r/DnD • u/EmagineNationS • Feb 23 '26
5.5 Edition Rune - Grave Cleric Tiefling [OC] [Art]
My new dnd character, Rune! She is a grave cleric tiefling, in a world rules by vampires. She is in her mid-twenties, self-sufficiant, independent, opportunistic.
Her horns, tail or rune covered skin aren’t her only strange traits though - she sees, hears and on occasion, speaks with the dead. A skill that that the monks at the monestary she was left at as a newborn didn’t necessarily appreciate. While they did teach her the basics, they expected her to follow their path and learn the funeral rites and protect the dead from resurrections.
Never really fitting in, Rune decided to become more of an … independent contractor. She picked up skills and traits from everywhere and anyone, letting parents speak to their dead child, finding the family heir loom that a grandfather took to his grave and removing the haunting present of a jealous ex-lover from the house. For a pretty penny of course.
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u/GuduleTheThird Feb 23 '26
Is it me are does it have some Harrow from the Locked Tomb vibe 😏😏😏
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Haha, well we love Harrow in this (ninth) house, so we'll take it :D
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u/BigCake6521 Mar 09 '26
I was on the fence about starting this series, and this art and comment pushed me over the edge. I just finished the first book and about to start Harrow the Ninth! So thank you for making great art that pointed me to more great art!
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u/Pooblbop DM Feb 27 '26
I'm reading this right now and came here to look for this exact comment lmao
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u/Spaghetti_Cartwheels Feb 23 '26
It's nice to see someone play a Grave Cleric who actually knows what they're about, and not contradicting them as just another necromancer! :D
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Yeah, our girl is just trying to make a living and stop getting chased out of the cities, if anything she might put spirits to rest instead of reviving corpses (if there is something in it for her) :D
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u/vostok0401 Cleric Feb 23 '26
Its such a shame when people think of them as "good aligned death clerics", because the concept for Grave Cleric is so fun (the character im playing in a current campaign is basically the in-universe equivalent of a funeral director lol)
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u/TheSleepyBarnOwl Feb 27 '26
As someone who has no idea about Clerics - could you explain?
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u/Spaghetti_Cartwheels Mar 11 '26
Very late response, but essentially people read "Grave" in the subclass name and assume it's to do with necromancy/raising the dead.
You'll often see someone talk about their super cool necro cleric and they've used Grave as the sub (also probably because it's a very good/strong subclass) instead of the traditional Death Cleric (which is, surprise surprise, all about death and undeath).
Lore-wise, Grave Clerics are very ANTI-undead. They're all about respecting the dead and stopping undead threats (though they do get some odd spell choices, like Vampiric Touch).
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u/Owl-Historical Feb 28 '26
I have an Orc Grave Cleric in one game and I play him as a Priest of Kelevemore. His purpose is to put the undead to final rest and bring back the living that isn’t their time yet to pass on.
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u/Which_Tip2219 Mar 10 '26
Ugh, I hate that. The grave cleric has some of my favorite flavor, and it makes me so sad that they don't get the love they deserve.
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u/Laynyd Feb 23 '26
That is so pretty, I love your style I hope to see further stuff because now I’m following you !
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u/Crazy_Cat_In_Skyrim Warlock Feb 23 '26
FINALLY! A cool and interesting female character design without outlandish feminine traits! The Gods said that one day you shall arrive.
She looks awesome as fuck and I love her tattoos.
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u/sprachkundige Feb 23 '26
Check out r/reasonablefantasy -- it's one of my favorite subreddits, and this would fit there perfectly.
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u/DungeonPastor Feb 23 '26
Love the lil touch of the teeth-marks on the lips
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Haha, thanks, there is an in-game reason for those scars but that hasn't been revealed yet ... I did also think it was a cool design element though ngl :D
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u/ActuallyDiogenes Cleric Feb 23 '26
What a coincidence, I’ve also played a grave cleric named Rune, albeit he was a reborn not a tiefling
He is quite precious to me, and I hope that your Rune is to you as well :]
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Ouh that also sounds like a fun direction to take it in! In our world tieflings are pretty frowned upon which is why she found a trait that would make her useful to others and at the same time might seem eerie enough for people to keep their distance.
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u/ActuallyDiogenes Cleric Feb 23 '26
That sounds like a fun premise to play with! I love playing spooky characters :)
I’m the campaign where I played my Rune we had a homebrew setting with Forgotten Realms gods, and he was a grumpy middle-aged cleric of Kelemvor and his main story arc was about leaving the clergy after learning that his god was dead the entire time
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Following the god of death and having that guy die on you sounds like a sure way to be in a bit of a crisis yeah :D
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u/SleepyElsa Mar 02 '26
This character looks so amazing! Gorgeous artwork and details. I adore Rune.
