Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Nice write-up. I don't see anything I'd call a "mistake", except I'm not sure why you have languages in the skills plus the Universal Translator. I'd suggest perhaps calling the Universal Translator "Tower of Babel" instead of Tongues.

 

I would also personally reduce/streamline the martial arts but not a big deal.

 

Personally I'd go with Damage Reduction with smaller Defenses where appropriate; I would think of her as only somewhat ever physical, thus DR.

 

The languages are what she actually knows, as opposed to the power that lets her communicate in languages she doesn't know.

 

The other version, the one without the MA package, has Damage Reduction.

I'm looking at the MA list as we speak, and might blend the two versions I've been working on.

[CraterMaker]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

War Angel is very well done..

 

Perhaps not for War Angel, but I could see other "types" of angels having desolidification with the advantage "usable simultaneously with others" for that Wonderful Life effect..

 

Mayhaps some environmental movement? EM:Fighting on Heaps of Bodies comes to mind, for starters

 

Why does she have a 23 intelligence? Seems awfully high, and most Cinematic Angels (movies, books) come off as human baseline, maby 15 at max.

 

Also, should she be able to see souls?

 

whups gotta go, get back to ya later

 

-C

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

2) No Universal Translator in the multipower. As it is, she can't understand what people are saying around her once she draws her sword. Languages don't make sense for an Angel either (imo). They were never afflicted with the curse of Babel, and should be able to speak with anyone. I'd drop the languages, find points from elsewhere, and just give her 15 or less Universal Translator as a straight talent.

 

As it stands, she has languages she acutally knows, and then the power. I'll take another look at that, but as it stands the effect fits what I was originally looking for.

 

3) Too many martial maneuvers, many of them duplicating effects. I'd drop all but those with special attributes you want, buy a few 3 point levels with Martial Arts, and be done with it. You'll save points and you won't lose any functionality, and it will all look the same in the game world.

 

Done. I was considering cutting out the "FMove" maneuvers anyway.

 

4) +20 Offensive PRE and +20 Defenive PRE looks odd to me. I'd treat the drop in offensive PRE in her "human" form as a special effect and leave it at that.

 

It's actually 2 points cheaper to give her the same 20 PRE base, and then +20 PRE as a single power with the -1/4 Limit "Offensive Use Requires Angellic Manifestation".

 

5) As a long distance flyer with no Bump of Direction, special vision powers, or Navigation skill, she'd get lost a lot in my campaigns, or spend a lot of time stopping at gas stations and asking for directions.

 

Rectified.

 

6) Her KS list looks a little off to me, and here is where things like plot seeds come in. If she were an NPC, I'd add skills like "Celestial Lore" and "History (Secret)" to give players more of a reason to find her, and maybe "Fate Touced Mortals" to give her a reason to seek them.

 

Re-examining that aspect right now.

 

7) I don't see what she does when she's not Fighting Evil. She has a human form; what does she do with it? Self defense instructor? Police woman? Wandering do-gooder Mike Landon style?

 

I'll have to think on that one. Definately not a cop.

 

While she has a human form, she'd be recognizable as the same being if you put pictures of her in both forms next to each other...same height, same build, same face, same hair color, eyes the same emerald green whether they appear normal or alight with fire... so really, she doesn't have a Secret ID and would have to go to greater lengths to maintain one.

 

Even though her main "free time activity" before coming to the mortal world was watching humans, almost all her attention was focused on combat and warfare. She's still figuring out some things about human beings and their societies and cultures, and is just getting her head around the idea that one's purpose & goal can be very seperate things from what one does "for a living".

 

 

Your plot seeds are good plot seed seeds for me to create plot seeds from.

 

I take it that the Devil's Advocates are in the Adversaries book?

[OddHat]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

As it stands' date=' she has languages she acutally knows, and then the power. I'll take another look at that, but as it stands the effect fits what I was originally looking for.[/quote']

 

It's an issue of conception, and if that is how you see Angelic communication working then fair enough.

 

I take it that the Devil's Advocates are in the Adversaries book?

 

Yup. Holdovers from the old CU, and not a bad choice for a Supernatural Villain group with goals more interesting than "steal stuff" or "blow up the world".

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

War Angel is very well done..

