Lord Liaden Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Well, this is "Lady Hades" after all. Hades didn't just rule over a land of torments; the Underworld also included the Elysian Fields, a blissful paradise for those departed who were favored by the gods. Perhaps Lady Hades is kind of the opposite of Nebula, from Conquerors, Killers And Crooks. Rather than dispatching criminals to a dimension of punishment, LH can direct the souls of the dead to a realm of peace and beauty. She may see this as a blessing and a duty, and not understand why anyone would refuse her gift. And there would probably be plenty of suffering people who would willingly let her send them to such a place, as well as spirits of the dead who would gratefully return to help her when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Logue Posted June 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Wow! There's a lot here to consider. Some of the ones that really speak to me are.... One thing that I really really like offhand is the "spirits" force field/wall idea. That's a good one. Another good idea is the Necropolis Rising building decay build combined with a Change Environment. Reminds me of the Fear Level system in Deadlands. The Visions of the Guilty idea is great stuff. I like that one. Oddhat's Rotting Disease also sounds tasty. Lucius brings up a solid point about necromancy being an art of communication with the dead. There're at least a couple powers lurking around in that idea. With the suggestions of using the Fantasy Hero Grimoire book and the website with the spells on it, I'm wondering if I should set her up with a necromancy VPP. Do you think that's "the way to go" when building super-sorcs? Freakboy has given me the "second act" for my scenario I think. The first was a plot wherein Lady Hades had purchased a large quantity of black market guns. She planned to hand them out to two prominent street gangs and then incite a grand battle between them. It would've provided fresh corpses for zombification. But that was spoiled by a meddling hero. And Oddhat's Cult of Young Suicide Girls could easily be a third act in the greater story, or better yet, its the kernal of a future storyline involving the return of Lady Hades! To answer Log's question: super mages (ala Strange and Fate) and [modern] city of the dead. There can be minor undertones of Heaven vs Hell, but its more toward Good vs Evil. As for the alternate idea of her personality and motivations (as tossed around between Powerhouse, Templar, Oddhat, David, and Lord Liaden... sounds like an interesting group of villains maybe), let me expound a little more on the character concept I have for her already. There's certainly room for interpretation and change before she "goes to print." My idea was that she's sort of a Legacy style character. There was/is a high-powered bad-guy sorceror in my world who goes by the name Mordred. Lady Hades would be Mordred's daughter or perhaps niece (Mordred had a heroic sister named Lady London Fog - Golden Age, you know). Lady Hades wants to impress daddy and perhaps even challenge him someday to his reputation. The concept is that she's concentrated all of her sorcerous studies to the art of necromancy (as opposed to daddy who is an all-around sorceror; think of him as an evil Dr. Strange). She commands the dead with an iron fist, and she wants to smash the world of the living with said fist as well. The city in question in my campaign is the fictional metropolis of Arcane City, PA (roughly where Eerie, PA, is in the real world; in fact Eerie is a community in Arcane City). Arcane City has a history of spooky supernatural happenings and was founded on the massacre of an American Indian tribe in the 18th century. The name of the city has evolved over two centuries from its original name Cité du Arc (it was founded by a ruthless French explorer). The city itself, coincidently, sits on a junction of ley lines so magic is easier to manipulate there. Think of Arcane City as Gotham City or Hudson City with strong mystical ties. I like the thought of fiddling around with her motivations and personality some, but I'm not sure how far I want to stray from what I have. The story is more or less already-in-progress, but I haven't nailed her down yet as far as stats and such. She does have two powerful minions working with her. One is a brute of a brick named Grindstone. He's a big guy with reversed-jointed legs and cloven hooves and has stone/earth powers. She uses him as her muscle/bodyguard. The other chap *was* one of the leaders of the two street gangs. He couldn't follow directions very well and it ruined her plan. He paid the price and is now sort of like a Harrowed from Deadlands under her control. Please continue! Richard (I hope its not too long to sit through reading...