Making a Caliban

[Deathpenalty]

I was hoping to get a little bit more information before I start planning a Caliban. First of all; I read here and there scraps of information but they could be old and rules can be changed.

When I make my Caliban, do I start it out as either Female/Male Half-Orc, then request the size of scale to be reduced or do I request a different phenotype completely? I ask this because in planning my Caliban, I wish to have a certain head on my characters body.

Also, I wish it to have at least bat wings. If this is all possible, I'd love to know. And if it's not too much, I'd like it to have a devils tail (for appearance only). The rest I can achieve through crafting.

Much appreciated,

rolto (login: Deathpenalty/rolto)

[Iconoclast]

Yep, create as a half-orc, then when choosing background, choose a Potm domain (where your caliban is from). You might find the head you want in the start-up area. If not, know the number of the head and a dm ought to be able to handle it. Have fun. 

[Deathpenalty]

Yep, create as a half-orc, then when choosing background, choose a Potm domain (where your caliban is from). You might find the head you want in the start-up area. If not, know the number of the head and a dm ought to be able to handle it. Have fun. 

Thanks for the fast response.

Though I'd also like to know if we're not going to be anal when it comes to wings and tails? Some servers tend to place stupid restrictions when it comes to these type of things. Once, I had a half-dragon without a tail. The wings I had to get through RDD means. The legs through requesting a special armor (sigh). What does that tell you? Just a lazy work-around.

With an over-saturated gaming world. We can't afford discouraging people from their creative insight. But that's just my opinion. [end ramble rant] 

[Iconoclast]

I've seen caliban with tails and wings, so I'm pretty sure a dm will do it.

[HellsPanda]

Wings and tails can happen, but it requries alot of persuation

[Bluebomber4evr]

You'd need a real good reason for your character to have wings or tails. Most caliban would resemble half-orcs physically.

[Deathpenalty]

Here is where I hit my head on a wall..

"a real good reason"

These Caliban are result of witchcraft whilst still in the womb. What else of a reason is there? Does the warlock/witch need to be a vampire that just loved to play a practical joke on the populace or do I need to find some obscure ritual found in some book?

All I can think of is that some deluded warlock/witch thought he/she could artificially make a (sub)race of vampire through magic that's in a intermediate stage of bat and humanoid, which required a pregnant woman to be experimented upon.

If wings and tails need a good reason, then why can a Caliban without any reason needed pick and choose a animal head, like a lions head and even hooves. Are wings SO exotic?

I don't want to be confrontational, but these practices are hypocritical and circumstantial. Like leaving no choice but to use those heads, just because there are no others to chose from.

[HellsPanda]

The "caliban curse" isn't a purposefull choice, its a random twist of the unborn, and it generally makes people into bigger, uglier people

Not into actual demonic creatures

[Bato]

You can get your body changed to that of a Gnome, Human, and Dwarf. These are the only things with Caliban heads I think.

I've always personally seen a Caliban's deformities as either the result of flesh sculpting experimentation, which gives you animal bits.
Or take conditions people have and exaggerate them, the magic twists and contorts their bodies terribly.
Like I've had a dwarfed Caliban with a super hydrocephalated head.
Or some crazy scoliosis where he's bent over and one side of him is over developed and the other is withered.
Or just a bit of the melty face.

Callybans!

[Deathpenalty]

You can get your body changed to that of a Gnome, Human, and Dwarf. These are the only things with Caliban heads I think.

I've always personally seen a Caliban's deformities as either the result of flesh sculpting experimentation, which gives you animal bits.
Or take conditions people have and exaggerate them, the magic twists and contorts their bodies terribly.
Like I've had a dwarfed Caliban with a super hydrocephalated head.
Or some crazy scoliosis where he's bent over and one side of him is over developed and the other is withered.
Or just a bit of the melty face.

Callybans!

Ah, Sloth.. "Hééééé youuuuu guys!!!" Love that guy.

Maybe my understanding of a Caliban was a bit limited. Though the animal heads are numbered. Maybe a bit of a caution or a note to say that some of those heads aren't suitable for Caliban. I have however asked once, when I made a Caliban when I was active if it could have hooves. Which was allowable, so it got me a bit confused.

[Bluebomber4evr]

Here is where I hit my head on a wall..

"a real good reason"

These Caliban are result of witchcraft whilst still in the womb. What else of a reason is there? Does the warlock/witch need to be a vampire that just loved to play a practical joke on the populace or do I need to find some obscure ritual found in some book?

