Theo Anders and the Black Exaltation[Worm/Exalted][Hiatus]

[AZATHOTHoth]

[X]A circle with a starburst around it, like someone drew a sun!" - Dusk (General/Soldier/Champion of the Dead)(Firearms, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War)
[X](That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

 

[Selias]

Theo's caste:
[X]A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Drive, Sail, Socialize)
What do you tell him?
[X] That he's an asshole.

 

[evildice]

NAME IDEAS

[X] Ebon Blade of Midnight Slaughter
"Really, son? Your cape name starts with Ebony?"
"Daaad! I'm trying to show off the family thing by drawing attention to my sword."
"It is a nice sword. In spite of being black."
"FINE. Pick something white. I'll see what I can do."
"How about skulls? They're nice and white. Oh, and Krieg had some nice replica insignia skulls..."

[X] Silver Skull Terror
"Hmm. But you're not going to look anything like Red Skull."
"Who?"
"People see Skull in your name, and you're fighting for fascism, they're going to have expectations."

[X] Cenotaph of Laughter and Hope
"Oh, and then people will read it because they think it's written by notes?"
"Shut up, Dad."

[X] Terminal Nadir
"Your cape name is basically asserting that it already got worse, and it's never getting better."
"Yeah, I think that basically assures my protagonist status in Worm."


BUILD STUFF

Yeah not sure about the power of Charm-stealing in Worm. Sealing covenants is a decent perk, but I'd rather have Day caste's abilities all favored, or easy access to Necromancy.

[X] not-Twilight, with a focus on Necromancy and raising an army of skeletons to go with our replica nazi skull motif.

[X] not-Night, with a focus on Larceny and Stealth, because we are actively seeking behaviors dad would not like if he knew about them... but he'll never know! Because Stealth! Also, Dodge charms.

 

[1986ctcel]

Soo in order to piss off Theo's dad the most how about we try and add Aisha/Sophia and Alec to his "harem" then Theo will be in a "bi-sexual interracial threesome"

 

[ShadowAngelBeta]

Bureaucracy is hilariously overpowered and far reaching in the modern age.

So we should either get that caste or favor it and socialize... well, if we;re choosing what we favor anyway.

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

You guys are playing Theo so I intend to leave it up to you. He is yours to mould.

The current plan of action is to tally the vote(but not close it) when I get home from work. The votes will close when I wake up tomorrow(depending on how early my dog gets me up before I have to be up, the final tally will be posted too, otherwise I'll be thinking about what to write based of a quick and dirty count). Tonight will be another world building snip and some research on bbcode so I can pretty some things up, and have space for special rules, character sheet, and other such stuff.

 

[dasstan]

[X] The Dark Prince
[X] A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, Socialize)
[X] (That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

edit: Terminal Nadir is growing on me. It's concise and accurate.

 

[cyberswordsmen]

[X]A circle with a starburst around it, like someone drew a sun!" - Dusk (General/Soldier/Champion of the Dead)(Firearms, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War)
[X](That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

 

[Valor]

[X] The Dark Prince
[X]A disk... I... I think it blinked at me!" - Midnight (Priest/PR/Entertainer of the Dead)(Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival)
[X](That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

Let's make the Empire incredibly popular, moreso than the Protectorate. Huehuehuehue!

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

Current vote tallies!

Theo's Abyssal name:
[1]Cenotaph of Laughter and Hope
Votes: Jack of Olives

[5]The Dark Prince
Votes: SwiftRosenthal, Biigoh, Happerry, dasstan, Valor

Theo's caste:
[3]A circle with a starburst around it, like someone drew a sun!" - Dusk (General/Soldier/Champion of the Dead)(Firearms, Martial Arts, Melee, Thrown, War)
Votes: AZATHOTHoth, Selias, cyberswordsmen

[5]A disk... I... I think it blinked at me!" - Midnight (Priest/PR/Entertainer of the Dead)(Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival)
Votes: Jack of Olives, SwiftRosenthal, Anasurimbor, unsafejakal, Valor

[0]A smiley face of blood with no eyes, spooky." - Daybreak (Mad-Scientist/Necromancer/Doctor of the Dead)(Craft, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Occult)
Vote count:

[1]A ring, like Max should be putting on our fingers some day soon! Except, you know, not made of blood..." - Day (Assassin/SneakySpy/Thief of the Dead)(Athletics, Awareness, Dodge, Larceny, Stealth)
Vote count: Drak4806

[3]A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Drive, Sail, Socialize)
Vote count: Biigoh, Happerry. dasstan

What do you tell him?
[0](You think you're a parahuman) I think I'm a parahuman.
Vote count:

