I rolled his stats and found them to be above average across the board except for that 8 ability score. Making the character I initially thought of the gimmick that he was dwarf that had too many axes. Working on the character though I found that stale. I knew Strength and Constitution had to be high. Yet the mountain dwarf sub race bonus of +2 to strength ability score didn't seem necessary. If the character is so strong why throw axes? Also as fighter he already had proficiency in light and medium armor, being a fighter made the Dwarf race proficiency in axes rather pointless too.
Hill dwarf would give some Wisdom to the character, and +1 health every level up which would useful for a character going without a shield. Same for the Fighter Type, Defense, I picked for him. The character is expected to avoid direct melee until two or one axes are left.
Considering the additional wisdom from being a hill dwarf, I thought about giving the character more wisdom based skills. A fighter with intimidation and athletics is common place, but not with insight. I decided craft a custom background for him. The Inquisitor Background combines aspects of the Soldier and Acolyte Backgrounds.
He is a Lawful Neutral character. Wladimir isn't swayed either way by good or evil, as his job has caused him to commit acts by both. His life under the Temple of Moradin's inquisition has left him aligned with law. Hard to be chaotic and in an organized religious/martial organization.
This is why his skill set includes insight. Insight is often used for deducing if someone is lying to you, an inquisition operative could torture or intimidate, but its better to discern intentions before such grisly deeds. As an enforcer Wladimir would have spent much of his time on edge, constantly looking for suspicious activity, hence the proficiency in perception. It's also hard to not learn about religion when working for one. Finally is survival, which is useful in tracking down targets such as heretics.
Wladimir needed a reason to be adventuring, and not still enforcing for the inquisition. Using a bond from the soldier background we have that reason, he experienced a crushing defeat. Wladimir is a middle-aged dwarf, he would have seen many things. Having been dealt a serious blow could have made him depressed and experience a midlife crisis, so he left. It can be up to the player if he's still on good terms or not, but he would certainly have contacts remaining in the inquisition after all the time he spent there.
When playing him it is suggested to use the throwing weapons as often as possible in fights. Wladimir has a high AC for first level due to his chain shirt (+13), proficiency with medium armor (+2), dexterity modifier (+2), and his fighting style (+1). That means he's safe to charge in and engage foes quickly. Perhaps throwing an axe and then moving forward?
When exploring take advantage of his +5 to survival rolls and 15 passive perception. In social interactions the character's skills work best when using religion or insight rolls. Without rolls the character tends to be suspicious of others, as was the nature of his previous career. The dwarf would most likely try to interpret omens and the like from anything uncommon that occurs. He can work well with the group as he prefers figuring out cause and effect before acting, but will do what is necessary to get the job done. Thievery would be a potential qualm, as he is aligned toward Lawful.
To reiterate, those are suggestions. If you can think of your own ideas of how to play the character, add a different backstory, or even reroll your own stats, do it. The above page images are there to print out or copy from at leisure.
Combing background traits can help with giving a unique feel to a character.
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