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weathertheraine · 3 months ago

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Karasuno First Years: DnD Party AU!!

This is an AU I’ve had cooking for literally years so finally here’s something for it :DD I’ve built the first years as a level 4 party - just starting to get on their feet and not almost die on the daily.

Character backstories here!!

I have practically made character sheets for these guys but BE WARNED. They are not all 100% legal I have fudged things like Hinata needing a high strength score to multiclass out of Barbarian… but like. I don’t think I’ve cheated in any ways that a chill DM wouldn’t probably find a way to swing :P

IMMENSE ramblings under the cut about my reasonings for class/race/trait decisions if you’re interested in that :P

HINATA: HALFLING BARBARIAN/SORCERER

- Hinata as a Halfling not only gives him an even bigger height disadvantage than canon, but also has some INCREDIBLY fitting traits: ‘Lucky’ lets him reroll 1s, ‘Brave’ means he is resistant to being Frightened, and ‘Nimble’ means he can dodge through spaces occupied by creatures who are bigger than him (aka Human-sized), giving him extra manoeuvrability on the battlefield.

- I thought a barbarian’s Rage was also a great way of representing Hinata’s near-superhuman athletic abilities and determination on the court. For the duration, he has increased attack and strength abilities, and resistance to physical damage. The rage will end if he hasn’t attacked a hostile creature or taken damage since his last turn - a fun parallel to his need to stay in the action and constantly be touching the ball or he gets deflated (at least at first - this is their early days as a party, so they have some of their early flaws even if they’re young adults here instead of teens).

- ‘Reckless Attack’ is also fitting as it gives him advantage to attack but also gives his enemies advantage to attack HIM - this could serve as a version of decoy-ing, drawing attention and fire. As he levels up, he’ll also gain Extra Attack and Fast Movement (self explanatory) and Feral Instinct which makes him less likely to be Surprised, and more likely to be the first to jump into battle

- The most fun part though of course are his wild surges of magic, since he is a Wild Magic Barbarian. This means random magical effects can sometimes happen as a side-effect of his actions - things which can be helpful like ‘temporarily infuse your weapon with magic’, but can also be things like ‘deal necrotic damage to everyone around you, including your allies’. I think this is a really fun way of translating Hinata’s incredible abilities which at the beginning of the series, he has little control over. He can pull off amazing feats, but he can’t recreate them on demand, and sometimes it’s more of a hindrance than a help

- Narratively, he’s trying to learn to control his emerging magical abilities by multiclassing into Sorcerer and training with Kageyama. This means he can now cast spells on purpose as well as accidentally but it also increases the wackiness and power of the magical accidents he can cause. These now include gems like ‘involuntarily cast Fireball at 3rd level, centred on yourself’ and ‘you are transported to the Astral Plane until the start of your next turn’, but also ‘for the next minute, you can teleport 20 feet as a bonus action’

- As a sidenote Hinata also has by far the highest hitpoints, which represents the amount of time he’s able to get hit and keep on going, and the highest initiative which means he’s likely to be acting first in a fight

KAGEYAMA: DROW SORCERER

- Kageyama HAD to be a sorcerer to me because that’s the class that has innate magical ability, which is the best parallel for his prodigy status and natural volleyball talents (as opposed to a wizard like Tsukishima who has to learn from a spellbook)

- As a sorcerer, Metamagic also gives him increased control over his spells, which I think is perfect for him as it represents his incredible control over the ball. I picked ‘Careful Spell’, which lets him essentially cast an AOE spell but avoid his allies, and ‘Seeking Spell’ which lets his spells bend around obstacles to reach their intended target.

- He takes the origin of the Clockwork Soul - this gives him the ‘Restore Balance’ ability which lets him remove ‘advantage’ from his enemies and remove ‘disadvantage’ from his allies. I saw this as a good way of representing his setting responsibilities of opening a good opportunity for his spikers; if the opposing side would have had an advantage, Kageyama can take that advantage away. It’s also a fun mirror to Hinata’s ‘Tides of Chaos’ ability, which lets him GAIN advantage.

- I also imagine him using a lot of buffing spells like ‘Enhance Ability’ and ‘Aid’, bringing the best out of his allies

- He’s a Drow/Dark Elf because I wanted him to be edgy (silly answer) - for real though, he has a terrifying reputation as Drow are considered automatically evil, and it’s a reputation he… only partially deserves. He IS a powerful and dangerous sorcerer, but he’s not evil, in fact he’s doing his best to do good in the ways he knows how, but his demeanour in combination with people’s assumptions mean that he’s never been able to keep a party or erase the negative rumours. Only now, with the other first years making an effort to understand him, is he starting to find more of a place in the world.

TSUKISHIMA: HALF-ELF WIZARD

- Tsukki is a wizard because that’s the spellcasting class that studies magic from spellbooks and that’s just his vibe. I can imagine him being frustrated with Hinata and Kageyama’s natural sorcery abilities, in a parallel to his view of them as Volleyball Monsters who have innate power he just doesn’t have.

- I imagine him being a very by-the-book wizard in the beginning, mostly using utility spells like ‘Comprehend Languages’ and ‘Detect Magic’. He’s uncomfortable in combat and probably casts Magic Missile every turn because it’s one of the only spells that’s guaranteed to hit its target - this mirrors his early series attitude of playing it safe and coasting on his abilities instead of pushing to be better.

