An NPC background, backstory character is about to become a PC. The player who will be playing her is new to that campaign, but very familiar with the SR system and with roleplaying generally.

The premise is that of an old "true love" of one of the existing, continuing (mage) characters ... who just happens to be a "psychic vampire" (not HMHVV, but a type of continual low-level Stun area effect that kills plants and prevents the wounds of others from healing). Beyond that:

• Number of bp doesn't really matter too much (although probably, practically, it shouldn't go much above a 3rd or 4th level initiate who achieved that rank in-play). Regardless of the level, the player will be able to play her as balanced with the rest of the characters.
  
• She belongs and is utterly faithful to the cult left by the PC. (This hasn't been particularly fleshed out ... yet, except insofar as it is not a bug spirit cult.) They want him back.
  
• She equally loves the PC, and would give up her life to save his.
  
• Direct magic known to be possessed by the character should be at most spell defense (instinctive) and maybe astral sight. This doesn't mean that this is all the magic she could potentially possess!
  
• A previous memory wipe is definitely a possibility.

Suggestions as to what should we make that character? (This doesn't need to be limited to [meta]human, nor even to bug spirits.) Unusual concepts especially welcome!

Help?

I realise that you said "Not HMHVV" but I believe that there is potential there. I'm not saying that Vampirism is the way to go, but we already know that there are multiple strains of HMHVV. Equally, with SURGE and other various effects of the rising ambient mana levels, it is not out of the bounds of possibility that a perculiar "tame-er" version of HMHVV exist.

Alternatively, make her toxic. I don't mean like a Toxic shaman or anything, but have her "infected" with a permanent, mobile background count or astral pollution which has the effects you describe. For added fun-goodness, have the effect spread as she becomes more anxious or wounded, for example to "(Magic+Number of Damage Boxes)/2 metres or more. This would increase the "spectacle" of the effect. Additionally, as it grows it can begin to manifest physically as per the shamanic mask - for example mini gusts of wind, darkened extended shadows and funny noises.

Actually, go borrow some geek's X-Men comic collection and find the Scarlet Witch... and her "hex" powers (IIRC)

*Please note: I'm a geek too, and have no right to cast dispersions on the noble art of comic book collection since I do it myself. I'm just self-depracating...

I really would like to avoid the various HMHVV routes if at all possible. Toxicity is a possibility, but should be "escapable" (possibly with group intervention), even if at an individual PC cost. (This needs to bring the group together, not destroy them.)

Still desperate for possibilities (and mind is on blur) ...

The Astral Vampire "power" seems like a curse of some kind. Possibly what drew her to the cult in the first place?

Natural Spell Defense and Astral Sight seem to point at a sorcerer to me. She need not have spells though. Have her initiate and buy a weapon foci with most of the starting spell points and give her some spells that seem naturally instinctive - like Deflect, Awaken, Increased Reaction, and maybe Influence. The metamagic technique should be Masking (explaining why no one notice).

The cult itself seems important, to me. Is it really religious (transcending individuals) or more of a support group gone cult? Intercult power struggles, those who don't want the PC to come back versus those who need the leader to even think. Maybe the PC was collecting cursed people to create some kind of energy focus. Or perhaps to cure/aid/examine them.

what about that karma hazing created by CZs? isn't there a SURGE effect that mimics this?

She should see herself - and be at this point, so far as anyone, including herself, could tell - absolutely mundane (astral sight being a possible exception - but if yes, then it should be masked, and any spell defense unrecognised as such). The cult - open season on the cult (this is part of the group overhaul), only no HMHVV, and no bugs.

Knock yourselves out - and thanks!

Should we play Religious Russian Roulette or does the original PC has a preference?

No preference. It's picking up pieces and remaking a jigsaw puzzle of group backstories, and I have nothing in my head, or maybe I just can't focus enough to see anything, or maybe it's just the fever. If you really want something more, there were some loose things suggested (in a no longer relevant context) about Dark Phoenix and fire and roses and probably drugs, but those can be taken or left.

In any case, I thought I'd throw it wide open here. Beyond the parameters already set, doesn't matter how out there it is, I'll be able to find a way to make it fit - just not this week.

Here is an idea I have no idea where I got it from, but I'm sure I gleamed it from somewhere.


