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[sdfds68]

Here's the fan wiki entry for Arlen Bales: http://thedemoncycle.wikia.com/wiki/Arlen_Bales

Personally I'm not very fond of that entry, but if you've never read the books that's probably the fastest way to get his character history. There's also this book review isn't focused on Arlen specifically but has what I think is a better summary of the character in the third paragraph: https://bookbanter.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/the-warded-man-by-peter-v-brett-del-rey-2009/

It doesn't mention his powers, but I think I can summarize them as of the latest novel.

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-Improved strength, speed, toughness and healing (probably supernatural levels for everything but speed, which I would put down as inhuman)

-Able to turn into mist (and back) and move around. Heals pretty much any wound after becoming solid.

-Is capable of hurting and killing demons with his bare hands (Considered a big deal because demons are mostly immune to normal sources of damage, like axes to the face or being thrown off of cliffs)

-Extremely skilled at drawing 'wards.' For him it's essentially a variation on spellcasting. Each ward takes power from a demon and does something specific with that power. Most people just stick them on houses to keep demons out because they can't give the wards power on their own, but Arlen, being full of power he stole from demons by covering himself in wards and killing them bare handed (and possibly by eating their corpses, too), can do things like draw wards in midair to shoot fireballs.

-Using up his own energy to power wards, or being very badly hurt, makes him become less super (Heals slower, not as strong, can't draw wards in mid-air) and more like a normal person. Gets power back by using the wards on his body to suck power out of demons and into him, causing said demons serious injury or death in the process. Punch a demon, heal a wound!

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-Basically a kung-fu master, skilled archer, horse rider, wilderness survivalist and speech maker. These are probably skills or stunts.

-Has a horse, also covered in demon killing wards, that also has super equine strength, toughness, etc. Possibly too much trouble to stat.

-Puts wards on weapons so anyone with those weapons can use them to fight demons, and teaches people how to make these wards so they can fight for themselves. Is spreading your powers around a power? Or is that just something people can do?

[citadel97501]

Aliyah Saab (Submerged)
The White Council is kind of an awful organization in a lot of ways. It's an unelected shadow government which claims the right to execute anyone, no matter their age or nationality, who breaks rules which it doesn't tell the public about. That's why Aliyah isn't a Warden.

But although she can't in good conscience be a Warden, she still wants to do Warden-esque things. So she's working as a crime scene investigator for her local police department. She seems very good at her job, and her co-workers love her...but the truth is, she knows jack-all about crime scene investigation. She's faking it with divination spells. Most of her equipment is broken, since she's a notable hexer even for a wizard, and she wouldn't know how to use it even if it was functional.

So far, she's been able to save lives and solve crimes without revealing herself. She's even taken care of some magical problems for the city, without anybody noticing. But she's not sure how much longer she can keep this up.

High Concept: CSI Wizard
Trouble Aspect: Huge Fraud
Other Aspects: Bane Of Technology, Critic Of The Council, Very Popular
Skills:
Superb: Lore
Great: Contacts, Deceit, Discipline
Good: Athletics, Conviction, Empathy
Fair: Alertness, Rapport, Resources
Average: Guns, Endurance, Presence
Stunts:
Police Network (Contacts): +2 to Contacts among police officers.
Faking It (Deceit): +2 to Deceit when pretending to be qualified for her job or covering up magical incidents.
Powers:
Evocation [-3]
Thaumaturgy [-3]
The Sight [-1]
Soulgaze [-0]
Wizard's Constitution [-0]
Magic:
Evocation (Fire, Earth, Spirit): +1 spirit power
Thaumaturgy: +1 divination control
Foci: gun (+1 offensive spirit power and control)
Enchanted Items: 4 potion slots (power 5, 1 use/session)
Total Refresh Cost:
-9
Refresh Total:
1

Thank you this is awesome...

[Taran]

-Puts wards on weapons so anyone with those weapons can use them to fight demons, and teaches people how to make these wards so they can fight for themselves. Is spreading your powers around a power? Or is that just something people can do?