 

Thanks.

 

Mayhaps some environmental movement? EM:Fighting on Heaps of Bodies comes to mind, for starters

 

Morbidly funny, and yet morbidly appropriate.

 

Why does she have a 23 intelligence? Seems awfully high, and most Cinematic Angels (movies, books) come off as human baseline, maby 15 at max.

 

A) She's not a cinematic angel.

 

It represents what kind of warrior she is. She's not just a killer and a soldier. She's a scholar and an artist -- Sun Tzu, Von Clausewitz, Von Moltke, Musashi, Hannibal. KS: War 17-, Analyze: Combat 15-, Tactics 17-.

 

Also, should she be able to see souls?

 

She can sense them. "Sense Supernatural" towards the bottom of the page. Magic, souls, other stuff, you know, "the supernatural".

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

The languages are what she actually knows, as opposed to the power that lets her communicate in languages she doesn't know.

 

The other version, the one without the MA package, has Damage Reduction.

I'm looking at the MA list as we speak, and might blend the two versions I've been working on.

Ah, I missed the DR, sorry. I get the language idea now, thx.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

As it stands, she has languages she acutally knows, and then the power. I'll take another look at that, but as it stands the effect fits what I was originally looking for.

 

It's an issue of conception, and if that is how you see Angelic communication working then fair enough.

 

That's how it works for Saviel. It's not the same for every angel. She's not a messenger, and so the ability isn't inherent to her the way it is for a messenger. It's something she had to learn to do, an application of her power. Enochian is her native language, and she has taught herself English and some Latin (though I might dump the Latin) -- 23 INT and Eidetic Memory can be quite helpful in that regard.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Ah, I missed the DR, sorry.

 

Well, that's understandable, since I never posted that other version...

 

 

NOTE: the 2nd Draft of War Angel has been posted in place of the original.

 

Draft Postings of War Angel / Saviel

[CraterMaker]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

Morbidly funny, and yet morbidly appropriate.

 

 

 

A) She's not a cinematic angel.

 

It represents what kind of warrior she is. She's not just a killer and a soldier. She's a scholar and an artist -- Sun Tzu, Von Clausewitz, Von Moltke, Mushashi, Hannibal. KS: War 17-, Analyze: Combat 15-, Tactics 17-.

 

 

 

She can sense them. "Sense Supernatural" towards the bottom of the page. Magic, souls, other stuff, you know, "the supernatural".

 

 

Cool.. Only thing I have left, suggestion wise, is Oratory, for those rallying speeches during a war (and to perhaps suggest her passionate nature).

 

Good job, man.

 

-CraterMaker

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

OK, so it kinda occured to me that Saviel has been on Earth for over a decade, and that OddHat's question about what she does when she's not "smiting evil" can't be...conveniently ignored.

 

So, I'm currently working on that little bit, and then she should be done.

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

OK, so it kinda occured to me that Saviel has been on Earth for over a decade, and that OddHat's question about what she does when she's not "smiting evil" can't be...conveniently ignored.

 

So, I'm currently working on that little bit, and then she should be done.

Kristopher, I'd be most interested in how she made that transition - I would think when she first arrived for weeks and months, if not years, on end she would just smite evil - after all, there's SO much of it and she doesn't have to eat or such and it's not like she had any reason to make friends upon landing here (or perhaps she does - does she need friendship?). In fact personally I could imagine her just never ending in her struggle, even a decade later. But if she is indeed having any moments where she doesn't do that, it'd be both interesting and probably be important even for the character to understand how/at what point she realized she could or should do anything else.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Kristopher, I'd be most interested in how she made that transition - I would think when she first arrived for weeks and months, if not years, on end she would just smite evil - after all, there's SO much of it and she doesn't have to eat or such and it's not like she had any reason to make friends upon landing here (or perhaps she does - does she need friendship?). In fact personally I could imagine her just never ending in her struggle, even a decade later. But if she is indeed having any moments where she doesn't do that, it'd be both interesting and probably be important even for the character to understand how/at what point she realized she could or should do anything else.

 

Thinking out loud...

