Character Creation: Dark Ages: Inquisitor

Really, it should be GURPS, because I'm playing that in about 2 hours, but I don't know GURPS especially well, so I don't think I'd have time to make such a character. Ah, well.

OK, I want to make a character, but it's got to be something I have an editable pdf for, since my office is a fucking sty and I don't want to clean it right now. That pretty much limits me to White Wolf games, which is fine.

The Game: Dark Ages: Inquisitor
The publisher: White Wolf
Degree of familiarity: Lots. I developed it, after all. I didn't outline or contract it (in hindsight, there would have been some very different hiring choices), but I pretty much chucked everything from the original outline that I felt didn't work and reworked it. Most influential writers on the book, BTW? Sarah, Myr, and Janet. Oh, and I've run a couple of one-shot and a very cool five-session detective story.
Books required: The Dark Ages: Vampire book, and the Inquisitor book, obviously. I may grab the Dark Ages Inquisitor Companion, which should have been titled the Dark Ages Inquisitor Catechism, but the brass at WW got scared of that title.

 

Deus vult! That means "God pole-vaults," or something.

Anyway, I enjoy playing religious characters sometimes. That may surprise you, but honestly, most of the time when you're playing a religious person in a game, you've got something to back up your beliefs. Clerics in D&D really can cast spells. Inquisitors really do have magical God-powers. For the most part, that's absent from NWoD, Lucifuge and Malleus Maleficarum aside, and I like that.

Right, so, concept. I admit, I've always loved the House of Murnau. As tempting as it is to play against my gut and make, like, a Sister of Saint John or something, I think I'm going with these guys.

Now, the House isn't a clerical order, it's a noble family that was subsumed into the Inquisition. There's a lot of contention about where the Murnau curse comes from, and there are hints in various books that it might have been an oath with the Fae gone wrong, or involved demons somehow, or something. My character, I think, was born with the Murnau gift, but he wasn't aware of it. While traveling abroad, a scion of House Murnau fathered a bastard child on a recently married noblewoman (her husband was decades her senior and quite impotent, but when she turned up pregnant it wasn't like he was going to admit that). Let's say this all took place in Tours, in the Anjou region of France, just because I haven't made a DA character from there yet.

Anyway, my character was born in 1213 (making him only 17 if we're starting in 1230, which is fine). Note that, according to Dark Ages: Europe, Anjou becomes "firmly part of France" in 1214 with the English defeat at the Battle of La Rocheaux-Moines. This also mentions Melusine d'Anjou, a powerful French vampire (Toreador, and one I always liked) running to England at this point. I think that she left behind a lieutenant, who took up residence in my character's house.

NAME NOW. We'll say the family name was "Gaudet," and his mother named him "Pons." Her lover, after all, came from a faraway land (not over the sea, exactly, but she's not the brightest of women anyway), and she always wanted him to come back and take her - and their son - to his exotic home. Truthfully, Pons' father was German and his home wasn't all that exotic, but y'know.

Anyway, the household was run, officially, by Pons' mother's husband, but in truth by a Toreador vampire. The vampire wasn't very good at keeping things low-profile, and liked to create ghouls of the staff and the pets, and generally made a crazy mess of things. As Pons grew up, he started realizing he could sense something wrong with this household. And then on the night of his 15th birthday, the vampire appeared to him and offered him his first taste of immortality.

Pons threw a rosary at him, and watched as it burned the vampire's flesh. Pons realized then that he was not just sent out amongst the wolves, he had been born to them. He took his horse and a few belongings and fled, and made it to a monastery which, fortunately, was home to some members of the Oculi Dei.

It took more than a year, but the Inquisition finally traced Pons' lineage and figured out that he was a member of Hourse Murnau. They don't want to send him to his father (who, as it turns out, is still out philandering), but they are very happy to have his skills in ferreting out ghouls here in France. At present, Pons lives in the monastery, but it's starting to chafe (and he refuses to take vows himself). He wants to go to Paris, or Poitiers, or someplace that he can be more useful. And, secretly, he wants to go home and clean up Tours. (And the hypothetical Storyteller should totally involve Melusine d'Anjou at some point, like when she comes home and finds that the house is in chaos.)

OK, that's concept. Now, I do Nature, Demeanor and Impulse. Impulse is tied to Nature. I see Pons as a Rebel. He's firmly against the concept of the clerical orders, and while he whole-heartedly believes in God, he feels that God isn't interested in the ritual so much as the result. That makes his Impulse Anarchism, which would be fun to play. His Demeanor is Celebrant - he grew up in a weird household, and he's glad to be out and where things make sense.

Step Two: Attributes. The White Wolf basics, with the 6/4/3 split. Pons is definitely a Social creature, while Mental following close behind. Let's say even split for 3 dots each in the Social Attributes, one dot each into Wits and Intelligence, with the other one in Perception, and even split in Physical.

Step Three: Abilities. 11/7/4. Well, living at home did nothing for him, but living at a monastery has let him discover his bookish side. I'll say Knowledges are primary, with Skills secondary. Talents are last; it's not that Pons doesn't have natural talent, but he's never really been whipped into shape. Still a little soft.

Knowledges: Two each in Academics, Hearth Wisdom, Linguistics, Occult and Theology, with the leftover in Politics.

Skills: Two in Etiquette and Stealth, one in Melee, Commerce and Ride.

Talents: Two in Alertness, one in Athletics, one in Subterfuge.

Step Four: Advantages. I get a dot in any Superior Virtue I want. Given how he got it, I'll take Zeal.

I get on Orison. I'll take Eye of Vigilance, as it allows me to stay up all night (handy when you grow up around vampires).

I'm full-blooded Murnau, so I have to take the Endowment (Legacies). For House Murnau, that gives me a Legacy. I'll take "Surveying the Devil's Flock" from the Inquisitor Companion. That allows me to know things about a servant's demonic master. I'll want a dot of Wisdom to really get the most out of it, but I don't have that right now.

I get 7 dots in Virtues. I pump 3 points into Self-Control and Courage (4 dots each) and one into Conscience (for a rating of 2). Pons is young and immature and a little fucked up, and he's more interested in being brave and smite-y than compassionate. That'll change. Or get worse.

Sadly, I get a Curse, now. For us Murnau, it's Maledictio. Let's be classic Murnau and take Allure of Gentle Hades. He stands out in a crowd, which is annoying, especially among vampires.

Oh, Backgrounds! I get five dots. I figure Pons lost his status and his Resources when he fled, but I'll take Exposure 3 to make up for it, and a two-dot Holy Relic (the rosary he flung at the vampire, which turned blood-red when it fell to the ground). I think I'd leave it the ST to figure what it does.

Step Five: Finishing Touches. I get my Courage + Zeal for Conviction, or 5. Same for Willpower, actually. My Piety starts at 6. I'm not Callous, therefore, which is good.

And now I get 21 bonus points. Sadly, I can't buy a dot of Wisdom with those. I can, however, buy up a bunch of Skills. I'll take one dot each in: Brawl, Leadership, Crafts, Etiquette, Investigation and Theology. My Area of Expertise in Crafts is Architecture. That's 12 spent. I'll buy up Intelligence to 3 (17 spent). I'll buy my Conscience up to 3 (which also raises my Piety), and I'll take two dots of the Mentor Background (the monks looking after me). 

And that's it!