Character Concept Assistance

[regitnui]

While re-reading Our World and Your Story, I came up with an idea; a human 9mortal), bound to a knowledge spirit, like a much weaker Bob.

What I have is a few Aspects, but I'm not so good at completing the numbers, stunts and Skills part of the character. In essence:

High Concept: A Boy and his Knowledge Spirit[/u]
Riffing off the Trope A Boy and his X. The character is essentially two minds in one body; the mortal, who is as flexible as you'd expect a mortal to be, and the knowledge spirit, locked into his/her/its nature, but higher Lore, Conviction etc. This Aspect can be invoked for advantages on mental and social attacks, but compelled when situatios where they disagree may come up.

Trouble: Everybody Wants a Piece of Me[/u]
Specifically, the knowledge spirit. While the two of them are bonded in some mystical manner, the fact is that even a weak knowledge spirit can be a great asset to wizards and other supernatural beings. Can be compelled by the GM to justify the character being a bit of a Weirdness Magnet, and could be invoked in attempts to play one power off against the other.

Aspect: In Over My Head[/u]
With being a combination of a vanilla mortal (Book meaning, not template) and a inexperienced knowledge spirit, this pretty much summarizes the character's involvement in the supernatural world. In time, they'd be a formidable force, but right now, they're weak, unskilled, and still learning about their capabilities. This can be invoked in knowledge-gathering situations, but compelled where research isn't enough.

Now, the other two aspects would be put together with a group, which this character doesn't have, but Likely Stunts, Powers and Skills? Also, how would I go about setting this character up mechanically? Is it possible to make this playable, and if yes, at what Refresh?

Thanks, DFRPGers!

[Haru]

A player of mine had a character pretty much like this:
https://rising-tides.obsidianportal.com/characters/jake-mackinley

The idea was that the spirit would provide some knowledge regarding thaumaturgy and allow the character to cast spells related to summoning and binding spirits. He would then go for asking those spirits to help him with stuff. For example, he needed to breath under water, so he asked a water spirit to help him out.
Merging with the spirit also allowed him to access some primal part of himself, granting him the beast change an inhuman abilities on the sheet.

We mainly used the spirit as a Bob, meaning I played him for the most part and used him as a mouthpiece. If you are interested how that looks, you can read up on it here:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,39379.0.html
It's me as the GM and JayTee as the player.

When it comes to your character, you can go whichever direction you like. Having the spirit grant you spellpower would be a natural fit, I assume, but since you want to go for something less polished, maybe it might make more sense to go for something a little less powerful. Ritual and Channeling, the smaller siblings of the big spellcasting abilities, for example. But since they cost the same as sponsored magic, I think that might be a lot more interesting. Sponsored magic can give you thaumaturgy and evocation in an area of expertise that fits the sponsor. In your case, the sponsor would be the spirit of intellect and the area of expertise would be all magic, but unrefined and you would not be able to do anything very complex. So you could rip out the door with enough power, but you wouldn't be able to magically pick the lock, that's too complicated. You can play up the sponsor debt by having your magic go awry every now and again, compelling you to fix the mess you created (the ghosts I called I can't get rid of now). Over time you can change the tone a bit and eventually get evocation and thaumaturgy to represent your refined spellcasting abilities.

Then again, maybe you want to go another way. Glamours is interesting if you want to go a more subtle/deceptive route. Especially since he's trying to hide, that might be a cool option.

Or the spirit knows a lot about other creatures and can teach your character to shapeshift, allowing you to go for a were-something.

Or you play up the knowledge part, add some psychomancy, some bibliomancy and maybe some stunts/powers along those lines.

[Sanctaphrax]

There are a lot of ways you could set that character up. Pretty much the only thing you need is a high Lore skill. Beyond that, it's up to you.

You could stay Pure Mortal, you could use the spirit as a justification for whatever magical abilities you want, you could dig up some custom Powers to represent the spirit's deep knowledge...really, the field's wide open.

