Character Concept help

[ARedthorn]

I've got an idea for a (chest-deep +1 skill point) backup character... white court with a twist- not sure male or female (may not matter, but for now, I'll refer to him/her as female to avoid confusion)...

Powers:
Human Guise [-0]
Inhuman Strength^F [-2]
Inhuman Speed^F [-2]
Inhuman Recovery^FC [-2]
^C-The Catch: True Love [+1]
^F-Feeding Dependency
Emotional Vampire [-1]
Incite Emotion [-1]
       At Range [-1]
Mimic Form^F* [-2]

* here's the twist- she's a bit of a prodigy- I'm saying that being able to take the form of other people is a rare, but not unheard of gift among the WCVs... sort of an echo of having a stronger demon... people call WCV's succubi, she really is one.
Going slightly off the RAW for this power too- but not in a bad way, I think. Instead of needing some sort of dNA source (hair, fingernails, etc) to form a link, the succubus can shift into anyone they've fed on- as long as they've still got a consequence from it (as long as the succubus still has a link to them & their life-force, ie, still has a bit of them digesting). Feeding to the point of an extreme consequence or kill means she'd be able to shift into that person pretty well the rest of their life, but that's not any more broken than getting ahold of a lock of hair and holding onto it forever. If anything, it seems to fit even better. Since becoming a WCV means at least one kill- I'll have at least one form of the opposite gender that I can go to as a given, that I've had since I became a full WCV... hence character gender maybe not being much of an issue.

Skills:
+5: Deceit, Presence
+4: Athletics, Empathy
+3: Resources, Discipline, Endurance
+2: Alertness, Guns, Contacts
+1: Drive, Lore, Might
Total: 36

Big hang-up is aspects. I've got a few I like... and I've got an idea about a few others but can't come up with any phrasing that satisfies me...
The setting is New Orleans, during an alternate timeline that diverges at dead beat

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with someone from the black council going back in time and killing harry during the darkhallow. RCV war is going poorly for the council, who's having to seek outside help to just get by...

Succubus Prodigy (HC) - or similar
I know the White King's Secret (Trouble) -

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I want her to know Papa Raith's secret about not being able to feed... which makes me a threat, but not an overt one, and am in a similar spot to Thomas early on- with the constantly being maneuvered into dangerous situations in the hopes I'll get myself killed- and am mostly cut off from the family. I resent it a lot, and it's led me to seek other allies.

The GM has us come up with 6 aspects, but the 6th can be left blank if we like for him to play with.
It takes one to know one... - she's an expert con, and can use this to catch on to others' deceptions, or give her a leg up when pulling one over on someone less skilled at deception.
The oldest profession is predator. - unlike thomas, she's accepted the fact that she's an apex predator (it has it's perks)... and has made a tentative peace with her demon (I'm toying with the idea that the reason she's a prodigy is that it's more of a merger than a partnership)... it doesn't push her, and she doesn't try to starve it (or if it's a merger, she simply is what she is, and is ok with it). Uses and compels should be pretty obvious here.
Haunted... - I definitely want this one, but want a better way to phrase it... she's LITERALLY haunted by the ghost of her first kill- I don't want it to be a purely antagonistic haunting- hell, I'd like it to be occasionally helpful (it wasn't love, but he was certainly enamoured with her), but more often problematic.

Those are the only ones I'm dead sure of... but others I've thought of:

I need something to refer to his/her appearance, since that is a pretty central WCV thing... though I could arguably fold that into the predator aspect, since she's a sexual predator (literally, not in a FBI-watchlist kind of way).

La Petite Morte isn't just a metaphor. - I like the phrase, but not sure it's a good aspect... not sure what it means, or how it would be used... in a way I haven't already covered.

Like the song says, everyone has a hungry heart - Again, I like the phrase, but not sure I don't already have this covered.

Why can't it ever be easy? - I like it, but don't love it. Fairly obvious how it would play.

Do it right, or get it over with. - She's a pragmatic perfectionist.

I'd like some input on the above- or even some new ideas... thanks in advance.

[AstralBlade]

Some variations on the "Haunted..." aspect. "Haunted by my past." (Can be used to compel on pretty much anything you've done). "Ghosts of my Past". This one is kind of a stretch but "Killing is easy, dying is hard". "Death is only the Begininng". "Some guys just can't move on". I have more but my phone is dying and the get pretty bad lol. Hope that helps.

Actually, came up with a pretty decent one "Some people have Groupies...I have a ghost."

[Sanctaphrax]

All 4 of your suggested aspects sound like mottos. Maybe she's an armchair philosopher of some kind, and one of her aspects represents her philosophy. That would probably offer a good range of invokes/compels.

PS: How can you afford all those powers in a Chest Deep game?
PPS: What made you decide to change the value of The Catch?

[ARedthorn]

Apologies- fully submerged. I mispoke.

I didn't think I'd changed the value of the catch- I only have Inhuman Recovery, and at a -2, can't benefit from more than a +1... right?
Or is True Love considered rare enough it's a +0? (if so, it may differ in this game- I've got at least 2 fellow PCs that would benefit, and recent books have given me the impression that it's rare, but not THAT rare after all...

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especially if it can be broken and patched back up as easily as happened in Thomas' Ghost Story Scene

)

[sinker]

The catch of "True love" is really subjective and could have a variety of costs depending on the game and table. Just make sure that your GM is comfortable with what you take and be prepared for it to come up if you have it above 0. Of note, the reason why Sanctaphrax is asking is because 0 is the default value for the white court catch. I figure it'd be reasonable to assume that Thomas has it worse with the frequency that it comes up for him.

