With the last session's TPK, the DM has decided that the two characters to make their death saves are to be momentarily retired from active play as they probably need a while to think about things (I happen to strongly agree). So we're all rolling up new characters at level 5, to basically pick up at investigating the site on the mountain where everyone else died.
I asked the DM if there were any hooks or things he wanted to have in a character, and he mentioned that it would be nice if someone had a kind of cursed relic that followed them around. Some kind of token that resists normal curse-breaking magics and that always returns to the bearer after being thrown away/burned/etc., reappearing in their pocket to haunt them. This was to have a way of leading folks back to the "forge of unmaking" that the original party was going to be venturing towards, as the bearer had heard legends of such a place that could dismantle cursed and magical items at their very core.
I cooked up a concept that I thought would be kinda fun; a dwarven merchant, from a family of merchants, whose clan prided themselves on the honesty of their deals. However, a deal can only be honest if neither side is cheated, and that includes the merchant. So to uphold their status and reputation, they place great effort and investment in not getting scammed. Their very name relies on it.
Somewhere along the line, this character got gipped. He was given a fake gold coin in a deal. Insignificant in the greater scheme of the trade, but it was a slur on his honor and the honor of his entire family. And furthermore, it could not be removed and would remain as a permanent mark of shame against his name, despite all previous attempts to banish it. A deviously powerful curse, and one seemingly custom-tailored to target his clan. So he ventured out in a kind of self-imposed exile, until such a time as he could defeat the magic and start on the path of restoring his family's honor.
Mechanically, I was thinking a Devotion paladin. Lots of shiny golden glory to go along with the esteemed mercantile theme, while also allowing for high CHA to facilitate being a trader. Was considering picking up Skill Expert to both round out one of my stats (could have 16 in both STR and CHA if taking mountain dwarf) and give me expertise in Insight to help beef up my bullshit detection, as is my family's claim to fame. Curiously, Devotion's tenets can be worked to make a fair amount of sense with a trader type character of that sort. If they honestly believe that providing investment and employment are greater goods to society than simple charity, then you can find logic in there to facilitate garnering more wealth, since they'd be able to make
more investments and provide
more employment as such and thereby spread goodness. An ethical capitalist, if you will
Fighting ability would be a little bit on the "eh" side with only 16 STR, but in a way that kinda makes sense if he's first and foremost a merchant, and Devotion's channel divinity ability helps leverage the high CHA into more hitting as well (while additionally being all shiny and golden, which seemed thematically appropriate). And while we're not level 6
yet, the previous session did make it rather clear that we could probably do with some enhanced saving throws
...buuuut then I checked the roster, and it looks like someone else is playing a paladin. And I don't really wanna step on any toes.
Guess it's ranged bullshit battle master time!