Baelstramus Nocte

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Ah, the horrible Sith + Necromancer combo. Here's the sheet so far:

Name: Baelstramus Nocte
Notes:
Heaven – Shaman/Warlock who became a Dracolich and finally repented at the end of his life
Hell – Sith Lord being burned by purgatory
Attributes:
Willpower - VH Godlike
P. Ability - VH Godlike 3/20
Strength - VH Godlike 3/20
Intelligence - Mod Godlike
Reflex - VH Godlike 1/20
Keen - VH Godike 2/20
Endurance - VH Godlike
Charisma - Mod Godlike
Affinites:
Magic -
Tech -
Ki -
Psi -
Classes: Sith Lord (16), Necromancer (6), Water Warlock (10), Cavalry Dragoon, Galathrion Gryphon Rider, War Elephant Rider, Exotic Rider, Ankaqoq
Abilities:
Trident Specials
Catharsis Reflect
Vengeance Return
Reflect and Return (block first with Catharsis to send attack back, then
Catharsis Capture (can capture arms using the tines)

General Abilities
Necromantic Bladder (gained from fighting Archeus, passive, grants Kirby abilities)
(One other from Archeus fight; fight used his Air-on-Fire-on-Air skill that Baelstramus could mimic, a massive water rush or force lightning rush that creates its own barrier, Infinity, Astronomer skills, Shock, teleportation, magnetism)
Terrain Control and Mount Skills

Cell Abilities
Body Control
Cell Jrs.
Death Ball
Death Ray
Destructo-Disc
Dodonpa
Flame Blast (Vegeta)
Gallic Gun
Kamehameha
Dual Kamehameha (Combo Tech with any other Turtle School PC)
Ki Zanzoken
Masenko
Special Beam Cannon
Tri-Beam Cannon
Yamucha's Black Hole
Wolf Fang Fist
Water Spells
Restorer
Tsunami
Torrent's Ubiquity
Tidal Strength
Water Elemental
Surpassing Leak (gives fighter a defense-surpassing effect)
Water Totempole
Wisdom of Water (raises Int + P. Ability)
Drown (water spell w/ instant-death chance)
Salve (healing spell especially good against burns)
Cure
Cure 2
Cure 3
Cure 4
Antidote
Remedy
Regen
Ice
Ice 2
Ice 3
Aqua
Aqua 2
Aqua 3
Osmose
Dark Osmose
Eldritch Osmose
Glacier
Equipment:
Trinity of Retribution (Catharsis, Smiting, Vengeance)
Tumahab's Helm (Bahamut Dracolich)
Gale Force Cape (constantly expanding force, self-contained storm, can form into two wings to propel, can be used during acrobatics to alter velocities and vectors/hide motion/generate a hurricane/as a shield or weapon)
War Horn of Nesarius (a corrupted former good artifact that now imbues the forces of darkness with the righteousness of good)
Dracolich Powers (associated with Tumahab)

Familiars:
Nettling Imp

Ganesa Elephant
Flaming hooves
Barbed monocle
War throne: 2 bodyguards (super-dense corpse piles, tower shields, bastard swords, railcannons with scatter shot setting), 3 lookouts (crowns of eyes and ears and noses, snipers), 4 bombardiers (explosives, mini-rocket pistols, operate the cannons), driver (electric-chain whip)
4 cannon slots
Corpse Bombs (super-angry and evil corpses used as reusable bombs, get stronger each time)
Skeleton Seeds
Mine creation (either as bombs over his body that don't harm him or set them behind or in front of them)
Freeze Space (freeze those in front of him to trample them)
Distorting Trample (distort space as if he trampled them)
Wrathful Thunderbird
Lyn-Srial skeletons
Tengu skeletons
Demi-bat skeletons
Zombie gargoyles
Vampires

Nightmare (corrupted unicrn horn, spiked barding
Accompanying cavalry platoon

Merits:
Gobi Training
Cell Training
Darth Maul Training
Gyuzo Training (Samurai Seven)
Shihichiro Training (Samurai Seven)
Gandalf Training
Sirius Black Training
Kain Training
Nobi Absorption
Ikiru's Absorption
Daedrous' Absorption
Frank Brown Absorption
Rayzen Absorption
Gluttony Absorption
Envy Absorption
Mounts' Absorption
Handyman's Absorption
Bombardi II's Absorption
Forbidden Terrain Bonus: Water, Underwater (P. Ability, Strength)
X-Magic

Treasure Trove:
75, 30, 53, 90, 84, 62, 35, 88, 80, 38, 8, 57, 89, 76, 84, 43, 87


Money (5)
Weapons or Shields or Ammunition or Special Offensive Items (3) –
Armor or Exoskeletons or Forcefields (2) – Armor 96, Shield 95
Spell Components or Items or Helmets (4) – Helmet 95
Relics (4) –
Books, Learning Items, Technological Items (4)
Any (3) –

Obviously, Justin, you want to do equipment first. After that is Classes, the rest of Trainers, etc.

