Masks the skeleton [Archive] - Wizards Community

Masks the skeleton [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Telos_Savant
07-22-06, 05:40 PM first time posting a char concept here :P

Ok i have a char that i think is really fun, its an ebberon campegn setting and this is it, he is a human bone creature dread necro. he is chaotic good and they meet him in the mopurnlands scrounging through bones. His name that he has told them is Masks. He is always wearing enough clothes to cover his whole body. He wheres masks made from the scalps of bodies he finds in the mournlands, and is very particular to get the best looking and whitest ones he can. He loves being undead but loves the living as well so he hides the fact that he is a skeleton from everyone else and that is why he wears his masks. Necromany fasinated him and he wishes to become the most beutiful of all the undead, the lich, hense him being a dread necro. I have not written a backstory on himand the pcs have only just met him, i have allot of time to work on him cus our next session isnt for like 2 weeks so andy sort of ideas, critique, or anything is welcom THX.
Devlonir
07-22-06, 08:15 PM Well, first off consider where he comes from? Karrnath sounds obvious, but he might even be a native of Cyre who survived the disaster that created the Mournland because he is undead.

Then, consider his life before he became undead and a dread necro. Maybe he was a simple farmer who became this and learned much new fascinating things, or he studied old tomes to make himself undead.

Then consider what he has done since he became undead. How does he survive without people knowing his true self? Outside Karrnath, being a known undead is a death sentence (pun intended), so he will have to work hard to keep up appearances as a living being. How does he go through eating, drinking and even things as simple as handshakes (cold bone fingers are a dead giveaway)

So first decide those things, then flesh out the background.
Malcaor
07-22-06, 10:26 PM i think that your skeleton could have been one of those serial killers that wears his vistims skin, maybe he could even wear their hands. he would have to replace the masks often becuase they would start to rot.
Syltorian
07-23-06, 08:27 AM It seems to fit well with the Blood of Vol. The actual doctrine, that is, rather than the perversion created by Eridanis. Their aim is to eliminate death, and all in all, this is for the good of the living. So, his creed could be not to use lethal action if he can avoid it (after all death is eternal, and the worst that could happen), and to take great care of those who are dead (burial rituals on everyone he finds, etc).

On the other hand, wearing other people as masks might be his way (rather crazy, I admit) of giving them some kind of afterlife. He might change behaviour according to what masks he wears, pretending, in part at least, to be that person. Especially in the Mournland, he may have begun doing so simply because he turned mad and tried to keep up a charade that people he knew were still alive. Even if he has to act them. Maybe in his mind the beautiful are more deserving of this continued life; after all, beauty is what Cyre was all about, so they represent it better. It might be his way to let Cyre itself live on.

With that mania in mind, he would almost certainly have been a Cyran, or at least someone who dearly loved Cyre, or the beauty it represented. Perhaps he was an artist. Check Five Nations for the blood-art they use in the Blood of Vol; maybe he has some skill in that. Finding the necessary pigments could be interesting, even if he is actually good aligned. He could be actually quite nice, if very scary. In general, obsession with beauty sounds very much like what could happen to someone who survived the Mourning, though, and who cannot forget Cyre.

Now, for necromancy and his idea that liches are beautiful (and still going with the Blood of Vol background), maybe he fell in love with an image of Eridanis in one of the temples of the religion, or with another idealised painting of an undead. He too wants to become like that. He was perhaps infiltrating parts of Karrnath to find out more about their rituals, and there he heard about the destruction of his homeland which led to his return. Perhaps he was not interested at all in necromancy before the Mourning came, but was still an artist. Only when his country died did he seek a way to find beauty in death itself.

As for how he poses as an undead, covering the body should work pretty well already. Cold handshakes are not that much of a problem if he wears gloves. Nor does every culture shake hands. Some consider such contact very impolite and would rather bow, nod their heads, or otherwise give their greetings without touching - in fact, he might resent touching because it could mar his beauty.

