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Rahman the Undying (PL9/10) - Almilee

Almilee

By Almilee
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Almilee Advanced Member

Almilee

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Posted (edited)

Player Name: Almilee
Character Name: Rahman the Undying
Power Level: 9 (150/153PP)
Trade-Offs: None
Unspent Power Points: 3

 

In Brief: Lich Mage

Residence: His mausoleum.
Base of Operations: His mausoleum.
Catchphrase:

Alternate Identity: Ibraheem El-Hashem (when necessary to pass unremarked, he hides behind an illusion of a polite, well-dressed Arabic gentleman with a striking resemblance to the Rahman of flesh...not that most would remember what that looked like.)
Identity: Rahman Nehjem
Birthplace: London
Occupation: Wizard
Affiliations: The Order of Hermes
Family: None

Description:
Age: 656 (6 August, 1959)
Apparent Age: Dead
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Arabic
Height: 6'2”
Weight: 90lbs
Eyes: Blue-White
Hair: White

A tall drink of water, Rahman towers easily over the average person, but is about as muscular as a twig. His skin has been reduced to paper-thin, crackling and opening as he moves, and sits extremely close to his bones, close enough to allow them to be visible. Overall, he looks like a mummy who's wrappings someone took off. Where his eyes should be, there is nothing but a ghostly blue light that crackles like fire. Long threads of white hair sit on his head, patches of it missing, along with the skin that should have been under it, revealing greyish-white bone only a slightly different color from his skin. 

Rahman, when being himself, wears a set of deep red and black robes, as well as a slightly oversized hat. However, sometimes, he finds it enjoyable to throw on a fuzzy red bathrobe and slippers, when he's about to settle down with a good book - being a lich, after all, is no reason not to appreciate fine clothing.

Power Descriptions:
Rahman, quite simply, uses magic. Though the spells take different forms, they often look the same – waving and a short burst of chanting. The only real exception is when he uses the spells in his staff – those spells are permanently stored, and can be activated merely with his will and a wave of the staff (though that's mostly because it looks suitably dramatic).

History:
In Eastern Europe, during the mid 13th century, operated a group of wizards who called themselves simply by the moniker of The Order of Hermes. When young Rahman discovered the mysteries of magic in the late 13th century, these were the mages who came to teach him. They took him into their sanctum, and taught him the secrets of the schools of magic. When it came time to choose his own path, however, he surprised them.

The Arabian wizard had been studying in secret, poring through the Order's ancient tomes, and had found a school of magic that he had barely been taught about – necromancy. However, the Order members, firm believers in pure knowledge, did not prevent him from choosing this path – a choice they would later regret.

In the depths of the sanctum, over the next few years, Rahman studied. His attention was utterly devoured by his studies, as he dived deeper and deeper into the darkest art. One day, after having almost forgotten of the necromancer's existence, the Order was called to his workshop in the middle of the night by loud rumbling and manic chanting.

What they found there surprised none of them, though it horrified them nonetheless. They watched, powerless to stop him, as Rahman carried out a dangerous ritual and tore his soul from his body, binding it into his staff in exchange for eternal life. Once the ritual was concluded, the wizard used a simple spell of Conjuration to disappear from the Sanctum, taking his tomes and secrets with him.

Rahman did not stay hidden for long however, resurfacing within a week, as he sent hordes of skeletons to conquer a small town on the outskirts of what is now France. The wizards of the Order spent days following as he carved a swathe of destruction for no apparent reason beyond his own mad desire to bring about the Ends of things.

Their tracking culminated in a long battle, wherein both sides called upon powers not meant for the ken or mortal minds but, finally, the Order prevailed over Rahman through sheer force of numbers. They trapped him in a sarcophagus, binding it with spells from each school, so that he would not escape, and finally, as an ultimate punishment, binding a scrying spell into it, that he could watch the world around him change and survive without him.

