Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lord of the Ninth 11-10-03, 10:11 PM	I'm working on this character for d20 modern who's a 700 year old undead warrior who uses a full-blade (which may or may not look like Sephiroth's sword in FF7, I haven't decided yet), which he uses in one hand (monkey grip feat from S&F, I know it's not modern but the DM allowed it, mostly because I actually don't fight as well this way). The idea behind his concept is that either he was cursed by a powerful magic user sometime in the 1300s or he is somehow suffering from a divine punishment. Now he fights the forces of darkness in the modern world, which is complicated by his very anachronistic nature (dude still uses a sword when other people have assault rifles). So I have several questions: 1. How could I carry a a sword this size (18" longer than a normal two-handed sword, however long that is), so that I wouldn't have to walk around with it in my hand and could still draw it as a move equivilent action? [I know in an abstract mechanics sense I can do this, but I want to know how it would look] 2. Can I play this guy as a tragic hero without seeming more cliche than the sword already makes me? 3. What sort of habits might an undead warrior from the 1300s retain? 4. Curst are all supposed to be a little cracked (5% chance every 10 minutes of just suddenly doing somehting that makes no sense for 1-6 seconds), anything I can do with this that won't destroy the level of seriousness I want with this character? 5. And of course anything else you think I ought to think about. Thanks. [edited so I don't end up trying to use a 24 foot long sword, in one hand]
Winternova 11-11-03, 12:04 AM	That's a pretty groovy character idea, chief. 1. That's 24' of metal, man. A PC of mine in a previous campaign had a similar blade stolen from a Fire Giant or some such. He'd just shift (weretigre) and balance the broad of the blade on one shoulder, with his hand over the handle, but you want no hands, eh? I'm drawing a blank there... wheelbarrow? 2. Hellz yes you can! 3. Whatever habits he had in life, I'd assume, with a growing despair of having to adapt to a newer way of life. He likely has some very peculiar mannerisms, and his views of things are quite different. 4. 5% chance every ten minutes? I'm always prone to doing something at random - my good ol' halfling thief just got de-stoned after a hundred years, and he still mistakenly breathes into his coinpurse instead of the empty bag he has on him to avoid panicking and passing out. If you think your character is about to have one of his 'spells' then he does, regardless of situation. Also, I commend you on trying to stay serious. I wish my PCs would do the same. 5. Very creative, we likes. Unfortunately, I've not thought much about undead warriors, so I can't offer anything else to think about.
Lord of the Ninth 11-11-03, 12:34 AM	1. Whoa! 24 feet and I would need a wheelbarrow! I meant 18 inches, sorry (stupid shift key). That'd be a really big sword! So I guess what now, 7 1/2 ft.? 2. cool, thanks. 3. Alright, I need to think of what he would have been doing before he died. He would have been a low level strong hero with archaic weapon proficiency, so maybe a career soldier. I should really also think about what country he was from. I'll look through some history books latter, see what countries were happenin' in the 1300s 4. I mean that he has no control over at all. I think maybe I'll have him seem very serious, then suddenly just start staring at something on the ground and laughing (or whatever) for a couple seconds, and then get right back to what he was doing and completely ignore what just happened (maybe make a few NPCs think he's a little crazy). 5. Thanks! Thank you for replying Winternova.:)
Chompman 11-11-03, 01:29 AM	Boy what is he compensating for?:smirk: Just trying to make the other undeads jealous more then likely
Trydan 11-11-03, 03:17 AM	Answering the original post...[list=1] Shoulder hook. This is a like a piece of wire, bend into a "C" shape, and then with the ends bent up. It is fastend with a leather strap to the back plate of the armour, although I guess you could make a special leather-harness for it (should there be no armour). The sword just sits in this, until required. Note that there is no scabbard as such, and is really just used to keep it out of the way when on military parades, etc. Sure. I'd possibly even make a point of the character not being able to draw the sword in time and thus failing to save himself (or an innocent child, or a helpless maiden, or the king, or... etc.) Hmm... well, to make it stand out, what sorts of things did they have back then, that we don't have today. The obvious things that spring to mind are parasites and diseases. Howabout giving him a "sneeze-phobia"? What about incessant (sp?) scratching? Perhaps he could carry pouches of (now rotted) herbs as a plague-ward? "Curst"? ... in which case I'm not sure what you are talking about? Or "Cursed?" I'd possibly go for more plague-paranoia. It is minor, but makes a statement about the life and times, when he was alive. Not sure, but if it is in a d20 modern setting, I suspect that something could be made of the way that the character reacts to "modern things". E.g. what would he think of a television? or a handy? or a car? [/list=1]I hope that helps. Nice concept, Lord of the Ninth... I really like it! :)
Arilou_skiff 11-11-03, 05:16 AM	For an unrealistically large sword, how aboot a Fullblade?
