Layton Beardthrone

Art by Sea\_bayer

### Main Campaign(s)

*Miss Demeanor*, *Final Battle Vs. Kaasma Khara*, *Shadow of Asmodia*, *Fallen Hero Weyzi*, *The Shadow Invasion*, *The Altered Miss Demeanor*

### Guest Appearances

Astral Academy, Goblins of Io, Curious Curios

**Layton Beardthrone IV** is the Ionian God of Life and Death. Once a forsaken and guilt-ridden survivor, Layton joined the Miss Demeanor and found the love and redemption he had long thought beyond him. He is played by The Completionist.

## Description

### Personality

A brash, loud and boisterous man by nature, Layton's amicable nature makes him fast friends with anyone not immediately intimidated by his attitude. However, due to the effects of the cursed blade Immortality and the trauma involved in how it came into his possession, Layton often experiences hefty mood swings whenever the sword is involved, turning manic and driven.

## History

### Background

Layton initially held the rank of a common crewmate on his original vessel, the Lady Luck. At some point, the Lady Luck came into possession of the cursed blade Immortality - and soon enough, due to the effects of the curse, a fight broke out amongst the crew of the ship over the possession of this legendary sword. Layton, being the first to grasp the sword, turned on his crew and slaughtered a hundred men that night, taking their souls into the sword and recieving the role of the bearer of Immortality - that of a Reaper, who would take souls and ferry them to the other side through his blade.

As the last remaining crew member of the Lady Luck, he took on the title of the ship's captain (a title he is very insistent on) and stayed with the ship until it crashed into the Freeport of Kreshart, at which point he began zealously guarding the ship while also researching a way to return it to the waves. As such, he became infamous among Kresheart's populace as a madman roaming the beaches who would occasionally frequent the tavern, paying his tab with money he recieved who-knows-where.

### Story

**Click Expand for campaign and lore spoilers**

Throughout his jourrney with the Miss Demeanor, Layton has had a major conundrum with deciding whether to cleanse the curse or not, but had gathered at least 20 souls before these events. Throughout his travels, he has been constantly reminded of his curse and to eventually get up to 100 souls. At the very end of his adventures with the Miss Demeanor, he had managed to finally manage to get the necessary souls needed to cleanse the curse, but because of that, it was revealed that Layton had already died the day that the crew of Lady Luck attacked him. Because of this, Layton's soul has been tied to the weapon, acting as a Grim Reaper and becoming the God of Death for the World of Io

## Mechanics

### Powers and Abilities

#### Barbarian Abilities

* *Rage*
* *Unarmored Defense*
* *Danger Sense*
* *Reckless Attack*

#### Monk Abilities

* *Unarmored Defense*
* *Martial Arts*
* *Monk Weapons*
* *Ki (11)*
	+ *Flurry of Blows*
	+ *Patient Defense*
	+ *Step of the Wind*
* *Unarmored Movement*
* *Deflect Missiles*
* *Slow Fall*
* *Extra Attack*
* *Stunning Strike*
* *Ki-Empowered Strikes*
* *Evasion*
* *Stillness of the Mind*
* *Unarmored Movement Improvement*
* *Purity of Body*
* Drunken Master Abilities
	+ *Bonus Proficiencies*
	+ *Drunken Technique*
	+ *Tipsy Sway*
	+ *Drunkard's Luck*

#### Feats

* *Grappler*
* *Tough*

#### Notable Items

* ***Immortality*** (+1 Greatsword) **ARTIFACT**
	+ This weapon may be used as a Monk weapon
	+ Whenever you would use Flurry of Blows, you may swap out an unarmed strike with this weapon.
	+ While holding this weapon, Yourself and anyone within 30ft of you are immune to the Poisoned condition.
	+ This weapon houses up to 100 souls within it. Every soul grants this weapon 1 charge, and every charge spent releases a soul. You gain souls by defeating enemies and absorbing the soul into the sword as an action. If the soul is of The Deep One, your current souls are doubled. If you are fighting a soul, you can attempt a persuasion check as a bonus action to get them into the sword without defeating them. You can spend these souls on the following effects:
		- (X charges) You may cast Cure Wounds with a 30ft range as a bonus action. Every soul spend heals an additional 1d8.
		- (1 charge) As an action, you may cast the Curse of Weakness spell, which negates any resistances or immunities a target possesses.
		- (1 charge) As an action, you may illuminate your sword in a green light, gaining the benefits of the Light spell.
		- (X charges) As an action, you may spend a number of souls (up to your level) to create an amount of Magic Missiles equal to the number of souls spent. Each missile deals 1d4+1 damage.
		- (1 charge) If you have any Heroic souls within the sword, you may summon them to help you fight in battle.
	+ If there is an ally you are fighting with that is a spirit, you may grant 1 of the following traits to an ally for 1 round as a bonus action.
		- Lifegiver: A melee ally may heal 2d4+2 HP to themselves or any ally in touch range. A spellcaster may use a spell slot to heal 2d4+2 and heal an additional 2d4+2 for every spell slot above 1st level.
		- Attacker: an Ally has their damage maximized for the turn
		- Defender: You give an ally resistance to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. You also increase that ally's AC and saving throws by +4.

* *Ring of the Kaasma Claw*
	+ Once per day, you may use an action to grant yourself Regenerate 10 for 1 minute.
* *Ring of Protection +2*
* *Unnamed gloves*
	+ Strength is set to 17 + racial bonus.

## Trivia

* Layton is the first Monk in a stream campaign.
* Layton is the first character in Io to receive an Artifact item.
* In the Altered World, Layton is instead a puppet for 'Immortality' to speak through.