Branimir's Plotnotes

[Branimir]

This is MY Design Or more likely my squiggly mess. I only just realized I needed this cause my head was racing with ideas and goals for Branimir and I didn't know where to put them. I expect this thread to see tons of revisions and edits as I go along. Eventually I'll put down an inventory too. But hey, I'm the guy who made like a ten post inventoried character sheet over several days before posting IC. I may not be as orderly and organized as my character, but when I seize onto something I'll want the end result to be as refined as I can get it. In the following posts I'll lay out tangible and intangible goals for my character, then run off and break the whole petching pattern with random ideas. But I'll start with the easy stuff so I'll have it in sight. Like skills. Skills are easy. Now could anybody tell me why I'm writing a foreword for a thread that is primarily for my own reference? Oh right, because I overthink things. Everybody tells me that. I don't mind though. It's better to be prepared, right? I mean, what would Batman do? Right, he'd have a plan. And if it's good enough for Batman...

[Branimir]

So I thought this was the easy part. I'm laughing at myself right now. The problem with Branimir is that he's obsessed with knowing and understanding things. In theory he's interested in any and all skils. In practice, of course, it's not as clear cut. Branimir primarily values Scholarly or Academic skills and those skills that further his goal of attaining more knowledge. But he also has an appreciation for the arts and any skill that can create things of lasting value (he just shys away from manual labor) and sees the value in social skills for the ability to manipulate others or at least get them out of his hair. The only thing he really doesn't care about is fighting skills. Ironically, living in Riverfall he might need to learn one if he decides to stay for longer and wants to attain citizenship. And then there's magic. A lot of characters seem to start with knowledge of a type of magic or two. I understand why; it makes a lot of things easier, logistically. But for Branimir, the desire to learn magic literally only came up at the end of his first real thread. Rather than ransacking his skills to squeeze in five points of Auristics however, he'll simply have to go and learn whatever magic he can in play. I'm afraid this will be a long hard road for the poor fellow. Why am I writing another introduction to what should have been a simple list? Architect Trade Skills: Trade-Related Skills : ]While Branimir himself might not necessarily weigh these evenly, they're all relevant to his chosen primary profession. Skill Current Mid-Term Goal Long-Term Goal Comments & Notes Architect Competent Expert Master His chosen trade. Of course he wants to excel at it. Carpentry NA Competent Competent Mostly for the sheer understanding of working with wood as a building material. Construction NA NA NA Unsure how this relates to other skills I'd associate more closely with building buildings, like masonry. Will require research. Drawing Novice C-E Master The most important tool and potential creative expression Geology NA Competent Competent Supplementary skill for understanding stone as a building material (also possible link to Reimancy) Masonry NA Novice Expert Another mostly supplementary skill, but more important than the others. Mathematics Novice Competent Expert Anyone can draw a house. The structural calculations around the drawing are what makes the difference between a house and a heap of collapsed stones and beams. Physics NA Novice Expert The baseline for those calculations. Also plays into a lot of other factors around building anything. Personal Interest Skills: Personal Interests : Things he would show interest in learning if given the opportunity or seek out as a hobby. This one is long. Skill Current Mid-Term Goal Long-Term Goal Comments & Notes Anthropology NA NA Competent Knowledge is knowledge. Archaeology NA Novice Expert Branimir is fascinated with the past. He might actually try to explore it beyond the boundaries of his books. Astronomy NA NA Competent Knowledge is knowledge. Calligraphy Novice Competent Expert Comes with the terrain of writing things down and copying books. Copying Novice Competent Expert Comes with the terrain of writing things down and copying books. Cryptography NA Novice Competent Might be useful to encrypt his notes if he ever gets to be someone. Endurance NA NA NA A stubborn mind needs an equally stubborn body. Forgery NA NA Competent A man who knows history and how to write and illuminate and just so happens to be morally... handicapped would gravitate towards this. Gadgeteering NA Novice Expert Reading Vitruvius, the engineer and the architect were one and the same in Roman times, or at most a matter of specialization. It would make sense that Branimir