Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Fri Aug 10, 2018 1:44 pm

My goals for this thread, in descending order:
1. To find out what, if any sources of the listed forms of magic I've missed
2. Thoughts on O.C.C. Bonuses, and if any O.C.C. specific abilities are appropriate/necessary
3. Thoughts on skill availability for an intentionally generic NPC
4. Eventually work on formatting

Premise: A caster whose spell access is primarily Demon Magic/Necromancy/Shadow Magic/Soulmancy, and presumably cackles maniacally. Casters that access these lists often have unfettered access to the general Invocation list, and either have greatly increased potency with spells of their specialty or extensive crafting abilities. The O.C.C. is intended to be playable in Rifts and Three Galaxies, and potentially Palladium Fantasy(reduce base P.P.E. in that dimension to 3d6x10+P.E.)

Design thoughts: The P.P.E. is high, at 4d6x10. Compare this to a LLW at 3d6x10+20, or a Shifter linked to a God of Magic at 3d6x10+50, and take into account their much larger spell list (which fully encapsulates the G.E.M.'s list) and wide variety of special abilities. I could see adding an inability to be turned into a Vampire or forced into a pact, but I'd like to keep it as straightforward as possible.

Available spell list:

Major Spooky lists
Necromancy, Book of Magic, PFRPG 12, Rifter 50, Rifter 62, Rifter 78
Shadow Magic, Dimension Book 15, PFRPG 12
Demon Magic, Dimension Book 12
Soulmancy, World Book 35

Minor Spooky lists
Fleshcrafting, NBWB3
Mirror Magic, NBWB3
Bad Medicine/Spoiling Magic (counts as 1 list), Book of Magic
Living Fire Magic, Book of Magic
Temporal Magic (counts as 2? selections), Book of Magic

"unofficial" Rifter that's excluded
Blood Magic, Rifter 2, Rifter 17
Shadow Magic, Rifter 20
Necromancy, Rifter 65

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Fri Aug 10, 2018 1:45 pm

Generic Evil Magician O.C.C.
Whether interested only in cultivating personal power, or being perhaps the most grim students of the mortal condition, G.E.M.s focus on the darker aspects of the magical continuum to a nearly obsessive degree. More scholarly than casters like Witches and Priests, they are dedicated to their studies, and being slavishly beholden to their own insatiable need to know, are uninterested in forging permanent bonds to any other master. Conversely, their focus affords them little insight to magic as a whole, or the practice thereof other than the most absolute basics. Similarly, they learn little of the unique capabilities of more specialized evil casters, such as the Necromancer's union with the dead, or the Soulmancer's crafting of demonic armaments. They often operate as part of cults or dark covens, but just as often perform a solitary dark inquiry into the worst aspects of the world. Many take pains to hide their abilities from others, going even so far as to live among them, performing everyday tasks. Just as many, however, ritually cover themselves with scars and tattoos in an attempt to reflect the indelible stain upon their soul, and forgo any ability to fit in with society.

G.E.M. Special Abilities: None

O.C.C. Abilities and Bonuses
1, Initial Spell Knowledge: At level 1, new players may select 3 spells from each magic level 1-4, for a total of 12 spells. Each additional level the character will be able to figure out/select one new spell equal to their level of experience.
2. Learning New Spells: Additional spells and rituals of any magic level can be learned or purchased at any time regardless of the character's experience level. The G.E.M.'s spell selections are strictly limited to those of Demon/Necromancy/Shadowcasting/Soulmancy, and a handful of Common Invocations.
3. P.P.E.: Base P.P.E. is 4d6x10+the character's P.E. attribute to start, Add 4d6 per each additional level of experience.
4. P.P.E. Recovery: G.E.M.s spent P.P.E. recovers at the same rate as most casters per hour of rest or sleep, which may be doubled by Meditation.
5. O.C.C. Bonuses: +4 to save vs Horror Factor, +3 to save vs Possession/Mind Control at level 1, +1 at levels 5 and 10, +1 to save vs magic at levels 2, 5, 8, and 11, +1 to spell strength at levels 3, 6, 9, and 12.

