[Twi]Chronicles of the Impaler: Crisis of Infinite Draculas OOC

[industrious]

Ghost of a policeman, definitely.

You'll need to take the supernatural powers Spirit Form [-3], and possibly Poltergeist (if you want to move physical objects; you use Conviction instead of Might for strength)[-2].

[Colesign]

Sounds cool. He can be the S.I. Departments Ghostly Mascot, able to spy and snoop on things...and prank newbies!

[Cracklord]

My problem Industrious, is I have no idea how to optimize, what manner to structure the character, and all the rest. I've got the bones of the character done, but I have no idea if what I have is even usable.
It's what killed my M&M game, the fact I am trying to learn the system as I go.

[industrious]

Gotcha. PM me the sheet, and I can help out.

[Colesign]

...Hilarious. Cracklord.

Just hilarious.

And looking on the bright side, you've suceeded in rousing the Hosts of the Raksha and the denizens of the Wyld.

Draculaland has an expiration date.

...Which I'll post more about tommorow.

[Colesign]

So wait. The Mark of Cain doesn't work if Caine effectively gives people permission to hurt him?

[Colesign]

Also: Can someone remind me what the current roster of the Last Order is?

Hellboy, John Taylor, Richard Seaton, Solomon Kane, Michael Carpenter, Carlos Ramierez....can't remember if there's anyone else.

[darkblade]

Tsukasa Kadoya aka Kamen Rider Decade joined at the same time as Seaton. I'm thinking he won't survive the next epic though since his place on the roster keeps causing problems for people wanting to use the Knights.

[Cracklord]

Dunno. But I want to smack him around a bit, so I thought 'strike hard'. Beside, one could argue they're not doing any more then removing the power they lent him that keep him from death and letting him feel what's on the other side. Which is in no way them harming him.
To be honest, I don't really care. Actually, I expected to fight Dracula played by Doliest, then be dead and buried a long time ago, but you seem to want to keep him in the game, and he's a character who I can have fun with when I'm in the right mood.

The Order of the Dark Tower
Inner Circle:
Hellboy (Amung Un Rama Pendragon)
John Taylor
Carlos Ramirez
Eddie Riggs
Richard Seaton
Solomon Kane
Michael Carpenter
Tsukasa Kadoya

These are the ones who have actually stood on Leng, seen the Tower, and were there at the original founding, or at least been fully inducted since.
Then they all have their agents, followers, and other servants. Most of them don't have a clue who they're really working for, or why. Others do, and are inner circle members in all but name (Dante for instance), as well as powerful beings the control (Like Division, the newest of the Endless).
And then they have their resources. Hellboy, for instance, runs the Tet Corporation, one of three multiversal corporations that exists to protect the roses, in some form, on every world. In some worlds it's a storybook kingdom, in others a literal corporation, but it's purpose is always the same.

Meanwhile, there are the badguys, who unfortunately (for them) are currently fending off a similar alliance by badguys with the same idea (sometimes innovation means stealing anothers secret before they get the chance), which has given the Order time to really establish itself.

[Colesign]

I don't mind Cain squaring off with Doliest Dracula by any means. Sounds epic.

[Colesign]

My Latest Bit of Forum Game Fanart:

The Last Order of the Knights of the Dark Tower, gathered in hope and life:

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Solomon Kane, the Puritan Wanderer, who stands foremost among the Knights of the Word.

Eddie Riggs, Rock God, King of the Roadie.

Richard Seaton, Hero of Super Science, Overlord of the Green System, Bane of Interstellar Empires.

Hellboy, Son of Pendragon and the Pit, Chief of the Tet, Amung An Rama.

Michael Carpenter, Knight of God, Paragon of Love, foremost among the London Knights.

John Taylor, the Walker, King of the Nightside, Private Eye

Kamen Rider Decade, Multiversal Champion, Rallier Super Sentai

Carlos Ramierez, The Warden, Member of the Justice League, and Damn Good Looking.

[Cracklord]

Justice League got wiped out by Lex and his coalition, most of whom died in the process themselves. Which is why Shatterworld sinks further and further into abject horror every time we visit it.

[industrious]

You lot have no idea...

Also, giving Taylor the titles of Walker and King of the Nightside is just redundant. Might I suggest:

John Taylor: Lilith's Youngest Son, Prince of the Nightside. PI.

[Colesign]

Fair Enough.

I may be absent from Internet sources until Monday or so. Just a head's up.

I'll also try to post a color version of the drawing.

[doliest]

So, in obvious news, I was gone for like ten days.

