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Sebastian - Mute Daemon slayer

Started by Damon, June 24, 2011, 11:41:55 PM

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Damon

Starting to develop an idea for a new model I'm planning and would value some feedback.

Sebastian

Inquisitor Alexandra Veritas came across Sebastian on the planet Kephas. A cult on Kephas had grown incredibly powerful and ultimately led to the creation of a warp rift. All manner of foul daemons then poured forth and the planet was completely enveloped and devastated by these warp monstrosities. Veritas arrived on Kephas in order to shut off this warp rift and assess the damage as to whether Kephas would ever be able to recover. On making planetfall it became immediately apparent to Veritas that this world was far beyond repair. The planet itself was warped and scarred from the daemonic invasion. Cities laid in ruin and the mutilated and decaying corpses of the inhabitants littered the streets.  Given the state of the planet, Veritas was surprised to come across a solitary man sheltering in a ruined cathedral. His skin was decorated with all manner of strange symbols, some of which Veritas recognised as powerful holy symbols. However these were not simply drawn or tattooed on, they were carved into his flesh. He was clad in what could only be described as rags; his clothes were torn and mismatched. It was clear that this strange man had survived against all odds. Veritas believed the symbols he had carved into his flesh had protected him from the invading daemons. Hung from his belt was the skull of Sebastian, clearly some form of saint, whose relic the cathedral was built around. The man remained silent, perhaps he couldn't talk or maybe he had taken a vow of silence. Veritas demanded he came with her so he could learn more about this extraordinary man. He obliged, still silent and they left the planet. Kephas was deemed tainted and unsalvageable and therefore subsequently destroyed. Nothing is known about this man, not even his name as he still has not spoken a single word and all records of his past life were lost along with the whole of Kephas when it was destroyed. He is known as Sebastian after the relic he safeguards. It is clear that he is a holy man but he is also a formidable warrior leading Veritas to believe he was a warrior priest. Veritas has kept him with her for many years and he has proved to be indispensable. The symbols engraved in his skin are as potent as Pentagrammic wards; daemons recoil and are weakened merely by the sight of them. His substantial combat prowess makes short work of the weakened daemons. He still carries the skull of Sebastian with him, never letting it out of his sight.

He's going to be based on the Masklad model: http://www.historexagents.com/shop/hxproductdetail.php?ProductCode=EN54011
I'm going to keep the model pretty much as he is and I love the model. I'm going to change his weapons, though not sure what to. I've decided not to give him ranged weapons but apart from that I'm unsure what to arm him with. Any ideas for what weapons would suit him? I'm going to hang the skull from the GW priest from his belt. Not sure how I will paint his clothes yet but in terms of the skin I'll be painting on the various symbols. I may even carve them slightly into the model before painting.

Still working on his profile. He will have relatively high strength and toughness as he is a hardened warrior. His willpower and nerve would have to be fairly high too to be dealing with all those daemons. I don't think his weapon skill will be too high but I will give him some form of bonus against daemons. As to the rest of the stats, fairly average though with a low ballistic skill as he doesn't use ranged weapons. No armour for protection and his only equipment will be the relic and his weapons. I need to think up a suitable rule for his symbols; will be something similar to pentagrammic wards. Plus he will be mute which will be interesting to game with.

C&C would be greatly appreciated.

Adlan

I look forward to seeing this finished, and the model. I used the same model for ungen, and I gave him a shield and an electro flail head on top his club. Perhaps a blessed hammer or some other relic weapon might be appropriate? Is he going to be in monks robes? How are you going to do the scars. Will they be pentagram if or hexagramic runes? Or both?

Really nice work on this, looks promising.

SpanielBear

The model is a really nice base, how about a mace with a skull-shaped head? Certainly some sort of bludgeoning, smiting device. I'd err against a shield, given the background. Maybe a double-handed weapon? Being a mute makes him interesting; it means you won't be able to give him the 'standard' holy-man daemon hunter skills such as devotional prayers or word of the emperor. Given this limitation, I would have thought it made sense fluff wise for him to hit like an oncoming freight train...
Have Fun, Stay Sane, Enjoy the Madness

Damon

@ Adlan.
Ah yes. I remember seeing your version on your thread. A blessed hammer is a good idea. It suits his high strength and none of my other characters have a hammer so it would be a nice change. Also there's nothing better than crushing a few daemon's skulls with a massive hammer ☺. I don't think I'll change the clothes he's wearing as I like them and don't want to ruin the model with my feeble attempts at sculpting! I think I'll paint them just as rags. I was considering painting the cloth around his waist as an altar cloth from the ruined cathedral. I'm still unsure whether I'll paint his scars as old wounds, if so I will paint them in a few shades of rather muted pink. I had the idea that he continually reopens the wounds and if so I would paint them bright red and fresh. I think I will count the symbols as pentagrammic wards though I might change the rules slightly. Maybe also count him as fearsome to daemon characters.