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Steel Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Lady Hades should take into account the resistence of superheroes once the Necropolis is created. She can create an army of undead from the various superheroes and supervillains in the area (Npcs ideally, though Dnpcs work as well ) as the first phase of her plan. (Aka. Marvel Zombies) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwleisemann Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! But does it make sense? What peace is there in death with with a necromancer disturbing your bones and your soul? Personally I kind of like the idea that the necromancer sees herself as rescuing her spirits from death and bringing them back to life. In the words of the super-necromancer muse that's starting to stir in the back of my head: "The body is just that, unimportant once the soul has fled. As for souls, who says that I disturb them... at least when they do not deserve it?" She sends the living on to the peace of death, sending their spirits on to their just rewards, and only bothers the spirits of people she feels deserve to be tormented. So, for the people she feels deserve peace, she's their one-way ticket to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Is it me or does Lady Hades sound like a seventies rock tune? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Johnston Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! The body is just that, unimportant once the soul has fled. Countless ghost stories about the consequences of disturbing tombs and cemetaries disagree. Even if you leave them out, _something_ has to be animating those undead and giving them their approximate sentience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwleisemann Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Agreed. Just giving one interpretation of it (besides - enough bad guys out there to supply the animating spirits while remaining 'ethically sound.') Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Steel Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! This reminds me of the 1998 annual of the silver surfer and Thor when they fought a villian named Millileus, a mad god who wanted to remove the needless suffering of all mortals by removing the "curse" (as it were to him) of mortality by killing the mortals he claimed to be saving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodigyduck Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! This power idea is based on Necromancers from (*gasp) Rifts! The Necormancers from Rifts have power over things that were once alive. They could focus magical energy into these dead objects and animate them. This included the ability to wear dead parts on your body and focus the energy into them, giving you new abilites. For example: You could wear a pair of severed arms, and focus energy into them, giving you Extra Limbs. You could do the same to a pair of dragon wings, giving you Flight. Wear dragon claws... get a HKA! That sort of thing. Also, this picture from Darkchild might be some nice inspiration. I particularly like the wing effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! This power idea is based on Necromancers from (*gasp) Rifts! The Necormancers from Rifts have power over things that were once alive. They could focus magical energy into these dead objects and animate them. This included the ability to wear dead parts on your body and focus the energy into them, giving you new abilites. For example: You could wear a pair of severed arms, and focus energy into them, giving you Extra Limbs. You could do the same to a pair of dragon wings, giving you Flight. Wear dragon claws... get a HKA! That sort of thing. Also, this picture from Darkchild might be some nice inspiration. I particularly like the wing effect. Necromancy was one of the few things that Rifts did well. They had some good ideas I'll admit, then they kinda beat them to death with a rock, it's a shame really. They did have some truly nasty necromancers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandi Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Even if you leave them out' date=' _something_ has to be animating those undead and giving them their approximate sentience.[/quote'] Traditionally, it was thought to be malicious spirits in many cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Do your PCs have any dead DNPCs or loved ones? Any dead foes? Lady Hades can torment them by drawing those spirits back and sending them against the heroes in dreams. After the hero is sufficiently angry or creeped out, a full re-animation is in order. For added RP value, the dead loved one can win back her free will just before her re-animated body dies once again. The thing to understand about necromancers is . . . they come back! You can't "kill" what specializes in animating the dead. Well, you can, but then they come back, with all those pesky emotional weaknesses gone, and much stronger for being closer to the subjects they control. So, plan for Lady Hades' background to emerge early on, and let the PC's have plenty of opportunity to exploit it. Then, when they defeat her, let her come back no longer caring about those petty attachments that only distracted her when she was still living. For a much stronger emotional impact, have her come back in the body of one of the PC's fallen DNPC's, lovers, etcetera. She offers relief from pain and passage to the next world. Wouldn't it be cruel of her to restrict those gifts to those who ask? Paging Dr. Kevorkian . . . No, seriously. She could bring back the good doctor (or some much older doktors) to act as her lieutenants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Don't know if anyone has mentioned either of these. Corpse Explosion. Usable on any animated dead or any general old dead person. CE is built as an RKA/Explosion. The trick is building the power so it scales up with the size of the corpse, I don't know how to do that OTTOMH. Bone Shatter. RKA, Extra Stun, Disable Limbs (all limbs), Explosion (as in, your victims bones