My Tabletop Char: Griffin
Mar. 19th, 2004 07:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6The Universe:
The Dragonstar setting is sort of D&D crossed with Science Fiction. More hard SFish than Spelljammer, spaceships and electronics and computers exist hand in hand with magic, although to some degree space travel still relies on magic (because the laws of physics apply and you can't go faster than the speed of light... except with magic). The Empire is ruled by Dragons, and ones of each color take turns ruling for 1000 years or so... the Good Dragons have just finished their cycle of rule, and we're in the first few years of the rule of the Red Dragon. (However, certain laws are in force, agreed to by all the dragons that prevent, say, the emperor ordering every good person killed. So although it's not a good time to live in the Empire, it's not hellish either, and Paladins can work on the same ship with Blackguards. They just won't like each other. The team starts out as part of the Royal Exploratory Service, exploring and investigating new planets to bring into the Empire.
My char (condensed): Griffin
2nd level wizard/2nd level mechanist, Human, Chaotic Good
Stats:
STR 14 INT 15 CON 14 INT 18 WIS 13 CHA 8 HP: 22
Feats: Gearhead, Scribe Scroll, Expertise, Starship Piloting, Still Spell (and Technical Proficiency, a free feat)
Languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Orc
Weapons: Laser pistol 'Betsy', Big Wrench (functions as club) 'Sally', Ankle-holstered holdout slugthrower pistol 'Mary Lou'. (Griffin has a tendency to name his weapons)
Armor: Light Armor Vest
Spells: Most 0th and 1st level spells, on Datapads rather than in a old-style spellbook.
Skill Summary: A lot of tech and knowledge skills, with the ability to craft his own guns, robotics, electronics, and mechanics. Plus of course repair and hacking skills, and opening locks. On the mage side, Spellcraft and Alchemy are highest, but there's a smattering of others.
Equipment: Datapad, Wrist computer Electronic Lockpicks, Work Clothes, Laser Torch, Masterwork Toolkit, Flashlight, Backpack, Rations, Component Pouch, Nightvision Goggles, Filter Mask, Emergency Beacon, Demolition Kit
Background:
Griffin was presumably born on a planet in the star-system Arador, in the domain of Golion (area of the galaxy devoted to the Copper Dragons, the previous Emperor was copper), but that can't be certain, as he was abandoned there at an orphanage by his parents, who he figures must have been star travellers. All that was left with him was a note indicating his name was Griffin, and a moebius strip made of bronze (he still keeps this trinket, often wearing it on a chain).
He grew up in the orphanage, never getting adopted or finding out anything else about his parents. He didn't get along well with others, but always had good grades and the people running the orphanage managed to pay him to go to a vocational school for mechanics and electronics. (he sometimes gets pangs of conscience and sends money back anonymously to the orphanage)
Shortly after graduating, he shipping off planet as an apprentice ship's mechanic for a few months. Then, landing on a dwarven mining colony, he found that one of their robotics engineers died in a mineshaft collapse, so he signed on there, keeping to himself most of the time, but still picking up a lot of experience in robotics and picking up the dwarven language.
The mining colony's interests were bought out, and in the buyout Griffin's work was noticed by a shipping line. Impressed with the work, being mostly self-taught beyond the basics, they re-assigned him to ship duty to begin a more intensive study program, repairing and learning the mechanics of all sorts of things from ship's systems to electronics. A wizard on the ship had a notoriously violent temper, and so his datapads were often sent to Griffin to repair... but he always had something else to do first, so it usually took a lot of time. Meanwhile, he peeked at some of the data, the databases on spellcraft and Arcana, and began to take an interest. Realizing the potential for magic, Griffin went up to the wizard and made a deal. He'd arrange his equipment got top priority if he'd teach Griffin the basics of magical theory. So Griffin became an apprentice of another sort.
While his studies were still progressing, he was transferred to another, smaller ship for getting into a fight with another crewman. That ship only lasted three weeks before an accident killed everyone aboard except him, and, running out of air, he managed to pilot the ship onto a planet, where he set up the distress signal.
