Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Building Event: Night of the Occult

Tags: #Event: Occult 
  • August 22, 2019

    Vampires that stalk the night and shy away when the sun draws near. Werewolves forced into gruesome transformations when the full moon rises. Witches that dance around their bubbling cauldrons, chanting dark things far away from society. Those that consort with foul Daedra, or the mysterious creatures that leave mere hints of their presence wherever they go. Maybe a different path is yours to take, and instead you prefer those that hunt these beasts down, and use light or fire as their weapon?

    On this Night of the Occult, we welcome you to create a build based around a simple theme, that of the Occult. 

    Character Building Event: Night of the Occult

    Since it has been awhile I wanted to quickly break down the concept of events on the Vault. The idea behind them is to essentially get together and create a whole lot of builds based around a singular theme during a specific time of the year. For our first Event in a fair while we wanted to go with an Event that was pretty broad but had some really interesting concepts to draw on. The theme of the Occult was a bit of a community choice over on the Tamriel Vault Discord. The definition that we're going for with this event could be summarized by this little line here.

    Matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them

    Over the course of this Event, if you need help with your build you can ask in the Character Building Help Desk, send a Private Message to me (to do this just hit me up with a friend request and as soon as I accept you can throw me a message), head over to the Tamriel Vault Discord where we have a number of active and accomplished builders who are happy to talk about builds, or just drop a comment on this thread.  

    Event Rules:

    1. Your build must, as defined by you fall under the theme of the Occult. If you think it needs explanation, then a section either at the start or the end of the build to explain the concept should be provided.

    2. Please read the Welcome to CB Thread before starting your build if it's your first time. It has a tonne of useful resources, links to the rules and other information that can be really useful when first starting a build. 

    3. While not technically required, it is recommended that you let us know in the comments if your participating in the Event and what your inspiration is. It's especially useful if this is your first time participating in an event, or writing a build as people can provide a bit of help if you need it.

    4. Your build must be posted before the 30th of November, 2020 (which is definitely the original ending date, don't doubt me damn it).

    5. All builds for thise event should be titled the following way "Event Build:[Insert Build Name Here]" using the 'Event Build' prefix instead of the typical 'Character Build' one. 

    6. Along with that prefix, please tag your build "Event: Occult". If you aren't sure how tagging works then feel free to ask or read The Archives for a detailed guide on tagging.

    Participants:

    Dragonborn2121 - Untitled, Unplanned Build

    Furrion17 - The Sunder Mage

    Feint - Daughter of the Masters 

    PawsAlfidia Lupus

    Librari - Untitled Build

    Chris D - Untitled Build

    Teineeva - A Curse, gifted

    The Long Chapper - The Golden Skull

    Completed Builds:

    Hasir - The Butcher of Windhelm

    Hasir - The Creature From the Black Marsh

    BlueDremora - The Abyssal

    ---

    A Few Starting Points:

    These are simply a few suggestions to get you thinking about how to start your build if your interested in joining but don't have a specific idea. It isn't a definitive list of ideas you can follow or anything, nor is it a complete list of lore articles about the subjects so I would highyly recommend browsing through the site, Imperial Library and UESP (or any other sources) for inspiration. 

    o- Vampires, Werewolves or any other fantasy 'monsters' are an excellent starting point for concepts. Whether that's simply playing as a Werewolf/Vampire or perhaps trying to recreate another monster from Mythology, there are plenty of interesting options to explore. The Elder Scrolls has it's own handful of Bloodlines and Clans that can provide inspiration for your build, but shouldn't be taken as a limitation. The Werewolf or Vampire CB Tags might also be useful. Research: Elsweyr has a section on Khajiit Vampires. Blackblood's Guide to Lycanthropy or Guide to Vamparism are excellent RP tools for either creature.  

    o- A fascinating theme to explore may be Eldritch Horrors, what commonly is considered 'Lovecraftian' in nature. Oblivion had an entire town, Hackdirt that held many references to Lovecraft's work, and may provide interesting ideas for how to work in this theme to the TES universe. Connections to both the Sload and Daedra are fairly common starting points, particularly Hermaeus Mora for the uh...tentacle focus.

    o- Witches are an avenue to explore, they could have a darker take on magic than the Mages we see in the College, or maybe just a more natural feel to them. The Forsworn are perhaps the most natural starting point for a sort of Tribal Witch conept but there are plenty of other Covers in TES Lore. Nocturnal Goddess of Witches and Witchmen of the Reach are both interesting Lore Articles to explore for inspiration, as is the Daggerfall page of Witch Covens if you want some in-universe coven names (though admiteddly it's a bit bare beyond locations and maybe an interesting tidbit or two). 

    o- Necromancers are another type of magic-user that you could focus on. There's a natural 'evil' or 'dark' nature to the concept of raising the dead that fits perfectly with the theme. Necromancy: The Great Debate is an interesting article that also links to a nice collection of other sources. The Necromancer CB tag is also definitely worth reading through. The Necronomicon is a series of Tips and Tricks articles that focuses primarily on, well Necromancy

  • August 22, 2019

    Along with the links already provided as useful Articles/Discussions, I'd found a tonne of other really interesting stuff from the site that I think are worth looking into. Far too many to neatly fit into the thread itself (and you could definitely argue that there are already too many links there) but I kinda didn't want to leave any of these out. 

    Other interesting, and potentially useful Lore ArticlesLegendary Figures: Thukhozod the EternalThe Dread Father and His LegacyDaedric Dossier: Molag BalLore: Shadow MagicDaedric Dossier: Clavicus VileA Kiss Sweet MotherLore: Imperials, The City of a Thousand Cults or Rituals of the Night: A Treatise on the Uses of Nightshade are also Lore Article that might have an interesting idea hidden in them..

