D&D Grackkus's Campaign Part 2

My monk snatched the sorcerers arm away quickly before the bag for a good hold. We opened the second big door and suddenly the rogue disappeared!!!!! The small corridor changed into a large corridor which we entered. We discovered a mirror with an image of our rogue in. The warlock struck the mirror but that didn't work and a voice boomed "I do not allow thieves here!"
We explored the surrounding corridors and discovered a room with a special font altar type thing. In draconic it said that fire cleanses everything so i lit a fire in the font and the mirror disolved revealing a very confused looking rogue.
We headed down the opposite corridor and located an old dusty bed chamber not quite child sized but not adult sized either.  There was a door at the other end.  After a quick search (heeding the words we had heard about thieves and being extra careful ) we moved on into a giant chamber.  On 2 sides were giant curtains and the 3 side was all glass. In the middle of the room was a large stone throne and on it stood the dwarf from the town!!

He seemed quite angry that we had made it so far. He had released the plague on the town himself. The barbarian threw a javelin at the dwarf, it sailed through the dwarf revealing it to be an illusion. The dwarf laughed and disappeared. The rogue threw her knife at the
Glass wall which shattered revealing a green dragon!!!!!!

The green dragon told us that he was the reason the plague existed and it was his blood that was causing it. He also said that we were promised to him as his next meal by the dwarf. A negotiation started which went rather badly when I tried to bribe the Dragon with his own gems I had found earlier!! The Dragon struck and caused a decent chunk of damage to me. I replied with a punch to the dragons face and then the group leapt into action. The barbarian raged and hacked away with his battle axe.  The dragon born sorcerer unleashed a devastating fire spell at the Dragon. We all landed hits (my monk not as many is have liked ), the dragon fought back hard and took to the air.  He swooped several times and attacked. The barbarian succumbed to a ferocious bite and the ensuing poison damage. As the Dragon swooped past again my monk leapt onto its back and plunged his spear into the dragons neck finally bringing it down with a crash. My monk deftly rolled to a safe landing besides the dead Dragon. Now I've been playing a lot of skyrim so naturaly I searched the dragon.  My monk located a key of sorts.  We located a chest behind  where the dragon had come from.  My key appeared to be part of some art work and clicking it in like completing a  jig saw opened the chest. Inside was a glowing vial of white liquid.  We believed this to be the cure so headed back to town. Knowing we couldn't trust the dwarf we went to the alchemy shop and asked the wizard his opinion. He said that it was the antidote and he could replicate it easily. He also asked the warlock for the first treasure he was given.  We assumed it was the 40 good I had shared out after looting the dead adventurers but no it wasn't that. After a while of no one having a clue the wizard took the warlock soul for his and became the warlocks patron!

(Now it was getting late into the evening so we needed to finish)

We decided the story was defintaly not done as we needed to have a word with this dwarf. Luckily the DM Jay had planned ahead in case we decided we wanted to go further.  All our characters levelled up to lvl 4. My monk getting an ability score increase (hello to a raise in armour class) and the slow fall ability.  This means when I fall I believe I can knock off 20 points of damage before I take any .

Great night and great adventure! Really enjoying D&D, need my kids to be a bit older so we can do it as a family 

D&D Grackkus's Campaign

Sort of what my monk Grackkus looks like but with a spear

Last night I did my second session of D&D. This was going to be a one shot written by my friend Jay though everyone agreed it was fun and the story has more to tell so at some point we will carry on.

