So far, I've converted Thorgrim, Rollo, and Malevir to D&D 5th Edition, leaving just the human rogue, Alaina, to complete the set. She poses an interesting challenge because the optional rules for humans and feats open up abilities not available to the other 1st-level heroes from Death in Freeport. However, not every campaign is going to allow those options, so we'll build her with the standard rules first, then tweak her stats using the variant rules.
Death in Freeport gives Alaina the following ability scores: Str 14, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 13. I've bought her scores then added the human's +1 bonus to each one to produce this set of scores: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 12.
The Charlatan background suggested for the quick build rogue doesn't mesh with the burglary-oriented skill set in Alaina's 3E stat block. On the other hand, the Criminal background seems too unsavory for a character designed as a good-aligned hero--and also too well-connected for a character fresh off the boat, as Death in Freeport assumes. I decided to give her the Urchin background instead. She grew up on the streets of a very different city, but the City Secrets feature will let her adjust quickly to this new urban environment.
The Urchin background gives her the Sleight of Hand and Stealth skills. Add Acrobatics, Deception, Investigation, and Perception from the rogue class list. Both her class and background give her proficiency with thieves' tools, so I replaced the redundant proficiency with a dice set. She's a burglar, so I applied her Expertise ability to Stealth and thieves' tools. Alaina's 3E stats listed her languages as Common, Elven and Orc, but in 5E she will only know Common and one other language. I chose Orc over Elvish because the party already has a half-elf, and nobody else speaks Orc.
For the equipment she receives from her class and background, I chose leather armor, a short sword, a short bow, two daggers, a burglar's pack, and thieves' tools, then spent her 10 gp on a second shortsword. In 5E, any character can attack with two weapons if they are both light, so Alaina can keep her 3E fighting style without needing to spend a feat.
To summarize, Alaina gets the following stats:
Human Rogue 1 (Urchin).
Str 14 (+2), Dex 16 (+3) (+5 saves, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand; +7 Stealth), Con 12 (+1), Int 14 (+2) (+4 saves, Investigation), Wis 11 (+0) (+2 Perception), Cha 12 (+1) (+3 Deception).
AC 14, Speed 30, Hit Points 9, HD 1d8.
Two shortswords +5 (1d6+3 and 1d6), short bow +5 (1d6+3), two daggers (1d4+3 and 1d4).
Sneak Attack +1d6, Expertise (Stealth, thieves' tools [+4 plus ability modifier]).
In campaigns using the optional feats rules, Alaina may choose to use the variant human traits appearing in the sidebar on page 31 of the Player's Handbook. There are several feats that would be useful for a rogue, notably Dungeon Delver and Skulker, while Dual Wielder would enhance her two-weapon fighting skills. For my variant Alaina, however, I chose Alert. Avoiding surprise and going first in a fight are huge advantages for an adventurer who wants to survive to see her next level! Add Athletics to her skill list, and repurchase her ability scores to give the following stats:
Str 14 (+2) (+4 Athletics), Dex 16 (+3) (+5 saves, Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand; +7 Stealth), Con 12 (+1), Int 13 (+1) (+3 saves, Investigation), Wis 10 (+0) (+2 Perception), Cha 10 (+0) (+2 Deception).
Feat: Alert; Initiative +8.
As you can see, she loses very little from these changes (her Int and Cha modifiers are each reduced by 1) but gains a significant edge in combat.
That completes the party of pregenerated characters from Death in Freeport. I hope that you've enjoyed this little exercise as much as I have! As I gain more experience with the 5th Edition rules, I will likely return again to the subject of running Freeport in that system.
No comments:
Post a Comment