A pact was struck by the Order, that their descendants would continue to watch the sarcophagus and renew the spells, and prevent such darkness from being brought down upon the world. The sarcophagus remained in place, watched over by the Order, until World War 2 came down onto Europe. Fearing that the Thule Society would release Rahman, whether on purpose or not, they took his sarcophagus and took it to Freedom City. It was placed into a mausoleum in the Lantern Hill Graveyard, and they continued to watch over it. 

However, in recent time, the Order disappeared from the sight of man or lich, and the spells binding Rahman into his eternal punishment weakened. Sensing his chance, the lich called upon what power he could and blasted open his prison, making an escape.

Right when he thought he was free, however, the most dastardly of the original Order's traps sprang into action. A powerful spell, taking the form of an almost-imperceptible enchanted chain, wrapped itself around the necromancer, binding large parts of his power, and forcing him to follow the morals of the Order. Though he strains against the magic, Rahman is bound to the side of the Light in the eternal war, at least until he manages to remove his chains...

Personality & Motivation:
Rahman is not what one would normally think of as a 'hero'. He takes on crime and disorder more out of obligation than he does out of choice, though he would be lying if he said he didn't quite enjoy it...sometimes. Most of the time, it's something that gets in the way of his studies – but if he refuses to participate, the chains tighten and cause discomfort, on top of restricting his magic further. However, more often than he freely admits, he takes pleasure from demonstrating his power by removing some lesser villain. How dare they commit crimes in Freedom City anyway? It should be kept crime free, until it's his turn. It's only fair, after all. He's waited over six hundred years for it.

Rahman has a simple motivation: freedom. He longs for the day when he cuts away the magical chains that bind him and is freed to use his magic however he wishes once more.

Powers & Tactics:
Due to his skill with magic – even bound as it is – Rahman is a versatile combatant. Depending on what is necessary, he can summon allies to fight his opponents, seek to trick them, or simply crush them like the insects he believes they are. In a situation where no special effort is necessary to defeat his enemies, he simply raises the bodies of the dead and hits his opponents with blasts of pure entropic energy, ripping the life from their very bodies as he strikes. One of his most common tactics for combat is simply to sheathe himself in entropic energy, summon a horde of the undead, and read a book while they beat whoever has aroused his ire, into unconsciousness. Despite how little he thinks of his enemies, Rahman is incapable of outright killing them - or even harming them beyond what is necessary. Trying to do so locks the chains and his magic with them, leaving him quite defenseless.

Complications:
Prejudice: As a powerful necromancer, Rahman faces much prejudice – his arts rip the dead from their graves to serve him, and even he is an undead abomination. How could anyone trust him?

Infamy: Students of ancient obscure history may recognize the name Rahman as that of a necromancer who wreaked havoc in Europe in the late 13th and early 14th centuries before being captured and imprisoned by fellow mages.

Chains of Magic: The ghostly chains that occasionally appear around Karahazar indicate a simple fact: Rahman is bound to work his magic only in the pursuit of order and upholding the law. Though the spells woven pull largely from his personal perception, they still heavily restrict his actions. If he tries to work against their restriction, his magic is locked away temporarily and he experiences terrible pain.

Phylactery: Being a lich, Rahman has bound his soul into a gem on the top of his staff; should it be destroyed, it would deprive him of his eternal life and weaken him significantly. In addition, any who possess it literally have his soul, allowing them a great degree of power over him.


