Victor’s Victorians was a party created as a thought experiment built around a character I originally dreamed up for Pathfinder: Kingmaker. In considering how they would fit as an IWD party, I decided to run a bit further with the idea of picking class/kit by the abilities that best fit them and then re-flavoring to the character concept. Big Jim from the beginning took Monk and ran sideways with it. Some of the others will as well.

Mods for this run will focus on making things as PNP-like as possible. I’m trying to reclaim some of the balance of the original. So rather than searching for exotic and high-powered kits, I’m trying for the most part to adapt base classes and less powerful kits with re-flavoring.

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Victor Lebeda: “Victor”

“Da Boss” (according to Big Jim)

Human Paladin of Waukeen, crossbow, mace

“british man,age 50,curled moustache,pointy goatee,haggard,dark graying hair in neat bob cut,wearing light blue surcoat with silver trim,metal breastplate”

Victor embodies every stereotype of the British general calmly drinking his tea while arrows whiz by is head, eventually exclaiming, “enough of this rot!”, drawing his holy crossbow, and putting an end to the nonsense. Whether that nonsense be bandits, goblins, rogue wizards, or dragons. They will absolutely get a fair chance to parlay, and absolutely be dealt with if they will not.

In IWD Victor will be represented as an Inquisitor Paladin. While Inquisitor is rather overpowered in BG2, it feels much less over-the-top in IWD – which has far less of the epic spell battles. Victor has no particular training against or expertise fighting mages. His focus is on Truth, Honesty, Integrity, and the Art of the Fair Deal. But if you just look at the Inquisitor mechanics:

• True Sight – Excellent for piercing lies, sensing forgeries, and seeing the true worth of things.
• Dispel Magic – Excellent for dispelling charm & domination, changing transmuted gold back into lead, etc. Again, in the interests of ensuring Honest dealing.
• Immune to Charm/Hold – Prevents him from being mentally compromised when adjudicating.
• Loss of Lay on Hands/Turn Undead – Neither of these abilities are directly pertinent to his role. Particularly Turn Undead.

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James MacIntyre,”Big Jim”, “Jimmy Mac” :

Half-Orc Monk “Brawler”, fists

“half-orc man,barrel chested,english cap,thick leather vest,white shirt,friendly,clean-shaven,gray-green skin,chinstrap beard,short black hair,leather wraps on hands”

Big Jim grew up in an orphanage. Never knew his parents. Never had much family. But he learned to defend himself early. And true to his name there were few who really put that to the test once he hit puberty. He had trouble finding a place in life once out on his own. Few wanted to give a chance to someone like him. But Victor did. He gave him a job – first as a manual laborer, then expanding to other roles as he proved himself. Victor also provided him with a proper education, which Jim took to with gusto. He may not sound like it, he may not look like it, but he is surprisingly perceptive. And considers himself to owe a life debt to Victor. Big Jim would absolutely do it all for room & board, but Victor insists on paying him a fair wage… most of which somehow keeps finding its way back to the orphanage where he grew up instead of to Jim’s pockets.

For IWD Big Jim will be a straight Monk – using a few mods which strengthen the Monks defense a bit. As noted above, most of the abilities map just as well to “tough half-orc Boxer” as they do “mystic eastern warrior”

• Stunning Blow – Gut Punch
• Quivering Palm – Full out Haymaker from a guy who tosses boulders for exercise
• Self Lay on Hands – Second Wind
• Ki Punch – Custom enchanted Brass Knuckles
• Poison/Disease Immunity – Orcish blood
• Magic Resistance/Saves – Orcish toughness and legendary Stubbornness
• Stealth – (will be ignored, though Jim can be surprisingly light on his feet)

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“Bloody” Angus MacBride

“Stumpy” (according to Big Jim)

Dwarf Army Engineer, Axes, Hammers

“short stocky dwarf soldier,short dark hair,mutton chops,wide shoulders,leather coat over chainmail armor,leather pants,black beret,cigar”

Angus is a specialist in combat engineering. Everything from pit traps and catapults to explosives. He enjoys his job. He is quite good at it. But through some combination of innate Dwarven physiology, a career spent in close contact with a variety of alchemical substances, and some bizarre trick of birth, Angus is *also* a natural beacon of Arcane Interference. Spells tend to backfire around him. All but the simplest magical items fail in his hands. And for the magically inclined, spending a night in his presence has been likened to “jumping straight to the hangover, without the courtesy of a drink first”.

In IWD Angus will be represented as a Wizard Slayer/Thief. On the thief side he will exclusively focus on traps (detecting, disarming, and setting). He is not stealthy in the slightest. He has little interest in locks. He has no training in backstabbing. And while he is by no means a specialist in ancient rituals meant to combat mages, he is every bit as effective at ruining their day simple by patting them on the back. He will be the party member responsible for flaming oil and the like.

