Steven

Stub-class article · First seen: s17 · Last seen: s17
Steven
Steven — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens17
Last seens17
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 [14].

Personality is slick-conman with a soft survival-instinct underneath. Recurring tells from his first session include the chin-rub gesture [15], the Prestidigitation flourish that cleans his and Mike’s clothes on a finger-snap [16], and the catchphrase-level “Time is money, and so is my time. My time is valuable money” [17]. 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 [18].
  • 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” [19] — 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.
  • [20]: 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.
  • [16]: Prestidigitation showpiece cleaned his and Mike’s clothes on a snap, immediately establishing his theatrical-confidence-man cadence.
  • [21]: 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 [22].
  • [23]: 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).
  • [24]: 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].

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, [14]

“Time is money, and so is my time. My time is valuable money.” — Steven, [17]

“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 17, line 141 — Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 17, line 441 — Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 17, line 443-454 — Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 17, line 387 — Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 17, line 1395 — Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 17, line 961 — Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 17, line 380-425 — Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 17, line 545-560 — Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 17, line 557 — Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 17, line 1176-1217 — Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 17, line 1826-1987 — Inline citation.
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