Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer

Arith Winterfell · 03-13-2020, 01:42 PM

I'm a GM in a very very small group of players, and so I'm working on a character for my own enjoyment too (though I'm being careful not to upstage the other PCs). Anyway I'm looking for help finding fun ways to represent certain character facets.

The primary one I need help with representing a character facet of passionate interest in what I think of as "fine details" or "nuts and bolts" of necromancy. An interest in necromancy both applied and academic in the sense of having a deep interest in "how it all works."

Other character aspects I want to play up (but am a little unsure of how to represent) are having a "quiet charisma" being not outgoing or a "people person" all the time, but rather being introspective and thoughtful to the point when he does speak, his insight into people and things draw respect from his listeners which makes him seem like the quiet but wise leader type.

Lastly I imagine the character as soft at times and ruthless at others. He would really care about the heartfelt plea of someone for help, be kind to children, really empathize with people (not necessarily the advantage), and even return a animated body to rest if asked by its family to stop what he is doing. At the other end of the extreme to those who threaten him, try to kill him (enemies), or whom he sees as an enemy all bets are off, and on the field of battle be horrific to behold ripping out enemies internal organs (Evisceration spell) or inflicting horrible agony (Agonize spell).

He also has a slight sadistic streak, enjoying seeing the expression of pain in others, but deep down doesn't want to do innocent people harm. He also often considers the dead as simply property it is his right to seize, but is flexible about it if others claim them (e.g. Living relatives, etc). This is also partly why he prefers using skeletons, as its far less likely for people to identify with an undead slave that has no human face.

I'll list what I've picked out so far and I'd like to hear ideas and input from others, especially on what I might be overlooking.

Advantages:
Spirit Empathy - For dealing with ghosts and the Neverborn spirits.
Charisma 1 - representing the quiet sort of Charisma.
Rule of 17 (Panic) - from magical styles, makes it harder to resist, part of being terrifying on the battlefield.
Rule of 17 (Agonize) - As above, but Agonize also fits for slight sadistic streak too.
Permit (Necromancy) - The characters are in a culture where Necromancy is allowed but regulated.

Disadvantages
Code of Honor (Professional)

Skills
Thaumatology
Alchemy
Hidden Lore (Necromancy) - represents digging into deeper hidden knowledge about Necromancy
Expert (Thanatology)
Writing
Research - academic elements of his work
Diagnosis
First Aid
Physiology (Human)
Surgery - the above in order to both be helpful to the party with medical knowledge, but also representing work with undead preparation and repair (as per Undead Servants section in Dungeon Fantasy: Summoners).

Diplomacy - trying to capture that sense of quiet Charisma being a reasonable and diplomatic person (playing against the portrayal of the grim and socially awkward necromancer), also for bargaining with spirits too.
Intimidation - again the "terrifying" aspect and using intimidation on ghosts and such.

Public Speaking - for that quiet eloquence.
Literature - as above, reading a lot brings knowledge about how to express things to others. Plus again, playing against necromancer stereotype by having a literature loving necromancer.
Detect Lies- Mostly for telling if spirits are lying to him about information.

johndallman · 03-13-2020, 02:48 PM

Add Teaching. The combination of Research, Writing and Teaching makes it easy to portray a character as having a deep interest in something, and he might well be keen to explain his art to others.

DangerousThing · 03-13-2020, 03:58 PM

My only suggestion is to never do this. The GM having a player character has always led to less enjoyment for the players.

Arith Winterfell · 03-14-2020, 03:26 AM

johndallman

Noted. I already have it on the character sheet, I just didn't think to add it here. You actually pointed out a facet of things I hadn't considered though, so thank you. I had added teaching just as a typical thing for mages, but I hadn't put much thought into why I should do so. So you highlighted that point, so thanks! :)

DangerousThing

I have noted your point of view.

Generally

I want to clarify a bit further though. I suppose part of what I'm looking for is not purely academic in focus. Let me share a brief story to sort of help capture what I'm trying to say.

A long while back I was reading a story text bit of another gaming system side book on illusionists and the bit caught my eye. In it an illusionist was testing apprentices, stating how there were X many illusions in the room and that their test was starting now. The mental image of a wizard maintaining many smaller illusions at once in order to test students caught my eye and seemed pretty neat. But when I went to apply the idea in GURPS I ran upon the limitation of spells in use when it comes to maintaining multiple illusions. So at the time I began to ponder more about how can I add abilities to a character to represent facets of detailed complexity.

But what I'm getting at isn't directly about the limit of spells going at once. Rather about how I can explore magic in more granular detail, and what sort of abilities flesh out that granular detail of how magic works. Though I suppose at some level this is a setting design issue in terms of thinking about how magic works in a setting. At the same time though I guess I'm trying to explore how one can use GURPS options to represent more details about magic in game beyond solely that spells do this or that. (I'm using the default magic system for the most part, but with some options from the Thaumatology books series).

