Former dark knight turned inventor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Former dark knight turned inventor [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sir Elton
02-02-05, 08:45 AM Tell me what you think about this guy.

===============================
Theseus

Theseus (male élan psion [kineticist] 1): CR 1; medium sized aberration (humanoid); HD 1d4+1; hp 5; Init +1; Speed 30 ft. (6 sq.); Armor Class 16 (+1 dex, +5 inertial armor), touch 11, flatfooted 16; Base Attack +0; Grapple +1; Attacks longsword +1 melee (1d8/x2); Full attack longsword +1 melee (1d8/x2), quarterstaff +1 melee (1d6/1d6/x2), or light crossbow +1 ranged (1d8/x2); Space/Reach 5ft./5ft.; SA psionics; SQ Aberration sans darkvision, naturally psionic (+2 pps), resistance, resilience, repletion, psionics; AL LG; Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 9, Cha 12

Skills and feats: Concentration +5, Craft (painting) +7, Craft (invention) +7, knowledge (psionics) +7, Psicraft +7; Inquisitor, Martial Weapon Proficiency

Psionics (3, power save DC 11+power level; 5 pp): 1st level — Control Flames, Control Object, Inertial Armor

Possessions — Longsword, Light crossbow, 20 bolts, quarterstaff, scabbard, common outfit, traveling outfit, flint and steel, headband, 1 gallon waterskin, 2 weeks rations.

Positive Personality Traits: Calm, confident, lover of beauty rather than destructive, very inventive and artistic.
Negative Personality Traits: Chivalrous, has a code of honor, lecherous, aloof

Motivations: Since his transformation from human to élan, Theseus is strongly motivated to expand his own mind, to repair the destruction he had wrought with by benefiting mankind; he also enjoys natural beauty and seeks to enjoy it. One of his major “bad” habits is a healthy desire to gaze upon the nude female body. So, he goes on panty raids whenever he can get away with it. He also wants to find his beloved who was his lieutenant in his dark days — Mara.

Religion: Theseus is a henotheist. He acknowledges the existence of other gods, but only worships one. He worships Lathander, God of the Dawn, Youth, Rebirth, and Athletics. As an élan, Theseus only naturally worships Lathander.

Profile

The Dark Knight
Theseus was once known by some other name. Under this name, he was raised at Zhentil Keep, but fell under the sway of evil. Theseus had become a powerful blackguard in the name of Bane, the god seeking to become a tyrant.

Theseus started life like any other child, innocent and subject to his parents. He believed that his father, a noble of Zentil Keep, could do no wrong. So, as he grew, he played with the other children. As his life advanced, terrible things and social injustice happened to his family. His parents were taken away from him, accused of being traitors to the divine will of the Banite clerics. From then on, Theseus and his three brothers and sisters were wards of the state. They were indoctrinated and all three had left on their separate ways. Semmemon, Theseus’ most famous sibling, had become a powerful and highly intelligent wizard and an operative in the Black Network. His sister, Amorica, became a lady-in-waiting.
His other brother, Herakles, had ran away. No one knew where he went, or cared. For Theseus was the golden child. They trained him to be a knight in Zentil Keep’s service. As a fighter, Theseus became conflicted.

The Time of Troubles
He did not believe in the gods, but he became a loyal Dark Knight under the service of Zhentil Keep. He led his troops into battle, subjugating the areas around the moonsea under the command of the leaders of Zhentil Keep. Loyal, evil, successful, everything seemed to be going Theseus’ way. Until the Time of Troubles.
Bane appeared in his temple. A dark and evil god with a true, malevolent nature, Bane rallied his Banites and the Zhentilar. His aim was to conquer all of Faerun, even at the expense of Mystra’s power. Marshalling his forces, Bane was preparing his armies while he handled things elsewhere.
It was at this time that Theseus prepared his own army for war. It was at this time that he met the dark elf Mara. Mara was from the Underdark, Menzobarrazhan. As an ally of Bane, she offered her services to the Dark Knight, who had become a Blackguard. Theseus couldn’t trust her, but she offered her loyalty. As time went on while Bane was fighting Mystra’s adventure company, Theseus and Mara had grown close. She became his right hand lieutenant among his troops. And while Fzoul was making plans to follow his dark lord, Theseus and Mara mistrusted Fzoul.
After a while, Bane had returned, scarred from his battle with Mystra and her adventuring company. He reported that Mystra, Goddess of Magic, was utterly destroyed by Helm and now was the time to strike at Shadowdale.
Everyone cheered the Dark God on and through this, both Fzoul and Theseus was having a secret power struggle of their own. Disagreements on how to handle the war had flown between them as the army marched towards Shadowdale. Semmemon stayed out of their fights, nursing his brother’s hatred for Fzoul. But, little did they know that someone else had his eye on Theseus.

