Character editing

[swarmyard]

I am updating a previous character from 3rd edition to 4th edition, and I have been using the character assistant. So far, I feel like he is a bit extraneous and I could make him more efficient. I am open to suggestions. My goals are to preserve the a lot of the characters original skills but seem plausible as an Unseelie ambassador/knight/lord and survive the intense cold of a magical arctic region. I'm not sure how I feel about the custom talents I made. They seem unbalanced (within the rules of talents and the Power-ups talents book). He has far too many skill points and I would like to whittle those down to a reasonable number for his age. He was apprenticed to a couple of different NPCs that the group traveled with, hence the wide variation of skills.

Background: He just helped an ally ascend to the throne and went to the arctic realm of a Winter-aspected Unseelie noble that he had a dalliance, which led to the birth of a child. He had hoped to retrieve the child and return to mortal lands, and raise her to resist her Unseelie nature. However, he spent several years fulfilling his bargain to the Unseelie noble, by fortifying alliances and pacts with others in the Winter realm. Unfortunately, only a few months have past in the mortal realm, and he is ten years older. Now, he plans on returning to help his childhood hero fight in a war of succession.

Ricus of House Haedra (617 points)
Age 36; Human; 5'11"; 160; Sunken, weary coal-black eyes and long hair and beard. A human male of tall stature and striking features, he possesses an allure beyond physical appearance. A decade in the Unseelie realms seems to have changed him.

ST 13 [30]; DX 13 [60]; IQ 14 [80]; HT 13 [30].
Damage 1d/2d-1; BL 72 lbs.; HP 16 [6]; Will 17 [15]; Per 16 [10]; FP 13 [0].

Basic Speed 6.75 [5]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Block 8 (DX); Dodge 10; Parry 10 (DX).

Social Background
TL: 4 [0].

CF: Dwarf [1]; Eldorin (Native) [0]; High Elf [1]; Seelie (Alien Culture) [2]; Unseelie (Alien Culture) [2].

Languages: Ancient Gaasian (Accented) [4]; New Gaasian (Native) [0]; Primordial Speech (Native) [6]; Sil'rae Daal'tali (Accented) [4];
Tr'gath'nk'dren (Broken) [2].

Advantages
Ally (Unseelie Mount) (75% of starting points) (Constantly; Special Abilities) [18]; Animal Empathy [5]; Animal Friend 4 [24]; Appearance (Very Handsome) [16]; Born War-Leader 3 [15]; Charisma 4 [20]; Combat Reflexes [15]; Empathy [15]; Flexibility [5]; Forbidden Knowledge 2 [10]; Haedra's Legacy 2 [20]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Lifting ST 6 [18]; Luck [15]; Resistant (Disease) (Common) (+8) [7]; Resistant (Intense normal cold) (Occasional) (Immunity; Gadget/Can Be Stolen: Can only be taken by stealth or trickery) [8]; Resistant (Poisons) (Common) (+3) [5]; Status (+4) [15]; Temperature Tolerance 1 [1]; Very Fit [15]; Wealth (Very Wealthy) [30].

Perks: Call of the Wild; Cloaked; Disarming Smile; Immunity to Mental effects of Frostwind Virago's realm; Immunity to Mental effects of Locust's realm; Immunity to mental effects of Unseelie noble realm; Looks Good in Uniform; Masked Shtick; Obscure True Name; Pressure Tolerant Lungs (Thin); Sartorial Integrity [11].

Disadvantages
Code of Honor (Hospitality, never break word, and soldier's.) [-15];Dependent (Syris Morwyn Haedra) (No more than 25%) (6 or less; Loved one) [-10]; Duty (To liege) (12 or less (quite often)) (Extremely Hazardous) [-15]; Increased Consumption -2 [-20]; Obsession (Help Syris take the throne) (Long-Term Goal) (6 or less) [-20]; Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]; Sense of Duty (Close friends and companions) (Small Group) [-5].

Quirks: Devout, but unorthodox Eldor worshipper; Polite.; Reserved.; Suspicious.; Voracious reader. [-5].

