Master Hirkann was used as an NPC in an old campaign, where he was the trainer of a rather nasty ninja-like character called Wyvern. Master Hirkann lived in a complex of caves in some mountain somewhere, and was really encountered only once by the player characters. Fortunately for them, they didn't antagonize him, and therefore he didn't do anything about them.
Wyvern, of course, tried to kill the player characters, but didn't succeed.
Personally, I use my Dark Sorcerers as the arch-enemies of my player characters. It is not a style particularly suited for player characters, as it is even more extreme than Kabaddi, for instance. Furthermore, it is extremely experience intensive, with strange and powerful Focus maneuvers that no other style has access to.
The Focus maneuvers that the Dark Sorcerers have mastered, often have no clear
combat applications. Their powers are the powers of legend, where a man can
send dreams to others, nightmares to some and beautiful dreams to others. They
can control the minds and perceptions of those of weak will, and they have other
mysterious and esoteric powers. They also spend Chi as if it were going out of style. 
I do happen to have a plan regarding the true structure of the Dark Sorcerers, but for now they excel at being the crazy but powerful masterminds behind various ploys to become even more powerful. In an old campaign, the player characers encountered Cyril, a powerful Dark Sorcerer, and in the newer campaign I've run here, they've actually encountered two - one Signore Tenebre (Mister Shadow), and one sorcerer called Golden Dragon Master.
Enough chatter, let's see if I can't show you the strange and wonderful Focus maneuvers I mentioned.
| A New Background: Sorcery |
The Sorcery background shows how steeped in magic a given sorcerer is - that is, it is a prerequisite for certain of the Dark Sorcerer maneuvers, just like there exists Elemental prerequisites for the various Elemental maneuvers.
The Sorcery background can also be used as an Elemental Background (any) -3 dots. This means that a powerful sorcerer can quite easily learn the simpler Elemental maneuvers - but he must still obey the activation word limitation.
All Dark Sorcerers of Pan-Tang - and others who have learned Sorcery-based maneuvers, such as a Marma-Adi master - must have activation words on these maneuvers. These activation words are often words in ancient Egyptian or other dead languages that usually is at least peripherally connected to the power to be activated.
A Dark Sorcerer usually has activation words on all of his normal Focus maneuvers as well. Any exceptions are noted where relevant.
| llll | Magic is now second nature for you. You have gained powers that are beyond human. On a mere whim you can destroy a man - burn out his soul - or do miracles. You are a true sorcerer. |
| New Special Maneuvers: |
Dreamweaving:
Prerequisites: Sorcery llll, Focus llll, Soul Merge
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 3; Kabaddi, Ler Drit 5;
Through a long ritual, the magician enters the astral plane, and creates an astral construct which he can then send to a person he has met in person, earlier.
This astral construct will be received by the recipient as a dream, which the recipient will either get the next time he sleeps, or if the person is sleeping while this ritual is conducted, immediately.
The recipient of this dream will be almost comatose while he is receiving the dream, and will experience the dream as incredibly life-like. The magician cannot truly harm the recipient of the dream - physically, at least.
System: The magician pays the Chi, describes the dream, and rolls a [Focus + Sorcery] against a target number of 6, needing at least one success to be able to create the construct. The more successes, the more life-like the dream.
-
Cost: 2 Chi
Speed: N/A
Damage: None
Move: None
Fear:
Prerequisites: Sorcery lll, Focus lll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers, Ler Drit, Marma-adi 2; Kabaddi 3; Any 5;
The wizard concentrates his Chi in an attack against the opponent's psyche - hammering loose on the opponent's mind with all his hate, frustration, and fear. If the attack succeeds (an opposed, permanent Willpower vs. Willpower check), the opponent will be dizzied the next round.
-
Cost: 1 Willpower
Speed: +1
Damage: -
Move: +0
Karmic Purge:
Prerequisites: Sorcery lllll, Focus llll, Regeneration
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 3; Marma-adi 4;
This power clears the body of any diseases or toxins. If the user is powerful enough, any disease will be healed, including genetic or hereditary diseases. The magician does need to meditate in peace for hours in order to activate this power, however.
The gamemaster decides on the difficulty of clearing that particular disease or poison from the body of the magician. For instance, HIV would be a difficulty 10, the common cold 5, and so on. The magician then rolls a [Focus+Sorcery] or [Focus+Medicine or Mysteries, whichever is less] versus that difficulty, and pays the Chi cost of this maneuver. The successes versus the various diseases are counted, and the magician is cleaned for these diseases.
