Over the last ano I've been slowly creating D&D characters based off of the DPs, and I spent so much time on them that I really wanted to share them here. I'll be posting a series of articles, one for each DP, in which I explain why I chose the classes, subclasses, etc. for each princess, and share the backstory I wrote for each. I'll also be crossposting these artigos to the disney Princess club. All the characters will be level 3 to ensure that they all have a chosen subclass. Sourcebooks used to build these characters include the Player's Handbook, Volo's Guide to Monsters, Xanathar's Guide to Everything, and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Anything written in italics is an author's note explaining my reasoning behind certain character choices.
Ariel
Triton Bard - College of Lore / Background - Noble
I was so excited to finally get to make a non-human character, and I went with triton for Ariel, since merfolk aren't a playable race in D&D. Tritons are similar to merfolk but have legs and are capable of living on land as well as under the ocean. This of course forced me to change her backstory quite a bit, but I really wanted to make her a triton so I just decided to do it. For her class, bard was an easy choice since she's canonically an amazing singer. Given Ariel's fascination with human culture and her tendency to learn and collect things about it, I put her in the subclass College of Lore, which is all about collecting folklore and learning things about history and other cultures. I gave her the noble background since she was born and raised a princess.
Character Stats
Level 3
STR 0 (11) DEX +2 (14) CON +2 (14) INT +1 (12) WIS -1 (8) CHA +3 (16)
I used the standard array to generate stats. I tried to assign them in a way that would allow for a strong D&D character while still remaining mostly true to the attributes of the character in the film.
HP 24
AC 13 (leather)
Initiative +3
Speed 30 ft.
Darkvision 60 ft.
Resistant to cold damage
Saving throws: Dex +4, Cha +5
Skills: Acrobatics +4, Arcana +3, Athletics +2, History +3, Investigation +5, Performance +7, Persuasion +5, Sleight of Hand +4 (For her class skills I chose Athletics, Investigation, and Performance. We know she's a strong swimmer, so athletics makes sense, and she clearly has a strong interest in investigation and is a gifted performer. I gave her Expertise in Investigation and Performance. Her subclass gave her three additional skills and I picked Acrobatics, Arcana, and History. Since she somehow learned to walk (in heels!!) less than a dia after becoming human in the movie she must be really acrobatic lol, and then given her curious nature I thought she might know a lot about arcana and history. Persuasion was granted por her background, and then I could choose one more. I went with Sleight of Hand because idk I just feel like she'd be good at it.
Languages: Common, Primordial, Undercommon (Primordial was granted por her race. For her additional language I picked Undercommon because I feel like she might be the type to frequent the blackmarket.)
Tools: Bagpipes, Flute, Lute, Three-Dragon Ante Set
Features and Traits
Amphibious: You can breathe air and water.
Control Air and Water: [1st] You can cast fog nuvem once per long rest. [3rd] You can cast gust of wind once per long rest. CHA is your spellcasting ability.
Emissary of the Sea: You can communicate simple ideas with beasts that can breathe water.
Jack of All Trades: You can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down ( +1 ), to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include it.
Song of Rest: If you or any friendly creatures who can hear your performance regain hit points at the end of the short rest por spending one or mais Hit Dice, each of those creatures regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
Spells
Modifier: +3
Spell attack: +5
Save DC: 13
Cantrips (at will): Prestidigitation, Vicious Mockery
1st level (4 slots): Detect Magic, Faerie Fire, Fog Cloud, Identify, Silent Image, Tasha's Hideous Laughter
2nd level (2 slots): Gust of Wind, Silence
Lol I gave her Silence hehehe
Actions
Dagger: +4 to hit, 1d4+2 piercing damage
Rapier: +4 to hit, 1d8+2 piercing damage
Bonus Actions
Bardic Inspiration: As a bonus action, a creature (other than yourself) within 60 ft. that can hear you gains an inspiration die (1d6). For 10 minutes, the creature can add it to one ability check, attack roll, or saving throw. This can be added after seeing the roll, but before knowing the outcome.
Reactions
Cutting Words: As a reaction when a creature (that's not immune to being charmed) you can see within 60 ft. makes an attack roll, ability check, or damage roll, you can expend one use of Bardic Inspiration, roll the die, and subtract the number from the creature's roll. You can do so after the roll but before knowing the result.
Backstory
Backstories have been created with a combination of the stories from the films and rolling randomly on the aleatório tables in the "This Is Your Life" section of Xanathar's Guide to Everything, which is why some of these backstories have some wild things that really come out of left field lol.
I was born in the palace of Atlantica to King Triton and queen Athena, their seventh and final daughter. I have few memories of my mother, for she died when I was only a few years old, murdered por pirates. Grief-stricken and angry, my father completely cut our kingdom off from the surface world, and forbid any contact between his subjects and land dwelling humanoids.
When I was young, this never affected me much. I lived an aristocratic life in the palace, and being a sociable and joyful child I had friends everywhere I went. My father was strict but loving, and we had a good relationship in my younger years.
Our rift began when I was kidnapped por sea reavers when I was 10. I was terrified at first, but the pirate who was assigned to guard me treated me with kindness. They held me for ransom, and my father rained down his full wrath upon them. Not one escaped alive.
This experience was eye-opening for me, though, and sparked in me an insatiable curiosity for the surface world. I began to secretly seek out shipwrecks and scavenge what objects I could from them, stashing them away in a hidden grotto. I carefully guarded this secret, for my father had become even mais prejudiced in the wake of my kidnapping, and I shuddered to think what he would do if he discovered it. He did become aware of my fascination with the surface, and continuously and expressly forbade my interest of it. Our relationship grew strained over time.
Eventually, I began to venture to the surface itself, seeking out ships and spying upon their crews. Sometimes I saw other tritons from different kingdoms amongst them, and I was ever jealous of their freedom to interact with the surface world.
One day, spying on a ship, I encountered a prince of the human world. He was the most beautiful creature I'd ever laid eyes upon, and I fell for him instantly. I stayed to watch him, and discovered he was Prince Eric of a nearby kingdom. A storm caught up with the ship, however, and wrecked it. I rescued Eric, and swam him to shore, but left before he could fully come to consciousness.
My father was waiting for me when I returned. Concerned for my safety, my friend Sebastian had revealed everything to him. In his anger, my father destroyed the collection I had so carefully grown over the years.
Devastated, I decided enough was enough. I left that night, in secret, and swam to shore. I took with me the only things from my collection that had survived: a small box filled with an assortment of buttons, and a mithral flute made por elves.
I spent that first dia dazzled por everything I saw on land. I soon realized, however, that I would need a vocation with which to earn money. I knew I possessed a talent for singing, and I also wanted to learn everything I could of the lore and history of the surface world, so I joined a bard college.
My teachers maintain that I have incredible talent, and my song "The Pirates of Luskan" which is my firsthand account of my kindapping as a child has gained some small renown. My foray into the world of entertainment has not gone without its hiccups though, as I once had a performance at a fair where the circus's owlbear got loose and terrorized the crowd. I've already gained a rival as well, an older triton named Ursula who I once upstaged during a performance.
My goal is to gain enough renown to be invited to perform before Prince Eric himself, and to hopefully impress him with my music. To this day, I remain wonderstruck with the surface world. It is a wondrous place, and I catalog all its details in a journal that I keep with me at all times.
Ugh, I'm so unhappy with how this backstory turned out. It's my least favorito of all the ones I wrote. I feel like I really lost the spirit of the original story, and also it ended up super long. Unfortunately I'm too lazy to go back and editar it. Sorry Ariel :(