[6](That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.
Vote count: SwiftRosenthal, unsafejakal, AZATHOTHoth, dasstan, cyberswordsmen, Valor

[3](Tell him about the vision, but coached in words he would recognize (eg Freja, not the Lover)) I... I saw this woman...
Vote count: Anasurimbor, Biigoh, Happerry

- The world just greyed out... and I think I saw this woman... *pause in silence and memory of just how fucking HOT she was* And then everything started to move again... and erm... *look at where the wound USED to be* I got better?(Bii's addition votes: Biigoh, Happerry)

[1](Tell him the whole truth as you know it) The world greyed out and I was offered a deal.
Vote count: Jack of Olives,

[1]That he's an asshole.
Vote count: Selias

evildice and unsafejakal , I need you to narrow down your vote to one option in each vote category, please.

It looks like The Dark Prince of the Midnight Caste will be telling Max Anders that he is a parahuman unless some votes change (please let me knooooww) or more voters show up. Voting is open to ~7 am tomorrow.

 

[Hextroyer413]

[X] The Dark Prince
[X]A disk... I... I think it blinked at me!" - Midnight (Priest/PR/Entertainer of the Dead)(Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival)
[X](Tell him the whole truth as you know it) The world greyed out and I was offered a deal.

Truth is the best policy.

 

[Selias]

Truth is the best policy.

Click to shrink...

Now when you're being honest with your super-villain neo-Nazi father that just stabbed you in the chest for saying something he disagreed with.

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

Initially, when Parahumans first started appearing, there was a huge spike in deaths related to gang violence. Parahuman gangers were no better, or rather no different, than their unpowered compatriots. Then the Protectorate came along, and criminal parahumans, for the most part, cranked it down a few notches. The number of intra-gang deaths plummeted as most gang involved Parahumans didn't wish for a kill-order (back then it was much easier to have called down on you), or even be noticeable that the eventual Triumvirate and Hero came down on them.

Then the Endbringers happened, and getting a kill-order became far more difficult to get. Eventually the Birdcage was completed, and many people, including lots of parahuman criminals are unsure of what is worse. Dying, or living out the rest of your days in a small sterile world never to see the sun again.

But in the atmosphere of capes, even villainous ones, not killing people (all the time) had become a cultural thing, by then, that spread through many gangs via osmosis (The Teeth, out of Boston are an example of a notable exception. Those guys are pretty fucking nuts). Gang capes, like the powered members of the E88, usually don't kill people. Directly. Its commonplace for gang villains to use minions/thugs to kill people instead of doing themselves, in order to avoid the scrutiny. The most common victim of being killed by a cape (bar the Endbringers or the Slaughterhouse 9) is still to be a thug in a gang, during an altercation between gangs. The number of gang members killed by an opposing gangs cape barely out numbers the number of deaths cause by the Slaughterhouse 9 each year. That's still in the thousands-tens of thousands range. (The number of casualties (including the wounded) caused by the SH9 dwarfs everything but the Endbringers and other natural disasters.)

Now-a-days the only time gang member deaths are high is when a full on gang war happens. The usual posturing of various gangs around the country doesn't usually result in a lot of deaths in comparison. Brutal maimings and vicious assaults are the most common form of 'extreme' gang violence. Low-level gang members -do- still die to other gang's low-level members, but the rate was higher decades ago, fire-fights still break out between gangs. Gang villains are still struck by a bullet and die every now and again, but most gang villains are enough of a show of power that other gangs send their capes out to meet in just-barely-non-lethal-but-highly-likely-to-leave-you-a-cripple-for-life-if-it-doesn't-kill-you combat, which ends up keeping many of those capes alive to fight Endbringers.

What this means for us is that villains, even members of a gang like the E88, aren't going around and killing people. (There are some notable exceptions) Many villains -have- killed more than one someone directly on purpose, but most of the time its done indirectly via an unpowered gang member or piled onto the designated killer(or killers) of the gang. (Hookwolf has a very impressive kill count for a villain, he's the go to guy in the Empire if you want someone dead, but Kaiser's hands are fairly clean if we are only counting people he's killed with his powers and not the deaths that he's ordered)

The 'Cops and Robbers Atmosphere' and the 'Unwritten Rules' do exist to some degree, because all hands that will fight the Endbringers are needed, so its fostered through PR(It has been becoming more attractive to be a hero or a rogue in recent years, and a lot of small time villains stay small time in hopes they might be able to break away from crime), Contessa/Number Man/Cauldron bullshit, legal deals, fear of the full might of the PRT/Protectorate, and other such machinations.

