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Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Corvid
Gender Female
Size 1147 x 1050
File Size 290.9 kB
More from Rah-Bop
Reference sheet for my D&D character. This sheet was heavily inspired by CoryKatze whose art is soooo coooool. <3 It made me realize how much crap my character is carrying -- thank goodness for bags of holding or I'd have to ask one of the burlier members of my party to carry my stuff (or... probably not ask, just throw my stuff in with theirs and hope they don't notice.)
The following description is mostly for myself, so I can refer back to it later:
Rue -- Even as an adult Kenku she's only about the size of an eight-year-old human child, though her hollow bones, feathers, and weird avian anatomy make her unexpectedly light for her size. While typically a solitary urban dweller, she'll join a party when their goals align with hers and/or she thinks she can get something out of it. She's happy letting others do the heavy lifting while she collects the spoils.
Her feathers are glossy black with blue-green iridescence on her throat, tail, and the upper surfaces of her "wings" (technical term: wingalings.)
Satchel of Holding - bigger on the inside! The small opening makes jamming some of these items inside a little tricky, though.
Coin purse - coins are rarely used... for some reason.
Rations - various dried meats, hard cheese, old baked goods and hardtack, nuts (peanuts are a favorite), dried fruit. Most of her provisions are leftovers and goodies she's found "lying around," (i.e. unguarded, or garbage. She's happy to share other people's food, permission is optional.) Rue is very small and doesn't need to eat much. Between high food efficiency and excellent scavenging skills, three days worth of rations is surprisingly little food.
Lantern - narrow shape helps to stuff it into satchel of holding. This lamp is inspired by something I found on Google Images; feel free to buy it for me. <3
Crowbar - (pun intended) doubles as a weapon in an emergency. There is nearly zero strength in those skinny bird arms, and with an inability to deal or withstand any amount of damage, Rue's main defense strategy is tremendous speed and stealth. You can't fight what you can't catch!
Thief's Toolkit - includes a file, double-ended screwdriver, knife, drill, chisel, hammer, saw, wire-cutting pliers, two torsion wrenches and two double-ended lockpicks. Everything fits handily into a pouch that can be hung
off the belt for convenient access.
Hand Crossbow - aka pistol crossbow - small, one-handed projectile weapon. Doesn't cause much damage but it's better than nothing. The arms of the bow fold back to allow easier storage.
Health Kit - currently includes bandages, a clean cloth, some herbal pain-killers, tweezers, smelling salts, charcoal (for poison), and two packets of burn gel. What else should I put in here?
Waterproof blanket - doubles as bedding, triples as rain gear, quadruples as a (crappy) disguise.
Tanglefoot Bag - a pouch full of sticky goo. To use it, you tear off a large bead on the top, which snaps some small threads holding it together and causes the seams to unravel and loosen. With the threads loosened it
will explode on impact, like a goo grenade. The safety mechanism prevents it from deploying inside your bag or if it gets dropped accidentally.
Caltrops - stored inside a box made of thick paper or thin wood to prevent caltrops from poking you when you grab it. The hexagonal box is held together with a string woven through the top. To use, hold it by the end of the string and snap the box outward; the slip knot comes apart, the box flings open, and caltrops go everywhere in a hurry.
Acid - thrown bottle explodes on impact, causing acid damage to nearby enemies.
Alchemist's Fire - same as above, but enemies will be set on fire.
So many ways to say "leave me alone."
The following description is mostly for myself, so I can refer back to it later:
Rue -- Even as an adult Kenku she's only about the size of an eight-year-old human child, though her hollow bones, feathers, and weird avian anatomy make her unexpectedly light for her size. While typically a solitary urban dweller, she'll join a party when their goals align with hers and/or she thinks she can get something out of it. She's happy letting others do the heavy lifting while she collects the spoils.
Her feathers are glossy black with blue-green iridescence on her throat, tail, and the upper surfaces of her "wings" (technical term: wingalings.)
Satchel of Holding - bigger on the inside! The small opening makes jamming some of these items inside a little tricky, though.
Coin purse - coins are rarely used... for some reason.
Rations - various dried meats, hard cheese, old baked goods and hardtack, nuts (peanuts are a favorite), dried fruit. Most of her provisions are leftovers and goodies she's found "lying around," (i.e. unguarded, or garbage. She's happy to share other people's food, permission is optional.) Rue is very small and doesn't need to eat much. Between high food efficiency and excellent scavenging skills, three days worth of rations is surprisingly little food.
Lantern - narrow shape helps to stuff it into satchel of holding. This lamp is inspired by something I found on Google Images; feel free to buy it for me. <3
Crowbar - (pun intended) doubles as a weapon in an emergency. There is nearly zero strength in those skinny bird arms, and with an inability to deal or withstand any amount of damage, Rue's main defense strategy is tremendous speed and stealth. You can't fight what you can't catch!