explode, dealing damage to everyone around them - can also be built as either One Hex or One Hex Doubled (7 hex footprint for the explosion). OIF: Living Target, Target must have bones. Life Support: Soulgem. Target cannot die unless the soulgem is destroyed (see Lich: d20). Immune to poison, toxins, disease, etc. Does not eat, sleep, and so on. Vulnerable to positive energy attacks. Vulnerable to Fire. Bone Shaper: See Tzimisce Discipline, Viscissitude. Especially to build various super soldiers. Corpse Collective: the Voltron of the Undead. Built as a summon, OIF: 5 or more corpses. She can either 'pilot' it by sitting in the middle, ride it into battle, and so on. Corpse Collective can heal itself by absorbing new corpses, and its projectiles are bits of bone, sinew & guts. It would have an insane presence attack and otherwise be an automaton. Some thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! Corpse Explosion. Usable on any animated dead or any general old dead person. CE is built as an RKA/Explosion. The trick is building the power so it scales up with the size of the corpse' date=' I don't know how to do that OTTOMH.[/quote'] Raiding the Warcraft series for ideas, are we? Might not be cost-efficient, but I like the elegance of giving a corpse "Delayed Explosion, Sticky" so that it gives all adjacent corpses the delayed explosion, and then those corpses spread it along; the damage naturally scales up with the quantity of explosive material (i.e., corpses). Bone Shatter. RKA' date=' Extra Stun, Disable Limbs (all limbs), Explosion (as in, your victims bones explode, dealing damage to everyone around them - can also be built as either One Hex or One Hex Doubled (7 hex footprint for the explosion). OIF: Living Target, Target must have bones.[/quote'] I guess that rules out Meeb, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thia Halmades Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! No, dumb-dumb. I raided Diablo II for ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelDoom Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! She needs a cool transport power. Extra Dimensional Transport (Underworld) bought as a gate (use the teleport gates modifiers) and then give her a x512 non combat modifier (w/ zero END cost) to her walking speed while only in the underworld. The underworld could have the same natural physical world as ours. This would allow her to enter un warded buildings on the ground floor and generally give her a sense of mystery (how did she get in this room that is blocked to teleport?). The buildings would not normally exist in the underworld, with the possible exception of really old or death (crypt) based buildings which means she couldn't appear on a second story or a bridge or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! She needs a cool transport power. Extra Dimensional Transport (Underworld) bought as a gate (use the teleport gates modifiers) and then give her a x512 non combat modifier (w/ zero END cost) to her walking speed while only in the underworld. The underworld could have the same natural physical world as ours. This would allow her to enter un warded buildings on the ground floor and generally give her a sense of mystery (how did she get in this room that is blocked to teleport?). Alternately, since blocking a room to teleportation is usually done through Hardened, you could use Armor-Piercing on the Teleport with non-combat multipliers. Probably more expensive, and I respect the elegance of the mechanics fitting the concept, but I've gotten the impression that it's frowned upon (in some circles) to use EDM when solving tricky problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelDoom Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! ...but I've gotten the impression that it's frowned upon (in some circles) to use EDM when solving tricky problems. EDM would give her a lot of extra options like having a secret undead army or her spooky castle that is built from damned souls and such... Giving players a goal of getting there so they can finally defeat her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! EDM would give her a lot of extra options like having a secret undead army or her spooky castle that is built from damned souls and such... Giving players a goal of getting there so they can finally defeat her. They might want to wait and ambush her when she comes out, too. Can the Transform or Change Environment powers be applied to another dimension? If so, that would be a nice "leaking" of necromantic power from an adjacent dimension, causing problems in the city and forcing the PC's to confront it at the source rather than forever be mopping up the symptoms (which worsen in intensity as time goes on). There's also the problem of escaping when the necromancer is "defeated" and the dimension begins to move away from their home dimension Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highwayman Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Re: Super-sorcery Necromancer Ideas... Help! EDM would give her a lot of extra options like having a secret undead army or her spooky castle that is built from damned souls and such... Giving players a goal of getting there so they can finally defeat her. And giving her the goal of bringing her Castle of Souls and Army of the Dammned to this world. That'll show Daddy for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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