The age of man has ended, and an age of monsters has begun. Nobody really knows where they came from, but ever since they showed up twelve years ago, the most troubling matter has been how to kill them, before they kill us. Bullets and arrows bounce off of their hides without leaving so much as a scratch, and even weapons made from steel strong enough to cut them are corroded away to nothing by the caustic mana in their blood. But they’re not invincible. A couple of government-sponsored programs have been created to fight them, using their own weapons to turn the tide of war against them. You are one of these new “Slayers”, having joined the program and survived the training exercises, although only time will tell if you’ll show the same aptitude in the field.
This is a semi-serious 6-man D20 game in which the players are more or less post-apocalyptic soldiers who hunt monsters. Kinda like Fallout meets Lovecraft meets Monster Hunter, with a little bit of Madoka Magica and thrown into the mix for good measure.
Monsters: Strange creatures which suddenly appeared on Earth twelve years ago, seemingly from nowhere. There are countless different types which differ in appearance and behavior, although all appear to be carnivorous, leading to the question of how they've managed to become so prolific without a stable food-web. The current accepted reason for this is that a reality-warping substance in their blood, known as mana, allows them to function without food for vast periods of time.
Mana: A substance occurring naturally in the blood of monsters, which is capable of warping reality around it. While extremely useful, the very nature of mana makes it almost impossible to safely contain, and its habit of instantly dissolving anything that it comes in contact with adds yet another layer of defense to monsters.
Slicer: The first successful weapon to utilize mana, slicers are bladed weapons which use mana in order to cut through monster hide, which is impervious to regular weapons. While older slicers were designed solely for cutting, many newer ones are capable of using mana for other purposes as well, such as bending reality for the wielder or wreathing the blade in flames or toxic gasses. Slicers should be kept properly fueled with mana at all times, for an empty slicer will begin to degrade the body of its wielder in order to fuel itself, which can lead to serious medical complications.
Reaper: Created in order to supply Slicers with mana, Reapers are weapons featuring a bludgeon on one side in order to stun monsters, as well a long syringe on the other side in order to harvest mana. The more mana that they absorb, the stronger the wielder becomes, although carrying too much mana in a single weapon brings the risk of a magical meltdown, which can have catastrophic effects. Because of this, it is important for Reaper-wielders to inject excess mana into mana-consuming weapons whenever possible.
Blaster: A ranged weapon capable of condensing mana into projectiles such as bullets and arrows, which are then fired. While generally lacking the special effects of Slicers, the range and shot variety more than make up for it, and each Blaster model possesses its own special shot type, making them incredibly diverse weapons. Blasters should be kept properly fueled at all times, for the same reasons as Slicers.
Siphon: Originally created to harvest mana from monsters at a distance, 'Siphon' has become a catch-all term for any ranged weapon which doesn't release mana while attacking. Due to this loose categorization, there is no effective way to describe them as a whole, although those which build up mana during use should be used to fuel Blasters and Slicers in order to prevent a meltdown.
Armor: While armor capable of resisting the effects of mana has been in development since even before Slicers, a breakthrough has yet to be made. While the bones and hides of monsters could theoretically be used to provide some degree of protection, armor made from such would be too cumbersome to be practical. Shields were also considered at one point, but because all current slaying weapons require two hands to wield effectively, the idea was quickly scrapped.
Fort Arundel: Located in the southern part of the region formerly known as Great Britain, Arundel is both the largest population center and the largest military base in Europe. Due to the relatively docile nature of the monsters that surround it, Aurndel is a common place for rookies to be sent before they are sent to either the mainland to the south or Fort Hadrian in the north.
Superhardened Steel: The main material for weapons during the early age of monsters, superhardened steel is incredibly lightweight, and is one of the few materials capable of holding an edge sharp enough to cut through monster hide. However, like most metals, it is corroded by mana, which makes it only a so-so weapon against monsters.
Name: What are you called?
Gender: To quote a famous professor, "Are you a boy, or a girl?"
Age: How old are you?
Appearance: Doesn't need to be too fancy, but it'd be nice to be able to picture what the party looks like.
Backstory: SOMETHING must've convinced you that your calling in life was using giant weapons to hunt giant beasts. Feel free to add how you acted in training as well.
Perks: Any sort of small bonus or bonuses that fit your character. Each perk must be offset by a quirk.
Quirks: Any sort of small hindrance or hindrances that fit your character. Each quirk you have allows you to have one perk.
*Please, no more than 3 sets of perks and quirks. For my sanity.
Gender : Male.
Age : 27.
Appearance : Short brown hair, bright blue eyes, lean and well muscled.
Back story : Harvey is a relatively calm guy, he doesn't get angry or worked up by anything and considers anything that requires effort to be a pain, he also takes a great deal of pleasure in food and works out regularly despite considering both actions to be a waste of time better spent sleeping.
Perks : Slicer Mana burn mod. ( Drains mana upon hit to burn enemies and recharge itself. ) Flash dance. ( Able to expend mana to move faster then the eye can see. ) Magic healing. ( Expends mana to heal at an inhuman rate. )
Quirks : Inept aimer. ( His aims so bad he's incapable of using ranged weapons. ) Low I.Q. ( He's fast and tough but has the brains of a tree frog. ) Death before dishonor. ( Will almost never retreat from battle, even when facing suicidal odds. )
sex:male
age:23
backstory:he was a thief who often broke his enemies bones by stabbing them with daggers, when he heard about the slayers he joined because he thought that monster bones and hides would be valuable(and to get a weapon better than the daggers he was using before.
perks:
strong
stealthy
fast
quirks:
low health
low willpower
low intelligence
Gender: Boy
Age: 25
Appearance: This man makes you think of a placid lake. He has slanted gunmetal-gray eyes. His silky, curly, brown hair is worn in a style that reminds you of a bird's wing. He is short and has a boyish build. His skin is china-white. He has full lips and wide feet. His wardrobe is uncomplicated.