[crazygeneral]

The ganesa elephant seems well fleshed out, let's work out the specifics for the thunder bird and the Nightmare. I also don't know why I'm posting this since this is at Marty's LAN and you're like five feet away from me, if that.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

The Ganesa elephant needs its cannon slots worked out, possibly the folks who are on it more worked out into specialized squads, and its special skills.

It's nice to have a record of things.

The Thunderbird is a very offensive and speedy creature; spells with high damage ratios and high AoE would be worth it.

The Nightmare is sort of the middle ground between the Ganesa, plus I'm imagining a lot of terrain control to take advantage of cavalry manuevers. Swamps and brimstone-filled desert wasteland landscapes and such.

[crazygeneral]

I agree with your thoughts on the Thunderbird, he could take on the role of a mage, high damage and AoE, but fragile. I'll meditate on some ideas and post them when I can, I'll also have to meditate on the primary role of the Nightmare as well.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

I would love to see cavalry strategy used.

Also think of Classes - either check out Classes under Rules or think of abilities you want to perform. I guess I should also start posting Classes of the Day.

Sith Lord Forbiddens and F2s? Water spells? Obviously you have Tsunami, Torrent's Ubiquity (water agility spell), Tidal Strength (strength spell), Living Water Armor, Intelligence of Water, Salve, Cure, probably Restorer, a Water Totempole...

Given how fast your Jedi is, going for a Ninja class and specializing in Jutsus w/ hand seals would be excellent.

Post to Private Campaign - you can start a duel, make a team to go into the Mysterious Dungeon, do three bankai trainings, do your semi-finals matches, etc. all at once!

Oh, and FB-wise, you can draft yoself a team of favorites (say the people from Septerra Core, the Animorphs, Lakaras and Sicrenda) and head off to kill things.

[crazygeneral]

I think that some Warcraft style Death Knights, Fallen Valkyries, and Warhammer Demonic cavalry would be good companions for Baelstramus on his Nightmare. I suppose the main role of the Nightmare and accompanying baddies would be creating chaos and disruption for the enemy. Perhaps the Nightmare can fire a beam from his drill bit horn that causes the target to lose one random ability as he uses another? Get back to me on what you think about that. I suppose I should be heading back to algebra now.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

All right. The Valkyries would be air support?

Chaos/disruption, quick surgical strikes, basically the role of real-life cavalry.

The Nightmare skill sound like one relevant skill, certainly. Maybe have it be specialized with draining, disabling, various "mines"/wards like Vicious Circle, etc.?

[crazygeneral]

Yeah, that sounds about right. Instead of just damaging the enemy like the Thunder bird or having massive staying power like the elephant the Nightmare would be there to basically "jam" the enemy. I'm thinking a status effects whore. I'll thump through my Rifts books for appropriate spells and of course be open to any suggestions you have. I also thought of a general strategy for the use of his mounts: Bring in the Nightmare and accompanying baddies to weaken defenses and cause confusion, jump up onto the Thunderbird to cause massive damage while the enemy is off-guard, then bring in the elephant to stay the counter-attack.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Though I imagine full cavalry charges will inflict points of high discrete damage. The Thunderbird is a bomber that does constant damage, varying of course, but the cavalry has points where they do nothing (except possibly sniper pot shots) and then powerful charges. Terrain control will also be vital - it'll empower your and Mlky's magic, let anyone (like Dr. Blammo) who has master underwater skills thrive, help Ikiru's killing blows, help Fracas and other melee fighters, etc.

I can't think of anything the horse really needs. Come up with special Formations for your animals and minions. Like the Cavalry could have an Earth-Thumping Formation that causes an earthquake and disruption with their stomping hooves.

Leaping from mounts is also certainly possible, though that does then expose each one of them, as they are far stronger (and as are you) when linked with you.

Also, come up with some other spells and tricks to be more than a one-trick pony. You, like all other Heaven/Hell folks, have metric assloads of Class Points, probably something like 100-150.