The Battle of Shadowdale
War had come to Shadowdale, and Theseus led his army against the Shadowdarrans. It was a fierce fight, a powerful fight. Theseus’ army was being wiped out, and he knew it. He tried to rally his forces around to fight the Shadowdarrans, but the Shadowdarrans’ defenses were too strong and too mighty. Then his and Mara’s morale slipped when he saw Bane flying towards the Temple of Lathander. Bane had abandoned them! Screaming in rage, he wanted to kill Fzoul and then go after Bane. After all, the Dark God had taken a mortal avatar.
Tragedy struck before he could find Fzoul and land a killing blow. Mara fell in battle and Theseus, conflicted with emotions of hate and love, rushed to Mara’s side, finding that he loved her after all. It was then that the Temple of Lathander collapsed and Bane exploded. The force of the explosion had knocked both Mara and Theseus unconscious.

Lathander and Repentance
Theseus had come too to find a beautiful, blond youth looking down upon him with a gaze of determination. This was the Avatar of Lathander, and how he got to Shadowdale, none can tell. It was here that Lathander showed him the future of his path.
Horrified at what he witnessed, Theseus genuinely wanted to change. The Blackguard who was sworn to Bane had decided to stop the cycle of destruction and subjugation. No more, he vowed, will he be party to Bane’s quest of conquest. He would never act the part of conqueror and asked on how he could make amends.
Lathander told him of the élans, a group of humans pledged to renew and make themselves reborn. So he and Mara journeyed to find them, with Lathander’s blessing. The former Blackguard renounced Bane and had become a worshiper of Lathander. The new Lathanderan and his dark elf companion had journeyed for many days trying to find the élans. Through the journey, he watched other events of the Time of Troubles.
From the destruction of Bane by Torm, to Cyric’s slaying of Bhal, to the mighty killing of Liera by Cyric using Mask. He also witnessed the fall of Myrkul and the ascension of Mystra and Cyric. Through these travails, he grew to love Mara with a heated passion. The two were separated, though, as Dark Elf agents captured her and he somehow escaped.
He vowed to find Mara again, for he missed her kisses, her fine beautiful form, her sweet laughter, undying loyalty, and her companionship. He prayed to Lathander for help, and then continued his journey.

The Elans
He finally found the élans in the Western Heartlands. The élans have been following him for quite sometime, and they found him when he could not go on for much longer. The élans had nursed him back to health, and while they did so, Theseus told his most amazing story. He was seeking redemption from evil and wanted to contribute good to the world instead of evil.
The élans had Theseus apply, and through a long process, his application was accepted. So, hidden in the elans’ enclave, the élans committed the ritual of Rebirth, as taught to the first élans by Lathander. The ritual was harrowing, but powerful. They wiped his mind of most of his memories of training and so forth, allowing Theseus to retain the most basic memories of his life and his memory of Mara; which was too strong to wipe. The transformation process, although painful, was a success and Theseus had become a newly made elan.

Theseus Renaissance
It was then that he began life as an élan. He started to train with them in expanding his mind and becoming a psion. His training was eventful and full of a new curiosity of life and vitality. Theseus had rejected a life of conquest for the life of a painter and inventor. He learned of the beauty that life had to offer, and began to suck the milk of kindness and beauty. So, he went from a destructive adult who sought to subjugate others and nature to one who enjoyed nature for it’s own benefits and to control it in other ways.
One way he expressed this was through painting. Theseus loved to paint figures and landscapes. And figures in landscapes. He’d take a drawing class where he learned to draw by drawing naked people most of the time, and started to paint them. He became entranced with the nude female form, something he feared but did not fear now. However, generally the society he lived in did not allow people to go naked, so he joined the centaurs on panty raids.
Sometimes they were successful. But his heart still burned nobly and the panty raids he joined was only to see the naked female form which he had so craved to see since he was a child. Theseus found that he could do many things that he wanted to do as a child. And he threw himself into his training.

