He is dressed almost colourfully, sporting the traditional white silk broad-sleeved big-collared shirt, brown leather vest, striped trousers, black high riding leather boots, purplish cape, and broad-rimmed black hat with a big blue peacock feather. Henri has straight brown hair, dandy moustache, and sharp goatee. His eyes sparkle and an appreciative little smile perches on his lip as he studies the curves of a lady passing down the street. Meanwhile, an outburst of screams and sounds of broken furniture from inside the tavern mean only one thing - a brawl has erupted. Henri readjusts his black-leather gloves and heads in; he feels like a little exercise and, besides, there are some ruffians to put at ease...
Although a fighter, Henri is deeply interested in magic and has the brains and aptitude for it. As he progresses in level, he will switch to mage almost exclusively. A possible sequence: ftr, mu, ftr, mu, mu, ftr, mu, mu, mu, ftr, etc.
While becoming much more of a mage, Henri will keep his appearance and most of his attitude, though he will rely more and more on his spells, as opposed to his rapier. Part of it is because this is his personality. Part of it is to throw enemies off trail or off guard. Part of it is because Pai-Lau has become less hospitable to mages in some ways. Finally, I am somewhat tired of the old mage image of a pointy-hatted, long-bearded, wild-eyed, garish-robed old geezer with a gemmed staff and a nasty attitude. What a clown!
Relevant mechanics ideas: human, Weapon Finesse (Rapier), Weapon Focus (Rapier), Weapon Specialization (Rapier), Still Spell, Silent Spell, Improved Critical, Expertise, Spell Mastery, Brew Potion, Point Blank Shot, Combat Casting, Concentration, Toughness, Musical Instrument, Write Scrolls
The combat behavior of our friend, Henri, is what I call "flexible support". Our friend does not have the armor or hit points to take the first row and that is his major weakness. However, he has the speed to outflank the enemy and dispose of their soft casters and archers. He also has the dexterity to throw daggers or shoot arrows from behind the party grunts. Obviously, he has his mage spells to usher forth a fusilade of pain and suffering upon the opposition. Finally, this flexible and versatile power base means our friend can benefit from a large array of items and mold his behavior based on them and the local circumstances.
Equipment ideas: rapier, short bow, boot dagger, belt dagger, four throwing daggers, leather armor vest, spellbook, components pouch, lute
Projected alignment: NG
Religion: none, no interest really
Short-term goals: adventuring, survival, wenching
Long-term goals: magic and travel; stop and/or reverse physical
aging; build up a society of sane and reasonable magic-using adventurers
and scholars, e.g. a delocalized guild for mutual protection and the
furtherance of magical knowledge away from elven snottiness, Lawmaker
witch-hunts, wilder insanity, and any general ignorance, malevolence, or
savagery
Finally, why not be a bard then? Because while having a broad set of abilities, the bard sucks at each single one of them. Henri here believes in structured, profound, and versatile magical knowledge, while a bard is a dabbler of superficial understanding and shallow potential.