Mr. House: * monologuing about how he’s the best solution for strip and how he’ll better the Mojave and send people to space and something something libertarianism*
My 1 intelligence courier thinking: his name Mr house but where is house I in hotel hmm
Absolutely love the fact that Charon with his low intelligence could be considered stupid, yet when you talk to him, he's quite eloquent in his speech and we are straight up told he isn't stupid by Ahzrukhal. Which makes me think that Intelligence is a reflection of whether your street smart or book smart.
Probably a thing already known by the fallout community, I just get highly amused by the fact that if the player were to use Charon’s stats we would qualify for the low int dialouges of speaking sophisticatedly with a drunkard, and being called special needs by a robot.
Of course, I like writing him as someone who can get the gist of things, but anything more complicated than what makes a bomb and what makes a war crime, he's very much at a loss.
I watch pokemon because Ash is simultaneously a genius and the dumbest kid alive and I love him. And also for his relationship with Pikachu. He's got the highest Charisma and Wisdom stats possible but his Intelligence stat is in the basement somewhere and boy do we love that for him.
You know Old Ben? The one who’s decent enough to give you a word of warning, especially when you have the observational skills of a dead camel? That same one that says, and I quote:
“Those bots are programmed to vaporize anyone who enters the fenced-in area without authorization from the greeter.”
Now, knowing that both you [the player] and him are right in front of the gate and this guy —this Squatter-dumbass— decides to do this:
It’s more than a bit silly. And you know what’s funnier? You know what else Old Ben does?
And now, I am sitting here, wondering how in the world I, the Courier with one (1) Intelligence, am still smart enough to heed that warning?
BARD College of WHISPERS - HALFLING Lightfoot - Gambler
I know it’s been a long time since that introduction post, but I wanted to have some things ready before getting this blog started. And now, here we are. The first actual “character analysis” thingy is here. I hope you enjoy it.
Name: Cora Wildheart (34yo)
TAROTS
Mind: The hanged man (upright)
Cora is the kind of person that struggles a lot with dilemmas. She overthinks important things to the point of feeling trapped by the need of taking a decision. She sometimes loses perception of the situation at hand and just tries to find a getaway from it. That’s usually when she ends up making very stupid decisions and getting into trouble.
Body: Five of cups (upright)
This is kind of a hard one. To me it immediately talked about a physical loss Cora had to deal with. While she still tries not to cry over it and hide her suffering behind a brave face and a shiny smile, she still has a lot of lingering anger brewing under the surfaces. Which made me wonder if she still blames more herself for this loss other than someone else.
Spirit: Four of swords (reversed)
Like I just said, her physical loss really did a number on her all around. Hence why her spirit is very hurt. She had a deep need for self-care to heal from it and she tried isolating. Didn’t really work apparently (figures, a bard usually thrives with an audience, after all). Yet, maybe going out in the world once again might be the right way for her to find a sense of new self and new mental strength.
Past: Ace of wands (upright)
Cora’s past is filled with a discovery of potential, with the fiery attitude of a person that is always up to a new challenge, that loves to embrace the creative spark that’s been gifted to her. There’s also an undertone of fertility in this card, that added up with that physical loss coming from her body, made me think that she gave birth and maybe things didn’t really end up in the best way possible.
Present: Five of wands (reversed)
In general, this card gives me a huge vibe that because of her past, at present Cora struggles with confrontation. Like, she doesn’t like them at all. So she either does everything she can to put an end to them, or she avoids them. I feel like it could go either way depending on the kind of confrontation; she could be very aggressive and hot tempered about it and fight tooth and nails. Or be very shy and demure to the point of just giving up for the sake of ending the conversation.
Future: Knight of cups (upright)
So, this is a hard one for Cora. Because at this point with what I had with the previous cards I kind of had built up in my mind that she lost both the person she loved and a child at birth. And this card is mostly about following your heart, finding warm affection and even diplomacy, which I just explained is something she struggles with. Since it’s a “future” card I feel like it should mostly work as a suggestion on what you should look out for her while playing. I suggest leaning on the conflicts, especially within the party (yet, react as you feel is appropriate for her at the time). There lies her growth as a character (and maybe some love).
