Whisper, Bard (College of Bones, Level 10)
Hey all, Cody from Tabletop Totality here and today I am providing a character that can potentially be used in a game that you are a part of. This character would make a fine addition as an NPC villain or perhaps you might like to play this character or a variation of it yourself. Either way, this character is free to use at your table or as a stepping stone towards your own creation.
Now this character was designed under the presumption that it would be most fitting for a Dungeons and Dragons, 5e game. With that being said, certain aspects of this character will not be located in the SRD but can be found instead in several publications by Wizards of the Coast for 5e.
Now, lets get down to it. Whisper is a 10th level Tiefling Bard with the College of Bones subclass, a Tabletop Totality original. I chose the Tiefling race as I felt that the racial attribute bonuses to Charisma and Intelligence the Tieflings receive are perfect for a Bard, which relies heavily on their multitude of skills and also uses Charisma as their spellcasting modifier.
Whisper's attribute scores are based on the standard array of scores found in the Player's Handbook. I tend to follow this standard array for all of the major NPCs in my homebrew game while I allow my players to roll for their scores. I do this just to provide an extra level between the players and your world. The players are to be the focus of the game, so it stands to reason that they would have greater variation in their abilities than the commonwealth. So, even though I did not roll for these stats, if I were to play Whisper as a Player Character I would have totally let the DICE GODS decide her fate!
I placed her highest scores into Charisma, Intelligence and Dexterity so that her Bard abilities and spells would be the most potent, while her skills would have relatively high modifiers and her AC / Finesse / Ranged weapons would be decent overall. I imagine that Whisper does not often wantonly seek out violence, choosing instead to wait until her victory is all but guaranteed before striking. I imagine however that when provoked to combat, she would attack without mercy.
Whisper has the Charlatan background and I chose this simply for the Role Playing flavor. I envisioned the character as one who has become obsessed with the knowledge potentially possessed by the dead; a character that has largely lost her regard for the living and only uses them to further her own goals in obtaining the forgotten knowledge of the ancient dead. Whisper is not necessarily a nice person and she'll do anything to get ahead. Her spells are varied as I like to provide a range of spells as a means to gain greater utility. She has enough damage dealing spells to ensure she packs a punch while also maintaining a spell-list befitting of the class. Overall, I think Whisper is a fun build and could easily fit into a campaign as a villain or anti hero for your players to interact with.
Below, I have provided an example of how to use Whisper. Please feel free to use the names, details, etc in your own game or change what we've provided to better fit your party and play style:
In the Northern Port city of River's End, where three chilly rivers converge and goods are shipped to and from the rocky coastline, there are ancient familiar burial mounds that are not only held sacred by the people of the city but on a deeper level, feared. Each noble house maintains the mounds of their forebears with reverence and secrecy. The law forbades any who do not share blood with the buried to enter such a place, or as the old wives tales mention, the sleeping dead shall awake in wrath. Whisper can be found in the city, living in the lap of luxury in the disguise of Countess Bryn Everfyre, a human female noble who is in fact no longer living, unbeknownst to her family and friends. Whisper's thirst for knowledge will not allow her to have her access denied and so she has made several forays into the mounds where she has awoken the slumber of the now angry dead. Perhaps your party could discover that the Revenant of Countess Everfyre is on a rampage trying to obtain justice and oust the imposter or perhaps the ghost of the Countess is spurring the anger of the dead to tell the people of River's End that they have a viper in their midst. Whatever you decide, keep in mind that Whisper is self serving and willing to get her hands dirty. She is cunning and her moral compass only ever points towards helping herself. She could certainly fill the role of a minor villain in any town you happen the venture into and provide a level of mystery and the macabre to your campaign.
Enjoy! Let us know if you used Whisper in one of your own games, we'd love to hear how she played!
Attached is a character sheet example for Whisper and what may be a good build if using our College of Bones subclass!
Downloadable pdf is attached. Feel free to download but please do not distribute or resell. Instead direct people to our content so they can see what we are about!