I present my deranged dhampir murder....... a little girl named Loretta.
I threw her together from a character concept that was originally chaotic evil, but bumped her down to Neutral Evil with an emphasis on the Evil. She'll behave quite well with other characters as long as she gets to slaughter all sorts of good, brave, kind, or innocent folk.
I'd highly recommend looking over the sources in my inspiration/concept section.
I designed her around the concept of a murderous psychopath with the fact that she appears an innocent child a twist on the character.
If you take away anything from the character please check out the two sources of inspiration for her design: (they describe the character better than I could possibly convey)
Source 1 Song: "The Curse of Millhaven" - by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds off the album Murder Ballads
Source 2 Clip: From the Anime Series Baccano! the character Ladd Russo as a loose basis.
A killer through and through while she draws enjoyment from killing in of itself she prefers killing bastions of good and morality as well as the innocent. She has a finesse for irony and usually likes to incorporate that into her murders if possible.
Rather unhinged she often behaves like a small child occasionally whistling morbid tunes or rhymes and feigning naivete when it suites her. She has an obsession with small toys and dolls and refers to them as past victims names. She's fond of giggling like a little girl and occasionally talks to herself. She can often be found combing or twisting her hair when she isn't feasting on the blood and remains of her kills.
She holds reverence particularly for Norgorber and Lamashtu, but finds most evil gods appealing and worthy of respect including Asmodeus, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon, and Rovagug. She's not particularly interested in the afairs of the divine, but sees them as useful powerful assets to assist her in her fun.
She holds a tentative respect for anyone who doesn't get in the way of her murdering or aids and abets her shuffling them in the category of saved for last of people to kill.
Crime: Murder Punishment: Death by be-heading
Born of a trist with a vampire that dominated her mother a common whore Loretta's mother never cared for her as she was a reminder of the unfortunate incident. Fortunately for her Loretta never cared much for her mother either as evidenced by the murder off her and her multiple bastard children when she was old enough to accomplish the task. She took it a step further and mutilated and ate the bodies convincing authorities that Loretta perished in the incident as well.
Over the next 50 some odd years she traveled from town to town pretending to be a lost orphan whose parents abandoned her. Often loving families would take her in out of the kindness of their hearts providing her a place to hide as she killed multiple victims before killing off the family that took her in and moving on to the next town.
A cunning girl she often varied her travels to keep authorities off her tail and made a large amount of her murders look like accidents or animal attacks, still she gained infamy as an unknown serial killer. Her brash antics eventually came to a halt when the obvious became apparent after many years of performing the same routine tricks. She was found covered in the blood of her latest adoptive family bodies mutilated.
Because of the severity of her crimes in spite her unique appearance she was sentenced to death and upon the ruling she confessed to a multitude of crimes that weren't even attributed to her including arson and various accidents ranging over the course of many years shocking the court with horror and primarily disbelief. She giggled the whole while as they took her away the court shocked over the implications of enforcing the penalty of death on such a cute innocent looking little girl
Will throw up crunchy details ASAP in Character profile.
Human Rogue;
Strength: 8 + 2 = 10
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 18
Inteligence: 10
Wisdom: 13
Charisma: 8
Feats:
- Improved Initiative
- Toughness
Traits:
- Poverty-Stricken: Your childhood was tough, and your parents had to make every copper piece count. Hunger was your constant companion, and you often had to live off the land or sleep in the wild. You gain a +1 bonus on Survival checks, and Survival is always a class skill for you.
- Grave Robbery
It is forbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse after it is been sealed in its tomb by a clergy of the Mitran faith. Some may not honor this ban: necromancers, golem crafters, self-styled scientists, and alchemists delving into the forbidden secrets of life and death. These ghouls can expect no mercy from the Talirean Magistrates. And by sending you to Branderscar Prison, you have received none.
Punishment: Death by beheading.
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to confirm critical hits.
