Survival is never assured when you're a pawn in a game much larger than yourself. Demigods all too often get the short end of the stick. Theo Cirillio is new to the world of gods and monsters, but he won't go down without a fight.
A Percy Jackson AU. You don't need to be familiar with Percy Jackson to read.
The diner wasn't busy, but you still felt a weird buzz in the room as you ordered your burger. The lady at the counter barely gave you a second look after handing you the burger, seeming more occupied with buttering up the other patrons sitting at a booth nearby. You couldn't tell if she was flirting with them or just looking for tips. Tips, probably, which figures why she didn't pay any attention to you. Most twelve year old boys either didn't have money to tip or didn't care.
Quietly making your way to a corner table anticipating the tasty meal ahead of you, you notice the ruckus of noise that seemed to be coming from outside the diner. Being attached to a mall, it was probably just some rude kids, but you still clutched your backpack just a bit tighter. Bad luck seemed to follow you lately, and you didn't want to get caught off-guard if you had to book it. The old man sitting near you seemed annoyed at the noise too.
The noise quiets down and a few minutes later a group of teens walk through the doors of the diner, slightly out of breath. The ones making the noise, you'd bet. Guess you were right about the rude kids thing. Though they definitely look older than you, so maybe you shouldn't call them kids. The shortest one- a boy with light brown hair- seems to say something that the blonde haired girl next to him takes offense to, because she gives him a punch in the arm that looks a little too strong to be joking.
The oldest looking one rolls her eyes at the other two and moves towards the counter to speak with the worker. You can't hear what they say, but after a few words the lady gives them a nod and the group walks through a door that seems to lead to the back of the store. Huh, maybe they know the owner or something.
Content to not pay them any more mind and just enjoy your burger, you turn away from them down to your delicious food. It's not everyday you can afford to treat yourself to an overpriced diner meal. The burger alone was more than you'd spend most days, not to mention the soda and fries. Still, today isn't most days.
Starting to take your first bite, you're unpleasantly interrupted by a loud shriek and the diner door bursting open. Startled, you see an angry flying… woman?
What.
The lady lands on the ground briefly, and you see that she's wearing a flowing toga and has long dark hair flowing down her back with a laurel crown around her head. Not an outfit you see everyday. Her wings start flapping again and she's flying towards you at a speed you can't really believe. Not that you can really believe any of this. What is happening?
Ducking under the table, you hear the woosh of the women flying past you and then back away. Slowly you raise your head and see her flying back towards the front of the diner. With your burger in hand.
How dare she!
If you weren't scared and confused about what the fuck is happening here, you'd storm right up to her and get your burger back. But something tells you the flying woman isn't gonna tolerate some little kid yelling at her.
"Now how'd a seagull get indoors?" The elderly man sitting a couple tables down from you questions.
…A seagull?
Now you might not be the best student, but you can identify animals well enough to know that whatever that thing is, it does not look like a seagull at all. They both have wings but that's where the similarities end.
Before you can question any further, the door bursts open again and more winged women start to pour in the diner. All of them wearing some sort of white togas. Some of them even look like they're holding swords.
Whatever is happening can't be good, you decide. Downright terrified now, you slowly put your backpack on and look around for an exit. Luckily, the winged women don't pay you any attention as they look around the diner. It only takes them a moment before they start moving towards the door that the three teens had gone in a couple minutes earlier.
Spotting a door on your side of the room away from the winged ladies, you slowly creep towards it, soda still in hand, hoping they aren't like those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that sense movement.
You make it through the door, through the hallway, and through another door. Hopefully this one will lead you out of the store.
It doesn't unfortunately, just opens up to a large warehouse? Storage for the diner, you guess by the boxes on the shelves packed with food. On the other side of the room you see none other than the three teens from before. Fighting the winged women. What.
The boy from before was crouched against the back wall, fiddling with the code on another door. Trying to unlock it you'd guess.
"Ilya, hurry it the fuck up!" The blonde haired one shouts at him while ducking under several swings from flying ladies with swords.
"Shut up Natalie," The boy- Ilya you suppose, calls back. "You know I'm not good at this lock shit. I'm not a fucking Hermes kid."
"Watch it with the names Ilya." The oldest girl warns.
You couldn't really believe what you were seeing. Two teens were fighting off an army of flying women, and frankly doing pretty well. You're not sure how these teens were so good at fighting with blades, but they were succeeding at buying time for the boy Ilya to get the lock open.
At least they were succeeding, until one of the women escapes the notice of the two girls and flies over them towards the boy on the lock.
Your body moves before you even have a chance to think, and suddenly you're sprinting directly towards them and with a shout, you launch the soda still in hand towards the lady headed for Ilya.
The world seems to slow as all three of the teens' eyes widen, seeing the woman heading right for Ilya and then seeing you charging at them, thrown soda in the air aimed at the flying lady.