    Other interesting, and potentially useful Roleplaying Articles and Discussions: How Do You Play Evil Characters?Underlying Motivations in RoleplayingSoul-Trapping and EnchantingRoleplaying: Alignments TagDiscussion: Necromancy RoleplayingRoleplaying a VampireSoul StudyLozhar's Vampire Guide and Roleplaying Guide: The Necromancer are all other articles or discussions that might interest you.

  • August 22, 2019

    Ok, I'm in!  I will finally get my build from the "How do you play evil characters?" thread up and running!

    Build:  "Daughter of the Masters"

  • Member
    August 22, 2019

    Great job with all those sources Deebs, and the header art is nicely evocative! This looks like it could be a really fun Event leading into autumn. I need to make non-committal noises for now until I can be certain what I want to achieve is viable within the timeframe. Definitely excited to see what occult horrors the others bring to it, though, for sure.

  • August 22, 2019

    Ok, I'm in!  I will finally get my build from the "How do you play evil characters?" thread up and running!

    Build:  "Daughter of the Masters"

    Was going to ask if I'd linked that but I'm really glad that I did :D Will pop in with a few thoughts of my own at some point during the Event (even though my character is more...passive evil I guess). 

    Considering yourself signed up and me extremely interested in the build, would I be correcct in assuming that it might be related to the Soul Cairn?

     

  • August 22, 2019

    Great job with all those sources Deebs, and the header art is nicely evocative! This looks like it could be a really fun Event leading into autumn. I need to make non-committal noises for now until I can be certain what I want to achieve is viable within the timeframe. Definitely excited to see what occult horrors the others bring to it, though, for sure.

    You did half the work with the sources Phil (which I will credit now that I think about it, should've posted it at like 1...PM instead of probably AM) so take some credit yourself for them, absolutely awesome to see some of the stuff that we've basically got just sitting around. 

    I'll tentatively put you down for scantilly clad character now and then we can add in the tentacles or blood sucking or whatever you end up doing if you do get a bit more time :P. As I've said though, if it looks like the event will run overtime we can probably just say screw it and extend it to Halloween and all that. But yeah, really hope I get to see that build you were telling me about Phil, it sounds truly fascinating :D

  • August 23, 2019

    Dragonborn2121 said:

    Considering yourself signed up and me extremely interested in the build, would I be correcct in assuming that it might be related to the Soul Cairn?

    Thank you!  And, yes, that would be an accurate assumption!  I was always intrigued with the Ideal Masters, and I loved their dialog in Battlespire.  The quote, "Each mote of mana spent diminishes our eternity," always piqued my interest.  That quote (and dialog) is where my build idea came from.  I just wish there had been more interaction with the Ideal Masters in Skyrim...

     

  • Member
    August 23, 2019

    Feint said:

    Thank you!  And, yes, that would be an accurate assumption!  I was always intrigued with the Ideal Masters, and I loved their dialog in Battlespire.  The quote, "Each mote of mana spent diminishes our eternity," always piqued my interest.  That quote (and dialog) is where my build idea came from.  I just wish there had been more interaction with the Ideal Masters in Skyrim...

    What a way to get a build concept started, Feint, it sounds like a thousand possible interpretations rise from that quote alone.

    Dragonborn2121 said:

    I'll tentatively put you down for scantilly clad character now and then we can add in the tentacles or blood sucking or whatever you end up doing if you do get a bit more time :P. As I've said though, if it looks like the event will run overtime we can probably just say screw it and extend it to Halloween and all that. But yeah, really hope I get to see that build you were telling me about Phil, it sounds truly fascinating :D

    Trust you to fixate on the scantily clad bit. I worked it out, she'd be at least 1099 years old, and given that she was likely in her mid-thirties when she was the Imperial Ethnographer, she'd be well on her way to celebrating her 1136th birthday by the time of Skyrim's events. So a scantily clad frail old woman just for you!

    But yeah, put me down for Alfidia Lupus. I'll try get something in the WS asap. 

  • August 24, 2019

     

    Trust you to fixate on the scantily clad bit. I worked it out, she'd be at least 1099 years old, and given that she was likely in her mid-thirties when she was the Imperial Ethnographer, she'd be well on her way to celebrating her 1136th birthday by the time of Skyrim's events. So a scantily clad frail old woman just for you!

    But yeah, put me down for Alfidia Lupus. I'll try get something in the WS asap. 

    Does she look 1136 years old or is it a bit more like an Elf where she might still look like she's in her 30's. OR more importantly, when you play her is she a scantily clad young woman going about with tentacle robes or not :P It was going to be more of a catch-all description really, even if you came up with something else I felt pretty confident that you would toy around with some sort of armour combo that would work with that description. 

    But yeah, what you've got is even better so consider Alfidia Lupus linked and me eager to see more of the build :D

  • August 24, 2019

    Thank you!  And, yes, that would be an accurate assumption!  I was always intrigued with the Ideal Masters, and I loved their dialog in Battlespire.  The quote, "Each mote of mana spent diminishes our eternity," always piqued my interest.  That quote (and dialog) is where my build idea came from.  I just wish there had been more interaction with the Ideal Masters in Skyrim...

    Exactly yes, they've always been really fascinating but I think the bare details we're given were always what held them back from being one of the coolest concepts in TES. But I will be incredibly interested in what direction you decide to take them, I think there are, almost too many options with them because we've honestly been told so little about them that a builder can have some really interesting concepts based on them.