Creating Characters: Kyra Tarnruth the Half-Elf Bard

Last Thursday, I was hanging out at my FLGS and was invited to play in a D&D 5e campaign that would be happening within the store on those nights. Since I'm usually the guy sitting behind the screen, I thought, "Why not?"

Although 5e has 12 cool classes to choose from in the Player's Handbook, I knew from the moment I took my seat at the table that I was going to be playing a Bard. Yes, the class that has received so much ridicule over the years, but it has always been one of my favorites and I really wanted to give the latest iteration a whirl.

I also knew what kind of character I wanted to play. The character is a scholar and an explorer, traveling the Forgotten Realms, gathering knowledge for one reason or another.

I just needed to figure out what that character's race would be. At first, I was going to go with tiefling, but decided to go with something else. After some consideration, I finally opted to go with the half-elf.

Due to this group being made up of people new to the latest edition of D&D and new to each other, I decided to go with something simple and uncomplicated. With that in mind, I just focused on the simple questions a player should always ask when creating a D&D character: (1) Who are they? (2) What was their life before becoming an adventurer like? & (3) Why did they become an adventurer?

Here's what I came up with:

Kyra was born to a Neverwinter noblewoman who had an affair with an traveling elf sorcerer named Nym Tarnruth. Wanting to keep this affair a secret, Kyra's mother gave her father the newborn baby when he returned to the city nine months later, ordering him to take her with him. Although something of a free-spirit, Nym decided to do the right thing and raise his daughter, teaching her the secrets of the traveler. Kyra grew up on the road, wandering by her father's side, learning different tricks and skills at every town and city they stopped at. She loved learning about different things and the myriad of cultures that inhabited the lands of Faerun and fell in love with the wonders of music.

However, when she reached adulthood, something peculiar happened. While staying in a small village in the Silver Marches, Kyra woke up one morning to find her father gone without leaving a note about where he was going and why. Ever since, Kyra has continued traveling the Realms, looking for any trace of her father, falling in with a few different adventuring companies.

Not very ground-breaking, but I think she'll be pretty fun to play. I also decided to post her statistics s well, and I might come back and update them as she gains experience and levels up. That is, if I remember to do so.

KYRA TARNRUTH

Female Half-Elf Bard 1

Background: Sage

Ability Scores: STR 10, DEX 15, CON 12, INT 15, WIS 12, CHA 16

Hit Points: 9

Armor Class: 13

Initiative: +2

Speed: 30 ft. 

Skills: Acrobatics, Arcana, History, Investigation, Perception, Persuasion, Survival

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma 

Languages: Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elvish 

Attacks Short Sword +4 (1d6+2 Piercing), Quarterstaff +2 (1d6 [1d8] Bludgeoning), or Short Bow +4 (1d6 Piercing, 80 ft./ 320 ft. with disadvantage)

Character Features: Darkvision, Fey Ancestry, Bardic Inspiration d6 (3/Long Rest), Spellcasting 

Cantrips: Dancing Lights, Vicious Mockery 

Spells Known: (1ST) Charm Person, Detect Magic, Healing Word, Sleep

Spell Slots: (1ST) 2 

Equipment: Leather Armor, Short Sword, Quarterstaff, Short Bow, 20 Arrows, Lute, Backpack, Mess Kit, Tinderbox, 10 Torches, 10 Rations, Waterskin, 50 ft. of Hempen Rope, Bottle of Black Ink, Quill, Small Knife, Common Clothes, Gold-Colored Wood Whistle, 14 GP, 1 EP, 3 SP