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Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 02:29 AM
I'm running a home-brewed and modified version of BESM 3e for a Disgaea campaign (suicidal, but it nicely fits the stupid powerlevels of the universe), and I'm fleshing out some of the better details for a major villain coming up in a session in a couple of days for my group. In my fleshing out, there feels like there's something missing. I thought I might post a topic to get some ideas from other GMs and players to find that last bit of flavor I'm missing. Obviously, this contains spoilers for my group and reading this topic will result in death... then reincarnation... then more death...


A bit of campaign backstory: So, there's this running villain/ally in my campaigns regardless of setting named Yuu Ataka. His name started as a pun, but he slowly became kind of a favorite around the gaming table. He's essentially an insanely skilled mercenary who cares for little else but his work. Because of this, he essentially can pop up out of nowhere and almost has a sixth sense in combat. However, he only generally fights people if they've wronged him or he's paid to fight them. Despite his obsession with his work, this doesn't keep him from having a personality. He cracks fairly dark jokes at his enemy's expense and certainly has a taste for irony. The party's also managed to catch him actually showing a gentle side on a rare occasion, including finding out that he has feelings for another NPC at one point. When he's used. He's usually working for a bigger good guy or bad guy and prefers manipulation to direct confrontation.

All that plot aside, my players occasionally getting their hands on this guy since he's usually more powerful than them and beating him up. It's a cathartic release of sorts. It also lets the players feel powerful without giving them powers. It's somewhat equivalent to beating the Tarrasque in D&D.

Anyway, Yuu once remarked when asked about his family that he killed them somewhat sarcastically. I recently introduced his little brother Mii (short for Meese) who has an obsession with being over-shadowed by his brother and is significantly less skilled and smart as him. The following character is his far more experienced sister.

Name: Yumi Ataka
Profession: Paid Mercenary/Assassin

Appearance: Around six foot tall woman of Asian decent. Medium-short black hair. Wears dark and loose clothing to keep a low profile and keep a full range of movement. Very Athletic build. Keeps a fairly androgynous look, but still has a certain level of natural striking beauty when she's not enraged or trying to kill someone. Has an odd shaped bunny scar on her cheek that she conceals.

Personality: Extremely calm and collected. Mostly neutral, but definitely leans towards and prefers more sinister jobs. Unlike Mii, who is completely impulsive, and Yuu, who struggles between his actual personality and his professionalism, Yumi is completely professional. She doesn't crack jokes. She doesn't let personal problems get in the way of a job. You get the idea. She's an emotionless killing machine that's hard to get a reaction out of.

However, unlike the regular stereotype, it's actually possible to get some emotion out of her. She has a tough breaking barrier, but once she does reach that point, her emotions take complete control over her thought. 99% of the time, this is channeled into wrath and rage by someone that actually manages to hit a nerve. At this point, she still chooses few words, but loses a bit of her composure.

This is important because the character that took her as a Nemesis indeed did set her over this limit. She had one of those bad ass scars across her face. Something she certainly didn't enjoy getting and got revenge for. However, one PC, Dr. McPrinja, actually cut the scar into the shape of a bunny before being killed by her and sent to the netherworld. So, while she's down there technically on a job, she still has a heavy vendetta against Dr. McPrinja.

Obviously, as the older sister of an already threatening villain, she's not someone to be messed with. I certainly want her to have her weak spots, but I thought it would be neat to have a character amongst all these colorful characters that isn't comical to act as a dramatic foil, but I obviously want her to be more than one-dimensional without being a copy of her brother.

As for her class, I was considering making her a Cross-templated Ninja/Soldier (essentially, she dodges and uses heavy ordinance weaponry like machine guns, rocket launchers, and flamethrowers).

So, if anyone wants to suggest some character flaws. Extra details to appearance. A slightly different personality. Special attacks. Weapons she should wield. Just any ideas at all. I'd like inspiration. Even if you're completely off-base, it'll still give me something to think about as I stat them out and finalize them for the session. Thanks in advance, and please feel free to ask more questions if you want.

Edit: Oh, and if it helps any, the party consists of a beserker transforming angel with a demon thief girlfriend, a Dr. Ninja Prinny, a perverted human pirate with his tongue ripped out, a shady merchant that's cursed to commit sins every day or feel excrutiating pain, a confused magician from Earth who summons random things out of his hat, and a Yakuza Overlord who gained power through paperwork and lawyers.

