[JoeNapalm]

Well, here's my first attempt at a 500 BP Mage (well, ANY Mage, really):

Personal Data:               
Handle:  The Duke
Metatype:   Fomori
Name:   Herkimer St.John-Smythe   
Sex:   Male      
Primary Alias:   John Smith         
Street Cred:   0
Total Karma:   0   Notoriety:   1
Current Karma:   0   Public Awareness:   0


Attributes:         
BODY:   9
AGILITY:   4
REACTION:   4
STRENGTH:   7
CHARISMA:   3
INTUITION:   4
LOGIC:   4
WILLPOWER:   5

MAGIC:   5
EDGE:   3
   
INITIATIVE:   8
INI PASSES:   1
   
ESSENCE:   6

Qualities:   
Positive   
Magician   +15
Mentor Spirit (Dark King)   +5
Perceptive   +10
Analytical Mind   +5

Negative   
Gremlins   -10
Sensitive Sys.   -15
Enemy (Triads)   -10

Skills:
Active:   
Sorcery Group   3
Conjuring Group   3
Close Combat Group   2
Pistols   2
Assensing   2
Astral Combat   2
Arcana   2
Enchanting   2

Knowledge:   
Underworld Politics (Seattle): 3   
Chemistry: 3   
Magic Theory: 3   
Spirits: 3   
Police Procedures (CSI): 3   
Literature (Shakespeare): 3   
Magical Phenomenon: 3   

Languages:
English: N
Latin: 3


Alias Identity:
Fake SIN   Rating
John Smith   4

Fake Licenses:   Rating
Magic License   4
Foci License   4
Conceal Carry   4
Heavy Pistol   4
Private Investigator   4

Lodge:
Materials (F5)

Lifestyle:   Low (10LP)
Comforts   2
Entertainment   0
Necessities   2
Neighborhood   2
Security   4
Lifestyle Qs:   
Positive
Workplace +1
Perfect Roomate +2
Negative
Network Bottleneck -1
Green Plan -1
Sprite Magnet -1

Contacts:   Connection    Loyalty
Police Detective   4   2
Talismonger   2   2

Tradition: Chaos Magic
Spells:
Analyze Truth (Detection)
Armor (Manipulation)
Catalog (Detection)
Increase Reflexes (Health)
Improved Invisibility (Illusion)
Mana Bolt (Combat)



Spirits:

Mentor: Dark King

Bound: One – 3 Tasks

Foci:

Power Focus – Mystic Pocketwatch  Force 2

Weapon Focus: Cane   Force 2

Sustaining Focus (Health): Oroborus Pendant Force 3


Ranged Weapons   Damage
   
Cavalier Deputy   5P
Heavy Pistol   
   Troll Size Modification
   Personalized Grip
   Laser Sight
   Lanyard
Carry: Right hip, Quick Draw   
   
Melee Weapons   
   
Custom “City Stick” Cane (Mace)   
Melee   Weapon Focus - Force 2
   Troll Size Modification
   Personalized Grip
   Melee Hardening
   Custom Look
Total Melee Bonus: +5 (+1 Personalized Grip, +2 Focus, + 2 Reach)   
Carried by hand or tucked through belt   
   
Hardliner Gloves      
   
Ammunition   Type
Heavy Pistol   Standard

Armor   B/I
Vashon Island Steampunk Line (components):   
Overcoat   3/3
Vest   2/2
Slacks   1/1
Shirt   1/1
Form-Fit Full Suit   6/2
Total:   13/9
   
Gear   
   
Commlink   Meta Link
   Vector Vim
   - Subvocal Mic
   
Goggles   Rating 4
   - Flare Compensation
   - Low-Light
   - Image Link
   - Vision Enhancement 3
   
PocketMage Library – Rating 3   
Forensic Thaumatergey Kit   
Forensic kit   
Glue Sprayer   
Quick-Draw Holster   
Medkit (Rating 5)   
Binoculars   
Periscope   

Bio:

Herkimer St.John-Smythe was born into the privileged life of British Aristocracy, and never had wanted for anything...that is, until he turned into a Troll at the age of thirteen. His family had always had rumors of ill omens, foul luck, possibly a curse - but this, having a Fomori heir was not well-received by Lord Smythe, Viscount of Strangford. Herkimer was smuggled off to Kelvinside Academy, outside of Glasgow, and left there, far from the eyes of the peerage. There he remained for a couple of years, increasingly feeling a prisoner, more and more frequently haunted by dark dreams. Finally, Herkimer devised a plan - he found a narrow gap in the school's perimeter sensors. Late one winter night, he struck out.

