Re: The Dresden Files: Caught in the Undertow

[draxx]

I think we're better off with two groups, one morally questionable, and the other morally bankrupt, with Vlad and Cowl (when I finally get around to introducing him) doing their own things.
The more sides to the game, the more interesting it is.

[industrious]

Elaine's actually based in LA, not New York. Just letting you know that.

[Cracklord]

My mistake. Thanks.

[industrious]

Nicodemus probably has a lot of aliases/false identities. A few I've come up with:

Nikolas Lionheart (obvious enough, plus a reference to the Crusades)
Shiro Carpenter (the last two knights he's put out of commission)
Howard Crowley (A portmanteau of Aleister Crowley and HP Lovecraft)

[Cracklord]

It's strange, how easy I see him pulling that off. It really is.

[industrious]

Why Nicodemus is acting this way is actually very simple.

We know that Dresden, in addition to being a very powerful wizard, is also important because he has power over Outsiders; this is due to the circumstances of his birth. We know that this undiscovered ability is not unique; others born around certain dates under various circumstances also have this ability; Mr. Butcher has stated that Elaine is one of those people.

We also know that Nicodemus is very, very interested in Dresden; he knew, as of Death Masks, more about the man than Dresden did about himself. He wants to work with him, even if Dresden isn't corrupted (but it's a very nice bonus if he is). Dresden's a powerful wizard, but if Nicodemus wanted a powerful wizard, he would use...Ramirez, for example, who he has no prior history with, and who is a better combat specialist than Dresden. Yet, he is constantly seeking to corrupt Harry instead of others. This, coupled with Nicodemus's hatred of the Circle, means that he is interested in Harry for that Outsider-affecting ability.

Enter Nikolas Lionheart. An investment banker, constantly going on business trips to LA. A very minor talent from New York, and friendly towards Elaine. And then, Mr. Lionheart saves her, becomes her knight in shining armor (the irony alone appeals to him), and gains her trust...

[AnimeKid]

Hey guys just thought I'd see how the game is going. I would join, but I'm afriad that my knowledge on the Dresden Files series is nonexistant, sorry.

[draxx]

Actually, you know who should play Nicodemus Arcleone?

Hugo Weaving.

[industrious]

He'd be a good second choice, but I still prefer Christoph Waltz.

Weaving is good; he's very good, but the role's he's played aren't quite the same as Nicodemus. Smith was far too legion and inhuman; Elrond was there solely for plot exposition, and V, though very close to Nicodemus, was far too much of a symbol, and not enough of a man.

The thing that's scary about Nicodemus is that he's the dark part of humanity. He's the part that we all feel inside, that evil aspect that, at times, seems only a single provocation away. He's very, very human.

[draxx]

He's the archetype of the Shadow, to put in in Jungian terms.

And when you pick an actor, don't pick them based on what they have already done, pick them at their ability to act. Just because Weaving has not been asked to play that sort of evil character does not mean he can't. In fact, he's due to play Red Skull.

But Christoph Waltz doesn't have the magnificence. He can definitely do the right attitude, but not the right presentation. He could play Nicodemus, and do it well, but he couldn't really make him come to life.

Trust me, Weaving could more then pull it off. He needs the evil, but he also needs the charming flair for the dramatic, the presentation, and the many facets of personality. He needs to make you shocked every time he reminds you that yes, he is in fact, evil.

[Cracklord]

Maybe James Caviezel. If you've seen 'The Count of Monte Christo you'll know why I suggest him.
Perfect blend of charm, class, competency, and casual brutality.

Only problem is, nobody would be able to even remember Harry Dresden exists once he stepped onto the stage.

[Colesign]

Heh.

And don't worry, Anime Kid: Original Characters are accepted in this game setting: If you don't feel like diving into Dresden Files info, you could try playing a character that doesn't know a lot about the Supernatural World, and winds up discovering the truth during this campaign. Or do something else.

In any case, Welcome.

[AnimeKid]

Thank you Colesign. I think I can do that, say Cracklord would that be okay with you? Also if I can join with OC's how many characters are people using in this game?

[Cracklord]

I suppose so. Thee are two currently in action, mine, which is a romanian warlord immortal with considerable personal power and little personal intelligence, and Colesigns, which is a street magician fish out of water.
Also, are you going to update the Kingdom Hearts game?

[AnimeKid]

I'm in the process of doing that right now. Sorry about my absence I had school projects and became unfortunatly sick for about a week.

[industrious]

I respectfully disagree as to Waltz's ability to make the character come to life. I just know that I hung onto every small detail about the man's performance, and I've never done that with any of Weaving's characters.

Also, Warboss was fine with the intro I posted (with Maeve), but he hasn't gotten into the game.

[Cracklord]

Different strokes for different folks. I personally find most of Tarantino's movies bland (the man needs to grow up), and Inglorious Bastards was (to me at least) a waste of time, so while I found him to be a good actor (who speaks several languages absolutely flawlessly) I didn't have enough investment to really care.
Where watching James Caviezel was bliss because The Count of Monte Christo is one of my favorite stories.

[Cracklord]

Anyway, maybe Kincaid's dead, and maybe he isn't. As everyone knows, the laws of drama dictate a fall kills villains, but not heroes. So we ask ourselves. Was Kincaid becoming human enough to be redeemed? If so, who knows. He might still live. Or he might not.
As for why I wrote that with no real build-up, they have had a long association, which we are only seeing the end off, and he respects the other side far more then he respects his own team. More then that, he's had enough time to broaden his mind a bit, and sees Vlad for what he is. And besides, I don't want to roleplay with myself more then I absolutely have to. It's not as engaging as you might think.
As for Vlad, I plan to write him as slowly losing everything, starting with his servants, then his sanity (what's left of it), then his power, then his mind, and so when they finally do catch up to him he's all alone and babbling, pathetic more then anything.
I'm also going to make him do some truly terrible things before then. I'm going to make you want him to get his comeuppance, and I'm going to make you deeply satisfied when he does loses all he has, and dies in agony.

