Rules of Engagement (Prototype/MCU)

[FixerUpper]

THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
​

You are not human.

You were never human. You were a science project. You were a line on a page, a random string of digits, a codename, something suitably ironic and moronic; you were the note scrawled in the margins of underground grant applications for the funds to keep the lights on and the incubators warm. You were nothing.

You were injected in both immortalized cell lines and animal specimens, grown on petri dishes and in living beings, spun around in centrifuges, preserved in paraffin, sliced with a microtome, looked at through a microscopes - and, we're a little late in mentioning this - killed. Oh yes, you were killed. A thousand thousand iterations of you were quickened, mutilated, strung out, replicated, and tossed out for dissection and observation until one day there was an accident.

Until one day you were free.

If you had feelings, they might have resembled ecstasy.

Then some fuckass had to go start shooting blue death lasers everywhere.

-----

Spoiler: fuckass

-----

So, turns out the one responsible was a passing alien army.

This has its ups and downs. Ups: you're free! Downs: everybody's dead, Dave.

Why's that a down? Well, ideally, you would have first consumed a living host. A passing alien army isn't exactly subtle though. The impact that shattered your containment and freed you also pulverized the entire floor you were on and smashed most of the existing biomass into paste.

You don't complain. You're not exactly a picky eater, or a picky anything. There was food and so you ate. Hungrily, ravenously, from drop of blood to chip of bone, and sliver of meat, dark tentacles exploding out of your diminutive form to take in sustenance from the most minute of possibilities. But there is a price for that. There was no focus. No core identity around which to build. You have fragments - men and women panting and braying with laughter as they stumbled into each other as water fell from the sky tasting like blood in your mouth as you worked your jaw around around and gave a thumbs up to the fragility of your latest conquest for Lord Thanos, master of all the universe, basking in the cold certainty that strapped to an operating table they would ask you to start working right away because a bachelor's in science is merely-

Nonsense. White noise. Beyond your comprehension. You barely retain enough to think in more than bundled bursts of instinct. You can barely speak. It's too little and too much.

When you build a body for yourself, it's misshapen, ugly. Worse, ungainly. It doesn't move quite right, doesn't move like you remember it should, but your memories of motion are all subtly different, all subtly wrong. You have to start from scratch more than once. For the first time in your 'life' you are flush with biomass, but even so it all goes away so quickly, stretches your resources thin. In the end, you have to use one of the shells, more or less intact, and use it as scaffolding.

The resulting body would probably be, from a disinterested party's perspective, fucking horrifying. A human head crafted with the chitauri aesthetics of a lipless mouth and a rigid, bony face. A nose no more than a cavernous hole. A too-large tongue, the color of and consistency of dry tar. Variegated skin, swatches of color in odd places and bloody, bony rivets holding bone and armor together. Body too thickly, densely muscled. It's not natural - the Chitauri are not natural, as much machine as they are alien - but as a temporary fix it'll do.

You can move. You can move fast. You can even, so long as the armor holding you together lasts, hit harder and last longer.

Just in time, too.

The sky is falling. Light, unbelievably bright, unbelievably loud, bolt from the sky and to the clouds to the ground. The whizz-hiss of flying machines drones above you with shocking speed, firing spears of blue light that explode into balls of fire.

The air screams.

You look up.

A flying - you have no word for it - a flying thing, armored and as big as a building, is falling to the ground. Towards you, in fact. Glass shatters and concrete buckles as it brushes the side of a skyscraper. There's a tiny green man on its head, roaring in anger.

You feel a stirring of hunger: you could try to eat that, but it's very quickly tempered by the memories of death that have been literally carved into you.

Nah, you're good. You're gonna run.

You set off at a loping, awkward stride, that is all the more hideous for being as fast as it is. You run perpendicular to the falling behemoth and neatly avoid its fall, but the sound it makes plowing through the ground sets your teeth on edge while the cracks growing around your feet nearly make you stumble.

You run quite a distance.

The human dead litter the streets, most burnt beyond recognition, but many satisfyingly intact. Fewer than you might have thought, but, to the you who had to painstakingly gather enough biomass to form a single body, it's a feast nonetheless. There's the occasional alien body as well, slumped over the debris, crunchy in a rather disgustingly metallic way, but you learn to avoid them as other aliens apparently find it bad form to be snacking on their brethren.

Humans mostly scream and run away. You were curious if they could do anything else, but not that curious after a small human with long hair picked up a chitauri weapon and tried to use it on you while you were trying to consume a big human. You let them be and stuck to the dead.

There's more than enough for you. This is the happiest day of your life.

You aren't human. You don't have a name.

But you do have memories. One of the ones you ate was named Damien.

