Wraith

Real Name: Stephen Harner
Renegade/Hero/Villain Name: Wraith
Title:
Alignment: NG
Age: 23
Gender: M
Race: Human
Hair: Brown-auburn
Eyes: Hazel
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 210
Blood type: O Positive


Character Image/Character Costume Image (Or Description): Outside of his costume Stephen is a handsome young man with a lithe, powerful build and bright gold-hazel eyes. He tends towards long coats and is almost always wearing a long, Japanese-style headband on his head. Typically he has some set of weapons carefully hidden on him wherever he goes.

His adventuring costume is a kind of "Ninja Gaiden meets Lord of the Rings". A large cloak and hood lays over an armored costume of leather and ceramic plates, unfurling and becoming hard when he glides thanks to a special "memory cloth". His katana rests on his back while his nunchuku is holstered to his right hip while his fighting chain is on his belt on his left side. His shuriken and boomerangs are strapped to his weapons harness and are easily removable by him. Getting them loose is a challenge for anyone else. His smoke and flash grenades are concealed on him and difficult to find in a normal search. His utility belt holds his swing line and other tools.

His cowl is actually the most hi-tech part of his costume: The opaque visor over his eyes has several different filters enabling him to see in the dark or in the infrared. It also compensates for light levels, giving him some protection against bright flashes even in the dark. His ears are also capped with a hard filter that protects him from particularly loud noise. (He designed these to counter flashbang grenades.) He also has an powerful phone built into his cowl to communicate with or overhear others' radio traffic.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Personality: Originally driven by revenge, Stephen has come back from the edge and transformed himself into a more serious, more even-handed hero. He has gone from anger to a genuine desire to make the world a better place. In his day to day life he seems to be an ordinary student with a light workload, living modestly on the family trust and small fortune. He acts his age, young and idealistic while tempered by the tragedy of his family's deaths. He is particularly protective of his younger sister, Anya, a girl blind from birth who serves as his confidant and sometimes conscience.

As the Wraith he seems to change entirely. His good humor vanishes under the mask and he becomes a relentless, humorless, even implacable avenger of the night. His featureless mask and dramatic costume give him an otherworldly demeanor, and criminals tend to read terrible things into that silent stare. When he speaks as the Wraith he is direct and to the point when asking questions but frequently gives cryptic answers.

History: Stephen was a young man bought up for a hidden purpose: to fight. He was trained from childhood in the martial arts, particularly the techniques of Ninjutsu. His fiery nature was quickly tempered by the code of honor and discipline ingrained into him from birth. He was taught to maintain two faces, one for the ordinary schools he attended and one for his "true nature." He had even started to participate in basic "stealth missions" for practice...breaking and entering, evasion, and spying. It simply didn't occur to him that this was not normal.

Unknown to Stephen, he was being raised as a fighter to participate in the legendary Tournament of the Dragon, to represent the cult that they were secretly members of: The Red Banner. These intentions were derailed when his parents were killed in...of all things...a relatively mundane tragedy. A local street gang decided to go on a shooting spree and his parents were among the victims.

Stephen, nearly blind with rage, put his fighting and stealth techniques to use. He tracked down the gang members and the gang responsible for the shootings. To his credit he did not kill them, but his beatings put most of them in the hospital and left some with permanent injuries.

Towards the end of his rampage he was caught on camera and was hailed as a neighborhood hero, someone who would stand up to the gangs and criminals. His original intention was to finish the gang and then move on, but his sister pointed out that the people in the neighborhood were desperate for someone to do as he had done...to fight back against the increasing criminal menaces...to be a hero.

His concerns about survival were alleviated by the discovery of a large trust that he and his sister were made the beneficiaries of. That plus the life insurance allowed Stephen to seriously consider what his sister had suggested. With his vengeance out of the way, he was able to look around and see other things he could do, other ways to use his skills.

His experience with the gangsters had taught him that fear was a potent weapon. This led to the design of his costume and his methods. Not long after he entered the world of heroism he soon adopted the code of behavior that so many other heroes did, including a reluctance to kill...although it's not entirely off the table.

Recently he has been expanding his "territory" and patrol routes, and has come to the notice of both the criminal element and the police. He quickly figured out that the overworked and undermanned police department tended to place his activities as a low priority so long as he kept his actions beneficent.

An added complication has come up recently: A part-time model, part-time crime blogger has taken an interest in his activities and potentially his identity. Imagine his surprise when his tracker was found to be a young, seemingly fearless woman around his own age. This has added an element of awkwardness and confusion into his personal life he hadn't counted upon, and has become a perpetual source of amusement for his sister.

