Character Creation: Eberron

Well, d20 ain't my favorite system in the world, but what the heck. Not like I can go to the movies.

The Game: Eberron Campaign Setting
The Publisher: Wizards of the Coast 
Degree of Familiarity: Played a good deal of D&D 3rd, never played this setting
Books Required: Eberron and D&D Player's Handbook, I think they want you to have 3.5, but I have 3rd and an internet connection if anything goes weird

I really went round and round about whether to include campaign settings like Eberron on this project, but what I finally landed on was "if it has chargen rules and guidelines, it belongs." Really, I should have used this instead of just the PHB back in the day, because this actually has a setting.

And the setting is actually kind of interesting. It wants to be dark fantasy/pulp adventure, which is really cool. Shame it got snapped up during the d20 glut, but eh, can't have everything.

Anyway, the setting. We've got folks who are dragonmarked, which is pretty cool, and also robots called warforged, who are weapons developed during the Last War but who are now doing their own thing. I actually kinda feel like making a bruiser sort of character, so I think I'll go warforged.

Ah, but actually, I should roll my stats first. UGH FINE. 17, 9 12, 14, 12, 7 (fuck you). Well, sure. I also get a -2 to Wisdom and Charisma but a +2 to Constitution if I'm a warforged. OK, then.

Well, I think I'll put my 14 in Constitution so I get a 16. I'll put my 7 in...hell. Charisma, I guess. I hate using it as a dump stat, it's so cliche, but it makes the most sense. That gives me a 5 in CHA. I'll put one of the 12s in Wisdom (making it 10) and the other one in Dexterity. That leaves me the 17 and the 9. Well, 9 in Intelligence, 17 in Strength, then.

Already picked my race; I'm warforged. I get a bunch of special abilities, which I'll jot in illegibly on my sheet. My region of origin is Breland, which is an industrial center. I figure he (it) was constructed there, and when the war ended just kind of wandered back.

While I'm at it, we'll say he's 10 years old, 6'4", and nearly 400 pounds.

And now, class. I want to be a fighter. Punch things with big robo-fists, baby. (Or maybe an ax.) That makes my base attack bonus +1, my fortitude save +2. My alignment...I'm thinking neutral with an option to buy. Warforged were made a weapons, and they don't tend to think a lot about the moral ramifications of what they do, and frankly my character here isn't particularly well-suited to philosophy, so neutral sounds appropriate.

I get four whole skill ranks because my Int sucks, which is fine, because a lot of them don't make a lot of sense anyway. Let's see. Two into Jump and two into Climb, I suppose? Good, moving on.

I get Weapon & Armor Proficiency, sure, and then I get two bonus Feats. I want Adamantine Body, first off. That gives me a +8 armor bonus (but basically means I'm never using magic, which is fine). That gives me 19 AC, which is pretty good for 1st level.

One more Feat, and it has to be from a particular list. I'll take Powerful Charge; I do extra damage on a successful charge.

Cool! Feels like I should have a big ol' club-type weapon. How much damage does a punch do? Ugh, 1d3 subdual. That sucks rocks. Feels like it should be normal damage since I'm made of metal. Oh, wait, I get a slam attack that does 1d4 damage, whoopty-doodle-do. Warhammer, then. That'd look cool. Sounds good.

OK, so, my warforged is named Glisten. Anyway, that's what it answers to. It had a designation back during the War, but it doesn't answer to that anymore because there's no war on. With that said, Glisten is slowly learning that really, all it knows how to do is fight, so maybe it should get on with that. Adventuring seems a nice balance between fighting and interacting, which Glisten enjoys, even though Glisten's not terribly good. It only has about 200 words that it can use consistently, and it never quite remembers how things like verb tense and pronouns work.

Glisten is very large, and, true to its name, shines in the sun (or torchlight, or whatever - stealth is not what Glisten does). It carries a warhammer and that's about it. Unlike a lot of warforged, the wooden parts of its construction are largely covered by metal, and at first glance it appears seamless. When it does speak, it has a much more fluid and euphonious sound to its voice (superior construction of its vocal gears and apparatus; now if only it had words to go along with the voice).

And that's it!