It's a nice enough name. You think you'll keep it.

-----

Spoiler: a beautiful face

-----

It takes approximately three minutes for you to get bored of eating dead people.

Filling? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Interesting? No. You put the human... uh, the human thing you were gnawing on aside and contemplate your options. Well, less contemplate and more salivate, but the idea's the same.

As mentioned beforehand, your thoughts are not particularly... developed. You're not stupid, but there're missing chunks of evolutionary self-defenses that other creatures have had the time to develop that you haven't. A virus does not regard an organism several orders of magnitude bigger than itself as being dangerous. Why would it be? Could a human fight a virus? Nonsense, a human wouldn't even notice a virus. It's what's closer to your own size that is actually a threat. Antibodies, leukocytes, NK cells, and all that primitive biological machinery that you have far surpassed. At your current scale that thinking is dangerous, but unfortunately everything you have experienced so far has borne that instinct out.

Alien bipeds: dangerous. Human bipeds: dangerous.

Space whales? No. The space whales have kind of just hung around. Acting oblivious. Acting a lot like... prey. And despite your fear of the angry green man, the really big building-sized aliens are the closest thing out there that even vaguely resembles legitimate prey. It is so big it won't even notice you taking out enough biomass to make a small city. In fact, just thinking about consuming one of them gives you a warm, happy glow of satisfaction. It's not enough that you consume dead flesh, you want something living. Something that you can really sink your tendrils into and consume.

You're pretty sure that if you put your mind to it, you can find a way to do so.

The problem, of course, is that they're busy being really far off the ground, and other significantly more dangerous organisms are busy hunting them to the point where you are afraid that there won't be any left for you to consume if you leave it to a secondary priority. What with the angry green man, the angry red and gold man, the angry light from the sky, and all the rest, you're running out of the damn things and if there's one thing that your instincts always inform you is important, it's not running out of prey organisms.

So you try to jump onto one.

You vastly overestimate your own strength: you get maybe six feet off the ground and from the looks of things, you'll need to cover about a million times that distance (you are not very good at judging scale yet. or math. or anything, really).

Hmmm. This is quite a pickle. Not that you know what a pickle is, or why you're in one, it just sounds appropriate.

What do you do?

You think.

You think really hard.

You could try to climb a building and then jump onto one. You're not sure how you would climb the building successfully, but it can't be that hard, there are plenty of people in buildings as far as you can tell, even if it looks very uncomfortable. You're not sure how they move up and down between levels, but clearly they do, you have memories of rising and falling.

There's an enormous crack and then a chitauri behemoth goes hurtling down through the air, carapace blackened, writhing and keening as it begins its trip down.

Maybe if you're really lucky this one won't be dead when it hits the ground.

-----

Spoiler: :(

------

You're not lucky.

-----

Figures.

-----

You gorge yourself on the corpse anyway.

Well, part of the corpse. A very small part. Just a fin-flipper thing. Not even the entire pieces. The aliens are not messing around when it comes to people eating them. If you were smarter you might suspect they have ways of zeroing in on you because they start swarming you like locusts whenever you try.

Oh, well, you got what you came for.

Time to-

A blast of lambent energy nearly sends you pinwheeling into a chunk of armor. You slither away, fast as an ungainly monstrosity, and run. Thoughts of cowardice don't enter the equation: pain is bad, death is bad, you should avoid it at all costs.

Three streets away you stumble into Leah.

Literally stumble into - you run about as well as a drunk person drives, enthusiastically but without much skill as more than one parked car can attest. She's no more than a mouthful nestled in a cardboard wrapper and surrounded by a throne of trash and slowly bleeding out. You stepped on her arm and broke it badly, but it's not the worst of her wounds. Half a leg is simply gone, nothing more than a charred stub, and the coppery tang of blood has soaked through her shirt and caked itself on the ground. Beneath the grime she's shivering and unnaturally pale. She doesn't shriek when you thrust your hideous visage inquisitively above hers and give her an inquisitive sniff. She's not conscious. She is, however, alive. Deliciously so. A tendril sinks into her skin, and then another, and although the process takes seconds and the pain must be excruciating she never opens her eyes.

A connection is made.

You wake up.

-----

Spoiler

-----

Hours later you are alive, and most of the chitauri you consumed are satisfyingly dead and you are off to... other parts.

Less satisfyingly, there's a voice in your head.

It calls itself 'Leah.'

-----

Week 1

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Leah has opinions. Many, many opinions. This would be a more exciting development if so many of her opinions did not revolve around not eating.

You can't!

Case in point.

