Post: #1

Annnnnd here's another character of mine. The concept is a crazy vampire lord who's fairly unsure as to who he really is. Or maybe he really knows and just wants to throw everyone through a loop? (Think...the Joker from the Batman comics.)

Nicholas Baldir, Czar of "Alt-Fenn."

Nicholas is the mad czar of "Alt-Fenn," or was it Altdorf? Or Hel Fenn? Oh, Nicholas can never remember! That's okay, he's the czar of both! Or so he claims. Oddly enough, a glowing green gem sitting in a band of gold sits atop the ring finger of his right hand. Indeed, it is the Von Carstein ring, able to restore life to a slain vampire.

How or when Nicholas acquired the item is unknown, especially to himself. At least, that is how it seems.

No matter the story or tale he tells, from poor child who learned how to turn himself into a vampire to rich boy, who knew only decadence and royalty, the only fact that remains is Nicholas is a very powerful wizard. He has done well to stay in secret; likely it is because none take him seriously, least of all the lords of the dead. There is largely a chance much of Baldir's actions are clever tactics and that one day he will raise an army far greater than those of any of the Von Casteins.

That day has come.

500 Points, Lord choice.


M-6 W-7 BS-5 S-5 T-5 W-4 I-7 A-3 LD-10

Equipment:
Carstein Ring. (Described in the rule book)

Squalid Cloak - At the start of each close combat phase, roll a d6. On a 1-4, nothing happens. On a 5-6, Nicholas is counted as ethereal for the purposes of combat.

Squalid Cross - The Squalid Cross is a greatsword that appears made of a dark, exotic metal. In reality it is merely an extention of Nicholas' long corrupted soul. Hits suffered from this weapon cause a number of wounds equal to Nicholas' wizard level to a minimum of 1 wound. Any time Nicholas uses this weapon in close combat he may NOT cast spells the following magic phase.

Special Rules/Abilities:
Insanity. As with stupidity, except that if Nicholas fails a stupidity test he forgets D6 spells from a randomly determined lore.

Uninspiring! While powerful, Nicholas commands little to no battlefield presence in the way of inspiring his troops. No friendly model may use his leadership score for inspiring presence or for any other reason whatsoever.

Mad General. During every movement phase, any unit without the presence of a vampire must roll a d6. On a 1, the unit must move it's full distance in a direction determined by the scatter dice. If the unit will move into another unit because of this, both units are unable to move, make charges, etc.

Squalid Aura - The dark powers that Nicholas harnesses also protect him. He has a +4 ward save.

+1 Magic, Dark Acolyte, Forbidden Lore, MotBA. All powers as described in the rule book. Nicholas knows all of the spells to the Lore of Vampires and the Lore of Death.


As you can see, the idea here was to make a lot of his abilities random. He's kind of completely insane, and I wanted a lot of any game that involves him to play in a similar fashion. Any ideas on how I could change him around and make him more interesting? Do you think he's currently balanced?

Thanks!

Post: #2

I think it's a great idea. And no, he doesn't seem to be to overpowered for his points cost. He has multiple drawbacks that force the army to be played around his abilities, which is rather nice for a Lord, adds good background. At first I the the Squalid Greatsword or whatever it was looked slightly broken, as against multiple wound models you could absolutely destroy. Imagine fighting Skaven monsters with that But he only has three attacks, no armor, and losing the ability to use his magic is a big deal. Honestly for 500 points he looks worse than mannfred (who is 490) So he is absolutely not overpowered. You may even find room to add another ability that would make him a little more intersting.

Post: #3

Thanks for the feedback. I greatly appreciate it. Do you have any suggestions on what I could add with the character? I'm looking more for personality rather than raw abilities.


Edit:

Also forgot to really point out his lore. I took the names of the two places where Vlad and Mannfred both were said to have been killed and combined the two. I figured it was kind of humorous and fit with the insanity factor, especially given that he's carrying around the Carstein ring.