Captain Howling Banjo - The Umbral Stalker
Core Character Build
Class & Heritage
- Class: Rogue (Nightwalker subclass)
- Ancestry: Simian (climbing specialist, 7-foot reach)
- Community: Wildborne (forest survivor, silent movement)
- Level: 1
Attributes
- Finesse: +2 (PRIMARY - dagger attacks, precision strikes)
- Agility: +1 (climbing, stealth, defense)
- Knowledge: +1 (investigation, tactics, corruption lore)
- Instinct: +0 (perception, awareness)
- Presence: +0 (social backup, intimidation)
- Strength: -1 (dump stat)
Resources
- Hit Points: 0/6 Marked (Minor: 6, Major: 12, Severe: Mark 3 HP)
- Stress: 0/4 Marked
- Hope: 2/6 Current
- Evasion: 14
- Armor Score: 3 (Gambeson Armor)
Experiences
- Umbral Stalker +2: Hunt using shadow magic and primal Simian brutality
- Purge Veteran +2: Kill corrupted beings and make hard moral choices
Experience Applications
Umbral Stalker +2
Shadow magic combined with primal hunting instincts
Combat Applications:
- Shadow stealth attacks from concealed positions using oracle-guided shadow-stepping
- Brutal dropping strikes using vertical positioning and cosmic insight
- Silent movement through darkness and hostile terrain
- Intimidation through predatory, supernatural presence enhanced by otherworldly knowledge
Exploration Applications:
- Tracking corrupted beings through dangerous areas using oracle sight
- Navigating supernatural threats and corruption zones
- Reading environmental signs of Umbra influence through visions
- Surviving in territory where others fear to go
Social Applications:
- Intimidating enemies with unnatural shadow presence and prophetic knowledge
- Operating in criminal or underground circles
- Gathering intelligence from those who fear reputation
Purge Veteran +2
Experience killing corrupted beings and making impossible choices
Combat Applications:
- Recognizing corruption signs and threat levels through hard-earned experience
- Maintaining composure during horrific encounters despite oracle visions
- Making tactical decisions about elimination vs. mercy based on previous failures
- Performing necessary violence despite emotional cost and cosmic horror burden
Social Applications:
- Relating to other outcasts who have made hard choices
- Counseling others facing moral complexity (while hiding his own burden)
- Reading corruption levels in people through behavior and oracle insight
- Justifying brutal methods to authorities while protecting party from moral weight
Mental Applications:
- Resisting trauma and guilt when reminded of past actions and ongoing visions
- Making decisive choices under extreme pressure and cosmic horror
- Functioning effectively despite grief, loss, and apocalyptic knowledge
- Understanding sacrifice for the greater good while hoping for alternatives
Character Goals & Core Motivations
Priority Hierarchy
When these motivations conflict, Banjo’s choices follow this order:
-
Protection (Highest Priority)
- Protecting his former community despite their exile of him
- Safeguarding innocents from corruption and cosmic horror
- Shielding party members from having to make impossible moral choices
-
Prevention (Equal to Protection)
- Stopping reality-breaking entities from breaching the veil
- Eliminating corruption before it spreads to others
- Acting immediately when oracle visions show imminent threats
-
Understanding (Over Personal Needs)
- Learning why he alone can shadow-step and receive oracle visions
- Discovering the true nature of the corruption and cosmic threats
- Finding others who might share his burden or knowledge
-
Vindication (Lowest Priority - Sacrificed for Others)
- Proving he was right about the corruption threat
- Clearing his name with his former community
- Being recognized as a protector rather than a murderer
Party Role Philosophy
- The Moral Shield: Takes on necessary but terrible choices so companions can maintain their principles
- The Designated Executioner: Handles elimination decisions because he’s already paid that psychological price
- The Hidden Optimist: Despite his dark methods, hopes the party can show him alternative solutions his oracle-vision tunnel vision prevents him from seeing
- The Protective Isolator: Tries to spare party members from witnessing or participating in his darker methods
Oracle Sight & Aether Burden
The Visions
Every time Banjo shadow-steps, he experiences horrifying oracle visions:
- Cosmic Horror Glimpses: Sees Cthulhu-esque monsters of impossible proportions and malevolent intent trying to break through the veil between realities