The distress signal was answered, but rather than by humans, it was answered by a group of (mostly) orcs who were pirates and scavengers. They were more interested in taking the wreck and would have killed him just to get rid of him, but he made himself understood that he was a mechanic and could fix things. So, they kept him along, working in a small hutch and given various bits of broken stuff and limited food. They'd also tell him to do various things like crack credit chips they got, break open electronic locks, and so on, which he did (though he never technically got a cut of the loot), but usually things like datapads, if they didn't have anything vital, were left with him, so he had a chance to read and pursue his studies. They took care not to leave him with anything that was actually useful as a working weapon... of course, he was more resourceful than they gave him credit for.
Sometimes he could see a minor problem and claim it was more serious, so he could scavenge parts in his 'broken beyond repair' pile. With that, he built himself a gun and hid it until the orcs next made port. Then he held them at gunpoint and got off. He didn't bother turning them in because for all that he was enslaved, they did rescue him and didn't treat him too badly.
From there he worked freelance, taking a number of odd jobs with anyone who would hire him, and made a bunch of his own tools and weapons when he had spare time. Foremost of these is 'Betsy', his laser pistol, which he built mostly with parts from the gun he made to escape the orcs. He eventually scrounged up enough cash to buy enough materials to continue his magical education and started using spells more and more to speed up his repairs.
Eventually, needing a steady job which would hopefully give him a lot of time alone to tinker and experiment, he joined the Royal Exploratory Service. He figured as a side benefit, being out on the frontier he might run into something spectacular that nobody's ever seen before, that he can work into his own designs, magical or mechanical, and become a millionaire. He's already sort of starting to regret his decision.
Griffin is a surly, unlikeable sort, often covered in soot and machine grease because he doesn't even care about the social niceties enough to cast a cleaning cantrip, prone to getting into fights because he's not very diplomatic and he tells people what he really thinks of them. Not surprisingly, he finds himself alone most of the time, and that suits him fine, because People Suck. He does have a fairly good streak in him though... he'll help people out if they need it, he just won't actually be nice to them usually. He's not got too much need for laws and will break them if there seems to be some advantage in it (and he's got a good chance of not being caught), but he probably won't hurt somebody just because there's advantage in it.
Should be starting in the next few weeks.
The Dragonstar setting is sort of D&D crossed with Science Fiction. More hard SFish than Spelljammer, spaceships and electronics and computers exist hand in hand with magic, although to some degree space travel still relies on magic (because the laws of physics apply and you can't go faster than the speed of light... except with magic). The Empire is ruled by Dragons, and ones of each color take turns ruling for 1000 years or so... the Good Dragons have just finished their cycle of rule, and we're in the first few years of the rule of the Red Dragon. (However, certain laws are in force, agreed to by all the dragons that prevent, say, the emperor ordering every good person killed. So although it's not a good time to live in the Empire, it's not hellish either, and Paladins can work on the same ship with Blackguards. They just won't like each other. The team starts out as part of the Royal Exploratory Service, exploring and investigating new planets to bring into the Empire.
My char (condensed): Griffin
2nd level wizard/2nd level mechanist, Human, Chaotic Good
Stats:
STR 14 INT 15 CON 14 INT 18 WIS 13 CHA 8 HP: 22
Feats: Gearhead, Scribe Scroll, Expertise, Starship Piloting, Still Spell (and Technical Proficiency, a free feat)
Languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Orc
Weapons: Laser pistol 'Betsy', Big Wrench (functions as club) 'Sally', Ankle-holstered holdout slugthrower pistol 'Mary Lou'. (Griffin has a tendency to name his weapons)
Armor: Light Armor Vest
Spells: Most 0th and 1st level spells, on Datapads rather than in a old-style spellbook.
Skill Summary: A lot of tech and knowledge skills, with the ability to craft his own guns, robotics, electronics, and mechanics. Plus of course repair and hacking skills, and opening locks. On the mage side, Spellcraft and Alchemy are highest, but there's a smattering of others.
