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Contest Build: The Houngan Asagwe

Tags: #Character Build Shouts  #Character Build Acrobat  #Character Build Unarmored  #Character Build Mods  #Race:Redguard  #Ordinator  #SE Rank:Novice  #Tysoyaha  #Judged Contest 
  • June 27, 2018

    Considering how prevalent but misunderstood Voodoo is in popular culture (especially video games), I thought it would be interesting to study up on the actual culture, rituals and beliefs of the real life Haitian religion and create a more faithful interpretation of a Voodoo Priest than the folklore that we're familiar with. While it's still a very Skyrimized version, it'll delve a little more into the actual mythos and spirituality of Voodoo than your typical zombie raising, doll poking B-list horror interpretation.

    For the sake of this build we'll be using the proper term for Voodoo Priest, so I'll referring the character as the Houngan Asagwe. Houngan describes the male priest in Haitian Voodoo, and Asagwe is the rank given to the highest spiritual leaders. (If you'd to play a female priest then your title will be Mambo, and if you'd like to roleplay that you start at the bottom then you'd first take the lower rank of Sur Pwen.)

    Practitioners of Voodoo worship Bondye, the "distant and unknowable creator". He is a wise and kind being but doesn't interfere with mortal affairs (which, in Elder Scrolls lore can easily be attributed to the fact that he's the Houngan version of Lorkhan). Instead, the Houngan call upon the assistance of the Loa, ancient spirits who serve as intermediaries to the supreme life giver. In the Elder Scrolls world these Loa are the Voodoo pantheon's interpretation of the Nine Divines.

    Each Loa has their own sphere of influence and unique powers, but also have eccentric personalities that can be a challenging to accommodate. This is further complicated by their tendency to "mantle" and take control of those who evoke them. Though, with the appropriate rituals and offerings, the Houngan Asagwe can entice the appearance of these ancestral spirits and safely allow them to occupy their body as a vessel.


                            Background                        

    Mackandal is a Hougan Asagwe from Hammerfel, an orator in the opinion Mer contemporary equal in eloquence to the Elf orators, and different only in his superior strength and vigor. His words and ritual performances inspired the already embittered Redguard people to reject the White-Gold Concordat and take up arms against the Thalmor. He began his most famous ceremony by asking the Loa to send Bondye's blessing in the following words:

    "The God who made the sun that shines upon us, who causes the sea to rise, the thunder to roar. Do you hear me? All of you, hidden in the clouds. Our ancestors witness the atrocities the Thalmor commit against us. The god of the Elves sanctions their crimes and doesn't care about us. But Bondye, who is so good, orders us to avenge ourselves. He will direct our arms and stands beside us. Destroy the image of the Mer's god who is thirsty for our blood and tears. Listen to the voice of freedom rising in our heart."

    And then, the Bangkorai-born priest, possessed by Ogou, sacrificed a boar which symbolizes the wild, free and untamable spiritual power of the desert and the ancestral Loa. The participants soaked their fingers in the blood of the pig and made an oath to die, rather than yield to the Thalmor.

    This amazing ceremony combined with Mackandal's large size, warrior-like appearance and fearsome temper, made him an effective leader and helped spark the war effort. Though, with the Second Treaty of Stros M'Kai signed, Mackandal grows restless and eventually travels to Skyrim to aid the Stormcloaks in teaching the Empire a well deserved lesson.


                          Required Mods                      

    Ordinator - An extensive, well thought out and balanced perk tree overhaul. If you have mods and you don't already know what this is, then you're missing out.

    Thunderchild - This mod allows the Dragonborn to meditate on the Shouts they already know in order to learn new meanings and uses for the words.


                                   Build                               

    Race - Redguard
    Wear the skull warpaint in white to represent Baron Samdi and strike the fear of death himself into your foes.

    Standing Stone - The Thief Stone
    This stone will give you an attack boost against enemies at low health. At early-mid levels it's a life saver because it allows you to finish off many dangerous foes right and when your stamina depletes and you can no longer bash.

    Magic/Health/Stamina - 0/0/1
    Mackandal is not a trained warrior, and it's his bravery in spite of this (along with his natural ability to lead) that made him a hero. So while the Loa grant him immeasurable power for a short time while mantled, the time between is spent running, dodging and bashing in order to stay alive. That means low health and high stamina!

    Skills - One Handed, Block, Alchemy, Speech, Sneak, Pickpocket
    One Handed, and block make up the core combat, but the real fun will be Speech. Which, in Ordinator, has several interesting shout-related perks.

    Abilities - Thundering Echoes
    This is the absolute core of the build. It removes the cooldown of the first shout you use after entering combat, which facilitates some really powerful shout combinations!