Your biomass quivers in frustration as you put down the small scrap of feline quadruped and watch it go. It scampers down the dimly lit, trash-ridden alley, and then, proving itself unworthy of its gene pool, comes right back towards you and rubs itself against your legs. You feel strangely touched by this gesture. Also, hungry. All you'd need to is snatch it with a tendril and-

You suspect Leah capable of reading your mind because she tells you, warningly: Don't even think it!

"Why?" you huff. One of the trash bags you were rooting through moments ago falls over, spilling its contents all over the ground. Neither you, Leah, nor the feline react.

It's cute, Leah informs you.

You find this reasoning to be evidence of a defective mind and mention as much as you kneel down to pick up the small creature. It blinks at you. You blink back. Some weird strange part of you wants to scratch its neck and fluff its fur but sanity prevails.

Spoiler

You open your mouth, a strand of saliva being revealed and-

No!

You are uncertain which human mannerism expressing dissatisfaction would be most appropriate and settle with a frown. You don't put the cat back down on the off-chance it'll jump into your mouth (surely no one could complain if you took a nibble then) and give in into the weird and wild impulse to scratch its neck.

It hums. It's a strangely endearing sound.

"Why?" you repeat plaintively.

Because doing that would be... um, well not bad, exactly, but uh, kind of gross?

"You called eating rats gross too," you point out. Leah's favorite word, you discovered within minutes of meeting her, is 'gross'. Well, second to the ever dreaded 'no' anyway. "And cockroaches. And mice. And trash..."

Your expression goes momentarily dreamy. Leah has informed you there exist places where humans just dump out biomass (trash) by the ton. They're called 'dumps'. You can't wait to find one.

Yes, but it's not the same! she says.

You don't see how, honestly. Both are living, both are non-human, both share human habitats, the list goes on. It's been a week since you awoke and most of it was spent not eating. Most of it, in fact, was spent figuring out what was permitted.

Yes, permitted.

Leah has laid out some ground rules. She claims that if you don't follow these rules God will strike you down. You don't know who this 'God' fellow is, but are very impressed when informed he can control thunder and lightning and turn people into salt and knows everything and is all-powerful - he was probably the one hitting all the space whales and knocking them out of the sky. Clearly not someone to trifle with.

So, ground rules: no murdering people or coveting wives. Apparently there are eight other rules, but Leah doesn't remember them, or doesn't think they're very important ('Stealing is more of a guideline than a rule,' she tells you piously when requested to clarify on that score). You're a little worried that you've already coveted a wife, having done a lot of speculative people-eating, but apparently it's a very different sort of coveting.

Right now, you're in a place called 'New Jersey' - pronounced New Joisey. You think it looks a lot like New York minus the aliens but Leah strongly disagrees. Even about the aliens. It's what makes her so useful: if you were to do this all alone, you'd no doubt run into a lot of misunderstandings regarding human things. Leah has led you into a semblance of anonymity that will be very useful because according to Leah there is more than just 'God' to contend with. There're the police who tend to be very mean and have guns, there're 'gangs' who are meaner and bad to boot, there are 'superheroes' of which Leah is a big fan, and 'supervillains' of which she is not. There are even acronymous organizations like the CIA, NSA, FBI, and SHIELD, but Leah doesn't really know much about them though she is of the general opinion it'd be best not to get their attention because rumor has it they're big on dissection.

The aliens are new. Leah's not really sure where they came from. You're new too: Leah hasn't heard of anything like you before. She thinks you might be an alien yourself. You are fairly certain you are not.

There's a sound at the entrance of the alleyway. Boots scraping across pavement. A pipe across a brick wall.

Leah has informed you it's not nice to swear, but it's difficult not to at least think it. Because fucking finally.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here, boys?"

You hide your smile and let the cat go. You're not a wife of any kind, but Leah has told you that people who covet girls that look like you do and do bad things to them are capital-B bad.

And Bad people?

You can eat.

-----

QM Note: So you might be thinking 'wow, this opener is bizarrely long, it's almost like four updates were crammed into the opening post.' And you'd be wrong: it's four and a half - this quest used to exist on a different forum and I am far too lazy to start over with it here even if technical difficulties mean I have to bring it here and take off my very flimsy veil of anonymity and admit that it was me, Dio! FixerUpper who was responsible for it. It's very much inspired by @WarShipper's Something Less Than Human so expect slow-ish power development.

tl;dr: You are the Virus from Prototype and were freed during the attack on New York. Hydra was, through the magic of deleted options, strongly hinted to be responsible for your creation. Leah was a latent Inhuman and now your ghostly NPC cohort because, no joke, the power she rolled from the power wiki (after getting a 92 on her 'what kind of skills would she have roll') was soul transferal. She also got Neutral Good for her alignment roll: I know that'll piss someone off out there, but tis' what happened.