Making his way
Having completed his training, Theseus thought it was time for him to make his way into the world. He needed to repair the damage that he’d done. And he decided to do so by giving back to the communities by inventing things that would help all humans. He also decided that one day, he shall meet Mara again and they would be together. His quest, for independence, however, found him on an insignificant fishing village waiting for the next adventure.
Morka
02-02-05, 07:37 PM Interresting. I didn't know the Elans backstory in Forgotten Realms, only found them in the SRD and a conversion to Eberron somewhere in the net.

The backstory is very complete, but I feel you could find a better reason of why Theseus and Mara separated.

Also, what do you want to do with +7 in Craft (Inventions)? What is an "invention" for you? I guess you wish to later craft Universal Psionic Items, and use that skill to craft the material part. I would suggest you to pick a skill like Craft - Leatherworking (to craft boots, cloaks, bags, etc...) or Craft - Gemcutting (to craft crystals and Ioun stones - don't know if there is an equivalent for this in psionic); it would be more realistic.
Sir Elton
02-02-05, 08:23 PM I am toying with the idea that psions, psychic warriors, and their ilk present a different way of looking at things --- paradigms as you will. Psions and their ilk don't really fit in a medieval society, they fit in a society that is much like Europe's Age of Reason or the Italian Rennaissance.

So, I discussed it with my GM. My character would invent psychotechnology; or psionic technology. Psionic tech is machines that would run off psychokinetic energy. I suspose your right, though, but how I'd change it would be up to my DM.

The whole idea about each psion is that they would take a more "enlightened" approach to learning new knowledge. A shaper could either be an artist or an engineer. A kineticist could be an inventor of new machines, looking to use their gifts to grant motion to such tools. Egoists would be doctors or martial artists. Nomads could also do the same; invent machines that bend space and time. Finally, telepaths would be respected for their talents and might find themselves working in government or aristocratic circles.

A way of looking at it between the two is Ptolemic thinking and Copernician-Gallieo thinking. To generalize things, Wizards take a Ptolemic view of manipulating their world. Psions take the opposite view.
======================================== ======

As for Elans and how they fit in the realms, it was my explanation that Lathander would create them. Lathander is the God of dawn, youth, and rebirth; so it seemed natural that Lathander would create the elans. Psions might not really worship him, but it was the most natural thing in the world for him to create them. Come to think of it, they might be Lathander's response to the Undead and their fake immortality.
Sir Elton
02-08-05, 11:55 AM UPDATE:
My DM liked the background. He's been thinking it over and he could use it.

Besides, this thread could use a :bump:

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sir Elton 02-02-05, 08:45 AM	Tell me what you think about this guy. =============================== Theseus Theseus (male élan psion [kineticist] 1): CR 1; medium sized aberration (humanoid); HD 1d4+1; hp 5; Init +1; Speed 30 ft. (6 sq.); Armor Class 16 (+1 dex, +5 inertial armor), touch 11, flatfooted 16; Base Attack +0; Grapple +1; Attacks longsword +1 melee (1d8/x2); Full attack longsword +1 melee (1d8/x2), quarterstaff +1 melee (1d6/1d6/x2), or light crossbow +1 ranged (1d8/x2); Space/Reach 5ft./5ft.; SA psionics; SQ Aberration sans darkvision, naturally psionic (+2 pps), resistance, resilience, repletion, psionics; AL LG; Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 9, Cha 12 Skills and feats: Concentration +5, Craft (painting) +7, Craft (invention) +7, knowledge (psionics) +7, Psicraft +7; Inquisitor, Martial Weapon Proficiency Psionics (3, power save DC 11+power level; 5 pp): 1st level — Control Flames, Control Object, Inertial Armor Possessions — Longsword, Light crossbow, 20 bolts, quarterstaff, scabbard, common outfit, traveling outfit, flint and steel, headband, 1 gallon waterskin, 2 weeks rations. Positive Personality Traits: Calm, confident, lover of beauty rather than destructive, very inventive and artistic. Negative Personality Traits: Chivalrous, has a code of honor, lecherous, aloof Motivations: Since his transformation from human to élan, Theseus is strongly motivated to expand his own mind, to repair the destruction he had wrought with by benefiting mankind; he also enjoys natural beauty and seeks to enjoy it. One of his major “bad” habits is a healthy desire to gaze upon the nude female body. So, he goes on panty raids whenever he can get away with it. He also wants to find his beloved who was his lieutenant in his dark days — Mara. Religion: Theseus is a henotheist. He acknowledges the existence of other gods, but only worships one. He worships Lathander, God of the Dawn, Youth, Rebirth, and Athletics. As an élan, Theseus only naturally worships Lathander. Profile The Dark Knight Theseus was once known by some other name. Under this name, he was raised at Zhentil Keep, but fell under the sway of evil. Theseus had become a powerful blackguard in the name of Bane, the god seeking to become a tyrant. Theseus started life like any other child, innocent and subject to his parents. He believed that his father, a noble of Zentil Keep, could do no wrong. So, as he grew, he played with the other children. As his life advanced, terrible things and social injustice happened to his family. His parents were taken away from him, accused of being traitors to the divine will of the Banite clerics. From then on, Theseus and his three brothers and sisters were wards of the state. They were indoctrinated and all three had left on their separate ways. Semmemon, Theseus’ most famous sibling, had become a powerful and highly intelligent wizard and an operative in the Black Network. His sister, Amorica, became a lady-in-waiting. His other brother, Herakles, had ran away. No one knew where he went, or cared. For Theseus was the golden child. They trained him to be a knight in Zentil Keep’s service. As a fighter, Theseus became conflicted. The Time of Troubles He did not believe in the gods, but he became a loyal Dark Knight under the service of Zhentil Keep. He led his troops into battle, subjugating the areas around the moonsea under the command of the leaders of Zhentil Keep. Loyal, evil, successful, everything seemed to be going Theseus’ way. Until the Time of Troubles. Bane appeared in his temple. A dark and evil god with a true, malevolent nature, Bane rallied his Banites and the Zhentilar. His aim was to conquer all of Faerun, even at the expense of Mystra’s power. Marshalling his forces, Bane was preparing his armies while he handled things elsewhere. It was at this time that Theseus prepared his own army for war. It was at this time that he met the dark elf Mara. Mara was from the Underdark, Menzobarrazhan. As an ally of Bane, she offered her services to the Dark Knight, who had become a Blackguard. Theseus couldn’t trust her, but she offered her loyalty. As time went on while Bane was fighting Mystra’s adventure company, Theseus and Mara had grown close. She became his right hand lieutenant among his troops. And while Fzoul was making plans to follow his dark lord, Theseus and Mara mistrusted Fzoul. After a while, Bane had returned, scarred from his battle with Mystra and her adventuring company. He reported that Mystra, Goddess of Magic, was utterly destroyed by Helm and now was the time to strike at Shadowdale. Everyone cheered the Dark God on and through this, both Fzoul and Theseus was having a secret power struggle of their own. Disagreements on how to handle the war had flown between them as the army marched towards Shadowdale. Semmemon stayed out of their fights, nursing his brother’s hatred for Fzoul. But, little did they know that someone else had his eye on Theseus. The Battle of Shadowdale War had come to Shadowdale, and Theseus led his army against the Shadowdarrans. It was a fierce fight, a powerful fight. Theseus’ army was being wiped out, and he knew it. He tried to rally his forces around to fight the Shadowdarrans, but the Shadowdarrans’ defenses were too strong and too mighty. Then his and Mara’s morale slipped when he saw Bane flying towards the Temple of Lathander. Bane had abandoned them! Screaming in rage, he wanted to kill Fzoul and then go after Bane. After all, the Dark God had taken a mortal avatar. Tragedy struck before he could find Fzoul and land a killing blow. Mara fell in battle and Theseus, conflicted with emotions of hate and love, rushed to Mara’s side, finding that he loved her after all. It was then that the Temple of Lathander collapsed and Bane exploded. The force of the explosion had knocked both Mara and Theseus unconscious. Lathander and Repentance Theseus had come too to find a beautiful, blond youth looking down upon him with a gaze of determination. This was the Avatar of Lathander, and how he got to Shadowdale, none can tell. It was here that Lathander showed him the future of his path. Horrified at what he witnessed, Theseus genuinely wanted to change. The Blackguard who was sworn to Bane had decided to stop the cycle of destruction and subjugation. No more, he vowed, will