Skills: (8 +1 human +1 FCB +2 house rule = 12)
- Acrobatics (Dex) +7
- Climb (Str) +4
- Disable Device (Dex) +7
- Escape Artist (Dex) +7
- Linguistics (Int) +4
- Perception (Wis) +5
- Profession (Wis) (butcher) +5
- Sense Motive (Wis) +5
- Sleight of Hand (Dex) +7
- Stealth (Dex) +7
- Survival (Wis) +5
- Swim (Str) +4
Will come up with Name, gender and bio later.
Ok, so doing all of that Eidolon stuff took longer than I thought, hehe. Here's Morvius the Synthesist Summoner. Everything is in my profile, but here's the background for anyone who's wondering.
Name: Morvius Krupt
Lawful Evil Human Summoner (Synthesist) of Asmodeus
Age: 26 Height: 5’6” Weight: 135 lbs Eyes: Brown Hair: Black
Languages: Common, Infernal, Draconic
Favored Class: Summoner
A slight, quiet man. Unremarkable, he would go unnoticed in a crowded room. He won't raise his voice, but for some reason when he speaks, others strain to listen. He emanates an aura of confidence and intelligence, which only slightly shadows his lust for power and his malevolence towards those that would oppose him.
After years of struggle, researching, failure after failure, Morvius found the incantations that would bring forth his birthright. He summoned a fiend of great power, but while binding the creature to his will Sir Balin of Karfeld burst into the room, blade in hand. As the knight's soldiers closed in around him, Morvius hastened his spell in desperation.
To the intruders it appeared as though the devil was vanquished. Morvius surrendered peacefully, smiling inwardly. He had bound the fiend to himself, soul to soul. It was only a matter of time before he would escape...
This is a refinement of the submission for markofbane. I finished the character sheet for Dantes Goldforge; it is in this profile for your consideration.
I figure I'll also roll up an alternate character as well. I'm thinking a Teifling if the race is allowed with the Fiendish Heritage feat if the race is allowed.
It'll be fun rolling not only most my attributes, but also a racial trait and possibly my racial attribute bonuses making luck even more of a factor.
Hmmmmmmmmm...... interesting. Let's see what I can make with this.... will post up character later.
Posting my ninja profile. I hope my justification was enough, and I can expand the background if you prefer. Does the campaign setting imply that all humans speak common, or the regional languages are in effect?
Question: Are all these "bad guys"(aka - the party) going to be working as a team?
When I am sufficiently strong enough, I will of course lay down a plan to one-by-one turn all the party members into my puppets. Or kill them. Or worse. But that's the future. Of course we'll be working together, as a team, almost friends even. I mean, it's not like evil turns on itself in almost every single media in existence or anything (aside from a few aberrations). Don't worry, you can trust me :)
If you so desire, the beginnings of Haruk's history have been posted.
Well, let's roll and see what I qualify for before getting ahead of myself.
Considering the proposed lethality of the game, I'm assuming that, with all the other submissions, this just isn't going to make the cut so I'll bow out.
This is the second submission that I've "diced" myself out of today. I think I'll spend the rest of the weekend under the bed.
Can't we use the 25 points buy as an option if we don't like our roll/don't like rolling for stats?
Finalized stuff dropped into her character sheet.
I present my additional entry if you're not fond of my murderous little girl Dhampir.
Introducing Vladimir Velrusso Tiefling Sorcerer with the Fiendish Heritage feat I rolled for earlier. Posting full-crunch at the moment. Enjoy!
I skimmed the 5-page preview of the AP for loose setting specific details for the game to draw up a proper backround.
Crime: Sedition Punishment: Beheading
Vladimir was born to a once noble family whose fall from grace came upon the dawning of the shining lord and the outlawing of devil worship.
His family once had high hopes for him as his was conception was overseen with a dark ritual with the intentions of breeding a fiendish prince to take the reigns of the noble house as even before their fall due to more recent events had been struggling and doing quite poorly.
Upon his houses fall from grace Vladimir swore off Asmodeus and all forms of reverence for evil deities along with turning on his former siblings and various other family members. An act which spared his head the bloc and allowed him further ability to scavenge the financial remains of his noble house at the price of the blood of his own kin.
