Well when I created Rave it was after a 2 year abscence from Bob's game. I didn't know alot about what was going on at the time, but I was ready to come back and give gaming another try. In brief discussions with the players at the time they felt that they needed an active thief character in the group.
Well I hadn't played a thief in years but felt it would be fun. I thought he would always be in the back of the party, being quiet, opening a few locks and checking for a few traps. Basically he would sit back and let others tell him what to do. When I was trying to picture the character concept, I had been watching some old Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns. So I thought it would be fun to create a Bounty Hunter. Kind of tactiturn as Clint's portrayals of the Unnamed Gunman, yet with a bit of humor as in the movie "A Fist Full of Dollars". As I was giving him his skills, abilities and thinking what kind of items to choose I decided to create an extremely versatile character class. Now I had some idea what the abilities of the current player characters, but overall I was unsure how they had grown since I was last in the game 2 years previous.
At first I was going to make him human, but with my goal being versatility it struck me...a pixie!!! True most pixies are fun loving pranksters, but I wanted someone who although had a lighter side to him, was predominantly a morose character. I picked alot of different skills that were not typical for someone who was looking to make a combat character. Things like ventriloquism, voice mimicry, alchemy, cooking, brewing, etc. I thought that these skills could be useful in alot of different circumstances and if used correctly would add alot to the game without making him a power player...I had no idea at the time how trully powerful he would turn out to be. Anyway, I then went and purchased his magic items along the same lines. I looked for items that were more versatile than powerful and also along the lines of things a bounty hunter would find useful - Ring of Telekinesis, Golden Coin, Rope of entanglement, etc.
Well when I was done I had a character that was not as awesome a fighter as Antarias. He couldn't slice and dice his enemies into salsa. He wasn't as skillful and devistating an archer as Finglass. He couldn't turn people into walking, bleeding, pincushions or pin them to the wall like a demonic nail gun. He couldn't blast people to smithereens like Paul or Kylia. He didn't command huge armies, or multiple followers, or have vast sums of money and resources at his disposal. He couldn't walk into trees, or wells, or pools of water and appear in what ever country or plane of existence he desired. But what he could do was so varied and extraordinary that with a slight bit of forewarning or planning he could survive any encounter, any environment, any situation.
He could turn into a living lightning bolt, raise the dead or command undead. He could carry the group across huge chasms, hurl boulders at enemies, kill things with a single stroke of his sword, or heal an injured party member. He could unlock doors and disolve walls or create lasting memorials to fallen friends. Blast groups of people with fire or acid. Divert stampedes, create tunnels and temporary homes, travel all over the world. He can control peoples minds or turn them insane. He could destroy magic, or read others thoughts. He can infiltrate castles and wander through the underdark unmolested. He can move from one plane to another, and regenerate damage. He can fly, swim, breath underwater, live in the dirt, under sand, or in fire. He can walk on water or freeze a lake. He can hurl bolts of ice, put creatures in suspended animation, remove their memory, or put them to sleep. He can be as unobtrusive as a mouse or as intimidating as a lion.
No one else in the group, or any other character I have ever made can do ALL those things. So no he isn't individually as phenominal as Paul, Kylia, Antarias, or Finglas...but given the right circumstance he can do it all...Well almost all...He can't restore lost levels, much to the chagrin of Finglas. But he tried!!!
At times Paul has mocked him for trying to be a mage, Kylia has ridiculed him for thinking his invisibility made him invulnerable, and Antarias and Finglas said he was nothing but a bothersome "bug". But for all their misgivings about him and bad attitude towards him, he has but one goal - To always be what they need, in order for them to survive.
