TTRPG: The Sundering:
Tamayshia Venn

| nation | fiction | characters | live plays | audio | buy books now

The Sundering is set in a domain called The Zwari Nation, itself an island ripped off the side of a continent and dropped on to a different world. There are many varied personalities who inhabit the Nation. Here is a sampling, with more to come in the upcoming sequel NPC compendium, The Sundering: It's Nation Time.

DESIGNATION: Adventurer (retired), Personality.
RACE: Human.
LEVEL/CHALLENGE RATING: 18
HIT POINTS: 111 (18d8+10)
ARMOR CLASS: 16 (dexterity and magical protections)
SPEED: 35 ft.
ABILITY SCORES: STR 8, DEX 16, CON 12, INT 14, WIS 14, CHA 14
SAVING THROWS: STR -1, DEX +9, CON +1, INT* +8, WIS* +8, CHA +2
SKILLS: Acrobatics* +9, Animal Handling +2, Arcana +2, Athletics* +5, Deception** +14, History +2, Insight +2, Intimidation** +8, Investigation** +8, Medicine +2, Nature +2, Perception* +8, Performance +2, Persuasion +2, Religion +2, Sleight of Hand** +15, Stealth** +15, Survival +2
* = Proficiency bonus added.
SENSES: passive perception 18
SPELLS: As an arcane trickster, Tamayshia Xavier is a 18th level spellcaster. Her spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 16, +8 to hit with spell attacks). The following list represents Tamayshia's typically prepared magical catalogue:
Cantrips (at will): Light, Mage Hand, Ray of Frost, Friends, Prestidigitation
1st-level (4 slots): Charm Person, Sleep, Mage Armor, Detect Magic
2nd-level (3 slots): Phantasmal Force, Invisibility, Misty Step, Scorching Ray
3rd-level (3 slots): Fly, Fireball, Hypnotic Pattern
EQUIPMENT: [LIST OUT]
ALIGNMENT: True Neutral
LANGUAGES: Common, Thieves' Cant, Elvish, Draconic
PROFICIENCY BONUS: +6
SNEAK ATTACK: 9d6
THIEVES' CANT: Slang speak in code.
CUNNING ACTION: As a bonus action, Tamayshia can disengage, dash or hide.
MAGE HAND LEGERDEMAIN: As part of her arcane trickster role, Tamayshia can use the cantrip mage hand and utilize it like her own hand in terms of picking locks or disabling traps.
EVASION: Tamayshia can duck out of the way of any area-of-effect damage (like the spell fireball). If she fails the saving throw, she will receive half damage. If she succeeds, she will take no damage.
UNCANNY DODGE: As a reaction, Tamayshia can half any damage leveled against her.
MAGICAL AMBUSH: Targets have disadvantage on saving throws against spells cast by Tamayshia if she is hidden.
RELIABLE TALENT: On any skill-related check where Tamayshia is proficient, any D10 roll under 10 is treated as if she rolled a 10.
LUCKY (feat): Tamayshia can reroll one of her attacks, ability checks or saves, or an attack on herself, three different times per long rest.
SHARPSHOOTER (feat): Tamayshia suffers no disadvantage at long range, ignores half- and three-quarters cover, and can choose -5 on attack to gain +10 damage on hit.
WAR CASTER (feat): Tamayshia has advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration when hit, can cast somatic spells even when something in both hands, and can cast a spell for an opportunity attack reaction.
VERSATILE TRICKSTER: Tamayshia has advantage on attacks whe her mage hand is within melee range (5 ft) of the target.
BLINDSENSE: Tamayshia can hear things she can't see within 10 feet as if she were seeing them with her eyes.
SLIPPERY MIND: Tamayshia can add her proficiency bonus to Wisdom based saving throws.
ELUSIVE: Opponents cannot gain advantage on attacks against Tamayshia.
SPELL THIEF: Tamayshia has the ability to magically steal the knowledge of how to cast a spell from another spellcaster. Immediately after a creature casts a spell that targets her or including her in its area of effect, she can use your reaction to force the creature to make a saving throw with its spellcasting ability modifier. The DC equals her spell save DC (16). On a failed save, she negates the spell's effect against herself, and she steals the knowledge of the spell if it is at least 1st level and of a level she can cast (it doesn't need to be a wizard spell). For the next 8 hours, she knows the spell and can cast it using her spell slots. The creature can't cast that spell until the 8 hours have passed. Once you use this feature, she can't use it again until she finishes a long rest.
BACKSTORY: The woman known as "The Spotless Scoundrel" has quite a past. Growing up in the fashion-focused city of Kente, her natural beauty and grace garnered the attention of many of the fashion houses in town. She was walking the runway by the time she was 10, and there she discovered what she considered the sloppiness of the rich and famous. Starting out with pickpocketing, she shocked Fernanda Jimax, the woman who was the head of the thieves' guild known as The Trust, by lifting an expensive sapphire necklace from the older woman in the middle of a networking mixer. Jimax tracked down Tamayshia and instead of seeking vengeance, allowed the younger woman to keep the necklace and enter into a kind of criminal internship. Moving between the world of modeling and thievery, Tamayshia became well known among both the adventurer community and law enforcement for never leaving a stitch of evidence that could tie her to any of her more and more audacious heists. She steadily ascended the ranks of the Trust, eventually leaving modeling behind, until Jimax named Tamayshia to inherit leadership of the organization, knowing the younger thief would have to successfully fend off three assassination attempts to claim the title. Tamayshia held a huge gala, inviting every major rogue in the Nation, switching a lethal poison cocktail that ended up in the hands of a second dagger-wielding assassin, then ducking a sniper shot that punched through the chest of the poisoner. All of this occurred in the first half hour of the party. Through the event's six hours, Tamayshia deftly navigated six more assassination attempts, leading each assassin to take out another until they were all gone. The Trust then universally acknowledged her as their leader and began an era of unprecedented success. The only mark on her career was her ill-fated journey to the island of Riverrun, where she joined forty seven other dangerous adventurers in attacking the Elven Beastmaster, and only fourteen returned alive. Some say this inspired her retirement from adventuring.

The Sundering is an insultingly inclusive fantasy world with intricate politics, economics and of course adventure. One of the very few Black-owned offerings in the Fifth Edition TTRPG space, this work was created by Hannibal Tabu and Damion Poitier and published by Laguna Studios.
Artwork by Moonie and Quinn McGowan.