[regitnui]

A player of mine had a character pretty much like this:
https://rising-tides.obsidianportal.com/characters/jake-mackinley

The idea was that the spirit would provide some knowledge regarding thaumaturgy and allow the character to cast spells related to summoning and binding spirits. He would then go for asking those spirits to help him with stuff. For example, he needed to breath under water, so he asked a water spirit to help him out.
Merging with the spirit also allowed him to access some primal part of himself, granting him the beast change an inhuman abilities on the sheet.

We mainly used the spirit as a Bob, meaning I played him for the most part and used him as a mouthpiece. If you are interested how that looks, you can read up on it here:
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,39379.0.html
It's me as the GM and JayTee as the player.

When it comes to your character, you can go whichever direction you like. Having the spirit grant you spellpower would be a natural fit, I assume, but since you want to go for something less polished, maybe it might make more sense to go for something a little less powerful. Ritual and Channeling, the smaller siblings of the big spellcasting abilities, for example. But since they cost the same as sponsored magic, I think that might be a lot more interesting. Sponsored magic can give you thaumaturgy and evocation in an area of expertise that fits the sponsor. In your case, the sponsor would be the spirit of intellect and the area of expertise would be all magic, but unrefined and you would not be able to do anything very complex. So you could rip out the door with enough power, but you wouldn't be able to magically pick the lock, that's too complicated. You can play up the sponsor debt by having your magic go awry every now and again, compelling you to fix the mess you created (the ghosts I called I can't get rid of now). Over time you can change the tone a bit and eventually get evocation and thaumaturgy to represent your refined spellcasting abilities.

Then again, maybe you want to go another way. Glamours is interesting if you want to go a more subtle/deceptive route. Especially since he's trying to hide, that might be a cool option.

Or the spirit knows a lot about other creatures and can teach your character to shapeshift, allowing you to go for a were-something.

Or you play up the knowledge part, add some psychomancy, some bibliomancy and maybe some stunts/powers along those lines.

Thank you. That Internal Database stunt(?) looks like something I would certainly use; the spirit might not know much, but once they learn it, the spirit remembers it. The bibliomancy otherwise seems a bit too easy for the character. I like the idea of having to gain the knowledge the old-fashioned way. If I were playing them, However, I'd play both spirit and human, since I'm slightly crazy and can argue with myself.

I hadn't, however, considered the Sponsored Magic route. The compels being spell side-effects is actually very fitting for these two. It also plays into them getting more powerful; eventually they can drop Sponsored Magic for Thaumaturgy and Evocation, going by Ritual and Channelling if necessary. However, that's definitely a great idea for the initial build.

Though quick question; wouldn't that invalidate the Pure Mortal's extra refresh, since Sponsored Magic is a supernatural ability?

[zakmo86]

You could model it with beast change or human form to represent the shift in skills or powers. I don't like demonic co-pilot as is,  but some variation of it. Like maybe it can project from your body and you can  share its senses which would allow you to make Investigation, Lore, Scholarship, etc checks when not physically present. For an additional X amount of Refresh you can manipulate objects,  people. Maybe make Fists attacks. For more Refresh, you can attempt to take possession of objects like Bob does or even people. But while you're sharing its senses, your body is vulnerable. You could also let beast change affect powers like the Sight.

I'm on a ta'blet. Please excuse typos.

[Haru]

Thank you. That Internal Database stunt(?) looks like something I would certainly use; the spirit might not know much, but once they learn it, the spirit remembers it. The bibliomancy otherwise seems a bit too easy for the character. I like the idea of having to gain the knowledge the old-fashioned way. If I were playing them, However, I'd play both spirit and human, since I'm slightly crazy and can argue with myself.

Well, I don't know if Internal Databank is even worth the refresh the way it's written. It was part of an NPC, so I didn't bother too much since I knew what I wanted with it. Something like a +2 for knowing a detail or something along those lines might fit. Or a "once per scene" may succeed on a declaration about something they've read about before.
Bibliomancy is only instantly knowing stuff, not remembering it. You need someone to listen to you ramble on about what you are reading or learn to control it well enough to be able to write things down while you "read" them. It's more or less a magical kind of speed reading, but you need to take notes or you don't remember anything.
It's like an external harddrive for your brain.

