Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arthur_Pendragon 11-27-03, 03:37 AM	I'm playing a PC, named Galen (the he mentioned in the below in flavor text) in a campaign, who is essentially an Outsider (Dream). This setting essentially has no afterlife, souls go to the land of dreams when they die (and are tortured/rewarded according to their alignment). Essentially when people dream, they form dreamscapes and form dream creatures (sometimes those creature have sentience) and some escape their dreams demise (about 40% of the time). In the campaign's setting, a young woman training to be a healer (a type of mage using only healing spells) named Anna dreamed Galen into existence when she was a young woman (16 or so, she is now 18 or so). Galen survived that dreams collapse and forged his own dream demi-plane. Galen was "born" with full knowledge of the "real" world that would Anna would have expected him to have in her dream (considering his role in her dream). At the time Anna was training with her grandfather (her parents are dead) an old wizard who was teaching her restoration (healing) magic who also told her many stories as she was growing up, which involved great wizards as heros. (though growing up in a village full of average intellegent farm boys, this intellegent girl grew up day dreaming (not of a knight in shining armor) but of a handsome powerful wizard who would lover her for her mind as well as her attractiveness. As a result one night in her 16th year, she actually dreamed up just such a kind of romantic involvement (Galen's creation, and the moment he gained awarness) with a (what seemed to her) a powerful, protective, and loving mage. Trick is, dreams are rarely so clear cut, and Galen was also infused with much of the darkness born from her nightmares as well as from her desires. (Making him more a True Neutral). As she awoke, her dream collapsed without her, but Galen already born with wizardly knowledge simply strode out into the dream chaos and forged a haven. He spent sometime studying magic (working with what he already knew, plus the advantage of working in an Outer Realm) and fully acheived first level (taking Spell Focus (Illusion)). He now felt the need to pursue Anna (not really sure why?) and find a way to enter the real world, so he began reentering her dreams again and again, finally gaining enough of a sense from them and managed to open a one way gate to the real world (somewhere in the wilderness near her village). So as the campaign starts up Anna (who will become the party healer) is in her village working in her grandfather general store, and in a few days, the man who has been repeatedly haunting her dreams of late will walk into the store and start paying a lot of attention to her (he isn't so blunt as to approach her directly with what he is, he is aware of what she might think) and since dreams are taken semi-seriously in this world, Anna will most likely think destiny or something is going on here. Galen himself is a bit more complicated. Galen is (what the people of this world, those that know of the Realm of Dreams inhabitants, call) Sharyn (son of dreams/nightmares). A real outsider, like an angel or demon in most settings. Though "human" in most respects he some very big differences. - Outsider (Dream) (unaffected by Charm Person, held at bay by Magic Circle vs Dream creatures) - Doesn't hunger, thirst, or sleep, age (he looks 20 or so, but won't age, ever), doesn't suffer from enviromental effects (he could suffer cold damage, just doesn't suffer discomfort from being outside during winter weather) as per endure elements (in 3.5 edition). - Unaffected by mortal poison/disease (poisons creature from the dream realm and ability drain from undead would still harm him) - Retractable claws in finger tips (unnoticalbe unless unseathed, does 1d4 damage) - "Eyes of Darkness" (what the flavor text below is describing), gaze attack (5ft range, one target at a time, requires ranged touch attack to "lock eyes" will save DC (10+5 (int mod)+1 (level)) 16. Requires standard action to use) for a moment the victim suffers their worst nightmare (varying effects), if under the effect for more than 3 rounds straight (almost always requiring the victim be restrained as they usually flee) Galen can search their mind (as per Detect thoughts) victim feels the violation of their mind completely. Vicitims can't manage to break eye contact with out will save. - Joint dreaming - (Glaen kind of conciously meditates instead of sleeping, and in doing so often joins his companions in their dreams). Galen acts well-mannered, intellegent, high vocabulary, but his very nature is a problem. To put it simply, his very nature causes wild and domestic animals to flee, babies cry, and children instictively fear him. His Charisma as a result is 8, though Anna I imagine would react as if his charisma is MUCH higher. I decided his alignment would be True Neutral because on the one hand I see him having the capacity to do good, protected people, really care (as Anna had dreamt him), and yet he also has the capacity to leave an enemy lying in the snow curled into a fetal postion weeping insenseably, after having his/her mind violated. My question is, how do I role play (I'm DM and PC, as my group is small) both Anna's reaction and Galen's? I eventually wanted romantic involvement. Galen doesn't look to Anna like a mother (even if she was part of his creation) but as a lover (in part who he was made to be, in part because he does really care for her). So how do I handle the romantic process? Another thing is how do I handle other NPC interaction, we plan to have a charismatic PC fighter to lead the party (Galen certianly couldn't!) but I'd welcome suggestions for interesting fun roleplaying interactions that could result from Galen being in the party? Any General reactions to the character? Suggestions on how I could have fun with roleplaying this character in a serious campaign?