CaoSlayer 11-11-03, 06:29 AM	[i] 1. How could I carry a a sword this size (18" longer than a normal two-handed sword, however long that is), so that I wouldn't have to walk around with it in my hand and could still draw it as a move equivilent action? [I know in an abstract mechanics sense I can do this, but I want to know how it would look] 2. Can I play this guy as a tragic hero without seeming more cliche than the sword already makes me? 3. What sort of habits might an undead warrior from the 1300s retain? 4. Curst are all supposed to be a little cracked (5% chance every 10 minutes of just suddenly doing somehting that makes no sense for 1-6 seconds), anything I can do with this that won't destroy the level of seriousness I want with this character? 5. And of course anything else you think I ought to think about. Thanks. [edited so I don't end up trying to use a 24 foot long sword, in one hand] [/B] 1) a glove of storing, you can keep anthing that weights 20lb or less, if the sword it is still to heavy, try to use mithril. 2) I would play it as an anti-hero, such like the crow, you are an undead without heart, be cruel with your enemies.
Morka 11-11-03, 12:05 PM	In his life, he could have been using a fullblade two-handed, (not in one hand). He was a hero of incredible strength and heigth, so he was able to do incredible damages with it. Maybe he hit something he shouldn't and was cursed, I don't know why he turned undead. But the fact is he turned undead, and his sword with him . So the sword exist in both the material and the etheral plane. With the time, the undead warrior learned to transfer some of the sword's weigth in the etheral plane, so he is able to use it like it weigth half (perhaps an home-made feat). So when he hold the sword, it look like a shinning blade, like it was when it turned undead, but look strangely light. :fight!: But when someone else try to hold it, it is an old sword, covered with rust, and too heavy to be used. :smirk: Does it make sense?
Lord of the Ninth 11-11-03, 02:50 PM	Chompman, he could be compensating for any number of things, but probably not what you're talking about. The swords name is Amacita (which is Latin, for somehting that made sense at the time). Trydan, that's a good idea it should do the job quite nicely. I don't know why they say Curst instead of Cursed, after all it supposed to be an undead being who suffers from some sort of powerful curse that prevents them from dying. I was just looking in my history book and since I'm having him be from France originally he would ahve definately seen the Black Plague (although he might have been dead at the time), and the Hundred Years War. So I'm thinking some disease related habits and a dislike of the English. Arilou_Skiff, it is a full-blade, I mentioned this in my first post. CaoSlayer, there isn't a lot of magic in this setting (aside from me and our enemies), so I would only be able to get one if the GM had us find it (plus I think a full-blade is too heavy for it, it weighs an impressive 23 lb, I thik the limit for the glove is 20). But if I could get it to work that'd be super cool. As for two, I'm thinking I need to watch the Crow. Morka, he isn't a ghost so there's nothing etheral about him, or his sword. I'm thinking he aquired the sword after he died, or possibly as part of his death (stole it from someone or something big and scary). The idea would be neat, maybe if I can get the sword to be magical I'll try it (enchanted with he ghost-toucha ability would fit what you're saying a little), but I think I used up most of my chips with my character generation. Thanks for your replies everyone!:D
Morka 11-12-03, 05:39 PM	I was not taking him for a ghost, I was just thinking that as an undead, he should have a special connection to the Etheral Plane. That's remind me a story I once read, it was about a man who was unable to die. During some Middle Age war, he received an halleberd hit on the head, crushing half of his brain. An alchemist tryed some mixture (don't remember the composition, but it was basic) on his head. The next day, the man was alive and kicking. Since this day, he was regenerating any wound he got, and was unable to die. The alchemist tryed to make his mixture again, but it never worked again. So the unkillable guy was happy, but after having see all his friends die, he was less happy. The most ironic is he was a stupid sod, the only thing he was able to do was fighting. So since his "boon", he only worked as a mercenary. Now imagine if the one who received this boon would have been a scientific or a politician...
