Composing: Character Creation for a Chanteur

When someone chooses to play a Chanteur, most think musician, and nothing else. Not all Chanteurs need be musicians, despite the musical nature and overtones of the Guild. As with most other Guilds, the musical “theme” is a front for the rest of Stygian society, just as a Pardoner is not always religious or a Monitor business-like. Anyone who wants to manipulate emotions, has had their emotions manipulated, or wants to be accepted while still remaining free to make their own choices are excellent fodder for a Chanteur character.

Like all player characters, Chanteurs must have a motivation. The art of Keening is one of the most flexible ways to express that motivation and make it work for the character. Characters with Keening can manipulate others not just for information and services, but also for solitude, company, or self-satisfaction. Giving someone else an emotional high can lead to friendship, anger, or addiction, depending on what your character wants.

That said, most Chanteurs should probably have Social as their first or secondary attributes category, since it makes it easy to shine in highly social situations, a place most Chanteurs end up in at one point or another. As an added benefit, the lesser Arcanoi (Dirge, Ballad, and Muse) involve Charisma or Manipulation.

Physical skills are useful in working with Crescendo and Requiem. They are also useful for characters who aren’t as accomplished at emotional manipulation and would rather be more “direct.”

Mental skills do not come into play much in terms of Arcanoi. However, strong mental abilities are excellent for characters who want to use Keening to outwit rather than manipulate, not to mention the advantages for beginning in Combat via Wits or making successful Perception checks.

In terms of Talents, most Chanteurs will naturally have a bit of Expression. Alertness and/or Awareness helps with judgments of the best times to use Keening. Subterfuge will help a character who gets caught cover their tracks, while Empathy might help a character make more of their abilities to a certain person or group of people. Likewise, Performance is a good Skill for many Chanteurs to take. Also appropriate for many Chanteurs would be Etiquette, and perhaps even Leadership for one who is especially charismatic. As for Knowledges, at least one dot in Linguistics is appropriate, especially for properly “trained” singers or Chanteurs; most singers who graduate from a college of music are required to know at least one foreign language.

Abilities in the Player’s Guide that are good ideas for Chanteur PC’s could include Carousing, Diplomacy, Seduction, Style, Dancing, Fast-Talk, Misdirection, Singing (duh!), Storytelling, Dead Languages, History, Lore, and Slang.

For Merits, Chanteurs would probably find Concentration, Eidetic Memory, Iron Will, Self-Confident, Ambidextrous, Natural Linguist, Fast Learner, Reputation, True Love, and Luck the nicest and easiest to work with. Most any Merit will work for a Chanteur, though. It all ultimately depends on the character.

As for Flaws, Overconfident, Compulsion, Intolerance, Distinctive Appearance, Notoriety, and the Bard’s Tongue would probably be standard ones for a Chanteur to deal with. More difficult, but interesting ones to try include Shy, Curiosity, Lifesaver, Absent-Minded, Twisted Apprenticeship, or Disembodied Shadow.

Merits and Flaws

Lyrical Voice (1 Point Merit)
Your voice always naturally carries a bit of your Keening ability. While you can still disguise it with Sotto Voice, you can also uncannily effect the emotions of others in the process. As a result, Manipulation and Charisma rolls have a –2 difficulty.

Supreme Soprano (2 Point Merit)
You have an impressive range, to the point you can shatter glass at the right note. Any time you use the abilities Crescendo or Vibrato, your difficulty is reduced by 2.

Melodic Memory (2 Point Merit)
You have the uncanny ability to remember a song note for note the very first time you hear it, and then be able to repeat it perfectly without practice. You can recreate it flawlessly on any instrument you can play. You gain one automatic success per scene for rolls involving these songs.

Multi-Talented (3 Point Merit)
You can sing, play three instruments fairly well, and dance to boot. You are a one person entertaining machine. If for any reason your instrument of choice is lost, you can practice your Keening arts with any instrument in your reach, including your voice, with no penalty to your dice roll.