Generic Evil Magician Stats
Attribute requirements: I.Q. 10, M.E. 10
Racial restriction: Mortal, S.D.C. beings only

O.C.C. Skills:
Language and Literacy: Native language 98%
Language and Literacy: 1 of choice (+20%)
Lore: Magic (+25%)
Lore: 3 of choice (+10%)
Mathematics: Basic (+10%)
Pilot: 2 of choice (may substitute Horsemanship: General or Exotic; +10%)
W.P. Knife
W.P. 2 of choice
Hand to Hand: Basic; can be changed to Hand to Hand: Expert at the cost of one "O.C.C. Related Skill", or to Martial Arts or Assassin for the cost of two O.C.C. Related Skills

O.C.C. Related Skills: select 8 other skills. Plus select one additional skill at levels 3, 6, 9, and 12. All new skills start at level one proficiency.
Communications: Any
Cowboy: None
Domestic: Any (+5%)
Electrical: Any
Espionage: Any (+5%)
Horsemanship: Horsemanship: General and Horsemanship: Exotic only
Mechanical: Any
Medical: Any (+5%)
Military: None
Physical: Any
Pilot: Any applicable to setting, save robots and power armor
Pilot Related: Any
Rogue: Any (+5%)
Science: Any (+5%)
Technical: Any (+10%)
W.P.: Any
Wilderness: Any (+5%)

Secondary Skills:Select five Secondary Skills from the Secondary Skills list at level 1. Select two additional Secondary Skills at levels 4, 7, 10, and 12. These are additional areas of knowledge that do not get any bonuses, other than any possible I.Q. bonus for having a high I.Q.. All Secondary Skills start at the base skill level.

Standard Equipment: Set of Light or Medium body armor, knife capable of 1d6 M.D.C, whether enchanted, vibro-blade, or exotic material (assuming M.D.C. setting), 1 weapon for each additional W.P., + 3 clips for each (if needed), basic example of vehicle or mount commensurate with skills, plus a reasonable amount of incidental clothing/equipment/black market items/credits

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:22 pm

(I'm working on the spell lists)
General purpose invocations
1: Sense Evil(2), Sense Magic(4)
4: Life Source(2+)
5: Aura of Death(12)
10: Deathword(70)

Curse/Fear Invocations (excluding those based upon illusion)
2: Fear(5)
5: Death Curse(special), Horror(10)
7: Agony(20)
8: Luck Curse(40), Minor Curse(35), Sickness(50), Spoil(30)
9: Aura of Doom(40), Curse: Phobia(40)

Minion Summoning/Enslavement Invocations
7: Constrain Being(20)
8: Commune With Spirits(25), Expel Demons(35), Exorcism(30)
9: Protection Circle: Simple(45), Summon & Control Canine(50)
10: Banishment(65), Control/Enslave Entity(80), Summon/Control Rodents(70), Summon Greater Familiar(80)
11: Summon & Control Animals(125)
12: Ensorcel(400), Summon and Control Entity(250)
13: Summon Lesser Being(425)
14: Summon&Control Sea Serpents(350)

Minion Creation Invocations
11: Create Mummy(160)
12: Create Zombie(250)
13: Create Golem (700/1000)
15: Transformation(2000)

Item Creation Invocations
11: Create Magic Scroll(100)
12: Amulet(290+)
13: Talisman(500)
15: Enchant Weapon(400-1000)

Minion Creation from Specialty schools
5: Pseudo-Life(1 soul)
9: Create Animal Mummy(120)
13: Create Animal Zombie(300), Flesh Golem(400)
Legend: Create Bloodlust Zombie(850), Create Mummy Immortalus(432/864)

