Old World Monsters

[Dark Silver]

I've already called dibs on the Frankenstein's Monster, need to work with Charon on exactly how to quantify the bastard though....

closest we got in so far is Revenant/Golem mix

[Charon]

Hmm, I'm not too familiar with Djinn. Wish I had that awesome book that one of my friends has... Ah well.

*Gets out the GM patent Chainsaw*

For now, these are the changes that are possibly being made. I reserve the right upon further inspection on Djinn to change any of these ideas.

Normally invisible is right out the window. A limited number of other forms, only 4 or 5 tops. They have their own magic, but it's on the level of what a Revenant or a Vampire can do. We can discuss what exactly these limitations are. Their own religions... I'd prefer to keep this as simple on the religion scale as we possibly can. Religion is going to be playing an important role in this game. I will be working on some kind of weakness (possibly a weakness similar to Golems that you just don't "get" humans).

[LadyTevar]

Djinni are weak against Kaballah magics in Arabic mythos. The Seal of Solomon is the biggest one, but various Jewish and Arabic spells can contain and command them. Most are tricksters, many have grudges against humans who have tricked them into service in the past.

I don't know how you will handle the 'Three Wishes' part, unless the spells that command them can only force them to perform three tasks before breaking. Mythology and misunderstanding could easily turn tasks into wishes, especially when translated from Arabic/Aramaic into Western languages.

[Cynical Cat]

Djinni are weak against Kaballah magics in Arabic mythos. The Seal of Solomon is the biggest one, but various Jewish and Arabic spells can contain and command them. Most are tricksters, many have grudges against humans who have tricked them into service in the past.

I don't know how you will handle the 'Three Wishes' part, unless the spells that command them can only force them to perform three tasks before breaking. Mythology and misunderstanding could easily turn tasks into wishes, especially when translated from Arabic/Aramaic into Western languages.

that's just local binding magics. No need to be fancy about it.

[LadyTevar]

I was just trying to fit it into the mythos, Cat

[Charon]

Three wishes are being thrown out. Though it's certainly not unheard of for a Wizard to bind a magical entity to their will and possibly the will of others and this might have occured to a number of Djinn.

[rhoenix]

*Gets out the GM patent Chainsaw*

For now, these are the changes that are possibly being made. I reserve the right upon further inspection on Djinn to change any of these ideas.

Normally invisible is right out the window. A limited number of other forms, only 4 or 5 tops. They have their own magic, but it's on the level of what a Revenant or a Vampire can do. We can discuss what exactly these limitations are. Their own religions... I'd prefer to keep this as simple on the religion scale as we possibly can. Religion is going to be playing an important role in this game. I will be working on some kind of weakness (possibly a weakness similar to Golems that you just don't "get" humans).[/i]

Sounds good so far.

So, after some hashing out with Charon about them via AIM, here is a revised list of their characteristics as far as this game is concerned:

- There are four different sorts of djinn, being essentially elemental - air, earth, fire, and water. As such, they have a strong dislike (and weakness) to their opposing element - e.g. an air djinn would get claustrophobic in underground places, or in places where the air doesn't flow well.

- They can change their shape, but they require 5-10 years of study to understand a particular species enough to take it's form. They are individuals in whatever form they take, and as such cannot copy another being. They also are limited to 4 different forms total that they can change into; once a form is chosen, it cannot be discarded or forgotten.

- The superficial details of each form they take is influenced by their element - e.g. an air-aspected djinni would have colorings evocative of the sky, clouds, or lightning, whereas a fire-aspected djinni would have colorings evocative of flames, or things on fire.

- They are capable of magic, but only to the same degree of a revenant or a vampire. Their choice of spells and manner of casting is influenced by their element.

- Their lifespan is typically much longer than humans; usually about 300-400 years.

- Culturally, they are quite similar to humans - they marry, raise children, fight wars, follow religions, and so forth. They follow the same religions humans do, and their choices are typically influenced by where in the world they hail from. Their practice of that religion is usually influenced by a subtle degree by their element.