I'm not purely applying this to my character alone either. For example, one of my other players wants to play a "stealthy mage" (sort of a thief/mage combo, but more focused on magic). I'm also pondering how can I give him more detailed options for fun things for his character to explore about the nature of magic in game through options in terms of abilities to be purchased with points, or disadvantages to be taken to represent other facets of magic.

Anaraxes · 03-14-2020, 11:26 AM

If you want to codify the "speaks rarely" bit for quiet charisma, you might put a Limitation on the Advantage -- perhaps as simple as Limited Use (say, 1/day). Then, the player (you) has to choose whether or not this moment is appropriate for a wise pronouncement.

You could also call it Pact (pacts are with the GM, not necessarily supernatural creatures, appropriate as that might be for a necromancer), so you just lose your Charisma if you're not roleplaying it properly. (Too many wise pronouncements, and they stop having their dramatic impact -- or worse, people start to notice they're not actually all that wise...) But Pact doesn't suit a GMPC very well.

You can take any mental Disadvantage in a toned-down version as a Quirk. For the sadistic bent, the "not innocents", "physical pain" limiters, and perhaps dropping the reaction penalty to -1 would do well enough, I'd think.

Thinking all dead things are yours for the taking sounds like just something to roleplay to me. Characters can have all sorts of senses of entitlement, but those aren't really Disadvantages. You might call it a Quirk as well, as long as you can see a way that it causes the character to do something limiting or problematic in game. (Animating bodies you don't really need when it will cause you trouble, for instance. I don't see any limitation of choice in the description, as "all dead are mine" is sort of the opposite of a constraint. Compare "won't animate animals" or "only non-human sentients", for instance.)

Arith Winterfell · 03-14-2020, 06:06 PM

Those are some really good suggestions Anaraxes!

When going over limitations I realized an additional limiter that seemed appropriate, the Preparation required limitation. So making it like 3/day combined with 1 min prep. gives a good representation of having to concentrate on what is being said, think thoughtfully about it, etc (the prep part) while the limitation per day certainly helps capture the sense of being a "man of few words" or something like that.

I also agree with your point about the pact limitation being not a good fit in this case.

I like the idea also of capturing the sadistic streak bit as a quirk, because that seems to fit well.

Finally, I also think you have a good point about the undead and so forth. I suppose in this case the actual limitation would be something like "Don't upset the populace by exposing them to undead." Would that fit as a Code of Honor or something? Or part of a Code of Honor (Necromancer)? Though I'm unsure what the other parts of such a code of honor would be exactly.

03-13-2020, 01:42 PM	#1
Arith Winterfell Join Date: May 2014 Location: Indiana, United States	Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer I'm a GM in a very very small group of players, and so I'm working on a character for my own enjoyment too (though I'm being careful not to upstage the other PCs). Anyway I'm looking for help finding fun ways to represent certain character facets. The primary one I need help with representing a character facet of passionate interest in what I think of as "fine details" or "nuts and bolts" of necromancy. An interest in necromancy both applied and academic in the sense of having a deep interest in "how it all works." Other character aspects I want to play up (but am a little unsure of how to represent) are having a "quiet charisma" being not outgoing or a "people person" all the time, but rather being introspective and thoughtful to the point when he does speak, his insight into people and things draw respect from his listeners which makes him seem like the quiet but wise leader type. Lastly I imagine the character as soft at times and ruthless at others. He would really care about the heartfelt plea of someone for help, be kind to children, really empathize with people (not necessarily the advantage), and even return a animated body to rest if asked by its family to stop what he is doing. At the other end of the extreme to those who threaten him, try to kill him (enemies), or whom he sees as an enemy all bets are off, and on the field of battle be horrific to behold ripping out enemies internal organs (Evisceration spell) or inflicting horrible agony (Agonize spell). He also has a slight sadistic streak, enjoying seeing the expression of pain in others, but deep down doesn't want to do innocent people harm. He also often considers the dead as simply property it is his right to seize, but is flexible about it if others claim them (e.g. Living relatives, etc). This is also partly why he prefers using skeletons, as its far less likely for people to identify with an undead slave that has no human face. I'll list what I've picked out so far and I'd like to hear ideas and input from others, especially on what I might be overlooking. Advantages: Spirit Empathy - For dealing with ghosts and the Neverborn spirits. Charisma 1 - representing the quiet sort of Charisma. Rule of 17 (Panic) - from magical styles, makes it harder to resist, part of being terrifying on the battlefield. Rule of 17 (Agonize) - As above, but Agonize also fits for slight sadistic streak too. Permit (Necromancy) - The characters are in a culture where Necromancy is allowed but regulated. Disadvantages Code of Honor (Professional) Skills Thaumatology Alchemy Hidden Lore (Necromancy) - represents digging into deeper hidden knowledge about Necromancy Expert (Thanatology) Writing Research - academic elements of his work Diagnosis First Aid Physiology (Human) Surgery - the above in order to both be helpful to the party with medical knowledge, but also representing work with undead preparation and repair (as per Undead Servants section in Dungeon Fantasy: Summoners). Diplomacy - trying to capture that sense of quiet Charisma being a reasonable and diplomatic person (playing against the portrayal of the grim and socially awkward necromancer), also for bargaining with spirits too. Intimidation - again the "terrifying" aspect and using intimidation on ghosts and such. Public Speaking - for that quiet eloquence. Literature - as above, reading a lot brings knowledge about how to express things to others. Plus again, playing against necromancer stereotype by having a literature loving necromancer. Detect Lies- Mostly for telling if spirits are lying to him about information.