    Shouts - Unrelenting Force, Become Ethereal, Stormblast, Fire Breath, Lifestream, The Conqueror, Elemental Fury, Slow Time, Dance of the Dead, Splinter Twins, Shroud of Snowfall, Phantom Decoy
    I won't get into all the new shouts here, but there's a section on the Thunderchild mod to explain them and I'll expand on their use in the gameplay section.

    Weapons - Nordic Sword
    This most closely resembles the classic machete used by many Haitian folk heroes. Until this can be obtained, any one handed sword will do.

    Clothing - Dunmer Outfit, Party Shoes
    Despite his natural ability to lead, Mackandal is essentially just a regular citizen who has been called upon by the Loa, his attire reflects this.

    Jewellery - Amulet of Talos
    This will allow you to use your Gifts of Favor more often in regular combat. It doesn't really change your mantled abilities much as they are mostly long lasting arena effects anyway.


                    Thunderchild Shouts                

    Stormblast - Sets up your next power attack to be able to call down a lightning strike.

    Lifestream - Creates healing weather that affects you and your allies.

    The Conqueror  - Shout at the sun to rain fire down upon a large radius.

    Dance of the Dead - Throw enemies into the air and juggle them on your weapon.

    Splinter Twins - Summons shadows of your enemies to attack them.

    Shroud of Snowfall - Summon a blinding storm that cloaks you and muffles your steps.

    Phantom Decoy - Summon an illusion or shout again to shatter it and deal damage.


                               Offerings                           

    Cyrodilic Brandy (Glowing Mushroom+ Nightshade) - Fortify Destruction

    Firebrand Wine (Blue Mountain Flower+ Hanging Moss) - Fortify Health

    Argonian Bloodwine (Hanging Moss+ Canis Root) - Fortify One Handed

    Skooma (Purple Mountain Flower+ Frost Mirriam) - Fortify Sneak

     

                                  Perks                              

    One Handed - This will be main form of attack for a majority of game. Focus on the Sword perks and grab Rogues Parry as soon as you can.

    Block - With little health and no armor you will be relying quite heavily on the block skill to stay alive between Evocations. Just don't indulge in any of the more mystical seeming perks like Apocalypse Proof.

    Alchemy - This build's offerings are designed to compliment the corresponding shouts, so strengthening the effects of your alchemy doesn't hurt, but it's more important to prioritize the perks that allow you to make more potions more often so that you can readily perform Evocations.

    Speech - With Ordinator, the Speech skill will provide perks that give your shouts added abilities and shorter cooldowns. Grab those as soon as you can.

    Sneak - This isn't a stealthy character, the only time you should use this skill is when under the effects of Shroud of Snowfall.

    Pickpocket - Pickpocket doesn't need to be perked any more than is necessary to amuse Baron Samdi. In fact, I encourage players to use it as little as possible and come up with more creative pranks whenever they can.


                           Gaining Favor                       

    The Loa are able to bestow mortals with a small portion of their power, but will only do so when pleased with the person's actions. Gaining Favor with or evoking the spirit of one Loa will directly conflict with the will of the others. Therefore, an Asogwe can only have one Gift of Favor at a time. However, unlike being Mantled, gifts can be used indefinitely so long as the corresponding Loa is still pleased with their conduct.

    Study - Reading or training will please Damballa. For this, he will grant you the ability to use your voice to stun and confuse others, as his wisdom often does.

    Charity - Ayida Weddo smiles upon those who donate to the poor. She will bestow upon you the ability to breathe fire so long as you garner her favor.

    Hunting - To amuse Ogou one can hone their blade by hunting the local wildlife. Do so and he will give you the power to swing it as fast as the wind.

    Thievery - Baron Samdi enjoys pranks of any kind, and thievery counts. Pull it off and he will allow you to call upon the spirit of an ancestor to use as an ally in combat.


                         Evoking the Loa                     

    In the most dire of circumstances, the Loa can be called upon to inhabit the body of a Houngan. This requires the completion of a quest that empowers the Loa's sphere of influence within the mortal soul, followed by the consumption of an appropriate offering. While in possession of a human form the Loa are capable of affecting the living world in incredible and powerful ways...but will also exert the full breadth of their will upon the host.

    Quests of Knowledge - Any quests related to gaining information, finding books, or discovering objects from the past will allow you to evoke the will of Damballa with an offering of Cyrodilic Brandy. A good place to find such quests is the College Of Winterhold.

    Quests of Valor - Quests done in the name of helping others will let the consumption of Firedrand Wine call Ayida Weddo into your soul. Keep your ears open in town and you will stumble upon many of this sort of quest. One may also consult Jarl's and the Companions for quests of valor and servitude.