- Reality Breakdown: His recurring dreams of upward-flowing waterfalls are oracle visions showing him how the fundamental laws of existence are collapsing
- Escalating Frequency: The more he shadow-steps, the more frequent and intense these visions become
- Stress Cost: Each shadow-step forces him to witness potential apocalypse, explaining the mechanical stress cost
Psychological Coping
- Playful Demeanor: His mischievous, bright personality is a conscious defense mechanism against the cosmic horror he regularly witnesses
- Urgent Action: The visions drive him to act immediately and decisively, knowing that reality itself is under threat
- Questioning Reality: While he knows deep down the visions must be real, he sometimes questions his own sanity - especially given his community’s teachings that aether sight was corruption
Oracle Burden Impact
- Makes him incredibly effective at hunting corruption (he can see the source)
- Creates internal time pressure - he knows something terrible is coming
- Isolates him from others who cannot understand what he’s witnessed
- Drives his protective instincts to desperate levels
Combat Capabilities
Weapons
- Returning Blade (Primary)
- Attack: +2 Finesse
- Damage: 1d8 magical
- Range: Close
- Features: Magical, one-handed, returns after thrown
- Small Dagger (Secondary)
- Attack: +2 Finesse
- Damage: 1d8 physical
- Range: Melee
- Features: One-handed, concealable, throwable
Combat Role
The Eliminator: Burst damage specialist who removes priority targets through impossible positioning and devastating sneak attacks.
Signature Tactic: “The Phantom Strike”
- Silent Approach: Use Wildborne Lightfoot + shadow magic for undetected movement
- Impossible Position: Simian climbing to reach unreachable vantage points
- Oracle-Guided Strike: Shadow-step enhanced by glimpses of cosmic truth (despite the horrifying cost)
- Precise Elimination: Returning Blade sneak attack enhanced by Impossible Position
- Magical Return: Blade returns to hand automatically after strike
- Vanish: Escape to new position before enemies can react
Damage Sources
- Base Weapons: 1d8 physical damage (both weapons)
- Sneak Attack: Extra dice when attacking with advantage
- Umbra Corruption: +1 damage per scar (high-risk power)
- Experience Bonuses: +2 situational from Umbral Stalker
- Returning Blade: Magical weapon that returns after throwing
Heritage & Abilities
Simian Ancestry
- Enhanced Climbing: Natural wall-scaling and vertical mobility
- Dramatic Reach: 7-foot arm span for impossible attack angles
- Compact Frame: 4-foot height, harder to detect and target
- Acrobatic Prowess: Superior jumping, contortion, balance
Wildborne Community
- Lightfoot: Advantage on all movement rolls (supernatural silence)
- Forest Survival: Expertise in hostile territory beyond civilization
- Predatory Instincts: Wolf-like patience and calculated violence
Nightwalker Rogue Features
- Sneak Attack: Extra damage when attacking with advantage
- Shadow Mastery: Enhanced stealth and darkness manipulation through shadow-stepping
- Domain Access: Midnight (shadow magic) + Grace (mobility)
Background & History
The Scout Caste Origins
Born into a hidden Wildborne enclave that had successfully avoided corruption for generations, Banjo was trained as part of the specialized scout caste responsible for maintaining the community’s secrecy from the outside world. His traditional role involved perimeter security, threat assessment, and ensuring no outsiders discovered their sanctuary. The scout caste operated under strict protocols: report threats to higher authorities for judgment, never act independently, and avoid any contact with aether magic - which the community believed was unnatural and the source of all corruption.
The Exile
As a member of the specialized scout caste responsible for maintaining the enclave’s secrecy, you discovered corruption spreading within the community itself. Following protocol, you reported to the Reachguard Elders - but they demanded “proper procedures” while people were actively turning. When you attempted emergency elimination to save lives, your unique shadow-stepping ability (which no one else possessed) marked you as unnatural. A jealous rival from the scout caste falsely claimed you had “gone mad and killed” innocent members, painting your desperate rescue attempts as murderous corruption. The Reachguard Elders, terrified of aether magic they considered the source of all corruption, exiled you as a corrupted threat - never learning that you were the only thing standing between them and total infection.
