I had developed this guy for another Curse of Strahd game that doesn’t seem to have gotten off the ground — Marijohn Dell, Warlock (unread patron), who’s basically the main character of the song “Long Black Veil,” with a bit of “Hang ‘em High” thrown in.
Marijohn Dell
Reborn Warlock (Undead Patron) 1 N
AC 13 HP 10 Speed 30ft
Str 10 (0) Dex 14 (2) Con 14 (2) Wis 8 (-1) Int 12 (1) Cha 17 (3)
Attacks
Eldritch Blast +4 1d10
Dagger +4 1d4
Club (arcane focus) +3 1d6
[/b]
[b]
Skills
Insight (background) +1
Persuasion (background) +5
Investigation (race) +3
Stealth (race) +4
Deception (class) +5
History (class) +3
Background (Guild Artisan-Locksmith)
Reborn (+2 Cha, +1 Con)
Ancestral Legacy (2 bonus skills, Stealth, investigation)
Deathless (Advantage vs. disease/poison, resistance to poison)
Advantage Death Saves
Sleepless. Long rests take 4 hours.
Knowledge from a past life (+d6 to skill check, prof. times/long rest.
Otherwordly Patron: Undead
Bonus spells
Form of Dread (1 min prof bonus/day)
- 1d10+1 temp hp
- 1/turn, force struck creature to make WIS save or be frightened for encounter
- Immune to frightened
Dell was a conniving thief and a cad executed for killing a priest. He was innocent of that crime — he was in bed with Marah, a prominent (and married) townswoman at the time of the murder. Unwilling to expose her as an adulteress (and ashamed of his life overall), he refused to give her up as an alibi, and accepted the noose.
He may not have been a murderer, but years of lying, cheating and petty crimes surely outweighed a last noble turn. and as the light left him he felt the pit beneath — and heard, in his mind, a whispered lifeline. To his shame, he snatched at it.
He awoke sprawled across a grave marked only by purple flowers — Marah's favorite color. He felt at his throat, still scarred by the noose. Going back was an impossibility, he knew: the townsfolk would make doubly sure of his death, and he feared dying again even more than he feared the bargain he had struck with who-knows-what. Even if he had wanted to, he's not sure if he could return, for his heart already seemed to pull him toward the road, his feet moving surely, as if they knew they were returning home.
A good-looking face, but seems a bit underweight and though he has a nice smile, his lips are often pressed together. The scar from the noose is still visible; he wears a black scarf to cover it.
Trying to be better the second time around. Worried that he's not. (This is a new worry for him, he used to be more devil-may-care, back when the Devil was a lot more abstract). Still can be charming and affable when he’s relaxed.