These Characters Live Rent-Free in My Head: 10 Characters I’d Love to Roleplay (Part 2)

Last week we talked about several characters I would want to play; you can find that article here. This week we arrive at the top five characters I would like to play!

5. Storm Sorcery Sorcerer 

Why be the calm in the eye of the storm when you can be the whole storm? This tempestuous character gains you resistance to lightning and thunder damage, along with the ability to shape the storm around you. Plus, with Heart of the Storm, every spell you cast allows you to deal extra damage to creatures you choose nearby, allowing you to be a great blaster caster. Storm Guide also allows you some fun and unique role-playing opportunities by stopping the rain around you and changing the wind to suit your fancy. At higher levels this character can blast those who manage to land a hit against them, fly, and even allow their friends to fly too. This character feels like it would be a lot of fun to play as a caster who is trying to understand the growing tempest within themselves as they seek to become the calm in the storm. Will they tame their growing powers or will they serve the storm?

4. Oath of the Open Sea Paladin

There is something romantic about the call of the sea. The freedom, the beauty, the warmth of the sun on your face, the sound of the crashing waves, the fury of the tempest. You can follow a map, a compass, or even your own heart. I have always enjoyed characters who fearlessly chart their own course and enjoy the freedom that comes with such a life. I have also always enjoyed playing paladins as I enjoy playing a character whose strength in their convictions sees them through to victory. So imagine my joy in discovering the Oath of the Open Sea, a paladin who takes to the open seas and sails under a banner of righteousness. The first Tenet of the Open Sea really spoke to me: No Greater Life than a Life Lived Free. This character really focuses on manipulating and controlling the movement of opponents, moving around the battlefield and can use the Fury of the Tides to push their enemies away from them, keeping themselves and their friends safe. Alternatively they and their allies can slip away from dangerous foes using Marine Layer, an ability that allows them to create a dense fog to obscure the battlefield. As paladins are usually heavily armored warriors, the mobile swashbuckling paladin is a welcome change of pace. I would gladly sail the open seas with this character!

3. College of Spirits Bard

I feel many bards become shoehorned into the same role of a traveling minstrel who uses a magic lute to inspire the party and cast magical spells. Don't get me wrong, I really like bards, especially their knack for knowing a little about everything and their role as a support character. Enter, College of Spirits–a unique twist on bards that allows you to tap into the occult in order to seek guidance from spirits to assist your party members. The most interesting feature of this class for me is the Tales from Beyond which allows you to reach out to the spirits who tell their tales through you. This allows you to spend a bardic inspiration die to gain a random effect which you can use to target a friend or foe. My character inspiration is that of a Norse-style storyteller who calls upon the legendary stories of their ancient ancestors in order to inspire their friends to action.

2. War Magic Wizard

Surprise surprise, the top two characters I want to play are both wizards. I love wizards; they are my favorite class as they have access to an absolute toolbox of spells that they can use to their advantage in every situation. Want to change up how your wizard plays? You can always change your spell selection. One of the tropes I run into too often and that I have definitely used myself  is that of the wizard who is an arcane student just now stepping out into the real world. Fantasy medieval battle surely would have made use of spell casters, and among these would have been master strategists and tacticians. In early levels they gain Tactical Wit which grants a bonus to their initiative; this is highly useful for wizards who need to cast their spells early before their enemies close in. Secondly, their ability Arcane Deflection allows them to use their reaction to possibly dodge an incoming attack. Then at 6th level they gain Power Surge which is a flavorful ability that when you successfully end a spell using Dispel Magic or Counterspell, you steal some of the magic from the spell you foiled and deal extra damage to a target you damage with your spells. At higher levels you also gain a bonus to your armor class while you concentrate on a spell. And finally, at level 14, when you use arcane deflection you cause damage to arc to up to three creatures within 60 feet of you. I will say while I do wish some aspects of this character were more powerful, I would play this based on flavor alone. I would probably play this character as a new war wizard who quickly finds that they lack the stomach for battle and promptly abandons their post or is dismissed and must turn to adventuring to survive.

Side Note: I do wish Power Surge worked on multiple targets because I really want to be able to do this:

1. Chronurgy Wizard

Wizards in the Forgotten Realms are famous for their manipulation of The Weave or the fabric of reality that allows arcane casters to manipulate raw magic to cast spells. But in the world of Exandria, wizards have learned to tug upon the strands of time to manipulate reality to their liking. At low levels this character can only make minor manipulations of time, but at higher levels you can use your powers to freeze your low to medium level spells in time to be used later by you or your allies. You could freeze a fireball, hand it off to the rogue and ambush a group of enemies with not one but two fireballs. Another use would be to use Fabricate or Hallucinatory terrain at near instant speed. Or allow you to hand off a spell that requires concentration to another character, allowing you to concentrate on two spells at the same time! Finally at even higher levels, you gain an ability to pull a possibility into reality to ensure a particular outcome. This Wizard is beyond cool and that is why it is absolutely my top pick for characters who live rent free in my head. Because who wouldn’t want to play around with time? What’s the worst that could happen? 

So what characters are you dying to play?

Take Heart! 

Karington Hess

Game Master and Founder of Open Heart Games