ETERNAL CHAMPIONS
ELRIC of MELNIBONE
Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 0/13 STR -10 12- Lift 150 kg; 2 1/2d6 HTH Damage 5/15 DEX -15 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 8/15 CON -4 12- 10 BODY 0 11- 24 INT 14 14- PER Roll 14- 26 EGO 32 14- ECV: 9 25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6 22 COM 6 13- 2/6 PD 2 Total: 6 PD 2/4 ED 0 Total: 4 ED 1/3 SPD 5 Phases: 4, 8, 12 2/6 REC 0 16/30 END 0 9/25 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 45 Values after slash gained via the use of drugs and potions, IIF (Expendable; -3/4); see below. Movement: Running: 6"/12" Swimming: 2"/4" Cost Powers & Skills 87 Sorcery: Variable Power Pool (Sorcery Power Pool) 60 base + 30 control cost; No Skill Roll Required (+1), Extra Time (Full Phase [minimum]; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Slightly Limited Class Of Powers (Sorcery; -1/4) Martial Arts: Armed Combat Maneuver OCV DCV Damage 4 Bind +1 +0 35 STR Bind 4 Block +2 +2 Block, Abort 5 Cleave -2 +1 Weapon +2 DC Strike 4 Strike +0 +2 Weapon +1 DC Strike 4 Thrust +2 +0 Weapon +1 DC Strike 2 Use Art With Blades, Spear 38 Drug-enhanced Strength: Characteristics Granted Via Drugs And Potions; IIF (Expendable; -3/4) 10 Strong Will: Mental Defense (15 points); Costs Endurance (-1/2), END 1 Perks 96 Stormbringer: Follower: 150-Point Base 10 Perk: Emperor of Melnibone Skills 8 Combat Skill Levels: +1 with Combat 6 Combat Skill Levels: +2 with Armed Combat 2 AK: Melnibone 11- 2 AK: The Young Kingdoms 11- 2 CK: Imyyrr The Dreaming City 11- 3 Conversation 14- 3 High Society 14- 3 Interrogation 14- 3 Language: Common (Completely Fluent) 0 Language: Melnibonean (native) 3 Navigation 11- 0 Paramedic 8- 3 PS: Emperor of Melnibone 14- 3 Riding 12- 3 Stealth 12- 3 Tactics 14- 1 TF: Small Wind-Powered Boats 4 WF: Common Melee Weapons, Bow, Shield 3 Scholar 2 KS: Alchemy 14- 2 KS: Beast Kings 14- 2 KS: Demons 14- 2 KS: Elemental Beings 14- 2 KS: Melnibonean History 14- 4 KS: Sorcery 16- 1 KS: The Young Kingdoms 11- 335 Total Powers & Skills Cost 380 Total Character Cost 150+ Disadvantages 15 Distinctive Features: Albino Melnibonean (NC) 5 DNPC: Cymoril (Less Pow) 8- 15 Hunted: Arioch And Various Agents Of Chaos (MoPow, Watching) 11- 15 Hunted: Yyrkoon (AsPow) 11- 10 Physical Limitation: Albino (I, G) 15 Psychological Limitation: Concerned With Justice and Morality (C, S) 20 Psychological Limitation: Loves Cymoril/Despises Yyrkoon (VC, S) 10 Psychological Limitation: Moody, Guilt-Striken (C, M) 10 Psychological Limitation: Self-Centered And Cynical (C, M) 20 Reputation: Melnibonean/Elric (Womanslayer) 14- (ext) 95 Eternal Champion Bonus 380 Total Disadvantage Points
Background/History: Elric VIII, 428th Emperor of Melnibone, is certainly Michael Moorcock's most famous creation. One of a number of Eternal Champions (including Corum, Hawkmoon, Erekose and others), Elric is a doomed and tragic figure. Destined never to find true happiness due to his support for Chaos (while being a powerful agent for Law), Elric manages, in the course of six books, to destroy his race, kill his wife to be, slaughter a large number of innocent people (including his closest friend), and generally wreck havoc from one side of the world to the other. Along the way, he battles monsters, duels sorcerers, and kills gods. Elric is not a person to be trifled with. And hey, how many fictional characters do you know that have rock songs written about them? (Black Blade—Blue Oyster Cult)
The version of Elric presented is meant to represent our hero right after events in the book Elric of Melnibone and just previous to Sailor on the Seas of Fate. Elric is still Emperor of Melnibone and has just gained possession of Stormbringer (his sword).
