[Weldûn]

I'm creating a key NPC for my campaign who uses Heavy Metal as the basis for his own magical tradition. Now, I've been tooling around with the stylistic aspects of it for a while, but when I recently played Brutal Legend, I reworked it a little. Still, I'm not entirely happy with it, so I'm throwing it up here for some feedback in nailing it down.

Concept: The sounds and themes of Heavy Metal speak to the soul and call through astral space to the spirits. Through the elements of Metal, Noise, Blood and Fire, the modern bard can unleash the power of the beast within.
Combat: Fire (Fire)
Detection: Beasts (Beasts)
Health: Guardian (Noise)
Illusion: Man (Blood)
Manipulation: Task (Metal)
Drain: Willpower + Intuition

Like I said, I'm not happy with this, specifically the spirits. Help me, Jackpoint members, you're my only hope.   

EDIT: Conceptually, certain mentor spirits can work really well for this tradition. Adversary, Artificer, Bull, Dark Goddess, Dragon, Sky Father, Dark King, Dragonslayer, Firebringer, Seductress and Wise Warrior all fit due to Metal drawing much of it's symbolism and themes from European legends.

[CanRay]

Drain should be Willpower + Charisma, got to have stage presence after all!

Mentor Spirit:  Ormagöden
"The Eternal Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World", or so he is called, Ormagöden is a beast apparently made of chrome and engine parts, with exhausts that burst fire with every roar that seems to drown out all of existence.  He demands of all of his followers to perform in the most audacious and powerful way possible, eschewing subtlety as a weakness of body and soul that should be avoided at all times.  Go loud or go home!

Advantages:  +2 dice to damage resistance tests, excluding drain.
Disadvantages:  A  Ormagöden magician  must  make  a  Willpower  + Charisma (3) Test to avoid doing something in a way that is not overt, loud, and audacious.  Why cast spells from the safety of the vehicle when you can car surf with a Watcher Spirit blaring out DragonForce to all who have ears to hear, and bleed from the volume?

[Weldûn]

Drain should be Willpower + Charisma, got to have stage presence after all!

STEP 3: Drain
Once the core concept is thought out, the Drain attribute used by a tradition is often self-evident. A tradition with a practical,
scientific, and planned approach to magic suggests Logic as the secondary Drain attribute; for a tradition with a spontaneous,
ecstatic, or artistic approach, Intuition would likely be better; finally, one which focuses principally on dealing, interacting,
and wooing spirit forces should call on Charisma.

Emphasis is mine. Besides, this is for mages who are inspired by the imagery and sounds of Metal. Basing it off Charisma will turn them into Metal Gods in their own right. Still, looking at the stated concept, you might be right.

Mentor Spirit:  Ormagöden
"The Eternal Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World", or so he is called, Ormagöden is a beast apparently made of chrome and engine parts, with exhausts that burst fire with every roar that seems to drown out all of existence.  He demands of all of his followers to perform in the most audacious and powerful way possible, eschewing subtlety as a weakness of body and soul that should be avoided at all times.  Go loud or go home!

Advantages:  +2 dice to damage resistance tests, excluding drain.
Disadvantages:  A  Ormagöden magician  must  make  a  Willpower  + Charisma (3) Test to avoid doing something in a way that is not overt, loud, and audacious.  Why cast spells from the safety of the vehicle when you can car surf with a Watcher Spirit blaring out DragonForce to all who have ears to hear, and bleed from the volume?

I admitted to being re-inspired by Brutal Legend, but this might be going too far. But then again, it really captures the attitude. Curse you, CanRay! Why must you be so awesome?!

[CanRay]

Mentor Spirit:  Ormagöden
"The Eternal Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World", or so he is called, Ormagöden is a beast apparently made of chrome and engine parts, with exhausts that burst fire with every roar that seems to drown out all of existence.  He demands of all of his followers to perform in the most audacious and powerful way possible, eschewing subtlety as a weakness of body and soul that should be avoided at all times.  Go loud or go home!

Advantages:  +2 dice to damage resistance tests, excluding drain.
Disadvantages:  A  Ormagöden magician  must  make  a  Willpower  + Charisma (3) Test to avoid doing something in a way that is not overt, loud, and audacious.  Why cast spells from the safety of the vehicle when you can car surf with a Watcher Spirit blaring out DragonForce to all who have ears to hear, and bleed from the volume?

I admitted to being re-inspired by Brutal Legend, but this might be going too far. But then again, it really captures the attitude. Curse you, CanRay! Why must you be so awesome?!

I am awesome for I was weaned as a child on Metal.  \m/  O  \m/

And The Blues, as well.  It gives me power, and soul.

Replace "Ormagöden" with "Spirit of Metal" and it gets generic again, BTW.

[Weldûn]

Mentor Spirit:  Spirit of Metal
"The Eternal Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World", or so he is called, Spirit of Metal is a beast apparently made of chrome and engine parts, with exhausts that burst fire with every roar that seems to drown out all of existence.  He demands of all of his followers to perform in the most audacious and powerful way possible, eschewing subtlety as a weakness of body and soul that should be avoided at all times.  Go loud or go home!

Advantages:  +2 dice to damage resistance tests, excluding drain.
Disadvantages:  A  Spirit of Metal magician  must  make  a  Willpower  + Charisma (3) Test to avoid doing something in a way that is not overt, loud, and audacious.  Why cast spells from the safety of the vehicle when you can car surf with a Watcher Spirit blaring out DragonForce to all who have ears to hear, and bleed from the volume?