Vladimir is a liar and over the course of the next 15 years of his life he restructured his assets and harbored the storm. All the while he masqueraded as a philanthropist accumulating followers and power. In time he began to hold secret meetings where he would discuss politics often critical of the government among like-minded individuals that over the years began to morph from mere anti-establishment political discussions to outright plans for revolution and with it the resurgence of the worship of Asmodeus and evil gods outlawed by the current establishment.
Over time his secret cabal grew splintering off into terrorist cells dedicated to causing chaos among his competitors and outright violence against the government masquerading about as a fight for religious freedom.
Eventually he was implicated and his assets where seized and his ambitions as an aspiring noble where crushed a second time. Furious at his trial he promised to burn this country to the ground with hell-fire as a new land under the banner of his dark lord would rise from the ashes like a great phoenix for the grievance of twice damning what is rightfully his birthright a calling to hold great power and influence.
Words that would unfortunately fall on deaf ears none expecting the true hell he had promised them all....
His infernal heritage is noticeable by his small vestigial horns that his long hair usually obscures. Even so he's fond of tri-cornered hats to hide that particular curiosity even further. His nails naturally grow in at sharp points and an odd natural odor of sulfur that persists about him usually obscured with cologne. He has a birth-mark that resembles three eyes the infernal symbol of Barbatos the gate-keeper of hell upon his back. Vladimir also seems to never cast a shadow.
Vladimir's inhuman charm would get him far in life, however his charms are also matched by his arrogance. He values decorum and politeness highly and applies it amusingly in situations that obviously don't call for it. He doesn't view himself as evil (even though he is), but rather strong in contrast to others weakness. He isn't cruel, but rather harsh and uncaring of those around him often finding no amorality in exploiting others vulnerabilities or misfortunes for his own gain.
In an ironic contrast any misfortune that befalls himself he views as an twisting of the natural order of the universe (which obviously should revolve around him) and a heretical perversion of reality that is manipulated by the weak and undeserving.
He thinks of himself as a political prisoner. He worships Asmodeus as well as other arch-devils and holds reverence for other evil deities and outsiders he views as strong and powerful in contrast to the weakness of good deities displayed by their pitiful tenants of compassion and mercy.
Vladimir is uniquely suited for a prison break out due to his ability to grow claws as a free action giving him offensive capability in melee without needing a weapon. As well as a full range of spells available to him without the pesky need for material components.
His trait allows him to buff with Mage Armor increasing it's duration for 3hrs at it's first casting. At later levels he'll be able to combine his natural attacks from his claws with touch of fatigue to fatigue opponents who get to close to him in melee.
Primarily he'll be blasting with ranged spells (acid splash/daze) or ending fights quickly with color spray and stabbing those with his claws if anyone gets too close to him.
As a sorcerer he's relatively powerful and has ample opportunity to cause arcane havoc with little to no resources, which should be nice given our position.
Question: Are all these "bad guys"(aka - the party) going to be working as a team?
I believe the answer is 'yes' based on the DM's statements and the premise.
Nostrus, I was re-reading your original post and noticed that the scenario calls for all divine casters to be missing their holy symbols. Price has Birthmark as a trait. Is that a problem? If so, I'll choose another trait.
On a side note.....
@Price/Cain (aka stormraven/Eben)
I noticed that both your characters seem to be linked back story wise. Upon reading through their back stories I found them intriguing and viable for synergy with Vladmir.
I threw up Vladimir on a whim, but if by some miracle we're all picked up I wouldn't mind melding his own back story with yours. He could have funded Price/Cains operations and even helped find, locate, or somehow provided for the manuscript to 'unlock the gate' to Cains power. If you're both amenable to the idea.
He has a birthmark of the symbol of the arch-devil Barbatos who 'holds the key to the gates of hell', which would be an interesting twist of fate if he provided you both with the means or aided in finding the key to unlock the the door behind Cains power.
In terms of role I'm planning on going blasty/summoning sorcerer taking advantage of Fiendish Sorcerery for high spell DCs and (since it's implied that it's allowed by the required traits) picking up the leadership feat and grabbing up a cohorts and followers at higher levels.