Equipment: Datapad, Wrist computer Electronic Lockpicks, Work Clothes, Laser Torch, Masterwork Toolkit, Flashlight, Backpack, Rations, Component Pouch, Nightvision Goggles, Filter Mask, Emergency Beacon, Demolition Kit
Background:
Griffin was presumably born on a planet in the star-system Arador, in the domain of Golion (area of the galaxy devoted to the Copper Dragons, the previous Emperor was copper), but that can't be certain, as he was abandoned there at an orphanage by his parents, who he figures must have been star travellers. All that was left with him was a note indicating his name was Griffin, and a moebius strip made of bronze (he still keeps this trinket, often wearing it on a chain).
He grew up in the orphanage, never getting adopted or finding out anything else about his parents. He didn't get along well with others, but always had good grades and the people running the orphanage managed to pay him to go to a vocational school for mechanics and electronics. (he sometimes gets pangs of conscience and sends money back anonymously to the orphanage)
Shortly after graduating, he shipping off planet as an apprentice ship's mechanic for a few months. Then, landing on a dwarven mining colony, he found that one of their robotics engineers died in a mineshaft collapse, so he signed on there, keeping to himself most of the time, but still picking up a lot of experience in robotics and picking up the dwarven language.
The mining colony's interests were bought out, and in the buyout Griffin's work was noticed by a shipping line. Impressed with the work, being mostly self-taught beyond the basics, they re-assigned him to ship duty to begin a more intensive study program, repairing and learning the mechanics of all sorts of things from ship's systems to electronics. A wizard on the ship had a notoriously violent temper, and so his datapads were often sent to Griffin to repair... but he always had something else to do first, so it usually took a lot of time. Meanwhile, he peeked at some of the data, the databases on spellcraft and Arcana, and began to take an interest. Realizing the potential for magic, Griffin went up to the wizard and made a deal. He'd arrange his equipment got top priority if he'd teach Griffin the basics of magical theory. So Griffin became an apprentice of another sort.
While his studies were still progressing, he was transferred to another, smaller ship for getting into a fight with another crewman. That ship only lasted three weeks before an accident killed everyone aboard except him, and, running out of air, he managed to pilot the ship onto a planet, where he set up the distress signal.
The distress signal was answered, but rather than by humans, it was answered by a group of (mostly) orcs who were pirates and scavengers. They were more interested in taking the wreck and would have killed him just to get rid of him, but he made himself understood that he was a mechanic and could fix things. So, they kept him along, working in a small hutch and given various bits of broken stuff and limited food. They'd also tell him to do various things like crack credit chips they got, break open electronic locks, and so on, which he did (though he never technically got a cut of the loot), but usually things like datapads, if they didn't have anything vital, were left with him, so he had a chance to read and pursue his studies. They took care not to leave him with anything that was actually useful as a working weapon... of course, he was more resourceful than they gave him credit for.
Sometimes he could see a minor problem and claim it was more serious, so he could scavenge parts in his 'broken beyond repair' pile. With that, he built himself a gun and hid it until the orcs next made port. Then he held them at gunpoint and got off. He didn't bother turning them in because for all that he was enslaved, they did rescue him and didn't treat him too badly.
From there he worked freelance, taking a number of odd jobs with anyone who would hire him, and made a bunch of his own tools and weapons when he had spare time. Foremost of these is 'Betsy', his laser pistol, which he built mostly with parts from the gun he made to escape the orcs. He eventually scrounged up enough cash to buy enough materials to continue his magical education and started using spells more and more to speed up his repairs.
Eventually, needing a steady job which would hopefully give him a lot of time alone to tinker and experiment, he joined the Royal Exploratory Service. He figured as a side benefit, being out on the frontier he might run into something spectacular that nobody's ever seen before, that he can work into his own designs, magical or mechanical, and become a millionaire. He's already sort of starting to regret his decision.
Griffin is a surly, unlikeable sort, often covered in soot and machine grease because he doesn't even care about the social niceties enough to cast a cleaning cantrip, prone to getting into fights because he's not very diplomatic and he tells people what he really thinks of them. Not surprisingly, he finds himself alone most of the time, and that suits him fine, because People Suck. He does have a fairly good streak in him though... he'll help people out if they need it, he just won't actually be nice to them usually. He's not got too much need for laws and will break them if there seems to be some advantage in it (and he's got a good chance of not being caught), but he probably won't hurt somebody just because there's advantage in it.
Should be starting in the next few weeks.