That sounds like regular enchanted items with, maybe, Soulfire as the source so that it reduces toughness or acts as a catch for demons.  I'm not sure how he could 'teach' it to others, though.  That could be its own power - or it could just be a potion slot that he checks off his character sheet for others to declare later...  Getting that ability permanently just sounds like having him teach it to you is a narrative justification to spend refresh on Holy Touch.

[Theogony_IX]

As for the various uber-powerful character suggestions...

I don't know enough about the Lord Ruler, Taborlin the Great, John Uskglass

Oh man, you're missing out on some truly legendary storytelling there.  I'm not going to say, "How could you not have . . ." cos' everyone's time constraints are different, but The Kingkiller Chronicles especially are worth prioritizing if you're ever looking for a new story to pick up.  The first two books in the trilogy are currently out, and by all accounts, the final book should be out in a year and a half to two years.

[PirateJack]

I'm giving John Uskglass a go because Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is one of my favourite books. The Raven King is definitely one of the more enigmatic figures in that setting.

EDIT: And here's my attempt at John Uskglass. Power Level is In a Submarine. He could possibly go higher, but all of his Thaumaturgy Specialisations make up for that. Strange and Norrell magic is all about the ritual and the majority of magicians in the setting are at Submerged or Snorkelling so he's rather more out of their league than most.

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Name: John Uskglass, aka The Nameless Slave, The Raven King, The Magician King of Northern England
Power Level: In A Submarine
High Concept: The Raven King
Trouble: The Line Between Benevolence and Tyranny
Other Aspects:
The Nameless Slave
Raised by King Oberon
Magician King of Northern England
Giver of Prophecy
Alliance with the Trees, Hills, Streams and Skies

Skills:
+6 – Lore
+5 – Discipline, Conviction
+4 – Presence, Scholarship
+3 – Contacts, Resources
+2 – Empathy, Rapport
+1 – All Skills Default to Average

Powers:
Thaumaturgy [-3] (Specialisation +1)
Refinement [-10] (Specialisations +19 and +1 Focus Item)
Demesne [-1] (England)
Prophecy [-1]
World Walking [-2]

Stunts:
Ruler of a Feckless Race – Fairies are a lazy and unambitious race in general, but you know how to lead them. +2 to Presence when commanding your fairy army.
All Northerners Are My Men – As the rightful King of Northern England you hold power (though in absence) over those who were born there. +2 to Contacts when determining the identity of a Northerner.
I Have Seen This – Your Divination is second to none. +2 to Alertness for the purposes of Initiative.

Specialisations:
Divination Complexity/Control +4
Transformation Complexity/Control +3
Psychomancy Complexity/Control +2
Necromancy Complexity/Control +1

Enchanted Items:
Rose & Silver Pearl – Strength 8 Transformation Item that gives Supernatural Recovery for a scene.

[sdfds68]

That sounds like regular enchanted items with, maybe, Soulfire as the source so that it reduces toughness or acts as a catch for demons.  I'm not sure how he could 'teach' it to others, though.  That could be its own power - or it could just be a potion slot that he checks off his character sheet for others to declare later...  Getting that ability permanently just sounds like having him teach it to you is a narrative justification to spend refresh on Holy Touch.

Yeah, but he doesn't teach this to one person or make just a few of these weapons. He creates an armory capable of supplying at least an entire village and teaches everyone he can in every town he visits. I don't think the enchanted item rules cover that.

[Taran]

As I said

Getting that ability permanently just sounds like having him teach it to you is a narrative justification to spend refresh on Holy Touch.

I see this the equivalent of teaching whole villages the weaknesses of Black Court Vampires.  It's just a narrative justification to have a Catch...it's a plot device.

[sdfds68]

I see this the equivalent of teaching whole villages the weaknesses of Black Court Vampires.  It's just a narrative justification to have a Catch...it's a plot device.

Ok. That would work for 'teaching' thing.

But looking back I seriously failed to properly communicate the scale on which he produced magical weapons without help. He had several hundred warded spears and many, many quivers of warded arrows that just sort of showed up after a timeskip in one of the books. Would that be something that shouldn't be included in the power list, as it would be a one time narrative event? Or is being willing to sit down for months-possibly a year-and slowly build up an entire magic armory something that needs to cost refresh?

