Deep Dive Sneak Peek: Martin Vlahović

Today I'm sharing the sample character for the Magorum Collegia, a demon summoner who mostly uses his considerable occult skill to run long cons.

Martin Vlahović

Quote: “My daughters and I are visiting your charming town for the first time. Do you know where we can find a clean, inexpensive hotel?”

Background: Martin Vlahović was born to a poor family. At the age of 16, he wanted to attract the romantic attention of his classmate, Atanasija Pavlović, who he regarded as completely unobtainable. He stole a book of occult rituals from a rare books store, including one that claimed it could summon a devil that would make Ata love him. It seemed utterly absurd, so Martin decided to give it a shot.

The devil had no intention of keeping its promise, but it also underestimated Martin’s strength of will. In the end, it contented itself with obliterating Ata’s soul and occupying her body and serving Martin for the rest of the young summoner’s life. A beautiful, obedient, and unaging lover didn’t solve Martin’s money problems, however, and the devil’s ability to imitate human behavior wasn’t nuanced enough for Ata to hold down an honest job.

Martin attempted the ritual again, this time calling upon a devil with useful temporal powers. This was much more difficult and ended up annihilating the soul of the tourist Martin had kidnapped for the purpose, but the end result was a servant with supernatural influence over fire.

At this point, Martin came to the attention of official authorities and vigilante demon-hunters. When he eluded both with the help of his accomplice devils, he attracted the notice of the Collegium Carpathia, which he soon joined. The collegium trained him in exchange for an unspecified number of favors that he’s realized he will never fully pay off.

The diabolist earns a modest living running cons with the assistance of his steadily growing troupe of accomplice devils. He has made some degree of peace with the fact that each new devil he binds requires that he kidnap and conduct a life-ending ritual on someone who has never wronged him. But he also recognizes that every binding ritual is a roll of the dice, and he has already found he can accomplish a lot with just the six who already serve him.

Appearance: Martin is a tall, slim man in his late 40s with short, black hair and hazel eyes.

Roleplaying Hints: Everything about Martin screams “obvious conman”, but his homunculi put on a good show on his behalf, and he’s grown adept at using them to convince people to part with their hard-earned money.

Origin: Autourgic

Clade: Cephalist

Attributes: Intelligence 2, Wits 2, Resolve 4; Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Presence 2, Manipulation 2, Composure 3

Mental Skills: Academics 1, Craft 1, Medicine 1, Occult 1 (Devils)

Physical Skills: Athletics 2, Larceny 3, Stealth 3 (In Plain Sight)

Social Skills: Empathy 2 (Romantic Interest), Expression 2, Intimidation 1, Persuasion 2 (Spinning Bullshit), Socialize 2, Subterfuge 2

Merits: Otherworldly Retainer, Self-Regulating 5

Willpower: 7

Stability: 5

Virtue: Stubborn

Vice: Dishonest

Aspirations: Pay off my debt to the guild (long-term); make enough money to tide me over for the rest of the month (short-term); go on a second date without relying on my devils (short-term)

Initiative: 5

Defense: 4

Speed: 9

Health: 7

Size: 5

Acclimation: 0

Adaptations: Focus, Intent, Iron Will

Forms: Dedicated (Integrity 2), Self-Made, Summoner (Adaptable 2, Durable 2, Ever-Present 4*, Independence 2, Life Link 4, Multiplicity 4, Plain 2)

Controlled Scars: All his homunculi have Preparation (Elaborate) 3 as their Homunculus Scar, and each Variation is entangled with Tribulation 3.

Persistent Scar: Lying Eyes 3*

Variations: See Homunculi below.

* This comes from the Summoner Tradition Icon.

** Although two of his accomplices are always present in the material world, Martin can direct them to go elsewhere and perform any actions they’re capable of while there. He can either go to them, contact them with instructions to come to him, or summon them to where he is currently, although this last causes him to suffer the Homunculus Scar.

