High Concept problem

[blackstaff67]

Have a player running a character that's a Rune Mage (Template: Focused Practitioner).  Said PC stole some mead from the Norse gods, drank it and acquired some extra powers (Inhuman Strength/Speed/Recovery).  Without going into too much detail, the PC was caught and has to serve Freyja for a couple years--seems the PC only drank half and gave the rest to her comatose war veteran brother, allowing him to start along the road to recovery and (temporarily) denying Freyja an Einherjar. 

Problem is, those "extra powers" need to be linked to her High Concept.  All I can think of is "Freyja's/Freya's Favorite Runemage."  Does anyone else have any ideas, as originally this wsa the PC's Trouble instead?  Alternate trouble was "My Strength is in my Family"

[wyvern]

Hm... I'd tend to say that's a good justification for a complete re-write of the high concept.  Perhaps something like "Demigod in training" or "Einherjar Runemage" (with a trouble of "But I'm not dead yet!")

Basically, though, it's looking to me like the rune mage isn't the focus of the character's powers anymore - they've (presumably) spent significantly more refresh on the physical upgrades from the mead.

Perhaps even something like "Freyja's Herald" (or Squire, or Emissary, or etc.), with the rune magic just implied as a "Well, Freyja's a norse deity, rune magic is quite thematic for an emissary".  In this case you could go with a trouble aspect of "...And Substitute Einherjar" if you wanted.

[Haru]

Do they need to be linked to the high concept? If this is only a temporary gig, as you say, it might work just putting it as one of the additional aspects. I think the question is kind of, what do you want to convey? Is he a runemage who is temporarily working for Freya? In that case, I don't think the high concept needs to change, just take any of the other aspects, even the trouble, if she's getting him into trouble all the time.

If the link to Freya is deeper, maybe the runemage thing is sort of secondary and his debt to Freya is more important. In that case, something like "Freya's enforcer" or something along those lines might work, and the runemage thing is just part of his other aspects. It's still what he can do, but it's more a means to an end now, instead of what he is.

But it seems like forcing both into one aspect is going to be more trouble than it's worth.

[Sanctaphrax]

I'm with Haru. Normally Powers are supposed to match the High Concept, but nothing will break if some of your Powers are linked to another Aspect instead.

[Quantus]

As another way to cast it, you could focus he High Concept less on either the Runemagic OR the Freyja connection, and instead make it about the Theft itself.  Theft from the Gods/Giants/Titans is a pretty old-school trope, from figures like Prometheus to Loki and Odin.  You could make the Concept something about being a God-thief, with the Trouble about the fact that you got caught and are stuck paying penance. 

[Haru]

As another way to cast it, you could focus he High Concept less on either the Runemagic OR the Freyja connection, and instead make it about the Theft itself.  Theft from the Gods/Giants/Titans is a pretty old-school trope, from figures like Prometheus to Loki and Odin.  You could make the Concept something about being a God-thief, with the Trouble about the fact that you got caught and are stuck paying penance.

"Forgive me, Freya, for I have sinned"

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Now I want to make a character with the high concept "rune, Forest, rune".

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I'll let myself out.

[blackstaff67]

Thanks everyone for the advice!  The idea of the service was that either Freya
1) could release the PC and go "collect" her brother as was previously ordained,
2) serve Freya permanently as a Valkyrie (there were those that argued that stealing and drinking the mead constituted a de facto application) while running the risk that she may be sent to 'choose' her own brother, or
She serve Freya while sparing her brother until her brother returns to active duty, releasing the PC from service with the full knowledge that her brother's under the gun. 
Put bluntly, I'm placing the player under the gun--kinda like a Changeling
The idea of putting other powers (-4 Refresh for Rune Magic, -5 for the other powers) under another Aspect never occurred to me.  Kinda evenly split, as it were.

[Lawgiver]

Silly question for the group... in theory changing Templates is possible... Changeling to Mortal is just one example.

Why does this character have to stay a "Rune Mage"?  Couldn't the Template have shifted to something like Emissary of Power with Freya being the source of the character's current powers?  The character could keep using Runes, but they would be the item of Power an Emissary is supposed to have (especially if there's an actual deal that's been struck) rather than a sword or amulet or whatever.  With that, you can certainly justify a complete overhaul of the character from High Concept and Trouble all the way down -- with the possible caveat (I'd do this to my people) that if/when their "service" is finished they revert back to the Template they had before... including (if necessary/desirable) a regression back to the original skill/power levels on that older sheet.  In effect the character only keeps all that progress if they stay in Freya's service.  Otherwise they resume their lives very literally from the moment they left off (quaffing the drink).  That would put the player/character in a position to consider carefully how much they want to maintain the new abilities vs. how much they want out from under the unexpected servitude.