The hole in the sensor net allowed him to attempt a crossing of the frozen river that flowed along two sides of the grounds. Herk would have made it, too...except for his new Trollish nature. The ice that would have held his human form gave way under the Troll, plunging him into the icy water.

The doctors said that he had been clinically dead for three minutes. That wasn't important. What was important was that when Herkimer regained consciousness, he saw things in a way he never had before. Something had awakened inside of him. He could see things no one else could see, do things no one else could do.

But the chill of death never left him. He found that he simply knew things about his new-found Magic, without being taught. The nightmares had ended, but there was a voice, now...an unheard voice telling him things he shouldn't know. Finally, in an attempt to escape the chill in his bones, Herk stepped into the Astral Realm, and there he confronted the source of that voice - The Dark King, Tethra, King of Mag Mell, the Lord of the Underworld.

Unknown to Herkimer, his family had old ties to the Dark King, and now this grim and powerful entity had decided to take Herk under his wing and mentor him in the ways of Magic (though his presence strained even Herkimer's Trollish vitality). Under the Dark King's cryptic guidance, Herk left Britain, crossing the ocean and finally settling in Seattle. There, Herkimer found his calling - he was drawn to those who's lives were taken before their time...an affront to his Mentor Spirit.

When Crash 2.0 hit, Herkimer's SIN was erased.  Herk's family disavowed any knowledge of Herkimer, stealing his titles and inheritance. Herkimer cared little.

Herk worked as a consultant to Lone Star, solving bizarre murders, often those with ties to the Occult. It was in this capacity that he received his nickname - one of the officers, commenting on Herkimer's Old-World style of speech and Victorian manner of dress, sarcastically stated "Oh, look - it's the Duke of Seattle." The name, in part, had stuck, and Herkimer became simply known as "The Duke."

Working with a veteran Lone Star Detective, The Duke helped solve a string of horrific Spirit slayings, and in the process earned the enmity of the Seattle area Triads and a solid contact on the force. Something in the nature of his magic seems to wreak havoc with modern electronics, earning him a reputation as a bit of a jinx. Herk only relies on old-school technology, such as his trusty revolver or his ever present (magically enhanced) cane.

Herkimer, tall and thin (even for a Fomori) dresses in the manner of a Victorian gentleman with some Steampunk influences - suit, vest, long overcoat, dark goggles, and a top hat (with holes in the brim for his long, goat-like horns). He carries a custom Cavalier Deputy revolver, his melee-hardened walking stick [Note: similar to real-life "Cold Steel City Stick"], wears an occult pocket watch on his vest and an enchanted Oroborus pendant over his ascot.


/end incredibly long build post

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[JoeNapalm]

Wow. No comments whatsoever?

I kinda expected this guy to get picked apart. *Grin*

Never made a Mage, before, in ANY edition, let alone 4. And a Troll to boot.

Or is it that there's no fixing him, so everyone is just ignoring him, like some crazy homeless guy?

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[Makki]

well, he looks well rounded, although I have no experience with 500BP chars.
Your skills are a bit low. You could drop Conjuring and Close Combat, to get higher values in Summoning and Clubs.
And you totally missed the Perception skill With all your bonuses you should at least get the skill.
The Armor spell is not very good, and not necessary, as you are all ready very very tough.
You should change to an Intuition Tradition and change one point of Logic to Intuition 5. Fomori are British, so maybe Druid? (omg, my most advanced char is a Troll Druid, but totally different so.)

[baronspam]

I pretty much agree with Makki.  Your character is well rounded, and definately much tougher than the typical mage.  For a 500 build point character your skills do seem a bit low.  Pick up the Perception skill, seems to be appropriate for an investigator and you have a quality that supports it. 

Consider how much you want Arcana and Enchanting.  While certainly usefull, they are somewhat "lab rat" skills for the awakened.  Your character is a troll that wacks things over the head with a magic stick.  How much time does he spend in the lodge working on formulas?

Unless you really see him as using alot of different melee weapons, drop close combat group.  Replace with clubs 2 and a specialization for the cane and unarmed 2.  Two more dice for your magical beat stick and you save two build points.

