Not all Character concepts are in the trenches fighters. The Unconventional Combatant will look at character concepts that don’t necessarily lend themselves to battle and how the world of Fractured Kingdom allows them to both excel and thrive in a high action setting.
To begin this series we’re going to start with a role that’s often overlooked as being too unconventional in many role -playing settings but in a world of conspiracy and hidden secrets can be a vital part of any Lucid Coven: The Psychiatrist.
At the heart of the Psychiatrist role is an ability to bring to light feelings, fears or memories that a subject may not have been aware they had. Because we want to keep the Character’s Supernatural abilites closely as tied to this idea as possible we’ll be looking at the Dark Realm. Before we get into powers lets look at what the skill set of a Psychiatrist may look like.
Ironically, the series begins with a Skill not listed in the core rules. However, it’s no effort to add a Psychology skill to the Intelligence Tree. Other key skills for a Psychiatrist may include: Law, Logic & Math, Medical, Debate, Etiquette, Subterfuge, Intuition, and Perception. Most of these skills come from either the Intelligence Tree or Expression Tree. Five of them being Science Skills (The importance of this will become apparent later.) These skills should give you a rounded view of the Psychiatrist’s strengths, namely analytical conversation. Now lets take a look at some Boons purely based on these Skills.
Distracting Speaker: (Various) – Mundane
Not everyone is a fighter. Some people have to talk their way out of tricky situations.
The character may use their Fast Talk, Subterfuge, or other appropriate skill as a supporting characteristic for Defense.
Awareness – Supranational
There are some who are attuned to sensations and perceptions beyond the scope or comprehension of most people. Some can just sense things which even trained and seasoned warriors miss. Those who are Aware are seldom surprised by anything.Opening – Supernatural
Calculating the best time to strike, the character is able to throw their foes off guard.
Based purely on the core skills of the Psychiatrist the Character gains bonuses in battle based purely on their ability to quickly evaluate what’s going on and their speaking skills. Additionally, because the Character is heavily invested in Science Skills another solid choice for them is:
Combat Analyst – Mundane
While the character may not be much of a fighter, that doesn’t mean they don’t understand what’s going on. The character is able to pick up on patterns and adapt accordingly.
Using Combat Analyst: The character gains a bonus equal to the number of Science Skills and Specialties they possess to Initiative.
Lastly, while we focus on skills on Dark Boon comes quickly to the top of the list:
Pluck the Secret – Dark
Dark Lucids have a disturbing ability to not only know when others are lying to them but also to be able to rip the truth from them. When using this boon, the character’s face becomes distorted and nightmarish.
How much time could be saved on the couch if every shrink knew when you weren’t being totally honest? This leads us to the path we’re going to take for our Psychiatrist, reading thoughts and fears. To do this we’ll need to add an additional Trait:
ESP – Dark, Grave, Slumber
Short for Extra Sensory Perception, also known as Second Sight, this trait encompasses many forms of paranormal perception which only a select few may possess. There are many different forms of ESP, though few ever develop more than one or two abilities.
ESP opens up multiple Boon options for a Dark Character from Aura Sight to Remote Viewing. However to stick with out theme we begin with the following:
Empathy – Dark
The Empath may pick up on the emotional states of those around them.
Using Empathy: The character may use their ESP Trait as a supporting characteristic for:
1) Etiquette, Intimidation, Debate, and Animal Handling under any circumstances,
2) Street Smarts when dealing with people, and
3) Intuition when dealing with people.
This Boon give the Psychiatrist multiple bonuses in their field of expertise and starts them on a very interesting path.
Thought Reader – Dark
As the character’s knowledge expands, they learn more than to sense the basic emotions of a victim. The Dark Lucid can actually delve into the subject’s mind, reading their thoughts.Nightmare Sense – Dark
The Lucid’s telepathic abilities are a gift from the Dark Realm, a tool to unlock knowledge of the hidden places of the mind. In no other ability is this clearer than their uncanny skill at learning the fears of others.
Both of these Boons build from the Psychiatrist concept but for the Dark Lucid it doesn’t end there. Following this chain of Boons Nightmare Sense opens up the following additional Boons:
Craft Nightmare – Dark
The Lucid’s knowledge of fear and terror are unsurpassed. Aided by their link to the Dark Realm, the Lucid is able to project horrifying images, striking terror into those around them.Manifest Nightmare – Dark
The powers of the Dark are at the character’s disposal. No longer merely creating images to frighten their foes, the Lucid is able to pull the stuff of nightmares into the Unbound World. These beasts take on a life of their own, serving their summoner before the Dark Realm calls them back.
Yes, out Psychologist has gone from being able to survive in a punch up due to their ability to assess the situation to plucking their assailants worst fears from their minds and bringing them to life. It may be cruel, but the Dark makes no moral judgement.
To round out our Psychiatrists abilities other solid Boon Choices include Telepathy and Hive mind allowing quick mental communication between Coven Members and Passive Reader allowing them to scan the surface thoughts of everyone around them providing a defensive bonus.
Next time we’ll pen an article on the Inspirational Writer.