Thief's Toolkit - includes a file, double-ended screwdriver, knife, drill, chisel, hammer, saw, wire-cutting pliers, two torsion wrenches and two double-ended lockpicks. Everything fits handily into a pouch that can be hung
off the belt for convenient access.
Hand Crossbow - aka pistol crossbow - small, one-handed projectile weapon. Doesn't cause much damage but it's better than nothing. The arms of the bow fold back to allow easier storage.
Health Kit - currently includes bandages, a clean cloth, some herbal pain-killers, tweezers, smelling salts, charcoal (for poison), and two packets of burn gel. What else should I put in here?
Waterproof blanket - doubles as bedding, triples as rain gear, quadruples as a (crappy) disguise.
Tanglefoot Bag - a pouch full of sticky goo. To use it, you tear off a large bead on the top, which snaps some small threads holding it together and causes the seams to unravel and loosen. With the threads loosened it
will explode on impact, like a goo grenade. The safety mechanism prevents it from deploying inside your bag or if it gets dropped accidentally.
Caltrops - stored inside a box made of thick paper or thin wood to prevent caltrops from poking you when you grab it. The hexagonal box is held together with a string woven through the top. To use, hold it by the end of the string and snap the box outward; the slip knot comes apart, the box flings open, and caltrops go everywhere in a hurry.
Acid - thrown bottle explodes on impact, causing acid damage to nearby enemies.
Alchemist's Fire - same as above, but enemies will be set on fire.
So many ways to say "leave me alone."
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Corvid
Gender Female
Size 1147 x 1050px
File Size 290.9 kB
Chaotic Neutral always ended up very fortunately very dead very swiftly - they're as much a hindrance to the party as aid because they're completely bonkers crazy (a'la 'chaotic' and neutral).
Fastest one went out of play was three rounds.
One round to 'meet' the party.
One round to reveal that they were 'chaotic neutral' (a bit of metagaming there)
One round for the thief to backstab them.
This, at least, is a cool char concept tho. Feathered Kender!
Fastest one went out of play was three rounds.
One round to 'meet' the party.
One round to reveal that they were 'chaotic neutral' (a bit of metagaming there)
One round for the thief to backstab them.
This, at least, is a cool char concept tho. Feathered Kender!
Haha, wow, I bet that was frustrating for the person who just spent two hours building that character! I bet it was equally funny, though. Chaotic Neutral characters probably (read: certainly) have it coming.
Somehow this character has miraculously avoided taking any real damage ever, no matter how improbable the situation. Maybe if we were all more experienced players it would be more like what you've experienced in your campaigns, or perhaps if this character were capable of inflicting any damage whatsoever. I don't think anyone is intimidated by a 44-lb tiny bird person. :/
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Somehow this character has miraculously avoided taking any real damage ever, no matter how improbable the situation. Maybe if we were all more experienced players it would be more like what you've experienced in your campaigns, or perhaps if this character were capable of inflicting any damage whatsoever. I don't think anyone is intimidated by a 44-lb tiny bird person. :/
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Even more evil:
Spiral staircase down into a large, empty, circular room with curtains along the walls.
Two rounds after the last player steps off of the stairway the curtains fall, revealing four Mirrors of Opposition facing toward the stairs (offset slightly to not reflect one another).
Spiral staircase down into a large, empty, circular room with curtains along the walls.
Two rounds after the last player steps off of the stairway the curtains fall, revealing four Mirrors of Opposition facing toward the stairs (offset slightly to not reflect one another).
Every time I see one of those... "birds with talon-arms instead of actual wings" I can't help but think that it's more of a feathered lizard than an actual bird. I mean I see why people make anthropomorphic birds like that, anthropomorphic implies that they'll have human-like capabilities. Such as being able to handle things with something like hands.
But... anthro birds could use their feet and their beak for that, no? Do like a pelican and balance themselves on one foot while using the other to handle delicate things, with their beak serving as a rudimentary second hand. I suspect people will keep using this reptilian design regardless... But even with the absent wings, I do like this collage. It's neat and pretty well done.
But... anthro birds could use their feet and their beak for that, no? Do like a pelican and balance themselves on one foot while using the other to handle delicate things, with their beak serving as a rudimentary second hand. I suspect people will keep using this reptilian design regardless... But even with the absent wings, I do like this collage. It's neat and pretty well done.
When it comes to anthropomorphising an animal with a body plan that's a little different than a human's you get to make some choices about how you do it. I see what you're saying and I agree, there's no reason why an anthro bird couldn't be more like a parrot that uses its feet like hands! That's a very reasonable way to do it! There's also this version, the "feathered lizard" body plan with no actual wings. Then there's also a combo with a lizard-person body with additional wings, so the total number of limbs is six. Also not very bird-like, strictly speaking, but still a valid way to do it. It's fine to have preferences about it, too!