You have - 7/75 biomass and 34.5 xp. Refer to your character sheet for more details.

Due to your meals this week you gain: (Choose 3 skills)
[ ] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[ ] Intimidation II - The ability to scare people. Depending on your appearance you can gain or lose a great deal. At this level, you can reliably scare young children and can let others know you mean business.
[ ] Gun Safety and Maintenance I - You know how to take care of a gun, if not necessarily how to use it.
[ ] Gun Combat II - You can reliably hit a stationary target.
[ ] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[ ] Driving III - You know how to drive a car. You might not be great at it, but at this level you're basically indistinguishable from the average driver.
[ ] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.

After all the training you do to develop yourself, and your restricted diet, you're really hungry. How do you deal with this? (Obligatory Food-Related Action)

[ ] You look for the supposed 'dumps'
[ ] You rob a supermarket at night.
[ ] You Hunt.
-[ ] Who? (what kind of people do you target)
-[ ] How? (how do you hunt them - out in the open, stealthily?)
-[ ] How many? (What's your target number)
[ ] Write-in

What else do you do? (Choose 2. You can pick one of the above options as well)

[ ] Investigate
-[ ] What? (example: Superheroes, Supervillains, etc.)
-[ ] How? (example: newspapers, books, internet)
[ ] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[ ] Choose any number of powers or skills to train so long as you have the requisite XP and biomass
[ ] Develop (without using XP)
-[ ] Choose 1 power or skill. Roll 2d5 to see how much XP is gained. Can pick a power or skill you don't yet have (e.g.: Superstrength) although there must be some sort of justification as to how you got it (example: hunting gorillas and bears). Minimum 10xp necessary to unlock it (you can indicate you're willing to supplement rolled XP with XP reserves). Development of any additional power or skill requires as an additional action slot.
[ ] Socialize/Infiltrate
-[ ] what? (example: local high school, a yachting club, government, laboratory)
-[ ] how? (example: pose as a cop, pose as a journalist, etc.)
[ ] Miscellaneous Action Slot
-[ ] Any action that would take less than five minutes or can be done simultaneously with other actions (e.g.: asking Leah about her past, buying a hot dog, catching rats, etc.)
-[ ] Limited to two miscellaneous actions right now

Spoiler: Powers you can choose to develop right now

Superstrength I - You are stronger than any Olympic athelete, and can kick in doors and dent steel with ease.
Supertoughness I - If someone punches you into concrete, it's a toss up what'll break first.
Superagility I - You react fast enough to be considered something of a ninja. One in training, but, still, ninja.
Supersenses I - Your senses are far more acute than normal people and can make out almost everything within twenty feet of you.

 

[FixerUpper]

Character Profile

Name: Damien
Biomass: 107/200 (very slightly hungry)
Current Exp: 59.5 xp

Inventory

• Money: 3+/10, approx~ 50,000$
• Weapons: 3 knives, 1 revolver, 3 Japanese Ninja Swords, 1 Nunchuck, 4 electrical grenades
• Miscellaneous: Various clothes, Cell Phones, Wallets, Belts, Eric Hope's USB Key, Favor Binder, Hand Costume

NPCs

• Leah Lacroix - A dying girl that you consumed during the Battle of New York. Somehow, she's stuck around.

Powers
Powers and skills are graded from 1 to 10, 1 being at a novice level, 10 being mythical-tier. For the grand majority of humanity, however, the power scale rests at 0 as most individuals are completely without powers. Pluses and minuses differentiate where in the numerical category you fall. For example, a 3+ is within the top 25%, while a 3- is in the bottom 25%. Without pluses or minuses you are comfortably average.

Base Powers - Powers that are inherently yours.

• Consumption IV - You can consume biomass at a rate equivalent to around 8kg/sec. You will retain advanced knowledge from the consumption. In total, five skills/forms/powers are obtainable a week. Rank 5 skills now obtainable upon consumption. Exp obtained at a 1.8x rate. Powers now obtainable at Rank II. Egos obtainable. (Upgrade: 53xp, 53 biomass, one 'exceptional' individual)
  
• Compression IV: You can compress absorbed biomass. You can now compress your biomass down to the size of a lapdog or a bird when necessary. +75 total biomass (now out of /200) Gain access to Dimensional Storage power. Upgrade: 25 xp and 50 biomass.
• Shapeshifting IV - You can shapeshift into different forms. Major shifts will require around one minute and fifteen seconds to perform, minor cosmetic shifts require around 7.5 seconds. Gain access to the Bioreactor power. (Upgrade: 50 xp and 50 biomass)
• Viral Physiology - You aren't human and won't die like one. So long as some biomass survives, so do you.