Our group consisted of my Human Monk,  a Dragonborn sorcerer, a Lionfolk (home brew race by Jay) barbarian, a half Orc Warlock and an Elf Rogue.  This group had been together a while and had heard that the town of Arendale has been asking for adventurers to help them out. They are their way there and the adventure started in the tavern.  We had to meet in the town square at sunset to find out what is going on but we realised we had no healers in our group (oops!) So we headed to the local shops in search of healing potions. Plenty of adventurers had arrived in town so the shops were making good money. The general store was very sparse and was run by a sickly dark elf female. We left that shop with nothing and went to an alchemy shop.  Here the mysterious owner and his pet baby dragon eventually sold us some healing potions but not before our Warlock signed a contract  (to get a discount on potions ) to bring the first treasure he found back to the owner otherwise there would be consquences,  which we had no idea what as none of us read the contract (come on how many of you read the T&Cs lol)!! Our rogue had gone off being all mysterious she went into the shop after and also got a healing potion.  With that we headed off to the town square to found out what the fuss was about, on the way my monk asked a child slave what he knew and he mentioned the Lord's getting sick. My monk attempted to pull a gold coin from the boys ear to impress him but he messed it up and  managed to give the child 2 gold instead.
4 very ill looking lords of the town appeared looking quite sick and handed over to a very strong looking dwarf. He informed us that the nobility were getting sick from an unknown plague and the adventurers (there were quite a few groups in the square ) were to find the problem and stop it. A guard handed us a map and a key at the town entrance. On the map a cave was marked out as where the problem was believed to be. We headed off that way. We were were little concerned that the other adventuring parties would get there first so we pushed on through the night.
In the woods in the middle of the night we discovered bodies of adventurers that had been mauled by some kind of hound. After finding some gold and extra food rations we followed some tracks further into the woods. Flutes could be heard on the wind and unfortunately my monk, the half orc and dragon born fell asleep to the music. The elf was immune and the lionfolk was unaffected so carried on to find the source. They discovered 2 dark elf females playing flutes and sctattered around them were sleeping animals including 4 hell hounds.

Hell Hounds

The lionfolk barbarian leapt into action and took the flutes of the dark elves. With the music stopped everyone woke up including the hell hounds! They attacked the barbarian. The rogue straight up murdered one of the dark elves striking from out of know where. The other dark elf magiced her flute back and began to play again. Everyone but the elf rogue fell asleep! The rogue decided to take out the Hall Hounds while they were asleep and attacked.  The dark elf was not impressed, healed the Hell hound and after a negotiation we were woke up and sent our way for a few gold pieces . We soon discovered the cave entrance we were after.  We rested and monitored the cave while our elf rogue tranced away her exhaustion from moving all night (the rest of us had a lovely flute induced nap).  At the cave entrance there were 3 Cobalts on guard.

Cobalt

Our parties rogue tried to become one with a bush to sneak up on the cobalts but she slipped and got there attention.  After a failed attempt at trying to be a Cobalt the Lionfolk barbarian leapt into action. The 3 Cobalts quickly became 6 and surrounded the barbarian.  In the ensuring melee the rogue killed a Cobalt, my monk missed everything  and the barbarian in a very barbarian way settled the combat by beheading the Cobalts leader which made the others flee. Victory was ours, my monk grabbed a torch off the wall and headed into the cave. Thanks to his monks training he sensed the spike trap just microseconds before it activated and he dodged out of the way! We then came across 3 doors, one had a H on, one had an S on I believe, the last one had a D on and a picture of a Dragon.  Our sorcerer used the key we were given and unlocked the Dragon door. A choice boomed "you have chosen the wrong path! " the other doors disappeared so we were stuck on this path.  My monk being very Zen pushed on into the room ahead. The rooms floor was made up of big tiles and on 2 walls were big tapestries of a red and green dragon. It also had 2 doors in the far corner. As he stepped on one of the tiles it made a horrible creaking noise! ! Everyone went very careful checking each floor tile.  Some collapsed opening up to reveal pits of fire! ! The barbarian fell in one but managed to grab onto the edge and with the help of our Warlock pulled himself out. We made it to the other side of the room . The  Sorcerer investigated  the tapestry of the green dragon, it started to dissolve and revealed 2 big doors. The rogue picked the lock on one of the big doors revealing a small passage which she stepped in to be away from the dangerous tiles.  My monk looked at the 2 doors we had originally seen in the corner. In opening one he discovered a small chest. Inside was 6 healing potions and 4 pouches.

The pouches contained a gem worth around 1000 gold pieces. I discovered the one bag was a bag of holding and had at least 12 gems inside! ! I kept this 😉 and handed out the pouches and healing potions . The sorcerer out her hand into the bag to get her gem and it grabbed her!  Turns out it was a bag of devouring!

