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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: reflection49 on April 15, 2011, 05:38:51 PM
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A buddy of mine is going to start a new dresden files campaign and he is having trouble with two of his characters his group is trying to make. The first is an ectomancer, not sure how to spend refresh or how this creature would work.
The second is an Emissary of Power, who is Zeus' right hand with a staff of zeus, who also wants to do lightning/electricity based magic.
Any suggestions?
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What power level are you playing at? Though for the ectomancer ritual ectomancy should be all you need. maybe the Ghost speaker minor power as well.
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Not sure what you want the Staff to do, but the magic on the Emssary shouldn't be too tough- Sponsored Magic with a lightning/electricity and possibly "Turn myself into a goose to seduce ladies" theme.
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They are playing at a submergerd level. He says th staff of zeuss is an item of power.
Also how would an ectomancer work in combat?
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Not sure what you want the Staff to do, but the magic on the Emssary shouldn't be too tough- Sponsored Magic with a lightning/electricity and possibly "Turn myself into a goose to seduce ladies" theme.
I wouldn't do sponsored magic. I would just go with Channeling electromancy and tie it to the IOP. Lightning/electricity is a little narrow for a sponsored magic. If you wanted to use sponsored magic I would recommend something like Sponsored Magic Olympian Magic. But then you need to decide what Olympian magic would encompass. That's not really newbie friendly.
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Yeah, good point, and if you're his Emissary with his Staff, that covers the "This Is Not My Power" theme.
So yeah, Channeling Electricity looks best.
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Thanks alot guys, the only othe thing is about the ectomancer, in battle would the player have to use a ritual to summon a ghost to help with the battle or would they be able to do something like that as an evocation
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If all you have is Ritual: Ectomancy? Yeah, in a straight fight, you're not gonna be able to do much supernatural stuff. I'd say combat rituals aren't gonna work too well- too much risk of the enemy disrupting it.
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Not all forms of magic are well-suited to combat. An Ectomancer will definitely have advantages in investigations and such (call up the murder victim's ghost? Hell yeah), but his contribution to combat might merely consist of pulling out a gun.
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I play an ectomancer musician in a PbP on another site and I though you might find his character sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=103700) useful. He's not much in combat situations, but he's useful in social situations and investigation. The idea is that you're not spending much refresh on supernatural abilities with an ectomancer (-3 total, for Ritual (Ectomancy) and Ghost Speaker), so you can afford some other stunts as appropriate. The ectomancer cop/detective seems to be a fairly popular character type that both speaks to ghosts and holds his own in combat.
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There are more than just physical fights, though.
If an ectomancer could call up a ghost during a social conflict to scare the hell out of someone, I'd give him a +2 for the maneuver, and give the opposed vanilla mortal a minor or moderate mental consequence of, "WTF GHOSTS!?" that the ectomancer could tag for a total of +4 to a intimidation roll.
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As mentioned earlier, for the Item of Power, the main question is "what do you want it to do?" If lightning control is all you need, then tying it to Channeling: Electromancy will be sufficient (with a +1 Item of Power rebate, this adds up to a -1 Refresh item. If you want it to be less versatile but less draining, you could instead replace Channeling with Breath Weapon (Lightning), for the same cost. If you want it to be more versatile, you could tack on Ritual: Electromancy, allowing more fine control of electricity in the surrounding area through thaumaturgical rituals. If you want to add a protective side, it could give him Physical Immunity to electricity only.
Otherwise, you could attach other powers from Zeus's purview. One or more of the Inhuman suite could, of course, be appropriate. If you want to tie into Zeus's nature as the majestic king of the Gods, you could give him Incite Emotion: Awe (or fear). If you want to tie into Zeus's shape-shifting seduction schtick, you could group in some Shapeshifting and/or Modular abilities.
As for the ectomancer, it's true that Ritual: Ectomancy doesn't offer much by way of combat ability. You could supplement it by adding Channeling: Spirit (to represent ectoplasm-sculpting ability learned from dealing with ghosts), though that might hew a bit closely to necromancy for some Wardens. Otherwise, just give him skill at Fists, Weapons, or Guns, and a couple Stunts to supplement.
Other appropriate Powers for an Ectomancer (per Morty's writeup) would be Ghost Speaker and one or more Supernatural Senses attuned to spirits and the like.
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Another question, i made a wererhino in the game i currently am playing in and theres a little disputr ver whether or not i should get inhuman speed when in the form of the rhino. We looked up rhinos and they can run 35 mph but we arent sure if that would countfor reactions and stuff like that.
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That seems like it would really be up to your table/gm. I could see a were-rhino having super speed, they are after all supernaturally enhanced versions of the animals, not just normal animals. However I could also understand people being unable to rationalize speed for something so big.
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I wouldn't give a rhino Speed, personally- the wereform template suggests up to two of Strength, Speed, Toughness and Recovery, and to me, rhino says Strength and Toughness, not Speed. It might be worth giving them an ability that lets them run faster- maybe the Fleet of Foot stunt? - but the full Inhuman Speed set, with its bonuses to Initiative and Stealth, don't seem right to me.
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If your player can justify it, they can take Channeling: Ectomancy, or maybe Channeling: Spirit.
Channeling: Spirit is going to have easy combat applications, like shields, blasts of force, veils.
Check out this Ectomancer PI I found online:
http://vinlandsolutions.site11.com/Products/DFRPG/SampleChars/DMW/PCG8_CD/JohnStrauss.html
The character has Spirit Channeling, but went the ghostly route (as opposed to the force route) with his Rote Spells, which display that he:
- takes on temporary ghostlike semi-incorporeality to justify Blocks and Armor
- channels simple force of will for an Attack (maybe it is raw ectoplasm)
- summons a helpful Poltergeist to perform Maneuvers.
Channeling: Ectomancy is going to be harder to find applicable special effects, but a looser interpretation of Ectomancy is the manipulation of Ectoplasm - not just ghosts/spirits. Although an Ectomancer shouldn't do the exact same things as a Conjurer, they could be able to summon and manipulate raw ectoplasm, perhaps creating slippery areas, temporary barriers, etc.
That said, most of the example powers in that PI character are spells I think would apply to a straight-up Ectomancer.