The Hunt
Two groups pursue you relentlessly: the Reachguard Elders seeking justice for what they call “murder,” and the corrupted survivor who escaped your incomplete elimination - now a partially turned thing that hunts you for revenge.
The Loss
Your greatest regret is killing your mentor, Old Whisper-Steps, who taught you everything about stealth and protection. They were among the corrupted during the outbreak, and you had to put a dagger through the heart of the one person who believed in you.
The Dreams
Since childhood, you’ve dreamed of a waterfall flowing upward, defying natural order. Through your oracle sight, you now understand these are visions showing how corruption reverses life into death, and how nothing in the world follows rules anymore - not nature, not morality, not the people you once trusted. The upward-flowing water represents reality itself breaking down.
Current Fears
Your Wildborne community relies on the Last Wolf Pack’s spirit for protection - wolves who’ve patrolled against corruption for a century. You are terrified because the newest pups have strange, too-bright eyes that remind you of early corruption signs. The pack grows smaller each year, and you fear you are losing your last guardians - making your community vulnerable despite your exile.
Apocalyptic Vision
You’ve witnessed Umbra creatures hunting in organized packs with disturbing intelligence, and encountered corrupted nature spirits from fallen forests actively hunting the remaining pure spirits. The corruption is not random anymore - it is strategic, and it is coming for everything you have left to protect. Your oracle visions confirm this: something vast and malevolent is coordinating the corruption from beyond the veil.
Character Description
Physical Appearance
Build & Proportions: Compact 4-foot frame with dramatically disproportionate limbs - short torso but extraordinarily long, graceful arms that seem to flow like liquid shadow when in motion. Arms nearly twice his body height with spectacular 7-foot reach, allowing manipulation of objects around corners and from hiding spots that seem physically impossible. Moderately elongated legs provide incredible flexibility for bracing against walls using all four limbs plus prehensile tail.
Age & Condition: Someone who should be in his prime but appears weathered far beyond his years. The harsh realities of survival in the Age of Umbra - chronic hunger, unrelenting stress, constant proximity to death, and regular exposure to cosmic horror through oracle visions - have carved their mark into his features through both mundane hardship and supernatural burden.
Facial Features:
- Bone Structure: Lean, angular jawline where the bone structure shows clearly through thinning facial fur. High, sharp cheekbones made more prominent by the gauntness of survival living.
- Eyes: Bright seafoam that glows slightly in darkness, but set deep in his skull as if retreating inward from the weight of what he has witnessed. Despite their mischievous sparkle, these eyes hold depths that speak of cosmic horror and moral burdens carried alone.
- Facial Hair: White to silver gradient beard like an old wise ape, giving him gravitas despite his actual age. The beard partially conceals the sharp angles of his undernourished face.
- Fur Patterns: Patches of facial fur have thinned in stress areas - around the temples, along the jawline, creating a hollow appearance that makes his bone structure more pronounced.
Body Markings: Obsidian-dark fur that blends naturally with shadows, marked by darker shadow patches that seem to shift slightly in dim light, emphasizing the dramatic length of his arms. Healed battle scars streak across his fur like silver lightning - remnants of desperate fights that left him stronger but forever marked by survival.
Clothing: Salvaged leather gambeson armor cobbled together from multiple sources - some pieces clearly stripped from fallen enemies, others scavenged from abandoned settlements. The mismatched leather sections are stitched together with sinew, bone needles, and strips of hide, creating a patchwork of survival that tells the story of every desperate encounter. Dark bloodstains have soaked permanently into the leather, ranging from old rust-brown patches to fresher crimson streaks that never fully wash out. Scorch marks from fires and magical attacks create black, cracked areas where the leather has hardened into natural armor plates.