And what of the Red Banner? Did they lose track of him after the tragedy? Or are they watching and waiting, letting their wayward protege hone his skills against increasingly dangerous foes? Or was there another reason they remain hidden and unknown to the young hero-to-be?

Power(s): The Wraith's weapons are standard ninja fare, though he prefers a katana to a ninja-to. He carries sets of shuriken and boomerangs, and includes both smoke and flare grenades. His primary weapon, however, is his nunchuku if his own martial prowess is not enough.

In addition to his ninja weaponry, he knows several "magic" tricks that enable him to hide and evade others. In a dark place or at night he is nearly undetectable. He can even move so swiftly and silently that he seems to simply vanish. More than one pursuer has found themselves staring at a dead end and wondered where in the hell he'd gone to. He can also create illusions of himself as a decoy to lure hunters away or into traps.

Taking a cue from his favorite pulp hero, The Shadow, he has perfected a mocking, fightening laugh that he typically uses to unnerve enemies, setting them up for a frightening presence attack.

His tools are designed to allow him to get around the city quickly, with a swing line, a line launcher that can carry him horizontally over long gaps and over rough or dangerous ground, and a cloak that allows him to glide about. Among his other gadgets are a small video camera, flashlight, a police-issue lock-picking gun, a GPS tracker on a scrambled frequency, and a mini-rebreather for underwater use. His hooded cowl sports a visor with filters that lets him see in the dark and in infrared, and a radio comsystem is wired in near his ear and mouth. His cowl also has a polarizing layer and sound filter for protection against attacks from flashbangs and similar weapons.

At the start of a fight he frequently uses his mocking laughter to unnerve opponents, setting them up for a frightening presence attack. That done, he will strike from the shadows as much as he can with his throwing weapons, picking enemies off one by one and terrorizing the ones remaining conscious. In a fight he will make regular use of his tools to move around the battlefield, seeming to strike from every direction. His flash and smoke grenades are used to further confuse foes, though he always keeps at least one of either to cover a fast (teleport) escape if need be.

Against mere henchmen and ordinary criminals his barehanded combat is enough. If against tougher opponents he will resort to his nunchuku, or even his sword if he faces someone particularly heavily armored or otherwise unnaturally tough. His sword might also be used against a character who has demonstrated themselves to be dishonorable, though rarely to kill. He only kills when he must, but has little difficulty causing significant injury.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Did you think I wouldn't know?" (mocking, echoing laughter)

Grid:
INT: 3
STR: 4
SPD: 3
DUR: 4
MAG: 5
SPL: 3
FS: 7
FLI: 1
$$$: 1

[Basic} "Arsenal" The Wraith can conjure any of his throwing weapons or tools instantly. The weapon must appear to have been produced from somewhere...a hidden pocket or otherwise taken from some place out of direct sight. For example if his hands are tied behind him he can summon a knife or lockpick and use them to free himself. It also gives him the appearance of having a seemingly unlimited supply of shuriken and other thrown weapons.

[Basic] "Silent stride" The Wraith can make his own footsteps and personal noises silent, enhancing his already formidable skill at stealth.

[Low] "Nightwalk" The Wraith can become invisible when in darkness or shadow. As a result he prefers to do most of his activity at night. An extension of this spell enables him to climb walls with scarcely any handholds or equipment.

[Low] "Phantom" This spell creates an illusionary duplicate of himself. The duplicate is not actually sentient but will take non-offensive actions according to his will. Typically he would use it as a decoy for hunters or to maintain his normal identity by having the Wraith seem to appear briefly while he is present or run / leap / swing off in another direction.

(Med) "Where'd He Go?" This spell allows quick teleportation under a specific set of circumstances. As long as he is out of direct sight of people, he can simply vanish. This includes when he is hiding in the shadows. All he needs is a distraction...a flashbang, for instance, or a burst of smoke...and he can simply be gone. Typically it is used for emergency escapes or escaping death-traps, but it has other applications too, such as getting him up a wall that would otherwise be unclimbable. He must be able to see the location he is going to, and he has to be able to get there through normal movement (ie: not through walls or other obstacles). The teleport range is up to a maximum of 200 yards, though typically he uses it for considerably shorter distances to get behind or confuse enemies.

(Med) "I Know" The Wraith can look into someone's eyes and simply know the target's crimes through a combination of telepathy and psychometry. The crimes are limited to "recent" as in within the past year. The target is immediately aware that "He knows!", usually with accompanying guilt and fear unless their minds are particularly strong. This ability would be difficult to use in combat unless against a sole opponent that he has briefly immobilized. It's usually used for interrogation and intimidation.