= = = =

So, I've removed their invisibility, intangibility, and a few other things. For flavor, Charon and I agreed on giving them elements to properly quantify them and give them flavor, as well as give them an inherent weakness.

How does this look so far?

[LadyTevar]

Much better, I think. Although I still like the idea that bindings on them only last for 3 tasks.

[rhoenix]

Much better, I think. Although I still like the idea that bindings on them only last for 3 tasks.

I can understand, simply due to their mythos - however, the bindings as such were also done on other monsters in myth with the same limitations, making me think that it's not so much a weakness of theirs, as just an informal tradition by lazy wizards of that area and younger djinn who talk with the wrong sort.

[Marcao]

if this game gets off the ground, I may participate as a vampire more likely than not. its the only one of the current archetypes that appeals to me.

[LadyTevar]

Nitram and I are discussing playing as Wizards. We're not sure yet.

[Rukia]

Everyone wants to be a vampire.... dang it. I'd feel crappy if I chose to be one also and we had too many.

grrrr....

[Cynical Cat]

Everyone wants to be a vampire.... dang it. I'd feel crappy if I chose to be one also and we had too many.

grrrr....

Can't have too many. Vampires are like red heads and cool in groups.

[rhoenix]

Vampires are like red heads and cool in groups.

...I'm so going to leave that one alone.

[rhoenix]

And in an odd way, that reminds me to add another item about Djinn. (Thank you to LadyTevar for the solution about the resulting child djinn's element.)

- Djinn of different elements can mate all they want, but only Djinn of complementary elements or the same element can breed (e.g. Earth with Water, Fire with Air, Earth with Fire, or Water with Air). The resulting child will always be of the mother's element. Socially, dual-element marriages are quite rare amongst the djinn and will raise eyebrows, though they do happen from time to time.

[Rukia]

Everyone wants to be a vampire.... dang it. I'd feel crappy if I chose to be one also and we had too many.

grrrr....

Can't have too many. Vampires are like red heads and cool in groups.

Can I put that in my sig?

[rhoenix]

Name: Agrilos Menshir

Type: Djinn, Air-aspected

Background: The child of a highly rare union between Djinn of different elements, his parents moved to the Ireland wilderness before he was born, far away from both of their respective tribes. Their tale was one of romance, and forbidden love - they decided to move so far away from either of their respective tribes to reduce to inevitable questions and condemnation from either of their families, as their families were still at war with one another.

Being raised as he was, he learned to respect all life and the delicate balance within it from an early age. Though he inherited his specialties, element, and wanderlust from his mother, his father taught him the ways of many other things - one reason Agrilos tends to be accepting of the ways of the world, no matter how strange it may be on the surface. His father, a Flame-aspected, taught him the ways of the warrior - though Agrilos does not actively follow that path, he nonetheless quickly became a quite competent fighter, mastering his human form early as a consequence.

Psychology: As a full adult now, Agrilos has inherited the wanderlust inherent within the Air-aspected Djinn. He is curious, quite intelligent, quick-witted, and has good instincts for trouble, as well as staying out of it - something which has served him well over the years. He will rarely get into a fight without excellent reason, but he is well-trained in the ways of finishing one, with or without bloodshed.

Fluent Languages: At the insistence of both his parents (his mother in particular, since she knew Agrilos would get the wanderlust eventually), he learned to be fluent in several languages. He speaks Gaelic, German, English, Italian, and Latin. He is literate in Gaelic, English, German, and Latin.

Religion: Pagan.

Vulnerabilities of Note: As an Air-aspected Djinn, Agrilos tend to get very claustrophobic if underground, or in places where the air does not move easily. He also highly values his freedom, and will stop at nothing to regain it should that freedom be taken from him.

