Gargoyle Shamanic Adept, Power and Geasa ideas? Options

[Edge2054]

I'm working on a Gargoyle Shamanic Adept who practices Pentjak-Silat (this last part could change though if anyone has any suggestions for a martial art form more Gargoyleish). I did some research on Pentjak-Silat and I'm not to sure that it's the best martial art to combine with the Gargoyle's wait till the moments right to strike mentallity. I'd go ninjitsu... but frankly it's overused and a bit to cleche' in my opinion. *As far as the martial art goes, I'm looking for something that can be used with edged weapons.*

Just a little quick background, the character in question's an infected ghoul, so Astral Perception isn't nessescarry and all the sight based improved sense powers are out.

So here's what I've got so far for powers.

Improved Stealth - Gargoyles have concealment self as a power so this one fits. Maybe a geas so that it's only when motionless because of the idea that Gargoyle's go unnoticed due to lack of motion and looking like a statue.

Quick Strike - Figure this suits the striking at the right moment thing more then simply boosting up initiative dice. Will make the character vulnerable to surprise (will end up with a low reaction going with this choice) but Gargoyle retreats when caught unaware so it's appropriate in a way. Maybe an Urban Geas on this one because Gargoyle's an urban totem, not to sure though.

Other ideas I'm playing with are...

Attribute Boosts - Geased so they can't be activated during combat, again with the Gargoyle striking first and being prepared motif.

Free Fall - Mimic Gargoyle being able to fly

Eidetic Sense Memory - Seeing much, knowing the value of knowledge.

Great Leap - Again with the flying.

Linguistics - Again, seeing much...

Multi-Tasking - I could see this one having a only if following a planned course of action geas to reflect Gargoyle planning for maximum advantage.

Mystic Armor - To reflect Gargoyle being a creature of stone, no idea on a geas here if any.

So, thoughts on other powers or appropriate geasa, criticisms on what I've got so far?



This post has been edited by Edge2054: Aug 9 2005, 07:29 PM

[Ryu]

IIRC, the flying specimen is a special case concerning SR gargoyles, so you would not have to model that characteristic if you don´t want to.

I would suggest powers like:

mystic armor - creature of stone. Enables you to increase worn balistic armor at the cost of overall impact armor

Inertia Strike - striking with the might of gargoyle (MA: Kung Fu would go along well)

Rooting - creature of stone II (or rather not from a metagaming perspective)

Cool Resolve - thinking his actions trough, gargoyle is not easily fooled

Enhanced Perception - always watching an observing, one should become really good at it.

I don´t see you getting much use out of quick strike, as you will be limited to close combat. Killing hands might also come in handy for a dual beeing, at least for those occasions where no weapon focus is available.

[Edge2054]

[northern lights]

i made a gargoyle adept a while back, never got far, cause she got infected with hmhvv on like the 2nd run. it's truly weird you're asking about this.

just so you know, i kinda modeled the character after the chick from underworld.

powers:

magical power - obviously you'll need this. i suggest geas it to urban areas. say that the totem only grants powers within it's domain. just me tho.

freefall - my whole inspiration was the opening sequence where kate beckinsale drops some dozens of stories from her perch and never misses a step. i suggest getting this around 2-4 levels, and increasing it as you initiate.

quick strike - huge, but costly, use it first time, everytime.

enhanced perception - fitting and incredibly useful.

motion sense - also fitting.

suspend state - somewhat fitting.

living focus - possibly useful, depending on how your GM rules could maintain a sustained spell on yourself outside of urban areas.

spells:

armor - i used a high level (6) armor spell rather than use mystic. get a sustaining focus quickly.

petrify - excellent for the totem.

nightvision - if you don't already have it.

foreboding - one of my favorites, i'd just use it cause gargoyles are BAD news.

improved invisibility - relatively fitting, but infinitely useful.

shape earth - hard to get it to affect stone, but fitting.

shapechange - coupled with foreboding, this could really make people take notice.

all in all, tho, go with detection spells and manipulation spells for the totem feel.

you can look towards the crow and batman as keys towards ways that might work to playing the character. but hey, do it your way and have fun doing it.