- As part of the start of his growth, he’s taking the path of chronurgy magic. This gives him ‘Chronal Shift’, which means he can force opponents or allies to re-roll certain actions, potentially turning a success into a failure or visa-versa after seeing how the original roll turns out. I think this is a fun representation of him coming into his blocking abilities, letting him essentially say ‘oh Ushiwaka spikes it in? Actually no he doesn’t, roll again’. At higher levels, he’ll even be able to dictate what the new roll is, and he can also cast spells but save their effects for later, which parallels his ability to form long-game strategies which don’t pay off for a while.

- I’ve also said he starts using spells like ‘Augury’ which lets him see whether the outcome of a certain action will be overall good or bad, and ‘Suggestion’, which lets him bait opponents to do what he wants - developing the strategic skills that will eventually make him a real asset in combat

- He’s a half-elf partly because Yamaguchi is human and Kageyama is an Elf - Tsukki is special, but he’s not THAT special, in a middle-ground when it comes to his natural talent. Yamaguchi definitely looks up to him as someone special and magical, but Tsukki doesn’t see himself that way compared to ‘real’ elves and ‘natural’ spellcasters.

YAMAGUCHI: HUMAN FIGHTER/RANGER

- Since Yamaguchi is the most ‘normal’ of the first years and the only one not on the starting lineup in the show, it made sense to make him the most ‘normal’ option of a human fighter, which is a combination that’s sometimes considered basic or boring but can actually be invaluable when it’s used well. He considers himself the weakest link on the team at first because he isn’t magical like the others, but his martial abilities often give the team the edge in combat.

- Instead of the usual human ability increase, I gave him the feat of Martial Adept, letting him take Battle Master Manoeuvres. He has ‘Trip Attack’ and ‘Disarming Attack’ which means he can knock down and disarm enemies rather than just damaging them, giving his allies an opening to attack more easily. This is a great parallel to his pinch serving, which breaks up the opposing team’s formation and gives his teammates the opportunity to strike!

- As a Banneret fighter he ‘inspires greatness in others by committing great deeds in battle’, foreshadowing his role as eventual team captain!! He gains ‘Rallying Cry’ which bolsters his allies along with himself, and in the future he’ll be able to give them extra actions as well

- Yamaguchi has also taken a level of ‘Ranger’ now that the party is on the road, giving him survival and travelling skills that the other’s don’t have. It’s also starting to give him a small amount of magical power, which he doesn’t have the hang of yet (I’m fudging this a bit for narrative). I’m seeing this as a kind of parallel to his canon arc of finding a way to fight with what HE can do, finding his own niche that ends up being invaluable to the team.

- Yamaguchi also has by far the most balances stats and I think often ends up as the ‘face’ of the party even though he has the lowest Charisma score and would really rather ANYBODY else was doing the talking. But Kageyama is too likely to offend, Hinata can be overwhelming or accidentally confrontational, Yachi is too nervous, and Tsukki hates talking to people even more than Yamaguchi does. Poor Yamaguchi.

YACHI: ROCK GNOME ARTIFICER

- To match her manager roll Yachi needed to be a support class, and I really like the idea of her being an artificer rather than a traditional spellcaster. Rather than always using innate magic, she’s learned a specific set of skills which allows her to create magical artefacts and potions, thus helping her party to be stronger even if she isn’t often in combat herself

- Being a rock gnome gives her more knowledge of magical technology, and allows her to ‘tinker’, constructing small clockwork devices with simple functions like starting a fire. being an artificer means she has ‘magical tinker’ as well, meaning she can infuse objects with a spark of magic to produce a small effect in a similar way.

- ‘Infuse Item’ gives her more powerful abilities along these lines, letting her imbue objects with magic. I gave her the infusions ‘Returning Weapon’ (a weapon can be summoned back to the user after being thrown), ‘Enhanced Weapon’ (this and the previous feel good for assisting Hinata and Yamaguchi,, ‘Replicate magical item’ (feels fitting for her smarts and the way she’s good at absorbing knowledge from what’s around her), and ‘Enhanced Arcane focus’ (good for assisting Tsukishima). Her different abilities mean she can be a huge help to all her teammates in different ways, just like as a manager she has different approaches to helping out the different team members

- She has the specialty ‘alchemist’ which lets her make potions and cast some healing spells. however, it also lets her create ‘experimental elixirs’, which have a random effect. though yachi is more level-headed than most on the team, she is still a member of karasuno with the capability of pushing the envelope and growing in exciting ways, so I felt like this was a fun way of representing her own passion and enthusiasm for trying new things, as well as fitting for someone who’s spent a lot of time with a wild-magic user like hinata

- ‘The Right Tool For The Job’ means with time, she can create the perfect tool for the task the party needs, showing her smarts and her ability to solve specific problems with the right solution - something I think she shows in the series with how she has such good advice for the team on many occasions.

- Yachi also has the highest wisdom of the party, meaning she’s the best at insight and reading emotional situations, such as telling when people are lying.

#dnd au #hakiyuu fanart #haikyuu au #karasuno first years #hinata shoyo #hinata shouyou #artists on tumblr #digital art #procreate #haikyuu!!#haikyuu fanart #fanart #hq!!#yamaguchi tadashi #tsukishima kei #yachi hitoka

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