Mystara Iconic Characters
by Roger LV Girtman IIIn another thread, there was a question as to who the illustrated characters from the 81/83 Red Player's Manual were. Well, I'm going to tell you. These characters (who were also provided with sample sheets on pg 34. and names in the Title subheading of each class) are my "default" party, as well as my favourite. I use them for playtesting anything I write, much like the Iconic Characters in 3.x "Enemies and Allies" are used.
So, ignoring stats for now, here is Mystara's very own iconic adventuring party (dossiers to follow in another post):
FLEETWOOD, male Thyatian fighter (paladin of Benekander after AC1004 or 5/9th level [depending on rules set used]); (future) Member, Order of the Gryphon.
CLARION Ladonnaris, female cleric of Chardastes, Church of Karameikos; (future) Member, Order of the Gryphon. (The eagle symbol illustrated is the symbol for the church.)
Darek FELONIUS, male Thy/Tra wizard; Student of the Great School of Magic; Heir to Sargon of Lion Castle.
GREEGAN Mikov, male Traladaran Rogue; member, Kingdom of Thieves.
ROLF Shieldsplitter, son of Grolthkor of the Stronghollow Clan, male Rockborn dwarven fighter.
BELRAIN Callarii, female wood elf fighter/wizard. (For this character, I use the elf illustration from the RC, as the oak-leaf pattern clothing is typical of the Callarii tribe.
James TOUCHBERRY, male hin fighter/rogue.
This is just an intro, I'll post background stories (and one big secret that even my oldest of player's don't know) later.
These characters, as I said above, were the "sample characters" provided in the '83 red box. I first used the party as a challenge. A powergamer friend of mine said that pre-rolls were never good characters (mainly because they had more than 1 stat that had less than a +1 modifier). So as a challenge, I provided the stats for the characters, and allowed him to pick only non-stat features (name, alignment, appearance, etc.)
Needless to say, I proved him wrong. On a related note, I used the same concept to prove another point to another player, years later--by providing four fighters, who were statistically identical, and ran a short campaign with them... by the end of the third or fourth session, all four characters (still statistically identical at this point) were all very much different and unique characters.
With that said, here are the much belated promises of "Icon" PCs...(con't in next post)
Fleetwood
Level 2 Lawful Fighter
AC: 2 HP: 18 Thac0: 19 XP:2000
<Note: The first two intro adventures could provide for exactly 2k XP (and thus 2nd level) in only 1 way--Defeat all monsters and discover all treasures.. THEN correctly answer the magic mouth's riddle. It would provide the exact amount of XP needed (after +10% PR bonus) for 2nd level.>
Str 17
Int 9
Wis 8
Dex 11
Con 16
Cha 14
Languages: Common, Alignment
Skills/Abilities: None
Equipment: Plate Mail, Longsword, Shield, Dagger, 2 Oil flasks, Tinderbox, 50' Rope, Backpack, 1 week Iron Rations, Waterskin, Lantern, 2 Torches, 2 small Sacks, 1 large sack
Clarion
Level 1 Neutral Cleric
AC: 5 HP: 6 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 9
Int 11
Wis 17
Dex 8
Con 14
Cha 16
Languages: Common, Alignment
Skills/Abilities: Turn Undead
Equipment: Chain mail, shield, mace, holy symbol, oil flask, backpack, iron rations, 6 torches, tinderbox, 50' rope, 2 waterskins, 2 small sacks, 2 large sacks
Felonius
Level 1 Chaotic Magic-User
AC: 7 HP: 4 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 8
Int 17
Wis 11
Dex 16
Con 14
Cha 9
Languages: Common, Alignment, Dragon, Elf
Skills/Abilities: Spells (RM, Sleep)
Equipment: Backpack, iron rations, silver dagger, holy water, lantern, 4 oil, tinderbox, small mirror, waterskin, wineskin, 2 small sacks, 2 large sacks
Greegan
Level 1 Neutral Thief
AC: 5 HP: 4 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 16
Int 14
Wis 9
Dex 11
Con 11
Cha 8
Languages: Common, Alignment, Elf
Skills/Abilities: Thieving skills
Equipment: backpack, iron rations, longsword, dagger, lantern, 3 oil, tinderbox, thieves' tools, 2 small sacks, 2 large sacks
Rolf
Level 1 Lawful Dwarf
AC: 1 HP: 6 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 16
Int 7
Wis 11
Dex 14
Con 9
Cha 9
Languages: Common, Alignment, Dwarf, Gnome, Goblin, Kobold
Skills/Abilities: Infravision, detection.
Equipment: Backpack, iron rations, plate mail, shield, longsword, dagger, small hammer, 12 iron spikes, 50' rope, wolfsbane, wineskin
Belrain
Level 1 Chaotic Elf
AC: 3 HP: 5 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 16
Int 9
Wis 7
Dex 14
Con 9
Cha 11
Languages: Common, Alignment, Elf, gnoll, hobgoblin, orc
Skills/Abilities: infravision, detection, spells (RM, CP)
Equipment: backpack, iron rations, chain mail, shield, longbow, 20 arrows, longsword, 50' rope, 2 small sacks, large sack, wolfsbane
Clarion
Level 1 Neutral Halfling
AC: 4 HP: 5 Thac0: 19 XP:0
Str 16
Int 11
Wis 14
Dex 9
Con 9
Cha 7
Languages: Common, Alignment
Skills/Abilities: Hide, initiative, AC vs giants, missile attack
Equipment: Backpack, iron rations, chain mail, shield, shortbow, 20 arrows, short sword, 4 silver arrows, tinderbox, 6 torches, wineskin, waterskin