I present to you one fully finished down right vilely manipulative Infernal Sorcerer. Enjoy!
@ Vladimir...
I've got no objection to a tie-in and I suspect Eben will be fine with it as well. Price is a cooperative Evil-doer. She will work with anyone whose contribution will forward the larger Asmodean agenda or who can assist her in her work.
Evil isn't always selfish. >:)
@Price IC:
"Why but of course, the weaklings that worship such frail.....lesser gods provide ample opportunity for all of us to prosper in the forging a better stronger empire, fueled by the fires of hell and guided by our dark lord, upon the tattered mountain of the frail corpses foolish enough to stand in the way of Asmodeus's burning might."
"I think we'll all find each others cooperation beneficial in such an endeavor. The spoils of power and toil bloodshed to be split amicably between our hands. The very hands that will choke the very life from the feeble house of Darius and soak in the blood of the followers of Mitra."
".....I do believe we have an accord, then?"
>:{) *twiddles evil mustache*
Yes, the team is expected to work together and will be bound in a legal contract with four loyalties. The first to Asmodeus, the second to Cardinal Adrastus Thorn, the third to the party and lastly to themselves. Each loyalty is over-ridden by the previous one.
I think Lise's ready. I chose Infernal as bonus language which of course isn't according to the rules for gnomes but it fits the character and her background. Let me know if that's not OK.
Is there a monastic order for monks of Asmodeus?
I don't know why there couldn't be one. There was a cool evil order of monks in the Eberron setting which could be cool. They were the Mockery or something and flayed their own flesh off in strips as a show of dedication.
But that may totally not be what you're thinking.
Evil isn't always selfish. >:)
Cain grins, "Absa-f*$!in-lutely!"
Also, I'll move Cain's info into his profile when I get back to a computer. (posting now from my phone.)
@Price IC:
"Why but of course, the weaklings that worship such frail.....lesser gods provide ample opportunity for all of us to prosper in the forging a better stronger empire, fueled by the fires of hell and guided by our dark lord, upon the tattered mountain of the frail corpses foolish enough to stand in the way of Asmodeus's burning might."
"I think we'll all find each others cooperation beneficial in such an endeavor. The spoils of power and toil bloodshed to be split amicably between our hands. The very hands that will choke the very life from the feeble house of Darius and soak in the blood of the followers of Mitra."
".....I do believe we have an accord, then?"
>:{) *twiddles evil mustache*
@Price and Vlad, IC
The frail man lifted his head, his features bruised and swollen. Though he had surrendered peacefully to Sir Balin's lackeys, they apparently didn't share his beliefs on justice, "accidentally" striking Morvius several times on his journey to prison.
The Chelaxian stretched forth in his chains, straining to hear the others speak. When he replied, his words were only slightly louder than a whisper.
I find it passing strange that our ever-vigilant jailers here would place all of the followers of Asmodeus in adjoining cells. I will not deny my belief in him, but in my experiences have found that those who profess such...fervent faith in the Prince of Darkness have neither tasted his true power, nor suffered the wrath of his displeasure.
In this prison of all places, one who would speak treason so openly puts me ill at ease. There are some here among us who are false. Know that those of you who preach false faith in Asmodeus will suffer greatly at the hands of his true believers.
|
Hi Nostrus ... not seen you our way recently??? ... or my browsers just using cache!!
Hope you don't mind me butting in over here...
Price silently tests the manacles with a surprisingly strong twist of her wrists. She gasps in shock at what the other prisoners are saying (for the benefit of any eavesdropping guards). The cold smile in her eyes sits in opposition to her simpering words and quavering voice. "Great Mitra spare me! This is some horrible mistake. I'm a simple seamstress. I didn't know the robes I was hired to sew and deliver were for some black purpose! Oh, surely a magistrate could review my case. I'm not an unsullied woman but I've done nothing to deserve this."
Hi Nostrus ... not seen you our way recently??? ... or my browsers just using cache!!
Hope you don't mind me butting in over here...
Hi Kern, I'll be updating the game thread tomorrow. Need access to a bit of software on my computer at work.
So are decisions being made tonight?
