A Razorblade Romance

"Into the night, you and I, torn and broken, bleed into the night."

- HIM, Into the Night

Towards the end of summer, I went to my third HIM concert.  Since I am a passionate HIM fan (I'm just a passionate fan of things in general), I rocked out in my HIM shirt (from an older concert), and sang/screamed along to all the songs.  I'm pretty sure I made eye contact with Ville Valo, the lead singer.  All in all, it was a great time, and I was glad to be able to scream along to the chorus of "Buried Alive By Love", "Soul on Fire" and "Right Here In My Arms".  They also ended on a high note with "The Funeral of Hearts".

I've been a HIM fan since I was 16 years old, when a friend introduced me to the band and took me to my first concert to see them.  I waited in line for about 5 hours just so we could get a good place to stand on the floor.  HIM has been one of those bands that I've considered to be one of my defining three in terms of music (yet most people never seem to understand why I like them.  They're just not popular in my circle of friends).  However, finding another fan is always a cool experience.  While I was out in May, I wore the same shirt I wore to this last concert.  A girl shouted at me from across the store about how I had a cool shirt, and she made a point to show me her own fan bracelet.

I always try to take my experiences and surroundings and use them to inspire myself creatively.  As I've been listening to all of HIM's music while at work, driving, etc, I began brainstorming a new character.  A few years back, I wanted to create a tiefling named Ville (after the leader singer of HIM, since it's just an awesome sounding name).  I came up with a few backstory ideas, but since I didn't play very much, I just let it go.  Now that I'm playtesting more and letting my brother DM, I figured it was time to create something new.

Since I was basing my new tiefling character off of a musical frontman, I decided he needed to be a bard.  It just made sense.  I took numerous lyrics as inspiration for the character.  Here's a list of a few:

"Love's the funeral of hearts, and an ode for cruelty, when angels cry blood on flowers of evil in bloom"
"We are like the living dead, craving for deliverance, with a frozen heart and a soul on fire"
"I weep for the dream in a grave, the one that made all lips go blue"
"Have no fear, there are wounds which are not meant to heal"
"Love me, like you love the sun, scorching the blood in my vampire heart"

And so, I present to you, Ville the tiefling bard.

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Name: Ville

Race: Tiefling male

Class: Bard

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Languages: Common, Infernal, Sylvan, Draconic

HP: 7

AC: 11

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 (30 feet)

Special Senses: Low-light vision

STRENGTH: 14 (+2)

CONSTITUTION: 13 (+1)

DEXTERITY: 10 (+0)

INTELLIGENCE: 13 (+1)

WISDOM: 8 (-1)

CHARISMA: 17 (+3)

Racial Features

Hellish Resistance

Infernal Wrath

Skills: History, Performance, Persuasion, Arcana, Deception, Stealth

Background: Noted Performer

Class Features

Bardic Knowledge

Bardic Performance (Call to Battle & Inspire Competence)

Sickle: +3, 1d4+3 slashing

Gear

Sickle

Leather Armor

Lute

Clothes, common

Adventurer's Kit

Potion of Healing x2

Vial x3

Manacles

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Little is known about Ville, for he chooses to reveal little of himself.  If anything, it is the songs he composes and chooses to sing that give hints about his past and who he truly is.

His songs are full of shadows and hauntings, of loss and love.  While he speaks little of it, many seem to believe that he loved someone deeply, and that she was either died or was killed.  By whom or what, that is unknown, though from his songs, Ville seems to have had encounters with vampires, devils, and other forces of shadows and darkness.

The bard is covered with various tattoos and designs, some of which have designs that suggest he has spent some time with shadar-kai.  He is unaffected by cold lands, and the gloom of the Shadowfell does little to change his moods.

He is confident, with an almost boastful swagger and whimsical attitude.  The bard does want he wants, whenever he wants to do it.  He wanders the lands, seeking only what is known to him.  Small nobles and inns allow him to perform for them, which he does.  He is an invaluable asset to any company he joins due to his various insights to the many situations which arise.

Some say he pays homage to the gods of death by wielding a sickle, others that it allows him to create new scars like shadar-kai sometimes possess.

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So that's my new character.  Hopefully this gives everybody else some ideas about taking their other interests in life and finding new ways to apply them to their D&D games.  Leave your comments below and be sure to follow me on Twitter @artificeralf