Bag of devouring!

Dungeons and Dragons

Great night last playing Dungeons and Dragons. Started the starter set adventure but instead of the pre done characters we all had our own.
I took Ragnor my barbarian and there was a Drow rogue and half elf monk in the party. 

We started off  being asked to escort a wagon of provisions to a neighbouring town by a dwarf. Needless to say it did not to according to plan and we ended in a fight with some goblins. My barbarian did not show his best side in this encounter missed every swing and went down to 2 HP! !! Thankfully the monk kicked ass for us and saved our bacon.
We tracked the goblins to thier lair only falling foul of one trap on the way

After some rest we located the goblins cave.  2 goblins were on guard duty. Some excellent sneaking by the drow and barbarian (yep the barbarian! ) resulted in a sneak attack. Finally my barbarian did his job and demolished some goblins! ! We headed inside the cave.  My barbarian hanging back as the drow and half elf had dark vision so could see in the dark! We found a room with some wolves which we promptly killed.  Then thanks to locating a secret passage (which i won't mention much about as I don't wanna spoil the story for other people ) we found the goblin leader with 2 other goblins and a wolf.

They had know idea we were there so we set up a plan of attack.  2 goblins were between us and the goblin warlord. The monk with an excellent throw of 2 darts took out the 2 goblins.  The Drow hurled a dagger hitting the wolf and my barbarian hefted his spear and threw it into the goblin warlord. Battle then erupted! The Drow killed the wolf the half elf jumped off my characters back and flipped over the warlord hitting him from behind.  My barbarian then finished the warlord off slicing him in half with a mighty swing! We searched the room found some loot  and some stolen provisions with a company name on.  Could be useful and there might be a reward from a grateful owner.  We went off to explore the rest of the cave.  We located some more goblins.  The half elf and Drow succesfully sneaked up behind 2 out of 3 goblins.  The half elf stabbed a goblin in the head with a dart killing it but the Drow missed! My barbarian ran in and cut the goblin down. A third goblin tried to escape but was cut down with a dart. The monk was absolutely deadly! The Drows rolls were going the way my barbarians did in the first battle.  After more exploring we located a camp/maybe a sort of barracks where 5 goblins were sat around a fire. The my 2 stealthy companions slipped into the darkness behind the goblins.  My barbarian then stepped out into the firelight and demanded the goblins surrender!  The plan was to have my call for surrender reinforced by a rapier and quarterstaff appearing at the goblins necks seemingly out of no where. How ever as my character said this a 6 goblin appeared on a ledge above holding our employers companion and demanding a truce. He wanted the head of the warlord (treacherous git! ), the human being held hostage told us not to trust him. My barbarian not being the smartest shouted "he'd be back guys"  and went off to get the  warlords head.  The goblins started to look around for anyone who could be there. Thanks to some excellent stealth the Drow scrambled up to the ledge where the goblin was holding his hostage.  The half elf soon followed but they could not get close enough. My barbarian returned and threw the warlords head to the floor. "Let the human go and be one you way!". Using this distraction the Drow and half elf got behind the goblin and human.  The half elf in an epic "This is Sparta!!" moment  kicked the goblin in the back sending him off the ledge. The Drow grabbed the human....and missed! The human tumbled to the floor going unconcious the goblin fell screaming as my barbarian swing his greatsword up and hacked the goblin apart as it fell! At this sight the 5 goblins fled last the barbarian.  Who with an opportunity attack took three of their heads off!! (I love DM discretion!!). After the battle we had a look around and my character found a shiny dagger which he gave to the Drow as he had lost his. We then loaded up the stolen supplies we had found and headed into town. We got a nice reward of gold for returning the stolen supplies and our fee for taking the original provisions into town.  After that it was off to the tavern!

A good night of drinking was had.  The Drow even swindled some patrons with his loaded dice. 
That day we had also learned that some bandits were causing problems for the town.  So obvously we decided in the morning to go and have a word with these ruffians at their tavern.
Next morning  We headed off and found their tavern with 3 thugs outside. They told is to run along and not to disturb them.....so we killed them!  The town master was not impressed as he said more would come. A pointed out that the towns folk wanted the bandits out and they couldn't come back if we went and killed them all. The town master told us where they were and off we went.

