This is an Eclipse d20 build for a militia / city watch man in a city that has perverse views on arcane magic.
The city of Karakkis, Kubuldar. A rough port city known far and wide for it’s naval might and it’s hate for arcane magic. No one knows how it came about, but it has been that way since for ever and a bit longer I would wager. Been a mage in this city is a death sentence, one of the few things someone can still be burnt, hung, stoned or beheaded for – witch craft.
Well, my tale starts a year or so back. I was eager to be a watch-man. Patrolling the city streets making sure people were safe – it felt good. In my first few nights out, with my partner Jurig, we apprehended three thugs, thwarted a house breaking and even saved the life of a a young damsel who had been stabbed in the stomach. It felt good.
But things started to slip into my mind, that some of those we caught we would catch again, weeks, sometimes months later. The good feeling started to leave a bitter taste in my mouth and as a patrol man, and still classified as a “recruit”, I had no way of investigating it further. That was when it was made clear, I had to become an officer, an investigator.
Well that didn’t work too well either, been so young and not even in my twenties yet, my Seargent – Rothwheat – didn’t want to know of my dreams. I was far too young, had to spend a good ten years on the streets he said. Ten years?
I was so disheartened that I was considering giving up on it all. Even leaving the militia behind me, but fate stepped in. Jurig and I were on a nightly patrol and saw a flash of light in a an alley, we rushed in, like we carelessly do, to be confronted with a dark robed man and two thugs beating up on a couple, a woman and a man. The man had just been struck with some form of – “Spell” Jurig cried out. With that one of the thugs launched at him, but Jurig had his spear ready, and gutted him. The other thug cut down the ensorcelled man, and the mage threw a burning spell that I barely dodged away from, but it knocked Jurig out cold and scorched most of him.
I screamed in anger, and enraged, I threw my spear at the mage, catching him high on his body, between his shoulder and neck. He fell to the floor as the other thug bashed the woman before turning to me. I pulled out my club and engaged him, taking a blow on my light shield that almost splintered the wood before bashing him hard over his head. Another two blows and he fell, and I was left holding a gut wound from his dagger.
I didn’t wait long, I bound Jurig’s wounds as best as possibly while blowing my signal whistle, I bound the woman’s wounds too – the man was dead. The one thug was dead and so too was the mage. I searched his body for evidence while still blowing the whistle, and I found his spell book.
I was shocked, staring at the book, I knew it was his book of magic. Dark Magic. But, but something stirred within me – maybe it was from the blood loss, but as I heard mailed boots nearing, I snuck the book into my satchel and turned to help my fellow City Watchmen to take the wounded and the thug back to the Gaol House and infirmary.
I was let off duty for an entire week – wound recovery, partially paid. That meant I only got half my wages but it was a good time to rest up. During that time I examined the book in the comfort of my dingy little hovel. I still called it home – it was near the docks side, many bad things happened in the area but thugs and thieves tended to leave “watch houses” alone, and with half a dozen or more in this street alone, I was pretty much safe. Still, I kept the book hidden. Dug out a brick in one corner under my bed, and was able to bury it there, in canvas wrappings. Every so often I would take it out to study it.
Most of it was gibberish, strange symbols, pictorials of hand movements and positions, and words in languages that made no sense. I persevered, and this night I found a spell that made sense. It was clean, almost in plain language. Though the “command words” if you like still sounded like sick hound gagging, the rest made sense – even the part requiring a ‘catalyst’ or a focus. The spell needed a crystal prism of quartz or similar material, and it would allow the caster to look through the prism and understand other magic writings.
I was pleased with myself, even though the risks of harbouring this book could be my neck, I was still pleased and proud. A side note suggested the prism should be of good quality and as it was not consumed by the casting it should be durable. An estimation of 10 Gold Crowns. 10 GOLD! That would take me weeks to earn!
I slumped back into the bed, slight disappointed.
…
Character Build
Well, a few weeks or months later the watchman was able to buy the crystal and with it was able to understand more spells. So let’s get on with the build (much of the magic side of this came from my friend over at KharaThel.com)
Getting Started
As a human, we have 54 Character Points plus 4 Skills Points at level one. In addition we have 6 CP from the level one feat, and another 3 cp from the Secret Disadvantage (Secret of keep his magic a secret. If he is caught, well that will be very bad)
The Basics
Hit Dice: d8 – he is a warrior but not a seasoned fighter. 4cp
Warcraft: +1 – he has the aptitude for fighting 6cp
Saves: +2 Fort – he is acclimatised to long nights and endurance training. 6cp
Skills: 8cp – this correlates to a standard fighter having a base of 2 skill points. His skills would be Knowledge Local, Diplomacy, Perception and probably some craft skills too.
Proficiencies: Simple weapons, light armour, shields. Again, not a full fighter. 12cp.
Total: 36cp
Specials
Run: He runs at 5x normal speed instead of 4. 6cp
Awareness: Doesn’t lose Dex while flat footed etc. 6cp
Privilege: He has some minor respect as a guard. 3cp
Now I figure it was the ‘later’ part of level 1 (so to speak) where he gained his magic abilities.
Magic Progression: Bard. Charisma Based, Studies (Spontaneous) and Components. Specialised – only for spells cast per day. No known spells come from this, he has to learn / buy his spells with CP. Specialised for cost. 4cp
He can cast 2 level 0 spells per day
Spells Known (Bought): Read Magic 2cp, Detect Magic 2cp, Daze 2cp.
Total of 25cp
Build Total: 51 character points. Leaving around 12 left for other things. Probably plug some of that into more skills and potentially boost his Ref or Will save as well and / or buy Spell Pool so he can use (later) his spell slots for any spells.