An immortal villain who's grown tired of eternity, inspired by the protagonist of the dreadful Casca novel series mashed up with the Michael Moorcock's fallen Eternal Champion Prince Gaynor the Damned.
Othar Kurst
The man known today as Othar Kurst was once a bloody-handed reaver in a past so distant even he can't recall it clearly. After leading a particularly egregious massacre he attracted the attention of something that passed for a god, resulting in being cursed to live a life of war until the final judgement arrived, never knowing peace and doomed to see all those around him age and die. In the many centuries since then Othar has never found a way to escape his living damnation, but his attempts to do so have made him the plaything of even darker entities on many occasions. These shadowy masters have granted him the ability to summon an arsenal of eldritch weaponry at will, taught him foul magics to supplement his fighting prowess, and given him the ability to cross the world through unnatural paths in service to their schemes, but never a hint of peace or hope.
Having fought in countless pointless conflicts, Othar the Curst has resigned himself to the futility of his existence. In the modern day he plays at being a supervillain but his heart's rarely in it. He fights mostly for money to fund the debaucheries that let him forget his woes for a few hours or days, but occasionally his unearthly masters will drive him to carry out more arcane tasks or make inexplicable alliances with other villains. The only thing that might motivate him to show real enthusiasm is a hint of something that might break his curse - or a real possibility of the world itself ending and freeing him at last.
Description: Tall, dark and handsome, but exuding a palpable aura of menace that keeps most people at arm's length. He's worn many uniforms over the years, and currently favors paramilitary gear suitable to his environment when in the field and tailored suits when "relaxing" or on covert ops. Even in uniform he rarely carries weaponry, preferring to rely on conjured melee weapons and bolts of dark magic when need be. His cold, deep voice is tinged with weariness and cynicism, and there seem to be few languages (living or dead) that he isn't familiar with.
Gender: Male Age: Centuries At Least Height: Six Feet Exactly Eyes: Dark
Hair: Raven Black Skin: Swarthy, Weather-Beaten Build: Muscular, Broad-Shouldered
Approach: Ancient Archetype: Squad
Health: 35 + (5 x H)
Powers: Vitality d12, Eldritch Arsenal d10, Teleportation d10, Infernal d8
Qualities: Fitness d12, Imposing d12, History d10, Magical Lore d8, Eternal Warrior d8
Status: (# of Enemies Engaged) 0-1 - d10 / 2-3 - d8 / 4+ - d6
Abilities:
Accursed Onslaught (A) Attack using Eternal Warrior. Use your Max die. Defend all nearby allies using your Mid + Min dice until the start of your next turn.
Bad Company (I) Increase the damage you deal by the number of nearby non-minion allies.
Living Damnation (I) If you would be reduced to zero Health and don't have a penalty, roll your single Vitality die and become that Health.
Unearthly Foresight (R) Take one irreducible damage to reroll the dice pool of someone Attacking or Hindering them.
Upgrades & Masteries (optional):
Group Fighter (I) +20 Health. When you take an action that lets you make an Attack, also make an Attack using your Mid die.
Master of the Unfathomable (I) If you are in a situation involving eldritch forces, automatically succeed at an Overcome to do the bidding of otherworldly entities beyond human concerns.
Tactics
Othar Kurst is quick to resort to violence but no longer finds much thrill in combat. He'll try to remain close to any important allies (particularly his fellow Devil's Dozen lieutenants) so they can benefit from his curse drawing attention to him when he uses Accursed Onslaught and he can deal extra damage from Bad Company. He tends to reserve his Unearthly Foresight reaction for Hinders that would apply a -3 or larger penalty, although any spiked roll is also likely to draw its use. Keeping penalties off himself is important due to Living Damnation, but he'll rely on his allies to accomplish that most of the time rather than using his own actions doing basic Boost or Overcome actions.
His upgrade improves his durability and damage output, and represents a bout of unusual determination in pursuit of a grudge or outside supernatural forces empowering him. Such forces often want something in exchange, which his mastery makes easier to accomplish.
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Othar Kurst is usually accompanied by a hand-picked cadre of veteran mercenaries with the best gear dirty money can buy. He almost always has at least three of them with him, and there might be as many as a dozen if at full strength. They're deadly fighters, and have been specially trained to help Othar (and other villainous allies) operate at the peak of their capabilities.
The Devil's Dozen d10 lieutenants (12 of them at maximum strength)
Description: Throughout his long life Othar Kurst has made a habit of surrounding himself with a coterie of hardened killers to serve with him on the battlefield. He selects only the best of the worst, as it were, recruiting new warriors with promises of obscene wealth and the chance to indulge one's battle-lust without restraint. None of them tend to last long, either dying in combat, through internecine strife and treachery, or deserting when confronted with the horrors their jaded employer takes for granted. In the modern day Othar's "Devil's Dozen" are armed with the best military-grade gear and weaponry the black market can provide, a far cry from the disgraced knights and berserk raiders that once served him.
Best of the Worst: You gain a +2 bonus to Attack actions as long as at least one other Devil's Dozen lieutenant is nearby. This increases to a +3 bonus if Othar Kurst is also nearby.
You! Get Me Out Of This!: At the start of your turn, you may remove one penalty from a nearby villain target. Reduce your die size by one step if you do so.
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Design Notes: As tough as Othar Kurst and his allies are to deal with, this is actually the "restrained" version of the character, deliberately using sub-optimal die pools to represent his ennui and lack of enthusiasm for yet another meaningless fight. If you want to see what he was like centuries ago when he was more motivated, change his powers, qualities and abilities as follows:
Powers: Eldritch Arsenal d12, Vitality d10, Infernal d10, Teleportation d8
Qualities: Close Combat d12, Imposing d12, Fitness d10, Cursed Immortal d8, Magical Lore d8
Abilities:
Ancient Blades (A) Attack using Eldritch Arsenal. Use your Max die. Hinder a target dealt damage this way using your Max + Min.
Bad Company (I) Increase the damage you deal by the number of nearby non-minion allies.
Living Damnation (I) If you would be reduced to zero Health and don't have a penalty, roll your single Vitality die and become that Health.
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