Miraculously, the soda hits the woman square in the face, knocking off the lid to the cup and making the lady scream as it splashes right in her eyes. Huh, maybe you did get your money's worth with that.
Before you can really process anything more, you hear the click of the door opening, and the older girl grabs your arm, pulling you through the door with the other two teens. It's not until the door slams shut behind you and the boy clicks the lock shut that you all breathe with relief in the outside air. And then you stare at the three teens with wide eyes to see them staring back at you.
"What the fuck." The boy Ilya manages.
-
"I'm Alexandra," The girl that grabbed you introduces herself before gesturing at the blonde girl, "This is Natalie. And this is-"
"Ilya," Natalie interrupts, "The one that can't break a fucking lock."
Ilya's eyes flash angrily as he spins towards her, "Get off my ass, I got us through. Not like you could have done better."
"Barely got us through! If it hadn't been for shorty here with the soda, we would have been stabbed to death by a bunch of Nikai. This is why I wanted Cecil instead of you, he would've blown through that lock in seconds."
"You think I don't wish Cecil was able to go instead of me? He's busy back at camp dealing with Nickolas' shit. And everyone knows Cecil can get through locks like he's a fucking Hermes kid, don't hold me to his standards."
"Seriously Ilya, cut it with the Names." Alexandra cuts in. "And shut it, both of you. We made it through. Now, what's your name?" She turns to you.
"Theo." You manage. "Uh, what's going on?"
"Clearsighted or demigod?" Natalie mutters studying you. "Gotta be demigod, getting involved like that."
"Obviously demigod," Ilya grins, "Did you see that throw? With that aim he might even be another Apollo kid. Imagine what he could do with a bow!"
Natalie rolls her eyes, "Don't get it in his head that he's one of your archers just because you're biased. Anyone could have made a throw like that."
Alexandra nods, "Could be anyone. Hard to say until we're back at camp. But I think we're confusing the poor kid."
You nod, definitely feeling confused. Demigod? What?
"Natalie, go call Félix and let him know we got what we needed but we need help getting back to camp. And let him know we picked up a stray on the way." Alexandra orders. "Listen kid, we don't have time to give you the full explanation, but the short of it is: you're not fully human. The Greek gods still exist, and one of them is your parent. You probably don't know one of your birth parents, right? That's why. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Ilya here is the son of Apollo. Natalie's mom is Aphrodite. We don't know who your godly parent is and we probably won't until we get back to camp."
"Oh, so when you use Names it's fine." Ilya grumbles.
Alexandra rolls her eyes. "You know why I can do it. Now Theo, the shitty part of this whole thing is that our life sucks. You saw the Nikai- the flying women. There's shit like that trying to kill us all the time. You won't survive on your own forever. As you get older, more and more monsters will start hunting you. That's why we live at Camp Half-Blood. It's a relatively safe space for demigods like us." She leans down so she's at eye level with you. "So you've got to come back with us to camp, okay? I know it's scary, but we'll be okay."
Natalie walks back with a grin on her face, "Good news, Kimber is in the area and can help us get back to camp. Bad news, she'll be a little bit so we're gonna need to distract those Nikai until she can get here. I'd bet they'll find their way out of the diner soon." She turns to you and grins, "Oh and Félix really wants to meet you when we get back to camp. He was very impressed by the epic tale of your soda throwing."
Ilya laughs, "Real shit though, that was a good throw! Saved my ass. So thanks dude." He slaps a hand on your shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll get you back to camp safe. Just gotta figure out how to distract these Nikai."
-
Welcome to Body to Flame! A Percy Jackson AU quest where you'll be playing as twelve year old Theo Cirillio. The in-game date is currently July 5th, 2001. For reference, in canon Percy first arrives at camp around May/June of 2006. Though you shouldn't completely rely on canon for when and what will happen. Please feel free to ask me any questions.
Don't worry, we'll get to voting on your godly parent soon, but for now let's start by voting on some boons. Every demigod has a few things going for them. These are the options for your starting perks. Please vote in plan format.
Players will receive two (2) boons for free. You may take up to two (2) additional boons, but for each additional boon you take you must also take a curse.
Boons:
[X] Minor Blessing of Morpheus
All demigods have strange dreams, but it's not a guarantee they are real. With this blessing, your dreams will always have at least a silver of reality to them, potentially providing you with useful information. Mechanical effect: Lore updates will be written as dreams of the player character. These will go beyond just world building, and will always contain some information or imply something that I consider to be useful to you.