Forest moss grows in the deeper creases and shoulder areas where moisture collects, providing natural camouflage that helps him blend into woodland shadows. Layers of ground-in mud and organic debris coat the lower sections, accumulated from countless nights sleeping rough in hostile territory. The armor’s original color is impossible to determine beneath the accumulated grime of survival - it has become the color of the forest floor, dried blood, and shadow.
Over this foundation, he wears his original scout cloak - once the deep forest-green of his Wildborne caste, now a tattered shroud that hangs in monastic fashion from hood to ankles. The heavy wool has been shredded by brambles, clawed by desperate fights, and burned by ember-falls from corrupted forests. What remains is held together by the same survival philosophy as his armor: sinew stitching, bone toggles, and strips of hide binding the worst tears. The cloak’s hood is deep enough to completely shadow his features, while the flowing cut accommodates his dramatically long arms without restriction.
The fabric has absorbed years of blood, smoke, and forest decay until it matches the dark leather beneath - a uniform palette of shadow and survival. Deliberate tears along the hem and sleeves create natural camouflage patterns that break up his silhouette against tree bark and undergrowth. Like his armor, every metal clasp has been removed or blackened, ensuring absolute silence as he moves. The cloak serves as both his last connection to his lost scout heritage and the perfect shroud for a hunter who has become one with the darkness he stalks through.
Accessories: Collection of small moon-phase charms and reflective objects that catch what little light exists, often dangling from his extraordinary extended reach - the only bright spots in his otherwise shadow-focused appearance.
Expression Dynamics
Default State: Despite the grimdark world around him and the cosmic horror he regularly witnesses, Banjo radiates bright, mischievous energy that seems barely contained - a conscious defense mechanism against the apocalyptic visions. His seafoam eyes sparkle with planned pranks and barely suppressed laughter, creating an almost surreal contrast against the harsh reality of survival and his knowledge of what’s coming. There is often a slight tilt to his head that suggests he is calculating angles for his next bit of harmless chaos, even in the darkest circumstances.
The Switch: In an instant - as quick as his shadow-stepping abilities - his expression can snap from playful to distant and hollow. The mischief does not fade gradually; it simply vanishes, as if he has disappeared from the conversation while still physically present. His eyes become vacant, staring through rather than at whoever he is with, and the weight of his oracle visions and moral burdens settles across his features like a shadow. This mirrors his ability to vanish physically - he can disappear emotionally just as completely.
Predatory Mode: When threatened or hunting, his fluid, graceful body language shifts to predatory stillness with unsettling speed. The playful glint in those deep-set seafoam eyes becomes something dangerous and calculating, enhanced by glimpses of cosmic knowledge that others cannot comprehend. His long arms position themselves with deliberate precision, and his entire posture communicates that the game is over - this is survival, and he is very, very good at it.
Movement & Presence
- Silent Flow: Moves like liquid shadow without sound, flowing rather than walking
- Predatory Grace: Every motion calculated for maximum efficiency, yet retaining an odd playfulness even in serious moments
- Vertical Mastery: Equally comfortable on walls, ceilings, or ground - often positions himself for easy escape or advantage
- Unsettling Reach: Arms that bend and reach in ways that defy normal anatomy, sometimes used for dramatic gestures that emphasize a point or set up a prank
- Playful Positioning: Even in combat preparation, tends to choose locations that offer both tactical advantage and potential for surprise or mischief
- Oracle Awareness: Sometimes pauses mid-motion as if seeing something others cannot, a reminder of the visions that guide and haunt him
Personality Through Physicality
Mannerisms: Often gestures with those impossibly long arms during conversation, sometimes manipulating distant objects as casual displays of ability or subtle pranks. Has a habit of positioning himself where he can easily disappear if needed - near shadows, behind cover, or in elevated positions - but does so in ways that seem almost playful rather than paranoid.
Stress Responses: The instant emotional disappearing act - his equivalent of vanishing into shadows but done conversationally. When moral weight or oracle visions hit him, he does not gradually withdraw; he is simply gone, even while still present. The contrast between his bright default state and these hollow moments makes the transition even more jarring.