I also agree with Makki that you might see if there is an Intuition based tradition that works for you.  That logic 4 isn't really doing much other than supporting resist drain, you might save some there and get another dice for either sorcery or conjuring. 

[JoeNapalm]

Cool - great advice, both of you.

I'll look at those points.

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[JoeNapalm]

The Intuition thing makes sense, but there are no Traditions that use Intuition for Drain that also have Spirits of Man.

I get +2 to Spirits of Man from my Mentor.

I suppose I could change my Mentor, as well - Owl is very similar...

...hrrrmmm....

EDIT: I also can't trade 1pt of Logic for a 1pt of Intuition - 5 would max it out, so that would need another 18pts...ow.


-Jn-
City of Brass Expatriate

[JoeNapalm]

How about something like this for the skills?:

Sorcery Group   4
Conjuring Group   3
Clubs (Canes)   2(+2)
Unarmed   2
Pistols (Revolvers)   2(+2)
Assensing   1
Astral Combat   2
Perception   1


I generally would never put 1 point in something, but as he gets hefty bonuses for Assensing and Perception, I figure that saves me enough points to get the spells from raising spellcasting.

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[baronspam]

The Intuition thing makes sense, but there are no Traditions that use Intuition for Drain that also have Spirits of Man.

I get +2 to Spirits of Man from my Mentor.

I suppose I could change my Mentor, as well - Owl is very similar...

...hrrrmmm....

EDIT: I also can't trade 1pt of Logic for a 1pt of Intuition - 5 would max it out, so that would need another 18pts...ow.


-Jn-
City of Brass Expatriate

It is entirely within the rules to define your own magic tradition.  It could be one that went no further than your family and its immediate servants and allies.  You don't have to model a real world magical tradition, and you could be the sole remaining practioner of the tradition.  Maybe thats why the Dark One sought you out, to keep the thread of the tradition intact. 

In short, if you want to resist drain with intuition, you can resist drain with intuition.  And if you do a nice writeup of the tradition, the GM will probably admire the extra effort, rather than feel you are min-maxing. 

I don't think you will get your intuition any higher, but you might pare down the logic a bit and use the points elsewhere.  A melee capable troll mage is kind of a concept build anyway, but personally I would really like another dice in either sorcery or conjuring.

P.S. I like the skill list in your other post.

[JoeNapalm]

Oh. Yeah, I can do that, can't I?

Thanks!

-Jn-

[JoeNapalm]

Okay, with Spellcasting 4, he gets two new spells...making his arsenal the following:

Analyze Truth (Detection)
Catalog (Detection)
Increase Reflexes (Health)
Improved Invisibility (Illusion)
Influence (Manipulation)
Heal (Health)
Mana Bolt (Combat)
Mind Probe (Detection)

I'm wondering if I should ditch one of these for, say, Lightening Bolt - but I'm torn. I mean, he's part of a team - Manabolt has a bunch of advantages...it's Direct, they only get WIL to resist and no armor, etc...but it's not going to do much vs some enemies. I figure Lightening Bolt will give him more options?

Or even something like Hot Potato, for dealing with those volatile situations where I might not want people dead.

Also torn over Heal. One of our team is going to be a Combat Medic. Not sure if I should waste one of my precious spells on something I can do for ¥500 with a Medkit.


Any thoughts?

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[Charybdis]

Okay, with Spellcasting 4, he gets two new spells...making his arsenal the following:

Analyze Truth (Detection)
Catalog (Detection)
Increase Reflexes (Health)
Improved Invisibility (Illusion)
Influence (Manipulation)
Heal (Health)
Mana Bolt (Combat)
Mind Probe (Detection)

I'm wondering if I should ditch one of these for, say, Lightening Bolt - but I'm torn. I mean, he's part of a team - Manabolt has a bunch of advantages...it's Direct, they only get WIL to resist and no armor, etc...but it's not going to do much vs some enemies. I figure Lightening Bolt will give him more options?

Actually, I'd recommend Stun bolt for more flexibility in terms of not killing your targets.
A) less drain than Mana Bolt
B) Stuns instead of Kills (so is a bit more investigation-friendly)
C) Disrupts spirits just as well as Manabolt (a bit better, actually, due to lower drain)

only downside is that Manabolt works on Wards and Foci, whereas Stun Bolt does not (objects ignore Stun damage, even magical ones)

As for Catalog, that's a GM-nightmare spell (ever had to write up an list of items in a room, ad-hoc....? Gods I hate that spell!), so I'd actually ditch that one for either Powerbolt or Lightning Bolt accordingly.