Item from Specialty schools
7: Create Soulmancy Soul Crystal(40)
9: Bone Shovel(100), Create Animal Mummy(120)
11: Bone of Invisibility (180), Bone Scepter (160), Create Bone Well(92)
12: Bone Staff (210), Necklace of Bat Skulls (290), Necklace of Bird Skulls (290), Necklace of Dragon Teeth (320), Necklace of Snake Skulls (300), Siphon Component/Talisman(125/250)
13: Blood Pool (400 +1 soul), Necklace of Goblin Skulls (340), Skull with Flaming Eyes (300), Skull of Knowledge (320), Spinal Whip(320)
15: Create Blood Pillar (Ritual) (1000 +2 souls), Permanency (Ritual) (100+), Soul Weapon (500 +1 soul)
Legend: Create Hell Pit(8000)

Spoiler:

The Oh So Amazing Nate · Thu Aug 16, 2018 2:59 pm

I'm not sure wth is going on, but I like it! sorry that I don't have anything more constructive to add.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Aug 16, 2018 8:10 pm

You might want to consider creating some sort of super-regenerative ability or self-resurrection mechanism for those damned evil mages THAT JUST WON'T STAY DEAD!!!!

Maybe a Random Roll Table for mechanism

a) Magic Artifact---as long as this item is undamaged, the mage keeps reconstituting from it
b) Curse of Undying---Curse laid on the mage by an enemy. It's either the bane of his or her existence or he's gotten used to it. Has a few side effects, like makes him REALLY ugly, has rendered him sterile, tied his life to a Spirit of the Light, or swaps gender every time he dies.
c) Alchemical Immortality----Addicted to hits of an elixir vitae.
d) Evil Benefactor----Has a much more powerful Big Boss who raises him from the dead when he croaks.
e) Ancient Ritual---Made him undying and able to come back from the dead, but it's possible those who helped him were killed to hide his secret.
f) Clone Bank----Has a secret hideout where he wakes up in a new body when his last one gets killed off. g) Parasite---The mage's spirt finds a weak mind or newborn to inhabit when he's killed, The ability may alter the new host body to resemble the old one, but at the cost of burning it out, or the mage simply takes the new host body, face and all.

Jorick · Unread post by **Jorick** » Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:03 am

I like where this is going. This seems to be meant to be a player character. So, if I understand correctly, the motivation for the character as an adventurer would be to seek out more knowledge, perhaps by assisting heroes who actively seek out other evil magic users for other reasons.

I'm pretty much "thinking out loud" here, but these are some issues that occur to me.

I understand that giving a player character access to both the spell lists of all these other OCCs AND their abilities would be unbalancing. But I have a hard time squaring the ability to cast some spells, and craft some things, all of which, ostensibly, require practice and effort beyond simply reading dusty tomes, and then not practicing and putting effort into arguably, but not necessarily, more significant elements of the practices. I can't really see one going into necromancy without actually learning and practicing the animation of the dead, or soulmancy without crafting. I'm unclear on to what extent you are excluding such things, but it seems to me the interest in the art can not be exclusive of significant elements of the practice.

Furthermore, the circles he runs in, or at least the dusty tomes he opens, would give him knowledge of possibly more morally ambiguous practices, that are nevertheless used as much, if not more often for evil. Temporal magic, shifter stuff (they don't usually assume they'll be slaves to the stuff they call forth), etc. (I think shadow magic actually fits in this category--and even necromancy has expressed itself in morally ambiguous ways on Rifts Earth). Any normal invocation could be of interest for evil purposes as well.

Ultimately, I think we need to know more about the motivations. What does the mage intend to do with all his knowledge. Perhaps the mage is simply an epic misanthrope, and goes for the stuff all the other peeps in his village/planet don't go for. I think that's a character with a lot of potential, but I still don't know why he stops study just when it gets interesting. Perhaps he wants so much knowledge he simply doesn't have the time.

If that is the case, he needs to find the time. The magics he delves into should offer him some opportunities. Furthermore, he might not have the abilities born of deep interest in any particular school, but he should have special abilities born of his particular burning obsessions. The mage is not simply a magic tome of evil himself.

