Post by Alex Heartnet on Feb 19, 2013 19:57:18 GMT -5
Just an idea that popped into my head during a sleepless night. I decided to type the ideas out in Microsoft Word while they were still fresh in my head.
Thoughts? Ideas?
Synopsis:
Barbarians are often distrustful of wizards. Wizards rely on written spells, and barbarians can’t read. However, D&D 3.0 gives us a nice distinction between those that obtain their magic through study (wizard) and those born with it (sorcerer).
A barbarian/wizard would thus be incredibly difficult to justify, but a barbarian/sorcerer much easier. Magic is fairly common all throughout the Forgotten Realms, and there is no reason that this shouldn’t include the Uthgar clans of the north.
Barbarian druids would also be logical enough, but that’s not quite the type of magic I am looking for.
Goals:
Provide a much-needed foil to the server’s resident wizards. A sorcerer is distinctly different then a wizard, and as such should be role-played appropriately.
Provide a foil for the server’s resident barbarian warriors.
Help drive the server’s story forward. A well-played villain is great at this.
Get other characters to call this character ‘insane’ while still following logical (if twisted!) courses of action. A lot of players try to describe their characters as insane when they are not, but it’s an entirely different story if everyone agrees!
Roleplay a very distinct type of dark magic that is not an obvious choice for an evil mage. (Fire and necromancy are overused…)
Play with others, not against them!
Defining ability:
Blood as a source of magic. Casting a single spell might involve cutting the palm of one’s hand with a dagger. Multiple spells in short sucession might require more blood then just the hand can provide (slashing arms instead?) Injuries can also be turned into spells. Cannot use the blood of others – would be taking the concept a bit too far.
Limitations:
Obviously using one’s own blood as a source of magic has…problems (Cast from hit points!). Normal mages only have to deal with a lack of spells after an adventure. This mage will often be feeling faint after an adventure. Too much blood loss can of course be life threatening. CON is very important for such a mage.
In extreme circumstances, the wrists are always an option, but I get queasy just thinking about it…might want to wait until higher level AND well known…definitely not something to do on a routine basis!
Other ideas:
Vials of one’s own blood, as a reserve to fall back on or for when one simply can’t afford to cast from hit points.
Highly unlikely to toss magic around on a whim. Some mages like to use magic for non-practical purposes, but having to cast from hit points forces practical usage of spells.
War paints! The perfect way to get a berserker to accept a beneficial spell, although those more civilized might object. The paints themselves are homemade using a pestle and mortar, as well as various flowers and berries. Also a more sensible method of casting buff-type spells then casting from hit points.
Potion brewing, classic witchcraft style. Boiling cauldron, eye of newt, and such(which is actually perfect because cooking pots can be set up ingame).
Ingredients-wise, one could go with classic potion ingredients. For an extra-creepy potion, there’s a certain odd belief in the north that eating the heart of a fallen enemy imbibes the victor with a portion of the defeated foe’s strength. Humans, orcs, minotaurs, and even dragons have all been consumed by their victors.
Instead of merely tossing in tongue of frog, why not just toss in the entire frog. However, if you just toss the frog into the boiling pot, it will just jump out. Gotta toss the live frog into a cold pot first, then slowly bring the pot to a boil so the frog will be cooked alive without trying to jump out. I've seen DM’s occasionally spawn a random harmless animal and then leave it to wander around town aimlessly – if I see a frog hopping around and the DM’s aren’t busy, I could be cruel to the cute harmless amphibian that is occupying the town’s attention…in fact I might decide to be cruel even if it is not a frog…
Of course, no evil ritual would be complete without ominous latin chanting! With a creepy twist – the sorcerer in question might occasionally speak it when casting a spell, but cannot speak it at will or even understand the language. Will have to look through the language selection options to find a suitable equivalent to creepy latin. However this would require I actually have a bonus language slot.
