How Shall I Strive Character - Sabrial, Knight of the Burning Shades!
This is an example character I wrote up for the Fine Art Challenge D-Infinity Episode, for my entry "How Shall I Strive", an RPG of spiritual, magical and social enlightenment based on the works of luminary artists, poet, philosopher and visionary, Nicholas Roerich.
In How Shall I strive, players create Devae, immortal beings composed of varying amounts of the six primal elements represented in Roerich's work, Earth, Air , Water, Fire, Soul, and Shadow. The amount of each of these elements comprised in a particular deva affects its appearance, behavior, personality, goes, and magical abilities. You can get a better idea of how this works here. Sabrial is a good example of how a character looks and plays.
The painting representing Sabrial is Roerich's "The Last Angel", and it perfectly suits him. Below are his stats, which reflect his fiery personality, great intellect, his charisma, and his destructive tendencies. His High scores in Shadow, and his low Soul also suggest that his destructiveness is directed not only at the Mundane and Supereal worlds around him, but inwardly as well. A Player who chooses Sabrial should embrace his volatile nature, and understand that he may play like a candle in the wind - Burning brightly and with much heat, but for a short time.
Sabrial - Knight of the Burning Shades
0 Earth – Strength, Healing, Obstinance*
1 Air – Agility, Freedom, Movement
3 Water – Constitution, Adaptability, Resolution
6 Fire – Magic, Intellect, Change
2 Soul – Energy, Enlightenment, Otherworldliness
4 Shadow – Stealth, Charisma, Damnation
Sabriel is a darkly burning angel, sometimes wearing archaic armour and bearing a fierly lance. He revels in fire, and the change it represents. He is brilliant and a powerful mage. In his saner moments, he strives to alter the lives of the Mundanes, to allow the m a glimpse of the Supereal. But his mind is often unfettered by the bonds of sanity, and in these times he changes things: people, environments, situations, for little more than to see them altered. His Shadow is strong, and he as often likes to sway the minds of men and deva, sometimes just to see what effect he can have upon the world. Sabrial has made a number of enemies amongf the Deva, but also has become anathema in numerous settlements of folk in the Mundane and the Supereal. He is unconcerned with this, believing that Enlightenment is only attained through change – and change is as often destructive as it is formative.
* players are allowed to substitute other traits of the same type for those listed with each element. I have not done so, to give you an idea of the basic concepts for each. If I did, Sabrial might sub in Headstrong for Obstinance, Swiftness for Movement, Conflagration for Energy, etc. In play, the exact trait chosen can influence play in subtle ways, so choosing the right name for a trait can help reinforce the concept of the character.