[X] Minor Blessing of Hypnos
Sleep can be a difficult obstacle for a demigod to overcome, whether it's attempting to sleep after seeing something traumatic, needing to sleep in an unsafe situation, or resisting a foe trying to magically induce your sleep. This blessing makes all these problems slightly more bearable. Mechanical effect: You have an easier time falling asleep when you are trying to do so, you need slightly less sleep to be well rested (which may result in the ability to take extra actions occasionally), and you have a minor resistance to attempts to put you to sleep unwillingly with magic.
[X] Minor Blessing of Iris
Iris messages are a useful way of communicating! It sure sucks when you're fresh out of drachmas and really need to make a call though. With this blessing, Iris is a little more relaxed about the payment. Mechanical effect: You get one free Iris message every once in a while, and if you find yourself needing another but don't have any drachmas on you, with a quick prayer to Iris you can still use an Iris message- so long as you pay her back for it later.
[X] Minor Blessing of Asclepius
Once able to revive the dead, Asclepius was feared by many. While no longer bringing people back to life, Asclepius' work with medicine and healing is still impressive, and as a demigod, you're sure you'll find yourself injured at some point. Mechanical effects: Healing through medicinal and magical means are more effective on you.
[X] Minor Blessing of Palioxis
A wise scholar once said it's better to run from an enemy when you know you'll lose than to fight and die. Perhaps there's merit in that thought. Mechanical effect: When fleeing from a battle the stamina costs of your abilities are reduced and you gain a slight bonus towards any actions that aid your retreat.
[X] Familial Favor
Every child inherits something from their parents. You just get a little extra. Mechanical effect: Receive an additional ?????? from your godly parent. Details for the boon(s) you receive will be revealed upon learning who your godly parent is. You may take this boon multiple times.
Curses:
[X] Curse of Aletheia
Perhaps an enemy of yours cried out to Aletheia, begging: "Keep my good-faith from stumbling against rough falsehood". Or perhaps not. Either way, deception might not be your skill to wield. Mechanical effect: Any deception rolls you make will have a malus.
[X] Curse of Phrike
It's nothing to be ashamed of, really. Anyone would get scared after seeing that! Well okay, maybe not that scared. Mechanical effect: Any resolve rolls made in tense or terrifying situations will have a malus.
[X] Curse of Tyche
You probably shouldn't try your luck at a casino anytime soon. Or have any master plans rely on flipping a coin in your favor. Though a true master plan wouldn't rely on something as measly as luck, right? Mechanical effect: Any games or bets of chance you make will be at disadvantage. (This will not affect dice rolls for skills and techniques, only in-character games, events, or bets that are left up to luck).
[X] Curse of Neikea
I'm sure they won't remember that. Probably. Mechanical effect: Enemies you make will remember their grudges for longer and attempts to improve your relationship with them will be more difficult.
Mechanics
These are subject to change, though I'll try to keep things simple if possible.
The rolling system
Every time you make a skill/ability check, you start with the number of the level of that skill/ability, and then roll 4 fudge dice that each have three sides (-2, 0, +2). After adding the die values to your base skill/ability, you then add any other modifier.
Your character
Stats:
Stats are the foundation of your character. There are nine total, with three in each category (mental, physical, and social). Stats impact things such as health, what magics or consumables you can handle, and a level requirement in a certain stat (or stats) is present in many Abilities you can acquire. Your character starts with a base of 4 in each stat. In each category, your highest stat may not be more than double the lowest stat of that category. (for example you could not have a constitution of 10 when your dexterity is a 4).
Stamina:
Stamina is the resource you spend to take action. Many things will spend stamina: from training, to most abilities, to combat itself. Your max stamina is dictated by <Constitution + Resolve + Empathy> times 10. Your stamina will more or less regenerate after a full day in-game.
Effects:
Effects are buffs or debuffs, usually temporary things that provide bonuses or maluses to certain skills or stats. Some abilities might grant permanent effects, but generally an effect can come from almost anywhere. Some common reasons for you to have an effect might be because you received an injury or perhaps were cursed by an enemy.
Relationships:
Throughout your journey you will no doubt form relationships with a variety of people. When meeting someone, your relationship tends to start at level zero, being neutral, but as you interact more with a person it will very likely change higher or lower. Relationship levels can be anywhere from -5 to 5.
Health:
Your character is made of physical and mental health. Each is displayed as a fraction (current health)/(maximum health) and are determined by different stats. Your max physical health is constitution/2 and mental is resolve/2 (rounded down). If either of them drop to zero during a conflict, you lose that conflict, and suffer whatever the consequences are.
Health can be regained by just waiting or seeking out ways of healing. There are a number of items and abilities that can aid recovery as well.
Abilities:
Abilities cover pretty much everything not already mentioned. They can be blessings, powers, traits, almost anything. Your character will receive many throughout the quest. A few example abilities could be:
[Minor Blessing of Hypnos] Blessing
Stamina cost - 0
Level - 1/1
You have managed to gain the favor of the god of sleep, Hypnos. This blessing makes you resistant to magically induced sleep. Any attempt to put you to sleep with magic will cost double the stamina, and they will roll with a debuff of [].