Not eating or drinking could be explained away by a Ring of Sustenance. It's pretty cheap (the ring, whether the excuse is as well I leave to you), so people would know about it. Along with that, everyone understands that eating and drinking stuff you find in the Mournland is not the brightest of ideas, so he could pretend to fear contamination.

As a side note, is it necessary that he was a human in life? His obsession with taking on faces of others might indicate that he was a changeling who, through his skeletal state is unable to change his appearance in other ways, and who has become crazy through losing this natural ability. Just leave the stats you got so far. It's only a matter of background.
Devlonir
07-23-06, 12:18 PM I like the changeling link to the taking of faces. Id take that myself in any such concept.

And the problem i was talking about is social interaction. When people are with each other socially, they eat and drink even if they own rings of substenance just because eating and drinking together is normal social interaction that is also true in any Dungeons and Dragons setting, especially one as close to the current world as Eberron.

This is a problem that also happens when you are a vampire in a roleplaying game i used to play of another supplier of roleplaying games most known for his vampire game. This little detail can make the difference between a succesful or unsuccesful disgsuise. Just think about how you would solve little things like that in social interaction with npc's and pc's.
Syltorian
07-23-06, 12:41 PM Now, I am not sure how uncomfortable a skeleton can feel, but maybe he could have found (and entered a symbiosis with) a Bag of Devouring which it keeps in its breast cage. Essentially, this could work as some kind of stomach. He could eat and drink, and the creature that the bag is would benefit. If he covers himself with clothes all the time, he should be able to hide the thing pretty well. Perhaps, as a dread necromancer, you could even have him chose this bag instead of a familiar. Hope the suggestion is not (or can be worked out so as not to be) too silly... :embarrass Anyway, could be something along the lines (though not exactly the same as) a Daelkyr symbiont...
Telos_Savant
07-23-06, 05:08 PM thanks guys i really appreciate the ideas, allot of it i have already solved but you brought up some great points and i am greatful, u guys have agreat summer

