Mercenary Spellcaster Character Concept Question

[InFerrumVeritas]

As long as you don't break the Laws, the Council won't hunt you.  That being said, your character concept doesn't sound like something they'd be fond of.  If you broke the Laws (or they think you were coming close to doing so), they may look for excuses to make your life miserable (a la Morgan in Storm Front).

[Crion]

I had in mind that he worked mostly for an against mortals, or at most weaker unaffiliated supernaturals.  Not so much on involvement in Accord groups.  Sort of like a one man Monoc Security, except with less of a security-guard angle.

I don't know, people in this thread appear to be pushing really hard for him to be on the run or trying to avoid the White Council in some way.  I've very leery of that.  It seems like the sort of thing where it could balloon out quickly to the point where logically, the character would leave town and remove himself from play.  It could get annoying for the other PCs even before that point.

Has playing someone on the run from the WC worked out in other peopels' games?

I haven't played someone on the run for The Dresden Files RPG (haven't been a player for the system yet), but I have played a similar concept in a different game.

My approach was to keep the magic on the lower-side; subtle effects that could easily be written off, such as magically enhanced armor, being "lucky" that the bullet missed, having the guy fall into the right place at the right time for my shot, etc. This kept me under the radar of all the major supernatural organizations and kept me from being a target.

If anything, I would suggest NOT being a member of the White Council and instead become a member of a mundane group (especially if they have a "special" task force), an Accord-signatory that would be the equivalent to Marcone or Monoc Industries, or as a stand-alone mercenary that, as I mentioned, would remain under the radar or acting within the supernatural community (I'm thinking Kincaid here).

If you are trying to quantify whether he is a Wizard or Sorcerer, that is up for debate. You can have someone with all of the powers of a Wizard that is not part of the council, and there are many approaches to this. In fact, as previously mentioned: Elaine is a Wizard by all right, but she isn't part of the Council. What would make this character any different?


Just tossing words out as I think of them. Feel free to use or disregard as you see fit.


--Crion

[sinker]

I have played a character on the run from the wardens and something to consider is this: The wardens are not omnipotent. They do not see all and know all. Occasionally the gatekeeper sends them in a direction but usually only when someone's breaking the 6th or 7th laws or when it's really important. They can't be everywhere at once and they can't track you if they don't have a link to you (or if you're good at severing links ala shaving your head, etc). In addition they may not even know you are who you are if they met you on the street. All these things considered one can have a character on the run from the wardens, and it would be very dramatic when they catch up to you and kill you (or not, which would also be very dramatic). However if that's your trouble then you're going to be dealing with it on a regular basis and it may be disruptive.

[Wolfwood2]

Update on this.  The following exchange happened by email.

GM: Tell me more.  Did Ian (the PC) work for a Blackwater-like organization, or was he more freelance?

ME: I think he took a variety of short term contract jobs for parties who thought they needed 'spooky' power.  Probably he worked through a 'talent agency' type set-up that specialized in matching unique abilities to unique needs.

GM: I think you just described Monoc Security.

MEL ....  Okay, sure, he worked for Monoc Security if that works for your game.