 

She needs somewhere to sleep (her LS is bought as "8 hrs/week"). She needs a few extra clothes, since they can get dirty or damaged even if she doesn't sweat or anything. (Unless it seems appropriate to make some other, less mundane arrangement.) She spent a lot of time not fighting before coming to earth, even if most of it was spent studying war and combat. She likes books. So I guess she needs some kind of income from somewhere -- I can't really picture her as a vagabond.

 

While I really wouldn't say that she needs friends, she does have that military background, and understands the value of comrades. She's pretty intense, but honorable, loyal, and basically good, so I can't see most superheroes rejecting her. The biggest source of friction might be the CvK that she doesn't have. She does have reasons to at least make allies, since she probably can't track down Takofanes or Doc D on her own, and even at her power level she'll need help when it comes time to fight either of them.

 

 

 

Holiday joke...maybe she helped some other superheroes save Christmas from some awful fate, and they invited her to their New Years Eve party.

[Marketeer]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Thinking out loud...

 

She needs somewhere to sleep (her LS is bought as "8 hrs/week"). She needs a few extra clothes, since they can get dirty or damaged even if she doesn't sweat or anything. (Unless it seems appropriate to make some other, less mundane arrangement.) She spent a lot of time not fighting before coming to earth, even if most of it was spent studying war and combat. She likes books. So I guess she needs some kind of income from somewhere -- I can't really picture her as a vagabond.

 

While I really wouldn't say that she needs friends, she does have that military background, and understands the value of comrades. She's pretty intense, but honorable, loyal, and basically good, so I can't see most superheroes rejecting her. The biggest source of friction might be the CvK that she doesn't have. She does have reasons to at least make allies, since she probably can't track down Takofanes or Doc D on her own, and even at her power level she'll need help when it comes time to fight either of them.

 

 

 

Holiday joke...maybe she helped some other superheroes save Christmas from some awful fate, and they invited her to their New Years Eve party.

 

Throwing out more thoughts...

 

Well, how does she feel about humans on a day-to-day, personal level?

 

There's a certain question of whether Takofanes' "evil", in a cosmic sense, or if the fact that human souls were being stolen offended her more. Whether she's consciously thought about that, and/or what the answer is, would greatly impact how she views herself and other heroes relate to her.

 

Leaping to another thought, even a part-time job as a Martial Arts instructor seems appropriate to her general temperment, and sufficient for her humble needs--although I think she'd be a rather demanded sensei/sifu. I don't see her having enough of a human scholastic background to be a historian, librarian, or some such--she certainly possesses the content, but not the modes of communicating that content a human in an equivalent role would be expected to possess.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Throwing out more thoughts...

 

Well, how does she feel about humans on a day-to-day, personal level?

 

Sympathy, awe, wonder, pity, disgust, protectiveness. Conflicted.

 

There's a certain question of whether Takofanes' "evil", in a cosmic sense, or if the fact that human souls were being stolen offended her more. Whether she's consciously thought about that, and/or what the answer is, would greatly impact how she views herself and other heroes relate to her.

 

His evil offends her. What he does to people upsets her. What he does with their souls upsets her -- especially because of Archangel. The fact that he still exists upsets her -- if she had been allowed to intervene, he might not have escaped. He might not have killed Archangel, for that matter.

 

Leaping to another thought, even a part-time job as a Martial Arts instructor seems appropriate to her general temperment, and sufficient for her humble needs--although I think she'd be a rather demanded sensei/sifu. I don't see her having enough of a human scholastic background to be a historian, librarian, or some such--she certainly possesses the content, but not the modes of communicating that content a human in an equivalent role would be expected to possess.

 

Hmmm...Saviel, MA instrutor for superheroes?

[Marketeer]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

 

His evil offends her. What he does to people upsets her. What he does with their souls upsets her -- especially because of Archangel. The fact that he still exists upsets her -- if she had been allowed to intervene, he might not have escaped. He might not have killed Archangel, for that matter.