We stopped there as it was late and the DM said the next bit was a big bit.
Great night was had  and I really enjoyed D&D!

Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set

For my birthday my sister  bought me the Dungeons and Dragons starter set.  So I thought I would do a little blog about.  It comes in a great box and has really nice artwork. Inside you get a packet of all the dice you'll need to play.  a D4, D6, D8, D10, D12 and a D20.

Not sure of they come in different colours but you don't get a choice any I could see when buying so I guess not.  They are a little small for my liking but a decent starter set none the less.

You get a basic rule book covering the core rules of the game and certain spells for the pre made characters that come in the set.

The rules are explained really well, the text and layout is nice and clear.

The next book you get is the campaign book that the starter set is based around. This contains a ready made adventure called the Lost Mine of Phandelver.

This gives you everything you need to run an adventure.  I've not read this fully as my D&D playing friend says he might use this as my first foray so I don't want to cheat.  If we do I'll do a write up of that. If not I'll make a separate post.

Last of all in the box are pre made character sheets. Nice hard wearing paper and well laid out.

There are 2 human fighters, an elf wizard, Halfling rogue and a cleric dwarf. These characters all have backgrounds hinting at links to the pre made adventure . This to me is the only really down side of the box. I really don't like the pre made characters, I can see why they've done it as an introduction to D&D to be fair but to me D&D is about making your own character and I feel they could have gone down that road more so than pre made characters.  I also wished that had included some blank character sheets in as well but these are easy enough to find online.

So overall I am very impressed with the starter set and can not wait to play!

Krunk

Krunk is my half orc fighter.  I wanted a half orc as they are brilliant fighters being tough and doing extra critical hit damage.
Krunk background choice was a folk hero.  His armour and shield make him tough to hit and his axe can dish out damage.

Krunks parents story was a tale of forbidden love. Born to a human male and orc female he lived with his mother in the hills just outside of his father's village.  His father would sneak up every night to see them.  Everyone in the village knew but Krunks father was a kindly man who had lost his first wife at an early age ao none of the villagers begrudged him a bit of happiness but their Lord was a vicious and tryrannical ruler who would have killed krunk and his mother if he had found out.
One day while krunk was out exploring the woods he heard a commotion at one of the villages out lying farms. He went to investigate, from his hiding place in the woods he saw some of the Lord's men surrounding the farm hut arguing with the farmer.
"You have not paid enough tax to Lord scum" one greasy looking soldier said.
"I have ! I have ! I paid in full last month" the farmer cried.
"Well we've raised it!" Came the reply
"Wha. .. what we can't afford to pay more! The Lord already takes most of what earn" the farmer begged.
"Well then we will have to think of something else." The apparently in charge soldier said scratching at small beard.
"What about his daughter's Cedric?" another soldier yelled,
Cedric eyes took on an evil stare,
"Yes  that sounds fair, I've noticed your daughter before the other one is a bit young for my tastes bit im sire someone here will have a turn.  That sounds like fair payment"
"No no no you can't!! Please don't!!" The farmer rushed forward but a soldier punched him to the ground. Screams erupted from inside the hit as soldiers dragged out 2 girls one 15 the other 8. The farmer kept struggling but was held firm by a soldier,  Cedric turned to him "These will fulfil your payment just fine . I'll go first " he grabbed the oldest daughter and started back towards the hut.  The farmer fought and kicked but the soldiers laughed and hit him to the ground.
Krunk thought to himself "people think orcs are savage". He couldn't let these soldiers do this.  He charged out of the woods grabbing a large tree branch as he went. His war cry filled the air, the soldoers turned in shock to see this almost 7ft half orc charging at them.  Krunk swung his improvised club at the first soldier and crushed his skull. He leapt at the next one. Pandemonium broke out, soldiers rushing at Krunk and he fought like a demon. Soon 6 soldiers lay dead and Krunk stood now holding a bloodied axe. Cedric stormed out of the hut "What is going on here!! Can't a man have some peace and quiet!" He suddenly stopped, seeing the crumpled bodies of his men.  "You're a bad man" Krunk said walking towards Cedric, who turned to face Krunk.
"Ah the half orc I've heard rumours about you and your filthy beast of a mother. Now I know they are true I'll come for you filth!" Cedric snarled.
"Not ever" Krunk said swinging the axe taking off Cedrics head. His face had such a look of surprise that someone would dare attack him. The farmer stared at Krunk in fear. "They wont hurt you again " Krunk said as he walked away carrying the battleaxe.
The local legend started there, obvously the Lord said how his men were attacked by a savage beast while they valiantly tried to defend the farmer and his family. A bounty was put out on Krunk but none of the villagers ever tried to look as the farmer had said what really happened.  Soon the story went from 6 soldiers to 15, to 25 etc.  Krunk was raised in the wood so knew all the trails and pathways  so ran rings around the Lord's men.  He helped the blacksmith out when some soldiers tried to smash his forge  and in repayment the blacksmith left a chainmail suit and shield for Krunk to find. After being on the run for a year Krunks mother begged him to leave the land and live out a life where he isn't hunted so he took up his axe, shield and armour. Embraced his mother and left the Lord's lands to discover what's out there but secretly he vowed to return and kill the Lord.

