3, CON +2, WIS +2, CHA +4
Weapons: Glaive (1d10+3)
Fighting Style: Defense. AC +1 while wearing armor.
Skills: Athletics +6, Deception +2, History +3, Insight +3, Intimidation +2, Performance +2, Persuasion +5

Ideals

* I always try to help those in need, no matter the personal cost.
* There's beauty in all things, and when there's beauty, there's hope.
* Those of wealth and standing are obligated to protect those with little or none.

Bonds

* I was blessed with wealth and good fortune, and seek to spread the same to others.
* My life was once saved by a complete stranger. I hope to repay their courage and kindness one day.

Flaws

* My mood changes are often sudden, and make me unpredictable amongst even friends and allies.
* I'm a sucker for a handsome face.
* Sometimes I get a bit distracted with indulging in the pleasures life has to offer.

Background Feature: Position of Privilege

Thanks to your noble birth, people are inclined to think the best of you. You are welcome in high society, and people assume you have the right to be wherever you are. The common folk make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure, and other people of high birth treat you as a member of the same social sphere. You can secure an audience with a local noble if you need to.

Class Features
Divine Smite

Starting at 2nd level, when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal radiant damage to the target, in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 2d8 for a 1st-level spell slot, plus 1d8 for each spell level higher than 1st, to a maximum of 5d8. The damage increases by 1d8 if the target is an undead or a fiend.

Lay on Hands

Your blessed touch can heal wounds. You have a pool of healing power that replenishes when you take a long rest. With that pool, you can restore a total number of hit points equal to your paladin level × 5.

As an action, you can touch a creature and draw power from the pool to restore a number of hit points to that creature, up to the maximum amount remaining in your pool.
Alternatively, you can expend 5 hit points from your pool of healing to cure the target of one disease or neutralize one poison affecting it. You can cure multiple diseases and neutralize multiple poisons with a single use of Lay on Hands, expending hit points separately for each one.

This feature has no effect on undead and constructs.

Divine Health

By 3rd level, the divine magic flowing through you makes you immune to disease.

Channel Divinity

Nature's Wrath. You can use your Channel Divinity to invoke primeval forces to ensnare a foe. As an action, you can cause spectral vines to spring up and reach for a creature within 10 feet of you that you can see. The creature must succeed on a Strength or Dexterity saving throw (its choice) or be restrained. While restrained by the vines, the creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, it frees itself and the vines vanish.

Turn the Faithless. You can use your Channel Divinity to utter ancient words that are painful for fey and fiends to hear. As an action, you present your holy symbol, and each fey or fiend within 30 feet of you that can hear you must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is turned for 1 minute or until it takes damage.

A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far away from you as it can, and it can't willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also can't take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If there's nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge action.

If the creature's true form is concealed by an illusion, shapeshifting, or other effect, that form is revealed while it is turned.

Spells

Oath Spells
Ensnaring Strike, Speak with Animals, Moonbeam, Misty Step

1st Level
Rotates between Bless, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith and Compelled Duel.

2nd Level
Rotates between Warding Bond, Find Steed, Prayer of Healing, and Lesser Restoration.

Feats

Polaerm Master
* can use a bonus action to make an attack with opposite end of the weapon. Damage is a d4, bludgeoning.
* wielding a glaive, halberd, pike, or quarterstaff provoke attack of opportunity when enemies enter range

Sentinel
• When you hit a creature with an opportunity attack, the creature’s speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.
• Creatures within 5 feet of you provoke opportunity attacks from you even if they take the Disengage action before leaving your reach.
• When a creature within 5 feet of you makes an attack against a target other than you (and that target doesn’t have this feat), you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the attacking creature.

Character background

Hailing from a small town that sits at a fey crossing where the Prime Material and the Feywilds meet, Phoenecia is a member of a minor noble family that made its name and fortune on shipping and trade of exotic and luxury goods, bolstered by blessings of the fey.

As a child, her life was saved by a stranger who gifted her with a single blue rose, but left no name. The event helped shape her adult life. Raised in a life of relative wealth and privilege, she was taught that - like the fey - such fortune could be fickle and change at a moment's notice, and so it ought to be enjoyed and shared with those less fortunate - the nobility had an obligation to aid and serve the common folk. Inspired by the man that had saved her life many years before, and not content to simply remain at home for the rest of her life, she adopted the symbol of the azure rose as her personal emblem, and set out to travel the lands, using her wealth, charm, and her devotion to the goddess of Love and Beauty, Sune, to spread love, joy, and hope to places she feels could stand to remember how to enjoy life.

