Prepping for this year’s Virtual Greyhawk Con, and here comes the characters for my low level session Scragholme Training Grounds, a group of young Order of the Shield recruits getting ready for the war against the Old One.
First time I’m trying to properly use the character creation rules of Hawk Tales to create a party or young characters getting ready. I’ve created 7 characters so there will be some variety, or at least as much as can be for a martial themed first level session.
Tossart of Brightport
Tossart is a young generalist warrior getting ready to face be good at a lot of things martial. My previous post about Tossart went over some of the base mechanics of Hawk Tales, this post will be more about the variety and differences between the characters.
Harrin of Critwall
Is a youngster hailing from Critwall determined to become a Knight or the Order, at 15 he has already worked hard at it for years and now he is getting there. Devotion and determination are his mantra, Athletics is his only skill, all his effort currently is to master battlefield using the Heironean signums of the longsword and the battleaxe. He hits hard even at this low level, enemies need to be wary of this guy. This is a character that when broaden a bit when he is leveled could bring a lot of possibilities, but right now he is the point of the spear of any party.
Heironeous is giving him an extra point of Pre which he will probably need sooner rather than later. A d20 Hit die provides extra Hit Points, and high Str and Con gives him the capacity to carry a wide range of weapons.
Jonel of Wilongaard
She is more of a typical adventurer, she has served in the local guard of Wilongaard, a town just south of Critwall very close to the frontlines. She has been seeking adventure for some time so a life in the service of her country seems more appealing to her than town life. In many other places she would more than likely end up in trouble with the rulers but Shield Lands in 599 CY is place where there is a need for those who seek adventure.
Jonet tries to utilize her advantages, her exceptionally high Dex, with Stealth, finesse weapons and a Composite Shortbow. Sneak attacks and Sniping gives her some extra edges. Her high Dex also keeps her AC high even without a shield. She needs to be wary of situations when she is not aware of what is coming her way, but a good addition to any party. Jonel is my attempt to replicate a classic D&D rogue or thief character.
Montard of Foterin
Being one of Harrin’s friends and training mates, Montard shares a lot of the same devotion, in some ways he is even surpassing it. They share their devotion to Heironeous and martial life, but Montard has taken the religious side of that all the way. Instead of physical training and weapon training Montard has gone for weapon training paired with the power of Heironeous using Divine Smite.
Montard has also made sure Heironeous could test his resolve, so he joined a raid on his birthplace in the southern coastal town of Foterin. It is now ruined and mostly abandoned by the invaders, and the few that were still there either fled or was put to the sword of the raiders. Young Montard killed four goblins and survived to tell the tale. This raid gave Montard real experience which he learned a lot from, he knows this is a deadly game and that first encounter was more luck than skill. Next time he wants to make sure he will survive due to skill and Heironeous and not luck. The raid made him 2nd level, so he is already on his way.
Reldin of Brightport
Being a longtime friend of Tossart that has taken devotion and service to the Lord of the Order the whole way. Reldin is studying to be a warpriest, which is big undertaking giving him lots of useful skills and feats later on, but right now he is probably the weakest in the party. He can still hold his own and support using spells or bow, so he is still very useful. The spells on his sheet are only the ones for this mission, he has a much bigger list in the Heironeous Domain to choose from. The healing spells are not needed for this mission to I left them out, only Minor Invigorate that is a quick way to cheer up your allies to not give up by providing fresh Hit Points. Invigorate spells are Enchantments that give Hit Points, but don’t help those suffering from Injuries. Real healing in Hawk Tales are Clemency spells only available from the Divine. Reldin has those too when needed, but this is a training mission, so protection and strike spells are his selection for now.
Samin of Bero
Samin is from the town of Bero near the norther tip of Scragholme. Bero is one of the few places on Scragholme that still has a large Flan community and Samin and Ysoria both come from that community. The war has formed even closer bonds between the two sides of town, that have been strained at times. Now nearly all Bero, regardless of heritage, is on board with the fight to keep Shield Lands in the hands of its people. Samin joined that fight too, and at 17 he is capable archer who has inherited a family bow that he has learned to put to good use. A very promising archer, and a good warrior in the making Samin is good addition to the party.
She is training to be a battle herald which means it is her job to keep her allies motivated and inspired. She can play the lute, trumpet and drums as well as sing really well and already know two battle hymns. Her bardic performance can give her allies more Exertion or Hit Points, and the Call to Arm hymn gives her allies extra damage. As a herald Ysoria needs to be able to defend and handle herself on the battlefield, and she is both a good archer and decent swordsman.
This was a very short introduction to the characters. I’m trying to provide characters that are ready for this mission, hopefully interesting to play and that can grow into heroes in my campaign. You can download the character sheets and spell descriptions here (6MB ZIP): https://annabmeyer.com/Downloads/Shield%20Lands/VGHC7-2026%20Low%20Level%20pregens.zip