So it does.

[Neurosis]

I approve of this.

[UmaroVI]

Also, Artisan - which is used to play music - is Intuition, not Charisma.

I'd suggest adding +2 Artisan to that mentor spirit. Normally, mentor spirits give +2 to two different things.

[CanRay]

Damage Resistance tests are pretty big, but yeah, they usually do.  And a Gaes of Face-Melting Solo would ROCK!!!

[beowulf_of_wa]

thank you all for a totally sideways inspiration

free AI from a universities Psych dept, specializing in analysis of people through their music choices.

unfortunately, this AI has a thing for death metal, gangsta rap, and any song that includes the concept of cannibalism.

not going to be played as a nice guy. to quote its favorite song, " i want to kill everybody in the world. i want to eat your heart."

[CanRay]

Some
possible
icons.

[beowulf_of_wa]

might need to edit that post Just a tiny bit.

[CanRay]

Done.  Wasn't feeling well and had a nap after that post.  Now I see how bad I was doing.   

Needs to be more metal!!!  That's all it is!

[CanRay]

Options for a bunch of Spirits of Man?

[Teknodragon]

Awesome idea, Weldun. +1!

Canray, +1 for being a fellow Dragonforce fan!

Now if I could only play a drake who rocks out to Dragonforce turned up to 11 as a geas for spellcasting... alas, my GMs say, 'No,' 'HELL no!', and 'We're running Missions now.'

[Weldûn]

Here's a quickish mock-up that I've done of a character using this tradition. Might even play him.

EDIT: Cleaned up and substituted Powerbolt for Fireball.

== Info ==
Ork

== Attributes ==
BOD: 6
AGI: 4
REA: 3
STR: 4
CHA: 4
INT: 5
LOG: 2
WIL: 5
EDG: 2
MAG: 4

== Derived Attributes ==
Essence:                   6
Initiative:                8
IP:                        1
Astral Initiative:         10
Astral IP:                 3
Matrix Initiative:         8
Matrix IP:                 1
Physical Damage Track:     11
Stun Damage Track:         11

== Active Skills ==
Arcana                     : 1                      Pool: 3
Artisan                    : 3 [Guitars]            Pool: 8 (10)
Assensing                  : 1                      Pool: 6
Banishing                  : 2                      Pool: 6
Binding                    : 2                      Pool: 6
Blades                     : 1                      Pool: 5
Clubs                      : 1                      Pool: 5
Con                        : 1                      Pool: 5
Counterspelling            : 3                      Pool: 7
Etiquette                  : 1                      Pool: 5
Intimidation               : 1                      Pool: 5
Leadership                 : 1                      Pool: 7
Negotiation                : 1                      Pool: 5
Pilot Ground Craft         : 1                      Pool: 4
Pistols                    : 1                      Pool: 5
Ritual Spellcasting        : 3                      Pool: 7
Spellcasting               : 3                      Pool: 7
Summoning                  : 2                      Pool: 6
Unarmed Combat             : 1                      Pool: 5

== Knowledge Skills ==
Area Knowledge: Seattle    : 3                      Pool: 8
Bars and Clubs             : 4                      Pool: 9
English                    : N                      Pool: 0
Gangs                      : 3                      Pool: 8
German                     : 3                      Pool: 8
Magical Theory             : 1                      Pool: 3
Music                      : 4 [Heavy Metal]        Pool: 6 (
Or'zet                     : 2                      Pool: 7

== Contacts ==

== Qualities ==
Day Job (20 hrs/week)
Fame (Local)
In Debt (5,000¥)
Low-Light Vision
Magician
Mentor Spirit (Bull)

== Spells ==
(Tradition: Heavy Metal, Resist Drain with WIL + INT (10))
Heal                       DV: (Damage Value)-2
Fireball                  DV: (F÷2)+5
Sterilize                  DV: (F÷2)+2
Stunball                   DV: (F÷2)+1
Stunbolt                   DV: (F÷2)-1
Trid Phantasm              DV: (F÷2)+3

== Armor ==
Armor Jacket              8/6

== Weapons ==
Knife
   DV: 3P   AP: -   RC: 0
Ruger Super Warhawk
   +Laser Sight
   DV: 6P   AP: -2   RC: 0
Unarmed Attack
   DV: 2S   AP: -   RC: 0

== Commlink ==
Erika Elite (3, 3, 3, 4)
   +Iris Orb OS
   +Fetch Module Rating 2
   +Suite: Basic+ [Analyze 3, Browse 3, Command 1, Edit 3]
   +Stealth Rating 3
   +AR Gloves
   +Trodes
   +Simrig

== Gear ==
Ammo: Regular Ammo (Heavy Pistols) x50
BTL Recording x10
Docwagon Contract: Basic
Fake SIN Rating 4
Glasses Rating 2
   +Flare Compensation
   +Image Link
Jazz x4
Kamikaze x2
Long Haul
Magical Lodge Materials Rating 4
Metal Restraints x2
Nanopaste Disguise (Small Container) Rating 6 x2
RFID Sensor
   +Microphone Rating 1

== Vehicles ==
Harley-Davidson Scorpion (Chopper)
   +Pimped Ride Level 1
   +Run Flat Tires (2)
   +Spoof Chip
   +Vehicle Sensor