All I can think of is that some deluded warlock/witch thought he/she could artificially make a (sub)race of vampire through magic that's in a intermediate stage of bat and humanoid, which required a pregnant woman to be experimented upon.

If wings and tails need a good reason, then why can a Caliban without any reason needed pick and choose a animal head, like a lions head and even hooves. Are wings SO exotic?

I don't want to be confrontational, but these practices are hypocritical and circumstantial. Like leaving no choice but to use those heads, just because there are no others to chose from.

It's not hypocritical. Caliban exist as a means to have the half-orc race in a world that has no orcs. Some people, such as yourself, have this misconception that caliban can appear as anything, but that's not the case. Caliban generally appear brutish and misshapen, with slight bestial features (sloped brow, protruding jaws, tusk- or fang-like teeth, etc.). While they don't exactly have a uniform appearance, they aren't heterogeneous, either. A few rare examples have had animal heads, but none in canon have ever had wings or tails. That's not to say it's impossible, but there needs to be a convincing reason as to why the character would have them besides "it's a caliban" or "a curse."

[dutchy]

rolto you need a better reason then a curse.

excuse me ppl il do a little dutch my apolegies for that.

je moet ze overtuigen waarom ze wings of rare lichaamsdelen zoals een staart hebben, zijn ze niet een mix van iets van een demiplane?? of een vloek op de familie?
een vistani/heks curse kan werken.

dus je idee kan werken maar je moet ff met een goede solid background komen eer dat ze je dit type laten spelen.

opties:
vloek op een of andere manier
een ouder die geen puur bloed heeft
of een of andere background dat erg goed en logisch in mekaar zit.

[Deathpenalty]

Here is where I hit my head on a wall..

"a real good reason"

These Caliban are result of witchcraft whilst still in the womb. What else of a reason is there? Does the warlock/witch need to be a vampire that just loved to play a practical joke on the populace or do I need to find some obscure ritual found in some book?

All I can think of is that some deluded warlock/witch thought he/she could artificially make a (sub)race of vampire through magic that's in a intermediate stage of bat and humanoid, which required a pregnant woman to be experimented upon.

If wings and tails need a good reason, then why can a Caliban without any reason needed pick and choose a animal head, like a lions head and even hooves. Are wings SO exotic?

I don't want to be confrontational, but these practices are hypocritical and circumstantial. Like leaving no choice but to use those heads, just because there are no others to chose from.

It's not hypocritical. Caliban exist as a means to have the half-orc race in a world that has no orcs. Some people, such as yourself, have this misconception that caliban can appear as anything, but that's not the case. Caliban generally appear brutish and misshapen, with slight bestial features (sloped brow, protruding jaws, tusk- or fang-like teeth, etc.). While they don't exactly have a uniform appearance, they aren't heterogeneous, either. A few rare examples have had animal heads, but none in canon have ever had wings or tails. That's not to say it's impossible, but there needs to be a convincing reason as to why the character would have them besides "it's a caliban" or "a curse."

My apologies. I had a moments relapse to a situation completely unrelated to this, so I was in error. I don't wish to stray too far from what the server wishes to convey, so perhaps I should just drop this and rely on other things I can use to convey a creepy Caliban look.

Is it possible to get the animation of a elderly (like the Undertaker in Vallaki) on the half-orc model and have it scaled to slightly human size? That would be great on it's own.

[Deathpenalty]

rolto you need a better reason then a curse.

excuse me ppl il do a little dutch my apolegies for that.

je moet ze overtuigen waarom ze wings of rare lichaamsdelen zoals een staart hebben, zijn ze niet een mix van iets van een demiplane?? of een vloek op de familie?
een vistani/heks curse kan werken.

dus je idee kan werken maar je moet ff met een goede solid background komen eer dat ze je dit type laten spelen.

opties:
vloek op een of andere manier
een ouder die geen puur bloed heeft
of een of andere background dat erg goed en logisch in mekaar zit.

Thanks for the advice Dutchy, but I don't think I will create a character that has a certain look and then come with a reason how they got there. I can only compare it to finding technology you have no clue about and then backward engineer it. I have no clue what magic is actually valid to create such an appearance. I don't own a complete library of DnD books to use, so using the internet may seem it's like some Frankenstein Monster where I puzzle pieces of canon together. So to speak.