    Quests of Bloodshed - Only the most violent and gruesome quests relating to battle or espionage will open your soul the possession of Ogou, and even then only upon drinking Argonian Bloodwine. Nearly any contacts from the Dark Brotherhood and anything asked of you during the Civil War will count towards this.

    Quests of Mischief - Baron Samdi will be most attuned the soul of any mortal who just pulled off a prank, joke or deception. Anyone under the affects of Skooma will evoke the Loa of Death after completing such a quest. The best place start looking for these kinds of quests would be the Thieves Guild.

     


                                The Loa                            

     

    Damballa (Akatosh)

    Personality: Chief among the Loa is the eternal serpent, Damballa. Wise beyond the comprehension of mortal beings, he will often remain mute when mantling a Houngan and wouldn't be understood even if he tried. As the most benevolent of the possessing spirits, he will not purposely interfere in your current objective, but any quest that require you to communicate with others will not be able to progress while Damballa is in charge.

    Combat: With Dumballa's favor you'll be able to use Unrelenting Force to stun your foes with unfathomable knowledge. When mantling a mortal, Damballa can activate Stormblast to allow his next power attack to call down lightning. He will then use Become Ethereal to close in on his foes completely unharmed before unleashing a single awe inspiring blow with no stamina cost.

    Offering: Cyrodilic Brandy

    Gift of Favor: Unrelenting Force

    Mantled Influence: Stormblast, Become Ethereal


    Ayida Weddo (Kynareth)

    Personality: The Loa of Fire passion and rainbows, Ayida Weddo, is also Damballa's lover and consult. She often speaks for him when he is unable to express himself in simple enough terms to be understood. She enjoys engaging others in conversation and meddling in the affairs of mortals (especially affairs of the heart). She abhors dingy crypts and caves, and will often abandon quests entirely to seek out sunlight and fresh air.

    Combat: Ayida Weddo's favor will grant you Fire Breath to use in battle. Once within a human vessel she will ignite the sun with The Conqueror to deal fire damage over time to everything nearby. Followed by activating Lifestream to draw vitality from the sky, counteracting the burn damage on herself. (Pro tip: using Lifestream first makes it much harder aim at the sun to activate The Conqueror)

    Offering: Firebrand Wine

    Gift of Favor: Fire Breath

    Mantled Influence: The Conqueror, Lifestream


    Ogou (Stendarr)

    Personality: A headstrong leader, adept in both war and politics, Ogou is the most bloodthirsty of the Loa. He's a brilliant strategist and tactician, and extremely charming and persuasive when level headed, but can also become entrenched in his own need for victory. Houngan must be mindful of when they evoke Ogou since he has a tendency to attack everything that moves in battle and may harm or even kill the wrong person when in the fog of war.

    Combat: Humor Ogou and he will bestow upon you the Elemental Fury Shout. If evoked into a mortal's form he will enhance his combat awareness and reflexes with Slow Time before using Dance of the Dead to toss his adversaries into the air. He can keep them suspended by striking them with a weapon before they land which resets shout cooldown allowing him to launch more enemies.

    Offering: Argonian Bloodwine

    Gift of Favor: Elemental Fury

    Mantled Influence: Slow Time, Dance of the Dead


    Baron Samdi (Arkay)

    Personality: A mischievous and sexualy deviant trouble maker, Baron Samdi is the Loa of the Dead. He's the gateway to communicating with deceased loved ones and, while he enjoys his pranks, he often comes bearing the wisdom of those that came before. Houngan will often evoke him when attempting to solve ancient puzzles or uncover the mysteries of the past. Though it might not be wise to do so anywhere that his inevitable prank pulling might be considered criminal.

    Combat: Those that amuse Baron Samdi are granted the ability to use Splinter Twins summon a spirit from the afterlife to aid you in battle. When inhabiting a physical body Baron Samdi uses Shroud of Snowfall to conceal his presence while conjuring distracting spirits. These phantoms won't fight, but they can be detonated or used to ensure successful sneak attacks.

    Offering: Skooma

    Gift of Favor: Splinter Twins

    Mantled Influence: Shroud of Snowfall, Phantom Decoy


                              Gameplay                          

    The core combat of this build is rather mundane for a character with such mystical potential. That's to say it's boring though! Based around the martial tradition of Haitian machete fighting, it's a combination of slashing, dodging, blocking, bashing and Rogues Parry. On its own, this already makes for some really fun gameplay but with the favor of a Loa you'll be able to add one of the "Gifts of Favor" (Unrelenting Force, Fire Breath, Elemental Fury, or Splinter Twins) to your bag of tricks. You can only have one at a time, but each comes with it's own strategies and can influence the way you approach combat.