@SpanielBear
Oooh a mace sounds like a good idea too. Hmmmm this is going to take some thought! I did consider him having two melee weapons. I think maybe a double handed one and then a single handed one. I agree with you entirely about the shield, I never envisioned him having one. He only needs his faith and the symbols to protect him. Plus he's a tough nut and he won't have any armour either. Yeah I thought the mute idea would be good fun. Adds extra character and mystery to him and like you said steers him away from the standard shouty daemon hunter characters. Haha yeah he will definitely be incredibly strong. I'm still playing around with his stats but I'll put some up later today to get peoples opinions.

Inquisitor Octavian Lars

Maybe a twin headed two handed hammer with a mace on the other end ;D.
Velterax III
All my wargaming under one address
http://velterax3chronicles.blogspot.com/

http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=1566.0
Insertion Zone. Also on the Velterax III Chronicles.

Always looking for comments

Damon

QuoteMaybe a twin headed two handed hammer with a mace on the other end .

Hahaha good point :)

Here's the first draft of his profile. I still need to choose a couple of melee weapons for him. C&C please!

WS   BS   S   T   I   Wp   Sg   Nv   Ld
72   38   83   79   64   79   61   78   44

Abilities: True Grit, Hardened, Mute

Equipment: Skull of Sebastian, Wards of Protection

Hardened – Sebastian has witnessed the horrors of daemons before and survived.
Sebastian is immune to the effects of terrifying or fearsome daemonic characters.

Mute – Sebastian hasn't uttered a single word. It's unclear whether he can speak or he just chooses not too.
Sebastian cannot speak.

Skull of Sebastian – This is an ancient relic that Sebastian carries everywhere with him after he took it from the ruined Cathedral that was built around it. Sebastian is named after this relic he safeguards as his real name is unknown. The skull is believed to have healing properties. Whether this is the case or not, Sebastian certainly believes it to be.
The skull of Sebastian counts as a medi-pack but only when used upon himself. If the skull is dropped or taken for any reason then Sebastian must use all his available actions to regain it.

Wards of Protection – Carved into his own flesh this collection of holy symbols act as a powerful protection against daemons.
They count as Pentagrammic wards and in addition mean that daemons treat Sebastian as Fearsome.

Zakkeg

His Sagacity seems a bit high considering, but apart from that he looks alright. Since daemons tend to be Fearsome or Terrifying themselves, you may want to add a note to the effect that they're nevertheless affected by the Fearsomeness granted by the wards (as otherwise it's a bit useless).

One thing confuses me: if he can't (or won't) talk, how does anyone know who the skull belongs to?
Only the insane have strength enough to prosper; only those who prosper may truly judge what is sane.

Damon

Quote from: Zakkeg on June 25, 2011, 11:34:27 PM
His Sagacity seems a bit high considering, but apart from that he looks alright. Since daemons tend to be Fearsome or Terrifying themselves, you may want to add a note to the effect that they're nevertheless affected by the Fearsomeness granted by the wards (as otherwise it's a bit useless).

One thing confuses me: if he can't (or won't) talk, how does anyone know who the skull belongs to?

Yes i may have to drop his sagacity down a bit. Ah good point about the wards! Will add that thanks :) In terms of the skull that's a fair point. The cathedral was named St. Sebastian's after the skull relic that resides within it. This is a famous place of pilgrimage and so is relatively well known on neighbouring planets. As Veritas found him in that Cathedral and he was clearly a religious man who was very protective of this archaic skull she put two and two together. Does that sound feasible enough? If not I can be lazy and just say that the box that houses the relic has a little engraved plaque that says 'The Skull of St. Sebastian' :P (I'm going to use the skull relic from the Preacher Josef model and that has a piece of scripture nailed to it that could serve as a plaque or label depending on how i paint it)

InquisitorHeidfeld

A relic would always be accompanied by a provenance inside the reliquary - not to mention that the reliquary is likely to give indications of the origins of the items within (or at least the claimed origins).

Likely the reliquary will be covered with images or symbolic references to the story of the saint in question, of their life or martyrdom, only those for which these would be entirely spurious might be without them - the prime example in the real world would be the Crown of Thorns. A possible equivalent in the 40k-verse might be the Sword with which the Emperor boarded Horus' Warbarge, so iconic that no images could possibly add to the experience of the real thing.

Absolute immunity to fear and terror caused by daemonic entities is perhaps too strong - it suggests one who has litterally no sense of personal danger, someone insane. How about he burns 5 points of Nerve or Willpower to resist the effects (which is much more "Hardened").

I shaln't yet go into the Daemon 'Slayer' side of things.

Damon

I've finished the model now. It's posted in my WIP thread if anyones interested.

I decided on the mace in the end. I kept the cloth in his other hand. I like the idea of him cleaning the reliquary every spare minute he has to keep it in the best condition.

I painted his markings to look like old scars (using my own scar to get the colour!)