Like a deal with the Fae that gets you some nifties ... once the debt is paid, you're free.  But how long to do milk it and how much do you risk doing that?

[blackstaff67]

Silly question for the group... in theory changing Templates is possible... Changeling to Mortal is just one example.

Why does this character have to stay a "Rune Mage"?  Couldn't the Template have shifted to something like Emissary of Power with Freya being the source of the character's current powers?  The character could keep using Runes, but they would be the item of Power an Emissary is supposed to have (especially if there's an actual deal that's been struck) rather than a sword or amulet or whatever.  With that, you can certainly justify a complete overhaul of the character from High Concept and Trouble all the way down -- with the possible caveat (I'd do this to my people) that if/when their "service" is finished they revert back to the Template they had before... including (if necessary/desirable) a regression back to the original skill/power levels on that older sheet.  In effect the character only keeps all that progress if they stay in Freya's service.  Otherwise they resume their lives very literally from the moment they left off (quaffing the drink).  That would put the player/character in a position to consider carefully how much they want to maintain the new abilities vs. how much they want out from under the unexpected servitude.

Like a deal with the Fae that gets you some nifties ... once the debt is paid, you're free.  But how long to do milk it and how much do you risk doing that?

Premise is the PC (originally a Rune Mage) gained the powers not from Freya but from the mead itself.  I ruled this was a one-time upgrade and no further upgrades were possible--only Refinement and/or The Sight would be allowed.  We agreed that to accept more powers would be de facto full-blown service to the goddess. 
Emissary of Power was kinda ruled out since the PC's a Rune Mage (full-blown Valkyrie might justify it). We also agreed that to accept more powers would justify the Emissary power.  That said, it may be that in order to acquire additional powers and/or spare her brother, the PC may have to accept EoP and total rewrite of High Concept (maybe Trouble as well?). 

[Quantus]

Premise is the PC (originally a Rune Mage) gained the powers not from Freya but from the mead itself.  I ruled this was a one-time upgrade and no further upgrades were possible--only Refinement and/or The Sight would be allowed.  We agreed that to accept more powers would be de facto full-blown service to the goddess. 
Emissary of Power was kinda ruled out since the PC's a Rune Mage (full-blown Valkyrie might justify it). We also agreed that to accept more powers would justify the Emissary power.  That said, it may be that in order to acquire additional powers and/or spare her brother, the PC may have to accept EoP and total rewrite of High Concept (maybe Trouble as well?). 

It might be fun to put them on a slippery slope with that.  You could give them the Item of Power, and bait them into a series of "one time" Sponsored Magic assistance.  Over-reliance and a build-up of debt would constitute full-blown Emmisary and the template re-write, which could be a nice Noble Sacrifice in the right circumstance, but until then they could attempt to maintain a more Contract Employee relationship with Freya.

Going back to the God-Thief idea for a sec, just because it entertains my inner anarchist, perhaps Freya decides to use this "outsider" as an opperative with plausible deniability, and sends them off to steal other artifacts from gods and Giants and Dragons and whatnot? 

A Big question for either of those or the possible/eventual Emmisary is: What is Freya's Agenda?  What is she after, why is she bothering with this arrangement, and why does she consider the PC's service of enough Value for the hassle?  Is she the valuable one, or is the Brother for some reason?

How does this plotline fit into the rest of the table/story?  Is it going to tie into the central plotline, or will it just be that PC's individual motivation in a more background way?

[blackstaff67]

Going back to the God-Thief idea for a sec, just because it entertains my inner anarchist, perhaps Freya decides to use this "outsider" as an opperative with plausible deniability, and sends them off to steal other artifacts from gods and Giants and Dragons and whatnot? 

A Big question for either of those or the possible/eventual Emmisary is: What is Freya's Agenda?  What is she after, why is she bothering with this arrangement, and why does she consider the PC's service of enough Value for the hassle?  Is she the valuable one, or is the Brother for some reason?

How does this plotline fit into the rest of the table/story?  Is it going to tie into the central plotline, or will it just be that PC's individual motivation in a more background way?

The Powers That Be are pretty much going along with it because the PC is the ideal 'cut-out" man: She's got some Rune-magic plus some serious mojo so she can take care of herself, yet her "official reputation" as a thief is enough to give her "plausible deniability' among the paranormal community--such as it is-- without having to be an official EoP.
She wants to keep her powers to protect her brother and other loved ones?  Fine--Odin/Freya will have LOTS of scut-work to send a mortal (albeit an enhanced one) where a Valkyrie might draw attention.  Watch hilarity ensue. 
The story itself is tangential to the plotline for the moment, as the campaign arc takes place prior to the events in Proven Guilty. 
EoP would also require "Marked by Power"; the PC is certainly not that even if she does use rune-magic.