Haz'l Ironhammer (Patreon)

The long version:

The funny thing about when I digital ink is that I get an odd fatigue. It's half physical and half mental. After a while, I have trouble with the disconnect from drawing at 90º to the monitor. I just can't cope so, I have to stop. 

I had planned on working on two things tonight. This, and the next page of Sea Change. I'd finished Haz'l here and had finished the victim and was working on the mermaid when it hit and I had to stop. I'll try to get on it tomorrow. 

So, who is Haz'l? I've been invited to play a D&D campaign with some kids from work (yeah, I'm old).  And thought I'd play against type. Usually I play swashbucklers (halfling ranger! Harengon rogue!) or more intellectual (human warlock bound by a djinn or a half-orc cleric of Pelor who is a healer instead of a fighter). All of these characters were quite a bit like me. 

This time, I thought I'd go very different: Half-orc barbarian. Both physically (I'm an XC mountain bike racer) and mentally (she's pretty ditzy). Now, I can't go completely against type and play a cruel anti-hero but, someone who is impetuous and naive as well as huge will be an interesting change. I just send this pic and her backstory to the DM for approval. We'll see!

The sketch includes two little bits of bad(ish)-end TF/TGs

Name: Haz’l Ironhammer

Gender: Female

Race: Half-Orc

Class: Barbarian

Age: 18

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 348 lbs

I. Backstory

Haz’l Ironhammer is not a full half-orc but, as the daughter of the dwarf fighter Nils Ironhammer and the barbarian Aguth’a of the clan N’karta, she is a half-half-orc. 

Her parents met while adventuring, teamed up and son fell in love. After a particularly lucritive advenure, they retired, married and opened a combination ale and coffee house, The Two Cups. 

Haz’l grew up large for a dwarf but, small for a half-orc and was prone to being hefty. She was kind and quiet and together with her weight made her a target for bullies. Never a good student, her parents pulled her out of school at age 13 and sent her to live with her maternal uncle on his pig farm near the Cloudhaven Mountains to the North. 

G’ordun One-Eye was a former adventurer himself but, retired to start the farm. His sense of adventure had him start it in the wilds of the Cloudhaven foothills. Bandits and beasts giving him a fine break from pig farming. 

Over the five years at the farm, Haz’l worked, played, hunted and rough-housed with her cousins and the children in the valley. She also, thank to G’ordun, learned the rudiments of combat. By the time she returned home, she was a foot taller and many pounds heavier. 

Having returned to her parents’ tavern, she first sought out some of her former bullies, then decided to prove herself and become an adventurer like her parents.  

II. Appearance

Haz’l is tall and quite fat. However, beneath that fat are the honed muscles of a young warrior. 

Hers skin is lighter and less grey than most half-orcs, leaning towards a light green; likely a result of her parentage. From her father she got her red hair and one blue eye. From her mother, she got her tusks and one yellow-green eye. 

She leaves her hair long and free but, doesn’t often wash it. She has a braid from her left temple decorated with a feather from a Frond Crested Eagle she raised from a chick for hunting. The bird was left behind with her uncle. 

III. Personality

Haz’l is not the brightest but, isn’t stupid. While she lacks logic, deductive reasoning, reading, mathematics and other such skills, she can be clever in simple ways. She might be called “ditzy”. Words longer than three syllables or very technical words cause her to space out. She is, however, good with animals and can spot patterns in combat intuitively. 

She is a bit naive but, is hard to fool. “Un-wordly” would describer her outlook. She doesn’t get bored easily and can stand watch for hours, half in a daydream and half aware.

She is kind, friendly, outgoing and intensely loyal to her friends. 

While physically fit beneath her fat, her personality often makes her a bit unaware of her surroundings when not hunting or in combat. She often misjudges her width and weight and volume of her voice . 

IV. Weaknesses

1) Haz’l despises bullies and will not tolerate them. Not to herself and never will she allow anyone to be bullied. She will give a bully one warning. If that warning is ignored, she will immediately sneak attack with an unarmed strike. If a standup fight occurs because of this, she will rage first.

2) Having been raised in a coffee shop, Haz’l is a coffee addict. She will try to have a cup of coffee every morning near dawn and will let very little get in the way of making coffee. If she goes without her morning coffee, she is sleepy and scatterbrained for most of the day. If she goes more than three days without coffee, she will become irritable. In combat, she will rage on her first turn. 

She has a Gnomish collapsing coffee engine (fantastical espresso machine). The engine is not fragile but, is still capable of being damaged. It is about one foot square and made of polished steel. When in use it is LOUD. 

She also has a magical bag gifted to her by her mother. It is about eight inches tall, appearing to be made of coarse canvas with a drawstring. It can hold a 1/2 lb of coffee and the drawstring can only be opened by Haz’l. The bag is connected to an identical bag back at her parents’ shop. Her mother fills the bag when it is half empty and that coffee is then able to be taken from Haz’ls bag. If anything else is placed in the bag overnight, it will cease to function until repaired by the wizard who made it. 

She guards her coffee engine and bag closely. If they are stolen or intentionally damaged, she will become despondent. 

Haz’l is generous and will offer coffee to anyone who’d like some. 

V. Special Attacks and Advantages (at DM’s discretion)

Belly Bump

Lvl. 2

When in close combat, as a bonus action, Haz’l can attack a single opponent in her threatened square. Throwing her belly out, she can slam into the opponent. On the attack the opponent must make an opposed strength check. 

Fail: shoved 10’ and knocked prone

Pass: shoved 5’

20: Haz’l must roll opposed dexterity check or be shoved 5’

1: Fail plus 1d4 dmg

VI. Dress and Accoutrement

Haz’l has light leather armor and simple jerkin and pants. She prefers sandals to boots because “her little piggies like to see the sunshine!”. She likes bright, natural colors.

VII. Weapons and Equipment

Great Axe “Betsy”; forged by her paternal grandfather
Dagger
Backpack with adventurer’s kit
Gnomish Coffee engine
Magical coffee bag