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Ghal Marak
2007-10-04, 12:45 PM
Hello everybody. :smallsmile:

I'll just jump right into it. I was reading through the Casca: The Eternal Mercenary series, when I started pondering what his stats would look like. So, I did the easy approach and came here. :smallbiggrin:

For those unfamiliar with Casca ((which is likely a good majority of the people on the boards)), he is the Roman Legionary who stabbed Jesus in the side with a spear. His full name is Casca Rufio Longinius. Anyway, the story goes Jesus placed a curse or blessing ((which is left vague)) upon him, saying "...you will remain as your are untill we meet again." So he cannot die untill the second coming of Jesus. So far in the books, he has been trapped under a wrecked ship, underwater mind you, for 6 years. He has had his heart cut out, which he then promptly grabbed it back and shoved it back in ((It wasn't that simple, as he was out of commission for weeks after that)). It goes on and on, but that is good enough.

Here's a link for more info: Casca (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casca_Rufio_Longinius)

So what do you guys and girls think? He definitely has some form of Regeneration going on. But the non-dieing? Soul-locked perhaps? And then there's the class levels. He is pretty smart, and he also knows some 'monkish' abilities ((like stopping a mans heart with one blow)), so he can't be just a Fighter.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-04, 11:21 PM
So... no one wants to help? Is it because I said 'Jesus'? Or was it because of the whole Casca stabbin' him part? Or is it because it's impossible?

Just askin' for a little feedback, that's all. :smallsmile:

Machete
2007-10-04, 11:37 PM
Prolly the whole "stabbin Jesus" part.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-04, 11:42 PM
Prolly the whole "stabbin Jesus" part.

Yeah, I was starting to put the pieces together on that one.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I was being highly stupid and didn't mean it. I probably should have put some sort of warning up... well, it's a little too late now. :smallfrown:

Dervag
2007-10-04, 11:50 PM
So... no one wants to help? Is it because I said 'Jesus'? Or was it because of the whole Casca stabbin' him part? Or is it because it's impossible?

Just askin' for a little feedback, that's all. :smallsmile:It doesn't help that Casca the Eternal Mercenary isn't a particularly famous fictional character. Most people won't have the faintest idea of what he can and can't do, myself included (I've heard of the character but haven't read any of the novels). So they can't guess what level he should be, what feats he should have, and so on.

Note that there is in fact a passage in the Bible referring to this incident, and that the spear that Longinus supposedly used to stab Christ during the Crucifixion is itself one of the more famous holy relics of the Christian faith, although it is by no means clear if the original spear still exists or if so, where.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-04, 11:57 PM
It doesn't help that Casca the Eternal Mercenary isn't a particularly famous fictional character. Most people won't have the faintest idea of what he can and can't do, myself included (I've heard of the character but haven't read any of the novels). So they can't guess what level he should be, what feats he should have, and so on.

Note that there is in fact a passage in the Bible referring to this incident, and that the spear that Longinus supposedly used to stab Christ during the Crucifixion is itself one of the more famous holy relics of the Christian faith, although it is by no means clear if the original spear still exists or if so, where.

I guess I assumed that people would know what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I know about the passage ((though not as well as I should :smalleek: )).

I guess I had also hoped that I provided enough info to go on in my first post, but I see that I am in the wrong at every turn. This is happening to me all too frequently. :smallsigh:

Dervag
2007-10-05, 06:15 AM
I guess I assumed that people would know what I'm talking about.

I guess I had also hoped that I provided enough info to go on in my first post, but I see that I am in the wrong at every turn. This is happening to me all too frequently. :smallsigh:It's hard for me to define what kinds of characters will get a good 'statting' respons on this forum and what kind will not, but in general a good place to start is:

"How easy is it for me to find information on this character and the fiction in which he appears?"

I can't prove it, but I suspect that the Casca novels are hard to find in major bookstores. Whereas Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels can be found all over the place. Characters from popular videogames (such as, say, Link from the Legend of Zelda games), likewise.

With a ubiquitous character, people recognize the name and know enough about the character to be able to begin statting them. With an unknown character, not so much. If all I know about Casca is that he's been alive for about 2000 years and that he can regenerate from virtually any injury (eventually), then I know... what?

I don't know his level, what weapons he uses, what kind of fighting styles he might employ, how strong/fast/smart he is, or anything else about him that I can really use to construct stats for the character.


Yeah, I know about the passage ((though not as well as I should :smalleek: )).It was a general message, not aimed specifically at any one person.

Indon
2007-10-05, 08:47 AM
Just have the no-exceptions version of Regeneration (Refer to Terrasque in the Monster Manual).

All damage is nonlethal; if something puts you in a dying condition, you don't; you just go unconscious (not neccessarily even that if you have Diehard) until you're removed from the environment that prevents you from regenerating.