The spirits of fallen warriors, called forth from Valhalla to assist in the form of undead fighters. But with necromancy being overused as is, might grab a different spell instead. Perfect justification for being able to cast Tenser’s Transformation though (the spell that turns you into a fighter for a short period of time)
Blood magic can make for creepy spell descriptions. An ice spell might have frozen blood within. Any mist-type spell might start out as a cloud of blood mist before rapidly changing into the desired spell (darkness cloud, acid fog, exc.). A weapon enchantment might involve coating the weapon in blood. Sadly fire and lightning both have a tendency of burning up any material components used…
General Build:
High CHA, obviously, but CON is also very important for this type of magic. Points will have to be taken out of other areas (DEX!) I could go with a bit of WIS, especially since the tribe might ask the shaman for advice. This could come at the cost of INT (short sentence fragments instead of proper sentences?), but then I’d lose the bonus language slot
CHA is always iffy to roleplay, which is just compounded with a character like this. Might try being stubborn with a healthy amount of self-confidence.
A few barbarian levels to go with the sorcerer levels. Variant on the classic ‘Wizard with single fighter level’ build. Could powerbuild a tad and take the barbarian level at first level for the extra skillpoints – it never takes long to get to level 2 and I could stick to war paints until then.
Familiar selection, blargh. I really wish there was an option to trade off the familiar for a different ability. But I am stuck with one, so might as well make use of it. Choosing a familiar tends to be difficult if you aren’t the sort of mage that keeps magical pets.
Skill selection! Heal is handy and quiet easy to justify for a character constantly cutting herself. Concentration and Spellcraft are also obvious choices, but as an 8 INT human I won’t be able to max out both and still have points for heal. Might bypass spellcraft entirely – spells can be easily identified just by observing their effects, and don’t care much for counterspelling. I’d have to give up some epic spellcasting feats, but that’s honestly not a big loss on this particular server. The extra skillpoints from the barbarian levels can be dumped pretty much anywhere I feel like.
Toughness feat. Obvious choice for a blood mage, plus having more hitpoints is never a bad thing. I actually firmly believe that CON > DEX for mages – it allows the mage to survive things that would kill a more fragile character.
Potion brewing!
Buff-type spells, to make proper use of potion brewing and war paints.
Spells with a darker bent. Might avoid necromancy for the most part as it is overused, however Darkness sounds quite nice.
Ice spells. The blood shed to cast it might find itself frozen within…
Acid spells, as they are almost as twisted as necromancy without being overused. One could probably make an entire character themed around acid spells, however that is sadly not this character.
As usual, improvise; add/remove spells as needed. NWN tends to have a shortage of themed spells, but makes up for it with impressive spell variety.
Barbarians are often distrustful of wizards. Wizards rely on written spells, and barbarians can’t read. However, D&D 3.0 gives us a nice distinction between those that obtain their magic through study (wizard) and those born with it (sorcerer).
A barbarian/wizard would thus be incredibly difficult to justify, but a barbarian/sorcerer much easier. Magic is fairly common all throughout the Forgotten Realms, and there is no reason that this shouldn’t include the Uthgar clans of the north.
Barbarian druids would also be logical enough, but that’s not quite the type of magic I am looking for.
Goals:
Provide a much-needed foil to the server’s resident wizards. A sorcerer is distinctly different then a wizard, and as such should be role-played appropriately.
Provide a foil for the server’s resident barbarian warriors.
Help drive the server’s story forward. A well-played villain is great at this.
Get other characters to call this character ‘insane’ while still following logical (if twisted!) courses of action. A lot of players try to describe their characters as insane when they are not, but it’s an entirely different story if everyone agrees!
Roleplay a very distinct type of dark magic that is not an obvious choice for an evil mage. (Fire and necromancy are overused…)
Play with others, not against them!
Defining ability:
Blood as a source of magic. Casting a single spell might involve cutting the palm of one’s hand with a dagger. Multiple spells in short sucession might require more blood then just the hand can provide (slashing arms instead?) Injuries can also be turned into spells. Cannot use the blood of others – would be taking the concept a bit too far.
Limitations:
Obviously using one’s own blood as a source of magic has…problems (Cast from hit points!). Normal mages only have to deal with a lack of spells after an adventure. This mage will often be feeling faint after an adventure. Too much blood loss can of course be life threatening. CON is very important for such a mage.
In extreme circumstances, the wrists are always an option, but I get queasy just thinking about it…might want to wait until higher level AND well known…definitely not something to do on a routine basis!
Other ideas:
Vials of one’s own blood, as a reserve to fall back on or for when one simply can’t afford to cast from hit points.
Highly unlikely to toss magic around on a whim. Some mages like to use magic for non-practical purposes, but having to cast from hit points forces practical usage of spells.