Abilities: 2 + 0 + (-10) + 20 + 16 + (-4) = 24PP
Strength: 12 (+1)
Dexterity: 10 (+0)
Constitution: -- (--)
Intelligence: 30 (+10)
Wisdom: 26 (+8)
Charisma: 6 (-2)

Combat: 10 + 12 = 22PP
Initiative: +0
Attack: +5 Melee, +5 Ranged (+9 Blast, +9 Strike)
Grapple: +6
Defense: +9 (+6 Base, +3 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed
Knockback: -9

Saving Throws: 0 + 3 + 0 = 3PP
Toughness: +9 (+0 Con, +9 [Entropic Shield])
Fortitude: -- (+0 Con, +0, Immunity)
Reflex: +3 (+0 Dex, +3)
Will: +8 (+8 Wis, +0)

Skills: 24R = 6PP
Craft (Artistic) 2 (+12)

Craft (Structural) 2 (+12)

Investigate 2 (+12)

Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 5 (+15)

Knowledge (Tactics) 5 (+15)

Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 5 (+15)

Medicine 1 (+9)

Sense Motive 2 (+10)

Feats: 6PP

Artificer

Dodge Focus 3

Fearless

Ritualist

 

Powers: 3 + 30 + 37 + 24 = 94PP

Regeneration 4 (Lich; Resurrection 4; Extras: True Resurrection; Drawback: Power Loss (If Phylactery is Destroyed)) [3PP]

Immunity 30 (Fortitude Saves) [30PP]

Magic 16.5 (Spellcasting; 33PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 5; Drawbacks: Power Loss (Requires Chanting and Waving) [-1PP]) [37PP] (Magic)

  • Base Power: Summon 10 (Karahazar's Rising Dead; Feats: Progression 3; Extras: Horde) {33/33} (Necromancy)

  • Alternate Power: Teleport 7 (Endymion's Mystic Tunnel; Extras: Portal) {28/1} (Conjuration)

  • Alternate Power: Healing 14 (Zeniri's Undying Blessing; Feats: Persistent, Stabilize, Regrowth) {31/1} (Necromancy)

  • Alternate Power: Illusion 7 (Fenk's Unreal Constructs (All Senses); Feats: Progression 5) {33/1} (Illusion)

  • Alternate Power: Move Object 15 (Bigby's Invisible Hands; Feats: Precise) {31/1} (Conjuration)

  • Alternate Power: Drain Ability Scores 9 (Karahazar's Wasting Touch; Feats: Incurable, Affects Insubstantial, Selective) {30/1} (Necromancy)

 

Device Rank 8 (Phylactery Staff; 40PP Container; Flaws: Easy-To-Lose) [24PP] (Magical, Necromantic)

  • Protection 9 (Entropic Armor; Extras: Impervious) [18PP]

  • Magic 10.5 (Stored Attack Spells; 21PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power) [22PP] 

    • Base Power: Blast 9 (Bolt of Decay; Affects Insubstantial, Accurate 2) {21/21}

    • Alternate Power: Strike 9 (Lifesapping Blow; Feats: Affects Insubstantial, Accurate 2) {12/1}


Drawbacks: (-3) + (-2) = -5PP

Vulnerable (Fire; Frequency: Common; Intensity: Moderate) [-3PP]
Weakness (Holy Symbols; Frequency: Uncommon; Intensity: Moderate) [-2PP]


DC Block

ATTACK             RANGE                SAVE                           EFFECT
Unarmed            Touch                DC 16 Toughness                Damage 1(Physical)

Bolt of Decay      Ranged               DC 24 Toughness                Damage 9(Energy)

Lifesapping Blow   Touch                DC 24 Toughness                Damage 10(Physical)

Wasting Touch      Touch 5ft            DC 19 Fortitude                Lose (19 - Save Result) PP from every Ability Score [Max 9]

Unreal Constructs  Perception           DC 17 Will                     Believe the Illusion.
 

Totals: Abilities (24) + Combat (18) + Saving Throws (3) + Skills (6) + Feats (6) + Powers (94) - Drawbacks (-5) = 150/153 PP

Edited by Fox
+1pp for November 2015
Brown Dynamite Advanced Member

Brown Dynamite

Posted
Posted

Knockback would actually be -8 due to Impervious

Can't do Mind Control 16.  Even if it wasn't Perception Ranged and therefore Limited to PL, he'd still be limited by tradeoffs which could only go +5/-5 PL wise.

The power loss on the array is worth 1PP not 2.