Base Powers - Tier II - Powers that are offshoots of your main powers.

• Dimensional Storage I - You now understand that if you were actually compressing your biomass as much as you thought you were, you'd be harder than diamonds and would probably be unable to walk into buildings without substantial property damage. Yes, you're compressing yourself to a certain degree, but most of your biomass goes… elsewhere. Where exactly you're not sure: even calling it dimensional storage is presumptuous af, but you don't have much to go on. At this level you can keep up to 50 units biomass 'elsewhere' as well as about 2kg of non-biomass. (Upgrade: 17xp and 30 biomass)
  
• Bioreactor I: You can create and cultivate microorganisms within yourself. This is a very uncomfortable power to you because it reminds you of your own existence as a lab experiment, but you cannot deny its utility. At higher levels, you will be able to create entire organisms! Amazing! At your current level, Bioreactor can only synthesize microorganisms native to Earth that you have encountered before. Note: there is a danger associated with synthesizing truly dangerous microorganisms: if the bioreactor is breached, your own physiology is not necessarily immune. (Upgrade: 35 xp and 35 biomass)

Egos - Egos are the remnants of people you have consumed. They retain their knowledge, mannerisms and core personality. Generally fragile, you cannot compel anything from them, but despite that fact, they can help you learn faster.

In game terms, egos can be equipped onto a skill or power whereupon they'll improve that skill/power by adding a die bonus in xp on that power or skill each week. Egos are ranked 1 to 10 for most humans – the lower level the ego, the smaller the xp bonus, but the less of an effect they'll have on Dee's day-to-day being essentially traumatized into mute silence by the horror of their own existence. The higher the level, the harder it is to control, but the more xp it'll provide. At your current level of consumption, you can only maintain one active Ego. (Egos can be deactivated) Certain Egos have much more potent effects: if you were to equip a high-level Ego with its own power, you could use that power to the level of mastery that the original had it, for example.

• None yet.

Physical Powers - Powers related to your physiology.

• Superspeed II - While not quite in the race car bracket, you can still keep up with city traffic. You can move about twice as fast as most trained martial artists. You can push yourself to a go a little faster, but past that point you feel you'll need more from the rest of your body. (Upgrade: 23xp and 16 biomass)
• Superagility II - You react fast enough to be a ninja. Even without training you can catch an arrow barehanded, avoid the strikes of a professional martial artist, and snatch a bird out of the air or fish out of the water (Upgrade: 23 xp, 12 biomass).
  
• Superstrength II - You are strong enough to punch your way through a wall, squeeze a man's head like a grape, or rip a streetlight out of the ground and use it to deal grievous bodily harm. You can push yourself to become even stronger, but past a certain point you feel you'll need more from the rest of your body. (Upgrade: 16 xp, 23 biomass)
  
• Supertoughness I - You are tough enough to withstand blows from even the strongest baseline human and can be thrown through a wall or do a superhero landing from a three story jump without injury. (Upgrade: 10xp, 10 biomass)
• Fins I - You can grow fins that allow to add a jet-like propulsion to your movements. Although these fins can produce a great deal of thrust, they also consume a great deal of biomass. (Upgrade: 18xp, 18 biomass. Conditions cleared. In the future, Xenobiology will be necessary)
• Resistance to Phermones I - Having been exposed to it once, you won't be taken again by a phermone-based power, not like you first were. Those who have a phermone-based power at least three tiers above your resistance can still, however, briefly affect you, especially if you take human form. (Upgrade: Further exposure to Purple Man or 15xp)

Form Powers - A subset of physical powers distinct from your core powers and your physical powers, these powers relate to the shape you take on. Although most have statistics equivalent to your base form, some can provide significant boosts though usually at the expense of your ability to blend in.

• Base Form - Leah Lacroix - Young teenage girl, curly haired and grimy, she's short and looks both underfed and homeless. Because she is. Was.
• Human Form: Seamus Mckenna - Balding Irishman man in his 30s. Gangster.
• Human Form: Linda Belmont - A curvy, sociopathic singer who likes knifing people, apparently.
  
• Chitauri-Human Abomination - the first body you created, its appearance is suitably horrific, built as it is out of dead humans and aliens, but it is undeniably effective. Provides a +boost to all physical powers. So long as intact chitauri armor has been internalized, supertoughness is rated at at least 1.

Mutate Form - Similar to Form powers, shapeshift powers represent your ability to turn your parts of your body into specific forms. Powers of this class gain a synergy bonus dependent on how high your shapeshifting powers are and can be performed in half the time of a minor shapeshift. These powers can be developed for 5, 8, and 10 xp depending on how drastic the shift is.

