As you can see Krannark is a Half-orc Warlock who is Lawful Evil. For the most part that seems straightforward. Half-orc starting stats are more designed toward melee combat [+1 Constitution and +2 Strength]. But, it's reasonable to use one as a warlock because in the Forgotten Realms [original] setting for D&D Half-orcs still here whispers of the Grummash, chaotic evil orc god of storm and war.
Krannark though is not exactly a bloodthirsty creature. His alignment is lawful to show there are clear and methodical methods to his actions; furthermore, his personality trait is, "I feel tremendous empathy for those that suffer." For an evil warlock that seems odd. Empathy implies that he feels or understands the feelings of another. Does that make him knowledgeable on other people's motives and actions, is that why his charisma is above average?
The above fills in the character's motives. Ignoring the parts meant to accommodate the Ruination of Bran module, the warlock is clearly on a path of pragmatism. He wants to ultimately do good, hence why a chaotic good deity like Titania is giving him power. Krannark knows there is a price to power, while he feels for the pain of others he also knows that what pain he causes now is nothing compared to the vision he saw.
Some might argue that a character that is so chaotically good becoming lawful evil is unrealistic, but this is a path Krannark has been on for twenty years. He still feels somewhat bad about those he must hurt for the ultimate goal, which is why he tattoos himself for every sentient being he kills. Krannark is meant to come across as a complex character that would be fun to role-play.
When it comes to combat, Krannark is a glass cannon/paper tiger. As a warlock he'll have plenty of spells that will be strong through his charisma modifier, and as a half-orc he has decent strength for melee. His low dexterity makes him easy to hit however, being a warlock he also has very little health. The racial feature Restless Endurance offers some cushion should Krannark fall in battle. He also has decently high intimidation and more importantly Fey Presence. Those two skills could easily be used to get him out of fights.
A suggested manner to play Krannark is as the schemer of the group. He is lawful evil, so he will work with the group even if they are good alignments because they are a means to an end. Lawful characters like structure and hierarchies. Krannark wants to be at the top or at least control the top because that is where more power lies. If the party does something he disagrees with however it is very likely the warlock will use his downtime to tie up loose ends. He's not petty enough to actively cause harm for the party or betray them, having useful underlings is hard to achieve, but he does believe that the ends justify the means.
In combat, Krannark would most likely stay towards the back of the fighting, as he has low hit points and armor class. -1 to initiative will also make it more likely Krannark won't be moving to the front of the group during combat. I gave him three dagger [could choose any simple weapon and get two daggers] because he didn't need much range capability due to cantrips. It can be useful to have daggers to throw as a last desperate act, or to test for traps. For similar reason I forsook the option to start with a light crossbow and instead picked a sickle. The sickle is more because I don't see it used much, and he probably using it to harvest herbs for his herbalism kit.
Thanks for reading, I'll see about making a few more atypical characters for future posts. Also to use them in a test run of the Ruination of Bran module I'm making them for. Reason being, I don't know what an appropriate starting level would be for them. The test run(s) will help with balancing as well.
See you next week.
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