SR4 Loki Shaman

Sunday we're getting back together for the mad rpg character session. We should have our SR4 characters done, and we'll make characters for Godlike, Anomane (sp?), and Werewolf. As I think I mentioned before, I've got 9 characters for Godlike ready to go. I want the crew to pick at least two so we don't spend all day making characters for just that game. I should have my SR4 character ready to go by then, too. For the most part, he is. I still need a personality and knowledge skills. Hopefully, I'll get to use those this time. Didn't happen with Gaz.

Parts of his personality are already determined.

• He's an elf.
• He's a caster of some Charisma based tradition.
• Raven is his mentor.
• Only two of his seven spells are combat spells, the rest are manipulation.
• He has 9 dice in etiquette and Con, with 11 in Fast Talk (good bullshitter); plus 9 dice in spellcasting (with 13 in manipulation), but only 7 in ritual spellcasting, and 6 (1 level) in counterspelling.
• 5 dice in a firearms skill means it better not get that far on a bad day.

I was originally thinking of making him a shaman of the Crow people, but that character doesn't mesh with this character's skills OR the actual Raven mentor spirit. That character was a tad more benevolent than what I've sent this character up to be.

This character would be a dick if he wasn't quite so sauve. He manipulates everyone into getting what he wants, but it's not a brow beating, crush your will sort of manipulation. It's subtler. People want to help this guy, in part because he's capable, and sometimes does, help them back. He's not bad, but he does take more than he gets.

My thoughts for his tradition are threefold: shamanic, but with a power hungry twist; black magic, possibly opening him up to some good roleplaying options as he struggles with spirits that he can't quite manipulate like normal metahumans; and the Norse tradition, as a follower of Loki.

Let's consider Loki. As I understand it, the cult of Winternight saw the Matrix as the chains holding Loki prison and set about to destroy those chains to bring about Ragnarok, yada yada. They saw otaku and deckers as spawn of Loki. With that in mind, clearly they were wrong. If they were right, why did they fail?

I just decided I'm gonna name this guy Fritjof Odegard. It means "peace thief from a desolate place," so that should tell us a little bit about this chap. He's a snow elf from Sweden. Not albino, but white hair and pale eyes nonetheless. Luminescent white skin that his tattoos seam to glow from. I'll figure those out later. I digress. Back to Loki and Fritjof.

So, Fritjof doesn't worship Loki, he's a ganner. That's a spellweaver according to Street Magic. Hence, no worshiping, sacrificing, prostrating, etc. Instead, there's idolizing, hero worship, and acceptng guidance from Raven as the voice of Loki. At least, that's how Fritjof sees it. That leaves him some room to risk pacts with powerful spirits, possibly kiss the toxic side of things abit, and depending on where Charlie takes it, really struggle against the dark side of magic that involves Loki.

Public knowledge of Fritjof doesn't reveal much background. Raven spoke to him when he awakened and helped him find a pretty posh living in whatever sort of society the elves of Scandanavia have, but wanderlust, greed, and a taste for excitement sent Fritjof packing. He's in Denver because Minnesota was too much like home, ie boring, and Denver's similar climate-wise but way more exciting.

That's Fritjof Odegard in a nutshell. Thanks for listening. The bummer is I like this guy, I'm excited to play him, but I'm fully cognizant that the likelyhood of this SR4 campaign being a long term story is slim.