Edit: Plus, a Wish or Miracle is the only thing that could kill him. Tweak it a bit so that only the Miracle could work, and then a deity could just turn down the miracle request, and he's effectively immortal to even mid-high level D&D characters.

WhiteHarness
2007-10-05, 04:34 PM
I knew who you were talking about, but the title of your post reads "stating Casca" instead of "statting Casca," so I didn't know what you meant.

Tokiko Mima
2007-10-05, 05:02 PM
How about this?:


Divine Regeneration (Ex)
No form of attack deals lethal damage to Casca. Casca regenerates even if he fails a saving throw against a disintegrate spell or a death effect. If Casca fails his save against a spell or effect that would kill him instantly (such as those mentioned above), the spell or effect instead deals nonlethal damage equal to his full normal hit points +10. Casca is immune to death from Constitution ability damage, and is rendered unconscious instead until his Constitution recovers naturally. Casca is immune to permanent ability drain, and treats drain attacks like ability damage attacks instead.

If Casca loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 weeks (the detached piece dies and decays normally). If Casca's head is severed, his body reforms over a period of 2d6 months.

Casca does not age, and never benefits nor is penalized for his age catagory. He has no maximum age.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-05, 05:40 PM
I knew who you were talking about, but the title of your post reads "stating Casca" instead of "statting Casca," so I didn't know what you meant.

Yeah, I didn't pay enough attention to the english teacher back in school. :smallsigh: I'll fix it right away.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-05, 05:49 PM
How about this?:
Divine Regeneration (Ex)No form of attack deals lethal damage to Casca. Casca regenerates even if he fails a saving throw against a disintegrate spell or a death effect. If Casca fails his save against a spell or effect that would kill him instantly (such as those mentioned above), the spell or effect instead deals nonlethal damage equal to his full normal hit points +10. Casca is immune to death from Constitution ability damage, and is rendered unconscious instead until his Constitution recovers naturally. Casca is immune to permanent ability drain, and treats drain attacks like ability damage attacks instead.

If Casca loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 weeks (the detached piece dies and decays normally). If Casca's head is severed, his body reforms over a period of 2d6 months.

Casca does not age, and never benefits nor is penalized for his age catagory. He has no maximum age.

Wow, that's great! But what about his immunity to Disease and his poisonous blood? Different feats, or can we tack it onto this one?

Tokiko Mima
2007-10-05, 06:02 PM
:smallsmile:

Hmm.. well, immunity to disease could be added, but it's also a class feature of monks, and I figure that would be covered anyway. As far as poisonous blood, most people's blood is poisonous to other peoples blood if the blood type (A,B,O,AB) and Rh factor doesn't sync. Is Casca's blood especially nasty?

Tokiko Mima
2007-10-05, 06:11 PM
So what do you guys and girls think? He definitely has some form of Regeneration going on. But the non-dieing? Soul-locked perhaps? And then there's the class levels. He is pretty smart, and he also knows some 'monkish' abilities ((like stopping a mans heart with one blow)), so he can't be just a Fighter.

I'd go with a Monk//Fighter gestalt or even better, a Monk//Warblade gestalt. He's probably picked up a whole lot of Feats and techniques from his long life.

...and I'm sooo tempted to give his lance a +10 bonus versus Angels and rogue Evas. :smallbiggrin:

Ghal Marak
2007-10-05, 06:18 PM
:smallsmile:

Hmm.. well, immunity to disease could be added, but it's also a class feature of monks, and I figure that would be covered anyway. As far as poisonous blood, most people's blood is poisonous to other peoples blood if the blood type (A,B,O,AB) and Rh factor doesn't sync. Is Casca's blood especially nasty?

Yeah, I would say it is. In one book, his then love intrest was loosing a lot of blood from some wound, and he came up with the idea that he could give her some of his. He thought it would make her immortal as well as save her life. That, it didn't do. Instead it caused insta-death. Not sure how (I don't have the specific book yet), but his blood is death to others.

I'd say, instead of insta-death, maybe have it act as a Con poison. However, it would only ever come up in obscure (I couldn't think of a better word) situations, so it could just be ignored.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-05, 06:22 PM
I'd go with a Monk//Fighter gestalt or even better, a Monk//Warblade gestalt. He's probably picked up a whole lot of Feats and techniques from his long life.