would have an understanding of such things as well. Glassworking NA Novice Comepetent Supplementary skill for using glass as a building material. History Novice Competent Master DId I mention that he's obsessed with the past? Intelligence NA Novice Competent The outsider looking in has the best perspective. Also a logical outgrowth for an analytical observer. Meditation NA Novice Expert Goes well with all the magic. Organization NA Competent Expert Should be part and parcel to the character. Got somehow missed during creation, or I ran out of points. He'll get there in no time I bet. Painting NA Novice Competent Sister skill to drawing and thus an easy pick. Also relevant for illuminations in books. Philosophy NA Novice Competent Should he understand more of this? I think it would be more charming if he stayed at the tea stand level. Sculpting NA Novice Expert Might actually become his creative outlet. Also relevant for shaping stone, in building or for reimancy. Quasi-supplementary skill. Subterfuge NA NA Competent If he learns one social skill it should be this one. Writing NA Novice Competent Like most people of his ilk he'll have the itch to write down his thoughts. Respected Skills: Respected Skills : Abilities Branimir would not seek out but not refuse knowledge or understanding of either. No goal levels given because he wouldn't actively pursue these anyway. Skill Comments & Notes Botany See Herbalism. Candlemaking As far as manual labor goes, candles are at least highly useful. Composition While it's unlikely he'll ever write poetry, an educated understanding thereof couldn't hurt. Observation Who am I kidding? He'll get this whether he wants to or not. Ironically he might not notice he has it. Papermaking See Candlemaking. Poison Would beat having to bludgeon people if they absolutely needed a good murdering. Politics Are probably something builders should have a basic idea of. Especially among the quasi-socialist Akalak. Pottery Some building materials are governed more closely by pottery than masonry. Well, they might be. Teaching Just in case he actually can't. Magic Skills: Magic Skills : Magic is the wild card here. His curiosity is tickled, and he no doubt has the proper mindset for learning most disciplines. But he might turn into a reluctant student who finds himself wracked by sweet whispers while trying to resist them just to prove a point. Or he might embrace it wholeheartedly. Like a moth embraces an open flame. Skill Current Mid-Term Goal Long-Term Goal Comments & Notes Auristics NA Novice-Competent Expert Auristics would be the type of magic he'd probably most easy take to. Analyzing things more deeply and plain seeing more just fit the character. Projection NA NA Competent Another magic that would fit the character concept. Detaching the spirit from the body, the mental from the physical just fits. Reimancy NA Novice Master This mostly refers to earth/stone (possibly a type of crystal in his case; tourmaline?Jade!). To become a user of magic and then use that magic to instantly build things or apply other skills directly with no manual labor involved would be perfect for Branimir. Alchemy NA Novice Expert This also goes towards building with magic. Being no longer bound by the necessities of structure when considering aesthetics would be lovely for him, I'm sure. Animation NA NA Novice-Competent A very low priority, Animation would come into play in designing magical creature comforts to put in buildings. Aware doors that recognize their master and open by themselves without need for a key, but also announce guests or sound an alarm at the presence of intruders for example. Might creep most Mizaharians the petch out. Glyphing NA Novice Competent-Expert He can already draw. Glyphing is just a sensible intermediary step before other magics. Magecraft NA NA Competent-Expert Also see Animation; this one just has a wider range of possible applications. Weapon Skill: Weapon Skills : Intentionally singular. He'll probably have to pick up a weapon down the line, so he can apply for Kuvan status in Riverfall. Branimir being Branimir he'd probably go for something both practical yet unexpected. I considered a whip, but it seems rather ineffective against anyone wearing any kind of armor.So I'm looking at the spiked chain instead, as a heavier version of that basically. In theory I've never been a fan of the spiked chain, but for Branimir it just might work. Unless I can come up with something better. Actually he might have to learn how to use a dagger and club either way. The former for close quarters, the latter for sheer practicality. This doesn't really need a table. That is a lot of thought to put into Skills. I should be out there writing up a storm but I felt so disorganized yesterday, I need to do this and do this now for my own sanity. If you happen to read this and this far... Gods I'm so sorry.

