Steven

Stub-class article · First seen: s17 · Last seen: s19
Steven
Steven — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens17
Last seens19
PlayerAsh
FactionSevryn's recruits

Steven is a halfling Fiend warlock with Pact of the Blade played by Ash from session 17 onwards. Olive complexion, black hair, 3'9", chubby [3]. Charlatan background: ran a fake-holy-water hustle outside an Aurelian church before the Aurelians sank the ship he was on [4]. Deception bonus is enormous (a 26 unmodified on his first roll, [5]. Already nightmare-bound by a previous pact — “last time I signed a contract, I got nightmares” [8], L611) — so the patron is established as separate from Hugo’s Black Mask. Joined the party when Hugo and Terry pulled him and Mike from the wreckage of an Aurelian-sunk ship in the Sapphire Sea [2].

Appearance and personality

Steven is a halfling — 3'9", olive complexion, black hair (a bit ruffled on first appearance), chubby and not the fittest-looking halfling. Usually well-presented in a nice vest and long-sleeved white shirt; “he usually likes to keep himself looking sharp, looking good for the next con, or a bit of trouble that he usually finds himself into” [3]. On first appearance he was clinging desperately to a piece of Aurelian-shipwreck, arms hooked around the wood [25].

Personality is slick-conman with a soft survival-instinct underneath. Recurring tells from his first session include the chin-rub gesture [26], the Prestidigitation flourish that cleans his and Mike’s clothes on a finger-snap [27], and the catchphrase-level “Time is money, and so is my time. My time is valuable money” [28]. When pressed about his pact history he stays tight-lipped — “well, look, last time I signed a contract, I got nightmares. So I’m good” [8] — establishing that he is already nightmare-bound by a previous pact but not naming the patron. This is an open backstory hook.

Build

  • Race: Halfling. Halfling Luck reroll triggered on his first contested d20 of the session (1 → 7, narrated as a splash of water hitting the die, [7].
  • Class: Warlock. Fiend patron with the Pact of the Blade boon. First-ever warlock build for Ash [9] — he is otherwise a “forever DM” who has only played Barbarian (twice) and Monk (a few times).
  • Subtle Spell-adjacent: at-will Mage Armor [10]. The DM corrected Steven’s AC mid-session from a stated 13 up to 17 (13 + Dex modifier of 3) because Mage Armor’s at-will status means the buff is permanently active; a +2 magical bonus on his leather armour was then ruled in as a courtesy because he had been wearing it underneath without realising the stacking issue.
  • Charisma: deception modifier roughly +16 (a natural 9 on first deception came out as 26, [5].
  • Background: Charlatan. The hustle that got him into trouble: blessing water outside an Aurelian church and selling it for coppers — “I figured that if these people love their holy figures so much, what if I gave them water that was blessed by one of their holy figures?… It turns out you need a permit for something like that. And they don’t like it when you lie about their, well, their oh so glorious gods” [4].
  • Level: matches the party.

Equipment

  • Pact of the Blade dagger — Steven’s signature weapon. Summoned as a bonus action; manifests with the distinct smell of expensive tobacco smoke [11]. Drew first blood on the s17 water-wolf pack with a nat-20 crit for 9 damage on his debut combat strike [12]. The wolf’s purplish blood on the blade was the visual the table immediately compared to (but the DM ruled distinct from) Hugo’s Voidforged luminous-blue blood.
  • Leather armour — worn under the Mage Armor stack; DM allowed a +2 magical bonus on it once the AC stacking was sorted [29].
  • Nice vest, long-sleeved white shirt — Steven’s preferred presentation when not soaked and shipwrecked.
  • No identified magic items yet beyond the pact dagger; DM noted “even Stephen seems to have a magic item that he has not yet picked however he’ll be able to pull it out of the ether once he picks one” [30] — an open hook.