Homunculi: Martin commands six homunculi but can only have two summoned at a time (usually Atanasija and Hanistina), and summoning a new homunculus causes one of the others of Martin’s choice to vanish. All have Creeping Dread (Aura) 3 as a Persistent Variation entangled with Lying Eyes due to Martin’s membership in Collegium Carpathia. They look like humans and are always naked when first summoned, although they can style their hair and dress in any clothing made available to them.

• Atanasija (from Otherworldly Retainer) appears to be an attractive girl in her late teens with brown eyes and long black hair. She usually acts as Martin’s daughter or younger relative. The Independence effect grants her the Striking Looks 2 Merit, and her areas of expertise are Polite Conversation and Unabashed Flirting. She has no Variations.

• Branimir is a man in his early 20s with spiked up red hair and blue eyes. He plays several roles in Martin’s hustles – bodyguard, antagonist, lover, and more. The Independence effect grants him two additional areas of expertise, making these Akido, Firearms, Polite Conversation, and Seduction. He has the Pyrokinesis 3 Variation.

• Hanistina is a buxom woman in her early 40s with shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. She often plays as Martin’s wife or sister and the mother of Atanasija. The Independence effect grants her two additional areas of expertise, making these Childcare, Domestic Labor, Polite Conversation, and Seduction. She has the Emotion Amplification 3 Variation.

• Malina is a girl of between 8 and 10 years with blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair in two braids (which can be undone in favor of a preferred hairstyle). Martin uses her to get people to lower their guard or assigns her roles as Hanistina’s daughter. The Independence effect grants her two additional areas of expertise, making these Petty Theft, Polite Conversation, Pretending to Be a Child, and Sneaking Around. She has the Animal Transformation (Shapeshifter) 3 Variation.

• Mirka is a woman in her late 60s with gray hair pulled into a bun and brown eyes. Martin occasionally summons her as a distraction, but her main purpose is to clean up evidence when a job goes wrong. The Independence effect grants 8 dice, and her areas of expertise are Crime Scene Clean-Up and Polite Conversation. She has the Inhuman Digestion 3 Variation.

• Sergej is a huge, muscular man in his early 30s with a shaved head and a body covered in scars and tattoos. Martin summons him when he needs muscle. The Independence effect grants him 8 dice, and his areas of expertise are Improvised Weapons and Manual Labor. He has the Gigantic 4 Variation (Scar-free Magnitude), for a total of 17 Health.

Acquainted: +1 Manipulation, +1 Composure; +1 Larceny, +1 Persuasion, +1 Socialize; Summoner Form effects (Multiplicity 6, Painless Bond 2)

Personal: +1 Resolve; +1 Craft, +1 Medicine, +1 Subterfuge; Summoner Form effect (+2 Depth, Multiplicity 8), Multilingual (up to four languages spoken by the players’ characters)

Obsessive: +1 Composure; +1 Craft, +1 Expression, +1 Subterfuge; Fast-Talking 2, Reflexive Variation (Gigantic), Sleight of Hand

New Variation-Specific Merit: Otherworldly Retainer (••)

Prerequisites: Summoner Form

Systems: The Summoner has a homunculus with no associated Variation, which he may summon normally (and which has a Homunculus Scar). All its traits are otherwise the same as for other homunculi he commands.

New-Variation-Specific Merit: Self-Regulating (•, ••, or •••••)

Prerequisite: Dedicated Form with the Integrity effect but without the Touchstones effect

Systems: The Dedicated has developed an alternate means of managing her Instability to prevent her soul from cracking further. She can’t lose the Dedicated Form due to gaining major Instability and can’t permanently increase the Magnitude of a Variation when Instability increases its entangled Scar’s Magnitude (or as the result of the End Stage Condition).

Anchored (+2 dots): Whenever the Dedicated would regain Willpower from her Vice, she also heals a minor Instability, instead. Whenever she would regain Willpower from her Virtue, she also heals a medium or minor Instability.

Aspirational (+2 dots): Whenever the Dedicated fulfills a short-term Aspiration or furthers a long-term aspiration, she also heals a minor Instability or downgrades a medium Instability to minor. Whenever she fulfills a long-term Aspiration, she also heals a minor, medium, or major Instability.