Example: The magician suffers from malaria in the brain, the common cold, and a runny stomach. The gamemaster decides that 10, 5, and 7, are reasonable difficulties. The magician rolls 5, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10. This means the magician is cured of all three diseases - the 10 removes the malaria, the 9 takes the runny stomach, and the 7 takes the flu as well. The extra successes means that the common cold isn't that hard to cure with Karmic Purge.
-
Cost: 4 Chi
Speed: N/A
Damage: None
Move: None
Killing Blow:
Prerequisites: Sorcery llll, Punch llll, Focus llll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 5;
The magician can employ his own magical power to make a strike more likely to kill the opponent. This is an integral part of the martial art that the Dark Sorcerers is using.
System: The magician pays 2 Chi, and can thereafter convert normal damage to aggravated damage, up to a maximum number equal to [Focus] damage, and can obviously not convert more damage than is actually inflicted by the attack. This maneuver can be combined with any basic Punch maneuver.
-
Cost: 2 Chi
Speed: as per maneuver
Damage: as per maneuver
Move: as per maneuver
Mind over Matter:
Prerequisites: Sorcery lllll, Focus lllll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 5;
The sorcerer empowers his frail flesh to be the equal of his powerful mind. By expending 1 Willpower and 1 Chi to initiate this power, the sorcerer can replace his physical stats with his mental stats.
The exchange is as follows: Wits to Dexterity, Intelligence to Strength, Perception to Stamina. To keep this power up, the sorcerer must pay 1 Chi every round thereafter.
-
Cost: 1 Willpower, 1 Chi first round; 1 Chi every round thereafter
Speed: +0 / as per maneuver
Damage: None / as per maneuver
Move: None / as per maneuver
Mind Trick:
Prerequisites: Sorcery llll, Focus llll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 3;
This is a little sleight-of-mind that many magicians has used with great success. The Mind Trick can affect small details - sounds, details, and short term memory. The magician can affect any of these things with the Mind Trick - at least for a short while.
Examples of the use of Mind Trick, could be when guards wants to see your ID ("I showed you my ID just a moment ago"), distractions ("What was that sound?"), smells ("Who has eaten any garlic today?"), colors ("Nope, the light's been green all the time"), and so on.
The Mind Trick is not really combat related. Although you might make your opponent uncertain whether you're wearing a red shirt or a green shirt, he'll still know where you are and can still bash your head in.
To employ the Mind Trick, the player describes what he wants to do to the GM, which then determines a difficulty rating on that particular use of Mind Trick. Then, the target rolls an [Alertness + Perception] roll versus a target number equal to the wizard's [Sorcery + Focus], while the wizard rolls [Sorcery + Focus] against the difficulty the GM had decided on.
If the wizard wins the test, the target is affected. If the target wins the test, the target is not affected.
-
Cost: 1 Chi
Speed: +0
Damage: None
Move: +0
Prerequisites: Sorcery lll, Focus lll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 3; Any 5;
This is basically the first exercise for a magician in order to control his own astral body. That this maneuver actually can be useful, is really just a bonus.
While this maneuver is in effect, the magician's real body is catatonic, with no conscious reaction to anything at all. If the body dies while the magician is 'away', the astral body will die when the duration of this maneuver is up, as it has no home to return to.
If the host body dies while the magician is 'present', the body of the magician's own body will die from sympathetic shock.
The magician concentrates, and separates his astral body from his physical body. He is then able to 'move into' a new body, and can control this new body for a while.
The new body may not have any statistic higher than the magician's corresponding statistic, and cannot have any implicit Intelligence statistic. This means that the magician is only able to inhabit animals (and other things, according to the GM's discretion). It is the use of this power that has lead to the legends about the black cat familiar of the witch, the witch doctor's magical control over animals, and so on.
The Soul Merge cannot last longer than [Focus] hours, and the magician's astral body will then be sucked back into its body. The magician may not use this maneuver more often than once per day (24 hours).
-
Cost: 1 Willpower, 2 Chi
Speed: N/A
Damage: N/A
Move: None
Strike of Sleep:
Through concentrating his Chi, this maneuver enables the user to make one
attack with the potential of rendering the opponent instantly and painlessly
unconscious.
Through using the modifiers below, the attacker executes an attack. If this
does any damage, the opponent must succeed in a Stamina (6) check for every
damage the Strike of Sleep does, or be rendered unconscious. The opponent will
be unconscious for [Number of damage inflicted - Stamina successes] minutes.