[crazygeneral]

Of course I'll come up with more abilities, I just thought of that one as I was typing the message out. But right now I've got bitches to straighten out.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

I'd recommend at least a few various "modes" or things you do as well as some Classes to compensate for your weaknesses and give you some variety. A really nice way to do it is to develop or choose Classes that leverage your strengths to cover your weaknesses. For example: Someone who is a tank with a lot of HP can learn spells or styles that absorb from HP, which helps him compensate for his relative lack of MP. You can also use Merits to gear that way.

[crazygeneral]

I just read your post about character history and one idea hit me instantly. Baelstramus' Dracolich helm. I think he'd be an "interesting" character to show up in a sticky situation, like say either posses Baelstramus or show up in his own physical manifestion. But I'll have to think about this other stuff later as I'm at work and feel like a dick just sitting here on the message board while Jon does all the work.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

So you're thinking a residual component of the helm's former owner's personality could be summoned? A similar logic could apply to the War Horn. But I was thinking more along the lines of, how did you get the helm? What sacrifices did you make? Perhaps alienating a girlfriend or a friend?

[crazygeneral]

Of course of course, I think developing the history of the aquirement of the Helm and perhaps the entire history of the Dracolich would be really fun. But, starting Thursday, Dec. 15th, I'll have a lot more time to spawn new ideas and develope the details.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

All right, so we should work more on the game mechanics part then. Right now Baelstramus is just another necromancer horde with a few familiars and a good weapon combined with Sith skills. Nothing's setting him aside. Unique Force powers and unique water and necromantic spells or abilities would be very good, as well as choosing some rarer Classes. Want the category of abilities list? And what do you want his function to be in meta-game terms?

[crazygeneral]

It'd be a great help if you could send me or point me in the direction of the abilities lists and class lists. I'll spend my free time at work today either thinking of unique powers and spells for Baelstramus or playing Battlefront 2, it's a difficult decision. But since it's dead as Christ in here, I'll probably post again a few times today while at the work place

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

The Classes list is a little problematic. In Rules, a few scattered Abilities and Classes are listed. In the FB section, there's a few Jobs listed. In the Rifts section, there is the RCC/OCC Netbook up that has some stuff. And you're welcome to scan through other people's skills. Any Rifts class you know if is also up for grabs.

The classes list is here: cotgrpg.proboards78.com/index.cgi?board=cotgrules&action=display&thread=1132555763

The Class of the Day (admittedly pretty empty, but I'll fill it out) is here: cotgrpg.proboards78.com/index.cgi?board=cotgrules&action=display&thread=1132725403

The Jobs list from FF Tactics is here: cotgrpg.proboards78.com/index.cgi?board=newpeoplefb&action=display&thread=1133730415

There's also a Martial Arts list in the CotG Rules, I believe.

And I think I'm going to make a unified class list. This is a larger class list sans description. cotgrpg.proboards78.com/index.cgi?board=cotgrules&action=display&thread=1134253566&page=1


The Rolante Amazon, Exotic Weapons Specialist and Trident User will be good for tridents. You can also develop particular forms or styles with your tridents. Moo Gi Gong, Shih Ba Ban Wu Yi, Composite Martial Art, Composite Duelist and Man-at-Arms provide general weapon skills. The lightsaber arts are listed as well. There's a Wiki on the topic: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightsaber_combat

[crazygeneral]

Thanks for all the links dude, you're a big help, I give you the G.M of the Year Award.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Yay!

The class list is growing slowly. If you have any ideas for classes or remember anything from things like Dimension Books, remind me. I might not have the basics (stuff like Sniper, etc.)

Oh, Cavalier and Cavalry Dragoon will be vital to use your mounts effectively. You can also go the Beastmaster, Psi-Druid, Animal Shaman, etc. way to gain control and/or empathy with and over your animals. And since you do like water/ice, Ankaqoq and/or Qivigtog might be excellent. Galathrion Gryphon Rider might be good for the Thunderbird, War Elephant Rider is obvious in its applications, and Exotic Rider could be good.

[crazygeneral]

I certainly want to pick cavalry dragoon, Galathrion Gryphon rider, War Elephant Rider and Exotic rider. I'm not sure which direction to go with strengthening the bonds between Baelstramus and his mounts, and I have no idea what an Ankaqoq and Qivigtog, further more, before I start picking more classes I need to assess my characters strengths and weaknesses and decide where to focus my class points

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Ankaqoq are Inuit shamans who learn numerous shamanic spells, develop a connection with a spirit bear called a Tornaq who is a simply MASSIVE P.P.E. repository (1D4x100+150 in Rifts terms at first level), create Inuit talismans/fetishes/amulets, shape change, learn the Nalussaerunek senses (literally, "to not be conscious of anything"), and some psychic powers.