Lord of the Ninth 11-12-03, 06:36 PM	Where do you get the ethereal connection from if he isn't a ghost? Most undead get their stuff from the negative energy plane. Where'd you see this story? I might want to read it. Thanks.
ikkonoishi 11-12-03, 07:10 PM	You could carry it around like Kenta does in This comic (http://noneedforbushido.keenspace.com/d/20021013.html)
Lord of the Ninth 11-12-03, 09:27 PM	Stupid double post...
Lord of the Ninth 11-12-03, 10:09 PM	Um, how does he carry it? It looks to be the size of a small canoe, and the first part just hhas him pulling this cover off of it. I just saw the Crow about 10 minutes ago. By far the best movie I have ever seen after having it be reccomended on these boards. I definately see the conections, and it does seem like my character would work well as a vengance driven character (initially at the very least). However, I do face a unique problem, being 672 (round numbers always sound less realistic), he would have to be against another immortal, an archetype of villain (like thieves, cultists, murderers, the English etc.), or maybe a cult-like organization with exceptional staying power (possibly of supernatural origins). So I need to talk to my GM about the villains. Maybe I just hate murderers, that ought to be fairly easy to work into a campaign... I should write up my history, so I need: A. How he died. B. Who killed him. C. Why he didn't stay dead. D. Why he has the sword. E. Why he's a hero. So I'm thinking he was in the Hundred Years War, and he came home after most of the people in his unit died. He comes home, to find his family killed by bandits (not related to the war, thus the tragic irony). He then seeks to gain his revenge, so he goes on a personal crusade against whoever he thinks might have done it. He finds them and confronts them, but is slain in the process. He makes a deal with some dark power, trading his afterlife for revenge, then he returns to life, wielding Amacita. In gaining his revenge he accidentally kills several innocent people(perhaps part of the purpose behind the dark power's deal). So, he attempts to take his own life as attonement, but finds that he is prevented from doing so. So instead he seeks to make ammends, haunted by the phrase: "One life can touch a thousand others, and those a thousand more. How can one hope to repay one death? What hope can you have for more?"
Sephraem 11-12-03, 10:43 PM	Originally posted by Lord of the Ninth I just saw the Crow about 10 minutes ago. By far the best movie I have ever seen after having it be reccomended on these boards.Oh well, I guess there's no point in recommending Mazes and Monsters to you, then. So I'm thinking he was in the Hundred Years War, and he came home after most of the people in his unit died. He comes home, to find his family killed by bandits (not related to the war, thus the tragic irony). He then seeks to gain his revenge, so he goes on a personal crusade against whoever he thinks might have done it. He finds them and confronts them, but is slain in the process. He makes a deal with some dark power, trading his afterlife for revenge, then he returns to life, wielding Amacita. In gaining his revenge he accidentally kills several innocent people(perhaps part of the purpose behind the dark power's deal). So, he attempts to take his own life as attonement, but finds that he is prevented from doing so. So instead he seeks to make ammends, haunted by the phrase: "One life can touch a thousand others, and those a thousand more. How can one hope to repay one death? What hope can you have for more?" What about the Roman Catholic Church as an ongoing enemy? Perhaps instead of being killed by bandits, his wife/family was persecuted by the church for being witches/changelings. That makes the demon connection all the more appropriate, and ironic, because he's not really a bad guy, but he chose to ally himself with the wrong forces. Leading on from that, he could have been hunted by the Church after his transformation (especially as he then went on to kill some of the organisation's members). Knowledge of his existence could be passed down through a certain little known faction of the Church which deals with certain supernatural entities, such as himself. This thread is giving me some good campaign ideas, too! Cheers! :D
Lord of the Ninth 11-13-03, 12:02 AM	Why, do think I wouldn't like Mazes and Monsters? (I haven't seen it). The Catholic Church would be great for that, I guess I hadn't thought about it because I always think of the Witch Tirals as being later, but I suppose that isn't really true. And of course if he had gone away to war, his wife who would ahve been living alone would have been a prime target. Plus it kinda fits my "cult-like organization with exceptional staying power" idea (although, strictly speaking it isn't so much a cult-like organization as a religion;) ). And then I can use the rest of my idea. Thank you this definately fills in several of the weaker points in my background. I like your sig by the way, I can't really read binary, but I understand enough for it to be funny. I'm glad you have gotten some campaign ideas from this. Thank you for your reply.
