Emo Samurai's dedicated character page. Options

[emo samurai]

I'm thinking of retiring Shen as a PC; he's much more fun as an NPC commissioning the building of a large gladiator arena and sort of ruling the Barrens as a Zen emperor of death. Like, if somebody has a grievance against somebody else, he'll mindprobe both of them, give a shitload of weapons and sustained spells to the person he favors, and have them try to kill each other in the arena.

As for Johnathan Crowley, he'll be chased by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; every Friday, one way or another, they'll track him down and deliver an application form to him. It's sort of like Harry Potter, and the Order tries to make it secretive so he isn't tracked down and killed. Dead men prick no sadistic temperaments.

[emo samurai]

His demons will be capricious and very selective in how they interpret orders. His first task for one was when he was 15 and he had just gotten access to Aleister Crowley's hermetic library. He told it to make sure his adoptive mother never bothered him again. Since she was a straight-laced Protestant her whole life, a fact that gave Johnathan hell, the demon found a wonderful... vessel... for corruption.

He orgasmed her to death. She was never able to marry, since all the men hated her so much, so she adopted a boy. Masturbation was sinful to her, and she never once achieved orgasm before her death. The funeral was a rather subdued affair, and he lived with a state-appointed guardian until he was 18. He never knew how the demon killed her, but he was both thankful and horrified about her death.

[Critias]

Good to see this thread's still going.

[emo samurai]

Demons will not ask too much more from Crowley other than some of his blood; they will take to tasks with great enthusiasm, as his first summoning shows. They will interpret his tasks to the letter, and fill in the spaces with fire and blood. They don't want to defeat his purposes too much, though, otherwise they won't be summoned anymore. They always go free after being done with their tasks, which is something that will bite him in the ass.

[emo samurai]

I think I'll keep Shen as a character, but he'll lose the "no other people's foci" problem and instead have two geasa, one that says he has to spend an hour a day exploring the world around him and find something new in the mundane, and another that says he has to astrally people-watch an hour a day. Plus, he'll only get an enchanting skill, no arcana.

[emo samurai]

Here's Shen's new character sheet with the Street Magic rules.

[ Spoiler ]

Shen, Male Elf Shaman (30 BP)

Attributes(220BP)

Body 4
Agility 2
Reaction 2
Strength 1
Charisma 5
Intuition 6
Logic 5
Willpower 6

Special Attributes (60 BP)

Magic 6

Edge 2

Active Skills (170 BP)

Spellcasting 6
Counterspelling 6
Ritual Spellcasting 6
Summoning 5
Binding 5
Banishing 5
Assensing 4
Perception 4
Enchanting 4
Etiquette 2

Knowledge (33 Free BP)

Magical Theory 6
Personal Philosophy 6
Native American Culture 4
Cooking 6

Language Skills

Chinese N
English 6
Japanese 6

Edges (20 BP)

Astral Chameleon
Magician

Flaws (+60 BP)

Sensitive System (15)
Spirit Bane (Chinese Ancestral Spirits) (10)
Hunted, Family (10)
Incompetent, Pilot ground vehicle (5)
Allergy, Severe, Artificial Food (20)

Contacts(24 free BP)

Leggy Starlitz, International Fixer Extraordinaire (3 loyalty/6 connection)
Bear Paw, powerful Native American Shaman, landlord, and sponsor for immigration(5 loyalty/4 connection)
Smokey the Bear, Forest Ranger who lets him gather plants in peace (4 loyalty/2 connection)

Spells (27 BP)

Physical Mask
Trid Phantasm
Heal
Levitate
Shapechange
Lightning Bolt
ManaBall
Improved Reflexes
Mind probe

Equipment(43350 nuyen.gif 9BP )

Armor Jacket(900 :nuyen )
2XFake SIN 6 (12000 nuyen.gif )
Super-contact lenses (450 nuyen.gif )
Middle lifestyle 3 months (30000 nuyen.gif )

450 BP

[Slithery D]

[LilithTaveril]

How about:

[emo samurai]

How about all Chinese spirits? He is hunted by his family, after all...

[Slithery D]

It's not a social flaw, it's a metaphysical one. I'm pretty sure there's not some universal astral encoding for "Chinese" on a spirit's serial number. But whatever.

[James McMurray]

If you can define chinese spirits better that could work.

[emo samurai]

Chinese Wujen spirits, all of them.

