Going to try to recreate a character in a couple of different ways. Anybody have some comments?
Sa (originally Seonju Yung) – as a child, she and her sister were one of several children taken prisoner by a serial killer who hoped to train them and weed them out until he had a crop of killers worthy of taking up his torch. Sa’s elder sister tried to escape and was killed, Sa managed to survive through tests and trials acting only in self defense while still managing to be looked at as worthy until eventually she moved to kill the teacher and remaining students before escaping into the night. She took the name “Sa” as the Korean number four and also a premonition of death. She’s tried to live an unremarkable life since then, but seemingly serial killers and monsters are drawn to her and she feels it necessary to destroy them so other people won’t suffer.
She has visions of her sister (still a child) often appearing in situations where something or someone evil was in her area or whenever she began to dwindle into self-hatred. The longer her sister is present, the bloodier she gets and she never speaks though Sa always knows whether the images are a warning or an attempt at comforting her/pleading for her to stay alive.
In a non-magical setting, these images are hallucinations that are manifestations of Sa’s subconsciously noticing things out of place or her will to live and buried realization that she was a victim and all the blood (or people she failed to save) is either from self-defense or not on her hands. In a magical setting this could be a real ghost or hallucinations (Sa would consider it a hallucination either way, they she will converse with it when alone).
She tends to be very good fighting with keys and often acts as a locksmith/keymaker. She didn’t intend to specialize with them, but she’s found herself in danger enough times when all she had were keys that they’ve become her signature weapon.
Spooky version
Charm -1, Cool +1, Sharp +0, Tough +1, Weird +2
Dark Side: Hallucinations, Secrets, Guilt
Hunches, Tune In, The Big Whammy
Keys – 1 Harm, Intimate, Innocuous
Big Knife – 1 Harm, Hand
Big Whammy description is the scary sort of fighting prowess people seem to have without explanation and her ability to track vulnerabilities. Her magical backlash is getting caught in her hit and run tactics before she can back out of range of counter attack.
Monstrous Version
Charm -1, Cool +1, Sharp +1, Tough +0, Weird +3
Monster Type: Slasher
Curse: Pure Drive: Guilt
Weapons: Base: Unnatural Fighting Prowess 2-Harm, Ignore Armor
Unholy Strength, Unquenchable Vitality
Wronged Version (doesn’t make much sense since she killed her main prey already…unless he’s shown as still alive somehow, given supernatural slashers, that’s possible)
Charm +0, Cool +0, Sharp +1, Tough +2, Weird +0
Lost her sister Eonju because she was six at the time (scared, weak and slow)
Prey: Slashers/Serial Killers
Signature Weapon: Keys 2-Harm, Intimate, Innocuous (replaces fighting knife)
Practical Weapon: Big Knife 1 Harm, Hand
I Know My Prey, Never Again, What Does Not Kill Me…
Pretty grim background…almost Hitman.
She’s one of set line of characters descended from a similar inspiration point. Every once in a while an adaptation branches off in its own direction.
Initial was a character who was a magical clone of Kodachi Kuno in a Ranma 1/2 next gen game who had also acquired wings called Karasu. Adapted that to a girl who was kidnapped by a witch and turned into a tiefling. Called that version Heigou (black dog) as a reference to the Celtic myth. Used her for a Changeling game. A variation of Karasu appears as Acacia in my Zodiacs book. And Sa is my non-magical setting adaptation. Generally I change the name when a new adaptation doesn’t really fit the impression I have of the old name.
And yeah, she’s one of my grimmer backgrounds. I tend to play her as being more self-hating than she deserves to be with a goal of playing her character to some sort of recovery/redemption. Basically the Himura Kenshin story with new first wife in the mix yet.