Tomlin von Gumbar

Tomlin is my halfing rogue. Out of 6  characters I had to have one bad type character (I never pick bad or evil characters ) . The one podcast has different characters every few episodes and the most recent one I listened to have a rogue in. I was amazed by their stealth ability so wanted to give them a try. His back story is more a take of work guess but still works I think.

Tomlin was born in the gutter almost literally if his mother had been 3 steps slower.  He was born in the slums to a poor halfling couple . They struggled to feed their small family and Tomlins father tried his hand at the adventuring life.  For a few months the family were much better off with the money sent back until it stopped.  3 sullen looking adventurers carried his fathers body back to the family one day. Tomlin was crushed, he was now responsible for  feeding him and his mother. He couldn't find any work and his fathers death had soured the thought of  adventuring. Tomlin had a knack for sneaking and getting in places he shouldn't  so he started using that to help feed his mother. He became a thief. First it was small things to gain experience but his greed took hold and he started stealing bigger and bigger scores. After a few years his mother became ill and died. Without any real purpose now to stay in the slums Tomlin decided to head out, see the world and steal new and exciting things.

Ragnor 'Thunderstrike' Thoraldsson

Ragnor is my barbarian. He is a haunted one which means he has faced a tragedy in his past which helped write his back story. Ragnor is my hard drinking hard fighting warrior though but worried about his lack of armour!