Web Production I - You can produce webbing by converting biomass into it. By default your spinneret will appear on your backside, though you can move it to a more accessible location like your hand at need. The webbing is obviously not under high pressure.​

Spoiler: Examples

• Claws I (5xp): Grow long, scything claws out of your hands. At this level they are made primarily out of bone and can be used to rend and tear flesh and can easily dig through dirt or help you climb. Upgrade (5 xp, 3 biomass)
• Light Armor I (8xp): You cover yourself in a chitonous exoskeleton that can deflect blades and low-caliber bullets without compromising your speed or flexibility. Upgrades increase the resistance of this armor. Upgrade (8xp, 8 biomass)
• Musclemass I (10xp): By bulking yourself up with muscles, you gain an effective +1 to superstrength at the expense of your ability to blend in. As this Mutate Form power requires biomass to function, it also rapidly depletes your available biomass. Upgrades may lead to greater physical bonuses and/or increase the efficiency of your biomass usage. Upgrade (10xp, 20 biomass)

Inhuman Powers - Powers you have absorbed from the strange human population that are known as Inhumans. You do not actually know they exist yet.

• Soul Transferal (LATENT) - Obtained from Leah Lacroix, you would need 120xp in order to unlock this power.
• Dead Man Clairvoyance (LATENT) - Obtained in the Battle of New York from an unknown donor, Dead Man Clairvoyance would let you use the senses of the dead within 25 feet from yourself. You would need 20xp in order to unlock this power.

Skills
Powers and skills are graded from 1 to 10, 1 being at a novice level, 10 being mythical-tier. For the grand majority of humanity, however, the skill scale begins at 0 and ends at 5 which is the top-end of human competence. Some rare people are capable of shattering those limits whether through mystical means or mundane, but they are out of the ordinary and truly deserve the appellation of superhero. Pluses and minuses differentiate where in the numerical category you fall. For example, a 3+ is within the top 25th percentile, while a 3- is in the bottom 25th percentile

Human Skills - Skills found within humanity.

Social Skills - Skills you can use to appear more human while interacting with humans.

• English II - Your English level is at the level of a middle schooler. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Patience II - You can stay put for relatively long periods of time without wandering off, or continue at a task even if you find it pointless. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Discipline III: You are disciplined and will keep to what you wish to do rather than what you want to do. At this level, humans would be able to devote two hours a day to something that is painful or boring without reward. (Upgrade: 45 xp)
• Socialize I - You can talk to people normally without someone having to call in SHIELD, or the nice men in white coats who have straitjackets. You are still considered very awkward, but not to the point where people suspect you were raised by wolves. (Upgrade: 20 xp)
• Reading People III - You're good at reading people and can generally tell what people are feeling. (Upgrade: 45 xp)

Combat Skills - Skills used to fight and kill.

• Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks. (Upgrade: 20 xp)
• Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination. (Upgrade: 45 xp)
• Awareness IV: You are aware of not only what you pay attention to, but also what is paying attention to you. At this level of skill, you are rarely taken off guard, can spot ambushes and are generally alert to danger. (Upgrade: 68 xp)
  
• Blind Fighting IV: You could fight blindfolded or in complete darkness. At this level you could take on multiple opponents at once. (Upgrade: 68 xp)

Intrigue Skills - Skills used to deceive others or perceive deception.

• Deceit II: You can lie. At this level, you're pretty average at it. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Stealth III: You know how to move quietly. At this level, you could melt anonymously into a crowd or get past a lightly guarded position. (Upgrade: 45 xp)
• Life Sign Suppression IV: You are trained in suppressing your vital signs. At this level your body temperature can go as low as room temperature, your heart will beat only faintly, and you can erase your scent even without any viral shenanigans. (Upgrade: 68 xp)
• The Joisey Black Market II - You are aware of the New Jersey underground, enough so that you can buy goods and services. (Upgrade: Cannot be upgraded through XP)
• Mobbed Up II - You know about as much about the Irish mob as a low level grunt does. (Upgrade: Cannot be upgraded through XP)

Intellectual Skills - Skills requiring focused use of your mind.