As a knight and devotee of Sune, she travels from town to town, and city to city, collecting exotic trinkets and often bartering with them or gifting them to individuals that capture her interest, finding enjoyment in the expressions she earns when others are given rare or luxurious finds. When not on the road, she can often be found at inns and taverns, immersing herself in singing, dancing, fine food, drink, and ample company. She finds enjoyment in regaling folk with tales of adventure, heroism, and love as a means of inspiring and bolstering spirits, or giving pep talks to soldiers preparing to go into battle.

With her adherence to the Oath of the Ancients and her belief in the principles of Sune, she seeks to protect all things of beauty in addition to inspiring it in others to help bring out their full potential. She might flirt or have a fling with a lonely soldier to provide moments of happiness or relief. Or perhaps spend a day helping a flustered youth impress a person they love. Gift something of luxury to a person that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Wherever she goes, she leaves a gift of flowers - usually her signature blue roses - seeking to emulate her idol. Her belief is that such actions and enjoying the little things in life helps keep hope alive even when things seem bleak.

While her rather fanciful appearance and her habit of collecting expensive, exotic, and pretty trinkets project an air of vanity (which isn't too far off), she only spends what she needs to maintain such a lifestyle, and most of the funds and trinkets she collects during her travels is either bartered or given away, keeping in line with her family's principle of looking after those less fortunate.

Despite the amount of care she puts into her looks, she's not one to shy away from battle. As a Paladin, she fights on the front lines, but places a much greater emphasis on protecting the allies she chooses to fight alongside, and helping them achieve glory much more easily. Even if she's not the one earning kills, helping someone else in battle bolsters their confidence.

Though mostly cheerful and pleasant, she is still not someone you want to anger. Things that tend to draw her fury include: sullying or insulting her appearance, destroying artwork, architecture, and other things of beauty, abusing the land, mistreating the love or affections of another, oppression or mistreatment of commoners (especially by nobles).

I've never played a Paladin in D&D, and I've always wanted to, but I was never fond of the stick-in-the-mud Lawful Good type that's usually associated with the class. Oath of the Ancients is a strong subclass, and it seemed to suit Phoe the most with its principles focused on enjoying life to the fullest, and encouraging others to do the same so that hope and light remain alive. Oath of the Ancients coupled with her Sune devotion would also make morality a bit more flexible.

Making her a follower of Sune is kind of a fun spin on the typical behavior that people usually expect from Bards: Bards usually have a high Charisma stat, and the stereotype tends to be that Bards can/will talk their way out of any situation, and also bang everything on two legs. Paladins ALSO tend to have a high Charisma stat for their spellcasting, making them not only a good Face character for a party, but also capable of charming their way around social encounters. Kind of a funny way of reflecting Aetolia Phoe's knack for charming people. The high CHA coupled with being a noble also makes it easy to talk her way into places her party might not be able to get into otherwise, or help arrange meetings with other nobles or people in positions of power; she can provide a much more respectable air to any adventuring party she's in. Also makes for a convenient distraction.

Other things I was able to translate pretty well from Aetolia to D&D: Phoe's fae-like nature, the preference for glaives like I tend to draw her in art, her flower theme and noble background.

I did debate doing her sheet up as a DEX build as opposed to a STR one for better Initiative rolls, but having the Polearm Master and Sentinel feats make her very good at protecting allies and making them much more capable of earning kills. She's a tanky hybrid support/damage character that's still more than capable of smashing a few heads in. Plus the advantage of using a glaive? It has reach, so she can attack from two spaces away while keeping herself relatively safe. And if she were to get to level 7? Oath of the Ancients gives the ability to reduce magic damage by HALF against herself and allies within 10 feet of her.

The main downside to having a noble Paladin that's a devotee of the goddess of love and beauty in your adventuring party? Keeping a low profile is next to impossible as she'd enjoy being the party's hype man, and is kind of obligated to engage in actions to help spread love and joy; followers of Sune are encouraged to engage in activities that promote beauty, which are usually parties. Not to mention how much money she'd end up throwing around.

I think I might run this type of character when I next get a chance to play in a game. Seems like it'd be super fun. XD

So what would your character look like as a D&D adventurer?