Ragnor happily lived in his village in the mountains fighting , drinking, hunting and was soon to be married. While out hunting he saw smoke coming from the direction of to village (more than usual) sensing something wrong he ran back towards the village. When he arrived he found smashed buildings, crushed bodies strewn around. He heard the sounds of battle further in to the village. Ragnar rushed into the village centre, he saw utter devastation, several giants lay dead his village but several more were smashing into the tavern where it appeared his village were making their stand. Several of his village charged out and hacked at a giant, they were swept away with giant club strikes. The giants pulled the Tavern apart and Ragbor heard a familiar battle cry, Keta his betrothed charges out of the ruins and hacked at the giant that had swept her fellow villagers away. The giant collasped to its knees and Keta sliced across its throat killing it . Ragnor roared triumphantly, Keta turned and smiled at him. He ran over and embraced her. A giant smashed through the blacksmith's shop and swung a massive club at Keta. Ragnor swung her round and the club smashed into his back crushing his axe and sending him flying into some house ruins. He tried to get up but the ruins collasped in on him. He heard Ketas battle cry then a defiant scream before his world went black. He woke to a scrapping noise, he could hear digging. He saw 2 small hands pulling dirt and wood away. "I heard you moaning hang on!" A child's voice said. Ragnor started to push at the debris on top of him Eventually he was free and the little hands pulled at him to get him out. He climbed out and breathed in the fresh air. He saw a small blonde girl about 5 or 6 Freya the blacksmith's daughter. "Freya where is everyone?" He asked surveying the ruined village. "All dead Ragnor, my mother and fat.." she broke off whimpering. Ragnor put a hand on her shoulder, "they are now in the halls of our ancestors Freya." He had no idea what else to say. He got uo and looked around. He found who he was looking for, Keta was in the grasp of a giant crushed by in its fist but her sword was embedded in its eye. He smiled Keta warrior woman to the end. He pulled her free and her sword out of the giants eye. He heard shouts and turned to see Olaf chieftain of the best villager running into the village with his warriors. He walked up to Ragnor ' "what happened Ragnor!" "I was out hunting and saw smoke. I returned to find many giants attacking out village. In battle I was thrown into some ruins which collasped. Freya there pulled me out but everyone else......." Ragnor explained . The next few days went by in a blur. The funeral pyres were lit and goodbyes said. Freya stayed close to Ragnor as they walked into Olafs village. Theu atopped at the blacksmiths. "You'll be ok now with your aunt and uncle Freya. I cannot stay so be strong and grow up to be a fearsome warrior let no man tell you that you cannot. Remember my Keta and make her proud. Freyas uncle the villages blacksmith came out and handed Ragnor a sword wrapped on cloth "here you go Ragnor, I have crafted Ketas blade into a sword big enough for your hulking body." He snorted a laugh. Ragnor took the sword and it felt instantly at one with him. "Keta you shall slay many foes still" Ragnor whispered. He turned to the blacksmith "Look after freya she is to be a warrior of legend! Thank you again for the sword. " the blacksmith nodded. Ragnor walked away out of the village and onwards

Grimli Gloinsson

Grimli  (not the most orginal name I know) is my dedicated professional fighter.  Out to see the world and have an adventure but not as prone to rage and recklessness as a barbarian. With his axe and shield he is a formidable foe.  I thought I would leave his back story with a bit of a cliff hanger type thing to give the DM something to work with if I  ever play him.

Grimli fifth son and youngest child of Glamorglin Gloinsson Lord of Bellows Deep. A mountain keep in the north with silver and previous jewel mines creating Glamorglin enourmous wealth. Life was pleasant in the keep with only the occasional goblin raid to fight off and to put it bluntly Grimli was bored. Being the youngest and last son in the line his duties were few and tedious. He yearned for a life of adventure he would always volunteer for goblin hunts and if not doing that he would  sit in the taverns and listen to the various dwarves who come and go. Traders, adventurers, scouts all would share their stories in exchange for an ale. His father had noticed the adventurer spirit in his youngest, his wife told him to keep giving him duties and suppress the urges Grimli appears to have but Glamorglin remembers a long time ago he too had those urges and explored the world having adventures and seeing wonderous things before being recalled to the keep to take his dying father's place as Lord of Bellows Deep.  One day he took Grimli to the viewing platfrom that looks out across the plains below the mountain.  "Son your not happy here. No don't say a word I recognise those far away looks and the always running to fight goblins and sitting in taverns. ....what I wasn't always a Lord you know I was young once. I saw many things and travelled to many places. I've thought monsters that our folk wouldn't believe  existed. I've met many honourable warriors, bards,  wizards and even elves along my travels.  You mother worried as she sees a lot of that younger me in you. She wants you to stay here away from it all. But listen" Glamorglin out his hand on Grimli's shoulder "I want you to go out into the world and see what I saw do what I did and lots more son. There are still people that know and respect the Gloinsson name don't forget your signet ring and I shall write you a letter of introduction just in case. As I said I've met many honourable people on this land but I have may met share of evil scum that would see the world burn." Grimli stared in shock at his father, no one had ever mentioned his adventuring days and he had no idea he assumed his father had stayed in the keep. His father turned and headed back inside "meet me at hearthstone gate at dawn tomorrow.  I'll see you on your journey oh and don't tell your mother. " Grimli  packed with excitement and hardly slept. He took uo his pack and headed out to the gate  where his father was already waiting . "Son let me see your axe " Grimli  handed over his axe to his father who took it and looked at it for a while. He turned passed it to a bodyguard and gestured to another guard who brought a different axe. "This here was my first axe.  My father gave me this when I  left this through this gate for that first adventure. Here you take it. It's name is  Oath Keeper. " Grimli took the axe and held it. It's weight  and balance felt perfect to him. He beamed with pride holding the axe  "Go on! Get out of here before your mother sees!" His father chuckled. Grimli hefted his shield on his back held oath keeper and headed out through the gate into the world. Glamorglin watched his son walk away from the keep. His wife walked up next to him. "You didn't think I knew what You were up to hmmm?" She smiled.  "He'll be fine and better him out there learning about the world than here under our feet " Glamorglin said. They watched until Grimli was a mere speck in the distance.  As they turned away a guard rushed up.  "Lord they've encountered something in the new mine tunnels there have been casualties. " the guard said breathlessly "Goblins again? We only just finished clearing out the last nest " Glamorglin said "No my lord something else......

