A Band of Vikings

[Obergnom]

I need some creative input. This summer I will DM a One-Shot set in a nordic background (Ill Made Graves from Dungeon Mag 133).
The Adventure is similar to 13th Warrior in tone. I want to play it with 4 10th level characters, what do you think would make a cool group of "nordic" heroes? As they are 10th Level Chars meant to be played in a one-shot, they should not be overly complicated.

Ideas so far: A Bear Warrior, A Favoured Soul pretending to serve Odin or Thor but actually serving Loki...

Basicaly, I am looking for a bunch of easy to play (the adventure does not require a lot of tricks) nordic flavoured characters of ECL 10. Any ideas?

 

[smootrk]

Bring in an Archer type, and a Mariner Leader type (viking ship's captain). For a spell caster, you might have a Skald (think Viking Bard), who chronicles the adventure. For this skald, you might make him a divine bard variant (which, for Nordic style, fits better than an arcane option, at least in my mind).

 

[Ambrus]

For a wizard type, I'd suggest an artificer who creates item of power by etching runes onto items. Traditionally they're called ryneman (i.e. a rune carver) and should also act as the group's theological/spiritual/mystical advisor. The role could also be filled with a sorcerer/favored soul/mystic theurge whose spells are axed on divinations and discreet party buffing rather than flashy offensive spells.

A bear warrior/beserker/barbarian is a tank no brainer (heh heh).

A skald fighter/bard makes a good secondary warrior and party face.

Some kind of noble/king fighter/leader is also appropriate.

 

[Xath]

A skald fighter/bard makes a good secondary warrior and party face.

I'll second the skald/bard idea. It'll allow you a sort of divine healing in the party, without having the over-structure of a cleric.

 

[Voadam]

I need some creative input. This summer I will DM a One-Shot set in a nordic background (Ill Made Graves from Dungeon Mag 133).
The Adventure is similar to 13th Warrior in tone. I want to play it with 4 10th level characters, what do you think would make a cool group of "nordic" heroes? As they are 10th Level Chars meant to be played in a one-shot, they should not be overly complicated.

Ideas so far: A Bear Warrior, A Favoured Soul pretending to serve Odin or Thor but actually serving Loki...

Basicaly, I am looking for a bunch of easy to play (the adventure does not require a lot of tricks) nordic flavoured characters of ECL 10. Any ideas?

Dwarven cleric of Thor.

Named Durkon.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I ran a Nordic-flavored event for a Chicago Gamesday, and here are some of the characters I created (14th level) - I'm thinking I'm forgetting something, but these are the highlights:

Cleric of Freya
a Valkyrie on a mission from the gods (I made her a half-celestial paladin)
an arcane trickster servant of Loki
a standard fighter war-leader type
a ranger with an oathbow
a bard/skald type

I had a frenzied barbarian as a backup character in case we had too many players...

 

[Voadam]

Elves are appropriate

Ljosalfar = light elves
Dokkalfar = dark elves

dwarves and duergar are appropriate as well.

Half orcs could work by calling them Troll-born.

 

[Obergnom]

Great suggestions so far.

Two things that came to my mind: I want non-humans among the characters. Thanks for all ideas for such characters. Sadly, Midgard Dwarves are to powerful, otherwise I would have liked something like those.

The adventure has the heroes being a neutral party in a war among two viking tribes.
What would make a good background for such a party of PCs? Are they a bunch of Odysseus-like seafaring monster slayers? Or rather send by a third tribe?

 

[Darklone]

Go the 13th warrior way: Oracles.

I'd turn the Skald into a bbn2/Bard. Or what about a Fochlucan Lyrist?

 

[Zaruthustran]

Cool idea. IMHO you should go for builds with abilities that just work when needed (as opposed to spells and other limited abilities). Also, every single one of them should be able to handle themselves in melee.


Melee berserker:
The Crusader from Tome of Battle would be appropriate, though you should rename the manouvers. Throw in a level of Barbarian for even more durability. Use the Unearthed Arcana variant that makes Rage kick in whenever dropped below 1/2 hit points. If Tome of Battle is too complicated, just go with Fighter and Barbarian levels. Power Attack, Cleave, and so on. Make him half-orc.

Leader/healer/backup melee:
Go with a Dragon Shaman. Change the theme from Dragon to one of the Norse gods. Whatever the name/theme, the point is that you get a healer and some neat cleric-like abilities without the baggage of having to deal with spells. 6d6 breath weapon at 10th level--consider changing the "fluff" of the source of the effect from being a literal breath weapon to it being a clang of a weapon onto a shield, or smashing a hammer into the ground, or shouting up to the heavens to call down the thunder. Human or half-elf.

Ranged/backup melee:
Ranger/Scout/Barbarian/Fighter axe-thrower. Go the Rapid Shot route, and throw in Quick Draw, PBS, and Far Shot--you can have all those feats by 3rd level. Get Brutal Throw, Hurling Charge, and Shot on the Run later. With one level of Fighter you can have all those feats by 10th level, and be doing Skirmish damage and moving at a base speed of 50'. Human.

Magic Guy/backup melee:
Hexblade, bard, or maybe a warlock that's *not* built around Eldritch Blast. Elf or half-elf.