There is an official stat block for Volothamp Geddarm. You can find it in Tomb of Annihilation. The problem is that Volo is CR 1/4. I looked back at information from older versions of D&D to find out a bit more about the mage and writer of note.
Although he’s only gotten his name on one publication in 5e cannon, Volo has several notable books to his name in older lore. He’s not a wizard on the same level as Elminster or Mordenkainen. Volo is a writer and performer, not a fighter. Accordingly, I’ve created a stat block for him that doesn’t have much offensive heft. He does have access to a good bunch of midrange spells that will be helpful in social situations and problem solving. I did not adjust the CR down to account for the fact that he doesn’t have much combat prowess in the spell list as written.
That’s an easy fix, though, just sub in mage armor, counterspell, fireball, and some offensive cantrips for the current loadout. That’s not the point of Volothamp. Volo bops around the world finding interesting things to write about. He can help your PCs solve a problem, or be the problem they have to solve.
Volothamp and Mystara
One other important note on Volo. According to the lore he serves as an anchor for Mystara, the god of magic. Mystara uses him as a repository for magical energy to keep magic alive even if Mystara dies. Volo was not aware he was being used in this way, and doesn’t gain much benefit from it. It does mean that a god has a personal interest in his wellbeing. As a result, things work out for him that would be fatal for others. In order to give this some mechanical heft, I gave him magic resistance.
0 Comments