Grackkus the Monk

Grackkus is my 2nd character.  After listening to 'You Meet in a Tavern' I wanted to make a monk character as one of the main characters is a halfling monk and is bleeding hilarious.  D&D beyond allows you to pick what your character used to be.  For my monk I chose a soldier and I wanted him to have had a past event which made him become a monk.

Grackkus was raised in a small hamlet. His father was a retired man at arms for the local Lord and Grackkus loved nothing more than sitting next to his father while he and his comrades told many tales of battles, escapades over the tavern fire and they taught him many things about war.  As soon as he reached the right age he joined the Lord's militia to be a man at arms like his father. His mother was not impressed but his father was immensely proud. The lord of the land was now the son of the lord  who Grackkus's father had served and was a different man cowardly and without honour. As soon as he gained power, taxes went up and punishments rose for small infractions. Grackkus blinded by his father's stories of duty and comradeship assumed it was just the way a new Lord established himself and it would settle. He became a man at arms and served in a company under Captain Valner. Valner was the most honourable officer in the Lord's force, his family had connections so the lord could never replace him but he did give Valnors company all the dirtiest and hardest missions.  When the Lord's forces were called to join the kings army in defence of the realm against an orc horde, Valnors company acquited themselves well in several battles and their reputation grew among the kings army (much to the annoyance of their lord). Grackkus rose in rank to become Valnors most trusted Sgt. The king sent the lords forces to stop a splinter of the orc horde  who were heading through a valley to flank the kings army. Valnors company was told to hold the centre on the valley floor while the Lord's other forces held the flanks. When the orcs arrived it was plainly clear this was more than a splinter of the horde it was possibly most of the horde. Riders were dispatched to the king frantically. The orcs lined up for battle and their war drums echoed through the valley. As the orcs charged the lord panicked and fled with his officers. The companies on the flanks broke in disarray seeing their lord flee.  Valnor seeing all this and knowing if he ran the orc horde would sweep the unprepared kings army aside, ordered his company to stand. He yelled that they must hold the horde here to buy the army time.  Grackkus stood in the battle line scared but also inspired by Valnors unflinching  courage as he yelled to look to the company standard and know that are the bravest warriors he has ever served with. The sight of their flag flapping in the wind and Valnors words coursed through his company and they yelled defiantly at the orcs.   The horde crashed into the companies line but they held. Grackkus had never seen battle like it he held his place shouting encouragement and striking down orcs. Soon they were encircled but their line never bent. The company piper played the bag pipes loud and clear over the noise of battle.  Soon Grackkus found himself singing a tune of battle a song about heroes long ago. The man around him started to sing as they fought soon the whole company was singing as the orcs came on and on. Sadly even the companies courage alone could not sustain them.  One by one men were struck down the circle of shields got smaller and smaller. Grackkus blooded but not defeated stood in line next to Valnor, swinging his sword and bashing with his shield.  A horn sounded and Grackkus saw on the hill tops the standards of the kings army , a glint of hope kindled and grew in Grackkus. Valnor grimaced as a spear struck him in the side, he killed the orc that had thrust it but another spear impaled him. The orc tried to pull Valnor from the line into the orc horde but Grackkus struck the spear shaft in two. Valnor turned to Grackkus "The company is yours.  Don't let The standard fall." With those words Valnor fell the light going from his eyes.  Grackkus roared in anger and  grief. He looked around only 30 men left not much of a company ,  the standard now held by the piper still flew proud. The company circle got tighter as more men fell. A thrown spear struck the piper and he fell. Grackkus saw it all in slow motion, the spear striking the Piper and the standard falling. He dived dropping hia shield and caught the standard pole.  He held it firm and straight  As a surge of orcs swarmed over the remaining company. The king  alerted to the orc hordes deception quickly marshalled his forces to intercept.  On arriving  at the top of the valley they saw the lone company making its stand. The king ordered the charge and as the main army charged they saw the last few figures starting to fall but one figure held the company standard high while hacking and slashing.  The army crashed into the side of the orc horde and eventually won the battle. After the battle the kings guard found where Valnors company made its stand.   There they found many bodies and 20 or so wounded men including one Grackkus gripping a drooping but still not touching the floor standard. The king himself arrived and the army watched on as he spoke to each of the wounded soldiers.  "Sgt ...no...Captain Grackkus now....you sir are a hero. My whole army saw your stand here at Serenity valley and it will not be forgotten." The whole army was watching now and Valnors company became the heroes of Serenity valley. Unfortunately Grackkus's Lord who had fled happened to be the queens brother and to stop shame being brought on the queens family the mention of his forces anywhere near Serenity Valley was erased and punishable by death. The company standard that had been kept to be honoured torn and shredded. The problem being a whole army saw the stand and knew of the Lord's cowardly retreat so in hushed tones and whispered tavern stories the tale of Captain Valnor, Captain Grackkus and the Serenity Valley heroes is still told to this day. Grackkus was sent to a mountain monastery to heal (and be out of the way most people say). Here he healed his wounds but a deep darkness set in over him.  His youthful ideals had been dashed by his Lord's cowardly actions and the cover up. The monks trained his body and mind to get out of the darkness.  Eventually a renewed but changed Grackkus emerged. Shunning the armour he trained with in favour of a simple spear and martial arts taught to him by the monks. He has left the monastery now, the only remembrance from his past life a torn strip of a worn and battered company standard.