Combat Readiness: Despite his playful nature, there is always an undercurrent of lethal readiness enhanced by supernatural knowledge. His relaxed posture can shift to deadly precision in a heartbeat, and those long arms that seem so graceful in normal circumstances become weapons of surprising reach and speed. Even his pranks often serve to test reflexes, awareness, or security - play with a deadly serious purpose driven by oracle insight.
Umbra Corruption Integration
Living Weapon Mechanics
- Corruption Scars: Each scar adds +1 damage but brings you closer to full corruption
- High-Risk Power: Deliberately take calculated risks for extra damage
- Time Pressure: Racing against corruption to accomplish meaningful goals while apocalyptic visions show time running out
- Moral Complexity: Balance between necessary power and remaining humanity while protecting others from having to make the same choices
Character Stakes
Your corruption level affects not just you, but creates urgency for your entire party. Each scar represents both growing power and diminishing time to make a difference in the world. Your oracle visions make this urgency cosmic in scope - you’re not just racing against personal corruption, but against reality itself breaking down.
Party Role & Relationships
Combat Specialization
- Priority Target Elimination: Remove spellcasters, archers, leaders others cannot reach
- Vertical Battlefield Control: Access impossible positions for tactical advantage
- Silent Infiltration: Scout and eliminate threats without alerting enemies
- Burst Damage: End encounters quickly through devastating assassination strikes
- Oracle-Guided Tactics: Use glimpses of cosmic truth to predict enemy movements and weaknesses
Social Dynamics & Party Protection
- The Moral Shield: Carries the psychological weight of necessary violence so companions can maintain their principles
- The Designated Executioner: Makes elimination decisions because he’s already paid that price
- The Hidden Burden-Bearer: Conceals the full extent of his oracle visions to protect party from cosmic horror
- The Hopeful Teacher: Despite his dark methods, seeks party input for alternative solutions his tunnel vision prevents him from seeing
- The Protective Isolator: Attempts to handle the darkest tasks alone to spare companions from witnessing or participating
Unique Value
You do what others cannot - both in terms of accessing unreachable positions and making morally complex choices, enhanced by oracle sight that shows you threats others cannot perceive. Your willingness to embrace necessary darkness for the greater good makes you the party’s moral anchor and most effective eliminator. Your playful nature helps maintain group morale even in the darkest circumstances, while your oracle burden provides crucial intelligence about cosmic threats. Your greatest strength may be your hidden hope that your companions can show you paths your visions have blinded you to.
Signature Abilities Summary
The Phantom Strike (Combat Sequence)
Your signature move combining all abilities: silent shadow approach, impossible vertical positioning, oracle-guided shadow-stepping (despite the horrifying visions it brings), devastating sneak attack with magical returning blade, and supernatural escape - often executed with an almost playful flourish that unnerves enemies who cannot understand the cosmic horror you’ve just endured to achieve it.
Corruption Hunter (Investigation)
Using Purge Veteran experience and oracle sight to identify corruption signs, assess threat levels, and make tactical decisions about elimination versus mercy. Your playful demeanor often masks your deadly serious analysis of threats and the apocalyptic knowledge driving your urgency.
Shadow Prophet (Oracle Abilities)
Shadow-stepping abilities enhanced by glimpses of cosmic truth, allowing tracking and hunting of corrupted beings through terrain others cannot navigate, using shadow magic, primal instincts, and prophetic insight while maintaining the capacity for strategic mischief despite the psychological cost.
Moral Anchor (Social/Mental)
Despite your dark methods and cosmic burden, you serve as the party’s moral anchor for impossible decisions - you have already paid the price others fear, allowing you to guide them through ethical complexity while somehow maintaining hope and humour in a hopeless world, even as you shield them from the full weight of what you’ve seen coming.
Character Concept: The Necessary Monster Who Still Laughs
Campaign Role: Surgical Strike Specialist & Moral Shield
Theme: What We Become When Survival Demands Everything, But Humanity and Hope Endure
Age of Umbra Integration: Oracle-Touched Survivor Racing Against Cosmic Apocalypse