Sephraem 11-13-03, 12:28 AM	Originally posted by Lord of the Ninth Why, do think I wouldn't like Mazes and Monsters? (I haven't seen it). It's a film starring Tom Hanks as this roleplayer that gets sucked into the 'evil' of the game and forgets what's real and what's not. "It's my spells! I guard them with my life!" Weird, weird film that did not ward me off roleplaying at all. A for effort, E for achievement. The Catholic Church would be great for that, I guess I hadn't thought about it because I always think of the Witch Tirals as being later, but I suppose that isn't really true. And of course if he had gone away to war, his wife who would ahve been living alone would have been a prime target. Plus it kinda fits my "cult-like organization with exceptional staying power" idea (although, strictly speaking it isn't so much a cult-like organization as a religion;) ). And then I can use the rest of my idea. Thank you this definately fills in several of the weaker points in my background. No problem. Witch trials were around for centuries and then they just got popular for a while. You're right, though, the really famous ones were much later. You could still make it a cult, by making it some kind of wierd splinter group that centuries ago was sanctioned by the Church and then kind of 'forgotten' by the conventional faith. Maybe the men in weird hats and dresses are aware of it, maybe they're not. Perhaps there's a conspiracy that stretches through the entire Church all the way through the Vatican's Bowling Alley and stops right at the foot of the Papal Seat. Or perhaps I'm getting carried away. I like your sig by the way, I can't really read binary, but I understand enough for it to be funny. I'm glad you have gotten some campaign ideas from this. Thank you for your reply. You're welcome. I'm glad you like my sig. I heartily approve of Spoonism, btw. ;) You have no idea how much I've been struggling with this campaign. I'm so struggling to create a 'greater picture' kind of supernatural modern-day plot that doesn't involve some kind of apocalypse (or other plot recently seen in a film and/or Buffy/Angel). But I suppose that would be a topic for another thread on another board. :)
PhaedrusXY 11-13-03, 05:16 PM	For carrying the sword, a harness type baldric. There is a metal pocket that the tip of the sword sits in, then a wide leather strap running up along the blade, between the sword and your back. Near the hilt, have a strap across the blade that pops open when you pull on it. To draw it, you just unsnap the strap near the hilt and lift it so that the tip comes free of the metal pocket. I wish I had a picture, but I don't know where to find one and I suck at drawing. Sounds like a fun character. Edit: I couldn't find exactly what I'm talking about, and I'm not sure it ever actually existed. There is a claymore sling HERE (http://www.albionarmorers.com/swords/scabbards/scabbards.htm) that is similar. You could use something like this. The difference between what I'm talking about and this is that I was going to put basically a small scabbard over the tip of the blade that was connected to the rest of the sling by a leather strap.
