Portrait Of A Necromancer, pt. 1

Portrait Of A Necromancer
Caught Between Two Worlds And Halfway To The Next

I'm writing this thing primarily for myself, though also for the wonderful GM of our DC Adventures game. This is mostly just a collection of notes, thoughts, and other things that I want to expand on, to give myself a clearer picture of who the Necromancer is.

First, starting with information from the character sheet itself:

Age: 19

While age might seem like an unusual aspect to focus on, I think it can be fairly important. With the Necromancer, I didn't want him to be too old or too young, so 19 seemed like a perfect fit. Technically an adult, but still not old enough to be considered worthy of any inherent respect. He's still trying to prove himself, trying to show that he's capable of being mature and even being wise. Of course, his youth leads him to sometimes act foolishly or brashly while attempting to do so, which only further proves that he still isn't the person that he wants to be.

Height: 5 ft. 6 1/2 in.
Weight: 132 lb.

Now, I know this seems like an even weirder thing to base part of a character's personality on but, to be fair, height can play a fairly important role in someone's attitude. After all, at 5'6” and 132 pounds, the Necromancer is actually pretty short and scrawny, especially in comparison to tall, broad, muscular heroes like Superman or Captain Marvel. Even most of his mundane peers are taller than him. However, a lack in height is made up for in a pugnacious attitude and a need to prove himself as he stands up to people who can easily knock him around.

Abilities

Strength: 0

No, the Necromancer is not strong. He can't lift and throw cars or knock out Guy Gardner in a single punch. He's average in strength, though would likely have an even lower score if not for his athletic pursuits. As such, he's never going to be going toe-to-toe with any super strong villains, the sort that could likely break him with their pinkies, which is why he is forced to rely on his mystical knowledge to get him through fights.

Stamina: 2

Good stamina, but not great. Just going off the list of heroes and villains in the main DCA book, his stamina is the same as that of Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Zatanna, and Lex Luthor, none of whom are known for their incredible resilience, but all of them capable of taking a punch. The Necromancer is similar, he's not capable of taking a great deal of punishment (at least not without his Casket Jacket), but he's tougher than your normal everyday citizen.

Agility: 3

The measure of a character's balance, grace, speed, and overall physical coordination. Looking at the book again, Daniel's actually more agile than a number of heroes and villains, though not nearly as agile as some like Batman or Catwoman for obvious reasons. He's quick on his feet, but he's not that quick. The only character in the book with the same level of Agility is the Joker, which is.. somewhat disturbing.

Dexterity: 4

Hand-eye coordination, precision, and manual dexterity. As you can see, the Necromancer is actually pretty good at this. Given his previously mentioned fragility, he prefers to fight his enemies from a distance, where they can't get their very scary hands on him.

Fighting: 2

The measure of a character's ability in close combat, it's actually more than one would usually expect from a spellslinger. While he wants to avoid those very scary hands, he knows that isn't always going to be possible, so its necessary to have some skill when it comes to getting up close and personal. Some skill and some very useful spells, that is.

Intellect: 3

The ability that covers reasoning and learning ability. Not his highest score, but not low either. After all, you don't find many stupid spellcasters, probably because blow themselves up before very long. Magic is a delicate art, after all. It requires dedication, thought, and most important of all, respect.

Awareness: 4

Equal to Necromancer's Dexterity, Awareness is the measure of someone's common sense, intuition, and wisdom. Though he makes an effort to focus on the more academic aspects of magic, he knows that a certain amount of 'gut instinct' is necessary as well. Sometimes when you're dealing with some horrible creature from beyond the stars or even with just a seemingly ordinary villain, you've got to place some faith in that bone deep sense of what's going on.

Presence: 3

A character's personality, persuasiveness, and leadership ability. Again, not low but not high either. Despite his somewhat ghastly appearance, and the fact that Marathon doesn't trust him anywhere near the press, Daniel is actually decent at interacting with people. Though sometimes having a stronger presence can bite you in the ass as well, as it oft does with Daniel, his team having generally come to the same conclusion that he's a creepy weirdo.

I will try to continue this as an ongoing series, writing in here about aspects of the Necromancer's personality and character when they come to mind. And, of course, trying to come up with little pictures and the like.