Ten Freaks for Hubris Part 4

First, I decided to randomly roll ten half-elf characters for +Mike's Hubris hack.

Then, I diverged into table wankery.

Next, I dropped a bunch of stats on you and thought I might be done with these guys.

Finally, I have half-page, 1st level character sheets for these ten freaks!

What is behind the link, and how to use it

The link has a PDF copy of my ten, half-page character sheets for the Hubris game. The ten classes in the Hubris hack are each represented by one Half-elf freak set to Mike's starting rules as best as I can tell. They are pretty freaky and look like fun to me.

Keeping with the X-Men / Morlocks vibe, I imagine these ten as a highly motivated and committed unit who are banded together for mutual protection and to execute the will of their master, Javier. You can make them sound mysterious by using lots of bad Latin phrases. 'Domum Damnatis' and 'Reformatorium ab Vaccum' are two that I really like...regardless of how they don't really translate IRL.

Their very bad German "pirate names" are code-names, or secret names that they know each other by. They would also have as many given aliases as needed. They might travel as some kind of "Midnight Carnival" or may be stationary and based out of a type of sanitarium or asylum for keeping Void / Chaos mutated freaks from offending the bourgeois's delicate sensibilities. There are lots of ways to use these.

Even for "first level" they have some interesting abilities and weaknesses. What intrigues me is the idea that they all can sort of keep tabs on each other using the basic Half-Elf 'Hound Dog' ability. Which could allow them to execute some pretty elaborate plans without having to really talk to each other. They're resistant to further chaos mutations, and have some Elven immunities. To me, that sets the stage for some interesting questions with interesting answers.

Now, if only Mike would let me play the regenerating warrior priest of a bastard trickster god...or the pig-faced alchemist with the small, conjoined stomach twin, or the bat-winged ranger, or...or...or...

*sigh*

Enjoy these!

Notes, Disclaimers, etc...

I learned a lot more about C&C than I thought possible without owning any of the books...that being said...I am prone to human error and make no claim that these are free from flaw.


I also learned that there is a really engaging thing that happens when some of your choices are constrained. The random tables that started all this have really turned me around on the idea of random tables. Guess my PSY professor was right...too many choices = bad; a few choices to spur creativity = stimulating.

Useful Links for C&C

These were *very* helpful, and some are super nice!

• http://www.adnd3egame.com/cnc.htm
• http://www.adnd3egame.com/documents/ckscreen.pdf
• http://goreanmale.homestead.com/files/cnc/cnccheatsheet.pdf
• http://www.altobanor.com/CastleKeeper20.html

IMCTT,

>B

Beria Annis: Finder of People and Things

+Mike Evans has gotten me thinking about games I'm not in again. So, I will take a small break from the Ten Freaks for Hubris series to put forward an NPC idea for your city games...

I'm presenting the details I settled on eventually first, but further down I just throw down the process by which I arrived at my idea and cite the places I'm pulling things from. There are no stats per-se...just a kind of conceptual map that I'm hoping will be useful for any type of game. You can make your own stats when you decide how you want to use her. Plus, I'm linking to a few stat blocks that were inspirational.

Beria Annis: Finder of People and Things

The Details

Beria is a towering (even though bent), ancient-looking, female humanoid; twisted of limb, sinewy, and with hard, nobly skin. Her teeth are metal and rusty red, her skin is iron hard, dark blue, and she is immune to cold temperatures / effects. Fitting her barbaric ancestry, she is able to handle herself in a fight and forgoes the use of weapons. She is particularly good at finding things using her wits, and the ancient magical practices of her people, the Marzanna.

Skills & Strengths

• Finding things using sympathetic magic through correspondence.
• This requires her to follow a list of taboos and perform rituals...
• High intelligence, and the experience of a long life.
• Guiding idea: 'Never Mess With Granny'
• The Marzanna-folk bear the Frozen Blood of the North.
• Iron-hard skin, and immunity to Cold effects of all kinds, 

Weaknesses & Complications

• Fire is a problem.
• The Marzanna never had need of the promethean gift, and are 'vulnerable' to it.
• Experiences pain within 10 feet of naked flames and x2 Damage from fire.
• She must observe her taboos or lose her gifts until she can correct the problem. (Would you like a list of her taboos, or want to make them up yourself?)
• Must eat the flesh of a freshly dead sapient once every new moon or can't 'Speak w/ Dead'
• An expensive magic ritual is needed to attune herself to the Otherworld if the moon phase is not favorable.
• Must conceal her skin in motley rags and deep hoods or lose her Iron Skin.
• Has to go 24 hours without someone's gaze falling upon her, make new motley, and bathe in blood.
• Cannot accept payment in the form of money, or loses half her health/wounds.
• Must do a favor unasked, and without thanks to be able to heal to full.

Motivations

• To keep living off the decadence of civilization.
• Her disdain for the decadent and moneyed is well-known and hard to conceal.
• To find things to amuse, and interest her voracious intellect.
• Ala Sherlock Holmes, she loves mysteries, puzzles and occasionally drugs. 

The Seed

Beria Annis is an intelligent problem solver after the fashion of Sherlock Holmes. You could use her as a Special Inspecktor attached to the City Watch or as a particular type of Bounty Hunter Employed by the Influential. You know, an IG-88 for your Vornheim game or whatever.

In your game, she might be a Warrior Priest who can 'Speak w/ Dead' ... but in my own Pathfinder Basic games, I like to look for a monster entry that captures the "feel" I'm thinking of. In the case of this character I'm thinking: "witch" & "hag" with a tweak or two to make her seem new...the two images that best capture her in my mind are...

Inspirational Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30019445@N03/4213850419/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/armchairdj/2284835338/

And then I started sorting through "Hags" and "Iron Ladies" until I arrived at an idea for basically a Black Hag, or Annis Hag, or an Iron Hag...and tried to get an idea for a story out of that creature.

Inspirational Links

WrathofZombie's Monster Manual entry 'G' (for Green Hag)
Zak S. ~ Vornheim
Wikipedia ~ Beira
Forgotten Realms ~ Marzanna
D20PFSRD ~ Annis Hag

And again, I'd love to hear some feedback on this if you've got the time. Thanks again to Mike, for inspiring me on a day off!
>B