I can't explain why, but suffice to say it involves a lot of cursing and that if I didn't accidentally get a new laptop for Christmas (Long Story) then my now virus ridden computer would be incapable of being good for anything, and I'd be a few months away from updating.

[Cracklord]

Welcome, Doliest. Good to see you again.

I believe I am playing AM, Industrious. If that does not illustrate how bad it has got, then nothing does.

I've decided to resume my background fiction. *cracks knuckles*. This is a character I'm completely unfamiliar with, so I'm going to ask Darkblade to read over and tell me where I got things wrong.

And yes, it is part one of two.

Kamen Rider Decade

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Distant thunderheads reared quivering against the electric sky and were sucked away in the blackness again. Beneath, all was velvety darkness without and beyond definition. When we dream, we become more in tune with ourselves, entering a world that is entirely our own. We walk pathways of imagination, and understand ourselves better. It takes sleep to see truths that were normally beyond our reach, to realize answers we could never find in the distractions of the waking world. So it was with Tsukasa Kadoya.
He was aware that he lay in a moment of perfect stillness, held where movement and sound were suspended. It was as if life, the world (which world?) and all that existed in it, held its breath for a length of time; elastic and finite. He was apart, insulated, away from the threatening reality that had confronted him.
He stood beneath that furious sky, on a dark plain, the jangle of chimes in his ear. He'd stepped beyond the reaches of his head, and into the land of dreams, waiting for one to be spun around him. He stared about, then found himself looking into the face of his grandfather. He started back, gasping, but there was nothing on that ruin of a face that showed familiarity, nothing but cold contempt and faint traces of disgust. That was how he remembered it best, red and gleaming wetly, all exposed bone and muscle.
They'd only met a few times, but each one had been a fresh twist of the knife. It was painful to even think about him, and yet he was. He was the reason he even existed, he was the reason so much of his life had been suffering, his was the shadow he could never escape.
The apparition was dressed in a long leather coat and a black turtleneck, with the iron cross at his throat, a sidearm on his hip, and his arms folded over his chest, the clothes he'd worn that the first time they'd met. Red Skull's skinless lips had peeled back, revealing his white teeth, as the muscle shifted nauseatingly around, and his eyes had narrowed, as they did now. He had no eyelids, but his brows still moved enough to convey basic expressions.
Whatever his antecedents, he was something wholly other than their sum, nor was there system by which to divide him back into his origins for he would not go. He simply was, a black mark on history that stretched on and on, refusing to fade or be reduced by time. Whoever would seek out his history would find themselves no more comprehending then before, for he was without terminus or origin and there was no trace of anything by which to reckon his commencing. He simply was, living evidence of evil that humanity was capable of.
"You're not my flesh and blood." He says, as he did that first time. "You're my genetic material, true, but that does not make you any more my son then any of the rest of my bodily discards. No, bearing my DNA is not through any particular achievement of yours. And the carrier she chose to conceive you was a likewise poor choice." No doubt he'd mostly spun the venom from the fact you took after your father far more then him. He'd wanted another Aryan, to witness superior genetic material at work, triumphing over inferior genes. It hadn't happened, you looked Japanese. So much so, it was a surprise to learn you weren't.
"You are, however, a potential. One that I intend to turn my hand to, and make of you what I desire." He remembered this. It had happened much the same way, he'd been young, and new to the armor, and he'd stood, trembling in fear and denial before the monster who had claimed him, and he'd spent his life since escaping his grasp.
Then Red Skull stepped forward, and gathered him in his arms, pulling him against his immense and terrible flesh, and whispered in his ear, his voice hoarse and dry. "I forgive you. I forgive your transgressions against me. And you will be of use to me yet."
He tried to pull away, grimacing in fear and disgust, but he couldn't break the grip. His grandfather had never touched him, never shown him any closeness or connection at all, for which he was profoundly grateful. He hated him, and the idea that some part of him still wanted, still craved the approval made him tremble with self-disgust.
Then the vision of his ancestor departed, leaving him in the darkness again, listening to the chimes. Nothing was forthcoming, so he decided to make his way forward. Anything was better then standing here and awaiting more visitations.
Then he blinked again. The darkness had lifted, enough for him to make out two ancient houses ahead of him, alone in the dark. He felt drawn to them, though why he couldn't say. They were both near identical, large, airy, with burgundy brick walls, a terracotta tile roof and a white stone trim, with rococo imitation stonework trimming them.
There was something vaguely portentous about them, something brooding and sinister, as though they both kept something he would be happier not knowing.
"L-l-look at th-th-that, brother. A visitor." Stuttered a rotund, short, nervous looking man, with an open face that spoke of terror and perpetual apology. The sort of person who would apologize for apologizing too much. He had a tufty beard and dark hair that comes to points above his ears, and was dressed in a dusty, ill-fitting suit that must have been fashionable once upon a time.
"I can see that, you fat idiot. I'm not blind." Came the reply, and to his right came a thin, long-limbed man with an angular, drawn face that put one in mind of a fox, glasses perched on his nose, a forked tufty beard, and hair drawn into two points above his ears. The family resemblance was uncanny, considering how different the two were. "Well? Aren't you going to invite him in?"
"Of-of course, Caine." He stuttered, then gave a half bow. "Wel-welcome to thu-thu-the housess of Myst-Mystery and Secrets."
"What the hell is that, and why am I even here?" He asked, when it became clear that neither of them were going to get to the point. This was all so surreal he didn't know what to do, but the apparition of the man who was, for better or worse, responsible for his existence, had put him on the defensive. His first impulse was to get ready for a fight, but there was nothing to hit, so he didn't have much choice but to blunder ahead and try to hit the right point. In his experience this was the way these sort of things went.
The slender brother stepped forward, and conversely this made him darker, so that he appeared to have no face. "If you take one, you cannot take the other. So which one is it? The way of fine lies, or of hard truths?"
"What's the difference?" he finally manage to say belligerently.
But if this got through to the slender man, he mad no sign, though the short one cringed a little. "Don't ask me, I'm just a cautionary tale. All stories are imaginary to me."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, answers are never as simple as that." He says, giving him a smile that he didn't trust at all. "So what will it be?"
"Alright. I've had it." he grumbles. "That's enough out of both of you. It's a stupid riddle anyway." he says, then closes his eyes a second. When he opens them, he's gone with his first impulse. He takes the right path up to the lonely path.
Unheeded and uncalled, Caine falls into step behind him, smiling to himself, and wringing his long, clever fingers together.