I hadn't, however, considered the Sponsored Magic route. The compels being spell side-effects is actually very fitting for these two. It also plays into them getting more powerful; eventually they can drop Sponsored Magic for Thaumaturgy and Evocation, going by Ritual and Channelling if necessary. However, that's definitely a great idea for the initial build.

Though quick question; wouldn't that invalidate the Pure Mortal's extra refresh, since Sponsored Magic is a supernatural ability?

Sure, if you take powers you lose the pure mortal bonus. But since you are no longer a pure mortal, that kind of makes sense.

[zakmo86]

I'm always so impressed with the smart, creative responses from the posters here.

[Quantus]

A few random things to consider

Container:  Does the SoI inhabit a specific object like Bob's skull, or is the Mortal his primary residence?  The primary Balance of Power for Bob in the novels is that he is very powerful but easy to steal, with his loyalties and personality tied to the object not the character.

Spirit vs Intellect:  If you are going for a young and inexperienced SoI, it might work to focus less on the knowledge and more on the based abilited the spirit can pull off.  Spirit Reconnaissance, Statue/Zombie animation, limited Telekinesis, Spirit Perceptions, etc.  Rituals and spells and magical artifacts are Bob's specialty after centuries spent assisting wizards, but that wouldnt necessarily be something he'd do right out of the gate. 

You could even take it a step further and say that while the SoI is incredibly knowledgeable (as any SoI needs knowledge sufficient to even form) it's not knowledge that is in any way particularly useful.  Maybe he knows every last thing about daytime television, or every sports statistic ever, or some such; essentially anything but actual relevant knowledge of the supernatural world (I have a similar spirit character in a story that's a massive pop-culture nerd, but only casually familiar with the spirit world he's technically from).  Maybe Bob did something awful (involving Craig's List, a tour-bus full of nuns, and a shipping container of Rubber Duckies from Taiwan) and as punishment he was Ordered to forget all Porn he'd ever seen (which in the Butters Era is quite a lot), and the resulting spinoff created your SoI as a concentrated Horny-Bob.  Or whatever.  Basically make the cache of knowledge less of a traditional Intelligence resource and more of a personality seed.  That's not to say it couldn't be a useful Aspect, the sports stat SoI would be something of a meathead but could probably pull of some impressive things while in a wax sculpture of Babe Ruth, or even the mannequins from the sporting goods store.   



0.02

[Shaft]

Other aspect suggestions;


• We are spirits... in the material world
• Kindred spirits
• or combine them: Kindred spirits... in the material world.
• Double Trouble
• Two of a Kind
• That's quite a pair you've got on you

[Quantus]

What sort of personality would you favor for the spirit vs the boy?  Also how old are we talking for him?  Im stuck thinking like 15 from the "Boy and his X"

[regitnui]

What sort of personality would you favor for the spirit vs the boy?  Also how old are we talking for him?  Im stuck thinking like 15 from the "Boy and his X"

I'm rephrasing that to "A Man and His Logic Spirit". I haven't considered much beyond him being unnecessarily curious, hence why he attracted the spirit. It also follows along with the "In Over My Head" aspect.

[Quantus]

Well, it sounds like you are describing a Buddy Cop duo, or at least a "Buddy X" pair of some kind.  So the core if it all will be the two personalities and how they interact and play off each other.  You said you can enjoy having the split personality at the table, which is good.  Otherwise Id recommend seeing if somebody else at the table would be willing to take the reigns of the spirit, at least for the social interaction parts (ideally not the GM since they've got enough to keep track of already).

"Unnecessarily Curious" would naturally manifest in a short-ish list of professions for the Man, all centered around one or more of the "Big Mysteries": Scientist/Engineer, Archaeologist/historian, Anthropologist, Philosopher, Fringe Occult enthusiast, Bigfoot Hunter etc.  Pick a path he'd been on before he got the Spirit (Im assuming this is a recent thing for him?), then decide how that path led him to attracting the Spirit. 

