Karlach Cliffgate

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PLAYER INFO

NAME: Mila
CONTACT: gravenrose
OVER 18?: Yes

CHARACTER INFO

NAME: Karlach Cliffgate
SERIES: Baldur's Gate 3
CANON POINT: Baldur's Gate 3, Act 3, right before the Elder Brain fight.
AGE: 30-32ish (canon is vague, but she is implied to have been working for Gortash since she was a teenager, then spent a decade fighting in the Blood War)

CHARACTER SUMMARY:

Karlach is at her core, a survivor. She grew up working-class in the streets of Baldur's Gate and got involved with some rough elements young when she got wrapped up with Gortash as his bodyguard. Then he sold her off to the Nine Hells where she fought in a demonic war for a decade, survived and came out the other side. Despite it all, she's still at heart a kind, positive, and forward-looking person. In spite of the trauma of her betrayal and decade of slave-soldiery, she wants to do the right thing, likes to help people, and has a genuine, sunny disposition that reminds of nothing so much as a Golden Retriever puppy.

She's also rough around the edges, with a sharp temper and tendency towards violence. Her first inclination when faced with a challenge is to go at it head on and smash through it, regardless of whether or not that's particularly wise and tends to charge off without thinking things through. Her temper is short and fiery and when she gets angry, she tends to lash out whether at people or at objects and if she's angry enough, she'll do so physically and not just verbally. While she enjoys the small things in life, she's also not much of an intellectual. She finds pleasure in stuff like poetry and stories, but isn't one for digging into the deeper themes. Karlach is canny, but doesn't have much in the way of book-learning.

POWERS:
Karlach is a Zariel Tiefling, granting her the following minor powers:

-She has Darkvision, which allows her to see in dim light (think twilight, or the time between sunset and true darkness) as if it were bright light for 120 feet, or in true darkness she can see the same distance as if things were less well lit (dim light such as put out by a flashlight or torch). She cannot distinguish colors this way except as shades of grey and black.
-She is resistant to heat and flame to a mild degree and is not burned as easily as a normal human.


In D&D/Baldur's Gate 3 terms, Karlach is at a point in her canon where she is a 12th level Barbarian, which gives her the following powers:

-Proficiency with a variety of weapons, including axes, swords, spears, and polearms.
-Rage: She is able to call upon her inner rage and enter a berserker state for up to a minute during battle, during which she is stronger, tougher, and faster than usual; think of her as slightly exceeding peak human capabilities during a rage. Once her Rage ends, she can't use it again until she gets a full night's rest. While raging, even if she takes damage that might incapacitate or disable her, she is able to keep fighting until the rage ends.
-Danger Sense: She has an uncanny "sixth sense" or "spidey sense" that makes it almost impossible for her to be ambushed or surprised if she's not restrained, blinded, deafened or otherwise impaired in her senses.
-Path of the Berserker: While raging she cannot be frightened or magically charmed. Additionally, she is so terrifying and formidable in her rage that she can intimidate or frighten opponents into being less willing or able to attack her.

She also has an Infernal Engine, a piece of devilish machinery that was implanted into her chest in place of her heart by her demonic mistress, Zariel. The engine grants her further resistance to heat and flame, and when really going it surrounds her with infernal flame that burns anyone who comes too close. It also has a method of increasing the power of her Barbarian rages; adding an infernal coin to the engine increases it's power and lets Karlach do additional damage via fire for up to eight hours.

In Kenos, the infernal engine will be removed and her normal heart returned to her based on the FAQ about conditions/prosthetics as the infernal engine is a threat to her life and health and she will not have access to any of it's powers or drawbacks.

Alternatively, it could be replaced by her shard if the mod team feels that that's a better fit.

GAME INFO

ASPECTS:

Advocate - Karlach is despite everything that she's been through, a pretty fundamentally nice person. She likes to help others, strives to be kind, and enjoys seeing bullies put in their place by people who can stand up to them. A champion of the "little guy," she's never one to back down from a challenge and consistently puts herself into danger for others--even to the point of enduring potential death from the overworking of her infernal combustion engine the longer she stays on the prime material plane.

Stargazer - After escaping the Blood War and Avernus, Karlach is a woman who lives in the moment. She's out to enjoy life as much as possible before her number inevitably comes up. She does her best to enjoy all the things in life she's had denied to her by her circumstances. While she is happy to focus on her longer term goals, she's always content to stop and smell the roses when she gets the chance, and relishes the opportunities for exploring new people and new places.


ANTICIPATED FACTION:
Karlach is likely to be drawn to the Meridian faction. She's already on a quest to save her world from enslavement and destruction, and this is just another step on the way. She loves her home city and loves her homeworld. She's willing to go through hardship and strife to ensure it's safe, and she'll do it all over again to try and correct whatever cosmic misfortune has resulted in its destruction.

SUITABILITY:
Karlach will likely take a moment to deal with the impact of being told that her efforts so far didn't mean much--that another threat that she and her friends never anticipated had appeared and thoroughly destroyed her world without a chance for her to do much. After that, she'll throw herself into the effort to try and do something about it--she's not about to lay down and die just because of a small thing like the end of the world. She'll join in any efforts to try and reclaim her home, and is 100% willing to get her hands dirty in the process.