[Prince Charon]

A character that might be of interest and/or use to some of you:

Herr Doktor Wilhelm Klaus Freiherr von Frankenstein, 1816

Age: 27

Attributes

ST 10 [0]; DX 10 [0]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 11 [10]

Secondary Characteristics

HP 10; Will 13; Per 13; FP 11

Social Background

Languages: 18th-19th century German (Native) [0]; Latin (Native) [6]; Ancient Greek (Accented/Native) [5]; French (Accented/Native) [5]; English (Accented) [4].

TL: 5^ (early)

Cultural Familiarity: 19th century Western Europe [0].

Subtotal: 90


Advantages

Attractive [4]
Independent Income 5 [5]
Leyden Jars (Energy Reserve (Magic); Breakable machine, DR1, -25%; SM0, -25%; Can Be Stolen by ST, -30%; Special Recharge (Electricity), -70%) 20 [12]
Lightning Calculator [2]
Path/Book Adept (Time; Requires electricity, -20%) 1 [8]
Magery 0 [5]
Magery (Storm-Aspected, -60%) 3 [12]
Status 3 [10]
Very Wealthy [30]

Perks

Dirty Fighting. [1]
Dramatic Death. [1]
Forecast. [1]
Penetrating Voice. [1]

Subtotal: 92


Disadvantages

Bad Temper (12) [-10]
Callous [-5]
Delusion (Minor: "My esoteric workings are the product of SCIENCE!, not magic!") [-5]
Obsession ("I'll show those fools who laughed at me that I was right! I'll show them ALL!") (12) [-5]
Overconfidence (6) [-10]
Reputation (Mad scientist, like his late cousin; large class (Academia); 10 or less) -2 [-2]
Stubbornness [-5]

Quirks

Beer snob. [-1]
Cackles, but is embarrassed about it afterwards. [-1]
Loves lightning storms. [-1]
Mild lecherousness. [-1]

Subtotal: -46


Features

Esoteric Medicine (Electomagnetic) is a complementary skill for the Book of Frankenstein. [0]

Skills

Accounting [IQ/H] [1] 11
Administration [IQ/A] [1] 12
Animal Handling (Equines) [IQ/A] [1] 12
Astronomy/TL5^ [IQ/H] [1] 11
Biology (Earthlike)/TL5^ [IQ/VH] [2] 11
Brawling [DX/E] [1] 10
Chemistry/TL5^ [IQ/H] [1] 11
Cryptography/TL5^ [IQ/H] [2] 12
Diagnosis/TL5^ [IQ/H] [2] 12
Electrician/TL5^ [IQ/A] [2] 13
Engineer (Electrical)/TL5^ [IQ/H] [4] 13
First Aid/TL5^ [IQ/E] [0] 13
Gambling [IQ/A] [1] 12
Games (Chess) [IQ/E] [1] 13
Games (Tennis) [IQ/E] [1] 13
Hypnotism [IQ/H] [2] 12
Mathematics (Applied)/TL5^ [IQ/H] [4] 13
Mathematics (Statistics)/TL5^ [IQ/H] [2] 12
Meteorology (Earthlike)/TL5^ [IQ/A] [1] 12
Pharmacy (Herbal)/TL5^ [IQ/H] [1] 11
Pharmacy (Synthetic)/TL5^ [IQ/H] [2] 12
Physician/TL5^ [IQ/H] [4] 13
Physiology/TL5^ [IQ/H] [1] 11
Poisons/TL5^ [IQ/H] [1] 11
Riding (Horse) [DX/A] [1] 9
Sports (Tennis) [DX/A] [2] 10
Surgery/TL5^ [IQ/VH] [8] 13
Veterinary/TL5^ [IQ/H] [2] 12

Book of Frankenstein [IQ/VH] [8] 13(16*)
Esoteric Medicine (Electomagnetic)/TL5^ [Per/H] [4] 13(16*)
Ritual Magic (Technurgy)/TL5^ [IQ/VH] [8] 13(16*)

Techniques

Book of Frankenstein:
Dose
Embody
Empower
Halt Decay
Know Fault
Reverse Decay
Succor

*Includes +3 from Magery (Storm-Aspected); listed separately because the advantage applies somewhat rarely.

