A Hero's Rest

Dungeons & Dragons 5e on Roll20

About the adventure

A Hero's Rest is a two-part one-shot game, where players are commoners in the town of Cindergrave. Their names have been drawn for Graveguard duty, and they are expected to patrol the Cemetery at night to make note of any maintenance the graves require and to make sure no one else is in the Cemetery after dark and causing any trouble. A slightly eerie but traditionally uneventful job considering the number of clerics that keep the residents of the Cemetery more spiritually restful. You try to remind yourself of this fact as you put on the mantle and head out to meet with Father Sanders before your first night; the last shift of Graveguards talked about some strange lights and sounds through the graves, and you feel ever so slightly worried about that. At least you'll get to visit the grave of a few heroes and heroines. Players will begin as level 0 characters (having all features of a race and a background, but no character levels), all living in the town of Cindergrave. You are all regular folks, having to deal with supernatural occurrences in the graveyard, for now at least. More information about characters is available in Character Creation Details.

Additional Details

How to prepare

Make sure you have a roll20 account and a discord account; links will be provided in the Prep Materials emailed to you when you sign up for the game. Create your characters as listed above, and make sure to pick out an Idol or two for them.

What I provide

I will have maps and information available as necessary. And Character Voices.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

(none)

How will character creation work

Using official sources (Unearthed Arcana included), create a character with only a race and a background related to your life in Cindergrave. You will not start with any class levels, or any equipment related to class. To clarify: You get equipment from your background, and start with the clothes on your back. The Graveguard will provide some padded armor and few shortswords for the next shift, but outside of that and some basic supplies (food, water, torches) you'll just have your wits. But really, what else could you need? Living near the Cemetery, you're familiar with some of the local "celebrities" and hold one or two members of a famous adventuring party buried there in high regard. Be it for skill, personality, or drive, you know their story and seek to emulate some part of them. Choose one or two members of the Duilleagan Crùbach listed below: ---- Marra Mixwater, The Halfling Alchemist (f) Originally a charlatan peddling snake oil from town to town, Marra found herself at the wrong end of a few different blades over her life. She had managed to rip off the Duilleagan Crùbach actually, and in the ensuing chase ended up crashing into another enemy. Determined to survive to lie another day, she fought alongside the adventurers against their shared enemy and impressed them with her alchemical knowledge. In exchange for not seeking retribution (or stopping her from fooling a few people on the way), Marra joined the Duilleagan Crùbach and went on to become their potions specialist. Though talented with bombs and the occasional mutagen, her ability to brew healing drafts saved the adventures many times and spared the lives of many innocents from maladies. She was considered a wily one right to the end, though her reputation as a kind healer eventually overshadowed her former life. Bonk “The Problem” Yonker, The Goblin Barbarian (m) Originally more of a party mascot, Bonk earned his title “The Problem” through his chaotic mannerism and general lack of both common sense and self-preservation instincts. However, after a particular string of events in a town plagued by the undead, Bonk was cursed with the ability to see the spirits of the dead. As any sensible goblin would, Bonk adapted to his new situation and figured out how to enter a trance state where the fury of the dead could be channeled through the goblin’s tiny body to great effect. It took a few tries for him to get it under control (and even that was tenuous), but Bonk was eventually considered a full member of the Duilleagan Crùbach and spent his days fighting to avenge wrongful deaths. Of course, it may have simply been so he could have some peace and quiet, but the results outweighed the motivations. Finn Goldbraid, the Human Bard (m) A flamboyant entertainer by trade and an even more flamboyant personality in practice, Finn was obsessed with learning about the adventurer’s life firsthand. He tried his hand at a few different groups, but found the mercenary lifestyle against his liking; the focus on coin was distracting. The Duilleagan Crùbach was more of an accident for him, stumbling into their troupe as they fumbled their way through an investigation into nearby ruins and clearly in need of a lore expert such as himself. Their admittedly chaotic nature intrigued Finn, who stuck around far past that adventure to chronicle the group’s exploits as they uncovered ancient secrets and worked from the heart rather than from the coinpurse. He was considered to be one of the main talkers of the group, and his songs and ballads are popular from nobility to peasantry. Garda Ironback, the Half-Orc Paladin (f) A curious case for a Paladin, Garda proudly bears the emblems of The Eternal Rose upon her shield and armor and venerates the Goddess of Art, Love, and Beauty through liberation. Once a slave within the cult of Asmodeus, Garda broke her chains and found peace from the world’s darkness in the Goddess’s domain. She then vowed to never allow a person to be bound away from the world’s beauty, and over her life became a symbol of hope and freedom to the downtrodden. While occasionally on the wrong side of the law, hers in a name often invoked in good faith when a law’s protections do not justly serve its citizens. Though rough and abrasive, she stood for no slight against her found family and loved life more fiercely than anyone. Lanliss Veldergard, the Half-Elf Cleric (f) Originally a cloistered priestess of Desna, Lanliss found herself aiding the Duilleagan Crùbach when they were investigating a city-wide case of nightmares that were plaguing the populace. While initially against the adventuring life, she found the (typically) good work the Duilleagan Crùbach did to be extremely rewarding. While slightly naive to the ways of the world, hers were words of wisdom and perseverance; it was rare to find souls she could not console, and neigh impossible to keep her from trying when Lanliss found one she couldn’t. She found great comfort among her fellows, though none more so than Garda Ironback with whom she shared a love of life and a strong conviction towards good. The two remained together until the