Dare Ashborn's page

Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell that deals energy damage, you can change the type of damage to match the type of your bloodline. This also changes the spell’s type to match the type of your bloodline.

Bloodline Powers
Martial Flexibility (Ex) (4/day for one minute each, move action to activate): At 1st level, an eldritch scrapper gains the brawler’s martial flexibility class feature, using her sorcerer level as her brawler level for the purposes of uses per day. The scrapper treats Arcane Strike and Combat Casting as combat feats for the purpose of this ability. She can take a move action to gain the benefit of a combat feat she doesn’t possess. This effect lasts for 1 minute. The brawler must meet all the feat’s prerequisites. She may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + 1/2 her brawler(sorcerer) level (minimum 1). The brawler can use this ability again before the duration expires in order to replace the previous combat feat with another choice.

Level 0 Spells Known (DC 13) (Cast at will)
Acid Splash: Orb deals 1d3 acid damage.
Detect Magic: Detects spells and magic items within 60 ft.
Flare: Dazzles one creature (–1 on attack rolls).
Prestidigitation: https://www.aonprd.com/SpellDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Prestidigitation.
Spark: Ignites flammable objects.

Level 1 Spells Known (DC 14) (Cast 5 per day)
Burning Hands: 1d4/level fire damage (max 5d4) in a cone.
Grease: Makes 10-ft. square or one object slippery.
Shield: Invisible disc gives +4 to AC, blocks magic missiles.

Favored class: Sorcerer: Add +1/2 point of fire damage to spells that deal fire damage cast by the sorcerer.

Feats
Eschew Materials (Sorcerer bonus): Cast spells without material components as long as they have no gp cost.

Dodge (EITR) (L1): You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. This bonus increases to +4 against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened tile. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: All simple weapons, longswords, and whips. Not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a sorcerer's gestures, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail (see Arcane Spells and Armor).

Traits
Brigand: You hail from the River Kingdoms or the more lawless reaches of Brevoy. Life has been hard for you. Perhaps your parents and siblings were crooks and con artists, or maybe your rough, lonely life lead you to fall in with thieves and worse. You know how to ambush travelers, bully traders, avoid the law, and camp where no one might find you. Recently, you’ve run into some trouble, either with the law or with other bandits, and you’re looking to get away to somewhere no one would ever think to look for you. An expedition into the rugged wilderness seems like a perfect way to lie low until the trouble blows over. You begin the campaign with an extra 100 gp in ill-gotten gains. You also gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks when dealing with brigands, thieves, bandits, and their ilk.

Magical Knack (Magic): You were raised, either wholly or in part, by a magical creature, either after it found you abandoned or because your parents often left you in the care of a magical minion. This constant exposure to magic has made its mysteries easy for you to understand, even when you turn your mind to other devotions and tasks. Pick a class when you gain this trait (sorcerer)—your caster level in that class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn’t raise your caster level above your current Hit Dice.

Skills
(2 + Int/level + 2 background skills/level, marked with *)
(Skills listed for no other apparent reason are class skills)
Bluff +3 (3 Cha) (+1 when dealing with brigands/thieves/bandits)
Craft* (pyrography) +5 (2 rank + 0 Int +3 class)
Fly +2 (2 Dex)
Lore (Bandits and Brigands)* +5 (2 rank + 0 Int + 3 class)
Intimidate +9 (1 rank + 3 Cha + 3 class + 2 race) (+1 when dealing with brigands/thieves/bandits)
Knowledge (arcana) +4 (1 rank + 0 Int + 3 class)
Knowledge (local) +3 (1 rank + 0 Int + 2 racial)
Knowledge (planes) +4 (1 rank + 0 Int + 3 class)
Profession (Wis) –
Spellcraft +5 (1 rank + 1 Int + 3 class)
Use Magic Device (Cha) –

City-Raised: Half-orcs with this trait know little of their orc ancestry and were raised among humans and other half-orcs in a large city. City-raised half-orcs are proficient with whips and longswords, and receive a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (local) checks. This racial trait replaces weapon familiarity.

Intimidating: Half-orcs receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks because of their fearsome nature.

