Fantasy Nine Billion Names

[Spiderheart]

I did miss that! I'm ready to go whenever you are

 

[Grey]

Get a post up whenever you're ready! #

Nine Billion Names

The Hellsun beats down upon the blasted plains without mercy, cooking small demons to desiccated husks and condemning others to the wasting gold. A road of dense-packed bonedust leads into the shadow of a vast tree hung with prayer-strips, beyond which a low mesa is thrown ever into Dreamfall...

www.rpnation.com

 

[ThaDruid]

Alright Grey I've given this a good look-over and you got me hooked, lined and sinkered. I see the game's just started so I'll try to be fast in making a character once you've okayed my concept. Here's the down-low:

Patrjulf, The Regicide.

In life, a prideful human whose native land was conquered by a powerful empire. His loved ones dead, his belongings ash, he dedicated the rest of his life to inflicting the same pain upon those who wronged him a thousand times over. It culminated in a suicidal attack on the emperor's life. He stabbed his victim no less than 16 times before being taken down as a blade pierced his heart.
His soul was sent screeching into Hell, accompanied by the intoxicating feeling of having changed the fate of the world forever. He rose as a Lightbringer, with a primal instinct in his heart: to overthrow. As a free citizen of Pandemonium and the head of a revolutionary group, he led an unholy crusade against the infinite kings, princes, dukes and counts of Hell, meeting more than once with the Arbiter but somehow never leaving behind enough evidence to warrant an execution. He never realized how futile a revolution can truly be in Hell. Things got out of hand when the nobles struck back, and he was forced to run. Garbed in dark robes that covered everything but his face (he was too prideful for that), Patrjulf found refuge in the halls of a monastery where a monk prepared for an arduous journey to the centre of Hell.

He appears as a tall and muscular man, naked from the waist-up. His skin is shiny bronze, adorned with dripping glyphs of liquid gold. Bright embers dance along the edge of his long beard. Upon his head stands a crown of wrought iron, forcefully nailed into his skull. He is one of the few demons who keep the habit of breathing, yet he only exhales thick smoke. Two scabbards sway from his waist, attached to loose chains. They hold two wicked knives, big enough to resemble short swords. His style of swordsmanship is vicious, used to humiliate and defeat his enemies through liberal use of taunts, insults and pure violence.

 

[Grey]

Great stuff, with a few small caveats.

1. Keep the human background ambiguous; it's not proven to anyone in setting Demons are made that way. That said, I can see Patrjulf embracing it out of spite.
2. I see what you did there.
3. I was saving this as the punchline to an adventure, but it's useful context and delicious irony here:

You know those stories of unremarkable people remarkably saving the day and killing a Demon right after it does something terrible - like killing an emperor? People who normally you wouldn't expect to pull something like that off?
The truth is, when a person maxes out their Taint and becomes a Demon, history itself bends and shudders to make a change: they were always a Demon. Bystanders who could, maybe. have pulled off their deeds are now responsible, and no one in all the universe knows it was ever different. Patrjulf the man is gone, and his achievement wiped away; Patrjulf the Demon killed the emperor before being felled by his personal guard.

 

[Grey]

Oh, and EbonChevalier don't forget Beaten Dog asked a question in exchange for a drink: why?

 

[ThaDruid]

All clear, angry demon with big authority problems coming soon™

 

[ThaDruid]

Grey Just a question: you're the one who gives out our Expressions and Martial Arts right?

 

[Grey]

Grey Just a question: you're the one who gives out our Expressions and Martial Arts right?

Nawp, if you feel like you grasp the system well enough to come up with your own, I just greenlight them or ask for adjustments.

 

[ThaDruid]

Nawp, if you feel like you grasp the system well enough to come up with your own, I just greenlight them or ask for adjustments.

I see, I see. Never played Crucible before, so I'm gonna need some time to get acquainted with it.

 

[Grey]

No worries, I can write anything you need. I designed it, so it's always nice to see people stress test it or find they take to it easily.

 

[Grey]

Zeth no need to roll for that; it's well within Imzada's skillset.

The substance of the ghostfence is not wholly physical; the mingled spiritual energy of the components roils and shudders and struggles in her hand. It exerts force and yet it passes, coldly, through her hand. If nothing is done, it will dissipate into stray particles within a few seconds.

 

[ThaDruid]

Alright, posted a rough draft of my sheet. Got all the stats down, just need to have a good think about what the Expressions and Techniques could be. Do tell if I've got any of my math wrong.

 

[Grey]

Looks solid but I'll give the numbers another pass after work tomorrow. I like your choices of Focus.

 

[Spiderheart]

Zeth fyi, waiting on you

 

[Zeth]

Zeth no need to roll for that; it's well within Imzada's skillset.