[Edge2054]

Spells I'm skipping all together. Doing the Shamanic Way Phys Ad as oppossed to a physical magician. The group already has a couple of full mages plus I've over done the physical magician in the past.

Otherwise... I've contemplated Suspended State and Motion Sense both. I may still go with Motion Sense.

[fistandantilus4....]

motion sense I like. Way neat. Increased perception makes sense. I'd do some imp hearing as well as perhaps building some of the other senses. You could also use the SOTA 64 example, where the Wolf shamanic physad's killing hands manifests as claws.

facial sculpt and/or melanin control for "just that right look"

Too bad about hte spells. I havea gargoyle shaman that I love using manipulations with, especially mob mood on a sustaining focus to give just the right amount of dread.

[Ryu]

Mystic armor does increase your impact armor. Usually your character would go for a balance of bal and imp armor in his clothing because he needs protection against both kinds of attack. If he has build-in impact armor, that balance can be shifted towards ballistic armor, ie wearing full Form-Fitting and Sec Clothing instead of Form-Fitting and Rapid Transit (7/3 instead of 5/4, +helmet, +mystic armor).
As I´m used to security forces using gel rounds, I consider Impact armor to be more important than ballistic armor.

(Evil GMs take note - the FRT will still use ExEx or APDS. Nice if the runners did only consider the basic grunts...)

[Edge2054]

Yeah. I'm already liking the Mystic Armor idea. For one he's going to be a melee character so impact armor will help out a lot.

Killing Hands I'm half inclined to skip altogther. Maybe do it at light. Weapon Foci'll be his main stay against spirits. Plus the group already has one adept that focuses on putting the beat down in Physical Combat using KH and increased reflexes, (we have a pretty large group, hard to do a character that doesn't fall into a similar class as someone else, that being said though I don't want to step on her toes to much by using the adept powers she relies on the most). Melanin Control I glanced over. It doesn't let you do anything out of the norm for metahumans does it? Facial Sculpt? Not sure on this one either. He'd have a shamanic mask when he uses his powers. If the two are just for giving him that Gargoyle look then I'd pass.

Improved Hearing and Improved Smell I looked at. Ghoul's already have a -2 to all perception TNs using those two senses, if I where improve them further it wouldn't be much. Also Gargoyles (the paranormal creature) don't possess any imporved levels of sense according to the critters book. Gargoyle on the other hand, is all about silently observing. Either way I don't want him to end up with superman level hearing. Motion Sense I'm starting to like more and more though. Senseing vibrations in the astral sort of fits his motif.

If you have ideas on how *Melanin Contral and Facial Sculpt* fit with the ideals of the totem though fistandantilus3.0 I'd love to hear them.

Any thoughts on Geasa? Urban fits. What about only at night? I'm thinking that may be kinda a stretch.

This post has been edited by Edge2054: Aug 11 2005, 12:28 AM

[Herald of Verjig...]

Melanin Control: match the proper tone of the concrete, but color will be off in many cases. At night the color problem will be less important.

Facial sculpt: if he wants to play gargoyle (as is assumed with the above as well) he'll need some sort of magic to get into those deformed facial expressions so he can blend in.

So, geas them both to "when in the presence of concrete (or convincingly similar material) sculptures."

[fistandantilus4....]

Herald pretty much hit it on a head with both. Melanin control just to give you an extra way to blend, but also both to help you get around a bit more in "polite society". Get rid of those nasty fangs, change that skin color a bit, throw in some colored contacts, and wear some damn cologne. It's difficult to gather info and hoard secrets when your race is one that you have trouble keeping. Just a thought.

Besides, I've got a character that uses these two and voice control to great effect for getting into places he shouldn't. Theyr'e great powers IMO.

[northern lights]

another possible geas might be nighttime. sucks to be a shadowrunner sometimes, but a ghoul and a gargoyl adept should seriously hate daylight.

i apologize about mistaking the assumption that you were using magical power.

as far as the other physad in your group, i'd take quickstrike as it totally fits, use it first time everytime, get in that one vicious attack and then let her finish the dirty work. that way, you still get a little bit of fun as well and her role is unchanged.

you'd think there'd be a better elemental effect for earth than sand. i mean, what are we summoning beach spirits? meh, anyway, your GM might allow another form of the secondary effect to use with elemental strike and some form of stone.

i'd say

quickstrike geased to being prepared. 2.25pp

freefall at 3 levels. .75pp

motion sense .5pp

eidetic sense memory .5pp

facial sculpt 1pp

melanin control 1pp

the last 2 for not appearing as a ghoul. otherwise enhanced perception and mystic armor 2 levels each

just my thoughts on it.

