Café de Nuit

So I wrote up this new NPC... I would be very happy to hear your opinions of her. ^_^

Intriguing caracter, nice to see a monster with background flesh. Great NPC.

Again a scolar-type NPC, you have a fascination for these

Joël

Joël of the FoS wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2023 3:49 pm Intriguing caracter, nice to see a monster with background flesh. Great NPC.

Thank you for your kind words! ^_^

Joel of the FoS wrote:Again a scolar-type NPC, you have a fascination for these

I do. You can get up to so many fun shenanigans with scholarly types.

Nice idea. An NPC Red Widow. I could follow your example.

It is very interesting to see the long journey for immortality play out with many different approaches, none of which persist. I feel like most stories about seeking everlasting life don't give the protagonist as many tastes of their goal. I wonder what her curse would be if she failed enough powers checks, since the Dark Powers seem to be stringing her along a bit already.

Wolfglide of the Fraternity wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:06 am It is very interesting to see the long journey for immortality play out with many different approaches, none of which persist.

Thank you! ^_^ I strive to make my NPCs interesting.

Wolfglide of the Fraternity wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:06 amI feel like most stories about seeking everlasting life don't give the protagonist as many tastes of their goal.

Richelle could probably exchange notes with Captain Jack Sparrow on that subject.

Wolfglide of the Fraternity wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 4:06 amI wonder what her curse would be if she failed enough powers checks, since the Dark Powers seem to be stringing her along a bit already.

If Richelle does become the first Red Widow Darklady, I imagine the cost of life would probably require her to engage in those very activities for which either nature or Albert's experiments rendered her unsuitable, and which might now seem repellant to her.
She might gain the power to lay eggs, but would have to devour her offspring - or use a complex process to extract a certain essence from them - in order to extend her lifespan.
She would have to breed and feed like any common Red Widow, when she has always been such an uncommon specimen, and the instincts she never had to concern herself with before would feel alien and repulsive to her. If she also gains a maternal instinct, she would forever be caught between the desire to live and the drive to pass on her genes.

In addition, Richelle is unusual in the sense that she can feel gratitude towards others if they treat her well, and she really did see Giles de Mauvais as a father figure and someone important enough to avenge. Her failed Powers checks mainly stem from acting more like Albert de Mauvais than Giles, breaking and killing for the sake of her selfish desire to defy nature. If she becomes a creature wholly dependent on murdering her own flesh and blood for the sake of staying alive, she will come to suffer extreme self-loathing.

Honestly, I hope that Richelle de Mauvais does not become a darklord, only because I think the struggle before that point is more interesting than the suffering after that point.

I appreciate that Richelle de Mauvais is well-travelled. For an adventure set before her retirement, a party could encounter her in many places across the Core. For an adventure set afterward, the party could still encounter the Théàtre d'Atroce, or they might get drawn into her web in Chateaufaux. She has connections to the larger world, but an encounter with her would not necessarily involve all of those connections. In other words, she's the sort of character I could see using in an engaging adventure without needing to become an essential part of the larger campaign. I like that.

IanFordam wrote: ↑Sat Feb 25, 2023 9:34 am Honestly, I hope that Richelle de Mauvais does not become a darklord, only because I think the struggle before that point is more interesting than the suffering after that point.

I appreciate that Richelle de Mauvais is well-travelled. For an adventure set before her retirement, a party could encounter her in many places across the Core. For an adventure set afterward, the party could still encounter the Théàtre d'Atroce, or they might get drawn into her web in Chateaufaux. She has connections to the larger world, but an encounter with her would not necessarily involve all of those connections. In other words, she's the sort of character I could see using in an engaging adventure without needing to become an essential part of the larger campaign. I like that.

Thank you. ^_^

And yes, Richelle could serve many different roles.

In a tale of intrigue, she and the Théàtre d'Atroce could be connected to any number of spy agencies throughout the Core. She could offer adventurers involved in that world the same service of safe, secret transport.

Alternatively, Richelle needs to eat: she could nab a victim every time the Théàtre leaves somewhere. She's clever enough to go for people who are less likely to be missed, but what if she accidentally grabs a noble who likes to dress down and go slumming, or a policeman disguised as a beggar?
No matter how careful she is, the Théàtre - and her hunger - have left a trail of disappearances. Sufficiently clever investigators might want to look into that.

Richelle is a member of la Société de Legerdemain in good standing, involved both in stage magic and arcane magic. Junior members might want to seek her out, hoping to learn from her as she's a fairly successful businesswoman.
Richelle would be a meticulous, highly deliberate mentor; it's in a spider's nature. She also has a vested interest in keeping up-to-date on la Société's secret research. An apprentice could learn a lot from her, but how long until they learn too much and become a liability? Or worse, what if they come to accept her worldview as their own?

Post-retirement, she could herself be a danger to all those spies. She knows where the bodies are buried. She knows names. Of course she has insurance policies - letters to be posted if she suddenly falls silent and do on - but there might be people willing to pay for her death all the same, or just to have the contents of her archive.
Assassins and thieves who go look her might receive a nasty surprise.

In closing, what if her plan post-retirement works? There could be a rash of disappearances in the occult community. All of them bad people, but still... And what if Thedmore comes to Chateaufaux?

And here we have Richelle's Terror Track: the Path of the Philosopher.

Since she is sterile anyway, she could turn herself into a philosophical child.

tomokaicho wrote: ↑Sun Feb 26, 2023 8:43 am Since she is sterile anyway, she could turn herself into a philosophical child.

Different kind of philosopher. ^_^
But yeah, if she'd known about High Alchemy, she might have given that a go!