Character Outlines

[The Nobody]

I have a few character ideas, more-or-less fleshed out, so I want to put them all in one place. However, I will only use one, or two at most, in the actual play.

This is also the place, where you, fellow players, can comment on them. Speaking of which, how many people check the site regularly?

[The Nobody]

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#1: Ninja

Name: Jonesy "the Rat".

Age: Fourty-ish

Gender: Male.

Preferred Species: Human; Rat.

Preferred backround: Mercenary/spy.

Powers guideline: concealment, subtlety. Optional control over shadows.

Appearance: Overall, unremarkable. Jonesy is of average height, his features are easily forgettable, and he wears plain clothes under a worn cloak. He has brown eyes and light-brown hair (if Rat, both gray).

Personality: Jonesy doesn't talk much, and mostly keeps to himself. He can hold a conversation, but rarely starts one. Jonesy never raises his voice, is honest and direct, sometimes to the point of being blunt. He can show emotions, but rarely does; for example, when others laugh, he just smiles. Jonesy's also a good listener and knows how to keep secrets.

Skills: Jonesy is good with low-key disguises, like servants, peasants or beggars. He's a good acrobat, climbing walls and jumping between rafters is no problem for him. Jonesy also knows how to move without a sound and fall with minimum injury. His main strength, however, is observation and good memory.

In combat, Jonesy is relatively good unarmed or with daggers. He can use each hand with equal skill, or both at the same time, and has good aim with thrown daggers. However, Jonesy only fights in defense, and prefers to run when possible. If he has to kill someone, he does it before the taget even knows he's there; and quietly, so that others won't notice.

Common items: Tenfold Knife - a dagger that can create up to nine copies of itself, those last 30 minutes or until dismissed. A ragged-looking cloak that (a) can hide him and/or one other person from all means of detection except epic-level spells; (OR b) can store items in a hyperspace dimension and call them up with a thought.

[The Nobody]

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#2: Burglar

Name: Andre d'Abri

Age: 25

Gender: Male.

Preferred species: Human, Elf.

Preferred background: Youngest son of a low-ranking noble.

Powers guideline: Flair, distractions, unusual magic items. If powerfull items are needed, obtains them during the story.

Appearance: Andre is dark-haired, bright-eyed, tall and handsome. He usually wears sturdy pants, a sleeveless vest over a silk shirt, and a stylish capelet. His smile is cheerful, and his sideburns are manly.

Personality: Andre's primary desire is to enjoy life, and let others enjoy it as much as they can. He appreciates beauty in everything, be it a pretty face, a catchy song, a tasty meal or a shiny gem. And so, if some people are rich and others are poor, he takes this as unfair. So he takes the money from those who have too much... And spends them on food and women.

Andre likes attention and adrenaline. That's why, whenever he can, he makes his burglaries flashy, with dozens of guards chasing him and lots of spectators. Every such chase is a performance, with songs, and acrobatics, and sleight-of-hand tricks and occasional fireworks. But behind the facade of reckless bravado, Andre is careful and patient - before the performances, he spends a few nights tampering with traps, planning his route, preparing his tricks, and often stealing whatever he wants even before the raid. And even if things go not as planned, he thinks good on his feet.

Outside of his "performances", Andre is pleasant with men, charming with women, and gets along with most people. He can tell good stories, knows many songs, and sometimes even composes them on the spot. Although, he's often too loud, keeps flirting with women even if they don't appreciate it, and his singing gets annoying after some time.

There are two treasures that Andre respects so much, that he'll never willingly take one - one is a person's life, the other is a girl's virginity. Married women are fair game, though.

Skills: Andre is a good acrobat, an excelent entertainer, can mimic voices quite well, and knows many tricks. He can also bypass most locks and traps, both magical and mechanical. He can also slip from ropes or shackles with relative ease. Andre knows fencing just enough to defend himself and make a good show, and is good at improvised fighting (that is, with chairs, tablecloths, chandeliers, etc). His tactics is mainly distracting and tripping opponents until he can run away. Occasionally, when Andre finds a magical item, he can guess how to use it with no manual.

Assets:

* Magical stuff (low-level): one Animated Rope; a pair of Climbing Boots; a Capelet of Gliding; an enchanted lens to study magical traps and locks; a wand to tamper with them; a deck of cards that can fly and return; a Ring of Alarms (basically, an alarm clock); and the Orator's Cane, which can make his voice louder. OPTIONAL: disguising items.