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Telos_Savant 07-22-06, 05:40 PM	first time posting a char concept here :P Ok i have a char that i think is really fun, its an ebberon campegn setting and this is it, he is a human bone creature dread necro. he is chaotic good and they meet him in the mopurnlands scrounging through bones. His name that he has told them is Masks. He is always wearing enough clothes to cover his whole body. He wheres masks made from the scalps of bodies he finds in the mournlands, and is very particular to get the best looking and whitest ones he can. He loves being undead but loves the living as well so he hides the fact that he is a skeleton from everyone else and that is why he wears his masks. Necromany fasinated him and he wishes to become the most beutiful of all the undead, the lich, hense him being a dread necro. I have not written a backstory on himand the pcs have only just met him, i have allot of time to work on him cus our next session isnt for like 2 weeks so andy sort of ideas, critique, or anything is welcom THX.
Devlonir 07-22-06, 08:15 PM	Well, first off consider where he comes from? Karrnath sounds obvious, but he might even be a native of Cyre who survived the disaster that created the Mournland because he is undead. Then, consider his life before he became undead and a dread necro. Maybe he was a simple farmer who became this and learned much new fascinating things, or he studied old tomes to make himself undead. Then consider what he has done since he became undead. How does he survive without people knowing his true self? Outside Karrnath, being a known undead is a death sentence (pun intended), so he will have to work hard to keep up appearances as a living being. How does he go through eating, drinking and even things as simple as handshakes (cold bone fingers are a dead giveaway) So first decide those things, then flesh out the background.
Malcaor 07-22-06, 10:26 PM	i think that your skeleton could have been one of those serial killers that wears his vistims skin, maybe he could even wear their hands. he would have to replace the masks often becuase they would start to rot.
Syltorian 07-23-06, 08:27 AM	It seems to fit well with the Blood of Vol. The actual doctrine, that is, rather than the perversion created by Eridanis. Their aim is to eliminate death, and all in all, this is for the good of the living. So, his creed could be not to use lethal action if he can avoid it (after all death is eternal, and the worst that could happen), and to take great care of those who are dead (burial rituals on everyone he finds, etc). On the other hand, wearing other people as masks might be his way (rather crazy, I admit) of giving them some kind of afterlife. He might change behaviour according to what masks he wears, pretending, in part at least, to be that person. Especially in the Mournland, he may have begun doing so simply because he turned mad and tried to keep up a charade that people he knew were still alive. Even if he has to act them. Maybe in his mind the beautiful are more deserving of this continued life; after all, beauty is what Cyre was all about, so they represent it better. It might be his way to let Cyre itself live on. With that mania in mind, he would almost certainly have been a Cyran, or at least someone who dearly loved Cyre, or the beauty it represented. Perhaps he was an artist. Check Five Nations for the blood-art they use in the Blood of Vol; maybe he has some skill in that. Finding the necessary pigments could be interesting, even if he is actually good aligned. He could be actually quite nice, if very scary. In general, obsession with beauty sounds very much like what could happen to someone who survived the Mourning, though, and who cannot forget Cyre. Now, for necromancy and his idea that liches are beautiful (and still going with the Blood of Vol background), maybe he fell in love with an image of Eridanis in one of the temples of the religion, or with another idealised painting of an undead. He too wants to become like that. He was perhaps infiltrating parts of Karrnath to find out more about their rituals, and there he heard about the destruction of his homeland which led to his return. Perhaps he was not interested at all in necromancy before the Mourning came, but was still an artist. Only when his country died did he seek a way to find beauty in death itself. As for how he poses as an undead, covering the body should work pretty well already. Cold handshakes are not that much of a problem if he wears gloves. Nor does every culture shake hands. Some consider such contact very impolite and would rather bow, nod their heads, or otherwise give their greetings without touching - in fact, he might resent touching because it could mar his beauty. Not eating or drinking could be explained away by a Ring of Sustenance. It's pretty cheap (the ring, whether the excuse is as well I leave to you), so people would know about it. Along with that, everyone understands that eating and drinking stuff you find in the Mournland is not the brightest of ideas, so he could pretend to fear contamination. As a side note, is it necessary that he was a human in life? His obsession with taking on faces of others might indicate that he was a changeling who, through his skeletal state is unable to change his appearance in other ways, and who has become crazy through losing this natural ability. Just leave the stats you got so far. It's only a matter of background.
Devlonir 07-23-06, 12:18 PM	I like the changeling link to the taking of faces. Id take that myself in any such concept. And the problem i was talking about is social interaction. When people are with each other socially, they eat and drink even if they own rings of substenance just because eating and drinking together is normal social interaction that is also true in any Dungeons and Dragons setting, especially one as close to the current world as Eberron. This is a problem that also happens when you are a vampire in a roleplaying game i used to play of another supplier of roleplaying games most known for his vampire game. This little detail can make the difference between a succesful or unsuccesful disgsuise. Just think about how you would solve little things like that in social interaction with npc's and pc's.
Syltorian 07-23-06, 12:41 PM	Now, I am not sure how uncomfortable a skeleton can feel, but maybe he could have found (and entered a symbiosis with) a Bag of Devouring which it keeps in its breast cage. Essentially, this could work as some kind of stomach. He could eat and drink, and the creature that the bag is would benefit. If he covers himself with clothes all the time, he should be able to hide the thing pretty well. Perhaps, as a dread necromancer, you could even have him chose this bag instead of a familiar. Hope the suggestion is not (or can be worked out so as not to be) too silly... :embarrass Anyway, could be something along the lines (though not exactly the same as) a Daelkyr symbiont...
Telos_Savant 07-23-06, 05:08 PM	thanks guys i really appreciate the ideas, allot of it i have already solved but you brought up some great points and i am greatful, u guys have agreat summer