FULL BACKSTORY
Abandoned at birth, Cora always considered family her adoptive moms, Yeselle and Diafira, and her 2 older brothers, Milosh and Reed. She never had many luxuries in life, but she was lucky enough to live in a very big house, even if she had to share it with the entire Wildheart family (composed of Diafira’s older brothers, Evan, Ander, Barvias, Coramin and their families). She had a happy childhood, filled with laughter and the friendship of her many many cousins.
Yet, that demure life of sacrifices left her with a desire to find a quick way to get richer, especially once she got exposed to the outside world around her teenage years.
While at first she was a patron at one of the clubs in her town where there was a lot of gambling, she was quickly noticed by an enforcer of the criminal syndicate that run the place, mainly for her beauty but also for her way with words (which was the reason why she was even allowed to be in the club in the first place).
For a time she was kind of an insider at tables, the kind of player planted just to make big spenders think they were winning before making them go for the big hit and have them lose lots of money. But being there, exposed to the life of the club, especially before and after opening hours, had her dabbling with the instruments of the people that performed at the club.
She quickly picked up a knack for playing, and put her free time and money to have people teach her how to play the viola and the flute (and taught herself how to play water glasses just to use it as a trick at the tables to distract/annoy people while playing).
It was because of her passion of hanging out with the entertainment of the club after closing hour, that Cora fell in love with one of the performers, Oswald Fiddlefun. The lad convinced her that she would never really get to be a performer as long as she kept working in the club, cause the syndicate was more interested in the money she was bringing them as a plant at tables than her talent with any instrument. So, after planning for a couple of weeks, she decided to run away to pursue a life as an artist on the road with him. It didn’t really work that well.
From the start they realized that neither of them really had the skills necessary to live without the support of a company while on the road. And even when they were in some village or town, an unknown duo of performers was not paid really that much, sometimes not even in room and board for the night. Still, they tried to hang onto each other and Cora even got pregnant soon enough.
After months of a life of misery and traveling, with Cora very much pregnant and both of them struggling to find their way out of a forest in the middle of nowhere, they were attacked by a group of bandits. While Cora was very meek and tried to give everything she had to the bandits to protect her yet to be born child, Oswald was a true coward: he created a distraction and as soon as he could, he run away, leaving Cora behind, alone with the bandits.
After that sudden show of magic from Oswald, the bandits were even more convinced they had to be hiding something precious and pressure Cora. Despite all the crying and repeating of how dirt poor she actually was, none of them believed her; tired of her whining, they decided to just kill her and get whatever she was hiding from her corpse.
Left for dead with a couple of deep stab wounds to her torso, Cora was saved by a druid that was alerted by the noise of the bandits running away while complaining of the meagre spoils. The druid, that she later found out was called Tianamin, took her to his village. There she was healed properly, yet there was nothing anyone could do to save her baby.
Still mourning the loss of the baby boy and trying to deal with the anger of Oswald leaving her to die and never even looking back or trying to search for her, Cora stayed with at the druid’s village for some time, reflecting on what she wanted to do with her future.
Sick and tired of depending on other people, she decided to become the only person she would trust with saving herself and really started learning the ways of a true bard.
SUGGESTION CORNER
Suggested features
Ability scores: High Charisma and Dexterity, Low Strength and Intelligence.
Skill proficiencies: Persuasion, Perception, Sleight of hands
Musical instrument proficiencies: viola, flute, water glasses (as already mentioned)
Others: a multiclass in rogue could be a good idea, but it might feel a little too much on the nose with her background. So you do you.
Suggested Characteristics
Trait: The perfect bet is out there somewhere. I just have to keep my eyes open.
Ideal: You can’t win if you’re dead. Live to fight another day, when the odds might be in your favor.
Bond: A criminal syndicate I once played for isn’t happy I left the game and its enforcers are looking for me. (There is also still that grudge with Oswald, fyi.)
Flaw: No one wants to know my real story. So I make up a new one each time.