[Branimir]

Never mind the skills. What am I really looking to do with Branimir? Become a proper architect. Secret : Obviously the longtime goal for a character who's set up to be that guy. For now, it means actually getting to design something that gets built. Which is unlikely to happen right away. If possible he'll probably have to join an existing architect's studio and work on bits and pieces of new designs. Maybe he'll get to design a public lavatory down the line or something. More likely he'll get some thankless bit part like running calculations on structural integrity. But he'll roll with that punch and excel at it, only to get stuck in that role because he's too damn good at it. He'll still seize every opportunity to learn more of the trade. Now that he's the reliable guy for that thankless job he gets to play that part even in the major undertakings after all. So he gets to study indirectly from a master. When he's good and ready he'll make his move and go into business for himself. Maybe through a patsy so he can stay at the master's studio and keep learning until inevitably the secret comes out and it all mounts in a public draw-off. Or more likely a shouting match, maybe with an inkwell literally thrown in for color. But that's a long long road. Toughen up, develop a mean streak Secret : As he is presented right now, Branimir is too... soft. He's not nice, but maybe quaint. He tends to take the path of least resistance, justifying the decision to himself as being the logical road to follow. He needs an edge, a will to sneak around the rules and stab somebody in the back if that's what it takes for him to get what he wants. He already has the best possible starting position in life, being pretty much a functioning sociopath. I'm using that word in the somewhat more classic sense of referring to someone who fails to see the intrinsic value of human beings or human life, not as a synonym for psychopath. A psychopath kills because he must; a sociopath kills because he can. Branimir just needs a reason to do so. His personality should ensure an unfriendly run-in or three with other PCs. That should annoy him. Living in a city where you basically have to be able to use a weapon to be a real person, and even then not really being a real person cause you're not a blue-skinned schizo or their brood mare should do the rest. In time. Get into magic Secret : It's not just about learning a magical discipline. Branimir will be much better served with hitting the books and quizzing people to get all the information he can find. His mind needs to gather and organize information, only then will he be able to know what magics he actually wants to know. Luckily, I kinda already know. Some of it at least. Branimir mostly will want to learn World Magic. Glyphing is a natural fit since he already knows how to draw, but Alchemy and Magecrafting and maybe even Animation would allow him to build better, maybe unique houses. Need to research Animation more. The lore seems to mostly point to humanoid automata. What about ones that are merely spirited levers or arms like modern-day industrial robots? Those could be used to create doors that open and close (or even lock!) on their own accord. Or just make the entire door animate! Just for example. Auristics never hurt anyone either and they're easy to train. Should actually go well with his Lykata gnosis. Speaking of which! Gnoses Secret : I already feel like I'm overloading my character with Skill Goals and the like but down the line I'd really love for Branimir to get a Mark from Nyself, and further down the line maybe a second one from Eyris. However, these are the easy ones. Severing sounds like something that might be interesting for Branimir, but he'd never pursue it. Especially since some of his emotions are naturally muted already he might turn into a human statue in no time. However, this feels like it's in the realm of too much. Telepathy isn't really a Gnosis that would interest Branimir. Seeing as he considers the heads of most people hollow and doesn't want to speak to them with words, what good would it do him? But his relationship with Leth is an interesting one to consider. He will definitely have to make up his mind about the God at one point in his life.

[Branimir]

Beside the big stuff there's also a ton of little things that I'd like to do. Or should. Mostly I want to use this to jot down ideas that cross my mind so I can use them later on. For now I'll just list stuff though. This shouldn't be very exciting. In Architecture: Architecture : Do lots and lot of technical drawings! Design a house fit for a family. Design a tower like a proper wizard would have. Design something defensible. Design a public lavatory. Design a building that actually gets built! Design a building that actually gets built and then collapses! Come up with a famed architect of the past, or three. Try to collect tools they used, designs they drew or find buildings they designed (for Lykata). Come up with books they wrote, then chase them down. In Riverfall: Riverfall : Find permanent housing. Radically redesign said housing. Or at least plan on doing so. Find employment. If employment is not as an architect, complain a lot. If employment is as an architect, complain anyway. If employment is not as an architect but as a copyist in a library, start copying books for personal use. FInd fault with Akalak society. In Between: Social : Annoy people. Tell people why they're wrong. Get into arguments with people. Then try to get them into bed. Maybe. Kick them out afterwards. Definitely. Accidentally start liking someone. Probably before kicking them out. Or kick them out then drag them back in. Ideally utterly unrequited. Find someone stupid enough to crush on Branimir. Use them for nefarious purposes. Or getting his rocks off. Likely both. Learn to enjoy using people that way. Start doing it more often. Murder someone in cold blood. Just to see how it feels. Does this fall under 'social' still? If you know them, I guess it does. Don't tell anyone. Putting it on a to-do list is a bad start, just for the record. Not telling someone isn't technically social either I guess. That's all I can think of right now. It sounds a bit too tightly scripted but these are just idea seeds. Where the character ends up and if he gets what I want for him is still up in the air.

[Branimir]

It's pretty obvious by now that Branimir digests new information by putting it to paper. As is probably proper of a Lykata(n? Lykata Cultist?) Follower of Eyris! For him it goes further however. By putting things to paper he's translating them from the world world into his world. His words, his images. In essence this is a form of inverse sympathetic ritual though he'd never see it. It's not that he's uncomprehending of foreign things or new impressions. It's not a psychosis where he can't see things until he's written or drawn them. It's a statement of spiritual ownership of this version of the thing or person. The symbolic integration of an aspect of that thing or person's Djed into his own. This is related to the significance of naming in earthly magics. I'm sure you're aware of the true name trope. Well, by naming something you ascertain your power over it, essentially. Like parents naming their children in hopes of instilling certain virtues in them. Well at least they used to. But even naming a child for a movie star implies the hope that the child will inherit the spiritual patron's qualities. So it is with naming things. And so it is with Branimir writing and drawing stuff. One, he creates a connection. Two, he claims ownership. Three, he infuses and slants his depiction with his intentions and hopes. He just doesn't know it. It's outside his analytical field of vision. Hope that's creepy enough for those reading.