Kel'Zang Dema - character

[Zencore]

Creating a character that is basically similar to the Dalai Lama. He is a younger (19 year old) that was being hidden from the Emperors knowledge to keep him safe. And he's just finding out that he has an explanation for why he has spent his entire life hearing voices in his head.

Previous born versions of his soul (both male and female) are in his head trying to help when he makes decisions or has to deal with opponents - like the Emperors soldiers that wish to kill him so the Emperor can stay in power.

So.. what advantages or powers/skills would he have that could allow him to talk to or use skills from previous versions of himself.

Thanks for any help :)

[johndallman]

Welcome!

You certainly want Reawakened (p. B80). That lets you use skills learned in previous lives, and costs 10 points. You also want Racial Memory (p. B78), which lets you tap the knowledge other than skills of your previous incarnations; you want the 40-point version that lets you use it actively, and the fact that you access other incarnations, rather than your genetic ancestors, doesn't matter at all.

If you can actually talk to your previous incarnations and get their advice, then you have Allies (p. B36-38). The costing for this is not trivial to work out; if you can describe a bit more what they can and can't do, we can help.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by johndallman

If you can actually talk to your previous incarnations and get their advice, then you have Allies (p. B36-38). The costing for this is not trivial to work out; if you can describe a bit more what they can and can't do, we can help.

I think Allies who can only offer advice might count as Contacts, but personally my inclination - in addition to Reawakened and Racial Memory - might be to have a Wild Talent. Talents are also likely appropriate, as are Wildcards - and Wildcard Points (or Destiny Points, if you opt for those as well) can be spent using the knowledge/skills of a past life to justify the success.

On the Disadvantage side, Flashbacks to prior lives, Phantom Voices to represent the distracting voices in your head of said past lives, etc, may be appropriate - or may be Temporary Disadvantages of certain abilities (when you're tapping into the knowledge of past lives). Other Temporary Disadvantages may be appropriate for other abilities - maybe you can get a boost to DX by tapping into the memories of a great warrior, but you also suffer from his Bloodlust when doing so. Heck, Corruption (from GURPS Horror) might even be appropriate - the more you tap into your past lives, the more their trauma becomes your own, and you wind up actually gaining some of their Disadvantages (although this may all be more appropriate for character concepts other than the Dalai Lama).

[Pursuivant]

Racial Memory might also be appropriate if the character can access memories of past lives.

[Zencore]

Thank you all for the suggestions - great ideas.

I did have Racial Memory - but at a lower setting. I think the higher power would be better.

I don't have Reawakened - but I like the idea and will add it.

And I intend on reading the Wild Talent as well.

As far as Disadvantages go, I had Nightmares representing my lack of understanding of the voices in my head. But Flashback and Phantom Voice might be a better choice. Corruption is also an interesting though.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Zencore

Corruption is also an interesting though.

As I said, it may not be appropriate with this being the current incarnation of the Dalai Lama, although I'll admit I don't know much about them. Of course, that's Corruption as-written in Horror, where it results in the character gaining "evil" Disadvantages (Bloodlust, Bad Temper, etc). Using the same mechanics, but having the Corruption result in "good" Disadvantages (Charitable, Pacifism, Vow, etc) could be interesting - the more the character taps into the "Dalai Lama" gestalt, the more he begins to behave as his predecessors.