Character Development Discussion
Meanbunny
Member Posts: 107
Hey guys, ever since my recent playthrough of IWD:EE, I have been brainstorming up an idea for a new character that I can put time into developing because I never have really taken the time or had the motivation to create a character that I can call my own that is not extremely generic like some of the characters I have made in the past.
So heres the deal. I had not played through IWD in so long, that I totally forgot about a major part of the story line. I eventually ran into a character that I totally forgot about, that I remember from my teenage years that used to captivate my imagination...
Larrel, the Undead Elven Sorcerer....
It turns out that Larrel is what you call a "Baelnorn Lich" or just a "Baelnorn". They are basically Undead Elven Mages / Sorcerers, that became Baelnorns through a high level necromantic ritual so that they may serve their people through undeath, protect something sacred or sometimes wright a wrong that had happened in their lifetime. I am not 100% certain exactly what a Baelnorn is, but that is the basic information I got online about them.
Larrel goes on in the game to describe how he became that way, but I do not want to give away any story line or plot information about the game incase anyone reading this has not played IWD before, so I will leave it at that.
Now onto what my thread is mainly about.
Now the other main thing that has inspired me, was the art for Larrel's sprite in game. I noticed when I met Larrel that he had this almost combined Undead / Mechanical appearance. I am prety sure that is just the way the artists rendered a skeleton / lich, but I always thought he look pretty cool. That paired with the fact that he is wandering around an astrolabe, mindlessly ranting and also the fact that according to the manual that he is basically invincible, are a couple of the reasons why I was so fascinated with his character.
My question is, is there anyone who is familiar with the combination of the Undead with the Steampunk genre? I am thinking up something like a combination of half lich/skeleton and half machine. Only instead of modern computer technology fusing the two together, it would of course be the power of magic!
If you had the patience to read all of that, then I would love to know what you guys think. Thanks everyone, I hope you all have a great day and remember to have fun!
So heres the deal. I had not played through IWD in so long, that I totally forgot about a major part of the story line. I eventually ran into a character that I totally forgot about, that I remember from my teenage years that used to captivate my imagination...
Larrel, the Undead Elven Sorcerer....
It turns out that Larrel is what you call a "Baelnorn Lich" or just a "Baelnorn". They are basically Undead Elven Mages / Sorcerers, that became Baelnorns through a high level necromantic ritual so that they may serve their people through undeath, protect something sacred or sometimes wright a wrong that had happened in their lifetime. I am not 100% certain exactly what a Baelnorn is, but that is the basic information I got online about them.
Larrel goes on in the game to describe how he became that way, but I do not want to give away any story line or plot information about the game incase anyone reading this has not played IWD before, so I will leave it at that.
Now onto what my thread is mainly about.
Now the other main thing that has inspired me, was the art for Larrel's sprite in game. I noticed when I met Larrel that he had this almost combined Undead / Mechanical appearance. I am prety sure that is just the way the artists rendered a skeleton / lich, but I always thought he look pretty cool. That paired with the fact that he is wandering around an astrolabe, mindlessly ranting and also the fact that according to the manual that he is basically invincible, are a couple of the reasons why I was so fascinated with his character.
My question is, is there anyone who is familiar with the combination of the Undead with the Steampunk genre? I am thinking up something like a combination of half lich/skeleton and half machine. Only instead of modern computer technology fusing the two together, it would of course be the power of magic!
If you had the patience to read all of that, then I would love to know what you guys think. Thanks everyone, I hope you all have a great day and remember to have fun!
5
Comments
@Empyrial I am an avid MTG player, so I know very much about Phyrexia. You are right that they do have the Undead and Machines, I just am trying to come up with something that blends the two together with a large magic component.
I wonder what @Blackraven thinks about this. Also if I remember correctly, there was a guy named @Anduin that was the resident Undead Specialist. If he is still around maybe he might have some ideas.
Now... I may be accused of some bias, but I do believe that the background of the character should fit the setting.
The gnomes of Lantan are fond of machinery, and I could well believe that they would tinker with the reanimation of the dead through machinery.
The basic machine undead however is the flesh golem. Not an actual undead as such, more a construction made from the dead.
So... for ideas. Borrow the bealnorn idea that they have forgone death to carry on their arcane research. Think about a gnome needing more time to construct or research machinery. Think Gond, possibly the only God who would bend the rules in your favour. Think Lanton.
For character art I'd like to recommend looking at the Necron art from Warhammer 40k.
That actually sounds like a great adventure hook! Your party is hired by the church of Gond, completely under the table. Turns out that there is a heretic who has defiled what the church holds sacred by inventing his way to lichedom. Gond is just in it for the inventions, for good or ill, but the church wants you to remove this stain from their honor.
To add an extra little mix to it...make it a neutral evil gnome, who fuels his lichedom (or at least the mecha parts) using the harvested souls of the living. Which is why his lair is located deep in orc lands, where he hunts them down. This leads to some nice moral questions for the party, and it'd be a way to find out how speciest (like racist, only between species) the PCs really are.
A demi lich skull on top a mechanical construct perhaps.
So blending Bioshock's Handyman with undead.
