I've wanted to do the play yourselves trick for awhile, but with a twist- the characters would be reassigned to different players after the first session. Needless to say, it's been a tough system to get off the ground.
Not sure if you're leaning to thread-referencing, or just highly coincidental, but I notice Patrick Stewart and CJ make appearances. Art imitates life...'s art? It's hard to imagine spending 40 years in the 80's. A mere 5 has got me quoting Stan Bush lyrics in marginally related threads.
I've wanted to do the play yourselves trick for awhile, but with a twist- the characters would be reassigned to different players after the first session. Needless to say, it's been a tough system to get off the ground.
Not sure if you're leaning to thread-referencing, or just highly coincidental, but I notice Patrick Stewart and CJ make appearances. Art imitates life...'s art? It's hard to imagine spending 40 years in the 80's. A mere 5 has got me quoting Stan Bush lyrics in marginally related threads.
The Patrick Stewart thing wasn't inspired by the thread conversation. CJ's appearance, however, was, so it's kind of in-between. In reading about privateers and such, many of them fit CJ's MO, so it fits well (and might give the Storyteller a bit of a laugh, to boot).
And The Librarian spent 40 years in Arcadia during the 80's, not 40 years in perpetual 80's-land (that WOULD be an f'ed up Durance, though).
I loved the Aaron Bremen background. Grounding it in your life made the character very real, and you used the fantasy elements to really magnify the character. Every time I visualize the fingertip quills I get slightly nauseous. Nicely done, that's hard to accomplish with me.
I'd kill the Patrick Stewart joke, but I just like to keep descriptions serious and in-character. Though I guess since this is the real world, that is in-character.
This is also the first I time I've heard of Changeling. I'd seen White Wolf's Vampire, Werewolf and Mage games. I just read up on it, very interesting. I can see why they're saying it's their fastest growing game. Is this a full crossover, or just a crossover between Mage and Changeling?
I loved the Aaron Bremen background. Grounding it in your life made the character very real, and you used the fantasy elements to really magnify the character. Every time I visualize the fingertip quills I get slightly nauseous. Nicely done, that's hard to accomplish with me.
I'd kill the Patrick Stewart joke, but I just like to keep descriptions serious and in-character. Though I guess since this is the real world, that is in-character.
This is also the first I time I've heard of Changeling. I'd seen White Wolf's Vampire, Werewolf and Mage games. I just read up on it, very interesting. I can see why they're saying it's their fastest growing game. Is this a full crossover, or just a crossover between Mage and Changeling?
Yeah, I picked up the Changeling Book last year and I've wanted to play for ages. I tried to get a Lost game going with my D&D group for a change of pace, but sadly no one else was interested.
Full Crossover. We have a vampire and a werewolf, as well as three mages, in addition to my character. If anything, this is a Mage game with added elements from other systems.
At first I was leery about playing someone based on myself, since I, personally, am not much of an adventurer. But I eventually got behind the idea, since it allows me to do a "what might have been." One thing about White Wolf game's I've always liked is their focus on making real people, or making "me embellished" characters.
Aw, no love for Captain Picard? I just got this image in my head of a goblin librarian who looked like Patrick Stewart, and it wouldn't let me go. The Storyteller of this game didn't seem to mind much.
1) There are few fates worse, in the eyes of those who have escaped the clutches to the insane True Fae, than being captured and returned to the Gentry's care. So those Changelings who have turned against their brethren, and actively help the True Fae kidnap their victims and return the Lost who've escaped their bonds back into servitude, are the most reviled of villains.
2) Among the tales the Lost share is that of Candle Jack, one of these privateers. Candle Jack is a Changeling, as far as anyone can tell, but his seeming and kith are unknown, as he wears a hedge-spun costume that appears similar to a burlap scarecrow with stitched-on smile and lamp-like eyes. They say he floats slightly above the ground, lighting the way through the hedge with a glowing tallow candle, trailing a long, thorny rope woven from fibers from The Hedge. Those who have had the misfortune to come in contact with him say that he has a palpable aura of Autumn around him.
3) Very little is known about who he was before he was snatched away to Arcadia, but he is known and loathed for his actions afterward. According to rumor, he made a deal with his Keeper to gain his freedom in exchange for collecting 1000 souls for his master. However, shortly after he was freed, his keeper was slain, leaving Candle Jack in a bind. He was still bound to deliver 1000 souls to Arcadia or forfeit his own freedom, so he decided to sell those he captured to other Gentry in order to fulfill the terms of his pledge.
