Challange make Urik Von Kharkov interesting.

[brilliantlight]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

[thekristhomas]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

I thought he was a vampire with a panther form?

[The Lesser Evil]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

I thought he was a vampire with a panther form?

Technically, he was/is a panther polymorphed into a man, given an education, given false memories, and taught refined manners so he could be used to kill the woman he fell in love with when he was changed back into a panther. (if that sounds convoluted, it should. It was a Red Wizard scheme. Morphayus used Kharkov as a sleeper agent to kill his rival Silena. Kharkov's werepanther-esque nature comes from his unique origins (panther/man/vampire) and becoming a darklord.

[alhoon]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

He was never a werepanther...

What I love about him is that he's an animal given human form, that becomes an evil creature. And his unredeemable evil nature could (to a degree at least) be traced back to him being an animal thus lacking morality.


But truth be told, I would prefer if Azalin has turned him to a werepanther instead of a nosferatu.

[brilliantlight]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

He was never a werepanther...

What I love about him is that he's an animal given human form, that becomes an evil creature. And his unredeemable evil nature could (to a degree at least) be traced back to him being an animal thus lacking morality.


But truth be told, I would prefer if Azalin has turned him to a werepanther instead of a nosferatu.

You are correct, I remembered it wrong. In any case do you have any ideas?

[The Lesser Evil]

He was never a werepanther...

What I love about him is that he's an animal given human form, that becomes an evil creature. And his unredeemable evil nature could (to a degree at least) be traced back to him being an animal thus lacking morality.


But truth be told, I would prefer if Azalin has turned him to a werepanther instead of a nosferatu.

Actually, I like to take the opposite approach. If he had no morality, he wouldn't have absolutely freaked out at the death of Silena. His horror, guilt, and fear of being used again as a tool is what caused von Kharkov to flee instead of dispatching her true murderer.

I see von Kharkov as a case study in the self-fulfilling prophecy. Like Easan, he believed his inner nature was malign and savage, so it became that way. But not in the way he thought, for it was his loathing of the beast inside that drove him to forever control it by becoming a vampire. I also see the bridal lottery as something similar. He seeks to "reinvent" himself with every bride, but inevitably fails in frustration as his fear of the inner beast inside of him (not the inner beast itself) is what causes him to turn on his brides. (His fear and suspicion is such that he believes they are hiding secrets from him and feigning ignorance of his true nature. And then his heart turns cold, cruel and then violent.) A period of mourning and self-loathing occurs, and to escape it he begins the bridal lottery process all over again.

So, it's true Baron von Kharkov has evil in his heart, but he's looking at the wrong side. It's the self-loathing his human-half feels (and the lengths he goes to escape/distract himself from the guilt) that causes him evil.

This is what makes Baron von Kharkov interesting to me, in that his acts of evil can be committed in the guise of denying the beast inside of him. For example, he shallow feeds so as not to kill, but then he also charms his victims so he may keep his operation going and control over his domain, effectively switching out one evil for another.

[alhoon]

Yes, all true. But what I meant is not that the human (or later undead) Von Kharkov didn't have morality. I meant that the panther one didn't have morality, which dragged down the human. He's right to loathe his nature and he fails each time to overcome his bestial savagery.

[Jimsolo]

Personally, I LOVE Kharkov.

I find his whole shtick to be horror storytelling at it's finest: when the supernatural is a metaphor for a truly horrifying reality, and gives us the opportunity to explore and examine such concepts in a slightly safer environment.

Kharkov's cyclical story is a wonderful metaphor for the cycle and nature of sexual predators in general, and of domestic abusers in particular.

I think that's what separates him from other beast-creatures and other vampires. A story that makes him interesting would, to my mind, court those themes pretty strongly.

[alhoon]

Yes, but wouldn't he be better as werepanther?

[Manofevil]

I thought he was a Pantherwere.

[brilliantlight]

Personally, I LOVE Kharkov.

I find his whole shtick to be horror storytelling at it's finest: when the supernatural is a metaphor for a truly horrifying reality, and gives us the opportunity to explore and examine such concepts in a slightly safer environment.

Kharkov's cyclical story is a wonderful metaphor for the cycle and nature of sexual predators in general, and of domestic abusers in particular.

I think that's what separates him from other beast-creatures and other vampires. A story that makes him interesting would, to my mind, court those themes pretty strongly.