* Mundane stuff: three silken ropes, usually tied around his waist; a deck of worn playing cards, possibly marked; two sets of lockpicks, each hidden in a different place; a small but sharp folding knife; loaded dice; non-loaded dice. OPTIONAL: a shell-game set (for low-class background); fresh flowers or other items to impress the ladies (for high-class background).

* Mechanical and alchemical stuff: smoke bombs; firecrackers; a music box or somesuch.

[The Nobody]

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#3: Magician

Name: Mackintosh

Age:

Gender: None.

Preferred species: Golem, Ghost, Tsukumogami.

Preferred background: An old wizard's apprentice.

Powers guideline: Illusions, slight telekinesis.

Appearance: Along these lines:
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Personality: Lone wizards aren't the most sociable sort, so Mackintosh didn't lean any tricks on how to be polite or get along. He likes to make fun of people and show everyone that he's smart. But he's also friendly, helps when asked and doesn't hold a grudge. Mackintosh likes fancy hats, scarves, gloves and boots. He's also very curious and likes to illustrate his actions with minor illusions.

Skills: Mack's talent is in illusions. He can replicate the exact look, smell, sound and sometimes even taste of anything he wants. If he creates an illusionary fire, it will feel hot, and it will hurt like fire if someone tries to touch it. The ground around it will look scorched, and it will smell of smoke. It will not, however, burn or warm up anything. In other words, he can make a perfect replica, but it won't be real. Sometimes, he can allow certain people to see through his illusions (for example, showing allies that it's him, but in disguise), but this requires much more concentration.

Mackintosh can also scribe "marks", which create an illusion when someone looks at them. Those usually last a few hours at most, and aren't perfect.

Mack has some skill with barriers and telekinesis, but nowhere near as much. His barriers can barely hold a strong man, and even the simplest magical weapons break them easily. With telekinesis, he can move as much as an average human. Both of those extend only for 30 feet.

As he never had to work and never had to fight (at least before), Mackintosh doesn't really have any useful everyday skills. He can write in three languages quickly and neatly, but two of them are obscure dialects that only wizards use. He can also detect magic in items, potions or people.

Assets: Golems don't need to eat, sleep or even breathe, but Mackintosh is a bit vain and likes pretty clothes. That's about the only thing he owns. A hat is an absolute must - with it, he looks like an enigmatic magician; without it, he looks like a blob of light inside an old coat. Mack's current hat is a classic wizard's one. He also has an embroidered scarf and a pair of worn gloves. Mack has enough sense not to buy stuff with imaginary coins, but won't hesitate to steal from his enemies.

As a magical coat, Mackintosh is windproof, waterproof, dustproof, warm in winter and cool in summer. He can mend small tears, but if you rip him in half, he's wasted.

[The Nobody]

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#4: A Lost Knight

Name: Howl.

Age: over 40.

Gender: Male.

Preferred species: Gnoll, Dwarf.

Preferred background: Raised in a very remote monastery.

Powers guideline: Expert swordsman, psionically-powered blade, endurance; if Dwarf, minor runecrafting.

Appearance: Tall, balding, dark unfocused eyes, braided mane. If Gnoll, brown fur with black and white spots.

Personality: Howl was raised in a place very far away from civilisation, and it shows. His guardians were pretty old, and died when he was very young. They had enough time to teach him how to read, and some basic skills. The rest he learned himself - mostly from the books that remained in his guardians' place.

Unfortunately, most of them were fairy-tales, legends about knights, and stuff like that. They taught Howl about honor, defending the weak and smiting the evil. They also slightly removed him from reality. He doesn't mistake architecture for magically-consealed evil giants, but his perception is visibly different. For example, he thinks that every person he meets is of the same race. Despite of that, either instinctively or by some unseen clues, Howl's estimation of other people's character have been mostly correct - except for one aspect, in which he's totally wrong.

Howl is stubborn, fearless, and doesn't hesitate - this makes him prone to rush decisions. This doesn't mean he is impulsive; Howl can be surprisingly patient when he feels it's necessary, and his battle plans have some merit if you don't count the "I charge forward" part. Due to his distant stare and tendency to act without warning (even without physical cues sometimes), Howl comes off as intimidating at first. But, after spending some time with him, it becomes apparent that Howl is quite calm, and even a bit gentle.

