Photius Ventaris III

By Sarah M.

We imagine he looks
 something like this

A pompus sounding human NPC who nobody seems to notice most of the time.

Description
Born into the noble house of Ventaris some forty to forty-five years before the start of the story . Photius was educated in a wide range of classical, political and combative arts from the age of seven as befitted a nobleman of the era.

Photius Ventaris III is a man whose precise skills are not yet known to the party however he claims to be a scholar set on recording current events for future posterity, suggesting that he has the bard character class with either perform skill oratory or profession scribe.

Despite being willing to travel into certain danger with his chosen subjects of study, he appears to be carrying no apparent weapon, suggesting some great magical skill, or a well hidden and exotic weapon that is unrecognizable to the player characters and just about anyone else. (I am partial to a mini flail or bladed chain that can attach to a quill or pen, thus turning his scholarly tools into deadly weapons*)

*not sure how this works out in terms of rules. If this sort of weapon can be created it would be really interesting to see, particularly if photius is actually forced to use it. If not, a bard/monk multiclass model will probably work best for this character as he can then be formidable without suddenly having to say that he was equipped with weapons and armour all along.

Bio

It soon became apparent however that young Photius was a devoted scholar and applied to the prestigious Blue academy at the age of eighteen (18) to further his studies in history, religion and the arts both fine and arcane. Photius’s performance throughout his academy days earned him the attention of the then royal historian and official scribe Horatio corvastian, who mentored Photius after his graduation until Horatio’s own retirement, after which Photius himself took over the position.

Some evidence in the form of frequent letters home suggests that he was the tutor of the current Lord Ashbury, although his sheltered life may have left him extremely gullible as willingly takes on the active duty of legitimising the prophesies of an oracle and can be talked into holding invisible, intangiable objects and injesting potentially harmful materials. However this may also be due to a certain awkwardness with or inability to understand people of different backgrounds due to a lack of experience outside of academia or the courts of the nobility.

Shortymonster and Eliza the Witch

I was lucky enough to have recently been given an idea for a NPC, by Paul over at Shortymonster as part of his self-congratulatory post after hitting 10,000 views. The early posts are pretty great for learning the ropes if you're a GM in the making, and for those who wish to improve there games, which should be pretty much everyone.

So here's the idea for a type of character who you could expect to meet while wondering around a steam-punk metropolis. This was all written by Shorty, and there are quite a few more, so I suggest you check it out.

http://shortymonster.co.uk/

" She always found the symmetry beautiful, watching cogs turn in clockwork motion, instantly able to calculate lines of symmetry in the ticking of second to second to second, each movement changing the pattern as the machinery worked. Eliza always knew how the cogs would mesh, what the patterns would show, and how to use this knowledge. Some called her a Witch, as if her powers of precognition were supernatural in nature, but she just knew how to spot patterns, how to connect the spinning wheels of what is, and see what will be.

People used to travel great distances to have their future laid out for them, back when she was very young. Now she is a little older, nearing twenty, she has spent a large part of her life travelling, learning and teaching as she goes. It’s not just that she sees the future anymore, but by applying her knowledge, she can change it. As long as she likes you, Eliza can raise you from a pauper to a Prince, but she is quick to change her mind, or forget about you entirely, as she turns her attention to the beautiful symmetry that surrounds her, in the shape of the most wondrous devices every crafted…

This lack of focus means she pays so little attention to herself that most imagine her as nothing but a crazy person, with unkempt hair, and mismatching clothes hanging off a frail physique and hiding a plain face. If you were to pass her in the street, not knowing the power she possesses, you would likely cross over to the other side, hearing her mumbling about angles and integers, and lines that reflect perfectly… "