he be party to Bane’s quest of conquest. He would never act the part of conqueror and asked on how he could make amends. Lathander told him of the élans, a group of humans pledged to renew and make themselves reborn. So he and Mara journeyed to find them, with Lathander’s blessing. The former Blackguard renounced Bane and had become a worshiper of Lathander. The new Lathanderan and his dark elf companion had journeyed for many days trying to find the élans. Through the journey, he watched other events of the Time of Troubles. From the destruction of Bane by Torm, to Cyric’s slaying of Bhal, to the mighty killing of Liera by Cyric using Mask. He also witnessed the fall of Myrkul and the ascension of Mystra and Cyric. Through these travails, he grew to love Mara with a heated passion. The two were separated, though, as Dark Elf agents captured her and he somehow escaped. He vowed to find Mara again, for he missed her kisses, her fine beautiful form, her sweet laughter, undying loyalty, and her companionship. He prayed to Lathander for help, and then continued his journey. The Elans He finally found the élans in the Western Heartlands. The élans have been following him for quite sometime, and they found him when he could not go on for much longer. The élans had nursed him back to health, and while they did so, Theseus told his most amazing story. He was seeking redemption from evil and wanted to contribute good to the world instead of evil. The élans had Theseus apply, and through a long process, his application was accepted. So, hidden in the elans’ enclave, the élans committed the ritual of Rebirth, as taught to the first élans by Lathander. The ritual was harrowing, but powerful. They wiped his mind of most of his memories of training and so forth, allowing Theseus to retain the most basic memories of his life and his memory of Mara; which was too strong to wipe. The transformation process, although painful, was a success and Theseus had become a newly made elan. Theseus Renaissance It was then that he began life as an élan. He started to train with them in expanding his mind and becoming a psion. His training was eventful and full of a new curiosity of life and vitality. Theseus had rejected a life of conquest for the life of a painter and inventor. He learned of the beauty that life had to offer, and began to suck the milk of kindness and beauty. So, he went from a destructive adult who sought to subjugate others and nature to one who enjoyed nature for it’s own benefits and to control it in other ways. One way he expressed this was through painting. Theseus loved to paint figures and landscapes. And figures in landscapes. He’d take a drawing class where he learned to draw by drawing naked people most of the time, and started to paint them. He became entranced with the nude female form, something he feared but did not fear now. However, generally the society he lived in did not allow people to go naked, so he joined the centaurs on panty raids. Sometimes they were successful. But his heart still burned nobly and the panty raids he joined was only to see the naked female form which he had so craved to see since he was a child. Theseus found that he could do many things that he wanted to do as a child. And he threw himself into his training. Making his way Having completed his training, Theseus thought it was time for him to make his way into the world. He needed to repair the damage that he’d done. And he decided to do so by giving back to the communities by inventing things that would help all humans. He also decided that one day, he shall meet Mara again and they would be together. His quest, for independence, however, found him on an insignificant fishing village waiting for the next adventure.
Morka 02-02-05, 07:37 PM	Interresting. I didn't know the Elans backstory in Forgotten Realms, only found them in the SRD and a conversion to Eberron somewhere in the net. The backstory is very complete, but I feel you could find a better reason of why Theseus and Mara separated. Also, what do you want to do with +7 in Craft (Inventions)? What is an "invention" for you? I guess you wish to later craft Universal Psionic Items, and use that skill to craft the material part. I would suggest you to pick a skill like Craft - Leatherworking (to craft boots, cloaks, bags, etc...) or Craft - Gemcutting (to craft crystals and Ioun stones - don't know if there is an equivalent for this in psionic); it would be more realistic.
Sir Elton 02-02-05, 08:23 PM	I am toying with the idea that psions, psychic warriors, and their ilk present a different way of looking at things --- paradigms as you will. Psions and their ilk don't really fit in a medieval society, they fit in a society that is much like Europe's Age of Reason or the Italian Rennaissance. So, I discussed it with my GM. My character would invent psychotechnology; or psionic technology. Psionic tech is machines that would run off psychokinetic energy. I suspose your right, though, but how I'd change it would be up to my DM. The whole idea about each psion is that they would take a more "enlightened" approach to learning new knowledge. A shaper could either be an artist or an engineer. A kineticist could be an inventor of new machines, looking to use their gifts to grant motion to such tools. Egoists would be doctors or martial artists. Nomads could also do the same; invent machines that bend space and time. Finally, telepaths would be respected for their talents and might find themselves working in government or aristocratic circles. A way of looking at it between the two is Ptolemic thinking and Copernician-Gallieo thinking. To generalize things, Wizards take a Ptolemic view of manipulating their world. Psions take the opposite view. ======================================== ====== As for Elans and how they fit in the realms, it was my explanation that Lathander would create them. Lathander is the God of dawn, youth, and rebirth; so it seemed natural that Lathander would create the elans. Psions might not really worship him, but it was the most natural thing in the world for him to create them. Come to think of it, they might be Lathander's response to the Undead and their fake immortality.
Sir Elton 02-08-05, 11:55 AM	UPDATE: My DM liked the background. He's been thinking it over and he could use it. Besides, this thread could use a :bump: