Mestiv he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Yeah he's main problem is: need to use telekinesis to do something useful -> that makes me hostile and very likely to make someone hate me -> that makes me exposed to any kind of danger -> I'd better find some other way to do something useful Hope others will find him interesting too 1
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Right. I'm currently trying to think of why the Epics of whichever location I place the vanilla in would bother keeping him/her around. Though Cotard's makes the Epics more likely to dispatch the poor soul, I feel like vanilla characters staying alive is always an issue, given Epics' tendencies towards desiring power, being overall selfish, and experiencing no guilt for their actions once the corruption sets in.Maybe they are keeping him as some Kind of fool for their amusement?(Thoughts on Mestiv when I'm at my PC proper.)
Blaze1616 he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Maybe they are keeping him as some Kind of fool for their amusement? (Thoughts on Mestiv when I'm at my PC proper.) That was my first thought, an Epic keeping him/her around due to the hilarity. This could potentially be more humorous if the character simply has Cotard's delusion rather than the Epic delusion. I'm gonna put some more thought into it though.
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 <p> Hello everyone I'd like to join you in the RPG game, so following the rules first I'd like to consult you and introduce the character I want to add Type: High Epic (but with very simple weakness) Name: Matthew Archerfish - faked name he uses in USA, because Americans have trouble with pronouncing his real name. Age: 26 Height: 182cm (no idea how many foots/inches whatever that is ) Weight: ~80kg (no idea how many pounds that is) Looks: Short blond hair, blue eyes, quite fit body type. Likes comfortable and functional clothing and avoids standing out. Powers: Main power: absolute invulnerability - Matthew is immune to anything that may harm him and to other Epics powers. He won't starve, won't suffocate etc. No matter if he knows about the danger or not, it won't harm him. You just can't do anything negative to him. Just being immune, resisting damage, does not turn him hostile on the epic-mechanics level, but he still fills pain to some degree, so normal human reactions take place. Secondary power: telekinesis - He can use quite powerful telekinetic abilities, the most damage he was able to do so far was bringing down a middle sized building by crushing all the walls on the first floor. When putting his mind to it he can squeeze a car to the size of a dice. He can use his telekinesis to fly. Tertiary power: slightly increased reflex and dexterity. Nothing a well trained non-epic wouldn't be able to achieve. Weakness: Matthew can be hurt by anyone who: 1. Knows him. Either by personal interaction or hearing a lot about him. and... 2. Who has at least a bit logical reason to hate him. This weakness makes him pretty vulnerable to both Epics and normal people. This is also the reason he avoids using his telekinesis ability - he doesn't want anyone to have a reason to hate him. History: Shortly after graduating from Warsaw University (Poland) (he studied IT) he migrated to USA to work for one of the big IT companies. He managed to work for about 2 month before Calamity appeared on the skies. After Epics begun to appear all over the world Matthew became one as well. During his Rendering he destroyed his work place and killed many of his colleagues. When he calmed down a bit, he escaped away from civilization for some time in fear of people that knew him seeking vengeance. After long time spent away from people and not using his power he figured out the rule that the more powers you use, the more evil you became. Since then he avoids using his telekinetic powers whenever he can. Current behavior and character: During the time after Calamity Matthew has been mostly hiking and sightseeing. When whole world is fighting for power or survival, the natural wonders are still beautiful and Matthew as an introverted nature lover is fine with avoiding people to just enjoy the views. However, even the most introverted people on earth sometimes need to interact with someone else. When he's tired of being alone he usually joins some little community, pretending to be a normal human if it's possible. If not, he pretends to be a minor epic with only some kind of specific invulnerability. As a result of not using his powers, his character turned back to the way it was before Rendering. He's a rather quiet, kind man who loves animals and helps other people if it's possible. Positive traits: smart, he got to work for huge IT company is USA right after graduating in Europe. despite being an introvert he's good with people loves animals and is willing to help them even if it would risk exposing his abilities Negative traits: He's a liar. Best described by image below. If he decides that with a lie he can make his life easier, and not harm anyone, he will lie without any hesitation. And he's really good in this. He absolutely hates imperial measuring system. As someone growing up in Europe it's an abomination to him having such a messy measuring system. His English is not perfect, sometimes he won't know some words or won't understand rarely used idioms. If a genie offered them three wishes, what would those wishes be? 1. Turn back time to before Calamity. 2. Give me unlimited amount of money. 3. I want more wishes How would they react if they went to the store to satisfy a craving for Cocoa Puffs, only to find the store was out? What the hell is a Cocoa Puff? But probably he would just go to another store. What would they do if they went to the laundromat and saw the one person they could not stand had taken the last machine? Just wait for a free washing machine... Boring, I know How would my character make their grand entrance, and how would the other characters react? I'd like to join the Corvallis area. Actually without great entrance but with sneaking in, ending up as a witness to some fighting, trying to help some Vanillas escape or save a dog from rumbles, something like that. During this events Matthew would probably unknowingly display his invulnerability and he'll most likely be spotted by Chase or Jumpdrive. Then we'll see how keeping everyone from hating him will go without using any of the telekinesis. Ok, so that is my character. So I have three questions: Can I join the Corvallis area? Is my English good enough? Any ideas for an Epic name for him? He does his best to hide his epicness but he still may need a nickname Welcome! Your English is great, and you'd need to ask Comatose about joining Corvallis, but it should be fine. One thing I noticed about Matthew, though, is that his power level means he would probably find resisting the urge to use his powers difficult at best and impossible at worst, so he'd find it hard to hide his Epicness. Moreover, from what we've seen in the series so far, few if any Epics want to hide their Epicness, so his natural introversion would likely be expressed in other ways (needing ample time to himself and killing anyone who interrupted his "me time," for example). I like him, though.
Blaze1616 he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Anyone know of an Oregon city or town known for its mental hospital? A quick google search identified a handful. They are in the following cities (in order of "quality" high to low): Salem, Portland, Corvallis, and Pendleton (which has been permanently closed). I found that funny, that tehy all correspond to cities we've used, though I suppose it should be expected since we've now pretty much Epicified all the major cities. 1
Mestiv he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Of course Matthew would have really hard time resisting urges to use his offensive ability. However, as we have seen in case of Prof and Firefight, both very powerful, that is possible. Especially considering two things. First: he has a peaceful personality and didn't use his power for a long time. Second: Epics are driven by fear. Matthew knows his weakness and he knows that killing or attacking others is the easiest way to make them hate him. So he actually is scared of using his power. that fear is as strong or even stronger motivation than his personality.
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 Of course Matthew would have really hard time resisting urges to use his offensive ability. However, as we have seen in case of Prof and Firefight, both very powerful, that is possible. Especially considering two things. First: he has a peaceful personality and didn't use his power for a long time. Second: Epics are driven by fear. Matthew knows his weakness and he knows that killing or attacking others is the easiest way to make them hate him. So he actually is scared of using his power. that fear is as strong or even stronger motivation than his personality. Prof and Firefight were special cases, though: As a gifter, he could give most of his power away and turn the corruption process into a slow slide rather than a plunge: and despite her resurrection ability making her a High Epic by default, Firefight was, by her own admission, not very powerful. A peaceful personality would only go so far, though. Even peaceful people can be passive aggressive and find sneaky ways of getting back at those they believe have wronged them, or who they consider a threat. They can also be devastatingly effective at punishing people without direct physical harm. With the corruption messing with his brain, Matthew should be an expert in psychological terrorism and emotional manipulation. If he played his cards right, he could induce Stockholm Syndrome in his servants, thus compensating for his weakness and making Rainmaker admire his fine-tuned control. 2
Mestiv he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 I like the passive aggresion forward people he doesn't like idea. If Matthew gets approved I'll keep in mind your suggestions. Indirect hostility combined with some skillful lies can have interesting effects He'd still try to eliminate his enemies but while wearing white gloves and pretending to be their friend. 1
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Hello everyone I'd like to join you in the RPG game, so following the rules first I'd like to consult you and introduce the character I want to add Type: High Epic (but with very simple weakness) Name: Matthew Archerfish - faked name he uses in USA, because Americans have trouble with pronouncing his real name. Age: 26 Height: 182cm (no idea how many foots/inches whatever that is ) Weight: ~80kg (no idea how many pounds that is) Looks: Short blond hair, blue eyes, quite fit body type. Likes comfortable and functional clothing and avoids standing out. Powers: Main power: absolute invulnerability - Matthew is immune to anything that may harm him and to other Epics powers. He won't starve, won't suffocate etc. No matter if he knows about the danger or not, it won't harm him. You just can't do anything negative to him. Just being immune, resisting damage, does not turn him hostile on the epic-mechanics level, but he still fills pain to some degree, so normal human reactions take place. Secondary power: telekinesis - He can use quite powerful telekinetic abilities, the most damage he was able to do so far was bringing down a middle sized building by crushing all the walls on the first floor. When putting his mind to it he can squeeze a car to the size of a dice. He can use his telekinesis to fly. Tertiary power: slightly increased reflex and dexterity. Nothing a well trained non-epic wouldn't be able to achieve. Weakness: Matthew can be hurt by anyone who: 1. Knows him. Either by personal interaction or hearing a lot about him. and... 2. Who has at least a bit logical reason to hate him. This weakness makes him pretty vulnerable to both Epics and normal people. This is also the reason he avoids using his telekinesis ability - he doesn't want anyone to have a reason to hate him. History: Shortly after graduating from Warsaw University (Poland) (he studied IT) he migrated to USA to work for one of the big IT companies. He managed to work for about 2 month before Calamity appeared on the skies. After Epics begun to appear all over the world Matthew became one as well. During his Rendering he destroyed his work place and killed many of his colleagues. When he calmed down a bit, he escaped away from civilization for some time in fear of people that knew him seeking vengeance. After long time spent away from people and not using his power he figured out the rule that the more powers you use, the more evil you became. Since then he avoids using his telekinetic powers whenever he can. Current behavior and character: During the time after Calamity Matthew has been mostly hiking and sightseeing. When whole world is fighting for power or survival, the natural wonders are still beautiful and Matthew as an introverted nature lover is fine with avoiding people to just enjoy the views. However, even the most introverted people on earth sometimes need to interact with someone else. When he's tired of being alone he usually joins some little community, pretending to be a normal human if it's possible. If not, he pretends to be a minor epic with only some kind of specific invulnerability. As a result of not using his powers, his character turned back to the way it was before Rendering. He's a rather quiet, kind man who loves animals and helps other people if it's possible. Positive traits: smart, he got to work for huge IT company is USA right after graduating in Europe. despite being an introvert he's good with people loves animals and is willing to help them even if it would risk exposing his abilities Negative traits: He's a liar. Best described by image below. If he decides that with a lie he can make his life easier, and not harm anyone, he will lie without any hesitation. And he's really good in this. He absolutely hates imperial measuring system. As someone growing up in Europe it's an abomination to him having such a messy measuring system. His English is not perfect, sometimes he won't know some words or won't understand rarely used idioms. If a genie offered them three wishes, what would those wishes be? 1. Turn back time to before Calamity. 2. Give me unlimited amount of money. 3. I want more wishes How would they react if they went to the store to satisfy a craving for Cocoa Puffs, only to find the store was out? What the hell is a Cocoa Puff? But probably he would just go to another store. What would they do if they went to the laundromat and saw the one person they could not stand had taken the last machine? Just wait for a free washing machine... Boring, I know How would my character make their grand entrance, and how would the other characters react? I'd like to join the Corvallis area. Actually without great entrance but with sneaking in, ending up as a witness to some fighting, trying to help some Vanillas escape or save a dog from rumbles, something like that. During this events Matthew would probably unknowingly display his invulnerability and he'll most likely be spotted by Chase or Jumpdrive. Then we'll see how keeping everyone from hating him will go without using any of the telekinesis. Ok, so that is my character. So I have three questions: Can I join the Corvallis area? Is my English good enough? Any ideas for an Epic name for him? He does his best to hide his epicness but he still may need a nickname Of course Matthew would have really hard time resisting urges to use his offensive ability. However, as we have seen in case of Prof and Firefight, both very powerful, that is possible. Especially considering two things. First: he has a peaceful personality and didn't use his power for a long time. Second: Epics are driven by fear. Matthew knows his weakness and he knows that killing or attacking others is the easiest way to make them hate him. So he actually is scared of using his power. that fear is as strong or even stronger motivation than his personality. Okay, so Twi already mentioned my main problem, there's no realistic way he would have avoided corruption. The powers addict and with with something as useful like telekinesis and enhanced reflexes he would have spiraled into corruption, even if he never actually meet a person in his life, and he has neither Prof's (gifting and serial killer by main opucation) or Megan's (undercover mission forcing her to avoid her powers, minor powers with only little addiction in the first place and someone telling her not to use her powers) there's no realistic way for him to get rid of it afterwards either. Couple other things: Just being immune, resisting damage, does not turn him hostile on the epic-mechanics level, Pretty big assumption given that impervious skin would still need Calamity magic to function. Weakness: Matthew can be hurt by anyone who: 1. Knows him. Either by personal interaction or hearing a lot about him. and... 2. Who has at least a bit logical reason to hate him. This weakness makes him pretty vulnerable to both Epics and normal people. This is also the reason he avoids using his telekinesis ability - he doesn't want anyone to have a reason to hate him. The first point is rather redundant, all things considered... and makes his PI effectively useless to everything but accidents, so I'm not really sure how much sense the actual power makes, apart from loopholing the weakness clause into not actually affecting his powers. (Not that I'm saying that's what you are doing, I'm just thinking out loud here. ) As a little aside the way Brandon talked about Steelheart's power, when he explained the large scale effect to us, implies that Steelheart's other powers apart from his PI do interact with his weakness, the nature of his weakness just makes that dificult to notice. 3. I want more wishes Never make this wish to a genie. They'll make your very being suffering, so you actually have an unlimited amount of wishes to better your situation but won't fulfill any of them... they'd probably take you voice as well so you can't even tell them the wishes, if you still have any left. A quick google search identified a handful. They are in the following cities (in order of "quality" high to low): Salem, Portland, Corvallis, and Pendleton (which has been permanently closed). I found that funny, that tehy all correspond to cities we've used, though I suppose it should be expected since we've now pretty much Epicified all the major cities. Soulcaster already keeps Metronome, doesn't he? Why not this fellow as well? 1
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 I like the passive aggresion forward people he doesn't like idea. If Matthew gets approved I'll keep in mind your suggestions. Indirect hostility combined with some skillful lies can have interesting effects He'd still try to eliminate his enemies but while wearing white gloves and pretending to be their friend. For extra creepiness, he could even believe himself to be their friend, protector, or both, justifying his abuse as "for their own good" or as something that will "make them stronger."
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 By the way, this is what my spellcheck thinks is Obliteration's true form : 5
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 By the way, this is what my spellcheck thinks is Obliteration's true form : Somehow, the revelation that he's just a gigantic pile of cookies makes his attempts to kill David more horrifying, not less. 2
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Somehow, the revelation that he's just a gigantic pile of cookies makes his attempts to kill David more horrifying, not less. You know about cookies and their darkside. (Behols all this forshadowing for Mizzy turning into the Cookiecutter. ) 1
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 You know about cookies and their darkside. (Behols all this forshadowing for Mizzy turning into the Cookiecutter. ) Do I ever. I choose to believe she's faced the fearful side of cookies and will use her powers for good instead of evil. 1
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Do I ever. I choose to believe she's faced the fearful side of cookies and will use her powers for good instead of evil. Of course, she faced her fear once Prof refused to give her any cookies at their meetings. 2
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 Of course, she faced her fear once Prof refused to give her any cookies at their meetings. For most people, this would have been a Despair Event Horizon. For Mizzy, it was the moment she faced her crippling terror and embraced her destiny as a hero--the HERO of COOKIES. 3
Kobold King he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 "the HERO of COOKIES." "I write these words in cookie dough, for anything not inscribed in dough cannot be trusted." 8
Mestiv he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) So, I see you have doubts about his resisting his epicness because of how strong his powers are. So how about we cut out the reflex and change telekinesis to something else? I'd really like him to keep his invulnerability, beacuse it is sometimes hard to hide and allows him to have moral dillemas "to save or not to save". As for Edgedancers doubts considering the weakness, the is a logical AND between those two points. That way he cann't be hurt by someone who hates all epics and there is a point for him to try and make everyone like him. Was there in any of your games an epic who wanted to remain sane and not use powers? I have read only one thread so far. Edited July 20, 2015 by Mestiv