Just simply make her a 'Manavoid' type mage or something to that effect. She tends to 'absorb' magic but it helps strenthen her without knowing it increased stats and faster healing. Like those little salamanders. But she also has to suffer drain for every spell she absorbs. she has innate metamagics of 'Absorb' and 'Shielding' and 'Reflecting' and good sorcery and magic rating for a good sized spell pool. She uses her abilities to only to protect that one character she loves and her cult.


so in the end high force spells feed her well but can hurt her, and little spells can help her get through the day, but arent satifying and dont hurt.

and she psychically absorbs from mages

Yikes

Dr. Roses was a relatively unknown psychopharmacist until he founded the support group "Igniting your Awakened Fire" in a sleepy Fort Lewis subdivision. Acquiring a small warehouse and office, the doctor set up a legal clinic of sorts to help individuals get in touch with their magical side. The group soon attracted many patients looking to become magicians. Using drugs and other, non-standard methods, Roses attempted to unlock magical powers... and unburden patients of their credsticks. Occasionally, the doctor's therapy "worked" or a person with magical conditions would join the group. While this help promote the group, it soon became more than the doctor could handle alone.

Taking on <the original PC> as an assistant, Roses was freer to pursue his con game and unload the actually magically "afflicted" on <the character>. Using the doctor's drugs and general methods <the PC> quickly, almost accidentally, started a cult. He used his influence over these poor souls to further swindle the support group and expand it into a full racketeering outfit. Everything was going good until the Heat showed up.

Of course the <nameless law agency though I am partial to BATF&T> royally screwed up and ended up with a dead Doctor Roses and only a conspiracy conviction of <the PC>.

Does she have a name? I like Lady d'Arbanville, personally.

I loved you my lady, though in your grave you lie,
I'll always be with you
This rose will never die, this rose will never die.

Oh, now, that's intriguing. In the Sixth World, anything advertising the potential to become Awakened would tease the interest of the mundane majority like nothing else.

Although you seem to be suggesting that the whole thing was just a con to extract nuyen? Whatever else, I'd been thinking it should be something real, possibly dark, certainly well-hidden. It might have a first-level veneer of the quest to "Ignite your Awakened Fire", with a second level that looks like a straight con. But it should also, I think, have a deeper, nastier truth ... or again maybe more than one. (Is Dr. Roses himself a set-up man? If not, who is he really?)

The original PC didn't know much (or really anything?) about the details of the cult, and shouldn't have been in anything like a position of power ... that he knew of.

She does have a name, but there's nothing saying that different levels of cult initiation might not require renamings.

Still Desperately Seeking Suggestions

Ghoul cyclops voodoun following Ghede. (your last post didn't ask for good suggestions)

Thanks

My temptation would be to go with a magical character with a mental block of some sort on her ability to use her powers. Maybe she's an adept with no powers bought because she doesn't realize that she is an adept. Maybe her powers are linked (in a geasa type way) to a circumstance or event she doesn't know about or has had wiped from her mind somehow.

Would you believe I have never previously run an amnesiac or mind-blocked player? I can think of all kinds of ways it could be done, ranging from conditioning through magic to cloning/cellular or programmed memory, but I have no idea as to how it might work out in practice. For certain, if an amnesiac flaw, appropriate bps should be given ... but maybe not if the GM knows in advance that the PC is to be Awakened? Or maybe translate karma to powers in-game?

What is your experience in running such PCs?

I've not run more than one amnesiac PC (and that was a one-shot module where everyone was an amnesiac), so I'm possibly not the best source of data on this. What immediately springs to mind is the Id thing form the video game Xenogears (which is long and complicated). Basicly, the main character had a mental switch which, when flipped, made him a powerful killing machine. During the course of the game, other party members ended up fighting him several times, never realizing it was the hero's alter-ego. He had a name and a past (which may or may not have been made up... I don't remember it all), but the "other him" had his own memories, personality, and powers.

That said, another idea. Maybe she is the vessel for a very powerful free spirit's hidden life power. Either 1) the spirit is a vampire of sorts that feeds from her natural magical talents, leaving her with just a trickle or 2) the spirit is the source of her powers. I kind of like 1) since it lets you give her the power of a full mage/whatever without her knowing and then you can free it up later if someone finds a way to seperate the spirit from her form. Because it's not a peaceful meld, the spirit might be the cause for the missing memories. The cult might be dedicated to the spirit's service and she is simply the vessel, or the cult might be full of people who actively seek to host spirits in that manner.

Take II

Founding a self-help group called "Igniting your Awakened Fire," Dr. Roses, an obscure psychopharmacist, said he was trying to help individuals get in touch with their magical side. The group soon attracted many patients looking to become magicians. Using drugs and other, non-standard methods, Roses attempted to unlock magical powers...

The doctor really had two goals. One, finding a method to force the manifestation of magical abilities, seemed primary to all concerned. Dr. Roses appeared to genuinely care about the patients and their dreams of becoming Awakened. He soon built an inner group of those he had helped touch the magic inside them.

His second goal is immortality, and he discovered a way of sorts to achieve that goal. The doctor found that he could barrow a piece of a willing person's "soul" and add it to his own. The rush of power and emotions was like no drug he had ever experienced. He quickly discovered that each soulpiece was unique in flavor and he developed an addiction. A side effect also created the alternate personality of Doctor Thorne.