Prodigy (4 Point Merit)
Perhaps you sing like no one else, or your skill at using an instrument is a marvel to behold. Either time you use your musical talents in an Arcanoi, reduce the difficulty by two.

Diva (1 Point Flaw)
You can sing, and you know it. So does everyone else. And some people don’t like your attitude, or your talent. Any time you get into a situation where you sing, the difficulty of any social rolls are increased by 1.

Torch Singer (2 Point Flaw)
You can sing, but all your songs are depressing as hell. As a result, the only emotion your audience tends to experience are sadness, anger, depression, etc. For any roll that involves an upbeat emotion or song, your difficulty is increased by 2.

Limited Range (3 Point Flaw)
For some reason, you can use one of the Keening arts and use it pretty well. But, you can’t really handle the others. When you take this Flaw, pick one ability at random out of the ones you have that can be used with the difficulty reduced by one. Any other arts have their difficulty increased by 2. Any time you get a new level in Keening, you must re-roll the random effect.

Shortness of Breath (3 Point Flaw)
You can use your abilities, but for some reason you can’t sustain them and the effects last for a brief time. For any situation where you use your arts, you may only use a Keening ability once a scene without penalty; for each additional use, the difficulty is increased by two each time. In addition, subtract one success from each roll you do related to the Keening arts.

The Bard’s Voice (4 Point Flaw)
No matter how hard you try, you cannot disguise your Keening abilities. Whenever you talk or sing, someone will immediately identify you as a Chanteur. This could lead to distrust between you and anyone trying to work with you, for fear you might try and manipulate them with your powers. The Guild is not fond of those with this flaw, and will usually not let you move above the rank of Choir or let you join any special branch because of the possible identity breach. You cannot use Sotto Voice, and any Keening rolls involving willpower as the difficulty are increased by 2.

Tone Deaf (5 Point Flaw)
Fate dealt you the art of Keening, but in truth, you couldn’t sing to save your Corpus. You are able to use the Keening arts, but they are not exactly a pleasant listening experience for those around you. Anytime you must use your singing to change the emotion of another, you gain +3 difficulty to any rolls.

Chanteur Background
Patrons

An artist may have true talent, but no one can live on an empty stomach. Chanteurs are no exception; they are all too happy to accept trinkets and treasures from those who appreciate their art. A Patron can make or break a Chanteur, since they provide the most assured means of survival for them by providing a steady stream of resources. Chanteurs do not just work for oboli, however. They can be just as easily paid in information, protection, artifacts, or whatever strikes their fancy.

Chanteurs can take more than one Patron, but most keep one and one alone. Many fear, and it has happened, that two of their patrons might bear ill will towards another and both will cut their resources off for fear that the Chanteur will be playing spy or putting themselves in danger.

1 dot: One fairly minor patron, perhaps a low-ranking official or small-time Renegade leader.
2 dots: A slightly higher ranking patron, perhaps a lower Legion officer or the head of a small Heretic sect.
3 dots: A mid-ranking patron, such as a Regent, or the leader of a large Renegade gang.
4 dots: A high ranking patron, like a Citadel leader, or the head of a large Heretic cult.
5 dots: An extremely powerful patron, like a Deathlord.

Chanteur Skill
Musical Instruments

Although singing tends to be the most common and easiest gift among Chanteurs, not all of them are particularly skilled singers. Some are extremely talented instrumentalists and are far better at using them to express themselves then their voices.

1 dot: You took some piano lessons in high school.
2 dots: You did well with your band at some local clubs.
3 dots: You played with a city symphony orchestra.
4 dots: You could play duets with Yo Yo Ma and Eric Clapton.
5 dots: You could make Hades himself rock out.

