As the title asks, how would one go about making the Hellblazer comic version of john constantine? Sort of like the one they're doing in the show Constantine on NBC.
A few of the things I'd say he'd need to really be him.
1) - (my favorite part): Various magical and / or divine items that do a good bit of magic for him.
For example, in an episode on the television version, he needed to talk to someone who died, instead of just casting "speak with dead" he lights a special candle made of a mummified hand, a wick coming out of each finger. Or a vile filled with the air from hades that knocks even angels unconscious. He also has a mirror that shows the past in his home. Just for fun.
Various neat artifacts and knick knacks that he uses for magic.
2) - Sigils and Circles. He tends to use these a lot, whether on people directly sealing or calling something into them, or on the ground / wall to have the like effect.
3) - Convincing Con Man. Probably needs to have skill in bluff, diplomacy and quite a few knowledge skills.
4) - Some innate magic spell talent. He doesn't always need trinkets, occasionally he can just say some magic words, or snap his fingers and a spell happens.
My thoughts had gone to the occultist from the new occult adventures, but they seem sort of weak and somewhat limited in magical items. Don't have sigil usage and their circles are quite slow. Perhaps just a wizard or sorcerer, but they won't have the item feel.
Maybe the items are just flavor that I force myself to use, but that doesn't seem as fun. Especially if a DM decides to mess with me for enforcing such self limitation (i.e. move action to get it out of your bag, all your items are stolen, no spells for you.)
What do you think?
I Think you would need to decide what parts og him you like and the try to recreate them. PF is totally unfit as a system to make the comic version of JC. Pehaps on of the occult classes.
I would make him as a arcanist and spend loads of skill points and the human racial option to get skill focus in bluff and intimidate.
But i Can also see him as a bard or several other things.
Probably the best fit for JC would be the Occultist archetype for the Daredevil anachronistic class by Rogue Genius Games. The PDF also includes rules for ritualistic magic (which he does far more often than "fire and forget" PF type spells).
I guess what I'm looking to emulate most would be his ritualistic magic and item implementation. I suppose I could just flavor the item implementation for some spells (like, I pull out a playing card that shows anyone that looks at it what I need it to, to convince them of what he's saying. Spell would be glibness.)
Bard may be effective, I'm not fond of bards personally, but that may be the way to go anyways. I'll look into them. I've been looking at some 3rd party stuff and the 3pp Occultist is interesting, binding spirits to their body (which Constantine's done a few times). If I had spare money at the moment, I'd give the daredevil a look.
Arcanist is definitely a possibility too. While he didn't always throw around powerful magic, he was able to do some pretty intense spells from time to time.
Alternatively, I've been reading online that some think the 3.5 factotum fits him and I've read some pathfinder conversions for the class.
Thanks for the input everyone.
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Factotum is mostly perfect with the idea of using a faith that is convenient , dabbling into magical fields.
but well if you want to limit yourself to pathfinder material, his spells are often closer to magical formula to be quite honest and probably would work very well as an Investigator of some kind.
Well, assuming that the factotum and occultist 3pp version are no goes by my DM, I think I'll look into the bard and arcanist as the others suggested. Thanks again everyone.
The Occultist from the Occult Mysteries playtest is made for pretty much this exact idea. It is currently in an unfinished state though and I would not vouch for its playability in its playtest form (really limited spell list/not enough implements).
Max out your umd, play magician archetype for the bard. All your "relics" can be flavored as all the items you use.
And magician seems to me the most flavorful for JC
The Occultist from the Occult Mysteries playtest is made for pretty much this exact idea. It is currently in an unfinished state though and I would not vouch for its playability in its playtest form (really limited spell list/not enough implements).
I've fiddled with that particular occultist a bit myself, in self play tests admittedly. While I love the flavor the class and agree that it's extremely close to a JC character in style, as you said, in its current unfinished play test form, it's not as effective as I'd like.
Max out your umd, play magician archetype for the bard. All your "relics" can be flavored as all the items you use.
And magician seems to me the most flavorful for JC
The magician archetype does have some nifty tricks. I especially like the spell suppression ability. I could see him chanting something at the beginning of a battle, caster slings a spell... and it fizzles. Very cool archetype for sure.
He could be a wizard, bard or even adept, perhaps even an expert with a high UMD skill. The impressive part is his knowledges, his bluff and his contacts. This guy knows EVERYBODY, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of their personalities, social circles, goals and weaknesses. He is at all times ready to throw people under any sort of bus - and has for a long, long time, giving him no shortage of enemies. He's blithely Neutral Evil, by my reckoning.
Isn't the Occultist in the upcoming Occult Adventuees pretty much exactly Constantine?
Parse out the "Psychic" magic nonsense and declare it either Arcane or Divine (or, potentially, BOTH), and it seems like it fits relatively well.
Isn't the Occultist in the upcoming Occult Adventuees pretty much exactly Constantine?
Parse out the "Psychic" magic nonsense and declare it either Arcane or Divine (or, potentially, BOTH), and it seems like it fits relatively well.
The idea does indeed fit very well, however, from my experience in play testing they're not quite effective enough yet. Which is more than likely due to it being unfinished and in play test form.
I will agree that JC would probably be CN. Yeah he saves his own skin, often at friends expense, but he'll also come to a friends (or random strangers) aid more often then not, even when it'd be safer not to.
No. That happens when he has a personal stake in what is going on.
Shall we start listing stories where he could have just left well enough alone instead of getting involved?
That would pretty much include the entire Hellblazer canon. ;-)
Animist Shaman