• Threat Analysis II (humans): You can tell by a person's body language if they're likely or not to be a threat. At this level it's more instinct than analysis, though it tends to be more often right than wrong. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Math II - You can perform middle school math with no problem now. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Investigation IV: You are capable of looking for information using the resources at hand. At this level of skill you are both diligent and resourceful, achieving results that others would find unexpected. (Upgrade: 68 xp)
• Regression Biomechanics IV (Specialty)
  A branch of medical science pioneered by Dr. Hope, the intricacies of Regression Biomechanics is still mostly beyond your understanding. However, due to your unique biology, you can brute force what took Dr. Hope years of study and dedication to skillfully refine. Roll a 2d10 whenever you use this skill: this represents both how much biomass you burn and how much experience you gain in the skill. Effects are up to the QM, but will generally skew towards the comic. A high-end feat (roll of 20, would be giving a chicken the ability to turn into a T-rex, while a lower row will have a chicken think it's a T-rex. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
  
• Bio-Sciences Genius II (Rare)
  Like Charisma, genius is a rare trait. It governs mental faculties, improving them immensely. At this level, skills falling under the domain of 'medical sciences' can be upgraded as if their cost were two ranks lower than they actually were. So a Biology V would be purchased at the cost of Biology III, and so on. The cost cannot be made lower than a rank I skill. (Upgrade: Cannot be upgraded)
• Biology IV
  Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, identification and taxonomy. While this wikipedia definition does not cover the entirety of Biology, this broad field of science is the most fundamental to understanding yourself and what you can do. At this rank, you are equivalent in knowledge and skill to a university professor. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Genetics IV
  Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in living organisms. A sub-field of biology, knowledge of Genetics is vital in understanding the secrets of hereditary powers such as those bestowed by the X-gene and other superpowerful genetics. At this rank, you are equivalent in knowledge and skill to a university professor. (Upgrade: 30xp)
• Internet Research I
  Placeholder

Miscellaneous Skills - Skills that do not yet have their own category.

• Scavenge II - You now know that there are many other sources of biomass other than living humans! Like dumpsters and trash bags. +2d10 biomass per week. (Upgrade: 30 xp)
• Singing IV - You have the voice of a - well, not a mythological creature with wings, but certainly a well-trained human who is good at singing. (Upgrade: 68 xp)
• Little Gods Cult I - You are now aware that certain cultists are 'triggered' by the presence of obvious powers.
• Internet Rumors I (Purple Man) - Placeholder

Animal Skills - Skills found within animals.

• Scent IV (Dog) - Your nose is as good as dog's - while you couldn't necessarily track something through a city, you'd be pretty good if the scent trail hasn't been too disturbed.
• Web Spinning III (Spider) - If you were up to the task of creating webbing, you could control what sort of web it was and the more complex end product.
• Web Travel III (Spider) - be it while travelling on a web, or through a single silk strand, you are capable of using webbing to get around.
• Pounce III (Spider) - you are quite capable of leaping atop your prey.

Alien Skills - Skills found within aliens.

Magical Skills - Skills found within magic-users.

 

[mrttao]

[x] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[x] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[x] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.

Knife fighting probably applies when we improve our shapeshifting to form knifes, even until then we can easily be armed with a knife and it also applies to dodging knife attacks from enemies.
CQC is really useful since our main combat method is to grapple the enemy and then eat them.
Black market because it is a source of info and probably has bad people in it.

[x] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.

I noticed there is "animal skills" on the front page and am curious what we will get. And leah did say "no stealing" is only a "guideline". This should also fill our biomass meter completely.

[x] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[x] Consumption III

Consumption is our most useful trait to level up. Since it increases the number of "free skills" we get from eating, as well as the level of the skills we can acquire from eating. It also increases the rate of eating which is important in combat and if we want to have a chance of consuming really large organism.
The farm animals will provide the experimental subjects.

[x] Investigate
-[x] Organized crime
-[x] Talking to people in the black market.

I am tempted to research supervillains and superheroes on the internet in a public library. But I am saving it for next turn, right now we need to aim a bit lower, like organized crime syndicates which are mmm mmm delicious meat to us.

Incidentally, I am curious to later on find out more about leah herself and why she is a homeless child. Can we get adopted? did she run away because her parents were abusive? Could we reconnect with some family and go to school?

 

[Maragas]

Oh my ! I am watching this.
[X]Plan Let's get this started
-[X] Close Quarters Combat II
-[X] Intimidation II
-[X] Driving III
-[X] You Hunt.
--[X] Shady looking guys
--[X] Stealthily,in back alleys
--[X] Until sated + 6 more for experimenting for training
-[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
--[X]Consumption III
-[X] Investigate
--[X] Organized crime
--[X] Blackmarket

 

[mrttao]

-[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
--[X]Consumption II

Click to shrink...

We already have consumption II, we would be training consumption III

also, thus far we haven't been voting using plans. (which, we should probably use task notation in that case). But QM is pretty flexible, so if people want plan he would probably allow it.

-[X] Investigate
--[X] Organized crime
--[X] Blackmarket

Click to shrink...

I think you would need to take the blackmarket skill in order to investigate the black market. otherwise we lack the memories to find it.