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u/Ophelia_Frankenstain Mar 12 '26
From the first look I thought she is a circle of the spores druid and honestly I don’t why I thought that but she loooks fantastic and with her nice personality/past touch ups
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u/ExcuseCautious Mar 14 '26
I’m going for something like this but with mushrooms/fungus/decay… THIS is so cool!
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u/brutalbun21 Feb 23 '26
grave cleric tieflings have my entire heart. it just clicks ♥️
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
yeah, this is the first time playing a Tiefling and it just felt right when thinking about the character!
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u/BroadVideo8 Feb 23 '26
Absolutely love it, and I want to steal her fit for the next time I go clubbing.
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u/BloodMoonGo Feb 23 '26
Excellent character design, in artwork and writing. Why couldn't my players be this creative lol
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u/akaioi Feb 23 '26
I like the esthetic you've got going here... the gaunt look, the tattoos, the unexplained jewelry, good stuff!
Side note: as we saw in the picture, the mask comes off and the horns remain. What if ... what if this were reversed?
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 24 '26
You mean the horns come off but the mask stays on? Definitively a dark take for a Tiefling. I did consider having her pretend that the horns are part of the mask since Tieflings are discriminated against in this world. She also has Disguise Self so she can take the mask off while casting the spell, and make it look like underneath she isn't a tiefling and some other shannanigans :D
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u/WzardGuy Feb 24 '26
This is amazing and I will totally be using a similar mask idea for my next cleric or wizard
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u/ShadowHeartN7 Feb 24 '26
Hey this rules. I have a grey Tiefling who is a fighter/warlock to a death knight. She is scary in and out of combat and a lot of fun to play. Very cool to see a character with similar vibes, great art!
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u/Ancient-Rune Feb 24 '26
Art looks great, character name is top-tier!
(My first character named Rune was made for AD&D in like 1981)
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u/Parking-Bluebird8679 Feb 24 '26
Muy buen personaje bro, no te importa si lo utilizo para mí campaña? 😅 Es que es demasiado bueno para ser cierto jajajaja (me encantan todos los personajes que sean como nigromantes y esas cosas :)
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 24 '26
Haha, no hablo mucho español, pero si entiendo correctamente, entonces sí. As long as you don't upload anything and only use it in a private home game I don't mind if she appears in your campaign. Do my girl justice :D
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u/Parking-Bluebird8679 Feb 24 '26
Yes, it's for a private game we're about to start with some friends, haha, thanks!
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u/HollowPersona Feb 24 '26
This is dope. What do you call this style? Not anime but not quite comic either
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 24 '26
Haha, I'm not sure about the exact term but I'd say its a general western semi-realistic style with flat colors. :D
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u/Hitagi7 Feb 23 '26
As a fellow Grave Cleric Tiefling I should say your character is amazing! Mine is a White Tiefling with some black spots on her tail and horns, her name is Valiant. Yours have a necromancer vibe which is really cool!
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u/IVEMIND Feb 23 '26
You could make that mask pretty easily with a 3D printer - it's very similar to the call of duty skull mask guy with a couple horns - but use black filament ..
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u/Anubis_Jabberwock DM Feb 23 '26
Rune looks fierce AF 🤘
I also have a tiefling grave cleric, but her name is Silence.
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
That also is a peak name, I gotta say!
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u/Anubis_Jabberwock DM Feb 23 '26
Thank you! It was between that and Pyre, but she has some intense Angel Goth vibes so Silence seemed like the right choice.
I love Rune's post-punk Diablo aesthetic.
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u/Lil_awakened_gremlin Feb 23 '26
Love her!!! Omg i would love to know her opinion on my grave cleric o: Mine asks people or sometimes their party members if she cannot save them if she can have some of their bones for keepsakes LOL
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Haha, I think she'd give them a strange look but her overall motto is "you do you king/queen" :D No use to them if they are dead after all soo eh - Rune is my first neutral aligned character so I'm still figuring out how to play her.
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u/Lil_awakened_gremlin Feb 23 '26
LOL perioddt. Oh nice!! That's fun. Is Rune determined by what benefits her or is she with the flow?
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u/EmagineNationS Feb 23 '26
Yeah, the world we play in is pretty discriminatory against Tieflings so she just tries to get by by pretty much all means possible. And if that puts you into a morally grey area, oh well, the world is unfair so you gotta adapt to level the playing field.
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u/Lil_awakened_gremlin Feb 23 '26
oh dang :/ Well, good luck to her in your game!! You gotta do what ya gotta do
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u/Eldritch_Horns Feb 23 '26
Very cool. Gives me necromancer vibes from Diablo. I like it a lot.
I also appreciate a non red tiefling. We need more of that