end of their days. Markus Greenstride, the Human Druid (m) Markus is considered a bit of an enigma within Duilleagan Crùbach, though not for any particular mysterious reason. No, the hermit-turned-hero is simply a bit of a cryptid as far as the group is concerned, and not just for his penchant for studying supernatural creatures to turn into. His status is more due to the fact that he’s perfectly normal whenever a stranger is around, or when they moved through towns; a veritable font of wisdom and natural knowledge. When it was just the Duilleagan Crùbach around however, he was apparently considered one of the most buckwild, reckless morons that they ever had the privilege to travel with. No one who met the man believed it, and it’s a matter of some debate to this day. Part of his legacy lives on in several druidic circles, lasting in new styles of Wild Shape, as well in several sightings of various cryptids in strange places. Caladrel Nailo, The Elven Fighter (m) One of the Nailo siblings of the Duilleagan Crùbach, Caladrel left the Wood of Aedgul with his sister Tessara seeking fame through righteous actions. Unfortunately that led to a number of mishaps, and even without his sister’s flexible morals on property he would have earned his reputation as a bit of a hothead. He was always fast to act, and unfortunately listening to both sides of the story was not a skill he polished quickly; still, his good intentions often acted as the spearhead of the Duilleagan Crùbach’s direction in life. His reckless approach to heroism was matched by a relentless dedication to his martial prowess, and he became widely regarded as one of the true masters of weaponry within the kingdom. His last years were spent passing on that prowess to students of the martial academy he started, giving all with a good heart a chance to learn. Though it ultimately led to the untimely deaths of the Duilleagan Crùbach, he was the one that pushed them onto their final quest that saved the realm. Svaldri Stonewatch, The Dwarf Monk (f) While more reserved than her companions, Svaldri’s love of brewing and other culinary arts kept her friends well fed on their journeys. Her generally even keel acted as a balancing point for the Duilleagan Crùbach, making sure that the good intentions of her friends didn’t overextend the party’s reach. She was often at Marra’s side while she tended to wounds despite their rocky start, and often with Beshker when more academic approaches were called for. Referenced often as the voice of reason, it’s likely by her hand that the party avoided many unnecessary fights; thanks to her years of monastic training, the party also won many of the unavoidable fights as well. Ikki Valder, the Gnome Ranger (f) A solid tie with Baggakorkak and Bonk for being the wild child of the Duilleagan Crùbach, Ikki is a ranger and hunter without compare. Whenever the party took to the wilds, particularly forests and plains, Ikki was at the forefront as their guide and navigator. When that wasn’t necessary she was often causing unintentional havoc with the goblins of the party and her raptor companion, Raz. With a penchant for taming more beasts than she slew, Ikki had a tendency to leave a slightly more domesticated beast behind rather than remove it from the equation; several farmers in the northern reaches of the kingdom can trace their unusual beasts of burden to her efforts. A lover of nature and good natured art, she also tended to act as the go-between for Markus, Lanliss, and Garda when they had to deal with people. Tessara Nailo, The Elven Rogue (f) While not necessarily a criminal or charlatan by trade (regardless of what some of her early wanted posters claimed), Tessara left her forest home seeking fortune and often found it on the wayside of her brother’s heroics. She eventually found more coin in the “honest” work of adventuring, acting as a scout, spy, and trapmaster for the Duilleagan Crùbach; that being said, she kept a habit of lightening pockets when she got bored at parties. While perhaps the most difficult of the group to sway to action purely for the sake of being noble, she had a soft spot for children; many orphanages she passed found a sudden and sizeable donation left upon their step. Tessara often visited her brother’s academy, teaching more dexterous arts to the students and bringing any particularly gifted urchins to her brother’s step to learn. Baggakorkak, The Goblin Sorcerer (m) Goblins like fire. Baggakorkak loved fire. He loved acid. He loved ice and lightning. Baggakorkak loved magic, and particularly the kind of magic that would cause explosions. Eternally sensitive about his stature, he made up for what he lacked physically with a larger than life personality and magical arsenal. His prowess with destructive magic was only marred by his total ineptitude with all other kinds, though his methods of using destruction for more creative ends were often impressive to behold. He began as a simple shaman to his tribe, but ultimately found himself conflicted between the destruction they wished to wreak (which he enjoyed) and harm they wanted to bring to the local villages (which he enjoyed far less). Eventually, when the Duilleagan Crùbach arrived to stop the threat, Baggakorkak saw his chance and joined the party. The “greater good” was a strange thing for the goblin to learn, but he was often happy to simply be pointed towards whatever needed blasting. He was particularly fond of Ikki and Marra, and often pressed the former to make bombs for him. Beshker Kaldrenkinker, The Gnome Wizard (m) Eccentric is one word for Beshker. Innovative is another. Most of proper academia would use one of these words, and the rest of academic would label him as batshit crazy. He had a love of experimenting with spells, for good and ill, and made many discoveries through his early year (not all of them practical). Ultimately his stuffy study began to bore him, and he saw an opportunity for less constrained learning and experiments in the Duilleagan Crùbach adventuring party. With scrolls, tomes, and his brother Flitvic in tow, Beshker assumed a role as the magical expert of the party. While Baggakorkak’s impulsiveness might have agitated most other academics, Beshker saw him as a sort of self-opening pinata of data and experimental data; the two were often seen slinging spells in unison. He was dedicated to knowledge and innovation, and harshly against barring either behind social or economic barriers; nearly every town they visited, especially in the later years, received public lectures on the workings of magic in the world. It was better received in some cities than other villages, but a handful of newer wizards at the academies of the kingdom cite him as an inspiration.

Players can expect

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