Arthur_Pendragon 11-27-03, 03:44 AM	Here is the Flavor text for the "Eyes of Darkness" ability. She stared up into his eyes for a moment, and he seemed to blink, then reopen his eyes slowly. They changed from his soft green eyes, to orbs of molten darkness. Her first instinct was to turn away and not look, but she found herself frozen in place, strangely drawn by that darkness, unwilling, unable to turn away. She found his eye like a dark abyss, staring down into a dark chasm. She then noticed her heart seemed cooled, now cold, and the coldness spread, down her shoulders, and arms, numbing her hands, she felt her muscles tense as if to flee, but her eyes would not tear themselves from that darkness. She stared into those dark orbs as the coldness spread through her with a sensation as though icy water was being poured into an empty shell. And as she stared into the abyss she suddenly became aware that it was looking back. She felt a strange curiosity that nothingness should look at her. . . that it should be looking at all. But it was there, not looking with human eyes, but looking with it’s whole emptiness. The abyss stared back, and it was looking at her. The abyss stared at her, her eyes, the windows to her soul. And with a feeling like her heart was sinking into her chest, she realized with horror, something that wasn’t human was looking at her soul. Then she sensed the darkness moving, she hadn’t seen anything move, she felt it in her soul. With a terrifying sense that her eyes were naked, her soul was naked and unprotected. The darkness gently moved forward, and she felt like it was pouring like water into her eyes, darkness pouring into her soul. “Please don’t do this to me. . .” she whispered helplessly. Abruptly it was gone, the darkness vanished from her mind with rapidness of lightning strike. It did not withdraw or remain, it simply ceased to exist. She found herself looking again into his human eyes. Finding warmth again in her body she scrambled backwards away from him. Once she had placed sufficient distance between herself and him, she covered her mouth, staring at him in disbelief at what had just happened. Then she whispered, not with condemnation, but with fear at her own realizing, “You’re a monster. . .” “No.” he replied softly, “I am not a monster. . .or if I am, so is all mankind.” “No.” she said with an edge of anger and an edge of fear. “I am made of dreams and nightmares. Do you think murderers are aberrations? In a sense they are, because they act out their thoughts where others show civil restraint. But don’t you think those same thoughts passed through the minds of a thousand other people? I am not proud of what mankind is, what I am in a way, but I also can show compassion.” “Compassion. . .” she said coldly, “What compassion have you shown?” “I did not enter you, your mind that is, you asked me to stop, and I did.” he said softly. “But. . .your not human!” She said staring at him. “Nor am I some mere culmination of human nightmares given flesh. I am made of dreams too. I was born because you dreamed, and in that I am part of you.” He said softly, “I am as human as you are.”
Acceptance 12-01-03, 12:09 PM	Tip: give a short description about the things that matter about your char, cos verry few people will be willing to read al this text. then if people get interested/involved you can give them more info.