    On top of being granted one of these basic magic abilities to use as you like, completing the kinds of quests listed above and drinking the corresponding offering for that Loa will call upon them to temporarily inhabit your body. This will grant you even greater shouts and the ability to combine them thanks to the ability Thundering Echoes. The caveat is that you'll also have to roleplay the personality of the possessing spirit for the duration of these Shouts...which can have unfavorable outcomes if used at the wrong times. You can complete a quest for one Loa while maintaining the favor of another, but drinking an offering and becoming mantled will remove any Gift of Favor you had until you can appease one of the Loa once more.

    Nearly any quest in the game will fall into at least one of the listed categories. So essentially you'll have one evocation per quest, with the Loa (and therefore the nature of the ability) being determined by your most recently completed quest. This means that you may want to give some thought to order in which you complete quests. For instance, it may be wise to do something educational like Unfathomable Depts before going Dragon hunting, as Damballa excels at decimating a single powerful foe. Many quests may even appease more than one Loa at once, so you'll get to choose between them based on which offering you use. Though doing so will offend the other Loa so it's still only one evocation per quest.


                    Roleplay Restrictions                

    Evocative Performance - I chose to act out a Loa possession until they're Shout effect wore off, but This of roleplay is very flexible. Some might not be particularly good at roleplaying and just decide on a predetermined action each Loa will attempt to perform before returning control (I.e. Damballa may use wait function to meditate or Ayida Weddo may seek out and pick flowers).

    Others may be fantastic at roleplay and could want the possession to last for a while, maybe even making their own little RP puzzle for how to get control back. Maybe there's a specific potion you have to trick or convince the Loa into drinking that will sperate them from your body. Or maybe you have to find a way to get them to perform an act of favor for a different Loa than themselves. It's up to you.

     

    Acting Difficult - As most shout-exploit builds are, this character has the potential to be pretty OP even on higher difficulties. Of coarse, limiting how often you can use specific shout combinations goes a long way towards balancing it, but even then it's a build designed for Legendary.

    For the more gameplay centric players, this will make surviving regular combat a thrilling and challenging experience while leaving Evocations the awe inspiring contrast to the struggle you face without them. This encapsulates the backstory of the character while also being interesting strategically because you'll have to time the use of the OP Evocations without leaving yourself vulnerable (since you lose even your Gift of Favor after being mantled).

    Of coarse the more creative you are at Roleplay the more you'll be able to create challenges through restrictions and narrative decisions. Those players may want to bring down the difficulty the more they balance things with roleplay (I.e. the more trouble Baron Samdi gets you in with guards or the less Ogou seems to remember that mortal bodies are frail, the lower you may want your difficulty).

     

    Modless Self Indulgence - Since a majority of this build's gameplay is based around combining Shouts, it's entirely possible to replace most of the modded perks and abilities with a Resto-looped Amulet of Talos. Alchemy is already a major skill and without Ordinator's Shout perks the Speech skill is no longer relevant, so you can always grab Enchanting instead.

    Of coarse, many of this build's unique shouts won't be available without Thunderchild, but the combined effects can still be somewhat replicated. For instance, Lifestream can be replaced with Drain Vitality, Stormblast with Call Storm, Dance of the Dead with Cyclone, and Phantom Decoy with Call of Valor.

  • June 27, 2018
    Very cool. The skill combos manifesting as gifts/favors from the Loa is fascinating. Loved the backstory and the universe you’ve created here. And holy hell, I will never understand how some of you guys can make it through wearing no armor. I’ve tried, and it’s excruciating!
  • Member
    June 27, 2018

    Loved this build man, back when you first posted it, and now. Really interesting how you fuse IRL voodoo and the like with Skyrim.

  • June 27, 2018

    ilanisilver said: Very cool. The skill combos manifesting as gifts/favors from the Loa is fascinating. Loved the backstory and the universe you’ve created here.

    Thanks man. A lot of that is based off actual rituals performed in the Voodoo religion. There's a LOT more Loa to learn about too if you're interested.

     

    ilanisilver said:

    And holy hell, I will never understand how some of you guys can make it through wearing no armor. I’ve tried, and it’s excruciating!

    It's not nearly as impressive as it seems, my secret is just to stunlock everything. Lol. That's why I included Unrelenting Force as an unlimited use "Gift of Favor" because I'm not able to get anywhere near most enemies without my trusty distance-stagger, then I just run in and cheese block bashing until they're dead. 