Campaign role

Steven joined the party in session 17. Notable beats from his debut:

  • [2]: Hugo pulled him from the wreckage first (smaller and easier to lift) before going back for Mike.

  • [31]: Spun the fake-holy-water-hustle cover story for both himself and Mike on a natural-9 Deception that became a 26. Mike’s advantage Deception passed alongside. The party (low Insight rolls all around) accepted the story.

  • [27]: Prestidigitation showpiece cleaned his and Mike’s clothes on a snap, immediately establishing his theatrical-confidence-man cadence.

  • [32]: Lost a coin-flip dice game (“Rollies”) to Hugo but tied via Halfling Luck reroll, which the DM narrated as a splash of water hitting the die — earning Hugo’s “you’re a pretty lucky bastard” reaction [33].

  • [34]: First watch on the night sail. Spotted a distant patrol boat’s lanterns; rolled a low Perception and Intelligence to identify it, then bungled the Survival check that was meant to dim the boat’s own lantern (over-dimmed it, leaving the dark-vision-less party members unable to see).

  • [35]: Combat debut against the Rimeclaw Skulker and water-wolf pack. Summoned the pact dagger as a bonus action with the tobacco-smoke flourish; landed the nat-20 crit on his first strike for 9 damage; the session-ending cliffhanger was his Eldritch Blast going wide as the boat rocked under him [13].

  • [14]: The kill blow on the Brinemaw Wyrm. The cliffhanger Eldritch Blast had gone wide; on the reef-line resume Steven charged in close and rolled a nat-20 dagger crit. The blade gave off the now-canonical “sulfuric flame” of his Pact of the Blade, and the kill prompted Nick’s long-awaited soul-essence narration: “that is barely enough damage to finish it off, how do you want to do this” [36] and Steven’s response - “you’ll begin to see almost as the life essence from this creature begins to just sap from its body… another one another one for the mister” [37]. This was the session’s headline mechanical moment for him.

  • [15]: Cover-lie to Mike about the source of his Eldritch Blast - “It was a gift. That’s why. It was a gift from a nice man” - Deception of 14 beat Mike’s Insight, leaving Steven’s prior-pact patron still off-screen and unnamed.

  • [16]: Nat-20 perception spotted the gargantuan red dragon overflight; 21 stealth check hid the boat. No combat, but Steven’s rolls bought the party invisibility from the dragon.

  • [38]: Catfish encounter. Cast Chain of Conviction at the catfish on Round 1 - it saved (17 vs his DC), half force damage; the spell narration: “you’ll see the chains wrap around it, but it thrashes around a bit too much and it just shatters the chain” [39]. Later cast Jim’s Magic Missile on the catfish. Did not take acid breath damage himself (held off-melee).

  • [18]: The open-ocean swim. As a halfling Steven couldn’t swim well; carried by Hugo on his back (“I’ll carry you. Samwise.”, [40]; Hugo using Winged Boots above water and a 30-foot swim speed from a Ring of Swimming).

  • [19]: Confirmed his pact patron is fiend-flavoured in conversation with Mike about Eldritch Blast’s visual: “no mortal fire can burn us. We’re nothing. We’re protected by the devils of the hells.” This is the first explicit fiend-alignment in-fiction confirmation from Steven, though the patron remains unnamed.

  • [41]: The Deception that saved everyone except Mike. At the patrol intercept, after Glenn dropped Mike to 0 with two greatsword swings, Steven attempted to talk the patrol down: “look, okay, look, you brought down the heretic. We honestly had no clue that he was someone that could cast magic. He honestly was, he was honestly someone that just, we picked up along later, who we helped out on our trip here. We have no idea who he is. I swear he’s up and down to you to the almighty lord” [42]. Deception rolled with disadvantage [43]; the unnamed Aurelian Confessor rolled Insight; the Insight beat the Deception [44]. The confessor walked back her initial kill-order on Steven to “he seems to be telling the truth”, sparing Steven and the rest of the party. Mike’s execution still stood. Steven’s table-side note after the failure: “I did all the convincing I could. Apparently it didn’t work” [45].