4) To keep himself free from Arcadia's grasp, he acts as an agent for the Gentry. it is said that, if you accidentally say his True Name (which is said to be unusual, but not uncommon), it calls to him, and renders you powerless against him, meaning he has an easy time capturing you and hauling you to Faerie. Even saying his assumed name of Candle Jack can draw attention (though it gives him no extra power over you), so don't say it!
5) Candle Jack hunts mostly normal humans, as they put up less of a struggle when being dragged through the Thorns. But he is not above catching a wayward Changeling slave if he gets an opportunity. Several freeholds have put a price on his head, but he rarely haunts the same place for very long, moving from town to town. The rise of the Candle Jack meme has been especially fruitful for him, as it get lots of gullible people to write his name in harmless fun, never realizing that doing so gives him the power to sneak up on them and
1) My main goal with Candle Jack is to create a privateer as an enemy, though to give him motivations that are beyond "I'm an evil scum-sucking bottom-feeder that no one will feel too bad about killing." 2) I also really wanted to play around with the Candle jack meme, just because he had a strong image and they really didn't get a lot of milage out of him on Freakazoid.
1) Candle Jack isn't actually under any pledge to collect souls. He was captured and forced to act as a scarecrow for his Keeper, fighting off the monstrous hobgoblin crows that stalked his master's hedge garden. He managed to escape and, for a while, he was very outspoken about keeping wayward changelings and people away from entrances to the Hedge. His devotion drew the attention of the Scarecrow Ministry, a secret changeling society devoted to crafting urban legends designed to scare people away from danger. He crafted the persona of Candle jack originally as a way of scaring his freehold, as a way of keeping a healthy paranoia of real privateers high. However, the longer he spent in the role, the lower his Clarity slipped, and eventually he had to resort to actual kidnappings to maintain his ruse.
This act damaged his Clarity even more, especially since he didn't know what to do with his captives other than sell them at a local goblin market. His sanity began to slip away as he grew deeper and deeper into his role, becoming the very thing he hated: a privateer, selling his own kind to the Gentry. Today, he steals people and sells them to the True Fae, and tells himself that he is only doing what he must to keep his cover up. He justifies his actions by selling people to lords he thinks aren't too terrible, and by making deals with the Fetchmaker Mr. Silver (see contacts), so he can maintain the belief that it's all right to kidnap and sell people into slavery because "they will eventually be free".
2)
3)
Step 4: "You'll fetch a good price at the next market."
1) Mr. Silver, a True Fae who somehow wound up trapped in the mortal world, is a fetchmaker. He makes fetches for those Fae who don't want to bother, and he is very good at his craft. The fetches he creates are almost indistinguishable from the people they replace. Candle Jack often visits him to get fetches made for those he takes, because there is a catch in Mr. Silver's work: he will only create a fetch for a person if the fae who takes that person agrees to a pledge allowing their servant to go free back to the mortal world after a specified time. He does this because he feeds off the conflict caused by the Changelings that get home and find impostors in their place, and often works to make sure the Changeling and its fetch come into conflict somehow. Candle Jack knows about this escape clause--he believes that by making deals with Mr. Silver, he is securing an eventual release for those he takes, which means that they won't be trapped in Arcadia forever, which makes his taking of them all right in the end.
2) Candle Jack has made several allies among the hobgoblins in the Hedge, and relies on them for information and the occasional hide-out.
3) There are more than a few Changelings who'd like to take a swipe at Candle Jack, but only one, an enigmatic fellow calling himself The Cheshire Cat, can actually recognize him outside of his costume. The Cheshire Cat, however, is as mad as his namesake, and would rather trick others into going after Candle Jack than do anything himself. He sees toying with Candle Jack as a fun little game, though one with deadly stakes.
I like urban legends, and I like Freakazoid, and I thought Candle Jack could have some mileage as a villain. I liked the idea of Candle Jack being tragic, and yet horribly, horribly misguided. I've heard that a good villain thinks he's a hero, even when doing horrible things
Here's a character I originally designed for use with an Eberron game. The secrets involved in his background are such that your background template is actually perfect. He was originally done as a 3.5 character, so I have yet to see how some of this will translate into 4e.
Step 1: write five things about your character’s concept and background, five things that you think are the most essential parts of your character. You don’t have to stop at five, if you like…this is just a minimum.