     

  • June 27, 2018

    Chris said:

    Loved this build man, back when you first posted it, and now. Really interesting how you fuse IRL voodoo and the like with Skyrim.

     

    Ha, thanks man! Yea, it's gone through a LOT of changes since then. I'm learning a lot about roleplay/storytelling just by hanging out on the Vault.

  • June 28, 2018

    Hmm, got some thoughts on this one Tyso and...I might hold back because your intention is for this to be part of the Contest, correct? Just want to make sure, because if it isn't I'll drop my larger comment sooner rather than leaving it to the Contest. 

    So yeah, will give the build a proper breakdown either after you respond saying this isn't apart of the Event or next week for the Contest :D

  • June 28, 2018

    Dragonborn2021 said:

    Hmm, got some thoughts on this one Tyso and...I might hold back because your intention is for this to be part of the Contest, correct? Just want to make sure, because if it isn't I'll drop my larger comment sooner rather than leaving it to the Contest. 

    So yeah, will give the build a proper breakdown either after you respond saying this isn't apart of the Event or next week for the Contest :D

     

    Hey, that's my entire reason for entering the contest, so if you'd do me the honor of leaving a breakdown based on the contest guidelines then I don't really care if it's official. Lol.

  • June 28, 2018

    Well, you went for some boldness here and I like the images a lot. Interesting concept that I like a lot. But I see some more potential in this build. 

    I would change the drinks that you offer. Skyrimize them, you know? 

    You have Argonian bloodwine, surilie brothers, alto wine, spiced wine, regular wine, and firebrand wine. I can easily see you substituting the offerings of Vodka, Spiced Rum, Red wine, and absynthe for a skyrim drink. 

    In fact, you have four relatively rare drinks in Argonian bloodwine, surilie, spiced, and Cyrodilic brandy. Acquiring these offerings could enhance the roleplay. I'd include Firebrand wine, but you are only exposed to a case of it in the main game. 

    I'd also consider adapting the Loa into Redguard deities or Daedric princes if your practioner goes that route. In fact, I can kinda see certain Daedric princes replacing Loa. Baron Samdi is TOTALLY Sanguine or Sheogorath. Ogue is either Malacath, Bal, or Dagon. Damballa is Sep, and actually then Ayida Weddo is possibly Tava. Well, have a look at this link. It explains their pantheon a bit better as Redguard Lore isn't my area. 

    Redguard Pantheon

  • June 28, 2018

    The Long-Chapper said:

    Well, you went for some boldness here and I like the images a lot. Interesting concept that I like a lot. But I see some more potential in this build. 

    I would change the drinks that you offer. Skyrimize them, you know? 

    You have Argonian bloodwine, surilie brothers, alto wine, spiced wine, regular wine, and firebrand wine. I can easily see you substituting the offerings of Vodka, Spiced Rum, Red wine, and absynthe for a skyrim drink. 

    In fact, you have four relatively rare drinks in Argonian bloodwine, surilie, spiced, and Cyrodilic brandy. Acquiring these offerings could enhance the roleplay. I'd include Firebrand wine, but you are only exposed to a case of it in the main game. 

    I'd also consider adapting the Loa into Redguard deities or Daedric princes if your practioner goes that route. In fact, I can kinda see certain Daedric princes replacing Loa. Baron Samdi is TOTALLY Sanguine or Sheogorath. Ogue is either Malacath, Bal, or Dagon. Damballa is Sep, and actually then Ayida Weddo is possibly Tava. Well, have a look at this link. It explains their pantheon a bit better as Redguard Lore isn't my area. 

    Redguard Pantheon

     

    Hmm... I considered using actual drinks and food as offerings but honestly I wasn't sure how abundant they were or if they were easily obtained. Or did you just mean to change the name of the Alchemist concoctions to feel more Skyrim like? Because you're right, that could go a long way towards giving a note Skyrimish feel.

    As for the Loa, a large part of why I created this build was to share some fascinating insights about real life Voodoo that I've been reading about. It's important to me that they retain their identity since I feel like Voodoo has been lampooned I'm popular culture enough. The ES universe does have many interpretations of the same Daedra/Daedra though and this was supposed to be the Voodoo Pantheon, so there are Aedra counterparts to them. Maybe I should include that.

     

  • June 28, 2018

    Some alcohol is more easy to acquire than others with the brandy being the hardest. But that could easily be changed to a mead like Black Briar reserve or perhaps one of the special drinks sold at the Bee and Barb. 

    As for the gods, Yeah, I'd adapt them to skyrim definitely. I think you can respect the voodoo pantheon while still following the rules of the ES universe. Just involves a bit of research as to where there are appropriate replacements. You can go full Daedric or full Redguard Pantheon.