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I have an NPC I built that, well, I hadn’t intended to get quite this tied up in the story. But, hey, that’s how it goes sometimes. I want to make a full character for them, but I’m not sure if there is a standard class to try and shoehorn them into, or if I need to just find a template and start rolling my own.

Basically, they are a "shard of a deity". Through some mechanic (that I don’t have a definition for) some significant piece of the essence/personality/spirit of Sune (D&D, Forgotten Realms) exited her plane and imbued itself into an unborn child (a character named Shaylynn). As a result, this character looks like Sune and has a lot of the personality (and decent amount of the power) of that deity.

But, while she contains, and is a part of Sune, she is an entirely independent being. Granted, Sune may like that part of herself back, but at the moment I don’t think she’s in any rush.

Are there any classes (or even just creatures) that fit this kind of description? I called her an avatar at first (she’s like the avatar of a deity, but with her own consciousness and will) but I don’t think that’s how avatars are intend to work in Forgotten Realms.

Anyway, I would prefer something canon (if at all possible, it keeps my life simpler). If there isn’t one, perhaps an example from mythology so that I can at least have some lore to work with?

Failing all of that, perhaps some guidance on a template to use so I can start making the class myself.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ lol, methinks someone recently read some Sanderson. Kudos on the creative character lore. \$\endgroup\$ – ArtaSoral May 14 '18 at 20:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ArtaSoral lol, actually it's been a good 5 years (though I really need to get back to Stormlight Archive soon here...). I will definitely take that as a compliment thought :D. \$\endgroup\$ – Jay Carr May 14 '18 at 21:01
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The closest is the Divine Soul sorcerer

In Xanathar's Guide to Everything, there is a Sorcererous Origin based on a relation to divinity.

Sometimes the spark of magic that fuels a sorcerer comes from a divine source that glimmers within the soul.

Since the Divine Soul sorcerer has access to both cleric AND sorcerer spell lists, you can certainly mirror the powers of Sune as you have plenty of spell options.

The Aasimar Race

For more diverse options (if you want a different class) or to just take the divinity aspect further, you could also consider a race such as the Aasimar (in Volo's Guide to Monsters) that has a connection to divinity as well.

Aasimars are humans with a significant amount of celestial or other good outsider blood in their ancestry.

You can always reflavour the Aasimar to apply more closely to your NPC, but it is a good feature list to use.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Ahhh...that must be where I read about it, when I was in the shop reading Volo’s Guide. I was wracking my brains trying to figure it out... I don’t own either book currently, but I’ve been thinking of getting them, perhaps this will be the reason that pushes me to it. \$\endgroup\$ – Jay Carr May 13 '18 at 2:13
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There is nothing specific for that case.

As others have said, Divine Soul Sorcerer could play that role, but you don't need to shoehorn yourself into it.

My answer would be: Pick the class you think is more akin to how you intent to play her. Then refluff it so her powers come from her being a "shard".

For example: If she is a Shard of Sune, her powers would have the "beauty" and "love" themes. I think a Bard could be great for that: have spells like Charm Person, and concentrate on social skills, play her "bardic inspiration" as just her beauty inspiring others, and you can avoid music and instruments completely if you want. Then just say that instead of years of training in both arcane and musical studies, her power is innate in her.

This will be your chassis, and you build upon this. If you come up with a special power that you think she should have - like, for example, free castings of "Sanctuary" on herself, because she is so beautiful noone wants to hurt her - just staple it on. If something you think she should not be able to do - like wearing armor or being competent with weapons, for example - just take it away.

It doesn't need to follow the strict rules players follow. She can be overpowered (in fact, if she is Divine in any measure, she should), or underpowered (it could also be, since she is only a fragment, her powers might be unreliable, for example). She can have more powers and skills, or less. And in the end it doesn't matter much, as long as she is not stealing the spotlight from your players.

I did it with a Bard, but you could also play it with the Divine Soul Sorcerer @David Coffron mentioned, or a simple regular Sorcerer. A Celestial Warlock; or even a refluffed Fiend warlock // Red/Gold Dragon Sorcerer // Evocation Wizard making her enemies feel the "heat" of Passion.

It could be as simple as a Fighter, her martial prowess coming from the quasi-divine potential in her.

The TL/DR is: Anything you want her to be. Just make sure to establish that her power-set comes from her divine origin, and you are good to go!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Solid advice. I do think I'm going to take the Soul Sorcerer/Aasimar approach mentioned by David (She was actually a Soul Sorcerer before the shard "awakened" as it were.) But your general guidelines on how to approach the issue are much appreciated. \$\endgroup\$ – Jay Carr May 14 '18 at 14:02
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NPCs don’t have classes

Classes are for PCs.

Simply decide what you think a “shard of a deity” can do and either steal actions/reactions/features etc. from other monsters or make up your own to allow her to do them.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I wouldn't say "classes are for PCs" as much as "NPCs aren't limited by class rules." There are rules in the DMG for applying class levels to monsters. \$\endgroup\$ – David Coffron May 12 '18 at 22:30
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    \$\begingroup\$ @DavidCoffron Really? Point me to an official NPC that mentions class anywhere in its stat block. \$\endgroup\$ – Dale M May 12 '18 at 22:41
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    \$\begingroup\$ there are none, but the DMG still makes mention of it in "Creating a Monster." This question covers it well. \$\endgroup\$ – David Coffron May 12 '18 at 22:47
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also there are many spells that target NPCs that make mention of the possibility that they have class levels (see Magic Jar) \$\endgroup\$ – David Coffron May 12 '18 at 22:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ @PixelMaster More to the point, the introduction to the Monster Manual specifically calls Spellcasting a class feature (pg. 10) \$\endgroup\$ – David Coffron May 13 '18 at 5:48

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