EDIT: damn dumpshock formatting out my spacing! :S

[fistandantilus4....]

isn't melanin control .5?

[Edge2054]

Here's what I'm toying with now...

Attribute Boost 4 levels on each - All geased so that they can't be activated during combat. So basically if he wants to use them he has to go into the situation prepared.

Enhanced Perception 2 levels - Geased to only work when stationary.

Freefall 4 levels - No geas on this right now. Haven't thought of anything really appropriate for it and I might change it out for something else. I keep thinking about him dropping down from the roof tops on some poor sop.

Improved Ability Stealth 4 levels - Geased to only work when stationary.

Improved Sense Spatial Recognition - *Coupled with a ghoul's naturally good hearing I figure this'll give him the less mystical, less reliable, and much cheaper form of Motion Sense.*

Quick Strike - Only when following a planned course of action.

Sixth Sense 4 levels - Geased for Urban only. I might drop this one too. It doesn't fit all that great but the munchkin in me's concerned about low reaction and surprise tests. Currently he's sitting at 4 reaction.

While I really like the melanin control and facial sculpt ideas, I don't think they really fit for this character. I never pictured him hanging around on rooftops with other statues and actually taking on the look from them. Hanging around at night around statues using stealth sure... but the making him out to look like stone thing just doesn't quite fit somehow.

He's starting off as a grade 3 initiate by the way. The group that he's for's pretty experienced. Just thought I'd explain that in case anyone did the math.

No worries on the assumption for a physical magician. When I was playing with character concepts it certainly crossed my mind. Just ended up getting nixed because of the number of spell slingers in the group already.

*edit: The not looking like a ghoul thing I have half way covered. He wears cologne and is careful not to show his teeth when he smiles. Anyone with an improved sense of smell would cut through the former. Also he does wear contacts. Still pasty white but on the bright side he has masking going for him. Didn't go with a wig but thought about it. I figure he'd be able to pass himself as just another goth freak 9 times out of 10.

This post has been edited by Edge2054: Aug 11 2005, 07:56 AM

[fistandantilus4....]

Facial sculpt, not just for lurking with statues anymore! With todays new and imporved adept abiliteis, you too can be a functional part of everyday society! Ghoul teeth getting you down? How about a nice pair of ork tusks instead?! Pallid, grey dead skin marking you aas an eater of the dead? Use our new Melanin Control, and past yourself off as a nomral metahuman being! (Just remember the cologne). Find these and more, on our new Adetps 'r Us site, SOTA 64!

Oh yeah, and to top that off, if , and I know that is an if, you could also grab masking, since most folks would just as soon pop a ghoul as well, well... they'ld jsut want to kill you. But getting that 5th success on assensing to spot HMHVV in you aura is that much harder with Masking. Just a thought.

Then of course there's also centering for stuff like combat instead of sorcery.

[Edge2054]

I love the Facial Sculpt power. Just don't see it as something that follows the grain of this character's personality. The social uses for a ghoul having it though are certainly tempting, on the other hand it sort of kills the dark and brooding ghoulish archtype I'm going for.

Yeah, Masking for sure. Centering and Cognition as well. Grade 4 he's going to go for Divining and if I manage to pick it up Psychometry would be the next one.

If he ends up getting waxed by a ghoul hater/hunter it would be fitting anyhow. In his late teens he lived off ghoul bounties. Was how he ended up getting infected. I guess I could have expained some of this characters background and direction... may have helped to focus this thread. Unfortunately I have no idea how to do spoilers and don't want the rest of my gaming group reading everything.

[fistandantilus4....]

