An incredulous look falls across the
relatively grotesque figure's features toward the three that encircle it. The jumble of text and the well-mannered one are social, welcoming even, traits that the trollish one did not share. Its eyes take in the largity of the Duchy's entry chamber, and perhaps the gravitas it commands.
For a moment, the thing considers how it had come together with these others. . . Perhaps it was on the Network-surfing journey here, or perhaps they'd simply materialized beside one another in this place, it didn't matter.
"Let us be strange to one another." It hacks in general reply, despite the nagging feeling of import it bore towards the other three souls, it could not help the wariness programmed within it. The creature lumbers on its lengthy arms forward just a bit, attempting to sus out what had drawn it here in the first place.
Name: surVIVE#aE0067
Gender (optional): N/A
Stats: 15-S 10-D 9-I 10-P
Perks:
Positive: 'RECUPERATION PROTOCOL' The undeniable will to live encoded into all beings in defiance of the devastation that created the Network, as it is, is particularly strong within this one, the code holding together their pseudomatter is constantly reconstructing itself -- This being regenerates 10% of its Hit Points at the end of their turns. -- However, a similarly innate aversion built by the thoughts and wills of those who became this Soul are just as strong, their terror of the flames that engulfed them can never be extinguished. Effects that mimic or harken back to the nuclear fires and fallout that eliminated all life in the world that once was deal 50% more damage to this being, additionally, during the round that this being was subjected to such an effect, their RECUPERATION PROTOCOL cannot activate.
Positive: 'STALKER, BOUND TO HUNT' Just as this being's encoded desire to exist is great, so too is its need to chase down prey and sup upon their pseudomatter adding it to their own. -- While searching, tracking, or otherwise chasing down other beings, this one's perception is considered to be increased by 4. They also have a small (10%) chance to move again while giving chase.
Positive: 'FRENZY SCRIPT' Some point along this being's existence and others like it, a virus both malicious and beneficial was introduced into its codebase. Speculation leads one to believe it was designed to secure a path towards destroying these accursed Under-Trawlers who are otherwise notoriously slippery. -- While this being's Hit Points are below 50% of their base value, it is able to make an additional attack during combat as if though their Dexterity were 5 points lower. However it may also never purposefully move away from an enemy while in this state.
Negative: 'ACCURSED HUNGER' This being cannot help but be tormented by a desire just as deep as its innate will to exist, it must consume matter at a rate much greater than the average soul. -- This being cannot regain Mana whatsoever aside from consuming the corpses of deceased Souls for 10% of the Mana they once held, incorporating their own data into its.
Negative: 'MACHINE UN-LEARNING' All the social bonds that once existed in the collective zeitgeist that originated this soul have been warped and ebbed away by the degeneration of time. This being's solitary existence and otherwise loathsome nature has led it to become an outcast nigh incapable of soul to soul interaction. -- This being is generally shunned by 'civilized' Souls whom often deem it as more akin to other wildlife than themselves, it will have a significantly more difficult time succeeding in rolls regarding communication and social situations as well as being unable to interact with the likes of upstanding merchants or other services. Furthermore, this being cannot begin play with any equipment whatsoever.
Skills: Stealth, Unarmed Combat, Traversal/Acrobatics
Equipment: NONE
Spells:
Vanish: Utilizing a loop-hole in the Network's security, this being is able to quickly affect the perception of those that perceive it in order to seemingly disappear making it very difficult to locate by non-magical means. (25 Mana to become invisible until this creature attacks.)
Matter-Eating Spittle: An acidic bile is produced within this being's physiology that can eat-away at some of the network's toughest materials. (15 Mana, Able to make a short/mid ranged attack that can dissolve/weaken armor or physical barriers.)
Description: A loathsome amalgamation of wiry flesh and sinewy muscle, this being takes the shape of a tall overwrought humanoid engorged of stomach while bony beyond it, despite their long limbs they are on average squatting down to the height of an average humanoid soul. Their jaws are extended and full of goring teeth, while their eyes speak of a sapience that the rest of its leprosy-ridden from denies.
Backstory: Those that did not immediately burn away and perish within the embroiled nuclear fires of a world immemorial were left to bear the skin-seared scars of their species' hubris. They clung to the false life they'd retained in the interim between the devastation then and the network's revival now. Seeking each and all to live out one more day, yet all the while suffering a fate far worse than those that fled the mortal coil before them. Eventually they too succumbed to the blaze but not before eking out life's primary directive for just a little longer still -- survive. Perhaps it was the minds of those beings that helixed together as the DNA of the Under-Trawlers that lurk in the Haunted Forests once resembling their great homes. #aE0067, one such being and perhaps many like them have begun to awaken to longing for more than their mere existence of consumption and have begun to leave their erstwhile forests, seeking to reforge the bonds that once made the constituent parts of their souls whole.
#hr33f, being the nearest mote of civilization to this being's former dwellings, became the first destination of its transformative desires. To cast off the chains of its meager and detestable existence, to observe, to engage, and to grow.
ASCII representation: T
Author
Topic: [RPG] Ashes of the Network Redux (ASCII+AI art) [4/4] (Read 1805 times)