Character Profile - Jinks
Here he is! My main boy! My first D&D character, adapted from an even earlier OC of mine. Created as a 2E tiefling rather than 5Eās totally-not-a-dranei designs, I definitely wanted him to be a bard, a hustler, a chancer. Although, it wasnāt until the first roll I made, that I knew what kind of asshole this guy was gonna be.
Jinks is a planetouched tiefling. Unlike the Asmodean tieflings, who now exist as a standalone race, planetouched tieflings are random, chance occurences, born to otherwise ordinary human families. As such, Jinks was born to a female paladin and male cleric, who were both devoted to a good god. However, their faith was shaken by the sudden appearance of this demonically tainted child, and while Jinks was never abused or mistreated, the couple began to distrust each other, and eventually the family fell apart, with a young Jinks left behind as his parents fled. He wouldnāt discover until decades later, that his mother was a succubus.
Forced to scrape by on the streets, he was unable to blend in to a roguish thief's life, as his unusual appearance made him stand out. Instead, he would take advantage of his conspicuous appearance and began making his way as an entertainer, using a simple innate cantrip to enhance magic tricks to aid his performance. Soon, magic tricks became cons. Recounting stories became adopting false identities, and singing on street corners became performing on stage in taverns. It was one of these performances that attracted the attention of a local councilman who would take him into a group called 'the entertainers'. Run by the town councilman, the entertainers are a group of orphans, outcasts and troublemakers unable to integrate into society.
A man who lied his way into his position, and manipulated his way into power, the councilman ran the group as a way of creating several backup stories and alibis, while holding power over, and controlling all those dependent on him. However, also a man of considerable ego, he would remind each of his charges that they belonged to him by stamping his symbol on each gold coin that he paid them.
Jinks kept his very first coin as a trinket, flipping it at repeated intervals to make his decisions. "Heads and I kill the master", "Tails and I run away forever", and others to that effect. Each coin toss was met with failure, until one night in his 20th year. When his 'heads, and I run' statement was met with a positive result, he made a break for freedom, alongside the other orphans. When the fates of the coin led Jinks to decide against killing him, he left the councilman in the hands of the other orphans, and left town never to return.
In the 6 years since leaving the company of the thieves, Jinks has travelled mostly alone, occasionally lending his sword, and his song, to those in trouble, and in need of liberation. As far as he is concerned, he has no real place in the world. Shunned by humans, unwilling to join the fiends, and out of place among racial tieflings, Jinks sees that his only option is to make his own place within it, doing so by defeating prejudice and overcoming intolerance, making the world a better place for all peaceful races. He despises tyrants, is distrustful of authority, highly skeptical of religious types, and is paranoid of anyone or anything wearing, possessing, or baring the insignia of a mask.
However, atop all this, he retains his charming, friendly nature, and offers initial trust towards anyone who hasn't given him reason to doubt them. If his trust is betrayed, however, he rarely gives a second chance.
Eventually, Jinksā past catches up with him. He meets his mother, and the devils that commanded her to kill him. He found his father, and the cult he led in an attempt to unmake the world, he fought the councilman who adopted him, a vampire who converted the remaining orphans to his thralls, and he freed them all from their curses. At the end of his adventure, Jinks eventually found a place in the world, marrying a young noble warlock named Alwyn, finally content after a lifetime of journeying.
Jinks is demonic by nature, a creature of indulgence and hedonism. And itās something he does a lot. Itās very common for his weight to vary a lot, and he regularly overeats and gorges to capacity. He wears it well, however. Now very much a ātrophy husbandā to a powerful noble, he quickly got used to having all his wants catered to, and takes advantage of the fact regularly.
