Author Topic: Have fun with this high concept for me please  (Read 2833 times)

Offline Kowandz

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Have fun with this high concept for me please
« on: April 02, 2011, 07:08:38 PM »
I have a campaign going on in set in Boston.  We really just started and are getting through my first story now.  I've been trying to figure out where to go with the second story, and I want to set two of the PC's slightly at odds.  One is a WCV vigilante who likes to kill bad people when he can get away with it.  One of the others is a Holy Warrior doing God's bidding.  I figure a supernatural serial killer is a great device to get the plot rolling between them (I told them I would set them at odds when they made their characters, and they were cool with it)

I want the fairies to play a fairly important part in the campaign, so I want to go with a crazy Changeling for my serial killer.  I'm brain-farting on ideas that don't seem cliche to me, and I need to get writing the islands for my story.  We will finish the first story next week and then I need to be ready to run the serial killer story.   I figured the concept would be something that someone could have some fun with so.....Fire away please, I'd love to see what people come up with.  Shoot for about 10-12 refresh with the character, once I have a crazy I can fit him into my city.  Thanks

Offline Richard_Chilton

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2011, 07:49:16 PM »
You might want to have the serial killer rebelling against the role that his fae side is destined for.  I.e. if he chooses his fairy side he'll be a summer court artist or healer - and lack a dark side forever so he's killing now while he can.  Not because he wants to but because soon he won't be able to.

Or maybe it's the victims that matter.  He could be killing women who are pregnant - knocked up by the killer's fae father.  He's not doing it because he likes killing women but so no one else will have to go through the torment he's suffered as a half breed.

Or maybe the victims are minor talents and the killer is striking them down because they offended one of the courts - and the court won't act itself because the victims are technically under the preview of the White Council so they are using this changeling as discounted version of the Summer/Winter Knight.

Or maybe some bored fairy is playing with the guy and convinced him that he has to kill those people or something bad (from his future court hating him to 'The Death God Rises') from happening.  The fairy might have even forgotten about this little game.

Maybe the victims are secretly part of a cult and the serial killer is actually a hero - he knows what the cult is planning but can't think of how to stop them (they are respectable, he lives on the streets, and who are the authorities going to believe?) so he's killing them one by one.  Stopping him will allow a greater evil to enter the world.

Maybe the killer has been recruited by a cult and the killings are ritual ones - ones designed to slowly waken one of the old gods (pick any of the nastier ones) (gives the religious angle for the Holy Warrior).

Maybe one of the victims was connected to the White Court and repenting, and that death attracts the interest of the White Court and the Church.

Maybe the killer is using the deaths to "feed" his powers - temporary boosting his fae self without making him choose.  Call it a -1 refresh for a ritual that, when he kills someone in just the right way, grants 2 - 5 points of Fairy powers to the killer for 24 to 72 hours (maybe linking the duration to the power level; lessor powers for longer or greater powers for a short time).  If he can pick and choose those powers the PCs won't know what to expect because after crime A he had these powers but after crime B he had those other powers.

As above, but it's sponsored.  Something from the Nevernever (his parent? an enemy of his parent?) is feeding him power in exchange for death energies - which sets up the next "big bad" for when the PCs take done the killer.

The killer doesn't know he's doing it, or that he's a changeling.  He lives a life that is so normal that his mystic side takes over at times.  The killer doesn't notice that sometimes he's missing a couple of hours and the fae side acts out its troll/ogre/gruff/goblin/whatever impulses when its in charge.  Do the PCs kill an innocent man just to stop the killer?

Hope that these ideas help.

Richard

Offline Team8Mum

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2011, 08:22:32 PM »
Maybe the serial killer is 'creating art' and the deaths are part of his 'ongoing installation'.

Or something like 'accident man' so at first they will look random and it is only the religious 'guide hand' that reveals there is a connection between them at all. Which would allow the PC's to be ahead of the mortal authorities, and thus potentially end up being blamed as it looks like they know what is going on before the cops even know they have an ongoing crime on their hands.

or you go from something that would be cliché if you know the culture the killer comes from, but in Boston would be missed. So may be he is killed people following the Mayan or Chinese calender. (Chinese is a good one because being luna and having leap months its pattern woudl not be immediately obvious to some one looking at western dates of birth. So if he is killing the first born of every year using the element of that year, chances are no one will spot it.)
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Offline Richard_Chilton

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2011, 10:26:01 PM »
Shoot for about 10-12 refresh with the character, once I have a crazy I can fit him into my city.  Thanks

For a specific power, very little beats:
Glamours [–2] - it gives Minor Veils and Seemings.

