Character Concepts (Read 1st Post)

[Princess]

My thoughts on this:

The thing is, Morality isn't reduced purely by mental illness - it's reduced by actions. Derangements sometimes follow from the loss of Morality or Wisdom, not necessarily the other way around. There's no need to make this false equivalency they are inextricably tied together, because this isn't Changeling. And if her awakening cleared it up, I'd respectfully disagree that this alone would reduce Wisdom at all. It might make her very, very socially awkward though. Taking the nuances of in precisely what ways her mind has changed, what she remembers about her life before hand, how others treated her, and so on, will inform the effects better than simply throwing a derangement at the problem. Just think of a few simpler if-then statements. Of course, this will start to matter a lot more when you play her and things will likely make more sense after a few scenes.

The rest of this seems like it's headed in a very interesting direction. Only thing that seems a tad off is that larceny 3 + lockpicking as a specialty would imply actual experience or training that doesn't quite add up from her background? That's sort of a minor issue though, and the rest of the numbers make sense to me.

[Cayce]

Thank you for weighing in! I really love getting the feedback, it helps forge a better character! Let's see if I can explain more of my thinking behind the larceny and the manipulation so that it might make sense. If not, that's good too. I am wrong a lot :P

So, let's do the larceny first! I was thinking that her dad taught her some basic stuff, like how to open a padlock or a simple doorknob lock, basically amounting to larceny 1. Then, over the years of being institutionalized she was exposed to many different sorts of locks, depending on the security of where she was, and spent most of her formative years trying to overcome them. Also, hiding tools and acquiring the tools would rely on larceny. I was thinking about a decade of experience trying to break out of an institution, where there's many opportunities to try and a lot of pressure not to get caught, could make sense.

As for the presence vs. manipulation, I was thinking presence had much to do with expressing yourself and exerting your wants and desires in a very direct way, something that would be frowned upon in an institution where following rules, schedules, and orders is more valued than actualizing your own goals (cause those goals could be killing people the pink bunny told you to, or only wearing yellow, cause it's safer). Manipulation would be helpful, however, for that's how one would subtly sway others opinions. Basically I look at Presence as your going to influence them, and they're going to know it, cause you convinced them, whereas manipulation would be changing their mind in a way so that they think they were the ones to change their own opinion, or thought of that plan. Likely poorly worded but I hope it makes some sense.

[West]

I had an idea, and I'm just gonna toss it here, because where else?

So like most cabals are fairly generic, but I was thinking it might be cool to see a cabal focused on tending the other supernal realms -- notably, a Shadow and Twilight Police sort of cabal. You'd need a Death and/or Spirit pimp(s) who could Gate, but, yeah. I think that would be pretty cool.

Anywho! just offering it up as idea fodder!

[Travisc06489]

As per my incessant indications of desire to do so... I present my Mage:

Shadow Name: Asoma
True Name: Armand Maier
Age at Awakening: 19
Date of Birth: December 03, 1990
Path: Obrimos (planning on purchasing Ascended Adept Legacy)
Order: Free Council
Virtue: Fortitude
Vice: Gluttony
Concept: Health guru

Attribute Priority: Mental/Physical/Social
Favored Resistance Attribute: Resolve
Intelligence: 3
Wits: 3
Resolve: 3
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 2
Presence: 2
Manipulation: 2
Composure: 2

Skill Priority: Mental/Physical/Social
Mental Skills: Computer 3, Occult 4 (Astral Realms), Science 4
Physical Skills: Athletics 5 (Throwing, Long Distance Running), Weaponry 1
Social Skills: Subterfuge 4

Health: 7
Willpower: 5
Gnosis: 3 (6 Merit points spent)
Wisdom: 7
Size: 5
Speed: 9
Defense: 3
Initiative Modifier: 5

Arcana: Forces 2, Mind 3, Prime 1
Rotes: Wifi (The Free Council p108), Force Shield, Discern Phantasm, Fast-Learner (The Free Council p111), Quantum State Preservation (Astral Realms p24), Bastion of Thought
Merits: 6 spent to increase Gnosis to 3, Dream 1
Nimbus: Gravity around Asoma seems to go awry; hair stands on end, papers float into the air, falling rain doesn't reach the ground. Objects taken on an unnatural sheen. Those in close proximity can hear a faint, high-pitched ringing in their ears.