Shapechanging: Having been trained in many forms of combat from the time he was young, Agrilos had to master shapechanging quickly to become human in most of the ways that matter. In his human shape, he has silver hair and grey eyes, despite looking no more than his early twenties. He has also mastered turning into a wolf (which has silver and black fur, and grey eyes), and a peregrine falcon (grey and white feathers, with grey eyes). He is undecided as to what he will choose as his fourth shape. As for his natural form, his upper body resembles that of his human form, except with light bluish skin, and yellow eyes; the lower half of his body is a furious whirlwind.

Air-Aspected Sorcery: Having spent more time learning the ways of combat, he has not studied as much as some of his people in the ways of the mystic. However he does know how to perform some useful magicks, mostly related directly to traveling or combat, such as:

- Whirlwind Armor: Summons fierce and tightly moving winds that rapidly circulate around his body. Helps to soften melee strikes from weapons, and protects against missile weapons.

- Summon Fog: Manifests a rolling fogbank that can quickly hamper visibility in the immediate area. Agrilos can see through it unhindered.

- Control Winds: Able to rudimentarily speak the language of winds, Agrilos can calm the winds, or excite them into howling gusts in the area.

- Thunderbolt: A bolt of pure lightning is flung from his eyes, hands, or with a swing of his melee weapon. Not as strong as a true lightning bolt, but able to stun a target, cause burns, and set flammable objects alight.

- Hasten: Increasing his perception of movement and time, this spell increases his movement rate, number of melee strikes, and number of ranged attack strikes. Given his current prowess, lasts for about 10 minutes, and leaves him very tired afterward.

- Leap of Winds: A gust of wind helps assist jumps, increasing the height and distance of his leaps.

- Breathe Without Air: Fresh breezes flow into his nose instead of the surrounding air, allowing him to breathe fresh, clean air in otherwise unbreathable conditions.

Commonly-carried Equipment:
- Weapons: High quality Scottish claymore, high quality longbow, hatchet, 1 long dagger, 8 throwing knives

- Armor: Chainmail shirt and leggings, buckler, leather vest with sheaths for throwing knives

- Other Items: Quiver with 20 arrows (made for longbow), traveler's satchel, flint & steel, bedroll, heavy blanket, light blanket, 2 extra shirts, 2 extra breeches, heavy water-resistant hooded cloak, 6 small bags, 2 large bags, whetstone, fletcher's kit

(EDIT version 1.1 - edited spell list, removing "fly," and adding "breathe without air")
(EDIT version 1.11 - added spell "Leap of Winds," and brief description of each spell)
(EDIT version 1.2 - added list of equipment)

[Cynical Cat]

Can I put that in my sig?

Of course you may.

[Rukia]

Krystyna Gàspàr

Vampire


Background: Sired by a direct descendant of pure Vampiric bloodlines after roughly two and a half decades of life, Krystyna is a very proud and powerful creature. Raised in a Romanian village she was taught the ways of her people. Basic rules of survival: stay out of direct sunlight. Keep away from holy items. Never feed from the dead. But most importantly, trust no one, trusting even another vampire, could cost you
your life.

The small community of vampires kept to themselves, staying under the radar. Disguising themselves as gypsies to go into local towns to hunt. Being a rather striking young woman before her change, it seemed as though the pale skin and bright eyes suited her. The men were drawn to her, and she quickly learned to use that to her advantage. She was cunning and smart, only taking the men who no one would miss. Her young youthful appearance allowed her to attract elderly woman, who often tried to ‘help a young woman in distress.’

Things were good for centuries, until she showed mercy on one human man. They met in secret and she fell in love. She trusted him, and he betrayed her. She narrowly escaped when the raiders destroyed her village. Years later, she found the man and turned him into the thing he helped kill. She now lives her life in a luxurious manner. Using her beauty and power to get what she wants.

Appearance: Tall and Slender. Waist-length dark hair. Ice Blue eyes. Her features are extremely Romanian but she is strikingly beautiful. (Think Esmeralda from Disney's Hunchback with blue eyes and longer hair.) Her skin retains a bit of its original tan color but has faded to a light olive completion.