Then you'll need to characterize the Spirit itself, which will among other things determine it's utility both in terms of area of knowledge Specialty bit also in terms of characterization/personality and skills when animating a host form. If it were me Id be going for stark contrast; so if the Man is a nerdy academic make the Spirit a sports obsessed meat-head, if the Man is an Indiana Jones risk-taker, make the spirit his fearful voice of reason, if the Man is a hopelessly chivalrous Wizard-thug make the Spirit an irreverent and horny know-it-all ().

[regitnui]

The direction I was considering pre-possession was something like armchair philosopher, interested in the occult not because of belief or power, but simply for the knowledge, to learn. This desire for knowledge ends up in him attracting a spirit/being used as a beacon for a spirit/stranded in the Nevernever/In Over His Head, and he ends up with the spirit in his noggin.

The spirit itself is a dry, solemn sort of being. While mortal (Phillip) is the 'mad scientist' sort, gettong excited over piecing new pieces of knowledge together and trying to assemble a whole, the spirit (Sophos) is merely interested in the knowledge for its own sake. They'd both wander into a blampire nest, but for different reasons; Phillip would want to find the correspondence between the depressing atmosphere in the neighborhood and the actions of the vampires, while Sophos would just note the number of vampires, how many redfields and cattle they need, and how they defend their lair. It's a Wisdom (Phillip) vs Knowledge (Sophos) thing.

Speaking of, a new Aspect:
Binding Crown - To help stabilize their unusual arrangement, Phillip has had binding sigils and glyphs tattooed on his scalp and down his spine. Between the pale ink used and the concealing haircut, it isn't immediately obvious, but they have noticed the tattoos gain a faint glow when both Phillip and Sophos are active.

PS: Yes, their names are a pun on philosophy.

[Quantus]

That sounds really cool.  I like the Sigil Crown, it's a nice compromise in that it cannot be stolen, but the sigils are a physical thing that could still be damaged and taken out of play. 


What is her main focus on knowledge (or I guess is she s generalist)?  SoI are literally made of information, so they'd in theory have some core leanings toward whatever was there in their Creation.  Looking at your example, is she attracted to the Occult presence in general, the tactical aspects of the Lair, the zoological aspects of the Blamps/Renfield, etc?  Bob was specifically a specialist in mortal Wizardry, with a sub-specialty in Winter Fae, (and post Harry he's a smut connoisseur, while Post Butters he's got Ye Internets, Porn, and hopefully at least a little more medical knowledge);  at his core he's primarily a Magic Theory Nerd.  So what kind of Nerd is Sophi?

[regitnui]

That sounds really cool.  I like the Sigil Crown, it's a nice compromise in that it cannot be stolen, but the sigils are a physical thing that could still be damaged and taken out of play.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. The bindings have to be renewed every decade or so, but if a knife cuts through one of the more important sigils, than we have a situation where their magical efforts might suffer a few compelled failures/side-effects.

What is her main focus on knowledge (or I guess is she s generalist)?  SoI are literally made of information, so they'd in theory have some core leanings toward whatever was there in their Creation.  Looking at your example, is she attracted to the Occult presence in general, the tactical aspects of the Lair, the zoological aspects of the Blamps/Renfield, etc?  Bob was specifically a specialist in mortal Wizardry, with a sub-specialty in Winter Fae, (and post Harry he's a smut connoisseur, while Post Butters he's got Ye Internets, Porn, and hopefully at least a little more medical knowledge);  at his core he's primarily a Magic Theory Nerd.  So what kind of Nerd is Sophi?

Hm... I'd say Sophos is yet to grow into a true specialty, but as this theoretical adventure goes on, would start to specialize in supernatural creatures and their habits, with the general tendency towards mortal magic as part of that. However, Sophos would probably remain the dull, detached Spock to Phillip's emotional and intuitive Kirk. Perhaps, after Phillip's mortal lifetime, Sophos remains bound to his body/skull, forming a xenobiologist's version of Bob.