All right. I'm going to give you two examples of spell/Magic users.

I am also going to dump you a link to the Magic and Spells system.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

And here's a picture that shows how "strong" spells are in comparison to the magic system, and basically how much magic you need if you have spells.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And now here are two characters that use the magic and spells system:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You're eligible up to 10 spells in total; 2 basic, 2 low, 2 medium, 2 high, 2 ultimate.

But that's only with a full magic bar. 10 magic.

So, You'll need to list and explain the spells your character has.

I'll probably need some guidance here: I guess I'm not clear about the difference between Ability and Magic and what counts as either. Example: I was thinking that his senses are so sharp that he has a virtual "Danger Sense", putting it under the category of "Ability", while his more fantastic ninja-esque powers are covered by spells. . I suppose I might need some clarification on this. He sort of blurs the line a bit. Here is my (tentative) list of spells.

Spells:

[Basic} "See the Heart" With this spell the Wraith can sense whether or not a person has a guilty conscience and to what degree. This is particularly useful during interrogation or intimidation, but a person without a conscience draws a complete blank. Since even non-guilty people register some degrees of self-imposed guilt, the psychopath's blank reading tips him off to the sort of person he is dealing with.

[Basic] "Silent stride" The Wraith can make his own footsteps and personal noises silent, enhancing his already formidable skill at stealth.

[Low] "Arsenal" The Wraith can conjure any of his weapons instantly. The weapon must appear to have been produced from somewhere...a hidden pocket or otherwise taken from some place out of direct sight. For example if his hands are tied behind him he can summon a knife or lockpick and use them to free himself. It also gives him the appearance of having a seemingly unlimited supply of shuriken and other thrown weapons.

[Low] "Phantom" This spell creates an illusionary duplicate of himself. The duplicate is not actually sentient but will take non-offensive actions according to his will. Typically he would use it as a decoy for hunters or to maintain his normal identity by having the Wraith seem to appear briefly while he is present or run / leap / swing off in another direction.

Hm. Your first basic spell seems more like an RP mechanic. I'd also rearrange some points to increase your Magic bar a bit if you want to actually have Medium spells.

Also, what is the additional wealth for?

To be able to a) afford his tech, b) survive without a conventional job. Unless I don't need it for that purpose, in which case the point could be shifted to Magic.

Maybe I should shift all these spells of his under the Ability heading instead. You tell me: From looking over the powers I described, what would be more appropriate?

ntelligence: 3
Strength: 4
Speed: 4
Durability: 4
Ability: 6
Fighting Skills: 8
Flight: 1
Wealth: 1

Would this be a better build for the Wraith?

Spells works with the magic system only.

I would built your grid like this:

INT: 3
STR: 4
SPD: 3
DUR: 4
MAG: 5
SPL: 3
FS: 7
FLI: 1
$$$: 1

There ya' go. That is the grid I would go with. (:

So would this (revised) spell list work?

[Basic} "Arsenal" The Wraith can conjure any of his throwing weapons or tools instantly. The weapon must appear to have been produced from somewhere...a hidden pocket or otherwise taken from some place out of direct sight. For example if his hands are tied behind him he can summon a knife or lockpick and use them to free himself. It also gives him the appearance of having a seemingly unlimited supply of shuriken and other thrown weapons.

[Basic] "Silent stride" The Wraith can make his own footsteps and personal noises silent, enhancing his already formidable skill at stealth.

[Low] "Walk the Shadows" The Wraith can become invisible when in darkness or shadow. As a result he prefers to do most of his activity at night.

[Low] "Phantom" This spell creates an illusionary duplicate of himself. The duplicate is not actually sentient but will take non-offensive actions according to his will. Typically he would use it as a decoy for hunters or to maintain his normal identity by having the Wraith seem to appear briefly while he is present or run / leap / swing off in another direction.

I take it I'll still need another level of magic to get the medium spells I'm after?

Hello?

Is anyone going to approve or reject or tweak my character or should I just forget it?

I am not suppose to comment on other peoples applications but i don't want to lose members just because you did not get a reply. I will be on for most the day and if i see a mod on i will let them know to check this for you. (:

You would need at least 5 magic for medium spells. Teleportation always works within the direct line of sight so a closed door would still block you even if you could pick the lock.

Okay...modified my spells and adjusted my stats.

You should edit everything together into your first post. With 5 magic and 3 spells you would have 6 spells available. 2 basic, 2 low and 2 medium.

Done.