[darkblade]

I was looking at making Tsukasa the son of Sin (Red Skull's daughter) and Great Leader (The Big Bad of the first Twelve Kamen Riders). With Great Leader being the one in charge of the Axis super weapons left in Japan with Skull focusing on those still hidden in America and Baron Zemo on those in Europe.

Beyond that which is my fault for not saying it sooner, he wouldn't bother with Caine and Able's games and would cut them off before making a gut decision saying he "get's the gist of it". No other issues.

[Cracklord]

Thanks. Editing now.

[darkblade]

Also the difference between Soul Eater and Death Note Shinigami.

Death Note, Shinigami are spirits who feed on death that were given the name by ancient Japanese mystics who discovered them.

Soul Eater (and Bleach for that matter) are a type of magically attuned warriors that deal with errors occurring within mortal souls that present dangers to the rest of the world such as Kissan Eggs, Hollows and Slashers. They were named after Death Note Shinigami.

[Prime32]

There's got to be a lot of things that were independently named "spirits of death". What else would you call a spirit with powers over death?

[Colesign]

I just realized something.

We don't have anyone of the female gender in on the Inner Circle of the Knights of the Dark Tower...

...well, there is Richard's wife, and Carpenter's family (sans Molly), and Taylor's friends, and Hellboy's friends...

...There's also a pronounced shortage of aliens, too. Hellboy and Eddie are Demons, though. There's still very much a prejudice towards Earth lifeforms, especially for an Order trusted with guarding the lynchpin of all reality.

I see this as something that could be addressed in an interesting fashion in-game.

[Cracklord]

That's because we're mostly male, and so we identify better with males, meaning that the vast majority of characters we play are males. That, and there weren't a lot of female characters in chivalric romances, which is the archetype I was originally going for, though that changed almost as soon as I finished the opening post. There are a lot of half-demons, indeed, because having a foot in both worlds is an important trait for them to have.

There aren't any aliens, because while the Tower is everywhere, the ways to Leng are all found on (various alternate versions of) Earth, so aliens are not in a position to protect it anyway, and because the Knights are more urban fantasy then Science Fiction, Seaton and Tsukasa notwithstanding. Also, the roses that connect the worlds to multiverse... well rose's are an earth plant, aren't they?

All in all, it's not really all that interesting, in that it's all metafictional. That said, if you want to go over it then I'll leave that in your hands.

[Draxx]

How did Smedry get his lenses back after Archer shattered them all? I'd understand if he had a failsafe, or a backup store hidden somewhere, or something like that, but you never mentioned it. He just kind of had them again.

[Colesign]

I sorta chose to ignore that bit, justifying it since Smedry wasn't using any of his Lenses to defend himself at the time (only his Talent)

It seemed kind of sad for him to lose all those Lenses. Should Rule Breaker have automatically shattered enchanted items in proximity to itself?

...Speaking of which, how long is Smedry's Talent* knocked out for?

...Actually, depending on the extent to which his Talent and his Occulator abilities are connected (canon-wise, they are two different things), he may still possess his Lenses, but be unable to use them.

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Canon Details follow:

The Smedry Talents were created many, many millennia ago by an old civilization of people known as the Incarna, a race that was highly skilled in thaumaturgical arts.

According to certain tomb inscriptions, they 'sought to touch the powers of eternity, then draw them down upon ourselves. But we brought with them something we did not intend.'

Apparently that something was Talents, mystical boons that took a person's personal bad habit and enhanced it to the Nth degree.

Soon many of the Incarna possessed these Talents, people Good and Bad. And the Chaos it caused destroyed their civilization.

A distant ancestor of the Smedrys, in order to prevent this tragedy from reoccuring, Broke the Incarnae civilization's entire Language, turning every word in every book into gibberish. Many mystical secrets were lost in the process.

And ever since that day, the Smedry family has possessed Talents that no one has ever been able to replicate (although interestingly enough, if you marry a member of the Smedry line in a ceremony approved by Royalty, you gain the Talent of your spouse.)

Does this contradict the current canon in any way?

[Draxx]

Archer hit him with enough juice to smash them all, because he wanted to remove Smedry as a threat, and when you're a guy like Archer if you don't hit as hard as you can with every punch, you don't last long. By this games standards he's fairly heavy weight, but he's used to being the undredog, and so doesn't take prisoners. To be perfectly blunt, he can't afford to. If he did he never would stand a ghost of a chance. I thought it was a little harsh, doing that to you, but I also couldn't see him acting in any other way when a magus confronts him in the middle of a fight, then starts using magic on him. Or at least, one that wasn't instantly fatal.

To be fair, Smedry just wanted to figure out what was going on, he didn't want to fight Archer, but to be even fairer, if you do stick your face in the middle of a desperate swordfight and not expect it to get cut off you are totally delusional, and optimistic besides. So in regards to his talent, let's say it will come back in two weeks (three weeks, since it will, as expected, arrive late). That's severely nerfing the attack, it should probably be somewhere in the realm of never, but Archer's using an imperfect copy, and not doing so isn't really fair to you in this instance, and it doesn't bother me all that much.

However, I do sort of object to his lenses still being there. The whole point of the attack is not just destroying magic defenses, it's destroying magic. Why even use it otherwise? What's the point of an attack that leaves you completely open, unable to effectively defend yourself, and can't do any physical damage, even if it does cut through magic defenses? Anyone who tried it would die on the counter-stroke, even in perfect conditions, since it's useless as an actual weapon and has no range.

Archer only used the attack because he was more interested then ending Smedry as a threat, getting the annoying old man out of his face, and getting back to hunting down and killing Light to prevent a war in the future, and by extension ending his own indentured slavery to protecting humanity. And that attack was the most efficient way to do so, short of killing him (which he didn't particularly want to, but wouldn't exactly have lost any sleep over). If the attack did leave him with a score of magic weapons in his coat, Archer wouldn't have bothered to use it, and Smedry would have a foot of steel sticking through his throat, after Archer missed the first time, and used Tyrfing (or another sword that never misses, late or not), because he didn't know what was causing the missing, but couldn't afford it when fighting a second circle demon.

So there. Hope I explained my opinion. If you don't agree then don't, it's your character after all, but I thought you might find it illuminating.

[darkblade]

I'm agreeing with Draxx that the attack should have shattered the lenses on his person but it is far too early in the game to be pulling out attacks that completely disable other characters like that. As such I'm proposing that Smedry switch to a slightly smaller stash of back up lenses he has hidden somewhere else in the school and the ones he had with him are gone.

[Colesign]

I can live with that.

Is that alright, Draxx?

[Draxx]

'S your character. I was just dispensing an opinion.

[industrious]

What anime/manga is Shirou from?

[Draxx]

Fate/Stay Night. Same as Archer. Indeed, he's the boy who will grow up to be Archer, although he's so far from that point (subjectively, about ten thousand years of warring with other legendary heroes) that about all they have in common is excellent aim, and some similarities of bone structure (since Archer appears as an idealized and stylized projection of the perception of the hero in the human unconscious, not the actual person).