[Basic Knife Fighting] Technique
Stamina cost - 15
Level - 1/?
You have gained basic proficiency with using small blades such as knives or daggers, and may now use them in combat. When making an attack with a knife or something similar, roll using [dex + technique level] as a base. When defending with this technique [].
Combat:
As a demigod, combat will be a constant in your life. In battles, humans and monsters will use whatever they can to gain the upper hand.
Combat starts with initiative: the parties roll their Wisdom stat with any modifiers (perception bonuses) to see who goes first. Should there be a tie, whoever has the highest Dex stat will go first. If a character successfully engages with stealth, they get a free turn before initiative proceeds as normal.
The person who goes first will select a technique to attack with and roll using the specified number from the technique and add their fudge dice. The defender will then select a technique to dodge, block, or otherwise avoid taking the hit. After the defender rolls their specified technique and fudge dice, whoever rolled higher "wins" that turn.
If the attacker wins, the difference of the two rolls is taken and added to a tally towards the defender's damage threshold. When the tally reaches the damage threshold, 1 HP of damage is taken. If the defender wins then no points go towards their damage threshold. Some techniques will allow you to do damage back to your attacker if you successfully defend. In those cases, follow the description of the technique to calculate how many points towards your attackers damage threshold you did.
After that turn is over and all damage is accounted for, the next person in the initiative becomes the attacker and selects a technique to attack with and the cycle repeats until the battle is over.
Damage threshold is calculated by averaging Constitution, Wisdom, and Composure and multiplying by 2 (rounded down).
[X] Plan: Dreamer
-[X] Minor Blessing of Morpheus
-[X] Minor Blessing of Hypnos
[] Plan: Hubris
-[] Minor Blessing of Asclepius
-[] Minor Blessing of Palioxis
-[] Familial Favor
-[] Familial Favor x2
-[] Curse of Aletheia
-[] Curse of Neikea
[] Plan: Fuck it we Ball
-[] Familial Favor X4
-[] Curse of Neikea
-[] Curse of Tyche
As stupid as it looks, it would not only be really funny, but really unique.
Edit:
Honestly I wanted to do the bad at lying curse but expected most people to want to play a bit more of a little bastard character. So glad people are seeing the value in the fuck it ideology.
[X] Plan: Fuck it we're Honest
there are no extra mechanical effects gained from having both of them, but it's certainly possible that having both of them leads to something happening down the road (though the same could be said for the other boons).
[X] Plan: Healer
- [X] Minor Blessing of Asclepius
- [X] Familial Favor
Because healing is always helpful, and familial favor sounds the most interesting.
I'm cautious of taking any of the curses, mainly because I don't know how big the malus is? But assuing they're significant enough, I'm hesitant about taking them at all considering they're all circumstances I could see coming up in a quest that could be the difference between life and death.
love seeing all the different plans i forgot to mention it but voting will close wednesday morning (around 48 hours from now). then the next chapter will hopefully be out that same night.
Honestly I wanted to do the bad at lying curse but expected most people to want to play a bit more of a little bastard character. So glad people are seeing the value in the fuck it ideology.
I mean, the problem is that when it comes with dealing with monsters, games of skill/luck are really the only way you can deal with them outside of direct combat. Like, times Percy and Co. has had their butts saved by tricking their enemies via a good combination of deception and/or luck is pretty damn high. It happens at least once per book, usually as a last ditch effort to avoid certain death. And this is Percy we're talking about, one of the strongest demigods in the series.
Playing a character that's lousy at lying would be an interesting flaw to play around, but it is a pretty detrimental flaw to start the game off with. Don't want to dissuade people from choosing the option, but I do want to make sure that people understand that it isn't a minor handicap before choosing it.
I mean, the problem is that when it comes with dealing with monsters, games of skill/luck are really the only way you can deal with them outside of direct combat. Like, times Percy and Co. has had their butts saved by tricking their enemies via a good combination of deception and/or luck is pretty damn high. It happens at least once per book, usually as a last ditch effort to avoid certain death. And this is Percy we're talking about, one of the strongest demigods in the series.
Playing a character that's lousy at lying would be an interesting flaw to play around, but it is a pretty detrimental flaw to start the game off with. Don't want to dissuade people from choosing the option, but I do want to make sure that people understand that it isn't a minor handicap before choosing it.
Yeah, the reason I voted for Aletheia and Neikea are because I find them to be interesting flaws, the latter is cool narratively. Makes our rivalries more serious (and numerous?)!
i forgot to mention it but voting will close wednesday morning (around 48 hours from now). then the next chapter will hopefully be out that same night.