An elven mage was assigned a task of guarding an entrance into the Underdark. The drow had been raiding his elven city for decades and the elders wished these raids to stop (or any other elven cliche).
The mage began working on magical traps, but due to the drow's high magic resistance, they tended to fizzle and were not very effective. He turned to creating golems of great power. He Used any material he could come across. First he started with stone as there was an abundance in the tunnel. They slowed the drow, however, the golems were too weak to actually hold off a raiding party by themselves.
He turned to Duegar dwarves and established a trade with them. If they supplied materials needed for constructing golems, he would build two: one for the entrance, and one for the duegar's settlement. This provided a more prosperous arrangement, as the mage tinkered with Iron and steal, and even precious gems like diamonds and rogue stones. These golems were harder, fiercer and could crush any war party the drow threw down the tunnel.
He took the bones of the drow and began constructing Bone Golems, and he used those to counter attack the drow. Soon, raids from the tunnel stopped coming. The drow found another way to the surface, and used the safer route instead of tempting the golem mage.
But the mage never stopped. He continued to perfect his craft until his body began giving out on him. Fearful of being unable to continue his work, the elven mage started studying more dark and cryptic magic. He began the process of turning himself into lich.
Since his body was failing him, and he could not lift nor even carve the stones properly, he crafted a mechanical golem he could control to help shape his army of golems. Soon his lich body began to fail, and he started the process of becoming a demi lich. He built a new golem, that he could control with his mind that could create his army of golem's faster than before.
The duegar still traded with him. Building an army of their own, carving a large area of the Underdark they called their own. Few ventured near them, fearful of the wrath of stone men at their disposal. They guard the lich with their lives, as without him, their empire would crumble.
A characters development is an important thing. If it is not yours... In its entirety. You will not feel as inclined to invest in it.
...
Reminding you again of the setting. Larloch's minor drain and similar spells harvest life force from its victims and gives it to the caster... Let's see if we can make it game legit...
...
Sounds awesome. Plus you inspired me to change my avatar.
I also did some googling, and found something about Iron Liches, creatures that have sold their flesh for immortality with powerful abilities as well as some vulnerabilites. They are discussed in Monsternomicon, a book for the Iron Kingdoms setting. I don't have the book though, so I'm afraid I can't be more specific.
I wad thinking gnome, but in 2d gnomes can't go Necro so.
Wow! I cannot believe how serious you guys took my idea. You have no idea how much this means to me. Never in my time being into RPG's have I ever been as invested in a character idea such as this one.
I am so embarrased to say, that I never knew about Gond! He sounds like a perfect deity for such a character. I grew up playing Everquest, so I know a whole lot about Gnomish culture as their city is built on machinery, clockworks and other mechanical constructs of that nature. Gond sounds especially interesting and having a deity to work with really gives me another piece of foundation to build on.
As much as I love Gnomes and Humans are one of my most prefered races along with Half-Orcs, Baelnorns I think are exclusively Elven, or at least Half-Elven, so I am not sure if I can stray away from that or not even though I would not mind at all doing so.
I very much enjoyed the Planescape Torment setting and that world does seem like a good place to conduct research for the idea. Also, Iron Lich sounds like a really sweet name for the undead/machine/magic combination.
Next thing I need advice on:
I know there is only so much you can do in the game, but I really wanted to make this character come to life in a future Baldur's Gate run. So if you guys can think of what class would be the most proper for this character and what line of spell specialization to focus on, that would help tremendously. I am kind of stuck between a dual/multi class, Sorcerer or Specialist Mage. Not totally sure what direction to go with although Larrel was a Sorcerer if I do recall correctly.
You guys have no idea how much I appreciate your input on this subject. I was busy the last couple days and I never expected the well thought out and in depth responses you guys had for me. This really is an amazing community.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/41502/an-analysis-on-necromancy-focus-on-iwd-ee-but-may-apply-to-other-games#latest
It manly focuses on the spell selection in IWD:EE but is applicable to Baldur's Gate.
A summary of the post is:
Clerics make better Necromancers in that they get animate undead sooner and evil Clerics have rebuke undead.
You could rp as a Gnome Cleric of Gond. In "Libris Mortis" which is a 3rd edition D&D book it does say good Liches do exist outside of Baelnorn. Though if you do make a good Cleric you'll destroy undead with turn undead as opposed to controlling them.
I'd take a look at the mod "Tome and Blood" if you're interested in mods as they have some cool Necromancy themed sub-kits for mages. Though, the mod is going through an overhaul I believe so we'll see how that goes. There are also some sorcerer kits such as the revenant sorcerer kit that focuses on Necromancy. If I recall the mod also gives gnomes access to the sorcerer class.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/31274/mod-beta-tome-and-blood-more-options-for-wizards-and-sorcerers/p1?_ga=1.95594267.602184538.1431381712
Also, is Gond exclusively followed by Gnomes? I have never really played a short race PC before. I know that is eventually going to have to change though.
By the way, you really don't need to focus on necromancy to become a lich. One of the biggest Lich in BG2, Shangalar from the Twisted Rune, is an abjurer.
Arch Lich - disciples fan art by SvetoslavPetrov, http://svetoslavpetrov.deviantart.com/art/Arch-Lich-disciples-fan-art-475733570