 

Ok, I muddled my question. Let me try again:

 

What factor prompted Saviel to act more:

 

1) That fact that human souls were being stolen (emphasis on the human souls being denied their just judgment/reward--"human-centric")

 

2) The fact that human souls were being stolen (Takofanes violates the order intended by God through his actions--"heaven's plans-centric")

 

It's perfectly plausible for both to have affected her one way or another, but whether or not Saviel has reflected upon this question/issue, and what her answer to it might be, would shed a lot of light on how she interacts with and feels about humanity.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Ok, I muddled my question. Let me try again:

 

What factor prompted Saviel to act more:

 

1) That fact that human souls were being stolen (emphasis on the human souls being denied their just judgment/reward--"human-centric")

 

2) The fact that human souls were being stolen (Takofanes violates the order intended by God through his actions--"heaven's plans-centric")

 

It's perfectly plausible for both to have affected her one way or another, but whether or not Saviel has reflected upon this question/issue, and what her answer to it might be, would shed a lot of light on how she interacts with and feels about humanity.

 

I think it's more that I muddled my answer. #1 is what emotionally wrenches her -- she feels that it's wrong. #2 is just offensive on an intellectual level -- she's aware that it's wrong, but it doesn't make her eyes come alight...

[Marketeer]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I think it's more that I muddled my answer. #1 is what emotionally wrenches her -- she feels that it's wrong. #2 is just offensive on an intellectual level -- she's aware that it's wrong' date=' but it doesn't make her eyes come alight...[/quote']

 

Well, that would make me think that Saviel is more likely to be (if we take "martial arts instructor" as her way of earning her money) someone who teaches normals rather than supers.

 

It's about souls, right? Superheroes need to be prepared (that's a professional assessment from the Angel of War). Normals need to be taught how not to need outside intervention (that's an emotional/value-based reaction).

 

Again, just volleying ideas until something useful comes up.

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Well, that would make me think that Saviel is more likely to be (if we take "martial arts instructor" as her way of earning her money) someone who teaches normals rather than supers.

 

It's about souls, right? Superheroes need to be prepared (that's a professional assessment from the Angel of War). Normals need to be taught how not to need outside intervention (that's an emotional/value-based reaction).

 

Again, just volleying ideas until something useful comes up.

 

On the other hand, she's used to teaching professionals -- other warriors -- and not "civilians". This might make her more comfortable dealing with superheroes in this context.

[Marketeer]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

On the other hand' date=' she's used to teaching professionals -- other warriors -- and not "civilians". This might make her more comfortable dealing with superheroes in this context.[/quote']

 

Basic training consultant (self defence tactics) for the military, perhaps?

 

 

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

I've pretty much finalized Saviel.

 

Saviel -- The War Angel, the Scourge Of Heaven

 

I'm going to leave some of her story for another time -- I've got this problem where I can only spend so much time on one project before my work starts to suffer, and I have to set it aside for awhile.

 

Thanks again to everyone who helped me with this complex and difficult character (not so much complex and difficult mechanics, but rather the actual character).

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

So...any comments, questions, or concerns? Anything too much, or too little? Attacks, defenses, characteristics, skills...are they right, or out of whack? Anything you'd expect to see that just isn't there? Anything out of place?

 

PS: for the person who already said they'd comment, thanks in advance.

Very cool...

 

Uhm... she didn't happen to work on a team with someone named Ghostwing, did she?

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Very cool...

 

Uhm... she didn't happen to work on a team with someone named Ghostwing, did she?

 

Why?

 

She only exists in my head, in HD2, and on this forum.

 

PS: Thanks.

[Guest Skaramine]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Why?

 

She only exists in my head, in HD2, and on this forum.

 

PS: Thanks.

Oh... only because I was in a chatroom game set during WW2 or just before it. Ghostwing was the leader of a team, and one of his strongest partners was Archangel - who he'd fallen in love with. I think her name was Saviel as well...

[Kristopher]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Oh... only because I was in a chatroom game set during WW2 or just before it. Ghostwing was the leader of a team, and one of his strongest partners was Archangel - who he'd fallen in love with. I think her name was Saviel as well...

 

Nope. Unless I've been sleep-gaming...

 

Seriously, though, she was posted here before, in much rougher form, maybe someone lifted her basic concept and name. She's certainly not something I picked up form somewhere else. I have too many ideas in my head demanding attention to go "borrowing" them from someone else.

 

The name "Saviel" took me almost 2 days of messing around with names ending in "iel" before I settled on it.

[zornwil]

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming

 

Thanks for sharing this, Kristopher, very cool.