...and I'm sooo tempted to give his lance a +10 bonus versus Angels and rogue Evas. :smallbiggrin:

Well, he mostly uses swords and shields. Though that would be hilarious. Maybe include it as an artifact. The Spear of Longinus. Prized by evil everywhere. :smalltongue:

Theodoxus
2007-10-06, 08:34 AM
Regarding his blood, from what I recall, and mind, it's been close to 20 years since I read the series - and was pleasantly surprised to see the thread - it was back during the time of the Spanish Conquest of the New World - there was a Aztec or Olmec doctor (forget which) who was working on blood transfusions with monkeys. Casca learns what he can from the doc and when his love interest at the time ends up with a massive amount of blood loss, he volunteers to give her his blood, since he can't die.

It was my impression at the time (again, I was in High School and really into biology at the time, so I could very well be biased) that it was simply a difference in blood types that killed her.

However, there are a number of times when his blood is examined in the modern age where it's shown his white blood cells kill anything foreign - nearly instantly. So it could be that factor too.

As for statting...

He's a professional Roman soldier who's spent nearly his entire 2000 year existance working as a soldier of fortune, creating his own ATeam-esque band of mercs. He's probably close to 50th level, mostly fighter with a few other prcs thrown in.

The Divine Regeneration is close to spot on - though I'd speed up the healing process. He's a lot like Claire from Heros in that respect. Though he can scar... (he's proud of his scars and is quite pissed when after being burned at the stake all the scars are gone.)

For those interested, there are a lot of books, but they're all relatively short (along the lines of Narnia, not Wheel of Time :) The writting is on par for mid-high school, though sometimes they're a little racy - like when he's with 10 prostitutes... though my favorite (and his, iirc) was the one sucking on his toes. I always thought it'd make a fantastic TV show or Sci Fi miniseries.

Theo

Ghal Marak
2007-10-06, 12:49 PM
It was my impression at the time (again, I was in High School and really into biology at the time, so I could very well be biased) that it was simply a difference in blood types that killed her.

Oh, well then I guess it could just be left as normal then.

Closet_Skeleton
2007-10-06, 03:53 PM
For immortals like this, there's the Curst template in Monsters of Faerun (also updated with some differances for 3.5 in Lost Empire of Faerun).

Type changes to undead (in 3.0 they were healed by positive energy, so they were more like Deathless except they were published before the book of exalted deeds). As undead they're immune to disease and poison.

Fast healing, 1 hp per round (it was per hour in 3.0).

Immune to cold and fire (this may not fit, its more of a D&D undead thing).

Madness, 5% chance to stand their being angsty each round, (In 3.5 this is only if the Curst has Wisdom 2 or 1).

Spell Resistance.

Turning Immunity.

In 3.5 they can only be killed by total disintegration or a successful remove curse spell. In 3.0 they could only be killed by a remove curse spell followed by a Wish spell. When destroyed they take a number of days equal to their total hp to regenerate.

Another problem with the 3.5 they suffer from -4 Int and -6 wisdom while in 3.0 1 in 10 curst had their full intelligence and their ability scores were normal.

There are other ways to be immortal though.

Krrth
2007-10-06, 04:28 PM
Oh, well then I guess it could just be left as normal then.

As I recall, his blood is anything BUT normal. Insects die when they bite him, and at least one shark tasted his blood and left town quickly. As a side note, he doesn't regrow limbs, but can reattach them.

Dervag
2007-10-06, 05:37 PM
Well, he mostly uses swords and shields. Though that would be hilarious. Maybe include it as an artifact. The Spear of Longinus. Prized by evil everywhere. :smalltongue:He doesn't still have it, though, does he?

WhiteHarness
2007-10-06, 07:38 PM
D&D can't model someone like Casca very well. I'd use GURPS for this.

Ghal Marak
2007-10-07, 10:30 AM
He doesn't still have it, though, does he?

No, I don't believe he does. At least, I don't remember reading about it.

TheLogman
2007-10-07, 10:57 AM
I'm seriously considering picking this series up, does he stand around in the greatest wars of history in his Roman outfit, or does he change from legion armor to Knight armor, to American Revolution clothing and a gun, to the War of 1812 and a ship, to the Trench outfits of WW I, ect.? I presume since he's living through all this, he would change with the times, but where is his original stuff?

Ghal Marak
2007-10-07, 11:17 AM
I'm seriously considering picking this series up, does he stand around in the greatest wars of history in his Roman outfit, or does he change from legion armor to Knight armor, to American Revolution clothing and a gun, to the War of 1812 and a ship, to the Trench outfits of WW I, ect.? I presume since he's living through all this, he would change with the times, but where is his original stuff?

Yeah, he changes with the times. He dosen't care a lick about his gear, he'd just take a dead mans weapons as soon as purchace other stuff. He is also trying to keep his everliving nature a secret, so he takes many identities later in life.

Krrth
2007-10-07, 11:50 PM
Just as an aside, the books are not written in chronological order. Most of them, with a few exceptions, are stand alone stories as well.