And in magic, society and metaphysics are very blended together, especially Chinese magic.

[emo samurai]

Here's Johnathan's sheet, unfinished.

[ Spoiler ]

Johnathan Crowley, Human Hermetic Mage

Stats (250 BP)
S 1 A 1 R 3 B 5 L6 W6 I5 C6

Skills (

Spell Group 6
Conjuring Group 6
Assensing 6
Perception 6
Dodge 3
Pilot Groundcraft 3
Arcana 6
Con 4
Neg 4
Et 2
Infiltration 3
Palming 3

[emo samurai]

Here's his finished character page.

[ Spoiler ]

Johnathan Crowley, Human Hermetic Mage

Stats (240 BP)
S 1 A 1 R 3 B 5 L6 W6 I5 C5

Skills (218 BP)

Spell Group 6
Conjuring Group 6
Assensing 6
Perception 5
Arcana 6
Con 4
Neg 4
Et 2

Knowledge (33 BP)
Magical Theory 6
Cultural Conceptions of Evil 6
British Underworld 4
The Bible 3

Language
English N
King's English 2
French 3
German 3
Japanese 3
Chinese 3

Edges (15 BP)
Magician

Flaws (100)
Hunted: Vatican (10 BP)
Sensitive System (15)
Hunted: Mafia (10 BP)
Hunted: Atlantean Foundation (10)
Spirit Bane: Spirits of Man (10)
Spirit Bane: Theurgical Spirits (10)
Severe Addiction: Alcohol (15)
Spirit Bane: Blood Spirits (10)
Cursed Summoning

Spells

Levitate
Shape Through Touch
Mass Shock
Manabolt
Stunbolt
Heal
Increase Reflexes
Armor
Detect Enemies
Alleviate Addiction
Manaball
Stunball

Gear:
Comlink
Blood Charm Force 10 Power Focus (150,000 :nuyen: , 30 BP)
Other Stuff

450

[James McMurray]

Looks like he'll fit right in.

[emo samurai]

Into what? My awesome, awesome game? Hell yes!

[emo samurai]

Updated Johnathan's character sheet.

[emo samurai]

Which magical tradition should Shen have? I was thinking Buddhist, vaguely, except he isn't that much into the writings of Buddhism as the overall message of enlightenment and understanding.

[Critias]

So?

I'm sure there are plenty of people with "Christian" (just to use an example of a faith most of us Westerners are familiar with) written on their real-life character sheet, that are more into the basic overall lovey-dovey message than they are memorizing the Bible, right? Why can't Buddhists be the same way?

[lorechaser]

Or that whole old testament smiting.

You know people wrote "Christian" just so they could give Sam Jackson's speech from Pulp Fiction before they shoot people....

[emo samurai]

And those people who say they're Buddhist just so they can set themselves on fire... wait, that doesn't happen. :D

His philosophy will be one of objective self-discovery and improvement, if indeed there is need or room for improvement without damaging the self.

[emo samurai]

He should get along with shamans with this kind of philosophy.

[Glyph]

There's nothing wrong with a character who isn't doctrinaire about their faith - but such a person would be less likely to have their magic manifest through that faith. They would be more likely to keep their faith and their magic as two separate things.

Even if they did use their religion as the basis of their magic, you would either have to make them a general shaman or come up with a new tradition - someone who doesn't follow "traditional" Budhism wouldn't use "traditional" Budhist magic, either.

[emo samurai]

He'll still have Intuition as his drain stat.

If he aspected a power site, who would he use as part of his ritual team?

[emo samurai]

I'm thinking of remaking his background story.

Up until Halley's Comet passed by Earth, he was an old human who was the town's elder. He lived outside the village and financed the modernization of the village with his own orichalcum money. One day, he was asked by a young boy, "What's a friend?" To which he answered, "Somebody who you need even when you don't need him, and somebody who needs you when he doesn't need you." The boy then asked, "What's an elder?"To which Shen answered, "Somebody who will always be there when you need him," the implication being that Shen had no friends. This was made up on the spot, and it sparked quite the little crisis of faith for him.

He left his village shortly after, since he felt he couldn't maintain his duties any longer. He SURGED into an elf while in the UCAS, and he has resolved to start a new life for himself as a young man. Up until the SURGE incident, he was a very weak mage who managed to only make about one or two units of orichalcum a month.