Lord of the Ninth 11-13-03, 06:53 PM	Sephraem, oh, ok. I had been comparing it to Dragon Slayer (cringe), Mad Max, The One, and this other movie I have simple repressed the memory of... All of which I were recomended here. I saw it as a bit of a curse. I think he'll after members of a splinter group of the church, although it was still part of it when they killed his family. He's not out to get the Pope (any religious official who refers to his vehicle as the "Pope-mobile" garners a certain amount of respect just for that). PhaedrusXY, I don't think the baldric would work, because there is really no way I can unsheath a 7 foot + sword using any of the traditional motions involved in doing this (that's why I can't just have a scabard). I'm thnking the hooks ought to work though, and I'll have some straps too just incase I need to hang upside down or jump a lot.
Baron Phylos 11-14-03, 02:16 AM	If it's in d20 Modern, just make the sword out of Titanium. Titanium might be crap for making normal swords, but for grossly oversized novelty swords it's perfect. To carry a decent cutting edge, a titanium "longsword" would look like a big 2x4 when compared to a steel sword of equivalent weight. So a titanium fullblade would probably look alot like that giant popscicle sword that wussy ffVII cloud strife and other fruity anime swordmen carry around. But explaining how a 14th century dead man got that titanium and the ludicrously huge amount of cash to buy it is another matter.
Morka 11-14-03, 10:06 AM	Originally posted by Lord of the Ninth Where do you get the ethereal connection from if he isn't a ghost? Most undead get their stuff from the negative energy plane. You're right. But since a ghost is an undead living in the etheral plane, I was thinking another undead might have some similar abilities. Sorry if it doesn't fit. Where'd you see this story? I might want to read it. Thanks. In a compendium with many SF stories, at the shool library, almost 10 years ago. And it was in french (my first language). So chances are little I can find it and it will be useful for you! But you reminds me another story, well known this time: Dracula. In the latest movie (by Coppola), Vlad Teppes (the true Dracula) was a Transilvanian king. I think he was gone to war, when his wife commit suicide. Since suicide was forbidden by the Catholic church, the priest told him she was cursed and will not go to heaven, so Vlad Teppes would never see her again. Then he decided to curse himself: he hit a crucifix with his sword, and it started to bleed. He drank the blood, and became immortal. His quest is simple: to find his wife he think she will reincarnate sooner or later.
Lord of the Ninth 11-17-03, 12:00 AM	You know I think I've seen part of that movie, when was it made? The story might not help me much if you do find, because I am an ignorant American, and can just barely speak English, so unless you think there is an English version... Thank you for replying Baron Phylos, would titanium really work? And anyway I don't think a sword like cloud's is really what I want, I'm after the other unrealistically large sword in FF7, Masamune I believe it was called.
Zeroflowne 11-17-03, 09:41 AM	Hm... the story of his reserrection sounds a lot like Blood Omen-Legacy of Kain. Perhaps you can take a page from it in regard to character development. When Kain first rose as a vampire, he loathed himself and wanted desperately to be "cured". However, as he adventured, he found that humans are just cattle to be used. Sadly, your char had several millenia to do that, so you don't get to RP that. At this stage, he would probably not honor any oaths, since he would consider them meaningless after his betrayal. He probably relishes killing churchgoers and similar religious types. He won't kill innocents (at his core, he still is an honorable guy), but he doesn't consider the church "innocent". And, he probably feels that humans, idiotic sheep that they are, shouldn't be allowed to rule themselves, and he should rule them. For their own good, of course. -ZF
Morka 11-17-03, 09:54 AM	Originally posted by Lord of the Ninth You know I think I've seen part of that movie, when was it made? The story might not help me much if you do find, because I am an ignorant American, and can just barely speak English, so unless you think there is an English version... Didn't mean to insult you. :-) Actually, it is probably an english story translated, but I don't remember the original name. It's 10 years ago! And for now, I live at about one hour road from where I studied in college, so sorry, I don't think I can find it. However, I'll keep an eye open next time I'll go to the local library. Let's pray Helm the Vigilant One that I find something! For the movie, it is 1992. Follow this link. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/)