[Taran]

TRACING [-2]
Description: You have the ability to project weapons from your mind into reality.
Skills Affected: Craftsmanship, Weapons, Guns
Effects:
Projection. With a supplemental action, you may create a melee or thown weapon out of thin air. Two-handed melee weapons created this way are capped at weapon rating 3, while thrown weapons and one-handed melee weapons are capped at weapon rating 2. Weapons created this way last until the end of the scene or until you make a new weapon.
Reinforcement. By spending a scene and making a successful Craftsmanship roll, you may cause your projected weapon to become fully real. This means that it lasts indefinitely.

Versatile Tracing [-1]. You may create simple objects other than melee weapons with this power. Armour, simple tools, keys, and levers are all possible.

Complex Tracing [-2]. (Requires Versatile Tracing) You may create complex objects with this power. Firearms, explosives, chemicals, and machines are all possible, although at the GM's discretion a Craftsmanship roll may be required for certain items. Explosives, firearms, and two-handed melee weapons are now capped at weapon rating 5, while thrown weapons and one-handed melee weapons are now capped at weapon rating 4.

This power and every weapon has an aspect related to demon catch attached to it?

[sdfds68]

TRACING [-2]
Description: You have the ability to project weapons from your mind into reality.
Skills Affected: Craftsmanship, Weapons, Guns
Effects:
Projection. With a supplemental action, you may create a melee or thown weapon out of thin air. Two-handed melee weapons created this way are capped at weapon rating 3, while thrown weapons and one-handed melee weapons are capped at weapon rating 2. Weapons created this way last until the end of the scene or until you make a new weapon.
Reinforcement. By spending a scene and making a successful Craftsmanship roll, you may cause your projected weapon to become fully real. This means that it lasts indefinitely.

Versatile Tracing [-1]. You may create simple objects other than melee weapons with this power. Armour, simple tools, keys, and levers are all possible.

Complex Tracing [-2]. (Requires Versatile Tracing) You may create complex objects with this power. Firearms, explosives, chemicals, and machines are all possible, although at the GM's discretion a Craftsmanship roll may be required for certain items. Explosives, firearms, and two-handed melee weapons are now capped at weapon rating 5, while thrown weapons and one-handed melee weapons are now capped at weapon rating 4.

This power and every weapon has an aspect related to demon catch attached to it?

A crafting based reskin of this power with a permanent creations upgrade would fit him perfectly.

Also, is that power something somebody made for Fate/stay night? Because that's really cool.

[Taran]

It's on the Wiki

Edit:  Probably Sanctaphrax had a hand in building this power.

[Sanctaphrax]

Thanks for the Arlen Bales rundown. It looks like writing him up will be a challenge, but I think I'm equal to it.

But first...

"Wild Cat" Kate (Feet In The Water)

Kate's Variable Abilities gives her 3 Refresh worth of Powers at a time. She can have Ranged Natural Weaponry (representing her cantrips) and Druidic Spellcasting, or she can have Beast Change into whatever animal and 2 Refresh of powers from her animal form. Her Beast Change doesn't change her skill list. (If it did, her Variable Abilities would have to cost more.)

Druidic Spellcasting is a custom Power that looks like this:

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DRUIDIC SPELLCASTING [-1]
Description: You have spellcasting powers, but not the common wizardly sort. Your magic is the natural magic of the druid.
Skills Affected: Survival.
Effects:
Druidic Magic. At the beginning of each session, you may select up to four spells with a power no greater than your Survival skill. The spells may be Evocation or Thaumaturgy, but they must have a "natural" theme. You may use each spell once during that session, as though they were enchanted items.
Additional Power [-X]. For each additional point of Refresh invested in this Power, you may prepare and cast 4 additional spells.

High Concept: Half-Orc Moon Druid
Trouble Aspect: Feral Beast
Other Aspects: True Neutral, Uncle Taught Me, Hunter Of Experiences
Skills:
Great: Fists, Survival
Good: Endurance, Athletics
Fair: Empathy, Alertness
Average: Conviction, Discipline
Powers:
Variable Abilities [-5]
Total Refresh Cost:
-5
Refresh Total:
1

Romeo Lovegood (Feet In The Water)

Reduced Effect is a Limitation variant I just made up. It weakens a power all the time instead of shutting it down sometimes.