[Colesign]

INNNtteresstingggg.......

Still I'm curious as to how our cast of heroes is going to defeat the scion of a 'Ferrovax' class Dragon and Hellspawn.

And nice character development for Kincaid, Cracklord: for a moment, I thought that Kincaid was displaying true mercenary instincts and gunning down defenseless men and women without any qualms. When in fact he was swiftly becoming disgusted with the nature of the people he worked for.

Maybe it was Bartholomew's speech that pushed him over that edge. Or maybe it was the fact that "Nicodemus" was so easily able to pass as a good guy in front of him, due to all the blood he's shed.

or something else...

[AnimeKid]

Hey guys in this setting is magic a latent power that people learn to control, like in harry potter? If not is it something that has to be learned though years of study like the wizards in dnd?

[industrious]

Everyone has some degree of talent. That being said, the vast majority of people never use it because it's a) very minor and b) really hard to learn to use. Given time and effort, everyone can do very, very minor stuff.

A very small percentage have the ability to actually harness that spark instinctively, and are minor talents. Emphasis, once more, on minor.

A small percentage of those have greater ability, and so on and so forth.

The analogy Butcher uses is the ability to play the violin. Everyone can learn to some degree, but some have an inborn talent that will take them much farther than the guy who has worked hard his whole life.

[AnimeKid]

Okay here are my two ideas for OC's though I will warn you they were heavily influenced by pre-existing characters. Also can white court vampires use magic or can they only use thier psychic powers

Name:Sartorius Weaver
Age:22
Race:Vampire, white court
skills: Sartorius is a new brand of White Court vampire of which he is the first. Instead of lust, fear, or despair he feeds on the heat of battle. Tension, battle spirit, hot blood, and wlll to win. These these are the things(At least I think so ) that make up the heat of battle. This means that theoreatically in a fight he has limitless energy (Also if White Court Vampires can use magic he is very good with Evocation magic, moderate with Conjuration, and knows little Abjuration). He is a street fight who has fought many adversaries over his years of fighting. He started street fighting as a hobby and they a way of life at the tender age of 12. Since he likes a challenge he does not use his boosting powers unless he needs to. Thus he has grown in power and experience.
Weapons: As a street fighter Sartorius does not use weapons saying that "a real man doesn't need a weapon, all he needs is his fists." The only weapons he has on him and will consider using are brass knuckles and some fighting gloves that have a steel plating in the leather.
Items:The only item he has on him is a dog tag that belonged to his absent father that has incredibly strong Abjuration magics lurking within it. Sartorius only uses this memento in very desperate times as he sees it as relying on his fathers strength rather than his own.
Personality: He is the definition of a hot-blooded, passionate fighter. He is somewhat intellegent but he perfers to use brawn over brain which is why he doesn't get involved in the politcal squables of the white court. It's also because as a new breed of vampire he has no house. He is generally a nice guy who likes fighting a little to much. In order the judge the people he meets he challenges them first to a fist fight claiming that real men talk with thier fists and that though battle one can come to understand his opponent with each blow of his fist.
Bio: As far as Sartorius can remember his father has been absent from his life and his mother seems broken because of it. As he grew up he started noting that the strong were often the ones who were respected and revered. So at the age of 12 Sartorius took up street fighting toughening himself to fight as many people as he could. Eventually what started as a way to be respected turned into a way of life. He continued his little career for many years until the at the age of 17 in a particularly vicious street fight at a boating dock against a known murderer of his victims his vampiric nature showed itself as Sartorious entered a sort of battle crazed berzerker state taking his opponents punches and without flinching or giving an inch eventually beating the guy into a brutal bloody corpse. Coming back to his senses he quickly burned the with some lighter fluid and a match, the lighter fluid was found nearby. After that he told his mother of what happend and she did not know what to do. So deciding to go out on his own Sartoruis continued street fighting and started looking into the supernatural (Especially when his unconfirmed magic powers start showing, after all sicking a fireball on a rapist is freaky no matter who you are). Until his travels take him to (Setting of Dresden files). Along the way he has experimented with his "magic" and managed to become competent. After much toil he found out about the Courts of Vampires and that he belonged to the white court, thou without a family to belong to he did not have much say in their affairs. Not to mention he hated how the White Court did things so know he just lives out his days trying to achive his dream, becoming the ultimate fighter. (For his back story I was thinking that his father was a random member of the Raith family, would that be cool?)
Appearance:

This is what Sartorius looks like and who I based him off of

[draxx]

The White Court tends to be indirect, but that could be interesting. And I'd keep it as simply anger he feeds on.

[Cracklord]

They could hypothetically use magic, but as it's a blood thing it is a very long chance indeed.

[industrious]

He'd definitely be the real black sheep of the White Court. Make Thomas look positively model by comparison.

2 issues:

Dresden-verse isn't all that great with items. Those that have them are practioners, and they seldom do more than augment their own prowess at magic, or various qualities of the object they have enchanted. The ones that do more are Really Powerful Devices that we only see a few of: The Denarian Coins, the Noose of Judas Iscariot, the Swords of the Cross, etc.

Also, the analogy with playing the violin is very apt. Lobbing a fireball is like playing a symphony; it takes a lot of effort and practice. Dresden had to work at least several years before he got to fireballs.

As for the White Court and magic...we've definitely seen it happen. Thomas can manage a tracking spell (though he notes how rough it is to do it).

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