Backstory: He head that he could protect people and hit big things with other big things. Despite what you would think he acted very by the books during training and tried to get on the instructors good side.
Perks: Heavy hitter
Quirks: Over zealous.
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Appearance: Shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes. 5'8". Athletic build.
Backstory:
Perks: Explosives Expert (Really good with explosives), Focus (When focusing, can easily find things or figure things out) Pyrokinesis (Can use mana to control fire and plasma)
Quirks: Horrific Aim (Can't hit the broad side of a barn), Focus (When NOT focusing, is rather absent-minded), Cryophobic (Fear of Cold)
Gender: Possibly female
Age: N/A
Appearance: A large amount of ridiculous robes.
Backstory:
Yukkuri is an odd individual, as everything seems to go wrong for her. She prefers not to be around other people for this reason, and gets nervous and acts eccentric when people approach her. Despite this, she does her best to help people, even minor successes will motivate her past her failures. At the time of the age of monsters, Yukkuri hid back underground before resurfacing to find that the surface world was covered in monsters. Will miraculous luck, Yukkuri just barely managed to pass for a slayer of monsters. Yukkuri trained alone, trying to not make eye contact with the other members of her team.
Perks: Immune to personality change, Horrible luck aura
Quirks: Incredibly awkward in any social situation, Everything seems goes wrong for Yukkuri
Gender: Boy(you were asking for it)
Age: 18(it been awhile)
Appearance:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Backstory:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Perks: Hardy, Champion,/ Pet monster(Pikachu, but everyone think it a monster)
Quirks: Mute, Rival(Blue),/ insane(I live in a mountain for 8 years by myself)
If after the / remove if too OP.
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Appearance: She has purple hair done up in a bright blue ribbon, and white robes with a blue overlay. Very slight of frame and physically weak as a result.
Backstory: Dad did it. So I do it too!
Perks: Unstoppable Cheer - Nothing can bring Leona down! She's just so gosh darn bubbly and everybody can't help loving it! [Leona's squad works harder due to high morale]
Support Class - Leona is inclined to help others. She loves it, and is pretty good at it from all the practice she's had. [Leona is effective in a supporting role]
Quirks: So Much Cheer D: - Leona's cheer can be pretty annoying someti- seriously just shut up! I'm trying to talk right now! [Leona's Unstoppable Cheer bonus has a chance of temporarily becoming a malus]
Frail - She never did have much time for exercise, and all the excitement she puts herself through weakens her physique. [Leona is ineffective in direct combat, and possesses very little physical strength]
Gender: male
Age: 24
Appearance: The word that comes to mind when viewing Konicek is cold. His skin is always freezing: it's an unnatural grey, and his short hair is white. His eyes are like chips of ice: hard and emotionless. His clothes are thick and waterproof even in the heights of summer, with heavy-duty leather boots. His voice is low and scratchy, like someone in the beginnings of a cold.
Backstory: Konicek hails from a compound that hunted monsters for a living. A bizarre cult, it stockpiled weapons for the prophesied apocalypse. When it arrived, they didn't just lay down and die: they fought. Indoctrinated in the cult from the day he was born, Konicek was sent out to join the Slayer program as part of a diplomatic agreement.
Perks: Cold-blooded: Konicek suffers much less burns than other people.
Hand chopper: Konicek has a hand-axe with a blade made from a sharp monster scale. Deadly, but almost no range, it hacks through wood, flesh, and monster hide alike.
Still as the grave: Konicek is very still, and so also very accurate. When lying still he is very hard to spot.
Quirks: Unnerving stare: people don't like Konicek, and you can't entirely blame them. His face is too immobile - people get creeped out by him when they engage in conversation.
Heavy step: he walks with a steady, heavy stride making plenty of noise when walking or running. The heavy boots don't help.
still as the grave: he can be slow to react to situations such as sudden attacks from the side.
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Appearance: Tall, around 195cm, semi-long black hair pulled back in a pony tail, wide-brimmed fedora made of an odd greenish leather and an almost blood-red duster
Backstory: Sebastian was born to Pyotr Ivan Vasilyev and Eliza Camryn Vasilyev in the eastern part of Great Britain. His father was something of a scientist and engineer with some revolutionary ideas on how to improve upon current weapon designs. Unfortunately before he could finish all his prototypes and bring them before the governmental board in charge of weapons development and deployment his lab was attacked by a trio of unusually powerful monsters for the area. Much of his research was destroyed as well as all but a few of his prototypes. This was 2 years ago. Sebastian found on of his father's weapon prototypes and began practising with it before joining the military.
Perks:
Prototype weapon
Duster made from wool of a shaggy fire-breathing monster
In-human strength (father used him as a guinea pig to test some serums made from monster parts, strong enough to wield normal slicers one-handed)
Quirks:
Black-balled/enemies, many of the generals in the upper echelons feel wronged by his father in some form and get their revenge by hindering Sebastian whenever they can
Monsters tend to single him out during combat, possibly because of the scent of his duster
Unknown side-effects that have yet to surface from the many experiments his father put him through
Author
Topic: Manaburn: An Apocalyptic Monster-Hunting RPG: Back at the base (Read 9903 times)