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) So, I see you have doubts about his resisting his epicness because of how strong his powers are. So how about we cut out the reflex and change telekinesis to something else? I'd really like him to keep his invulnerability, beacuse it is sometimes hard to hide and allows him to have moral dillemas "to save or not to save". As for Edgedancers doubts considering the weakness, the is a logical AND between those two points. That way he can be hurt by someone who hates all epics and there is a point for him to try and make everyone like him. Was there in any of your games an epic who wanted to remain sane and not use powers? I have read only one thread so far. If you wanted it to be easier for him to resist the corruption, it might be more effective to cut out the invulnerability and make his other power(s) active powers that can only be engaged by choice. A passive power would be impossible to resist using; it would be like trying to resist tasting things. There are a handful of Epics in The Dalles who want to stay sane, but for all of them it's very difficult. If Matthew wanted to resist the corruption by not using his powers, he would be continually fighting the urge to use them and would probably slip up on more than one occasion. Edited July 20, 2015 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 So, I see you have doubts about his resisting his epicness because of how strong his powers are. So how about we cut out the reflex and change telekinesis to something else? I'd really like him to keep his invulnerability, beacuse it is sometimes hard to hide and allows him to have moral dillemas "to save or not to save". As for Edgedancers doubts considering the weakness, the is a logical AND between those two points. That way he cann't be hurt by someone who hates all epics and there is a point for him to try and make everyone like him. Was there in any of your games an epic who wanted to remain sane and not use powers? I have read only one thread so far. Invulnerability is actually a power that is rahter easiy to hide, as long as he doesn't jump into something that would obviously injure him and with the ability to manipulate things from a distance, which is much more subtle and extremly hard to trace back to him, he would rarely need to do that. Doubetly so given that in whoever's way he got by acting as a meat shild would activate his weakness, meaning that in turn he would die anyway. To relterate my point on his weakness, it's not the weakness itself I have problem with but how useless it makes the power that should by all rights constantly corrupt him immensly. It's kind of the point of the Dalles but they do have a surrounding keeping them in check and aren't this powerful.
Mestiv he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 All right, I see your point. I wonder if his character would be plausible if I drop the resisting and holding back part. He gets to use his powers normally, but still has to figure out how to make both Epics and Vanillas like him, so he wont be killed by a simple stab in the back. What do you think? Constant struggle to avoid taking sides, many lies to maintain good relations... 1
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 All right, I see your point. I wonder if his character would be plausible if I drop the resisting and holding back part. He gets to use his powers normally, but still has to figure out how to make both Epics and Vanillas like him, so he wont be killed by a simple stab in the back. What do you think? Constant struggle to avoid taking sides, many lies to maintain good relations... As I said earlier, the more Epic-like response would be emotional abuse and psychological manipulation. He could use his powers violently to impress Rainmaker, but I do agree with Edge that it still needs tweaking to make it less easily triggered.
Kobold King he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Personally I love how easy it is to trigger his weakness, since that's something we really haven't seen in the RP so far. Having him resisting his corruption is a little far-fetched, but I love the idea of having him trying his best to be an evil overlord without anyone overtly hating him. 1
Edgedancer he/him Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 Personally I love how easy it is to trigger his weakness, since that's something we really haven't seen in the RP so far. Having him resisting his corruption is a little far-fetched, but I love the idea of having him trying his best to be an evil overlord without anyone overtly hating him. Oh I agree that the weakness is something different from what we've seen before, I just think it doesn't work well together with a passive PI. Maybe setting up some kind of figure head for himself to take the blame?
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted July 20, 2015 Author Posted July 20, 2015 Personally I love how easy it is to trigger his weakness, since that's something we really haven't seen in the RP so far. Having him resisting his corruption is a little far-fetched, but I love the idea of having him trying his best to be an evil overlord without anyone overtly hating him. We don't really see it much in canon, though, either. I also like the idea of an overlord who can't have his people hate him, but the canon weaknesses we see aren't this easy to set off. Something like compliments or smoke can be triggered pretty easily, but they're things that are possible to get rid of. Even Steelheart could ensure someone like David's father never set off his weakness again. With this weakness, it's almost guaranteed that with someone like Sam, any attempt to make those people like him will only increase their hatred, leaving killing them as his only recourse, ensuring more and more people will hate him as he struggles with damage control.
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