Theo can go around murdering fucktons of people, but that draws fucktons of attention, almost all of it bad. Remember Bakuda going off the rails and the gang alliance to take her down? Yeah, that gang alliance happened because the various villains didn't want the hammer to come smashing down on -all- of them. Alexandria is a very big hammer, Legend is a rainbow of hurt, and That-Fucking-Trump Eidolon wrecks pretty much everybody's shit. Being free and alive to enjoy the fruits of crime is a big motivator for such actions. Since he's Exalted, that eventually won't scare him at all, but until then, its something to consider.

=====

Also prettied up the index.

 

[TheAlec]

Dark Prince seems a popular name but its a bit too generic for the circumstances. If Theo is going to be a Nazi Death Knight then he has plenty of more interesting themes he can draw from.

[X] Herald of the Final Solution
[X]A disk... I... I think it blinked at me!" - Midnight (Priest/PR/Entertainer of the Dead)(Integrity, Performance, Presence, Resistance, Survival)
[X](Tell him the whole truth as you know it) The world greyed out and I was offered a deal.

 

[Biigoh]

Guys.... tanuki are to be trusted.

Especially if they're going META.

The reason I selected Moonshadow is because the 5 caste abilities are supplemented by 5 favored ability that we can choose.

So if you're looking at 'caste' ability for power theme. Don't.

We can be just AS killy as the Dusk or as impressive and presentable as the Midnight while playing the Moonshadow.

The anima ability is where the Moonshadow shines. As Dusk only makes you scary which you can get with Presence charms, while the Midnight raise zombies from dead bodies by touch, which can be replicated as well.

The Moonshadow power is oddly one that can't be replicated.

Also Moonshadow get diplomatic immunity amongst supernatural beings.

 

[Biofan09]

...I trust Tanuki.

[X] Terminal Nadir.
[X] A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, Socialize)
[X] (That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

 

[unsafejakal]

But don't we need to know how much of creation's supernatural world is here to see if it would be any good?

 

[evildice]

I'm supposed to just pick one instead of writing a dialog explaining why all of them are the best choice? FINE.

[X] Terminal Nadir.


I always trust Tanuki. Especially with regards to drunken parties (Socialize), drunken driving (Ride), drunken piracy (Sail), drunken orgies (Linguistic specialty "Cunning"), and the most drunken office parties (Bureaucracy).

[X] A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, Socialize)


Being dead kind of is our religion now. Fine.

[X] (That was close to an actual religious experience and you remember it vividly, Lie)I think I'm a parahuman.

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

This MAY extend to Parahuman powers depending on our GM.

Click to shrink...

On the Moonshadow anima power and the learning of non-native charms. Theoretically, you could get Theo to make a shadowland and then he can learn some charms from some ghosts. Or if I end up rolling out another Exalt from somewhere (someone from Bet Exalts or an Exalt from Creation happens to wander into the right portion of the Underworld and come out in the shadowland Theo made) just to screw with you guys.

On the note of Parahuman abilities. I was going to say yes, but that it would basically be hideously expensive to use or something that native charms could do better and time intensive to learn them, but then I would have no idea how to write the actual charms appropriately. So. I think its probably going to be a no on parahuman abilities being parsed as charms and learnable as a Moonshadow. I can offer that studying parahuman abilities may count as training time for a similar native charm/ability, depending on the power(the ability/charm and the power have to have some correlation, like you can't study TT's power and get MA charms, but Armsmaster's tech would give training in Craft:Air(since miniaturization would require precision)), in exchange.

I'm supposed to just pick one instead of writing a dialog explaining why all of them are the best choice? FINE.

Click to shrink...

You can write why all of them all the best choice, but I need you to vote on one per category (unless otherwise stated) for countings. You have to choose the best of the best!

(please no be mad at me. We cool?)

Edit: clearing up some wordage.

 

[Biigoh]

Tanuki can write charms..... :3

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

Tanuki can write charms..... :3

Click to shrink...

I would welcome your help then.

Moonshadow anima being able to parse powers as non-native charms is ok. Ruling on packages, ie Alexandria package, Flechette Sting suite, that's a suite of powers and so would require multiple charms to get the whole thing.

They will still be expensive to purchase, and take a while to train/learn. 16 xp plus (min ability + min Essence) weeks (that should be at least 2) of training, so it isn't something trivial to get.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Theo can go around murdering fucktons of people, but that draws fucktons of attention, almost all of it bad. Remember Bakuda going off the rails and the gang alliance to take her down? Yeah, that gang alliance happened because the various villains didn't want the hammer to come smashing down on -all- of them. Alexandria is a very big hammer, Legend is a rainbow of hurt, and That-Fucking-Trump Eidolon wrecks pretty much everybody's shit. Being free and alive to enjoy the fruits of crime is a big motivator for such actions. Since he's Exalted, that eventually won't scare him at all, but until then, its something to consider.