Languages: Common, Orc

=Equipped/Worn=
Mwk Longsword (315 gp, 4 lbs) (1d8/19-20/x2 S)
Light Crossbow (35 gp, 4 lbs) (1d8/19-20x2 P; 80 ft.)
Bolts (x10) (1 gp, 1 lbs)
Haramaki (armored sash) (Armor +1, ACP 0, ASF 0%) (3 gp, 1 lb)
Mwk Backpack (50 gp, 4 lbs)
Belt pouch (1 gp, 1/2 lb)
Traveler's Outfit (free)

=In Backpack=
Traveler’s Anytool (250 gp, 2 lbs)
Bedroll (1 sp, 5 lbs)
Blanket (5 sp, 3 lbs)
Bread (2 cp, ½ lb)
Candles (x10) (1 cp ea; 1 sp total)
Candlestick (1 cp, ½ lb)
Cheese (1 sp, ½ lb)
Compass (10 gp, ½ lb)
Gear maintenance kit (5 gp, 2 lbs)
Grooming kit (1 gp, 2 lbs)
Mess kit (2 sp, 1 lb)
Pyrography kit (1 gp, 2 lbs)
Silk rope (50 ft) (10 gp, 5 lbs)

=In Belt Pouch or on Belt=
Potions of cure light wounds (x1) (50 gp ea; –)
Potion of magic weapon (50 gp, –)
Potions of shield of faith (+2 defl) (50 gp ea, –)
Potion of vanish (50 gp, –)
Wand of burning hands (4 charges)
Antitoxin (2 vials) (50 gp ea, –)
Antiplague (1 vial)
Dagger (2 gp, 1 lb)
Playing cards (3 sp, –)
Oil (flask of), x2 (1 sp each, 1 lb each)
Waterskin (1 gp, 4 lbs)

=Distributed Throughout Person=
Coinage: 12 gp, 4 sp, 7 cp

Warning: allusions to violence against children

To be absolutely clear: Dare did not blow up the orphanage. She might have wanted to, plenty of times, for what Mistress Calbern put them through. But she didn't.

She couldn't convince anyone of that though. There she was, a soot-covered half-orc child sitting near the smoldering ruins of the Redeeming Light Orphanage in New Stetven, with actual fire coming out of her hands. The guards considered it utter foolishness to consider any likelihood other than that the half-orc hooligan burned down her own orphanage out of sheer spite for the other children there. The guards ignored that the few surviving children all said Dare helped them escaped. That the children reported Dare's willingness to stand up to their bullies, adult and child alike. The guards also ignored the children’s tales that they reported their descriptions of the "little man summoning fire-monsters" to set the bedsheets aflame. The children were afraid of Dare, the guards said, so they were lying so Dare wouldn’t hurt them.

The children were telling the truth. The guards wanted the easy scapegoat.

The "fire monsters" are the ones who saved her—and the few other kids who got out of there—in a way. Mindlessly following instructions to spread their flame, they nonetheless spotted Dare, then about 10 years old. The elementals bowed to her, apparently regarding her as kin or master. So they left her alone, and she grabbed little Ike and little Feera and told Lista and Gray to follow as she pushed ahead through the burning building, taking the brunt of the heat. By the time she got out, something had awakened inside her, and she herself was on fire but not burning up--and drawing all the flame toward her, away from the others. She got the little ones to safety. The people not in her dorm, the ones not with her, were the ones who perished. The guards took that as more evidence that she did it. Or at least, they recorded it as evidence so no one would have to go through the time and expense of a proper investigation.

Dare, at 10, was escorted to jail, classified as a child-shaped monster, and waited to see what her fate would be. Soon enough two more people were thrown into the cell with her: a man (Mikos) and woman (Cindra Blake), both human. And no sooner did the guards walk away, the two were already planning a jailbreak. They asked Dare what she was in for, and she told them.

Mikos and Cindra expressed profound and righteous ire at the pigs for framing a poor little girl for arson, and they promised they would get Dare a safe place to live if she would help them break out using her newfound fiery powers. She was conflicted: her gut told her they were probably not great people, but she also knew she was unlikely to be treated mercifully if she stayed. She said she refused to hurt anyone badly, and assured all she needed to do was cause enough of a show to distract the guard. Cindra had dabbled—poorly—in some magic, but knew enough to guide Dare to ignite a spark to set a guard’s shoes on fire—just a little smoke and pain so they could grab his keys.

Soon they were all free, and Mikos told Dare she worked for him and Cindra now. The guard had already decided she was evil after all, so she could not find safety anywhere in the city. But if she was a good girl and did as she was told, she would be able to live free with them as part of their gang, the Broken Dreams. They fled the city into the wilds to meet up with the rest of the thieves that made up their crew. The Broken Dreams mainly engaged in theft and smuggling, though they weren’t averse to violence if push came to shove. They were a traveling band, going back and forth between the city and more rural areas to move goods.