History

Armand was born into a world that didn't quite understand him. Ridicule and stereotypes tempered him into a young man who didn't need approval. He found solace, instead, in perfecting his self-image: exercise, meditation, new age diets. Anything for his physical and emotional wellbeing. After researching the supposed benefits of 'higher' levels of meditation, he stumbled upon an article about lucid dreaming.

He thought it was unusual how quickly he was able to escape reality - he had read that only the most experienced in meditation ever achieve it. He had no idea that he was really brushing up against the realm of the Aether. He saw hints of an even higher level of existence - one without the need of a physical body at all - and soon became consumed with the idea of achieving it. On one such trip, he approached a pillar that seemed to climb infinitely higher into the sky. His dream-self floated ever higher, as lighting crashed and winds threatened to sweep him away. He didn't care. He needed to reach the top. He finally reached a platform, from which the pillar rose higher still, and rested on his hands and knees. A plaque met his eyes there, and a chisel. Something in him told him he needed to claim this place for his own, so he carved his name.

His first thoughts, after coming back to reality, were to go there again. Climb higher and reach enlightenment. He began skipping meals and missing work just to experience the journey. The only thing that pulled him away from losing himself entirely was a messenger in his dreams that told him he should seek others who could help him complete his journey. For reasons he did not entirely understand, he packed his things and moved to Sacramento the next day.

[Benji]

You got Forces2 and Mind3. You might like to switch out the wifi rote that you don't need cause it's a covert spell that doesn't depend on potency for something else. You might want to switch out your armor choice from Forces to Mind. You might want to take something other than spells only useful in the astral at CC because Astral has some hurdles that you have to jump to have access to.

For god's sake don't use the rote's name, use the spell name. It makes it so much easier to look the spells up.

Health Guru gonna need some good dots in Medicine (Health) and Persuasion (Guru).

The Skill min/maxing is funky as hell and the STs are gonna be on that like Trent Lott on a plate o' grits.

[West]

Travisc06489
That's an awfully low Contagion threshold for the Skill twinking it's obvious you're planning to do. It's also pretty clear you want to be a Mastigos but you're not because you also want that Obrimos Legacy. You're probably going to end up mucking about with Path confusion like everyone else who does that.

Then again, I'm not a big fan of basing chargen on a Legacy. Most of the time, that ends up basically being a collection of words wrapped around mechanics to justify them rather than being an actual character.


AwakeOrangutang
I'd consider having Socialize for a reporter!

[Travisc06489]

Cross I can prolly switch out a dot of Dex for Stam. Health and spell tolerance sound better than one extra lowsy dot of Defense.

Benji I'll look over the rotes again and see if I can find some better fits, thanks for the heads up on that. As far as skills go... heh.

Hrrmm... West Is it 'illegal' to specialize my skill sets in such a manner? I can round it out if it's required. I specialized like I did cuz I feel like I was spread too thin with Mikey. Jack of some trades, master of literally none. Just trying out a different approach, I guess. I'm open to suggestions, of course. I'm just worried that if my Mage isn't really good at some things he's just gonna die in his first fight. See also: Mikey

On the subject of Legacy... I just think they're cool to have. I also feel like if I don't gear my dots towards them early that it would take a year to get the exp for a Legacy. Then again... I feel you on character depth. I usually prefer to have a character who wasn't designed at chargen for what he will eventually be. Guess it was obvious that I did look up a Legacy first and then work backwards from there. I suppose I could just play a Magistos, still buy the Gnosis, then figure out what legacy he wants to be a part of IC.

If anyone has any other suggestions for tweaking this guy, please feel free to let them fly.

[West]

It's not illegal, and Michael Travis isn't getting shanked because of how his dots were allocated ^^