[dutchy]

np seems you do not have a huge server exp yet   so might be best you simplefy it.

i dont own books or got a huge know how of the dnd world   but ive learned a thing or to from reading blue's posts and asking dm's questions and experiencing stuff on the server.

[herkles]

Rolto, I would go with folk-lore and gothic horror ideas instead of dnd magic or because "magic", it fits the flavor better IMO. To demonstrate, perhaps your mother was cursed by the vistani when she was pregnant "you shall produce the unclean, that which terrors, that which gnaws and devours. It shall not grow, it will not change unless you repent for what you have done" and she gave birth to a caliban that was a midget caliban that tended to have buck teeth and resorted to canablism. or it was cold and freezing, and it was midnight with a thunder-storm as she gave birth to her child, thunder struck aloud. This being midnight it may be considered an ill oman and the child was cursed due to this. The winter weather made the child frail and weak, His bones to narrow, and enlongated; seeming to be a disjointed, half-shappend figure.

this IMO is much better then "spell x did so"

Also keep in mind the insperations were folktales, quismodo from the hunchback of notre dame and Caliban from the tempest.

[Deathpenalty]

Rolto, I would go with folk-lore and gothic horror ideas instead of dnd magic or because "magic", it fits the flavor better IMO. To demonstrate, perhaps your mother was cursed by the vistani when she was pregnant "you shall produce the unclean, that which terrors, that which gnaws and devours. It shall not grow, it will not change unless you repent for what you have done" and she gave birth to a caliban that was a midget caliban that tended to have buck teeth and resorted to canablism. or it was cold and freezing, and it was midnight with a thunder-storm as she gave birth to her child, thunder struck aloud. This being midnight it may be considered an ill oman and the child was cursed due to this. The winter weather made the child frail and weak, His bones to narrow, and enlongated; seeming to be a disjointed, half-shappend figure.

this IMO is much better then "spell x did so"

Also keep in mind the insperations were folktales, quismodo from the hunchback of notre dame and Caliban from the tempest.

That's a pretty wicked way to explain how such a being could be born. Without going too much into detail about how the curse is performed. I worry myself way too much about it sounding completely logical most of the times. So I tend to over-complicate my way of explaining things. Because sometimes you have to be some kind of xx-plane expert to be able to come up with valid reasons. Like them would-be-wizards and their understanding of the weave.

That is much better and inspiring, thank you.

[herkles]

NP, one of the reasons I love ravenloft is that I can rely on folklore and gothic horror ideas. Cures are a numerous source of ideas, weather family or personal. The strange and the weird. Be creative and imaginative in this sort of thing

also side note: the weave only exists in the Forgotten realms, mages in ravenloft would have no clue what the weave is as they do not use it. Of course, I don't like dnd magic. I much prefer folklore magic and hermetic style of magic. Hermetic magic is neat but I don't think it can be implemented IG and I have gone off topic

[Geiger]

NP, one of the reasons I love ravenloft is that I can rely on folklore and gothic horror ideas. Cures are a numerous source of ideas, weather family or personal. The strange and the weird. Be creative and imaginative in this sort of thing

also side note: the weave only exists in the Forgotten realms, mages in ravenloft would have no clue what the weave is as they do not use it. Of course, I don't like dnd magic. I much prefer folklore magic and hermetic style of magic. Hermetic magic is neat but I don't think it can be implemented IG and I have gone off topic

The spellcasters - especially those from the Halan faith are weeelll aware of the weave.

Just sayin'.

[Bluebomber4evr]

NP, one of the reasons I love ravenloft is that I can rely on folklore and gothic horror ideas. Cures are a numerous source of ideas, weather family or personal. The strange and the weird. Be creative and imaginative in this sort of thing

also side note: the weave only exists in the Forgotten realms, mages in ravenloft would have no clue what the weave is as they do not use it. Of course, I don't like dnd magic. I much prefer folklore magic and hermetic style of magic. Hermetic magic is neat but I don't think it can be implemented IG and I have gone off topic

The spellcasters - especially those from the Halan faith are weeelll aware of the weave.

Just sayin'.

Ravenloft's "weave" is not the same thing as the Forgotten Realms' weave

[Deathpenalty]

Thanks for the answers.

Does one go submit an application for unusual physical features?

[Bluebomber4evr]

Thanks for the answers.

Does one go submit an application for unusual physical features?

not necessarily a formal application, but you can PM a DM with the relevant details