War paints! The perfect way to get a berserker to accept a beneficial spell, although those more civilized might object. The paints themselves are homemade using a pestle and mortar, as well as various flowers and berries. Also a more sensible method of casting buff-type spells then casting from hit points.
Potion brewing, classic witchcraft style. Boiling cauldron, eye of newt, and such(which is actually perfect because cooking pots can be set up ingame).
Ingredients-wise, one could go with classic potion ingredients. For an extra-creepy potion, there’s a certain odd belief in the north that eating the heart of a fallen enemy imbibes the victor with a portion of the defeated foe’s strength. Humans, orcs, minotaurs, and even dragons have all been consumed by their victors.
Instead of merely tossing in tongue of frog, why not just toss in the entire frog. However, if you just toss the frog into the boiling pot, it will just jump out. Gotta toss the live frog into a cold pot first, then slowly bring the pot to a boil so the frog will be cooked alive without trying to jump out. I've seen DM’s occasionally spawn a random harmless animal and then leave it to wander around town aimlessly – if I see a frog hopping around and the DM’s aren’t busy, I could be cruel to the cute harmless amphibian that is occupying the town’s attention…in fact I might decide to be cruel even if it is not a frog…
Of course, no evil ritual would be complete without ominous latin chanting! With a creepy twist – the sorcerer in question might occasionally speak it when casting a spell, but cannot speak it at will or even understand the language. Will have to look through the language selection options to find a suitable equivalent to creepy latin. However this would require I actually have a bonus language slot.
The spirits of fallen warriors, called forth from Valhalla to assist in the form of undead fighters. But with necromancy being overused as is, might grab a different spell instead. Perfect justification for being able to cast Tenser’s Transformation though (the spell that turns you into a fighter for a short period of time)
Blood magic can make for creepy spell descriptions. An ice spell might have frozen blood within. Any mist-type spell might start out as a cloud of blood mist before rapidly changing into the desired spell (darkness cloud, acid fog, exc.). A weapon enchantment might involve coating the weapon in blood. Sadly fire and lightning both have a tendency of burning up any material components used…
General Build:
High CHA, obviously, but CON is also very important for this type of magic. Points will have to be taken out of other areas (DEX!) I could go with a bit of WIS, especially since the tribe might ask the shaman for advice. This could come at the cost of INT (short sentence fragments instead of proper sentences?), but then I’d lose the bonus language slot
CHA is always iffy to roleplay, which is just compounded with a character like this. Might try being stubborn with a healthy amount of self-confidence.
A few barbarian levels to go with the sorcerer levels. Variant on the classic ‘Wizard with single fighter level’ build. Could powerbuild a tad and take the barbarian level at first level for the extra skillpoints – it never takes long to get to level 2 and I could stick to war paints until then.
Familiar selection, blargh. I really wish there was an option to trade off the familiar for a different ability. But I am stuck with one, so might as well make use of it. Choosing a familiar tends to be difficult if you aren’t the sort of mage that keeps magical pets.
Skill selection! Heal is handy and quiet easy to justify for a character constantly cutting herself. Concentration and Spellcraft are also obvious choices, but as an 8 INT human I won’t be able to max out both and still have points for heal. Might bypass spellcraft entirely – spells can be easily identified just by observing their effects, and don’t care much for counterspelling. I’d have to give up some epic spellcasting feats, but that’s honestly not a big loss on this particular server. The extra skillpoints from the barbarian levels can be dumped pretty much anywhere I feel like.
Toughness feat. Obvious choice for a blood mage, plus having more hitpoints is never a bad thing. I actually firmly believe that CON > DEX for mages – it allows the mage to survive things that would kill a more fragile character.
Potion brewing!
Buff-type spells, to make proper use of potion brewing and war paints.
Spells with a darker bent. Might avoid necromancy for the most part as it is overused, however Darkness sounds quite nice.
Ice spells. The blood shed to cast it might find itself frozen within…
Acid spells, as they are almost as twisted as necromancy without being overused. One could probably make an entire character themed around acid spells, however that is sadly not this character.
As usual, improvise; add/remove spells as needed. NWN tends to have a shortage of themed spells, but makes up for it with impressive spell variety.
Thoughts? Ideas?