Alternate Power: Illusion 7 (Fenk's Unreal Constructs (All Senses); Feats: Damaging, Progression 4) {33/1}  in fact costs 53PP

Alternate Power: Damage 7 (Aura of Death; Extras: Duration 2, Aura; Feats: Affects Insubstantial) {22/1} in fact costs 29PP

Now he doesn't hit defensive nor, offensive caps for a PL10, 9, or 8.  I suppose you could say if you lowered Mind Control to 15 and imposed the Range flaw on it to make it a ranged attack he could hit offensive caps by virtue of Mind Control.  But, that'd be an odd choice.  And is 1PP over budget due to the power loss not taking off as much as you'd like.  He has a very large array and that's fine, though you could just lean on stunting a bit more since magic's such a broad descriptor, I do have to state that many of the spells as chosen don't quite feel thematically necromantic.  This isn't a problem to me merely an observation/opinion.

I have a question of the fluff.  If the order's big thing is the pursuit of knowledge, why does abiding by their morals mean having to become a hero?  Rather than say a scholar.

Almilee Advanced Member

Almilee

Posted
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Posted

Alright, I pulled out Mind Control to fix the price of the Power Loss, instead of dealing with that headache. 

Fixed the Illusion and got rid of the Aura to add another Accurate to the Blast. 

I'm at a +9 with the Accurates on the Blast and Strike, but I can't do much better than that, and I only managed to push Defence to 6 by moving Ambidextrity into another Dodge Focus.

I also added another Necromancy power, cause I realized there was an obvious one I was missing! Otherwise, yes, he has a lot of non-Necromancy magic, because his power is limited to the lower end of what he has, and a lot of the Necromancy he had learned was locked away by the chains, so he's stuck with the things he had less knowledge of.

That question had actually slipped by my mind, but I realized that I do have an answer!

Becoming a hero is actually largely influenced by Rahman himself. He tasted power after he became a lich, and learned what it felt like to be able to affect the world around you. Now, even bound and weakened, he can't stand going back to a life of pure research - it would bore him. The morals of the Order just restrict how he can affect the world. He doesn't like it, since it doesn't really allow him to express his power, but hey, beggars and choosers.

Brown Dynamite Advanced Member

Brown Dynamite

Posted
Posted

Alternate Power: Drain Fortitude 10 (Karahazar's Wasting Touch; Extras: Disease, Contagious; Feats: Incurable, Affects Insubstantial, Extended Reach) {33/1} (Necromancy) is actually worth 43PP

I mean, aside fromt hat I don't think there's anything rule breaky.  But, he only hits PL7 defensive caps and is in a sort of 9.5ish state for PL10 offensive caps.  It's not rule breaky, though does make him less combat effective overall for his supposed PL (which is hard to say what that PL is).  And if you really want to proceed as such, fine with me.  But, it might be good to Perhaps build to a lower PL on the same amount of power points?  Or cut some more APs/skills/saves/etc and raise caps up through more dodge focus/attack focus and just stunt off the broad magic descriptor when in need. 

Could also stand to expand your DC Block to include the DCs of your nondamaging effects.

Almilee Advanced Member

Almilee

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Alright, I moved points away from Feats and Skills and dropped 2 spells, to get Defence up to a +9, and he'll still be weaker without his staff, but, oh well. To be fair, if he doesn't have his staff, he probably has a whole host of other issues.

Also fixed the Drain (got rid of Disease entirely and turned it into a General Ability Score Drain with Selective) and added it and the Illusion to the DC block.

 

Edited by Almilee
  • 2 weeks later...
Thevshi Advanced Member

Thevshi

Posted
Posted

So, couple small errors. 

For your main Magic Array, there are only 5 alt powers, not 7.  (and you have correctly calculated the costs for 5). 

For the Magic Array in the staff, There is only one alt power, not two.  Also, I believe it should be Magic 10.5 (for 21 active points), for a total cost of 22 pp.

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