The substance of the ghostfence is not wholly physical; the mingled spiritual energy of the components roils and shudders and struggles in her hand. It exerts force and yet it passes, coldly, through her hand. If nothing is done, it will dissipate into stray particles within a few seconds.

So the material has some repulsive capabilities when its spiritual components are stimulated? It pushes against opposing force?

Also, with the new additions to the char. thread, I am reminded of something I forgot to ask earlier. The attributes, Bearing and Composure - are they the equivalents of Charisma and Endurance? If not, how do they differ from the commonly accepted definitions of the said?

 

[Grey]

It seems the substance repulses force when applied but passes through physical objects otherwise.

Bearing comparable to Charisma. Composure you might think of a social endurance. Fitness is closer to Endurance.

 

[Grey]

Zeth On contact with Essence, the material seethes and solidifies, becoming painful to the touch. It seems to absorb all of the Essences and goes from cool blue-green to an oily black.

 

[ThaDruid]

Grey Finally finished my Expressions and Martial Art, give them a looksie. I think I got a pretty good guess of how the system works by looking at the other sheets, but I'm still not sure as to the scale of numbers, so I've marked the things I wasn't 100% on. Also, I wrote 2 options for a couple of moves because I wasn't sure if the first one would work well in the system/would be too strong. Do tell which one you think could work best.

 

[Grey]

Extremely cool stuff, but his Expressions need a little tweaking.
Molten Flesh is going to cost you Essence equal to the Condition of the trapped object or entity.
Essence of Spite is a very Fourth Circle thing; other Lightbringers would shame him for it they ever knew. Anyway, the actual cost is when killed, Patrjulf takes a number of years equal to the turns he spent fighting beyong death to reincorporate, and he loses a point of Resonance until he does something to earn it back in the eyes of the Principles.

Style looks good, a touch incoherent but I get that it's a grab-bag of tricks that work.
The Form Technique should reduce enemy Defence by 1, rather than Combat Pool - sets them up for the counter. You can roll Bearing/Persuade to bait the enemy into attacking again.
Suicide King is fine in either form, choose the one that sounds cooler.
The nutshot is good, I'm going to say you can choose to attack Speed or Composure.
Pandemonium Footwork, I would say, allows you to make an attack immediately after a successful defence or attack which knocks the target prone with any damage coming from the terrain.
Emperor's Folly badass, I'm also going to say it increases damage by 1 for every Resonance your target has above your own.

Cyybil You managing okay? Need any help?

 

[Zeth]

Zeth On contact with Essence, the material seethes and solidifies, becoming painful to the touch. It seems to absorb all of the Essences and goes from cool blue-green to an oily black.

Are materials exhibiting such properties rare in Hell?
I am trying to gauge what kind of reaction, a demon with Imzada's background would have upon discovery.

 

[Grey]

Are materials exhibiting such properties rare in Hell?
I am trying to gauge what kind of reaction, a demon with Imzada's background would have upon discovering.

Not that rare, but it's likely Imzada hasn't seen them combined in a single substance like this before.
She could surmise the purpose of the material is to permit passage below a certain threshold of force, but repels violence or Essence-based attacks.

 

[ThaDruid]

Extremely cool stuff, but his Expressions need a little tweaking.
Molten Flesh is going to cost you Essence equal to the Condition of the trapped object or entity.
Essence of Spite is a very Fourth Circle thing; other Lightbringers would shame him for it they ever knew. Anyway, the actual cost is when killed, Patrjulf takes a number of years equal to the turns he spent fighting beyong death to reincorporate, and he loses a point of Resonance until he does something to earn it back in the eyes of the Principles.

Style looks good, a touch incoherent but I get that it's a grab-bag of tricks that work.
The Form Technique should reduce enemy Defence by 1, rather than Combat Pool - sets them up for the counter. You can roll Bearing/Persuade to bait the enemy into attacking again.
Suicide King is fine in either form, choose the one that sounds cooler.
The nutshot is good, I'm going to say you can choose to attack Speed or Composure.
Pandemonium Footwork, I would say, allows you to make an attack immediately after a successful defence or attack which knocks the target prone with any damage coming from the terrain.
Emperor's Folly badass, I'm also going to say it increases damage by 1 for every Resonance your target has above your own.

Alright, fixed all the moves properly. Anything missing from the sheet or can I jump right in?

 

[Grey]

I reckon you can hop in, aye. Went to check on the Abbess, we'll say, who was last in the process of rolling the scroll into it's case.

 

[Cyybil]

@Cyybil You managing okay? Need any help?

Yep, I'm doing fine, I think. Is there anything else I should do to develop my character or am I good to go?

 

[Grey]

Yep, I'm doing fine, I think. Is there anything else I should do to develop my character or am I good to go?

I don't see your sheet with the others, so it looks like all you need to do is post that and I'll introduce Aym to the thread at the appropriate juncture.