Personality/Motivation: Elric's personality varies greatly upon which book one reads. In Elric of Melnibone he is deemed different from other Melnibonean's due to his interests in questions of morality and the use of power. In later books he comes across much more arrogant and cruel. In Fortress of the Pearl, one of the latest Elric books, Elric supposedly desires to make Imyyrr (a.k.a. The Dreaming City—the capital of Melnibone) into a center of learning, where he can debate ideas of law and justice with scholars from around the Young Kingdoms. I've tired to focus on the more common elements of Elric's personality and present those.
Elric's psychological limitations represent his often conflicting desires and emotions. He loves his cousin, Cymoril, but hates Yyrkoon, especially after leaving Melnibone to wander the Young Kingdoms. Elric has an interest in justice, which is why he can be considered a supporter for Law. He also concerns himself with the morality of his actions, something almost unheard of among Melniboneans, and how these actions will affect others. At times though, Elric becomes withdrawn, concerned with only what is best for himself. He can be quite callous at these times. Finally, the number of deaths that can be attributed to himself (or his sword—Stormbringer) weighs greatly upon him, causing him to fall into bouts of depression and despair.
Quote:
Elric: "Not long since, I counted myself without comrades. Now, I have many For that reason alone I will fight beside them!"
Erekose: "That is, perhaps, the best of reasons."
Powers/Tactics: Elric's is physically weak, without his drugs to sustain him he would be unable to move. His split stats represent this. With the proper application of drugs (and sorcery) he can function normally, but once energy supplied by these drugs runs low, Elric tires rapidly, and is soon rendered helpless. Stormbringer provides Elric with some small amount of energy, but only if it's been fed souls recently. Early on Elric didn't draw the sword that often and still depended upon artificial means for his endurance and strength. Also, since the stories covering Elric's career were written out of order, his physical prowess seems to come and go depending on when the stories were created.
As the Emperor of Melnibone, Elric is a very powerful sorcerer, possibly the most powerful around. His sorcery is a slow process however, require complex incantations, total concentration, and extensive casting times. Most of his spells involve summonings, usually of elemental beings or creatures belonging to the "beast kings." Some sample spells: summoning Strassha, Lord of the Water Elementals; summoning Arioch, a Duke of Hell; summoning wind elementals to push his ship across the ocean; creating a mist to hide a pirate fleet; summoning a cloud of insects to devour foes; controlling spirits of water and fire in order to burn down a town; and so on. When summoning actual entities (such as Strassha) Elric can usually entice service through favors and pacts made between Melnibone and the person in question. Elric's perk "Emperor of Melnibone" should cover that without buying him a whole slew of Favors.
Elric is an experienced warrior. Tanglebones states: "Save one, there's no better swordsman in Melnibone." He also says: "I taught you all the skills—the art of the sword and poignard—the art of the bow—the art of the spear, both mounted and on foot."
Elric's physical disability has made him into a very learned scholar. He has read extensively of his father's libraries, and does his best to learn all he can about the world around him. His skills represent things demonstrated in the first book, or skills that can be presumed.
Eternal Champion Powers: As an Eternal Champion, Elric has a number of "powers" that can be accessed if he in the company of other Eternal Champions. These powers include great physical strength and resistance to harm. The minimum number of Champions needed for this transformation would seem to be three (i.e. The Three Who Are One). At one point it is stated that having four Eternal Champions together is the maximum the Universe can tolerate in any one area. When these four Champions combined (becoming The Four Who Are One) they became one person; a giant, with eight legs and arms, and incredible physical prowess.
Appearance: Elric is described as being very tall, and is most likely well over 6 feet in height. He is an albino, with a thin build, long white hair, red eyes and white skin. He usually dresses in what ever clothing he can afford, although his tastes run towards more extravagant outfits. Elric is usually dressed in armor of some sort, often a mail short or a breastplate worn over his other clothing. Stormbringer is worn at his hip (see the write up for Stormbringer for more on that...).
Designer's Notes: A few notes on Elric's Disadvantages:
Elric's features mark him as a Melnibonean. That, combined with his albinism make him a feared and hated man. Most people consider him to be a white-faced demon, or one who deals with demons. Thus, he is usually shunned (at best), or assaulted (at worst) by people he meets. As an albino, Elric is also susceptible to sunburn and physical weakness.