Kioran
2007-08-03, 03:33 AM
If I see this correctly, this is kind of a modern, pseudo-Anime setting - on crack. If that is correct, weapons should be either:

- old, but masterful handicraft (ancient Katanas, Mauser C96 Pistols etc.)
- cutting edge, new and tricked out (P90 with laser sights, OICW, what have you)

to be really cool. So I´d suggest arming her with a customized old Pistol, wth laser sights for additional coolness. That is, if you want her to cap asses on close range. Otherwise, get her a semi-automatic Sniper Rifle (like the PSG) and let her put the smack down from afar. She might get several shots of before the PCs or NPCs under fire even know where she´s firing from.
Flash grenades, combined with some nifty gear that protects your eyes, is also nice - blind your enemies and cut them to Ribbons in hand-to-hand combat with your classical Ninja-to. mwahaha
If she fights solo, you need to give her a means of escape, preferably several of them. Grappling hooks, jetpacks(?), somke grenades - anything that conceals her position or gives high mobility.

As for character traits or flaws - I think after I read about bunny-shaped scars, I realized your campaign is a little to whacked out for me to come up with something useful.....

Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 03:37 AM
As for character traits or flaws - I think after I read about bunny-shaped scars, I realized your campaign is a little to whacked out for me to come up with something useful.....

Once you get past the beating up the same innocent bear 3 times for autographed gloves, revenge, and the hell of it, it's not AS bad as it sounds.

The bunny scar is more for levity and a way to set an otherwise completely serious character off.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 01:56 PM
So nothing else then?

Edit: Damn. Double post. Sorry. Forgot that I was the last post. Bit tired.

Krellen
2007-08-03, 02:01 PM
How about a phobia of bunnies?

It worked for Joss Whedon, after all.

Kioran
2007-08-03, 02:32 PM
So nothing else then?

Edit: Damn. Double post. Sorry. Forgot that I was the last post. Bit tired.

Let me try this again.....if she´s hostile to the group, that is, the following could work:

She´ll probably cover up her face a lot, since she´s not too proud of the bunny scar. I´d do this with a classical hood and wrapped face, like most Ninja. Add in a "data-monocle" or optical lenses to cover the eyes. If said is "hiding behind" her professionalism, give her some definitely feminine looks - and have her hide them, for example with wide, somewhat flowing clothes or the aforementioned headdress.
Especially in the first few encounters, it pays to keep her entirely silent - don´t even let your players know they fight a woman, sometimes a late realization has an effect - or they might meet her in "civilian guise" and not realize who she is, which would be another kind of awesome :smallsmile:
In fact, a small scene, where you show her in civilian guise before the final confrontation (which will have her unveiled or killed) might be very fun.

Given that this style of "enigmatic ninja opponent", which is highly clichéd (but that´s what you´re looking for anyway with BESM), is easily negated by uncovering the character too soon, take care to employ Hit-and-run Tactics several times, with a shocking initial attack and several weaker follow-ups before the final confrontation. Maybe have some one-on-one encounters with members of the parties or smaller groups.

Of course all of this is moot if the group already knows her or even knows her quite well. In that case make her the main opponents right hand or pair her off some with some other NPC, cause then she alone wouldn´t generate enough interest.......

Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 03:12 PM
I didn't mean you by the "that's it?". I more meant that there were 200 pages views and 2 replies. Both of those points actually bring up some very good points though. I never considered going the completely concealed way. That could have a nice impact. It might not last long since one of the PCs made the scar into the bunny scar, but at the very least, it has some real good potential for this session. As for weapons, I might go with the Katana, but I'm going to avoid the regular handguns. Yuu's trademark is actually dual wielding two magnums with a back-up pair of combat knives when facing someone who's equally good at ranged combat. I'm trying not to step on his toes with Yumi. Also, considering only 4 people are making this session, I'm more worried about the PCs than the boss. I've practiced a lot on making tense encounters with one single boss. However, I was planning on teaming her up with another rival at one point. I figured it would spice things up.

Also, love the fear of bunnies.

So, any ideas of what ultimate attacks should be for a ninja/mercenary? I give every named character three character specific attacks. Considering I gave one guy an attack where he created 3 clones of himself and attacked the person sky-high in an elaborate combo, somehow just shooting them seems a bit... understated.

Kioran
2007-08-03, 03:25 PM
Okay, if her bro is already occupying the firearms niché, let her do something else at close range - throw stuff. Shuriken, daggers, hand grenades or others. For effect. Make her first special attack some combination of Katana slashes sweeping the opponent of his feet, hurling him backwards and throwing a grenade(or, even worse, an incendiary) into his chest. Maybe call it "tetsu no makaze" (something similiar to japanese, possibly meaning "evil wind of steel")
Make her shocking and savage in close quarters. You could contrast it with some long range attacks, but that´s up to you.

Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 03:44 PM
Okay, if her bro is already occupying the firearms niché, let her do something else at close range - throw stuff. Shuriken, daggers, hand grenades or others. For effect. Make her first special attack some combination of Katana slashes sweeping the opponent of his feet, hurling him backwards and throwing a grenade(or, even worse, an incendiary) into his chest. Maybe call it "tetsu no makaze" (something similiar to japanese, possibly meaning "evil wind of steel")
Make her shocking and savage in close quarters. You could contrast it with some long range attacks, but that´s up to you.

Well, considering the "ranged" weapons I was going to have her use are the short range ones (grenade launchers, flamethrowers, gatling guns), that could work. And yeah. That's about the standard for first level special attacks. I'll probably use something similar to that for her first.

Quietus
2007-08-03, 06:41 PM
Well, considering the "ranged" weapons I was going to have her use are the short range ones (grenade launchers, flamethrowers, gatling guns), that could work. And yeah. That's about the standard for first level special attacks. I'll probably use something similar to that for her first.

I don't know the BESM system at all, so let me apologize in advance if this doesn't work for the system.

Is there a way to take those dual magnums of hers, or some similar set of weapons, that you'd be able to fire shells from - make one of them a short-term electro-mag "barrier" of sorts, where she fires this shell at a person, and it bursts on impact, creating a net around them, then fires the second weapon, which has shells made specifically to penetrate the barrier. Those particular shells are made to go through the barrier, explode on impact with the target, and release <horrible something of doom>, like some sort of chemical compound that expands and burns on contact with air.

I dunno about you, but if someone fired something at me, trapped me inside of a globe of force, then made the air turn into fire... I'd be a less than happy person.

Dairun Cates
2007-08-03, 06:49 PM
I don't know the BESM system at all, so let me apologize in advance if this doesn't work for the system.

Is there a way to take those dual magnums of hers, or some similar set of weapons, that you'd be able to fire shells from - make one of them a short-term electro-mag "barrier" of sorts, where she fires this shell at a person, and it bursts on impact, creating a net around them, then fires the second weapon, which has shells made specifically to penetrate the barrier. Those particular shells are made to go through the barrier, explode on impact with the target, and release <horrible something of doom>, like some sort of chemical compound that expands and burns on contact with air.

I dunno about you, but if someone fired something at me, trapped me inside of a globe of force, then made the air turn into fire... I'd be a less than happy person.

Let me start out by saying that BESM 3e is point buy that awards over the top play, and by extension, it can work in about any damn way you want as a GM. Let me finish by saying that I'll probably replace the magnums with a chain gun, but probably otherwise use that for it awesome over-the-topness.

Toric
2007-08-04, 10:25 PM
Since she is so serious and silent, it may be if nothing else fun just to have something else always beside her when she appears that completely wrecks her image by just being next to her. Like a juggling raccoon named Petey. Or something else to that effect that ridiculously takes all the attention away from Ms. Stone Cold Killer. It could be the same character every time that only participates in battle for her strongest attack, or it could be a random animal doing a random cute or strange activity each time.

And as for a special attack, the first idea I can think of is flammable rounds with the chaingun. Fire a trail of them, shoot a flame from the gun itself, and the fire defies physics and travels up the bullet trail to the poor guy at the other side.

Knight_Of_Twilight
2007-08-04, 11:44 PM
I'd give her a side kick whose the exact oppopsite from her in presentation, an imcompetent Male character who loves the sound of his own voice.

Dairun Cates
2007-08-05, 04:19 PM
Well, I've already introduced the character, but oddly enough, the whole "character that ruins her image" is partially Mii's role. He's an incompetant brat that actually goes to the houses of people that insult him over the internet and kills them for it. On top of that, he bears a striking resemblance to his siblings.

I went with the Grenade slash, the forcefield explosive rounds, and an eight square circular slash for her character specific special attacks.

It went decently well. Although, it lacked some of the pizazz of earlier sessions. I think things will pick up should they ever figure out that:
1. She's a girl. (Two of the characters are womanizers)
2. Her name's Yumi (They think he's a man, and just assume he's like Yuu's cousin).
3. She has a comically shaped bunny scar.

Edit: Oh, and a fellow GM around here gave the particularly nasty suggestion of a call sign that's common enough to occur naturally. That way I can screw with the players.

Matthew
2007-08-06, 08:53 PM
I think she should have a signature High Powered and Laser Sighted Sniper Rifle in order to reinforce her image as a truly ferocious opponent. Nothing says fear like a red dot unexpectedly appearing on the forehead of the NPC you're Character is talking to...