The Freeport Iconics in D&D 5th Edition, Part 3: Malevir

Thorgrim and Rollo from Death in Freeport were converted to D&D 5th Edition in my last two columns, and now it's time for the half-elf sorcerer Malevir.

The obvious starting point here is his sorcerous origin. The 5E Player's Handbook offers two choices, draconic bloodline and wild magic, either of which would fit well into the Freeport setting. Dragons and speaker of Draconic have been quite rare in Freeport products to date, but the city is home to a small but visible cult devoted to the draconic bloodline, who would certainly take an interest in any PC sorcerer with that origin. On the other hand, wild magic fits very well with the unpredictable weirdness and dark humor that permeates Freeport, so I eventually chose that path for Malevir.

Death in Freeport gives Malevir the following ability scores: Str 9, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 17. I bought the following 5E scores for him: Str 8, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14. His racial bonuses improve Dex to 16, Con 14, and Cha 16. Of all four sample characters, Malevir's scores remain closest to his 3E stats.

As with the other heroes, the original adventure doesn't give much information to go on for choosing a background, so I simply gave Malevir the Charlatan background used by the quick-build notes for his class. This choice will play up the fact that he's both the most charismatic member of the party, but as a sorcerer, he's not necessarily the most trustworthy. A generous DM will allow him to use his False Identity feature to create a new alternate persona in Freeport that he can use when his public hero role proves too conspicuous.

He gains the Deception and Sleight of Hand skills from his background. Add Arcana and Persuasion from his class list, and Intimidate and Perception for his racial Skill Versatility. His third language should be Dwarvish, to match his 3E sheet.

Malevir knew mage armor and magic missile in 3E, so keep those spells for 5E. (If you decide to change him to be a draconic bloodline sorcerer for your game, draconic resilience will make mage armor moot, so replace it with a new spell.) Chill touch, fire bolt, friends, and mage hand provide a well-rounded set of cantrips.

For equipment, choose a light crossbow, two daggers, an arcane focus (the amulet in his portrait), and an explorer's pack. 5E sorcerers are not proficient with maces, so ignore that item on his 3E sheet; he uses a dagger instead, which benefits from his high Dex. Spend his 15 gp on a forgery kit so that he can use both his tool proficiencies.

To summarize, Malevir gains the following stats:

Half-Elf Sorcerer 1 (Charlatan).
Str 8 (-1), Dex 16 (+3) (+5 Sleight of Hand), Con 14 (+2) (+4 saves), Int 12 (+1) (+3 Arcana), Wis (+0) (+2 Perception), Cha 16 (+3) (+5 saves, Deception, Intimidate, Persuasion).
AC 13 (16 with mage armor), Speed 30, Hit Points 8, HD 1d6.
Dagger +5 (1d4+3), light crossbow +5 (1d8+3).
Wild Magic (wild magic surge, touch of chaos), spell save DC 13, spell attack bonus +5.
Cantrips known: chill touch, fire bolt, friends, mage hand.
1st-level spells known (2 slots): mage armor, magic missile.

Next time, we'll finish up with Alaina, the human rogue.