The Strike of Sleep will not under any circumstances do any real damage at all.
Master Hirkann is the trainer of a particularly unpleasant person called
Wyvern. He's not even a little stable - but powerful despite his madness.
Though he is familiar with, and knows some of the maneuvers associated with
the Dark Sorcerers, he is no longer one of them, and is in the process of
developing powers that are uniquely his own.
Master Hirkann is an Air Elemental, and is very volatile - just like his
element. Furthermore, did I mention he was nuts? This cannot be emphasized
enough. His madness makes him very, very unpredictable.
Prerequisites: Punch lllll, Focus llll
Power Points: Dark Sorcerers 4; Kabaddi, Kung Fu, Marma-adi, Ninjutsu 5;
Cost: 2 Chi
Speed: +0
Damage: +0
Move: +0
'Master' Hirkann
Full name: Hmm? 20 backflips, now! Race: Yes, I do believe I've got something in the back of my cave. Age: Yes, yes, yes... Birthplace: I think I was born quite some time ago. Birthdate: Date, month, and year. Yes. Nationality: 20 backflips, I said! And now! Current location: These caves, you know. Height: 1.73 m Weight: 65 kg Hair: Black. Eye color: Yellow.
Name: Master Hirkann Style: Dark Sorcerers Team: None Player: NPC School: Unknown Concept: Mad Semi-Master Chronicle: N/A Stable: Not really Signature: N/A
Attributes: Strength: ll Dexterity: lll Stamina: ll Charisma: lll Manipulation: llll Appearance: l Perception: lllll Intelligence: lllll Wits: lllll l
Talents: Skills: Knowledges: Alertness: lllll Blind Fighting: ll Arena: Insight: llll Bookie: Computer: Instruction: lllll Demolitions: Cybernetics: Interrogation: lll Disguise: lll Finance: Intimidation: llll Drive: Investigation: lll Manage: Leadership: Law: Streetwise: lll Publicist: Medicine: lll Searching: lll Repair: Mysteries: lllll Stealth: lllll Security: Science: Subterfuge: llll Style Lore: lllll Survival: lllll
Backgrounds: Techniques: Special Maneuvers: Allies: Punch: lllll Strike of Sleep Animal Companion: Kick: Killing Blow Arena: Block: lllll Mind over Matter Backing: Grab: Regeneration Contacts: lllll Athletics: lllll Karmic Purge Fame: Focus: lllll Mind Trick Manager: Recovery: ll Fear Resources: ll Soul Merge Sorcery: llll Dreamweaving Elemental (Air): llll Flight Air Blast Jump
Glory: N/A Honor: N/A Willpower: nnnnn nnn
ooooo oooChi: nnnnn nnnn
ooooo ooooHealth: nnnnn nnnnn nnnn
ooooo ooooo oooo
Special Maneuvers: Type Speed Damage Move Notes Jab 5 (8) 6 (9) 5 Strong Punch 3 (6) 8 (11) 5 Fierce Punch 2 (5) 10 (13) 4 Block 7 (10) - - +5 Soak Jump 6 (9) - 5 Movement 6 (9) - 8 Air Blast 5 13 - 1 Chi, opponent may be sucker punched Dreamweaving N/A - - 2 Chi, Mage may weave and send dreams Fear 5 - 2 1 Chi, Opposed Willpower/Willpower, if mage wins opponent dizzy Flight 6 - 2 1 Chi, special circumstances Karmic Purge N/A - - 4 Chi, Mage may heal any illness except those of the mind Killing Blow - - - 2 Chi, Mage may do damage aggravated Mind over Matter 6/- - - 1 Wp/1 Chi, 1 Chi thereafter, Mental stats are also Physical stats Mind Trick 6 - 5 1 Chi, Mage may do tricks to the mind of the target Regeneration 6 - - Max 5 Chi, Mage may expend Chi to heal Health Soul Merge N/A - - 1 Wp/2 Chi, Soul domination of animals Strike of Sleep 3 (6) 7 (10) 5 2 Chi, chance of opponent being struck unconscious
Combos: Air Blast to Air Blast to Air Blast (dizzy) Fear to Air Blast to Air Blast (dizzy) Flight to Air Blast to Air Blast
MoM Block to MoM Strike of Sleep to MoM Strike of Sleep
MoM Block to MoM Killing Blow Fierce Punch to MoM Killing Blow Strong Punch
Movement to Air Blast to Fear
Movement to Mind over Matter