Bardic Spellcasting looks like this:

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BARDIC SPELLCASTING [-1]
Description: You have spellcasting powers, but not the common wizardly sort. Your magic is the subtle magic of the bard.
Skills Affected: Performance.
Effects:
Bardic Magic. Design four Evocation or Evothaum spells that seem vaguely bard-y. You can cast four spells each session from among those spells. Their power is equal to your Performance skill, and you use Performance to control them as well. They don't cost mental stress.
Additional Knowledge [-X]. For each additional point of Refresh invested in this Power, you may design four additional spells that you may cast.
Additional Power [-X]. For each additional point of Refresh invested in this Power, you may cast four additional spells per session.

High Concept: Half-Elf Lore Bard
Trouble Aspect: Cheerfully Naive
Other Aspects: Chaotic Good, Former Noble, Sucker For A Pretty Face
Skills:
Great: Deceit, Performance
Good: Rapport, Lore
Fair: Empathy, Scholarship
Average: Athletics, Endurance
Stunts:
Bardic Inspiration And Cutting Words (Performance): +2 to Performance maneuvers made to inspire or discourage someone.
Song Of Rest (Performance): May use Performance instead of Scholarship for medical treatment.
Powers:
Bardic Spellcasting [-1]
Reduced Effect [+1] (No weapon rating, no bonus to maneuvers and blocks) affecting
  Incite Mental Effect At Range [-3] (Cantrips, with Performance)
Total Refresh Cost:
-5
Refresh Total:
1

Victor Craftwell (Feet In The Water)

Warlock Spellcasting is like Bardic Spellcasting, but it uses Lore and has a warlock-y theme instead of a bard-y one.

High Concept: Mountain Dwarf Fey Tome Warlock
Trouble Aspect: Nothing Is Free
Other Aspects: Lawful Neutral, Consummate Professional, Shadow Tome Of Ancient Secrets
Skills:
Great: Lore
Good: Intimidation
Fair: Investigation, Weapons, Scholarship, Craftsmanship
Average: Might, Endurance, Discipline, Conviction, Alertness
Stunts:
Magical Attack (Lore): Use Lore to attack with Natural Weaponry.
Powers:
Ranged Natural Weaponry [-2] (Eldritch Blast)
Warlock Spellcasting [-1]
Item Of Power (Shadow Tome) [+1] granting
  Incite Effect (Other Cantrips) [-1]
  Additional Knowledge [-1] (For Warlock Spellcasting)
Total Refresh Cost:
-5
Refresh Total:
1

Okay, that was more work than I expected. What do y'all think? Do the custom Powers hold up under inspection?

To-do:

-Arlen Bales
-Goku
-Aang
-Father
-The Dragon (from the Paranet Papers)
-Maybe Nia Ofumbe

[Mojosilver]

SWEET. Now hopefully I will get my gaming group to try something new. D&D is fun but I liked to play something else once in a while. LOL. THANK YOU Sanctaphrax!!!

[g33k]

That does make it a bit better. The way your post is phrased gives me the impression that I don't have the whole story here, though.
If there's a post or something explaining this person, can you shoot me a link? I can't find anything with Google. 

No, this is my own conception; you're right, however, that there's more story there...

The backstory of character-creation is thus:

I was interested in various "Lawbreaker Lite" starting PC's -- just one refresh of Lawbreaker (at least at start of game).  Necromancy seemed like it was... covered.  Chronomancy seemed interesting, but too-likely to overshadow a PC with Cassandra's Tears or the like, which I preferred not to pursue.  Summoning Outsiders just seemed too likely to be a short-lived PC, and to be a cause of PC-vs-PC play, which I generally dislike (unless that's the point of the game).   Etc etc... I settled on mind-magic as my likely Law to break.

This, of course, led to Capiorcorpus... who, it turns out, is as much better at mind-magic (than the general run-of-the-White-Council-mill) as she is at necromancy!  She's happy to overwhelm the mind of any body, not just a corpse...