Minor Veils - helps explain why the police can't catch him.  No, they don't have a clue.  No one saw the killer go in and it's driving them batty.  "If the veil is discovered, it isn’t necessary pierced—but the discoverer can tell that it’s there and that it’s wrong." - which is perfect if you want to use "the one that got away" and have potential victim survive.

Seemings - helps explains why the few witnesses that exist don't agree on what the killer looks like.  The Killer looked like a 98 pound weakling when he at that location and 240 pound biker at the other - if the crimes weren't identical the cops would be looking for two people.  It also helps with the weapons (if any).  Knife? What knife? (seeming) this is a pen - see?
And can cover it any inhuman features the killer might have.

No, it's not a lot of use in a fight scene, but when it comes to escaping detection and drawing things out then a little misdirection goes a long way.

Richard

Offline Haru

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2011, 03:33:44 AM »
How about some sort of reverse hag:
The changeling got a taste of the fae side and decided, that he does not want to go fae, so he decided to be human. However, a curse from his fae relatives keeps him from being able to choose to be human and draws him slowly towards being fae. To prevent this, he is trying to collect humanity from others, specifically those who are considered the best of humanity (local heroes, social workers, etc.), but also those who are the "best" at enjoying human life (hope you know what I mean. Those who live their life large, that type of people.). Of course, this is not really working too well, because he is both getting more human by collecting that humanity, but by using his powers to do so, he is also becoming more fae. It is not hard to imagine, that this is driving him insane.

In powers he would have a feeding dependency attached to his fae powers that would be satisfied by taking the "essence" of someonce life, basically a ritual killing (pretty much like a wcv does, only instead of emotions he takes the "soul" (I know, Bob would rattle on his shelf now, but for this purpose, the soul is the essence of someone, who they really are.).

The interesting part is, that once he takes someone's soul, he also takes on part of their personality, so this should probably be reflected in their behavior (maybe via the mimic abilities power). For example, the first murders do not show any remorse, but then an aspect of someone makes him change his MO to take care of his victims, after they die, he makes sure, the bodies lie "comfortable", eyes are closed, etc..

Soulgazing this changeling would probably be like walking into a psychiatric clinic with _really_ insane persons inside. I would describe this as a long corridor, very badly lit, on both sides are reinforced doors with a small window, and inside each room is one of the changelings victims. At the back of the corridor there is a single open door that leads into a pretty large room. Inside that room, there is a line on the floor, that divides the room in 2 sections. In the smaller part, even smaller than those rooms with the imprisoned souls, is a humanoid, strangely twisted, like it has been changed back and forth between two shapes and is now caught in between those forms. It always moves towards the line, but then throws itself back at the wall, before it can cross the line.

To sum up the powers:
  • Glamours [-2] because using it makes stalking his pray a lot easier, AND it triggers the Fae Curse.
  • Mimic Abilities [-3 at least, maybe more] This might not trigger the Fae Curse, because it is part of his rather unique situation instead of his fae powers, but they might come from them too. To increase the impact of the Fae Curse, this should trigger it, too.
  • Fae Curse [-1]
    • The Fae Curse draws the changeling towards the fae side and compels him to give into his fae nature. Due to this, he gains a +1 on any roll involving an ability that is part of his fae heritage. (like "Demonic Co-Pilot", use the Discipline rolls and mental stress as described in the book. Consequences that result from this can only be removed by feeding on a human soul. These consequences can be compelled to trigger a "feeding frenzy", that makes the changeling chose a new victim.
  • Soul Eater [-1]
    • The changeling is able to eat the soul of it's victims and make it part of his own. For every soul he devours he can reduce all his mental consequences from the fae curse by 1 step (mild is removed, medium becomes mild, severe becomes medium). There is no other way to remove those consequences.
  • Thus far we are at -7, if you don't increase Mimic Ability (you might have to experiment with how many points you actually need there). You might want to take inhuman Strength/Speed/Toughness/Recovery, to reflect his more-than-human physique. Great for triggering the Fae Curse, as well.
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Offline Kowandz

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2011, 02:59:28 PM »
Thanks for all the ideas, I got some good stuff to work with.  Lets try first build.

The killer doesn't know he's doing it, or that he's a changeling.  He lives a life that is so normal that his mystic side takes over at times.  The killer doesn't notice that sometimes he's missing a couple of hours and the fae side acts out its troll/ogre/gruff/goblin/whatever impulses when its in charge.  Do the PCs kill an innocent man just to stop the killer?

Name: Joe

High Concept: Half-Goblin Who Doesn't Know It
Trouble: Killer Inside

OA:(Human Side)
Bank Teller
One of the Nicest Guys You Could Ever Meet
Squeamish

(Fairy Side)
Time To Play
Can't Let Joe Catch Me
How Come He's Not Changing Into Me?

