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Kol Korran
2009-06-24, 04:14 AM
first of all, if your character's name is either Vip, Grey, Andrea or Riardis, then stop reading!

as to the rest of you- my game is in 4E, but the issue and questions are not realy that edition specific, i need your imagination most of all. this thread does not deal with any rules, but needed fluff.

i've broken it down to segments since past posts of mine may have been too long. i tried to keep this one relatively short. my request is in the unspoilered part, if you want to get the gist of it.

The Oracle

ok, so the deal is (in short) this: my players have gone through an adventure and some tests, and have reached an oracle that they have sought long ago. each of the players has a special magical mark, and they seek the oracle to explain it's significance. all over the world people with the mark (the rare few) travel to the oracle to learn of their mark, destiny, and so on.

the oracle isn't what they expected, in many ways (some of them more secretive than others), but to begin with- the Oracle is a highly intelligent huge six headed hydra (mordant hydra in 4E, the equivalent of a 12 headed pyro/cryo in 3E in temrs of power... i'd guess). the oracle is in fact composed of the hydra body, and the essence remains of most of the former marked people (there is a special ritual in which some of their personality is connected to the collective that comprises the oracle).

The oracle is a sort of a MASSIVE mutil-personality disorder person (harboring about 230 personalities), displaying between 1-6 at every given moment, a main personality can hold for about half a day, while the rest exchange every few minutes. on the whole, it is good, practical, with a sly sense of humor, but it has many, many other flavours of personality displayed.


the "face"

other than the obvious complications in communication, there is one more: the oracle, being a hydra, can't speak intelligabley. (i hope i wrote that word right). it can however communicate telepathically, but only with marked ones. but it lives in a small settlement of dragonborn (dragon looking people for those who don't know 4E), who venerate it (though not worhsip it, they work together for common goals). in order to communicate with them, evolved the role of "face of the past". (or just "face")

"face" is a title given to marked ones that seek to serve the oracle in this capacity, they become sort of translators, between the telepathic communication of the oracle, and the spoken language needed by the unmarked (mostly the drgaonborn). a "face" develops intimate kinship with an oracle, and is usually also it's friend. it is able to deliver the nuances of tone, cut of speech and more to the intended listeners.

the two current "faces" have an added benefit- they are a couple (married couple) of dopplegnagers. their racial abilites enable them not to just convey the words of one of the personalities of the oracle, but also the voice, and more strikingly- the face! they partly become the personality for a limited time. mostly they retain the main personality, but they keep flicking into other personalities when they are more vocal (like flipping through TV channels). the two faces are devout to the oracle, and enjoy their role, though it is taxing. this thread however is not about them


i come to you requesting that you help me flesh out the oracle, or more correctly- it's personalities. i want to make a long list (minimum 20) basic personalities that can confound, entertain, horrify, or simply engage my players. they shouldn't be too complicated, but hopefully eachwill have a recognizable trait, so characters will know that they've spoken with it before. i'm looking for short descriptions, nothing rule wise, of former marked ones (basically a shot list of NPCs... i'm just realy stumped on this for some damned reason...) that now comprise the beautifull being that is the oracle (a description of how it's played by the "faces" would be awesome)

some basic guidelines:


most marked ones have done great things, most good, some bad. there were however some marked ones that chose to avoid any exciting life. feel free to suggest both kinds.
the world is a shattered world, divided into a multitude of islands, cultures seprated mostly, so any kind of culture, customs, religions and more could have developed. feel free to go wild.
no dragons (cannot be marked), devils/ demons (same, though tieflings are ok, if rare), no kobolds or devas (do not exist in my world) no drow (for history reasons, haven't been a marked one yet)
one major religion "the starfall faith", that believes in the divinity of dragons as messanger of the old gods, rebuilding the world, and uniting the races. the oracle is part of the church. other religions are welcomed, though i have no details to offer you. there is no proof of godly intervention. belief is the strong point, as in Eberron.
if it may matter, the only plains known to exist are the feywild and the shadowfell. some Eladrin and most gnomes still live in the fey wild. the fey wild isn't broken like the prime world.


my players and characters


dragonborn male paladin, who haven't before seen another dragonborn. follows the starfall faith, very religious, quite straight forward about dealing with things. has taken on the leadership role since no one else wanted to.
drow male rogue. think Belkar, only a team player. dark sense of humor, provocationist, seeks confronatation, but realy quickly backs out when faced with someone stronger. in short- a bastard, but a funny one!
drow female drow. bard, been a slave and "taught" the arts of "pleasuring men". plays the wild storng heat seductress, a woman that knows what she wants, and how to get it. also a great lover of knoweldge, art, and song in all it's forms. she takes the supportive role in combat, and tries her own ploys in conversations.
eladrin male wizard. the absent minded amnesia type of player. mostly the joker, he seeks ways to captures the group attention or impress. he also comes up with some brilliant ideas from time to time. the rest of the time he tries to remember what his attack bonus is...


one more thing- thanks a lot in advance to everyone, every little bit helps!
Kol.

Kol Korran
2009-06-24, 03:47 PM
nothing at all?
damn...

Thorin
2009-06-24, 04:01 PM
im at work right now, but i promess to contribute!

lsfreak
2009-06-24, 04:22 PM
- Paladin whose faith wavered fighting some horrifying enemy, such as one that dominated innocents and used them as cannon fodder. He is borderline crazy because he killed many of them before discovering none of them were there by their own will. Highly emotional and freaks out when someone suggests the straight-forward approach, because for him nothing was ever as it seemed.

- Cheery assassin. He hunted down rogue mages, tyrants, demonworshippers, the most horrible of people you can imagine. He gained particular satisfaction at seeing such people terrified in their last moments. Always joking, confident but not foolish; he would often offer a "fair duel" between him and his mark knowing that his mark was too scared to fight at their best. Often whistled cheery halfling tunes while removing the heads and hands of his marks, which he would send to his next mark to get them in the appropriate mood.

- Born into nobility or a political family and she was compelled by honor to uphold such a position. Did many great things in this way, but felt that politics was too slow to do the good that needed to be done. Continued in politics while siphoning off her family's money to poorhouses, the most remote churches, local guards that patrolled the borders of warring factions. Eventually executed for treason when it was found out that she was the brains behind an assassination group that killed off many of the leaders of an opposing family; this family attempted to keep the political realm deadlocked so they could amass much of the country's wealth themselves and eventually overthrow the powers-that-be. The plot was never discovered but the family never recovered, and most don't even remember the name.
She is remorseful of her methods but stands with his decision, even though it cost her her life and dishonored her family. She would have preferred be a wandering voice of good, helping out in small communities when she could before moving on to another.