03-13-2020, 02:48 PM	#2
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	Re: Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer Add Teaching. The combination of Research, Writing and Teaching makes it easy to portray a character as having a deep interest in something, and he might well be keen to explain his art to others. __________________ The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques.

03-13-2020, 03:58 PM	#3
DangerousThing Join Date: Mar 2013	Re: Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer My only suggestion is to never do this. The GM having a player character has always led to less enjoyment for the players. __________________ A little learning is a dangerous thing. Warning: Invertebrate Punnster - Spinelessly Unable to Resist a Pun Dangerous Thoughts, my blog about GURPS and life.

03-14-2020, 03:26 AM	#4
Arith Winterfell Join Date: May 2014 Location: Indiana, United States	Re: Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer johndallman Noted. I already have it on the character sheet, I just didn't think to add it here. You actually pointed out a facet of things I hadn't considered though, so thank you. I had added teaching just as a typical thing for mages, but I hadn't put much thought into why I should do so. So you highlighted that point, so thanks! :) DangerousThing I have noted your point of view. Generally I want to clarify a bit further though. I suppose part of what I'm looking for is not purely academic in focus. Let me share a brief story to sort of help capture what I'm trying to say. A long while back I was reading a story text bit of another gaming system side book on illusionists and the bit caught my eye. In it an illusionist was testing apprentices, stating how there were X many illusions in the room and that their test was starting now. The mental image of a wizard maintaining many smaller illusions at once in order to test students caught my eye and seemed pretty neat. But when I went to apply the idea in GURPS I ran upon the limitation of spells in use when it comes to maintaining multiple illusions. So at the time I began to ponder more about how can I add abilities to a character to represent facets of detailed complexity. But what I'm getting at isn't directly about the limit of spells going at once. Rather about how I can explore magic in more granular detail, and what sort of abilities flesh out that granular detail of how magic works. Though I suppose at some level this is a setting design issue in terms of thinking about how magic works in a setting. At the same time though I guess I'm trying to explore how one can use GURPS options to represent more details about magic in game beyond solely that spells do this or that. (I'm using the default magic system for the most part, but with some options from the Thaumatology books series). I'm not purely applying this to my character alone either. For example, one of my other players wants to play a "stealthy mage" (sort of a thief/mage combo, but more focused on magic). I'm also pondering how can I give him more detailed options for fun things for his character to explore about the nature of magic in game through options in terms of abilities to be purchased with points, or disadvantages to be taken to represent other facets of magic.

03-14-2020, 11:26 AM	#5
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer If you want to codify the "speaks rarely" bit for quiet charisma, you might put a Limitation on the Advantage -- perhaps as simple as Limited Use (say, 1/day). Then, the player (you) has to choose whether or not this moment is appropriate for a wise pronouncement. You could also call it Pact (pacts are with the GM, not necessarily supernatural creatures, appropriate as that might be for a necromancer), so you just lose your Charisma if you're not roleplaying it properly. (Too many wise pronouncements, and they stop having their dramatic impact -- or worse, people start to notice they're not actually all that wise...) But Pact doesn't suit a GMPC very well. You can take any mental Disadvantage in a toned-down version as a Quirk. For the sadistic bent, the "not innocents", "physical pain" limiters, and perhaps dropping the reaction penalty to -1 would do well enough, I'd think. Thinking all dead things are yours for the taking sounds like just something to roleplay to me. Characters can have all sorts of senses of entitlement, but those aren't really Disadvantages. You might call it a Quirk as well, as long as you can see a way that it causes the character to do something limiting or problematic in game. (Animating bodies you don't really need when it will cause you trouble, for instance. I don't see any limitation of choice in the description, as "all dead are mine" is sort of the opposite of a constraint. Compare "won't animate animals" or "only non-human sentients", for instance.)

03-14-2020, 06:06 PM	#6
Arith Winterfell Join Date: May 2014 Location: Indiana, United States	Re: Helping to represent a "fine details" necromancer Those are some really good suggestions Anaraxes! When going over limitations I realized an additional limiter that seemed appropriate, the Preparation required limitation. So making it like 3/day combined with 1 min prep. gives a good representation of having to concentrate on what is being said, think thoughtfully about it, etc (the prep part) while the limitation per day certainly helps capture the sense of being a "man of few words" or something like that. I also agree with your point about the pact limitation being not a good fit in this case. I like the idea also of capturing the sadistic streak bit as a quirk, because that seems to fit well. Finally, I also think you have a good point about the undead and so forth. I suppose in this case the actual limitation would be something like "Don't upset the populace by exposing them to undead." Would that fit as a Code of Honor or something? Or part of a Code of Honor (Necromancer)? Though I'm unsure what the other parts of such a code of honor would be exactly.