Given her name/title, though, it seemed like an unusual thing in the Kemmlerian ranks.  So... where did she learn her mind-magic?  Was there perhaps a tradition of Mentalist lawbreakers, akin to Kemmler and his Necromancy?

Well... no WoJ (that I know of), so I said, "YES, there IS such a tradition!" (and maybe other Lawbreaking lines of wizards... but I've got enough to go on, for now).

Hence Nia Ofumbe.  In my version of the Dresdenverse, she was originally Capiorcorpus' master, seduced away by Kemmler's wiles, while he studied under Nia.

But Nia had other apprentices... one of whom would have taught the character I envisioned as a PC.

But when you asked for very-high-refresh characters (and I vastly prefer Dresdenverse PCs rather than some crossover'Verse), I thought first of Kemmler (but thought there might already be (or be forthcoming) an "official" version... so why not my High-Concept-only no-mechanics-yet notion of a "Kemmleresque" mind-mage?  I wanted to do something different than the European model of Kemmler.  I considered some twisted Tibetan (and you're free to go with that, if you want!), but in the end went with the Voodoo link, as having both necromancy and mind-magic, for the link into the Kemmler story and Capiorcorpus.

Thus was born Nia Ofumbe, and her backstory.


- Steve, the g33k
 

[Sanctaphrax]

Also, is that power something somebody made for Fate/stay night? Because that's really cool.

It's on the Wiki

Edit:  Probably Sanctaphrax had a hand in building this power.

I was involved, but ways and means is the actual author of the Power. And yes, it's a Fate/stay night thing.

SWEET. Now hopefully I will get my gaming group to try something new. D&D is fun but I liked to play something else once in a while. LOL. THANK YOU Sanctaphrax!!!

You're welcome and good luck.

No, this is my own conception; you're right, however, that there's more story there...

...

Thus was born Nia Ofumbe, and her backstory.

Hm, okay. I guess I could take a crack at her.

And here's my attempt at John Uskglass. Power Level is In a Submarine. He could possibly go higher, but all of his Thaumaturgy Specialisations make up for that. Strange and Norrell magic is all about the ritual and the majority of magicians in the setting are at Submerged or Snorkelling so he's rather more out of their league than most.

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Name: John Uskglass, aka The Nameless Slave, The Raven King, The Magician King of Northern England
Power Level: In A Submarine
High Concept: The Raven King
Trouble: The Line Between Benevolence and Tyranny
Other Aspects:
The Nameless Slave
Raised by King Oberon
Magician King of Northern England
Giver of Prophecy
Alliance with the Trees, Hills, Streams and Skies

Skills:
+6 – Lore
+5 – Discipline, Conviction
+4 – Presence, Scholarship
+3 – Contacts, Resources
+2 – Empathy, Rapport
+1 – All Skills Default to Average

Powers:
Thaumaturgy [-3] (Specialisation +1)
Refinement [-10] (Specialisations +19 and +1 Focus Item)
Demesne [-1] (England)
Prophecy [-1]
World Walking [-2]

Stunts:
Ruler of a Feckless Race – Fairies are a lazy and unambitious race in general, but you know how to lead them. +2 to Presence when commanding your fairy army.
All Northerners Are My Men – As the rightful King of Northern England you hold power (though in absence) over those who were born there. +2 to Contacts when determining the identity of a Northerner.
I Have Seen This – Your Divination is second to none. +2 to Alertness for the purposes of Initiative.

Specialisations:
Divination Complexity/Control +4
Transformation Complexity/Control +3
Psychomancy Complexity/Control +2
Necromancy Complexity/Control +1

Enchanted Items:
Rose & Silver Pearl – Strength 8 Transformation Item that gives Supernatural Recovery for a scene.

I can't comment on accuracy to the source material, but the Aspects and the stunts look pretty cool. And unless I miscount he actually bought an Average level in every single skill the honest way, which I like.

The Power stuff is a little iffy. England isn't really a valid Demesne, and I wouldn't let someone use that item if I was GMing. It's too much like an IoP. Also, unless I misread, he ought to have a bunch more specializations.