Personality: She is a very quick thinker. She knows how use her abilities to her best advantage. Proud and very arrogant, but smart enough not to boast in the wrong places. She has become very powerful. Her once humble nature, turned fierce and unforgivable. She trusts no one and is especially wary of humans. Non-practicing Pagan.

Notable Vulnerabilities: Sunlight poses the biggest threat, if she is not properly protected. Her powers are greatly inhibited in the daylight. Silver items makes her violently ill as dose being in close proximity to holy objects her powers are greatly affected as well. If she comes in contact with a blessed item, it will burn her skin, prolonged exposure results in a great deal of damage. She is most vulnerable in her wolf form, unable to heal as effectively.

Powers: Full ability to shape shift into a wolf. Her bright blue eyes her outstanding trait. Ability to control a weaker mind allows her to keep ‘minions’ without the bloody mess, it also proves to be a useful tool in getting her out of trouble. Very fast, reflexes to the pint of being nearly precognitive.(Will take this out if it is too much.) Agile and strong she proves to be formidable opponent. Avoids turning into a mist but is able. Also her control over her shadow is strong but not perfect.

Languages: Romanian is her first and preferred. She also speaks English (although reluctantly). French. And enough German to get around. She's been around long enough to pick up snippets of several languages, but these she knows (almost) fluently.

Haven: Krystyna Moves from town to town. Never staying long enough for people to suspect her for the disapearances. She lives as lavishly as possible, normally taking over small abandoned castles or seducing then men that live there before feeding on them.

I will change this as needed.

[Charon]

For any character backgrounds that are put down, please include your characters religious beliefs (Can just go with "Christian", "Pagan", or "Jewish", etc. if you want, or you can get into more detail).

Also of note. I like including the histories of my players in the stories that I run. So the more details you give me about your character the more I have to work with and the happier both of us will be (plus I get to be lazy and not have to think up storyline).

[Rukia]

I put my religion in personality.

I tried to ask you fi I put enough background over AIM but my network craps out on me.... so I'm not sure if you responded....

[Shark Bait]

So after talking with charon over aim he has decided to allow me a norse/scandanavian style mountain troll an intelligent troll that possesses impressive strength and stamina along with regeneration and an imposing stature. Hailing from the far north mountain trolls are similar to Vikings and consider everything in the mountains they inhabit to be their property.

Per Auf Jottenheim (rock of the giant’s home)

Beyond the northern reach of petty human squabbles fierce wars are fought over land and gold, deep in the mountains the troll kings battle to rule their underground realms and subjugate the Gnomes who work their mines. Mountain trolls should never be confused with the hill trolls sometimes known as the grendel, a Mountain troll is fiercely proud of his home and bloodline and as intelligent as any human. Living for centuries and possessing great strength and stature they must eat nearly a human’s weight in food each day gaining them a brutish and blood thirsty reputation.

Nearly two century ago one troll lord, Rurik auf Jottenheim rose above the others and claimed the title of mountain king taking the entire mountain range under his rule. Since that time his leadership has taken the trolls to a new era of prosperity and wealth, the king himself has been blessed with three daughters and two sons. Sadly for Per the second son tradition dictates that all inheritance of lands and assets will go to his brother upon the death of their father. Because of this Per must forge is own path in life and travel from his home southward into human lands hopeful to return with riches and tails of glory and valor.

Per being troll a must avoid the sunlight which works to his advantage, in the dark he passes as a very tall very ugly human with pale ashen skin. Yet anyone who got close enough would quickly realize he was not as human as they might have thought. He caries with him a gigantic sword, nearly as tall as a full grown man carved with the runic names of his ancestors, wearing thick armor crafted from Gnome forged metals. He is soft spoken as trolls go though most humans find him to have a deep gruff voice that matches his imposing stature.

Personality: As trolls go he is somewhat gentile, most consider him good natured though young by troll standards he seeks glory and wishes to earn a place in his father’s court.

Powers: Essentially he is a very strong individual, deftly wielding a sword that few mortal men could even lift. He wears the breastplate and helmet of his father which were built by subjugated dwarves for superior strength and durability. And possesses the troll’s gift for regeneration being able to heal all but the most serious of wounds within a day or two.