: can't sit still in anticipation :
Here is Erion Gilor, the Manslayer.
This is pretty rough, bet it details a little bit of early life, and why he's in prison.
In this prison of all places, one who would speak treason so openly puts me ill at ease......
Vladimir's eyes narrow as a slight grin forms on his face.
"I apologize for my fervency sir, your face is less familiar to me then this humble seamstress I believe proper introductions are in order I am Lord Vladimir Velrusso last surviving heir of house Velrusso noted philanthropist. I would bow as is proper, but chained to this insufferable room I find it such a task unfortunately.......... impractical."
Vladimir scoffs "I find it quite tiresome to partake in such trivial feeble acts of deception when held captive by the lapdogs of the shining lord my farce of a trial already concluded. What I espouse is no mere weak threat or idle hope.....it is fact forged in the fires of the nine hells and willed into being by the dark prince himself."
He turns lecturing "There is a strength to be had in deception a great lion may stalk it's prey, but to hide my faith like a coward shackled and bound by the weak is something I shall not abide. There is no power or advantage to be gained of it hence I discard the very behavior. The cowards as we speak are already plotting the intricacies of our execution. No! when I burn their carefully laid plans to ruin I want them to know the mistake of crossing me and the mistake of standing in the way of Asmodeus's will."
More stuff (in the vein of others who have gone before).
Crime: High Treason. Punishment: Death by drawing and quartering
Erion is not just a bastard, and not just a Half-Elf. He is the bastard child of a noblewoman and her elven paramour. She would have gotten away with it too, had not her son been born with the gently tapered ears of a halfbreed. As such, Erion was born into a life of hatred. His mother, now faced with scandal, had Erion 'dealt' with. A family was found who would take him in, and there he lived.
Always developmentally behind those his age, Erion compensated by being meaner and stronger than those around him. Fast-forward a decade, and Erion is now twenty-three, and a killer for hire. On his most recent job, Erion paid the price of not vetting the target or the client properly, as it meant that Erion attempted to kill the Crown Prince. While Erion didn't have a problem with being tried for murder (he did that sort of thing regularly), getting set up for treason was pretty unfortunate. Erion had never loved the royal family, or the society that had forced him to become an outcast for no reason other than the accident of his birth.
For that, Erion would happly commit treason all over again.
There. A little more detail for you all. I can see some aweosme synergy between Price, Cain, Vlad, and yours truly, since we basically cover the four required roles of the classic adventuring party...
Kehl's profile has been completed, for the record.
Since Bladebound Magus' don't receive their sentient sword till third level, i figured this character's background would offer up a fun way to work that into the story.
Okay, those of you who need to submit profiles do so now. I'll list my choices tomorrow (Tuesday the 10th of January).
here is the alias set up
I'll just put this here:
I'll do a full profile if I'm selected.
Delain The human Undead lord
Mechanically he's a pretty vanilla (though evil) caster cleric with an interesting flair. He'll be summoning powerful undead as he levels starting with his corpse companion. I'll make a very detailed character if I'm chosen. For examples of my work feel free to browse my aliases. ;-)
It'll be more detailed if I get chosen, but this should give you a fairly good idea as to character build.
Str 9
Dex 16
Con 10
Int 16
Wis 18
Cha 12
BAB+0 F+2 R+0 W+2
Traits and abilities
Feats X2 - Undecided
Skils - TBD, but mostly knowledge based.
Traits - TBD, but definitely the one mentioned earlier.
Aura , channel energy 1d6, domain (death) , orisons
Spells per day
0-3
1-1+1 Bonus 2
Undead Lord (Archetype)
An undead lord is a cleric focused on using necromancy to control undead. Her flock is the walking dead and her choir the keening spirits of the damned. This unliving congregation is the manifestation of her unceasing love affair with death.
A cleric cannot take the undead lord archetype unless her deity's portfolio includes the Death domain or a similar domain that promotes undeath. An undead lord has the following class features.
Death Magic : An undead lord must select the Death domain (and the Undead subdomain, if available in the campaign). She does not gain a second domain. In all other respects, this works like and replaces the standard cleric's domain ability.