[JoeNapalm]

As someone who's spent a lot of time GMing other games, the nightmare that is Catalog had occurred to me.

I know the GM pretty well - I think it will be more of an RP event. My character is very analytical - he can cast the spell, make the list, and just ask if there's anything there that seems out of place or that my Troll can grok some meaning from.

I mean, for an investigator, that's an awesome spell. Screw a nine-hour search of the crime scene, I can tell you everything here within two minutes!

All of that aside, I'll run it by the GM. If it's going to give him heartburn, I'll definitely drop it.

I know there's a whole lengthy thread around here on Heal. Kinda torn. Lightening Bolt would be nice vs Mages, Drones, Vehicles, etc...but it is pretty heavy on Drain. And there's always guns for Physical threats...not just my Troll's old-school revolver, but the actual Hitters on the team.

Or I could always summon a Fire Spirit and say "Sic 'em!"

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist

[Charybdis]

I know there's a whole lengthy thread around here on Heal. Kinda torn. Lightening Bolt would be nice vs Mages, Drones, Vehicles, etc...but it is pretty heavy on Drain. And there's always guns for Physical threats...not just my Troll's old-school revolver, but the actual Hitters on the team.

Lightning bolt is a fun, flashy spell...but it's not very good against the things you've listed....

Lightning bolt isn't that good against mages.... The high drain means you can't cast a big force version, so they're chances of counterspelling it are pretty good (and if it's Countered, the target avoids making any Will+Body tests vs Paralysis).

It's not brilliant against vehicles or big drones either. For starters objects ignore Stun damage...so you're not going to tick anything down.
Also, they can normally buy the successes they need to avoid total shutdown (Armour plus Body of 12 and they can buy the 3 successes needed).... this means anything bigger than a Harley is going to ignore the spell completely, no matter how brilliant you cast it... 12 successes? The GM doesn't care... The ganger's bike continues unimpeded....

Small drones are easy targets if they're not rigged.... but if they are, a good rigger gets to dodge Lightning Bolts (Indirect Combat spell, dodged with Reaction), and seeing as the Spell is limited to Force successes, but a plugged-in Rigger can dodge like a Mo-Fo.... it's only the unattended ones you're going to bring down...and these are hardly a big issue.

[JoeNapalm]

Ah, good to know. I thought that the Electrical damage would hammer those things...but if that's not the case, I won't waste my time with it.

I could just stick with either Stun or Mana Bolt for living things and Power Bolt, then, for stuff I need to break?

(Too bad...Lightning Bolts have that "I'm a Mage, don't @#$% with me!" visual effect.)

It has also come to my attention that I screwed up my math and I need to come up with 17BP (long story, don't ask). That's gonna hurt.

I guess the obvious place to start would be to cut the Spirits I have bound (3BP) cause I can always just Summon them, anyway...not as nice as having a Fire Spirit on standby, but I can cope during the game.

That leaves me with a mere 14BP I have to carve out...with a dull, rusty spoon...

The Foci are a glaring BP sink, but I'm kind of attached to them. The Weapon Focus is totally not necessary, but it's a style-over-substance thing. The Power Focus is like 12BP worth of Gear and Binding BP - but it nets me something like 32BP in bonuses (+2 to all Sorcery/Conjuring skills, except Counterspelling, I believe). The Sustaining Focus is going to keep me playing with the Big Boys by allowing me to maintain Increase Reflexes...otherwise I'm a doorstop while the Street Sams do their thing.

If I create my own Tradition, Willpower+Intuition based (I'm thinking combine Chaos and Druidic Traditions - still fits with his backstory) and including Spirits of Man (for either Detection or Manipulation, I think?) I still take advantage of my strengths and Spirit Mentor, I can drop LOG by 1 point (10BP) and drop one of my lesser skills for the remaining 4BP (Perception or Assensing, maybe, because I get big bonuses for those...Perception I get like +7 with my goggles on (+2 Mentor, +2 Perceptive Quality, +3 Image Enhancement) so I can probably afford to lose a point.

Gah.

-Jn-
Ifriti Sophist