Skills: Howl is a good swordsman - not the top of the cream, but better than many. He is, actually, better than even most swordsmen with equal skill, because most of Howl's opponents don't expect him to regenerate his sword after it gets destroyed or removed. He has a well-developed body, so stuff like jumping or running comes naturally to him. The meditation poses, wich he practiced since childhood, made Howl much limber than one would expect. Other than that, he can read and write surprisingly well and is well-versed in court politesse. (If Dwarf: Some basic knowledge of Runecrafting allows him to enchant some items, most commonly armor.)

Assets:
* The Radiant Sword of the Ancestors. This is, in essense, just an ornate, badly aged scabbard with a hilt stuck in it. Howl uses the hilt as a focus to generate his Mind-Blade. He can generate it even without a focus, but (if Dwarf) it's not as effective without the enhancing runes he put on it; (OR if Gnoll) he tries not to use it that way.
* Enchanted breastplate. Beside some minor shielding effect, it protects Howl from wounds that would've been instantly fatal. He still receives wounds, and can even die if there are too many of them - just not in one hit.
* Enchanted gloves. Improve strenght and grip.
* Enchanted boots. A few times a day can invoke a powerfull stomp. Usefull for knocking the opponents off-ballance, kicking out doors, and sometimes even going through the flimsier floors.
Beside that, a set of camping gear, some books and candles.

[The Nobody]

I was told that a character like this is okay.

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#5: Loner

Name: Alvissa

Age: ?

Gender: Female.

Job: Mercenary, bodyguard.

Preferred Species: Elemental (fire, water or air); Jinn (or Efreet); Fey (some large variation).

Preferred backround: Most people know about illegal magic. Some know that there are different kinds of it. Very few are aware that one of those forbidden magics involves binding creatures into sexual obedience.

Alvissa was bound to this plane by a high-level "Summon Partner" spell. Additional charms prevented her from harming any "clients" with her innate powers, but didn't stop her from picking up tools sharp enough or blunt enough to deal with the problem. She escaped, and even managed to kill the wizard that summoned her (he didn't prepare strong defensive spells). And now, the only way for her to return home (at least, that she's aware of) is to either complete the intercourse, or get killed. And she isn't particularly fond of either option. For a long while she roamed the land, looking for another way to return home.

Powers guideline: Cannot transform into an elemental/ethereal form; cannot use her element (or innate magic) to harm the others, but can use it to minor usefull effects; mostly weapon use.

Appearance: Tall, not too slender, with a well-developed body (this means muscles, y'all). The non-muscles are a bit too developed than normally expected, but not very much. And she binds them, anyway. Hair is long, and looks like wisps of Alvissa's element (or just sparkly, if Fey). Somewhat pointed ears, pleasant facial features. Skin looks normal with a tint of her element's color (it's a spell Alvissa learned), but turns into moving layer of the element when she's agitated (if Jinn/Efreet, normal -> heavily-colored; if Fey, just looks like very delicate human skin). Usually wears light clothes that don't get in the way, but nothing tight or revealing.

Personality: Due to her origins, Alvissa is mistrustfull of other people, especially men. This was especially bad early in her career, but she got friendlier with time. She's still cautious, wether in trusting people or in combat, but now she's more confident in her skill to beat up anyone she meets (or escape from them). Alvissa doesn't talk much, at least not to people. But when she does, she's blunt and not concerned about hurting people's feelings. Even then, she is not without a sense of beauty and decorates he belongings when she can. (if Fey: When she's sure no-one can see her, Alvissa sometimes sings. Her voice must be very melodic, as with all Fey, but no-one can prove that for certain.)

At the start of her career, Alvissa was working alone for a good while. She noticed with time that, not only was living like this difficult, but it actually felt nice to have someone she could trust. She's still afraid of opening up to people, because she knows - should she let people too close, she will lose them.

Skills: Strong, agile, resilient (noticeably above average); decently smart, quick to learn; good with a spear, excellent acrobat; has some skills in tracking, sneaking, and other weapons.

Common items: A spear (returns when thrown, minor sharpness enchantment), a few throwing knives, leather armor (torso+skirt), sandals with knee-high binds (minor grip enchantment), a set of shinguards and bracers (minor hardness and shield enchantments). Some jewelry. Not usually worn, but keeps nearby: A bow with some arrows, a hunting trap set (you know, for rabbits and such), a whip and enough rope.

[The Nobody]

Two more entries and the collection will be complete. Which exactly characters to use would greatly depend on what sort of an adventure is planned.