Prince Yyrkoon, Elric's cousin, despises Elric and desires nothing more than to see him dead, and himself on the throne. Yyrkoon is a excellent swordsman, a capable sorcerer and evil through and through. He should not be taken lightly.
Physical Limitation: Albino (I, G): You have no natural body pigment; your hair and skin are white, and your eyes are pink. An albino may seem attractive or ugly, but an "average" appearance is impossible when buying Comeliness. As an albino will almost always be remembered and cannot easily blend into a crowd, Distinctive Features is required. An Albino must avoid direct sun, as they have no resistance to sunburn. If wished this could be bought as a Susceptibility. In addition, an albino is at -2 for all visual PER and ranged attack rolls made in direct sunlight (This can be countered by wearing sunglasses or tinted lenses, but these can still be removed.).
Comments From Readers: To be honest, it's been a bit since I've read the Elric stories, but...
Disagree with the VPP. It seems too flexible, to be an accurate model of "magic" in the stories. It's not like Elric Teleports around, becomes Desolid or Invisible, fires an Energy Blast, Entangles enemies with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak (sp?), etc.
Most of the effects (at least those I remember) are basically elementals, insects, etc. performing at Elric's request. I think, rather than a VPP, I'd make it a Summon; Any "Other-Dimensional Being" (+1) and a Dispel; Any Sorcery (+1/4). Both would have Extra Time, Increased Endurance, etc Limitations. The rest of what magic he performs seems a function of his KS's.
Any other instance of sorcery in the stories I'd either list individually, or write off to Moorcock's "creative liscense".
It'd probably have to be a VPP with some limitations on what kind of powers he could use. Specifically, he hasn't got any kind of aid that he can use to boost his CON.
One thing worth remembering when trying to pin down Elric's character is that Michael Moorcock didn't write the series in chronological order. The Stealer of Souls was the first published collection of Moorcock's Elric short stories, beginning with the destruction of Imrryr and ending with Elric "retiring" to Karlaak with Zarozinia. Those stories didn't include the device of Stormbringer needing to feed on souls in order to pass strength on to Elric. Moorcock next published the novel-length Stormbringer, which essentially killed Elric and destroyed the world.
Having already established how the series would end, Moorcock seemed to succumb to foreshadowing that event in almost every frickin' one of his subsequent Elric stories: Elric is constantly given hints of his doom, keeps receiving threats or blandishments from Arioch to bring him over to "the dark side", etc. And when Moorcock draws Elric into his whole "Eternal Champion" cycle, IMHO a lot of the tragic uniqueness of the character gets lost in the detail.
This is admittedly subjective, but for me those early stories, which focussed clearly on Elric's Hamlettian musings and his interactions with other people (including his sword), are the best source for getting a firm grasp of what the character is all about; born of a race of heartless monsters, with too much conscience to live among them, but not enough to live among men; looking for peace and a place to belong, but believing deep down that he didn't deserve them; governed by uncontrollable passions both noble and base; proud and arrogant, yet forced to live with humiliating physical weakness and dependency; born to wield great power, but never more than a pawn of greater forces; voluntarily or involuntariy betraying and destroying everyone he cared for, in the end he was betrayed and destroyed by the one thing he counted on above all others.
One element of Elric that's hard for roleplayers to get right in game use is his weakness, rather than his strength. When people look at his stats, either here or the Chaosium Stormbringer ones they tend to think he's kickass but he isn't.
Dependent on drugs to have even the vitality of a normal man (some superhero, huh?), controlled by his own sword, ultimately a failure in everything he attempts - he's a wimp! The standard Elric story involves him going on some quest or other, getting into difficulties he can't cope with alone, and summoning a god who then proceeds to act totally contrary to Elric's wishes. The key is that all these things are external to Elric and/or outwith his control - the drugs, the Black Blade, the Chaos lords and elemental princes.
If I was going to use Elric as an NPC I'd have him as a 'damsel in distress' or better, a patron to the PCs. He summons them (not necessarily by magic) requesting their aid in some matter he cannot deal with himself. Not for political reasons but because he simply lacks the power. Elric's weakness, rather than strength must be emphasised.
(Elric created by Michael Moorcock, character sheet created by Michael Surbrook)