Corpse Companion (Su) : With a ritual requiring 8 hours, an undead lord can animate a single skeleton or zombie whose Hit Dice do not exceed her cleric level. This corpse companion automatically follows her commands and does not need to be controlled by her. She cannot have more than one corpse companion at a time. It does not count against the number of Hit Dice of undead controlled by other methods. She can use this ability to create a variant skeleton such as a bloody or burning skeleton, but its Hit Dice cannot exceed half her cleric level. She can dismiss her companion as a standard action, which destroys it.
Bonus Feats : All undead lords gain Command Undead as a bonus feat. In addition, at 10th level, she may select one of the following as a bonus feat: Channel Smite , Extra Channel , Improved Channel , Quick Channel , Skeleton Summoner , Undead Master .
Unlife Healer (Su) : At 8th level, the undead lord's spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities used to heal undead heal an extra 50% damage. At 16th level, these effects automatically heal the maximum possible damage for the effect + the extra 50%. This does not stack with abilities or feats such as Empower Spell or Maximize Spell .
If I'm chosen I'll make it more detailed, but essentially He's always been obsessed with death. Delain saw his sister die from plague at a young age. He sat vigil by her bedside for weeks. His father thought he was grieving, but he wasn't sad. Instead he was facinated. He would stare for hours as the life flowed out of her tiny body. He watched until the moment she went from living to dead. At that moment he was hooked. He had to know more.
He joined the church (not sure which church would be appropriate for your campaign. Could use some input on that) as a means to access their libraries and other vaults of knowledge on death. He excelled in his studies and was eventually fully indoctrinated as a full cleric, complete with a connection to the divine. Now he had magic and at that moment he realized his study has just begun.
In time he found a carriage that had been attacked on the road. There was a noblewoman with an arrow through her chest. Delain didn't know who she was, but he knew he must animate her. So he did. As it turns out she was a relative of the local lord and he took offense at having his family used in such a way.
The lord took steps and Delain found himself beaten and imprisoned. This is where our story begins.
Here is korlash profile.
Cain's profile is now up-to-date for your convenience, Nostrus.
Good luck everyone!!
And to celebrate, here's some tea. That almond flavor? Oh it's just potassium cyanide. Just wanted to try to eliminate some competition.
Good luck everyone!!
And to celebrate, here's some tea. That almond flavor? Oh it's just potassium cyanide. Just wanted to try to eliminate some competition.
Where did you get tea?! How you managed to prepare tea while chained to a prison wall is a question I'll save for another time.
I am a construct. So no mouth or digestive system for the tea. Would you like some coffee? What's that smell? Oh nothing. Jsut some "almond flavoring." You'll like it. *grin*
@Tiny Coffee Golem
Since your character background is touched by a plague if you go cleric of Urgathoa you can snatch up the Undeath alternate channeling ability on the varient channeling list.
It's basically regular channel negative energy, but enhanced for healing undead by 50%. (There would be no real reason not to unless the GM bars taking it).
In case you hadn't of course already looked it over.
Given the possible lethality of this game, it would probably be a Good Thing(tm), if there were a cleric who had the ability to channel positive energy or switch hit.
Based on the composition of the group - and assuming Price & Cain make the selection - I'm willing to swap out one of my current spells for CLW if that becomes a necessity.
sniffs tea "Iocane powder! I'd stake my life on it."
That was my primary motivation for drawing up a dhampir healing is going to be a pain in the arse, a dhampir functions well with a negative channel happy evil cleric and if you make her an anti-paladin and suddenly it's like reverse lay on hands if gm permits.
Either way Channel negative energy clerics might do well to spend their feat on selective channeling. With a CHA of 16 they can exclude everyone in a 4 person party without any worries otherwise positioning becomes a bit of a problem. The CHA dependency is lessened if there's an oracle of bones or dhampir in the party.
Picking up a Neutral Cleric who worships a neutral deity to meet the requirements to pick up channel positive will likely be too difficult to accomplish. I figure with a lack of good healer options due to being an evil party we'll mostly be dependent on wands/potions anyways though.....