Just like [quote]
except it's

[ Spoiler ]

always try and have a clear idea of what you want the character to do, especially what he is good at, and what he is interested in, then choose powers around that 'thesis'. Might not make for the most pwerful, but certainly the most interesting (or sometimes entertaining) characters.

then [/spoiler] when you want to close it. Psychometry is a lot of fun. Careful using it in your neck of the woods as a ghoul though. ;) Try asking Winterhawk about it if you have questions. She wrote the section on it. I'd recommend it for an adept over diviniation BTW< but that's just me. Seems more personal.

[tisoz]

[Edge2054]

Psychometry does seem more fitting to learn first, considering the character would be subjected to aura's constantly being dual natured. I'm digging my idea on Divining for this character though, I picked up Spirit Affinity for City Spirits as an edge(even though he can't conjure them they recognize him as being a creature of thier domain) and was going to go with an omen reading divination skill specialized in urban. A street light burns out and he shakes his head... 'this isn't good'.

I'll have to reread Psychometry when I get the chance.

As far as a backstory for this character... Mugzy, feel free to read this but everyone else that plays up in Loveland CO please don't especially Duncan, who I know frequents these boards and has a near photographic memory.

[ Spoiler ]

Myself and another member of my group (Mugzy) trade off GMing so we both get the chance to play and niether of us get overburdened. Our campaign's grown pretty stagnant in our eyes, sorta directionless.

Mugzy found the old information on Nomad's out of Paranormal Animals and the two of us got to thinking about horrors and how we want to do the middle part of the campaign. We're planning on ending with Harlequin's Back. So the idea is to get the player's involved in dealing with magical threats. The Gargoyle adept works for a small organization that watches and hunts magical threats. Basically he'll be used as a plot device at first, hiring the runner's to do some invistigation in Seattle and basically lend him an extra set of eyes (he's the only member of his group working in the Seattle area).

So the Gargoyle adept's basically a hunter and information gatherer who specializes in dealing with all manner of magical threats. He's got sort of a vigilante/batman style mindset... though more brutal because he only goes after the worst of the worst. He's not a shadowrunner per say, though may go on a few runs with the team to provide them with support if the cause fits his ideals. If not he'd sit the run out or worse still lecture the team on their ways.

Thanks fistandantilus3.0 for helping me make that possible. :)

I think I've got his powers worked out now. Dropping the sixth sense and going with motion sense instead... figure stealth and quick strike will let him get the drop on fool's enough that a low reaction won't affect surprise to much and that the motion sense will help keep the number of surprise rolls down on his part. Also picking up Killing Hands at L for those situations where he might be without weapon foci and swapping the spatial recognition out... for what on that last .25 I haven't decided yet. But thanks everyone for helping me out with some ideas and giving me a chance to discuss all of this. I was feeling pretty stuck before.

*forgot I geased the Sixth Sense... looks like that last .25 is spent afterall. Thanks again everyone :)*

This post has been edited by Edge2054: Aug 11 2005, 06:38 PM

[nick012000]

I'm playing a Gargoyle PhysAd myself. He's got Improved Ability (Cars) 6, Improved Ability (T-birds) 2, and Improved Initiative 2. I've geased the Improved Ability powers to only work when he's calm.

He's a pseudo-rigger, who's got half-a-dozen customized cars, and a modified Aeroquip Redball Express drone to ride around in. He sits, waits... then opens fire with LMGs and Gyrojet Pistols. :rotfl:

[fistandantilus4....]

[Edge2054]

He's from Glasgow originally. The campaign's centered mostly in Seattle. As far as his casa, I haven't really worked it out yet. Thinking a five floor abandoned apartment building in Puyallup (or maybe another Z zone), having him take over the top floor along with the roof, squatters chilling in the lower couple levels. Equivelant of a middle lifestyle after bribes to the local gangs, securing the floor and rooftop. Otherwise pretty squalid conditions, stolen electricity, crap furniture... and as far as food, he has a tendency to feed on rapists, serial killers, and other unsavory individuals. ;)

[fistandantilus4....]

Try this, see if you can trakc down some acutal Gargoyles (they are urban predators after all), and work on those animal handling skills. And heck, since you're an adept, maybe get Virtuoso. My char has this, has his building done up with gargoyle sculptures that give off a nasty background count, attuned to him. That, along with the Home Ground Edge, can make for a nice little "roost".