Subtotal: 72

Total: 208


Equipment

Notes

This Dr. Frankenstein is inspired by the various 'decendent or other relative of the infamous Mad Doctor' found in several horror movies. In this case, he's a younger cousin of the one from the novel, and inherited his estate, including those notes that Dr. Victor Frankenstein did not destroy, and which his own research has expanded upon. I've set his present in the Year Without a Summer, the same year that the future Mary Shelley (then still Mary Godwin, as the year was almost over before they actually married) wrote 'Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus' while on holiday in Switzerland.

Wilhelm's style of technurgy (technological thaumaturgy) is Energy Accumulating, based on electricity (he unknowingly converts electrical energy into spiritual energy, which is also how Empower works: it doesn't transfer FP to a spirit, it converts electricity into a form that would be useful to an Embodied spirit). The Book of Frankenstein does not include a spirit summoning ritual, nor any other way to determine what spirit will be Embodied (nor does Wilhelm know that it would be an option, any more than his late cousin Victor did). This can be a serious problem for Herr Doktor von Frankenstein, as the body is taken by whatever spirit is both nearby and strong enough to get in before another spirit does.

Storm-Aspected Magery, in this context, only works when the weather is bad enough that the GM is willing to call it a storm. In what most would call good weather, he is limited to Magery 0.

The Leyden Jars are not terribly portable, but then he doesn't intend to use them outside of his laboratory (which serves as his prepared ritual space), anyway. The jars are recharged by electricity, frequently but not exclusively by tapping the castle's lightning rods (which also supply power for his use of Embody).

Halt Decay
Effect Shaping: Book of Frankenstein-2*; 15 minutes; this effect lasts for days equal to margin of success (minimum 1).
Energy Accumulating: 4 points*, +1 per day for which the effect continues.
* Adjusted by Size Modifier.

Known as 'Preserve Food' in some other styles. When cast on a carcass or other single quantity of formerly-living matter, the process of decay ceases as noted above. The base cost is adjusted according to the SM of the target, with SM greater than zero increasing the penalty or energy cost equal to SM, and SM less than zero decreasing it in the same manner; note that the minimum energy cost is 1, though the minimum skill penalty is 0. If Embody is cast on the target while this effect is also on it, the spirit inhabiting the body can maintain it with no penalty, as if it were alive.

Reverse Decay
Effect Shaping: Book of Frankenstein-4*; 30 minutes.
Energy Accumulating: 8 points*, +1 per extra day worth of decay to be lost.
* Adjusted by Size Modifier.

This ritual, as the name suggests, reverses the process of decay on one carcass or other single quantity of formerly-living matter, by a number of days equal to the margin of success (minimum 1), or days equal to 1 plus the number of points over 8 spent on the ritual (e.g. 12 points spent removes five days worth of decay). As above, the Size Modifier of the target increases or decreases the difficulty. Not that this ritual cannot reverse death. It can bring a carcass to the point of having been freshly killed, but the dead remain dead (or undead), even if CPR is performed by an expert with the best tools for the job. Depending on the setting, this ritual might only be able to be cast on a target once, or only once per day, or is may be not limited like that at all. However, if the GM determines that a carcass has fully decayed (generally meaning reduced to marrowless bones, though this too varies), the ritual is useless.

As written, Wilhelm could be played as the villain of a one-shot or short campaign, a red herring (I mean, once the players hear the name 'Frankenstein,' deeply ingrained player knowledge is almost certain to bleed into the PCs' behavior, especially if they know his Reputation), a recurring Enemy, an Ally, a Contact, a Patron, or even one of the PCs (albeit one who should not be in combat). This version is too young to have a beautiful daughter for one of the PCs to fall in love with (and has been written without Dependents), but a sister, cousin, or Embodied spirit would certaily be possible... and he's easily young enough to become obsessed with one of the PCs, or an Ally or Dependent thereof, as long as the player involved is comfortable with that. If he's to be a long-term Enemy, I suggest replacing Overconfidence with Megalomania, and if you're going into a Hammer Horror sort of genre, perhaps giving him Unkillable with a limitation like 'must have a vaguely-plausible explanation for how he survived' (though given some of the explanations in horror movies, this may only be a -5% Nuisance Effect). If he's to be a hero, replacing Callous with some sort of Code of Honor would help, and you might want to add some combat skills and a higher DX (and Appearance, if you're going into the Hollywood Horror genre). Having both Callous and a Code of Honor could work for a Byronic hero, though.


Thoughts?