Click to shrink...

Isn't that exact scenario what Stealth and Larceny charms are meant to prevent? We can drop as many bodies as we want... but if we're smart about it, use the proper charms, and have a certain blonde Thinker ensnared under Unholy Unwitting Pact, then nobody will be able to trace it back to us.

 

[Least Devotee]

[X] Plan Bii

 

[Skitzyfrenic]

Isn't that exact scenario what Stealth and Larceny charms are meant to prevent? We can drop as many bodies as we want... but if we're smart about it, use the proper charms, and have a certain blonde Thinker ensnared under Unholy Unwitting Pact, then nobody will be able to trace it back to us.

Click to shrink...

It'll still draw attention. These bodies, if discovered, come from fucking somewhere. But it is feasible to be a serial killer the likes that no one has ever seen, which means the 9 are probably going to show up sooner rather than later to sniff out the killer for possible recruitment...

And while they've been covered enough to not be scary anymore, they are pretty scary if you think about it.

So better be really slick, if that's the plan.

 

[Jack of Olives]

*snip*

Click to shrink...

Hm... not sure if the diplomatic immunity thing will work, but what the heck; I'll trust the tricksy Tanuki.

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Bii mostly wants Moonshadow for Solaroid charms, right? Behold:

UNCONQUERED HERO'S FAITH
Cost: —; Mins: Integrity 5, Essence 4; Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite Charms: Integrity Essence Flow
Within every Abyssal lies a dim and flickering hope, a shining spark of Solar glory that no necromancy or unholy darkness can entirely suppress. Tapping into this legacy, a deathknight with this Charm may learn Solar Charms as if she were a member of the Moonshadow Caste. In addition, she may accept a point of Resonance to activate a Solar Mirror of a known Abyssal Charm as if she knew the Mirror. It is not possible to use an Abyssal Charm while its Mirror remains active or vice versa, nor may an Abyssal copy a Mirror if either Charm is permanent. As a final side effect, deathknights who know this Charm automatically pass into Lethe upon their demise rather than Oblivion. It is not yet known if a Solar analogue is possible that enables a Lawgiver to learn Abyssal Charms and delivers her to Oblivion upon death.

Click to shrink...

If we want Infernal charms too, we can simply use that to pick up PPE/PPI, as it only requires Apocalyptic Evolution of Occult, Glory to the Most High (mirrored to World-Ending Void Apostle, which we wouldn't want because its prerequisite is mutually exclusive with UHF) and Sorcery, which is not mirrored to Necromancy. For parahuman abilities, the only Exalts with locked charmsets are the Sids, so we would just study their powers and create charm equivalents the slow way.

 

[namelis]

[X]Um
[X] A dot inside a circle. Is the dot falling into a pit?" - Moonshadow (TalkySpy/Diplomat/Businessman of the Dead)(Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Ride, Sail, Socialize)
[X](Tell him the whole truth as you know it) The world greyed out and I was offered a deal.

yes I vote for his name to be Um no I don't expect it to win and why not tell the truth I want to see the reaction to that

 

[Biigoh]

Bii mostly wants Moonshadow for Solaroid charms, right? Behold:

If we want Infernal charms too, we can simply use that to pick up PPE/PPI, as Sorcery and Necromancy are not Mirrored. For parahuman abilities, the only Exalts with locked charmsets are the Sids, so we would just study their powers and create charm equivalents the slow way.

Click to shrink...

Noh... Bii does NOT want more Solaroid charms... it is EVERY OTHER CHARM out there... also Seal the Deal anima power...

 

[SwiftRosenthal]

Noh... Bii does NOT want more Solaroid charms... it is EVERY OTHER CHARM out there... also Seal the Deal anima power...

Click to shrink...

I don't see the point of learning non-Solaroid charms. Solaroids are thematically better than anyone else at whatever they choose to learn, so why bother?

(Except for Sids, obviously, but Sids are hax and nobody likes them.)

 

[Biigoh]

I don't see the point of learning non-Solaroid charms. Solaroids are thematically better than anyone else at whatever they choose to learn, so why bother?

(Except for Sids, obviously, but Sids are hax and nobody likes them.)

Click to shrink...

You mean like when you WANT to do something a solar can't do due to thematics? Like elemental effects? Or OH MY GOD! Faster healing such as dragonblooded use? or unspeakably good spirit extra action charms or essence storage tanks? or shape-shifting charms? or wait... raksha have BETTER defensive charms that are not perfect effects?

Do not buy into the myth that Solaroids are best at everything... they're good at somethings... but every other types have effects that solars might want.