Skills
Acrobatics-13 (DX+0) [4]; Acting-15 (IQ+1) [1]; Administration-14 (IQ+0) [2]; Alchemy/TL4-14 (IQ+0) [8]; Animal Handling (Dogs)-17 (IQ+3) [1]; Animal Handling (Equines)-17 (IQ+3) [1]; Area Knowledge (Tillsdown)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Bow-14 (DX+1) [4]; Brawling-14 (DX+1) [2]; Camouflage-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Carousing-16 (HT+3) [2]; Climbing-15 (DX+2) [1]; Cooking-13 (IQ-1) [1]; Current Affairs/TL4 (Eldorin)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Current Affairs/TL4 (Supernatural)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Dancing-14 (DX+1) [4]; Detect Lies-17 (Per+1) [1]; Diagnosis/TL4 (Elf)-13 (IQ-1) [2]; Diagnosis/TL4 (Human)-13 (IQ-1) [2]; Diplomacy-20 (IQ+6) [20]; Escape-14 (DX+1) [1]; Esoteric Medicine-14 (Per-2) [1]; Farming/TL4-13 (IQ-1) [1]; Fast-Talk-16 (IQ+2) [2]; First Aid/TL4 (Elf)-15 (IQ+1) [1]; First Aid/TL4 (Human)-15 (IQ+1) [1]; Flail-15 (DX+2) [12]; Heraldry-15 (IQ+1) [1]; Herb Lore/TL4-11 (IQ-3) [1]; Hidden Lore (Faerie Lore)-16 (IQ+2) [2]; History (Eldorin military)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Intelligence Analysis/TL4-15 (IQ+1) [1]; Intimidation-18 (Will+1) [1]; Knife-14 (DX+1) [2]; Law (High Elven)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Law (local)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Leadership-20 (IQ+6) [1]; Literature-16 (IQ+2) [4]; Naturalist (Earth)-13 (IQ-1) [2]; Occultism-15 (IQ+1) [1]; Packing-17 (IQ+3) [1]; Physician/TL4 (Elf)-12 (IQ-2) [1]; Physician/TL4 (Human)-12 (IQ-2) [1]; Physiology/TL4 (Elf)-12 (IQ-2) [1]; Politics-16 (IQ+2) [1]; Professional Skill (Masseur)-15 (IQ+1) [2]; Psychology (Elf)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Psychology (Human)-14 (IQ+0) [1]; Psychology (Unseelie)-15 (IQ+1) [2]; Public Speaking (Oratory)-18 (IQ+4) [1]; Research/TL4-13 (IQ-1) [1]; Riding (Equines)-18 (DX+5) [4]; Running-12 (HT-1) [1]; Savoir-Faire (High Society)-16 (IQ+2) [1]; Savoir-Faire (Servant)-16 (IQ+2) [1]; Sex Appeal (Elf)-18 (HT+5) [1]; Sex Appeal (Human)-18 (HT+5) [1]; Sex Appeal (Unseelie)-18 (HT+5) [1]; Shield (Shield)-15 (DX+2) [4]; Speed-Reading-15 (IQ+1) [4]; Stealth-13 (DX+0) [2]; Strategy (Land)-18 (IQ+4) [8]; Streetwise-13 (IQ-1) [1]; Survival (Arctic)-15 (Per-1) [1]; Survival (Mountain)-15 (Per-1) [1]; Survival (Woodlands)-15 (Per-1) [1]; Tactics-16(IQ+2) [2]; Teamster (Oxen)-17 (IQ+3) [1]; Thaumatology-12 (IQ-2) [2]; Theology (Eldor)-15 (IQ+1) [2]; Tracking-16 (Per+0) [2]; Veterinary/TL4 (Equines)-16 (IQ+2) [1]; Weather Sense-13 (IQ-1) [1]; Writing-14 (IQ+0) [2].
Techniques: Cavalry Training (Flail)-15 [3]; Combat Riding (Riding (Equines))-18 [0]; Hands-Free Riding (Riding (Equines))-15 [0]; Hang from Saddle (Riding (Equines))-15 [0]; Quick Mount (Riding (Equines))-17 [2].

Customized talents:

Forbidden Knowledge 5 points/level
Hidden Lore, History, Literature, Occultism, and Theology.
Reaction bonus: Scholars and other researchers

Haedra's Legacy 10 points/level
Acting, Carousing, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Heraldry, Intimidation, Law, Politics, Psychology, and Savoir-Faire.
Reaction bonus: Any that recognize his heritage (negative reaction possible).

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by swarmyard

So far, I feel like he is a bit extraneous and I could make him more efficient. I am open to suggestions.

Well, right off the bat, you've got enough points in IQ-based skills that you could take a level out of all of the ones that you have more than 1 point in, and sink those points back into IQ. By my count, you've also got at least close to enough in DX-based skills to do the same with that. I think if you take two levels out of Flail, instead of just one, you would end up with enough points, so I'd recommend doing that. In both cases, you'd end up with the same level in all the skills (except Flail), and have one higher level in the attribute, giving you better defaults and whatnot.

Originally Posted by swarmyard

I'm not sure how I feel about the custom talents I made. They seem unbalanced (within the rules of talents and the Power-ups talents book).

Personally, I don't think either are unbalanced. They seem like logical groups of skills that someone could believably have a native gift for, and neither break the rules for Talent pricing. Further, they're both very heavy on the IQ-based skills, which actually makes them weaker than average. Take Haedra's Legacy, for example. It's 10 points per level, and all but one of the skills involved is IQ-based. That means, when building a character, someone needs to choose between spending 20 points to get two levels of skill in 9 skills, or buying a level in IQ, and getting +1 to all the skills IQ covers, which is a lot more than just 9.

Personally, I feel Talents are actually quite reasonably balanced, and, in fact, could often use a bit of a power increase or point discount, if the large majority of their skills are covered by a single attribute.

Originally Posted by swarmyard

He has far too many skill points and I would like to whittle those down to a reasonable number for his age.

I wouldn't say he has too many skills, personally - I've definitely had GURPS characters with lots more skills than that. They tend to pick them up! And remember, in 4e, there's no "reasonable number of skills for his age" - points in skills don't need to necessarily be linked to time training or anything. They can represent things like natural talent or skills a character just learned really easily, too.

All that said, if you really want to cut down on the number of skills, and you're willing to go more cinematic, you could look at wildcard skills. These (Basic, p. 175, and Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills, the whole book) essentially compress a bunch of skills into a single Very Hard skill that costs 3 times the normal amount, and serves to represent cinematic breadth of expertise.

For example, you've got a fair bit of points sunk into various skills covered by the Occult! wildcard skill (Power-Ups 7, p. 34). If you took the points you had in Alchemy, Current Affairs (Supernatural), Esoteric Medicine, Herb Lore, Hidden Lore (Faerie Lore), Literature, Occultism, Research, and Thaumatology, you'd have 21 points. That's enough to buy Occult! at Attribute+0 level, and have 9 points left over, mostly likely enough to do as I mentioned above and reduce the rest of your IQ-based skills by 1 and buy IQ up overall. Basically, you'd have most of the skills at the same level you do now, with only a couple one level lower. And you'd simplify your skill list a lot.

[swarmyard]

Thanks for the input. He feels a bit more coherent now.