1) Jherek always looks haunted, as someone who does not get a lot of sleep. In truth, his sleep is often disturbed by nightmares. 2) Jherek is a blood relative of one of the 3 families of House Tharashk (I'm at work so I don't have the family name, but the ones with the less savory reputation). 3) Jherek came by his warlock powers because of a ritual carried out at his birth. His parents, members of a secret cult of the Dragon Below, offered their child to become the vessel to release one of the Lords of Dust. That particular cult now believes Jherek is their chosen one, a destiny he rejects. 4) Jherek proclaims that he does not believe in fate, he is a strong proponent of free-will. In truth, he fears that this is not the case, and that he cannot escape his terrible destiny. He seeks to avoid it at all costs. 5) Jherek believes that his powers are tainted by the dragon below, including that of his dragonmark (see secrets). However, if he does not use them consciously, they will erupt in a flash of anger or other emotion. His only recourse, then, is to use them to do some good, but as "evil" powers, they often leave his opponents dead at worst, and at best scarred physically or mentally.
Step 2: List two goals for the character that you, as a player, think would be cool to see accomplished in-game. During any session in which you take positive action to achieve that goal, I will award you an action point that can only be used in scenes furthering that goal. These Action Points are separate from the action points you gain by resting and reaching milestones. You can change goals later, though you lose all the accumulated Action Points for the goal you abandoned. Spoiler:Show
1) Find a way to alter the destiny that his parents have set for him. This is the driving force in his life, other, lesser goals stem from this, such as routing or destroying other cults of the dragon below. 2) Avoid discovery, and by extention, persecution, of his dragonmark, and possibly find others like him. (Note: this may lead him into the arms of house Tarkanan, with whom he may feel sympathy, if not outright kinship.)
Step 3: List two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises! Spoiler:Show
1) Jherek posseses an abberant dragonmark, that of the burning hands spell. As he is a warlock, and frequently spews magical energy from his hands, his power is not usually noticed as that odd, given that little is known by most of the populace about the powers and limitations of warlocks. 2) The ritual that took place during his birth made him a warlock, this much is true, but it was his parents who made the pact for him, and thus his soul is unburdened by any pact obligation. He is, however, a host to a dormant rakshasa servant of the lords of dust. This spirit is not powerful enough to wrest direct control over him (yet).
Step 4: Describe three people that are tied to the character though blood, romance or honor. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. All can do something useful for you, if you can get the situations to line up. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
Haven't given this one enough thought yet.
Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don't have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor. Spoiler:Show
1) Jherek remembers the day when, at the age if 14, he was inducted into his parents' cult cell, and told of his horrible destiny. From that night on, his sleep was never again restful. 2) The day Jherek left the Shadow Marches forever and turned his back on everything he'd ever known up to that point. Using money he had been saving, he bought discreet passage on a Houe Orien caravan to Aundair, from there he took the lightning rail to Sharn. 3) Jherek had forsworn the use of his walrlock powers. But as the weeks passed, he became more and more agitated, more stressed. In a burst of anger, he unleashed his power subconsciously during a fight in a bar when someone began pushing him. It was resolved to be an accident and most people assumed that he was a sorcerer still learning to control his powers (an idea he encouraged).
Had an idle thought the other day. Infernal pact did the rest.
What about adding quotes to the Relationship section, by the NPC in question? It would do a lot to illustrate the demeanor and character of the important NPCs, and could be pretty freeform, since it's not 'about' anything except them.
On the minus side, it's more work, and it's harder to write from 4 perspectives than one. I might try it on a TMB I've written, and see how it sounds. Maybe some other people would like to try, as well.
Had an idle thought the other day. Infernal pact did the rest.
What about adding quotes to the Relationship section, by the NPC in question? It would do a lot to illustrate the demeanor and character of the important NPCs, and could be pretty freeform, since it's not 'about' anything except them.
On the minus side, it's more work, and it's harder to write from 4 perspectives than one. I might try it on a TMB I've written, and see how it sounds. Maybe some other people would like to try, as well.
That does sound like an interesting thing to try, but the TMB is already something of a misnomer already. It adds a bit more work to something that can already take a bit of time.
I've been generating ideas for NPCs for use in a Changeling game I'd like to run some day...I'll post some of these NPC ideas here. And those include Candle Jack, whom I'll post as soon as