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Basil Gwiddeon: “Sticks”

“Beanpole” (according to Big Jim)

Half-Elf Occult Investigator, Rapier

“welsh half-elf man,wiry build,five o’clock shadow,age 30,long thin face,kindly expression,short slightly tousled wavy brown hair,long gray trenchcoat over leather tunic”

Basil is an accomplished fencer: quick and precise with a rapier, knife, or walking stick. His skills are as varied as locks and traps, stealth, interrogation, and alchemy. Though perhaps skipping some steps in between. And when those skills are insufficient he has magical talents as well. He is also, however, not quite inhabiting the same reality as everyone else.

Sometimes this is because he sees behind the curtain. Others it is because he can find it difficult at times to distinguish between that which is hidden because it is hiding, and that which is hidden because it is not, in fact, actually there. His psychic revelations are cryptic and unpredictable. And while never outright *wrong* – per se – they can be exceedingly misleading, obtuse, or simply totally irrelevant to the matter at hand.

Basil will be represented in IWD as a “Jester” kit Bard – Rogue Rebalancing variant. With an add-in from Morpheus’ skills mod to allow Bards to pick locks and detect traps. He’s not in the least bit “hilarious”. But if we map things out:

• Lore – He doesn’t recall legends. He communes with spirits and takes psychic readings of magic items to query their creators.
• Spellcasting – He doesn’t cast spells in the traditional way, he asks spirits to cast them for him. More like a Shai’ir than a Mage, and so he doesn’t quite suffer from proximity to Angus in the same way as Rose.
• Jester’s Song – Basil can cause chaos and confusion by tapping into the spirit world and essentially broadcasting “psychic static”. This makes it hard to think, hard to focus, and hard to concentrate.
• Fool’s Luck – Basil’s spirits and psychic abilities are hard to control, but they subconsciously protect him in many ways.
• Chaotic Mind – Basil is immune to magical confusion because that is essentially his normal state of being.
• Extra Limitation – He is limited to Divination, Illusion, Enchantment, and Necromancy spells.

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Maureen Malone, “Maura”:

“Ma’am” (Big Jim ain’t touching this one. No way no how)

Halfling Priest of Chauntea, Sling & Staff

“halfling woman,sturdy,hobbit,irish,priest,wide face,middle aged,skeptical smile,simple leather armor,brown cape,weathered,broach,short curly light brown hair”

Maura has little tolerance for slackers and layabouts, or so she claims. But somehow the drunken bards and vagabonds stay warm and fed through the winter – even if they have to endure the occasional tongue-lashing. Unless they cause real trouble – in which case they may discover just how much spunk and grit can really be packed into a 3’6″ frame. As well as becoming intimately familiar with the feel of a divinely inspired staff slamming into the nethers. Or reliving the tale of David and Goliath from the business end. She will *always* be there when there’s work to be done. She is fiercely devoted to caring for her flock. And hell hath no fury like Maura on the warpath when danger is afoot.

Maura will be represented in IWD as a Ranger/Cleric – *with* the switch that give them full Druid spell access. She is not at all a ranger in any traditional sense, however this combo gives her:

• Stealth – She’s a halfling. It comes naturally
• Animal Empathy – Quite useful for calming farm animals and veterinary work
• Druid and Cleric spells – She’s a priestess of Chauntea. Half of Chauntea’s clergy is Druids anyway.
• Mean skills with Staff and Sling – She is not remotely afraid to get her hands dirty in the thick of things.
• Favored Enemy – Cadaverous Undead. Feels like zombies, ghouls, and the like would be the most explicit mockery of life possible for a devotee of Chauntea.
• Extra Limitation – She will be forbidden to use Fire, Poison, Disease, or Necromancy spells (beyond healing) – as these are expressly banned by Chauntea.
• Note for IWD – Chauntea’s biggest rivals are Auril and Talona, which should dovetail nicely with the plot of IWD.

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Rosalie Deveaux, “Rose”

(“Sparkles”, according to Big Jim)

Human, Arcane Scientist

“french woman,age 30,clever,fair skin,high cheekbones,black hair tied up in bun,dark red dress,black vest,arcane choker,black fur cape”

Rose is a rationalist. She believes the universe is fundamentally orderly, controllable, and understandable. And her approach to magic is much the same. Systemic. Pragmatic. She is equally well versed in traditional academics, though she has a far more solid and sensible foundation than Basil’s odd collection of cryptic specialities.

She and Basil are often at odds over matters both magical and mundane – with Rose preferring straightforward methods and explanations to his seeming flights of fancy about spirits and other-worldly interference. The fact that he is often, in the end, actually correct if you squint hard enough is a source of never-ending irritation to her. But between the two of them there is little they cannot handle when it comes to arcane phenomenon.

In IWD Rose will be represented as… a “Wild Mage”. She does not favor Chaos in the slightest. She is not experimenting with a new form of magic. She is doing her best to cope with trying to reliably work magic in the presence of Angus MacBride. She gets results despite his interference. Its just not always quite the results she *wants* due to the instability he induces. Rosalie describes working magic near Angus as “… like trying to paint a picture in ze rain!”.

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