Losing a part of their soul had an effect on the subject as well; the void inside them began sucking energy and elements from around them searching for that lost piece. Effects vary from Astral, Energy, Light, and Emotional vampires with some even requiring Essence. The transfer is rapturous for all participants, tying the cult together. But even more so, the victims can never feel complete except in the presence of Doctor Roses.

Doctor Roses seems like a mild mannered, soft-spoken psychologist who never raises his voice. Doctor Thorne is ill tempered and alluring with a cruel streak. The two often argue out loud, switching demeanor and inflection, by turns.

The Soulpiece represents a point of Essence and Magic. The Doctor can sense the direction the owner is located and judge distance in terms of near and far. If they concentrate so can the victims. The cult is all partially Awakened in one form or another. If the Doctor dies, or he willing releases them, the Soulpieces will return to their owners.

More sinister?

Oh, yes. I especially like that word "borrow" ... Shadowrunner style. (Thinking on this for a bit.)

The question, I guess, is how do you tie the cult in with the character if you're going to do the amnesia. The most effective way to play an amnesiac character is to know all about your past except for certain holes. If you want to latch magical potential into it, there should be a reason for that, too.

Right now, the ideas that come to mind are:

1) Because of horrific nature of what the cult was doing, she has blocked out those memories. Since her magical potential was part of the cult activity, she has sealed off those powers behind the same blockage. This may or may not have been intentional.

2) The cult itself is responsible for sealing her memories. If this is the case, why? Did she learn something too horrible to be allowed to know? The side effect of this is that her powers were also locked.

Going along these lines. Suppose the cult is one of those "peace and love" cults that you hear about so often. The leader promises great enlightenment for his followers, and teaches them meditation and new age philosophy.

However, there's a dark secret. The leader is really a blood mage, and is raising up his "followers" to become ritual sacrifices. Because of the bounty on the head of blood mages, he's using a close knit stable of victims which he can manipulate and control. By seperating them from their families and just severing their ties with the outside world, no one will notice that they're gone. (This would also work okay if you want to make it a Horror cult, with only the leader knowing about the Horrors.)

He was grooming the NPC for a leadership role. She would be his second in command when he was strong enough to sieze real power/bring forth his dark masters/whatever.

However, his plan went wrong and she found out before she was ready to learn the truth. Because he had so much invested in her, he used a powerful spell to wipe her memory. Unfortunately, it worked a little too well and now the spell's after effects or her own mind has caused her to forget how to use magic.

Maybe?

and now for the truly bizarre.

:/

pulling on the blood mage Idea above, what if this is a new form of blood mage/horror magic. and the cult is a sort of battery. the leader can draw upon them for power to cast spells, and they get weaker when it happens, they then draw mana from there surroundings and in extreme cases can actually hurt others with this draw.

The constant flow of mana through the victims -- I mean cult members causes them to lose there minds slowly until the link is destroyed (leader is killed) for this reason the leader has had all of them programmed with mind control type spells and psychotropic IC/personafix permanent implants to love and adore and protect him.

The PC is an accident. She had magic of her own and the ritual linking backfired, and has caused some of the magic gleaned from the whole group to leak back to her... or some thing like that...

Bizzarro #2

she isn't really human at all but a free spirit that has Lost it's mind and thinks it's human. the drain effects are a result of the insanity and toxic nature of such a warped spirit. but the PC is not aware of this. over time the PC built like a normal human with some exceptional stats, and many magical skills that the PC is not aware of but can use by accident (thus learning about them)

The cult is naturally attracted to the PC though they don't realize it, or the Cult leader is the cause of the Toxic nature of the spirit, and the PC doesn't realize it cause of the amnesiatic effeects of the insanity.

this would lead the charechter to grow and learn more about itself, and either regain her sanity and destroy her nemesis/leader, or grow further insane as she learnsthe truth and eventually destroy herself.

the Lover could be a mindwiped person who knew the truth, or an agent of the cult who was cast out to mislead her, or he may have a peice of something the spirit needs or they truly love each other and that was the only thing that kept the spirit from truly going insane beyond recovery...

how's that for some strange Ideas?

-Mike R

Here is a thought... What if Both the current PC and the new character were both "Chosen" by this mystery cult. The purpose : to breed and produce a vessel for a powerful astral entity to inhabit and become the cults Demi-god, Dali Lama Ect. But something went wrong and neither character knows what happened except that the cult is looking for her... and she flees to the one person she remembers The PC. you can throw in all kinds of cool twists with this like the whole Anti-christ spin or she could even have had the child, and because of her being the mother she is the only one who could stop the little Demi-god from reaching maturity...

Just a thought.

oh both of them would have Amnesia of those events.