A related issue: the phrase "Generic Evil Magician" (and your comment about cackling maniacally) implies an antagonist; the kind of person heroes would ostensibly fight. If this were an NPC enemy, what reason would heroes have to fight this mage? He could easily set up shop in the UWW library and read to his heart's content, and never bother anyone. He needs to be breaking something. I suppose the "heroes" could simply be zealot crusaders, stamping out the mere mention of soulmancy, etc., but this is for Rifts and Phase World, and there's lots of room in those places for someone to study whatever one could wish.

You mention that the character may want power. To do what? What would all this knowledge allow him that any single focus would not? What would half-practicing all these schools of evil magic allow him that an army of well armed minions would not? Why wouldn't he go for it all?

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Aug 17, 2018 1:36 am

Jorick wrote:I
You mention that the character may want power. To do what? What would all this knowledge allow him that any single focus would not? What would half-practicing all these schools of evil magic allow him that an army of well armed minions would not? Why wouldn't he go for it all?

Another random roll character builder table?

Something like:
01-05% Doesn't want to share glory with anybody else. Wants to attain greatness via his own efforts
06-10% Mommy cut off his allowance. Can't afford to maintain an army of minions, but can still but tomes of evil.
11-15% Evil Overlord Inc. graded the character a 'bad overlord risk' and any potential minions are avoiding him like the plague. He'll show them and get his rating back up to MWHAHA.
16-20% etc, etc,

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 3:52 am

Thanks for the positive comment, Amazing Nate!

I'm going to try to work through Jorick's concerns, and address taalismn's ideas within that, and stumble forward.

The placeholder fluff text may have given the wrong impression. My initial idea was for this to be a NPC class, serving as a way to get more uncommon spells into play by having a caster unable to use more common spells. I thought of it as a class that could serve in a Dark Coven alongside Witches and Demon Priests, able to potentially hide in plain sight(which I under emphasized), but is lower in overall power than a LLW or Shifter.

The four specialty spell lists are described as rare in the rule books, but the spells can all be learned by studious casters. Some of the other things in the classes dedicated to these lists can't be learned. Necromancy has pricey general invocation access, Union With the Dead/Augmentation, cheaper P.P.E. costs for specialty spells, doubled corpses/duration for Animate&Control Dead, a Horror Factor, and is impervious to vampires. The Shadow Mage has general invocation access and greatly improved facility within their specialty. The Soulcaster is stuck with being granted new spells within a pact instead of learning them freely, and has to cast most of them as rituals for full effect, but has access to a nebulously defined creation system with lots of good stuff in it. Some of those abilities might be worth looking at potentially incorporating to a general class, but to keep this from bloating into a do-anything Mega Villain others have to be excluded. The Soulcaster gives up a lot for their crafting system, and I think it needs to be exclusive to them. Any improved casting abilities should be as well. The lowered cost for Necromancers to cast Necromagic is something about which I'm still unsure.

Cherry-picking from the lists does allow some interesting combos. A first level character might take Preserve Remains to keep their Blood Bath fresh. The Permanency ritual takes one straight to Crazy Town, provided the character takes their time murdering a tiny village. I haven't done the math on a souped-up Flesh Golem with Permanent Beyond Redemption/Power of the Magot/Wings of the Demon Locust, into which a G.E.M. could Transfer Soul, but it's nuts, and throwing Demon Skin:Lesser into the mix lets them pass for their original race. One thing the Demon Magic/Soulmancy lists lack are Dyvalian equivalents. I'd start with Demon Skin and Summon Greater Demon, and the lesser summons (Bat's Disgrace/Fool/Bat out of Hades/Spawn of Pestilence) could have similar lower cost versions for, say, Cryxon/Stalkers/Bonelings.