Qivigtog are Polar Mystics, learning a few scattered nature, exploration, personal conveyance spells, minor psionics, the ability to create an Iceberg Body of incredible strength (personal augmentation), moving like a blizzard with incredible speed and force, shape-changing, creating a spirit weapon, and Nalussaerunek senses.

I agree that you should develop a core theme, then choose Classes to both augment and compensate. The way James and I designed Ikiru is a perfect example: Both innate abilities and skills to enhance his killing blows (particularly raising Psi Affinity), combined with classes like Summoner and martial arts skills to give him something to do and something to protect him when he's discovering his foes' weaknesses.

Another thing you need: Familiars. Distinct from mounts in that their role is more as a magic enabler and stat booster.

[crazygeneral]

Baelstramus already has a nettling imp as a familiar. But he should still have like a sweet familiar like a huge snake.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Oh yeah, you do have the NI familiar. But you could go for two, like Brunnengus did.

One cool property of the Ankaqoq, by the way, is that the Tornaq's HP is directly proportional to the caster's MP. Which means that your Tornaq is a tank.

[crazygeneral]

Dude, Ankaqoq sounds like a prime choice for Baelstramus.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Yeah, it reflects his shamanic history and has some nice skills. You might also want to do a little druidery, really set you aside and the first main shaman/druid on the team. Maybe Barbarian classes too (people don't really have berserker; Jin has some, but really not all that much). You can also really pimp out the Tornaq if you choose Merits or Talent-like abilities to increase its power.

Something REALLY unique/cool might be to go towards a ghostly direction, combining necromancy and shamanism. Maybe Ghostbuster, Ecto-Hunter, Noro Psychic Ghost Maker, a Necromancer class specialized on dark spirits, etc.

Have you figured out the direction you want to go with your lightsaber training?

[crazygeneral]

I definetely want to have barbarian as a class. I imagined Baelstramus as a huge, awful nordic god of war riding on his flaming hooved horse which is trailed by a huge storm of black, thunderous clouds. As for lightsaber styles, not yet. I need to get around to reading all the different forms because there's lots of them and long descriptions too. But throwing in some druidism wouldn't be bad, as I just imagined his helmet with a pair of rad elk horns poping up from the sides.

[crazygeneral]

Ok, I've decided on Ataru for Baelstramus' lightsaber fighting style because he can also apply to the training to his acrobatics with his trident. Speaking of which, I need to spend equipment points on his lightsaber, as lightsabers are as unique as the jedi (or sith in this case) that create them.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Well, you don't have to pick one form. You can combine elements of forms.

So you're going to have a lightsaber in addition to the trident? In which case, yes, you must design it, probably name it, and then you can do a BANKAI with it!

I should also point out: You don't have to double-post, you can click the "Edit" button to edit a post when you get a new idea.

Just basic Barbarian? Going to get that and choose some more advanced things, like Berserker or Eternal Berserker or Dwarven Defender or Spellslayer or other Barbarian-based Prestige classes? Or just juice up Barbarian with special Unique Merits like Thundering Rage, Contagious Rage/Screams of Rage and Ruinous Rage?

[crazygeneral]

What's an Eternal Berserker? Sounds interesting though, same with Spellslayer, explain that one to me. After I have the low down on what those are, I'll know if I want to choose them. I also just read the Dragoon class description and realize how wonderfully it works with Baelstramus, given his Dracolich nature. Awesome.

[Frederic Bourgault-Christie]

Eternal Berserkers are basically Berserkers from FF. To learn the Class, one goes through periods where one fights a whole battle in a rage, only doing physical attacks. When one is done, one learns a mastery of axes, hammers, heavy armor, and extending rages indefinitely as well as unique abilities learned only within a Rage.

Spellslayer are Fighter or Barbarian archetypes who specialize in killing magicians, either from strategic perspectives or deeply held religious or philosophical beliefs. Obviously you'd be the former.

There are even more Rages, too: Spell Rage and such. I'm sure a Force Rage would be quite fitting: use Dark Side Force application to make a negative feedback loop - get more angry, make more Dark Force, etc.

Yes, Dragoons tend to get dragon-based abilities in addition to their solid Jump skill. And since you're not a main tank, Jump isn't something you hesitate to use!