  • [21]: on Steven’s night watch, as he keeps glancing at his pact dagger, the DM narrates that it “does feel almost more warm than the small fire” and that “you can feel a small whisper coming from it” — a new sentience / patron-contact hint that prompted Terry’s deadpan “oh god we’ve got another sentient contract” [46]. Unresolved.

  • [47]: a destitute goblin, Gristleback, wandered into camp begging for food on Steven’s watch. Steven fed him, handing over rations (“the bare minimum… here’s like 20 bucks”, [48]; the goblin “hungrily devour[s] it”, [49]. The goblin went on to drop the session’s big lore (Aurelia is ruled by Seraphine) and corroborate Hett Varn as the smuggler.

  • [23]: Steven talked a little too freely in front of the goblin and Hugo rebuked him on passive perception — “I know I heard what you said. Perhaps talk a bit quieter next time.” Steven played it off (“Don’t know what you’re talking about”, [50]. First small intra-party friction of Steven’s run.

  • [24]: when Father Thomas (the penitent Pure Light priest) introduced himself, Steven called for an Insight check — but rolled a 2; the DM gave him only that Thomas “seems honest, but he is being extremely… holding back a little bit” [24]. Steven also kept steering the priest off the subject of the party’s magic, planning to “elbow [Caelumn] in the stomach” if he said too much [51]. Steven logged no on-screen combat actions in the fey ambush.

The prior pact

Steven is already pact-bound when he joins the party. The patron is unspecified on-transcript; the only acknowledgement is Steven’s two-line in-character reference to nightmares being the cost of the prior signature [8], L611). This is an open backstory hook — the DM has not yet introduced the patron on-screen, and it is not the Black Mask (because the Mask explicitly tied her interest to Hugo’s line, not Steven’s, during the s17 audience).

Status at session 17

Alive. Aboard the party’s skiff, mid-combat against the Rimeclaw Skulker and the surviving water wolves. Standing at the boat’s edge as initiative wraps at session end, his Eldritch Blast having gone wide.

Player

Played by Ash (Discord handle; from the US). Joined the table in session 17 alongside Brian (playing Mike). Ash flagged at the table that he is normally the “forever DM for my friend group” [9] and that this is his first-ever warlock build, with his prior PC play being Barbarian and Monk.

Notable quotes

“He has a bit of an olive complexion to him. Dark, or, well, black hair. a bit ruffled, especially now. He usually likes to keep up appearances for himself, but you’ll find him in a nice vest, long-sleeved, white shirt.” — Steven, on his own appearance, [25]

“Time is money, and so is my time. My time is valuable money.” — Steven, [28]

“well, look, last time I signed a contract, I got nightmares. So I’m good.” — Steven, on his prior pact, [8]