How have you used him? I assume you have since you said you love his character.

[IrvyneWolfe]

From past threads I remember a lot, if not most, people see him as boring. Without changing his core too much how could he be made interesting? To qualify he still has to be a werepanther yearning for his humanity but the rest can change.

I thought he was a vampire with a panther form?

Technically, he was/is a panther polymorphed into a man, given an education, given false memories, and taught refined manners so he could be used to kill the woman he fell in love with when he was changed back into a panther. (if that sounds convoluted, it should. It was a Red Wizard scheme. Morphayus used Kharkov as a sleeper agent to kill his rival Silena. Kharkov's werepanther-esque nature comes from his unique origins (panther/man/vampire) and becoming a darklord.

Honestly that's the problem with Urik. He's got such a convoluted backstory that he seems more like a power gamer's explanation of their broken character concept than an actual character. Any attempt to "fix" Urik would have to begin with nuking canon from orbit and building something new from scratch.

[Dark Angel]

Personally, I LOVE Kharkov.

I find his whole shtick to be horror storytelling at it's finest: when the supernatural is a metaphor for a truly horrifying reality, and gives us the opportunity to explore and examine such concepts in a slightly safer environment.

Kharkov's cyclical story is a wonderful metaphor for the cycle and nature of sexual predators in general, and of domestic abusers in particular.

I think that's what separates him from other beast-creatures and other vampires. A story that makes him interesting would, to my mind, court those themes pretty strongly.

How have you used him? I assume you have since you said you love his character.

I have used him more recently (ran the Dungeon Magazine (#50) adventure with the bridal lottery) and never had an issue with his backstory. I think one edition made him a werepanther turned vampire (or maybe not a vampire, not sure), but I always had him set up as he always was. I played him as the reserved and calculating type with an inner hunger and desire. Keeping his inner beast in check and resisting the urge to rip others apart has always placed him more in line with Harken Lukas rather than Strahd or Gundar. I like the notion that his 'lottery' is a means to reinvent himself and begin again at square one.

My player that was the bride to be in the aforementioned adventure was hunted by his servants and agents until they could not track the group anymore (they were getting more attention when in Sithicus, less when in Nova Vaasa, and none in the Burning Peaks). I am planning on bringing that back around with a powerful and resourceful bounty hunter working on his behalf potentially kidnapping another member of the party (she began as a half elven thief and is now a much higher level thief/mage with the eye teeth and heart of Vecna, very difficult to capture and kill if you could imagine) and would be compelled to head back into Valachan and his castle to free their missing companion.

There is a character in Garth Ennis's Punisher comic books that was a mafia hit man who

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was one of the heavy hitters for the mob. The families feel he needs a wife and his first wife died in a car crash, so this woman was put up for him. He treated her well and she was happy, but on their wedding night he changed. He was resisting the urges of his darker nature and now let loose. He beat her and abused her for months and years after. Turns out his first wife blew her brains out and the women of the families were aware of it. Eventually the Punisher puts sights on him and he is gone (his entire story is told in flashbacks) and the ex wife turns on those that 'fed her to the beast'. Von Kharkov is a man with a similar façade of holding it all back and unleashing his primal being when he cannot restrain it any more.

[Jester of the FoS]

To make him more interesting I'd play up the feline elements of his personality. He has the intelligence of a human but the mindset of a predatory cat, with all the unpredictability inherent with wild animals.

He views others as either competition or prey, with a rare few being accepted so long as they amuse him. Those he does bond with he has a strong attachment to, shown through regular physical contact.
He's also territorial, roaming his lands and actively seeking outsiders. He doesn't brood like Strahd but watches from towers or other high locations. There's no philosophizing or moralizing, no inner struggle.

Just killing isn't enough for him, and he has to actively hunt, often actively playing with his food. He likely enjoys idly torturing victims. But, with his human intelligence, this hunt and torture takes on other aspects, with the lottery effectively being a prolonged game. The "torture" is likely as much psychological as physical. He might allow a prisoner the chance to escape, only to snatch it away from them again.

Von Kharkov might be amoral, almost sociopathic. Heartless, with very limited empathy. Poor body language, an inability to "read" people, and avoidance of eye contact.

[alhoon]

Respectfully, I prefer The Lesser Evil's approach on Kharkov with a bit more "I have no moral compass" thrown in it. Something in the middle of what you suggest and what LE suggests.