Striker the Ranger

Striker was my first character I created. I wanted a cool Aragorn type character.  I wanted him to be a good shot with a long bow  and have 2 small weapons if he gets up close and personal. He has a tomahawk and a dagger (Think Mel Gibson in the Patriot), the hope being he would get proficient at 2 weapon fighting as well as his long bow. He is going to be your typical good guy. I wanted him to be new to adventuring so his back story is quite small and he was my first character.

Raised by a woodsman , Striker became at one with the woods from an early age. Everyone knew he would be be ranger as he got older. He is much loved amongst the common folk regularly brings animals he has hunted for people in the local village who are struggling for food. Now he has reached his twenties he has decided to try his hand at adventuring. Hoping to strike it rich and see what the world has to offer.

Dungeons and Dragons

Many years ago I used to play D&D (also other RPGs including a home made one) with my  friends at school.  Enjoyed many a session in my friends kitchen fighting goblins gathering gold. Recently I've taken to podcasts (yeah I know about ten years late!).  I've discovered play through D&D podcasts. I love these as I'm a big fantasy book fan and these are like living fantasy stories. I mean more on the light hearted ones nothing to serious!
My current favourites are
You Meet in a Tavern 

Not Another D&D Podcast  

 How Friends Roll 

 This Is Gonna Hurt 

If you wanted to try just one I would heartedly recommend You Meet in a Tavern as it's the best I've heard.
My friend is a long standing D&D player so I'm hoping work allowing I will be able to play again soon. He showed be a web site called DnDBeyond. Here you can make characters  (up to 6) and it makes a character sheet for them and one you can use in-game.  I've been a little bit addicted to this and made 6 characters up.

The site allows you to do the standard stuff from D&D and add extras like background stories etc . I've always liked storytelling  (as you might have aeen in this blog. I don't think I'm great at it but it's a little way I chill out). I though I would do a few posts about my six characters and hopefully I'll get to play one or two at some point