The biggest issue I see as a GM is that every one of your aspects is a situation aspect rather than a story aspect (check YS110). That means it will be very hard for the GM to come up with any reason for you to be anywhere at any time or any reason for you to be invested in the problems at hand. At the smallest level this means that you'll receive less compels, however at worst it can end with you feeling disconnected from the game (or the other players feeling disconnected from you).

[Sanctaphrax]

...I should have realized she was Submerged from the number of skill points. Silly me.

[ARedthorn]

Fair enough on the Catch- I didn't see that one specifically listed anywhere in the book, and assumed it was on the same rarity level as a +1. I'll have to think about it, and consult my GM.

As for the aspects- I'm asking for help for precisely that reason. I have a good mental 'image' of the character... but that's not enough in DFRPG to just go into game with. In the past, in other systems, I usually shape the character's personality in my head more or less in one go, and then flesh it out as I play him- including backstory... almost improv. It's always worked well for me- I can usually come up with great characters that way- exactly as fleshed out as they need to be to drive the story- and I have a good enough memory not to have ever contradicted my prior improv...
But in dresden... I need to do some of this work in advance of playing the character, with aspects... and that's not always easy for me. I can write out a scene with this character in it more readily than I could describe their foibles in 5-6 useful phrases.

It takes one to know one... - she's an expert con, and can use this to catch on to others' deceptions, or give her a leg up when pulling one over on someone less skilled at deception.
The oldest profession is predator. - unlike thomas, she's accepted the fact that she's an apex predator (it has it's perks)... and has made a tentative peace with her demon (I'm toying with the idea that the reason she's a prodigy is that it's more of a merger than a partnership)... it doesn't push her, and she doesn't try to starve it (or if it's a merger, she simply is what she is, and is ok with it). Uses and compels should be pretty obvious here.
Haunted... - I definitely want this one, but want a better way to phrase it... she's LITERALLY haunted by the ghost of her first kill- I don't want it to be a purely antagonistic haunting- hell, I'd like it to be occasionally helpful (it wasn't love, but he was certainly enamoured with her), but more often problematic.

Are the only ones I'm sure of... the first defines a major skillset that he/she depends on for a living... the second a very notable character trait... and the 3rd a backstory aspect... and when we introduce ourselves to someone new, that's pretty well the core of what we fall back on for a synopsis-of-self...
My name's Z, I do Y for a living, I like X, and I come from W. Nice to meet you.

And that's where I've stalled out on this build. Frustrating.

[sinker]

I just realized that you do have two story aspects (haunted, and I know the white king's secret) I just wasn't paying attention.

Those are some of the hardest to come up with though because they don't reflect directly upon the character. When you're usually making a character you don't often think about their place in the world (beyond a certain point), because often that's defined in play. Anyways I definitely feel you on that.

Best suggestion I would make is start asking yourself questions like; what does she do for a living? Who in town is important to her (either sentimentally or fulfills a need)? Who is her mother/father? Does she have any close siblings (or distant ones)? How is she known among others? Does she have any enemies?

Try those and see if anything pops.

[polkaneverdies]

How does knowing the weakness that could dethrone the king in roughly 3 or 4 seconds qualify as not an overt threat? Does he just suspect you know or is he blatantly aware that you know?

[ARedthorn]

1- because of the way WCV's operate...
2- knowing it and being able to prove it to others... not quite the same.
3- he could still squash me like a bug before I got a word out.
4- another aspect I considered was "The Illusion of Power is still Power..." knowing he has no power does her no good. He still has the entire court under him. Remember- that's the basis for how Lara took control.

My character knows the secret, but it's a stalemate at best, not a checkmate.

[sinker]

It does really depend on when in the series they're playing. If it's after the events of Blood Rites(?) it's less a direct threat and more of an inconvenience. If they're both playing the game right then neither will move directly against the other anyway.

[ARedthorn]

So, I've been thinking about the catch, and am probably going to stick with +1, given that I know there are two other players in my immediate group with it...

Protect against everything BUT something specific: +0 (duh...)

Bypassed by only a rare class of people: +1
Bypassed by something only one or two people in the world have: +0 (I already have one or two just in my group- at this bonus, it should never come up otherwise!)

If knowledge of the catch is common: +2 (definitely not)
If knowledge of the catch requires access to specific knowledge: +1 (seems like the most appropriate of the 3)
If knowledge of the catch requires knowing you personally (like Nick's noose): +2 (it's not THAT unheard of...)

Seems like True Love ought to be worth between a +1 and +2, depending on rarity.
And if being around it is enough to cause problems, I'm already encountering it constantly with my group. Thomas mentioned that Lara has a scar on her hand from a burn when she accidentally picked up an old wedding ring... that sounds more severe than +0.

Anyways- It seems to me a +1 for my case is a given... for others, plausible at least. Why did it get the collective bump down to +0?

[EDIT]: another question- would it be appropriate for my catch to disrupt my Mimic Form power, and if so, would that be something for a rebate, or a FP?

[Sanctaphrax]

It has been discussed before. Link:

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,25647.0.html

Having your form be disrupted sounds like a compel to me.

[ARedthorn]

Thanks on both counts. Problem with running it as a compel means I ought to have a related aspect, or is the succubus aspect sufficient for this?

Seems like an ancient debate... and I see plenty of good points all around. +1 certainly seems to work for me on this, so gonna stick with it. At worst, I seem to be pretty well splitting the difference between the two.

[wyvern]

Problem with running it as a compel means I ought to have a related aspect, or is the succubus aspect sufficient for this?

That sort of thing feels like a compel against your high concept, to be honest.  I mean, that's the aspect you'd invoke to get a bonus to that power, right?  So it's also the right aspect to compel for a limitation.

Then again, I tend to like my aspects to be fairly broad in their potential applications.