If you look at the evolutionary history of birds we know that there was a point before modern wings evolved when the body plan featured "hands" with independent digits. Eventually the fingers fused into a single mass as the feathers got bigger (proportionally) and more specialized and turned into wings as we know them today. It wouldn't be too hard to imagine that had evolution taken a different turn, scrawny clawed arms wouldn't be completely out of the question. All of the parts are still there, just organized differently. If birds and uh... this character.... shared a common ancestor, I don't even know if it would still be fair to call the descendant a lizard, since the maniraptorans (the clade from which birds descend) already pretty much had warm blood and everything and weren't really considered reptiles any more (except under the most stringent philogenetic classifications, under which even mammals are considered reptiles!) We'd have to call feathered-lizard-people something else. The Dungeons and Dragons universe (for which this character was crafted) calls them Kenku. I suspect the main reason they don't have functional wings is because giving playable characters the gift of flight can be game-breakingly unbalanced. Which goes to show that sometimes there can be reasons for specific design decisions. :)
Anyway, it doesn't really matter, but it's fun to think about, isn't it? :D Thanks a lot for taking the time to leave a thoughtful comment.
If you look at the evolutionary history of birds we know that there was a point before modern wings evolved when the body plan featured "hands" with independent digits. Eventually the fingers fused into a single mass as the feathers got bigger (proportionally) and more specialized and turned into wings as we know them today. It wouldn't be too hard to imagine that had evolution taken a different turn, scrawny clawed arms wouldn't be completely out of the question. All of the parts are still there, just organized differently. If birds and uh... this character.... shared a common ancestor, I don't even know if it would still be fair to call the descendant a lizard, since the maniraptorans (the clade from which birds descend) already pretty much had warm blood and everything and weren't really considered reptiles any more (except under the most stringent philogenetic classifications, under which even mammals are considered reptiles!) We'd have to call feathered-lizard-people something else. The Dungeons and Dragons universe (for which this character was crafted) calls them Kenku. I suspect the main reason they don't have functional wings is because giving playable characters the gift of flight can be game-breakingly unbalanced. Which goes to show that sometimes there can be reasons for specific design decisions. :)
Anyway, it doesn't really matter, but it's fun to think about, isn't it? :D Thanks a lot for taking the time to leave a thoughtful comment.
I love this layout. Her duds are very nice looking. Is she from a warmer climate? Also, I may be mixing races but I thought the Kenku were hawk-like, not corvid-like. Either way, she'd transition well as a Tengu (bird race, not the oni race) in Pathfinder.
A few nerdy gamer suggestions for her pockets full of swag~
upgrade to silk rope, which isn't terribly expensive compared to standard rope. It's easier to climb, studier, and doesn't chafe as much if ya wanna get kinky.
the healing kit needs an apropriate level of Cure Light/Moderate/Severe Wounds potion or two. Just enough for those "oh $h*t" moments.
a hip quiver for the crossbow bolts. There's some nicve enchanted ones that can add spell effects to the bolts, or my favorite: everfull-type quivers that have enchantments on them that keep copying the bolts inside them, basically giving you a never-ending supply.
Cloak of Etherialness! While a high-ticket item (ecl for it in loot is 9 or so) it's a great tool. Invisibility and Incoporial effects for an ammount of time per day? How's that for a lil' thief? If you ever watched the old d&d cartoon, that's what the thief girl had.
Grapling Bolts: an item from Pathfinder, though it's not broken at all. Basically it's a crossbow bolt with a grapling hook end and a place to tie a rope to. More for fluff and fun that a true necessity. They're inexpensive relatively, though cost a good bit more than standard bolts. There's an arrow version of it as well.
A few nerdy gamer suggestions for her pockets full of swag~
upgrade to silk rope, which isn't terribly expensive compared to standard rope. It's easier to climb, studier, and doesn't chafe as much if ya wanna get kinky.
the healing kit needs an apropriate level of Cure Light/Moderate/Severe Wounds potion or two. Just enough for those "oh $h*t" moments.
a hip quiver for the crossbow bolts. There's some nicve enchanted ones that can add spell effects to the bolts, or my favorite: everfull-type quivers that have enchantments on them that keep copying the bolts inside them, basically giving you a never-ending supply.
Cloak of Etherialness! While a high-ticket item (ecl for it in loot is 9 or so) it's a great tool. Invisibility and Incoporial effects for an ammount of time per day? How's that for a lil' thief? If you ever watched the old d&d cartoon, that's what the thief girl had.
Grapling Bolts: an item from Pathfinder, though it's not broken at all. Basically it's a crossbow bolt with a grapling hook end and a place to tie a rope to. More for fluff and fun that a true necessity. They're inexpensive relatively, though cost a good bit more than standard bolts. There's an arrow version of it as well.
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