I was debating how best to allow an evil caster to hide their powers. I considered a perpetual Alter Aura effect, which turned off only during active effects/casting. taalismn's proposed tables instead got me thinking about trying to make the class more modular. With a severely curtailed general invocation list, there could be a table or two upon which the player could roll/choose abilities, and the number of rolls could be a rough indicator of power level. I'm still sussing it out, but maybe 1 roll would be at the level of a Mystic, 2 a Shifter, 3 a Demigod and 4 a Mega Hero. I'll work through some things at the top of the next post and if it comes together edit it into the top of the thread.

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Sun Aug 19, 2018 5:01 am

As a first stab:

Begins with ability to learn spells from General+Curse/Fear invocations, as listed above, + 3 Major Spooky spell lists. Spooky lists can be exchanged for extra rolls. Necromancy spells have the listed P.P.E. costs.

01-13% Access to learn from an additional Major Spooky spell list. If the character already has all 4 Major lists then roll again.
14-25% Access to learn from a lesser Spooky spell list: Examples include Nightbane's Fleshsculptor Magic or Mirror Magic, Living Fire Magic, Bad Medicine/Spoiling Magic (counts as 1 selection), or selections from Temporal Magic(Choosing Temporal Magic once grants the ability to learn 7 spells from levels 7-9, twice 15 spells from levels 7-12, and thrice all Temporal Magic spells can be learned).
26-38% Access to learn from Minion Summoning/Enslavement Invocations spell list
39-50% Access to learn from Minion Creation/Item Creation Invocations spell list. One spell is learned immediately.
51-63% Gains the Shifter abilities of Dimensional Teleport Home and Familiar Link, and can control the same number of supernatural beings via a Battle of Wills (1/odd level)
64-75% Gains a Spooky Power Armor/Vehicle that won't corrupt or absorb them, and the skill Power Armor Combat:Basic, applicable only to it. Examples include equivalents of the Angrar Mark II, Blood Bane, and Corrupted Warlock Power Armor. Note that the character can't cast spells from inside the armor. Consider lowering the M.D.C. ~10-25%, and if on Rifts Earth reducing flight speed accordingly.
76-88% Gains access to Nightbane Talents: One is learned at levels 1,4,7,10,&13. The character may not exchange P.P.E. for additional talents.
89-00% Gains Spooky Superpowers!: The character gains either 1 Major or 2 Minor Abilities, from the tables below. Note that any beings summoned via abilities do not count against the character's Battle of Wills total.

Minor:
01-05% Anatomical Independence
06-10% Bookworm
11-15% Cellular Rot &Decay
16-20% Drought
21-25% Energy Expulsion: Demonic Fury
26-30% Energy Expulsion: Shadow Bolt
31-35% Horror Factor
36-40% Impervious to Fear and Terror
41-45% Impervious to Shadows and Darkness
46-50% Indestructible Bones
51-55% Iron Will
56-60% Nightstalking
61-65% Shadow Cloak
66-70% Shadow Molding
71-75% Shadow Trap
76-80% Shadow Meld
81-85% Shadow Shaping
86-90% Shadow Stepping
91-95% Summon Lesser Demon or Deevil
96-00% Unnoteworthy-Forgettable

Major:
01-05% Alter Physical Structure: Blood
06-10% Alter Physical Structure: Bone
11-15% Alter Physical Structure: Shadow
16-20% Bio-Ghost
21-25% Cloaking
26-30% Command the Lieutenants of Hell
31-35% Control(Others)
36-40% Darkness Control
41-45% Energy Drain&Expulsion:Life Source
46-50% Energy Expulsion: Soul Blast
51-55% Flesh Works
56-60% Jinx Power
61-65% Life Leech
66-70% Matter Expulsion:Bone
71-75% Pestilence
76-80% Shadow Manipulation
81-85% Slime Generation
86-90% Zombie Flesh
91-95% Summon&Command Demon Netherbeast(or Deevil War steed)
96-00% Tentacles

Jorick · Unread post by **Jorick** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:52 am

I dig it, and I like the table a lot.

I'm picturing a seemingly normal space commuter (with, like, dark clothes, and a phase pistol) in a space bar, waiting for a space bus while surreptitiously trying to keep the Horror Puppy from jumping out of the duffel bag.