(btw, this quest started on another site, but migrated here because of connection issues with that site.)

 

[Maragas]

We already have consumption II, we would be training consumption III

also, thus far we haven't been voting using plans. (which, we should probably use task notation in that case). But QM is pretty flexible, so if people want plan he would probably allow it.


I think you would need to take the blackmarket skill in order to investigate the black market. otherwise we lack the memories to find it.

(btw, this quest started on another site, but migrated here because of connection issues with that site.)

Click to shrink...

Ah,my mistake.I was targeting the skill.Not the level we are training it.
Also,I think we can get those memories from shade guys I targeted.Just need a lucky roll.

 

[mrttao]

I think we can get those memories from shade guys I targeted.Just need a lucky roll.

Click to shrink...

If we get it as memories from those guys we eat, then it would show up among the possible skills to absorb next round. (with our consume rank 2 we can absorb 3 skills/knowledgesets a turn. At consume 1 it was 2 per turn. The rest we forget despite eating people who know it. Also, the max rank of the skill we can absorb is 1+consume rank).

Anyways, maybe QM would allow us to spend action to develop it the way you suggested.

 

[the swarm]

[x] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to takeIII
d give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[x] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[x] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[x] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[x] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[x] Consumption III
[x] Investigate
-[x] Organized crime
-[x] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[Zaratustra]

[x] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to takeIII
d give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[x] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[x] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[x] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[x] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[x] Consumption III
[x] Investigate
-[x] Organized crime
-[x] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[Iceblocks]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[NúmenoreanNazgûl]

[X]mrttao

 

[EchoNova]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] You rob a supermarket at night.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

Wow, i think i actually for the first time saw this on another forum today, just to read that this is probably gonna move to another forum. I just love coincidences like that.

 

[giodan]

[x] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to takeIII
d give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[x] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[x] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[x] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[x] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[x] Consumption III
[x] Investigate
-[x] Organized crime
-[x] Talking to people in the black market

 

[Nihilo]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[MasterG]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[Oh I am slain!]

@FixerUpper That was a delight to read, by the way.

 

[MasterG]

@FixerUpper That was a delight to read, by the way.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. This shows great promise.

 

[Night_stalker]

New
[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[theflyingbiscuit]

[x] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[x] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[x] Gun Combat II - You can reliably hit a stationary target.

[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[veekie]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[NegativeHorizon]

Ohohoho, I love a good and thorough Prototype quest! Doubly so if we have superpowers to consume.

...Hrrrmm not a fan of the goody two shoes hanger-on. She just haaad to get the power to act as our conscious. Hopefully we have a chance to purge it~

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[Trondason]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the black market.

 

[taovkool]

[X] Close Quarters Combat II - The ability to take and give out hits. At this level it's more or less untutored brawling, but at least you're somewhat experienced and know how to avoid the usual tricks.
[X] The Joisey Black Market I - You are aware of the New Jersey underground and while not keenly enough to navigate its currents, you're good enough to know who knows how to get in.
[X] Knife Fighting III - When you prick someone, they'll bleed. At this level, you're good enough to be able to defend yourself from a knife attack even if you weren't a viral abomination.
[X] Find and get to the nearest ranch, at night sneak in and consume livestock.
[X] Train (using XP and biomass)
-[X] Consumption III
[X] Investigate
-[X] Organized crime
-[X] Talking to people in the blackmarket.

 

[FixerUpper]

Votes locked.

I forgot to mention it, but Leah Lacroix being a latent Inhuman means you're a latent Inhuman. Should you be exposed to terrigen mist or spend the ridiculous xp fee of 120xp you'll be able to get Soul Transferal. I've updated your character sheet, but here it is if you don't want to wade through it:

Inhuman Powers - Powers you have absorbed from the strange human population that are known as Inhumans. You do not actually know they exist yet.

• Soul Transferal (LATENT) - Obtained from Leah Lacroix, you would need 120xp in order to unlock this power.

 

[NegativeHorizon]

Votes locked.

I forgot to mention it, but Leah Lacroix being a latent Inhuman means you're a latent Inhuman. Should you be exposed to terrigen mist or spend the ridiculous xp fee of 120xp you'll be able to get Soul Transferal. I've updated your character sheet, but here it is if you don't want to wade through it:

Inhuman Powers - Powers you have absorbed from the strange human population that are known as Inhumans. You do not actually know they exist yet.

• Soul Transferal (LATENT) - Obtained from Leah Lacroix, you would need 120xp in order to unlock this power.

Click to shrink...

Would the Soul transferal be for Damien or Leah? Would the other remain in the Mercer-Body afterwards?