The gang members were far kinder to her than most adults she'd encountered in her life, which is more of a condemnation of the other adults she had known. Nonetheless, they kept her warm and fed, and they generally kept her out of the most dangerous entanglements they got into. They didn’t physically harm her, although they did a good job of making sure she understood that if she messed anything up, they would abandon her to the constabulary. One of their contacts, Old Lady Harkem, helped teach her more about the fundamentals of magic than Cindra could, and theorized Dare likely had salamander ancestry as the source of her sorcerous ability.

Dare was young but she knew even then what the world was like. She knew the Broken Dreams were not good people. But she also knew that many of them, and other brigands and bandits, did what they did because they fell on hard times and, like her, had little other choice. She kept her head down, and ignored the worst of things to focus on what she could do to make life in that neighborhood as tolerable as possible from the position she was in. She mainly worked to protect her fellow gang members; even when she was younger and smaller she was too big and brash to make a good thief, so she tended to be one to take hits or lead distractions. She worked hard for nearly nine years to serve the Broken Dreams and repay them for, in her mind, saving her.

But as she got older, she struggled to turn a blind eye to some of the traits of the crueller gang members, especially Mikos. Deep down, she was still the child who would go through fire to protect innocents; she was still the rebel who pushed back against bullies. And Mikos was a bully. If the gang got into a fight, it was Mikos. If they squabbled amongst each other, Mikos either started it or found a way to benefit from it. If they started a territory war, it was Mikos. Usually they fought other thieves and brigands so it was easy to not feel too bad about it. But one day, Mikos got his idea in his head of attacking a caravan. Not sneaking in and stealing from them but outright raiding it. It was carrying something he was certain would set them all up for life as “lordlings,” or so he claimed. But the caravan was one of families with children; certainly there were merchants but nothing that seemed worth it. Dare refused to join in on the attack and got into a fistfight with Mikos. She burned him, but he in turn broke her arm. She yielded and ran (though pocketing one of Mikos’s favorite trinkets, a traveler’s anytool on her way out). In fact, she ran to the caravan to try to warn them, but one of the caravan members pointed out Dare fitted the description of a “dangerous arsonist from the city” and said they shouldn’t believe her. The person was in on it with Mikos, working with him to get a reliquary the caravan was carrying. They chased her away. She was on her own, and she heard later the caravan was indeed attacked and destroyed. What’s worse, she knew the Broken Dreams would hunt her down for turning against Mikos. She traveled south, trying to find a way—any way—to get as far as she could from the gang, the gang life. Most of all, she just wanted to start over.

Then she heard about the expeditions into the River Kingdoms. She was used to traveling and had skills that could help. She couldn’t sign up fast enough. Only problem was her arm needed to heal before she could join the explorers, so she is late meeting up with them.

Dare grew up on the streets, in a nasty orphanage, and then among smugglers and highwaymen, so no one should be surprised that she has, perhaps, a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Brusque and brash, she is not afraid to tell others what she thinks—but isn't stupid enough to pick a fight for no reason. Usually. Despite being exposed to many unsavory characters in her life, she has always nurtured a deep sense of justice and compassion for those who have not received it, which is most people, in her experience. She feels she has the gifts she has to protect others and, if she has to, burn the bastards who make others miserable. Because law enforcement was so corrupt in her particular encounters with them, she has little faith in laws and rules and institutions, but rather abides by her own sense of honor. She judges someone by their actions and circumstances rather than ties or looks. Respect and loyalty is a rare thing to be reserved for those who work to earn it.

She is not overtly religious but quietly nurtures a faith in Sarenrae, praying that she will always hold to her principles and use her flames in the name of protecting others, not becoming the monster some claimed her to be. Perhaps unexpectedly, Dare also has an artistic side, using a mixture of her magical abilities and some mundane tools to create drawings/etchings by carefully burning designs on wood. She finds the activity calming—one of the few things she can do to get herself settle down when so much of the world tends to tick her off.

HeroForge Mini

Dare is over six feet tall, long-limbed, and fleshy enough to look like she can take a hit—and she can, more than most spellcasters, at least. A flame tattoo swoops and swirls around one of her golden, slitted eyes, which may look intimidating, but also covers up burn scars from the orphanage fire. The backs of her hands are scarred as well. Dare brushes her rough-cropped black hair to one side of her head and thinks of her appearance enough to bleach and dye the tips red to add to her fiery affiliation. She dresses likewise in black and red, and the sword at her hip adds to the rebel enforcer vibe. Her big stompy boots are well cared for. Dare’s orcish heritage is quite obvious, with grey-brown-green skin and lower, tusk-like teeth just out prominently.