The Oh So Amazing Nate · Tue Aug 21, 2018 3:57 pm

Jorick wrote:I dig it, and I like the table a lot.

I'm picturing a seemingly normal space commuter (with, like, dark clothes, and a phase pistol) in a space bar, waiting for a space bus while surreptitiously trying to keep the Horror Puppy from jumping out of the duffel bag.

Did you just blend Han Solo with Hagrid? lol

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Tue Aug 21, 2018 4:43 pm

I have a few observations.

This O.C.C. is anything but generic. You're creating a class that is both specialized and at the same time cross-disciplinary in order to generate some thematic synergy between magic abilities and spells that don't often come together. This is a cool idea, but I think the term "generic" is mislabeling what you're creating. If anything, you're creating an N.P.C. class which creates unique magical villains by design.

If you want this to be a useful tool for GMs, I'd recommend coming up with a set of NPCs rather than coming up with an O.C.C. per se. Going through the motion of statting out NPCs is a pain, and magic users are even more so. Coming up with a new one doesn't seem worth the extra effort when you could just make a modification to the closest existing OCC.

Now if you do create your own NPC,s I have a few further suggestions. First, Most of the book NPC's are written lazily, getting "all spells from level 1 through X" without much thought about what their favorite spells or tactics are. I'd suggest putting together a set of magic user villains at a range of levels, along with some information on how they approach conflicts. Second, I'd encourage you to come up with a few different versions of the same NPC at different power levels (with appropriate changes to equipment, stats, spell lists, and tactics) to make it more adaptable to a given group. I scale my own NPC generators (see my sig) from level 1-15, but 3 or 4 tiers of power would do the job well enough.

Anyway, kudos on the interesting approach to creating a villain! I hope this helps.

The Oh So Amazing Nate · Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:51 pm

Hotrod makes good points. I however DO like the idea of it being a playable class. I've never been interested enough in one particular magic class to get excited about playing it. This blending of classes to create a magic user with a broad base of knowledge really intrigues me. The idea of having multiple disciplines, but not so much mastery over one to be uber powerful sounds like a load of fun.

Curbludgeon · Unread post by **Curbludgeon** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 4:42 am

(darn it, I lost my post, and I'm typing on a couple of broken fingers, so here's a shortened version)

You're right, Hotrod, the class isn't very generic. I changed the name and if I can think of something in worse taste might do so again. I'm not really interested in writing up a bunch of NPC stat lines, since even with the limited current number of selections I'd want to cobble together a full-fledged character generator. One would input game world, character level, number of rolls on table, and results of those rolls, and it would populate a skill and weighted-by-level spell list from a previously compiled index. As I understand it, generators are against the forum's terms of service, and anything I did would look pretty shabby.

There are a couple of changes I want to make in the next edit:

1.Tie P.P.E. to number of Major lists chosen @ 1d6x10+1d6/level per Major list. This helps me justify separating Minor lists as being ones with arguably fancier spells. I think if Temporal Magic should be in there at all it should cost maybe 2 selections with no P.P.E. bonus, for example. Space Magic seems similar. On a related note I want to put together a list of non 'spooky' spell lists for a palette-swap class focused on Song, Ludicrous, and rainbow kitten type things, so could use help in digging up anything in that vein.

2. I'd like to add more specials, and would LOVE to hear any suggestions. The easy first choice is Psionics, at a level just below a Mystic. That way a level 1 MRSA-I, with one Major list and their one roll as Psionics, is 20 P.P.E. down on a Mystic, is lacking a couple of powers, and has a very limited spell list, but has more freedom in their selections. That seems roughly equivalent.