Alternate Arcanoi Abilities

“Music should never be harmless.”
~ Robbie Robertson ~

Level 1: Serenade
This ability, used by some of the more romantic (and a few of the crueler minded Chanteurs) makes a target fall in love with a person or thing. That person will do anything to reach their target, blinded by love. The feeling is quite intense, but will wear off anywhere after anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks.
System: Roll Charisma + Keening (difficulty 7). The number of successes will determine how long the target will have intense feelings of true love. One success will give the feeling for a few minutes, while five will grant it for almost a month.
This art costs 1 Pathos.

Level 2: Piper’s Tune
Chanteurs use this ability similar to the way the Pied Piper affected the children of Hamlin. Chanteurs who sing or play the Piper’s Tune force a target or targets to follow them just about wherever they desire. The target is not aware of this effect. However, many wraiths, unless the user of this Arcanoi is quite successful, are not going to lead themselves into an obviously dangerous situation. It takes a powerful Chanteur to force a victim to throw themselves into the Tempest, for example.
System: Roll Manipulation + Keening (difficulty 8). For each success, a Chanteur may “lead” their target for a scene. If there is more than one target, the effect will be just as strong, but not last as long.
This art costs 2 Pathos and gives the user 1 Angst.

Level 3: A Cappella
A Cappella was designed to enforce the First Rule of the Chanteurs by encouraging Guild members to work with one another. It is rarely used nowadays, but if seen will be used by two Chanteurs who are exceptionally close. With this ability, two or more Chanteurs may combine and amplify any of the other Keening arts. Working together, they can intensify the feeling of a Dirge, Ballad, or Requiem, make an overpowering suggestion with Muse, or blast everything in sight with Crescendo. Be warned, however, if one’s power fails, they will drag the other Chanteur down with them.
System: First determine the ability to be used. One the two Chanteurs have decided, they must make the power’s normal rolls (Whatever + Keening). Because of this art, the difficulty is always lowered by one. What’s more, the two Chanteurs may split the cost of the art between them in terms of Pathos, Angst, and Willpower.
Depending on the successes, the power ranges from as low as if one alone had done well in performing the art to as powerful as triple what would have gone before. Be aware, however, that ANY botches will have dire consequences for both wraiths, and usually result in some very bad backlash.

Level 3: Vibrato
Similar to Crescendo, except rather than a massive noise, the attack comes in the form of a quiet tremor that gradually increases in intensity. While it does not deal much damage to wraith’s corpus, it can greatly weaken structures, cause landslides, and throw someone off balance.
System: : Roll Strength + Keening (difficulty 7). The strength and duration of the tremor depends on the number of successes. One success will create a brief, weak tremor that sends small objects to the ground. Three will last a bit longer and be enough to throw someone off their feet, while five will last for almost a minute and be strong enough to crack a building foundation.
This art costs 3 Pathos and deals the user 1 Angst.

Level 4: Quavering Note
The more suspicious minded of the Chanteurs use this art to follow those who use the art. Melponians will almost always have this ability. By examining a target, the Chanteur can tell if the target was in anyway touched by a Chanteur, and exactly what effect the target had. Those who excel in this art will go so far as to tell exactly who the target had contact with.
System: Roll Manipulation + Keening (difficulty target’s Willpower). One success is enough to know that the target was affected recently by a Chanteur’s abilities. Each succeeding success reveals one fact about the Chanteur in question, possibly including the Chanteur’s name, the effect used, how it was used, etc.
This art costs 1 WP and deals the user 2 Angst.

Level 5: Berceuse
Some say only those who run the Chamber are skilled enough to practice this ability. With this power, the target is gently sung into a permanent sleep. Sometimes, the target merely and literally sleeps in a sort of limbo, while enough successes mean the most permanent sleep of all: Oblivion.
System: Roll Stamina + Keening (difficulty 9). Any successes will put the target to sleep, but at least three successes are needed to put someone into a permanent slumber; anything less and the target will wake after a time. If there are five successes scored, the subject immediately falls into Oblivion, still peacefully slumbering.
This are costs 3 Willpower and gives the user 3 Angst.