Weaknesses: sunlight pains him and makes him sluggish it slows his mind and makes him ill when it comes in contact with his exposed skin. The bright light hurts his eyes and to look directly into the sun would kill him, turning him instantly to stone.

Haven: He began far to the north in the Jottenheins mountain rage but his travels have him moving farther and farther south away from his ancestral lands in search of fame and glory.

[Charon]

One main problem. In this world Dwarves are generally not even in your realm of existance, let alone weak enough to be subjugated by anything.

So no, you don't get badass neigh invincible armor. Also, the runes on your sword are just decoration (just making certain that is clear).

Also, I assume you're a pagan?

[Shark Bait]

One main problem. In this world Dwarves are generally not even in your realm of existance, let alone weak enough to be subjugated by anything.

So no, you don't get badass neigh invincible armor. Also, the runes on your sword are just decoration (just making certain that is clear).

Also, I assume you're a pagan?

sorry translation problems from Scandinavian, dwarves in the legends are more like our gnomes i guess not like your dwarves as for nigh invincible eh more along the lines of good enough to stop a bullet cause guns are now around, and Yes i did know the runes are just for show they are family names, and such. As for religion yes a form of paganism with a bit of ancestral honoring in there as well.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Manfred, der Eiszauberer

Background: Born a Bastard in 1396 under mysterious circumstances ( all his mother did was have premarital sex with a traveler and have a child under a series of bad omens) Manfred was born in a small village in the hills of Bavaria. Strange things happened at his birth, water boiled without being heated, and small animals recoiled at his presence. The infant was left exposed on a rock in winter. But he was not alone. Die Eishexe, Machdete found him and took him to her liar in the mountains. She raised him as her own, and taught him sorcery. She went insane, mad with power, and had to be put down by the inquisition. However, he remains, and is starting to feel the decline in his sanity his considerable power causes.

Appearance: A man who appears to be roughly thirty years of age. Manfred wears his black hair in a shoulder length pony tail, and his well-trimmed short beard is speckled with grey. He has a slightly "off" gleam in his eye. He is typically covered head to toe in an overcoat, either light or heavy, that is integrated with a cape that reaches down just above his ankles This is not gaudily colored a simple green color. One part of his sanity that remains is his ability to shy away from looking like a schitzophrenic magpie, but he is starting to develop an attraction to shiny objects that he inwardly finds disconcerting

Personality: Intelligent, also ambitious and Jaded, Manfred knows that insanity approaches, and tries to find ways to stave it off. Ways that do not involve ceasing his assent to ever greater levels of power. It does not help that his thought patterns have become increasingly non-linear and he has bouts of paranoia, and hears the voice of his dead teacher, doing everything from give helpful advice to tell him to crush his perceived enemies. A nice guy other than that though. a "good christian"

Religion: Pagan, though he does a good job of passing for Christian

languages spoken: German, Platdeutsch(bavarian dialect of german) French, Latin (vulgar and papal), Greek, italian and Portuguese, also gaelic

Powers:Manfred is an elementalist who specializes in water magic to exclusion of fire. He also has some control over earth and air. His power is considerable.

Weaknesses: As he gains in power he will become increasingly insane.

Haven: Has taken residence in an abandoned roman watch tower in the Alps which has been in his"family" for some centuries.

Posessions: A heavy cloak, tunic, a light cloak, a longsword and flanged mace for close combat. Additionally, under his overcoat is typically worn a set of half plate, consisting of a breast and back plate, and splintmail vambraces, pauldrions, chuisses and greaves. All of this over a chainmail reinforced gambeson. The armor has runes etched into it that cause the air to circulate and keep the wizard cool. No helmet is worn, and no gauntlets are used. Other possessions include food for three days, a bullseye lamp, flint and steel, a water skin, backpack and heavy blanket and some rope. The mad mage travels light and can typically live off the land, though