Let's Build: Creating a Darklord Using Random Tables

We dive into a different type of build this week. Instead of making a character, we are building a nemesis for our players -- someone truly evil, someone beyond redemption. Join us as we dig into Chapter 2 of Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and build a Darklord of our own.

We also tap into some tables from Xanathar's, the DMG and even turn some cards from the Tarroka deck. And the fates do not disappoint us.

Meet Felix Shepard, owner/operator of The Harth Casino and Hotel -- a dread domain. He and his sentient walking stick stroll the gaming floors, ever hungry for more money. He calls the stick Mother, and it seems to talk telepathically to him. Few know the true secret to his dark powers -- and if they do they probably don't have long to live. Born to wealth, he was also a natural born liar and a cheat -- and made a sport out of it. But sometimes he would lose, and in those moments he would be desperate to use family wealth to dig himself out. He seals his Dark Fate the terrible night when he confronts his mother for her money, knowing that if she refused, he would simply kill her and claim it as inheritance. Which he does. Then whileattempting to burn the house down to hide the evidence of him bludgeoning her to death with a firepoker, he gets trapped in the house and burnt alive with her. He awakens to find himself the new owner of his very own Domain of a Dread, a casino and hotel that he can never truly leave -- but can repeatedly burn to the ground. And he finds that the firepoker has transformed into a powerful weapon -- and artifact that houses the haunting spirit of his mother, and that he cannot willingly let go of.

Find out how we came to all this (and lots more) in this episode of Like Dragon Like Son, a podcast hosted by Jay and Jack Oatway where they discuss everything D&D, from character builds to personal experiences. Stay tuned for new episodes on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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