Joe was adopted at a very young age, he doesn't know anything about his parents or the supernatural world at all.  He was a little mischievous as a kid, but his adopted parents were quite strict with him and he pushed that side of him down.
As an adult, his fairy side finally wants a chance to come out and play.  When Joe is sleeping, bored, or otherwise has his guard down the Goblin inside can rise to the top to play for a while.  When ever the Goblin is in control it uses it's fairy powers as much as possible hoping to choose for Joe, but only Joe can choose.  Because Joe has never made the choice to use the powers, his mortal side shows no signs of being fairy.

The Goblin doesn't want to get caught, it is having way too much fun.  The only real pattern to it's victims is that they are all crimes of opportunity.  Girl walking down the street at night, guy sneaking around stalking someone, etc...  The problem is that the couple of people who have gotten away have offered completely different descriptions of their attacker.  The authorities refuse to call this a serial killer because of the lack of anything connecting the different cases, but people on the streets of Boston are getting scared.

Supernatural Powers:
Glamours [-2]
Claws [-1]
Supernatural Strength [-2]
Supernatural Speed [-2]
Supernatural Toughness [-2] catch is: Cold Iron and trappings of Summer

Offline ways and means

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2011, 03:05:12 PM »
A really cool character design with one slight problem you got the powers refresh wrong, -2 gets you inhuman strength/speed instead of supernatural, and with the +3 catch of cold iron inculded then the cost of Supernatural Toughness would only be -1. 
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Offline Kowandz

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2011, 03:15:34 PM »
Good catch, thanks.  Not quite fully awake yet.  Redo on the powers

Supernatural Powers:
Glamours [-2]
Claws [-1]
Inhuman Strength [-2]
Inhuman Speed [-2]
Supernatural Toughness [-4] catch is: Cold Iron and trappings of Summer [+3]

Offline Cyberchihuahua

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2011, 04:13:49 AM »
(Inspired by above posts) How about a Changling that chose to be human, but later regretted the decision, and is carving up fairies to fuel what he may have once been. Collecting enough little powers to collect lager ones, maybe even ending in an accession ritual.


You could also directly import the comic character Jackie Estacado from The Darkness series. I mean straight is plug and play.

For an idea I'm working on for my game, I have a Changling named Harlann Quinn. I'm still mulling over a lot of possible directions to take him, but the basic idea is a Trickster like being, doing bad, vicious things that cause good to come from them. Like Q, but really nasty.
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Offline Becq

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2011, 01:56:09 AM »
An unfinished idea.  Perhaps the Fae is convinced that humanity is The Root Of All Evil.  And to prove it, he is setting out to prove that there is nobody who is incapable of commiting evil acts ... by maneuvering unwitting 'good' people into committing horrors.  A mother sees a kife-wielding fanatic running at her, then find she defended herself with her adult strength against her young child.  A man sees what appears to be his girlfriend's butchered corpse in the back seat of his best friend's car and takes justice into his own hands ... only to see his healthy girlfriend looking on in horror.  The spices a restaurant cook uses to flavor the food is actually rat poison.  And so on.  And eventually, the villain sets his sights on either a PC or someone a PC cares about...

It doesn't really matter that the 'victims' aren't really to blame for the 'crimes'; it's enough to prove to the Fae that he's right.  And, of course, inflicts untold anguis on the victims, who have no reasonable explanation to give to the authorities ... or themselves or friends and family, for that matter.

The character would need Glamours at least, though some form of mind magic (illusions as well as heightening negative emotions) would be better.  Any other powers would largely only be there to make the eventual confrontation more interesting, though the fight should feature heavy use of confusion, illusion, misdirection, etc.  Get the characters to attack each other.


Offline Delmorian

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Re: Have fun with this high concept for me please
« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2011, 05:17:38 AM »
Ok... your Psyco Killer is the child of two changlings, born to a young teenage girl, who was knocked up by her "bad boy" boyfriend. With the mother being summer, and the father being winter changeling, the child would have both sumer and winter spirits trying to draw him, which could result in Lots of ways that they could go mad. (Constant arguing whispering voices in their head, for one) The oscillating between winter and summer goals, could explain how hard it is to track this serial killer. (two standard mo's, no logical track of target selection) Even better, which court would try to solve it, and how would they try? Emissaries of each court (to maintain the balance) would mean both helping and hindering an opponent... seems likely that they would disavow, with a possible side of hit squad looking for subject them self. Or possibly a bet has been set between the queens who are, or the queens who were, regarding the resultant conflict inside this one pour mad individual.
Just a sugestion...
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