Spooky Psionics!: Select a total of eight powers from any one category (Sensitive, Physical or Healer) or a total of six powers with selections made from two or three of those categories. At levels four and eight the MRSA can select one additional ability from the Super category. Roll 1d4x10+10 plus the character's M.E. number to determine the base Inner Strength Points. The MRSA is considered a Major psychic so they receive another 1d6+1 I.S.P. per each additional level of experience. +1 to save vs psionics at experience levels 3, 7, & 11, +2 to Perception Rolls

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Wed Aug 22, 2018 3:00 pm

If you want to create a character generator, it's not against policy per se, but be careful how you build and share it. It's easy to go too far and run afoul of Palladium's copyright by putting too much information into such a thing. If you're looking to make something useful to the community, I'd at least consider doing some statted-out NPC's or versions thereof. I understand your concern about variability, and I've had some success with my disposable NPC generators by having baseline stats that don't change much on one page, and then having variants on the following page.

I think the idea of creating lists of powers that fall into villainous magician themes is a great and useful idea that could be quite useful to GMs. Before you dive too far into the weeds of digging up applicable powers, I’d encourage you to take a step back and consider what kinds of evil magic using themes you might like to apply cross-disciplinary magic/supernatural powers to.

In your initial list, you have, essentially, four:
1. Curse/Fear Invocations
2. Minion Summoning/Enslavement Invocations
3. Minion Creation Invocations
4. Item Creation Invocations

I’d encourage you to try to capture these themes in a more poetic 1-2 word terms, such as
1. Fearmonger: powers that invoke or stoke fear
2. Enslaver: powers to summon and/or enslave others
3. Horde-Master: powers to create minions
4. Artificer: powers to create magic items

Note that three out of the four themes you mentioned aren't intrinsically evil, as good characters could also make magic items, summon and command animals, and create and use golem minions. This isn't a bad thing, but since villainy is what this is all about, I have some suggestions you might want to consider using which are intrinsically evil:
5. Tormentor: powers of pain
6. Mutilator: powers that magically maim, disfigure, or defile people, special places, or nature.
7. Mind-Breaker: variant on the Mutilator; powers that cripple the mind or drive it to insanity.
8. Corruptor: powers to manipulate decent people into deciding to do terrible things
9. Provoker: specialty of the Corruptor; powers that foment anger/hate and spark violence.
10. Betrayer: powers that help the villain gain the trust of the party/innocents
11. Parasite: powers of possessing others. Alternately, powers to replace/impersonate others.
12. Poisoner: powers of killing slowly, usually not in combat
13. Annihilator: powers of mass destruction/genocide
14. Cult-Master: Powers to manipulate others into worshiping the villain.

Aditionally, some powers aren’t intrinsically evil, but thematically work well with evil magicians:
15. Immortal: powers that prevent the villain’s death, no matter the cost.
16. Enigma: uses confusion and misdirection to keep attention away from his/her sinister plans
17. Kidnapper: powers to capture/imprison others
18. Splitter: powers to duplicate him/herself
19. Juggernaut: powers to become incredibly powerful in combat
20. Enfeebler: inversion of the Juggernaut, these are powers to weaken foes
21. Cannibal: powers that steal the powers, knowledge, or weapons of enemies. May involve literal cannibalism.
22. Absconder: powers that allow the villain to escape justice. Great for recurring villains.
23. Stalker: Powers of spying, infiltration, and hunting a specific person

Side note: villains become more sympathetic/interesting if they themselves have been victimized by similar techniques to what they now enjoy using.

By assembling a list of evil power themes, you could help GMs come up with some compelling and unique villains without having to dig through the long lists of spells, incantations, and powers. Even if you only put this together as an index, and don't build it up as a full-fledged OCC, it could be a valuable tool for the community. Shoot, if you don't want to make something like this, I might.

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Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

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Re: Generic Evil Magician O.C.C. for Rifts and elsewhere

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Re: Generic Evil Magician O.C.C. for Rifts and elsewhere

Re: Generic Evil Magician O.C.C. for Rifts and elsewhere

Re: Generic Evil Magician O.C.C. for Rifts and elsewhere

Re: Generic Evil Magician O.C.C. for Rifts and elsewhere

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.

Re: Modular Really Spooky Antagonist O.C.C.