“I think this is, I think, my first time playing a Warlock. I’ve never played a Warlock. I mean, I barely play anyway because I’m a forever DM for my friend group.” — Ash (player meta), [9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 17, line 28 — First introduction — "my name is Ash I'm coming from the US I'm playing a halfling warlock".
  2. ^ Session 17, line 140-200 — Pulled from the Aurelian-sunk shipwreck onto the party's skiff.
  3. ^ Session 17, line 141-143 — Visual description — halfling, olive complexion, black hair, 3'9", chubby, nice vest, white long-sleeved shirt.
  4. ^ Session 17, line 383 — Charlatan background — fake-holy-water hustle outside an Aurelian church.
  5. ^ Session 17, line 389 — Natural deception 26 on first roll.
  6. ^ Session 17, line 443 — Prestidigitation chin-rub theatrics — cleans clothes and smell on snap.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 554-557 — Halfling Luck reroll on the gambling-game (1 → 7, narrated as a splash of water).
  8. ^ Session 17, line 567 — "last time I signed a contract, I got nightmares" — established prior-pact backstory.
  9. ^ Session 17, line 1099 — Self-described "forever DM for my friend group".
  10. ^ Session 17, line 1385-1395 — Mage Armor at-will means base AC should be 17 (13 + Dex), not 13.
  11. ^ Session 17, line 1826 — Pact-of-the-Blade dagger summoned as bonus action; smells of expensive tobacco smoke.
  12. ^ Session 17, line 1840-1850 — Nat-20 crit on first water-wolf strike; 9 damage; purple blood.
  13. ^ Session 17, line 1978 — Cliffhanger Eldritch Blast goes wide as the boat rocks.
  14. ^ Session 18, line 162-176 — **Nat-20 dagger crit killed the Brinemaw Wyrm** (sulfuric-flame-flavoured from his Pact of the Blade); the kill moment was the soul-essence narration Nick had been waiting for since s17.
  15. ^ Session 18, line 313 — Cover-lie to Mike about his patron: "It was a gift. That's why. It was a gift from a nice man" (Deception 14 beat Mike's Insight).
  16. ^ Session 18, line 461-479 — Nat-20 perception spotted the gargantuan red dragon overflight; 21 stealth check hid the boat.
  17. ^ Session 18, line 625-631 — Cast Chain of Conviction at the catfish; saved against (17 vs the DC); half force damage on the throw.
  18. ^ Session 18, line 1062-1096 — Halfling can't swim well; carried by Hugo on Winged Boots during the open-ocean swim ("I'll carry you. Samwise.").
  19. ^ Session 18, line 1264 — Confirmed his pact patron is fiend-flavoured: "We're protected by the devils of the hells".
  20. ^ Session 18, line 2106-2115 — **Deception with disadvantage failed against the confessor's Insight** at the patrol intercept ("look, you brought down the heretic. We honestly had no clue..."); confessor walked the kill-order back to "he seems to be telling the truth", sparing Steven and the rest of the party but committing Mike to execution.
  21. ^ Session 19, line 477 — On Steven's watch his pact dagger runs "more warm than the small fire" and emits "a small whisper" — a new sentience/patron-contact hint.
  22. ^ Session 19, line 494-495 — Feeds the begging goblin Gristleback, handing over rations ("the bare minimum... here's like 20 bucks").
  23. ^ Session 19, line 604 — Rebuked by Hugo for loose talk in front of the goblin ("I know I heard what you said. Perhaps talk a bit quieter next time").
  24. ^ Session 19, line 703-704 — Insight-reads Father Thomas as honest "but he is being extremely... holding back a little bit".
  25. ^ Session 17, line 141 — Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 17, line 441 — Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 17, line 443-454 — Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 17, line 387 — Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 17, line 1395 — Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 17, line 961 — Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 17, line 380-425 — Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 17, line 545-560 — Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 17, line 557 — Inline citation.
  34. ^ Session 17, line 1176-1217 — Inline citation.
  35. ^ Session 17, line 1826-1987 — Inline citation.
  36. ^ Session 18, line 167 — Inline citation.
  37. ^ Session 18, line 172-174 — Inline citation.
  38. ^ Session 18, line 574-1001 — Inline citation.
  39. ^ Session 18, line 631 — Inline citation.
  40. ^ Session 18, line 1064 — Inline citation.
  41. ^ Session 18, line 2104-2123 — Inline citation.
  42. ^ Session 18, line 2106 — Inline citation.
  43. ^ Session 18, line 2107 — Inline citation.
  44. ^ Session 18, line 2115 — Inline citation.
  45. ^ Session 18, line 2242 — Inline citation.
  46. ^ Session 19, line 478 — Inline citation.
  47. ^ Session 19, line 486-495 — Inline citation.
  48. ^ Session 19, line 494 — Inline citation.
  49. ^ Session 19, line 495 — Inline citation.
  50. ^ Session 19, line 605 — Inline citation.
  51. ^ Session 19, line 720 — Inline citation.
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